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diff --git a/4602-8.txt b/4602-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6373317 --- /dev/null +++ b/4602-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13786 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Kingdom of God Is Within You, by graf Leo Tolstoy + + +******************************************************************* +THIS EBOOK WAS ONE OF PROJECT GUTENBERG'S EARLY FILES PRODUCED AT A +TIME WHEN PROOFING METHODS AND TOOLS WERE NOT WELL DEVELOPED. THERE +IS AN IMPROVED EDITION OF THIS TITLE WHICH MAY BE VIEWED AS EBOOK +(#43302) at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43302 +******************************************************************* + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Kingdom of God Is Within You + +Author: graf Leo Tolstoy + +Posting Date: July 8, 2011 [EBook #4602] +Release Date: November, 2003 +[This file was first posted on February 17, 2002] + + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU *** + + + + +Produced by Jack Eden <jackeden@yahoo.com> + + + + + + + +[For those interested, there is a note at the end of +this document that details the adaptations made to this +work] + + + + + + + +"THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU" +CHRISTIANITY NOT AS A MYSTIC RELIGION +BUT AS A NEW THEORY OF LIFE + +TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN OF COUNT LEO TOLSTOI +BY CONSTANCE GARNETT +New York, 1894 + + + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + +The book I have had the privilege of translating is, undoubtedly, +one of the most remarkable studies of the social and psychological +condition of the modern world which has appeared in Europe for +many years, and its influence is sure to be lasting and far +reaching. Tolstoi's genius is beyond dispute. The verdict of the +civilized world has pronounced him as perhaps the greatest +novelist of our generation. But the philosophical and religious +works of his later years have met with a somewhat indifferent +reception. They have been much talked about, simply because they +were his work, but, as Tolstoi himself complains, they have never +been seriously discussed. I hardly think that he will have to +repeat the complaint in regard to the present volume. One may +disagree with his views, but no one can seriously deny the +originality, boldness, and depth of the social conception which he +develops with such powerful logic. The novelist has shown in this +book the religious fervor and spiritual insight of the prophet; +yet one is pleased to recognize that the artist is not wholly lost +in the thinker. The subtle intuitive perception of the +psychological basis of the social position, the analysis of the +frame of mind of oppressors and oppressed, and of the intoxication +of Authority and Servility, as well as the purely descriptive +passages in the last chapter--these could only have come from the +author of "War and Peace." + +The book will surely give all classes of readers much to think of, +and must call forth much criticism. It must be refuted by those +who disapprove of its teaching, if they do not want it to have +great influence. + +One cannot of course anticipate that English people, slow as they +are to be influenced by ideas, and instinctively distrustful of +all that is logical, will take a leap in the dark and attempt to +put Tolstoi's theory of life into practice. But one may at least +be sure that his destructive criticism of the present social and +political RÉGIME will become a powerful force in the work of +disintegration and social reconstruction which is going on around +us. Many earnest thinkers who, like Tolstoi, are struggling to +find their way out of the contradictions of our social order will +hail him as their spiritual guide. The individuality of the +author is felt in every line of his work, and even the most +prejudiced cannot resist the fascination of his genuineness, +sincerity, and profound earnestness. Whatever comes from a heart +such as his, swelling with anger and pity at the sufferings of +humanity, cannot fail to reach the hearts of others. No reader +can put down the book without feeling himself better and more +truth-loving for having read it. + +Many readers may be disappointed with the opening chapters of the +book. Tolstoi disdains all attempt to captivate the reader. He +begins by laying what he considers to be the logical foundation of +his doctrines, stringing together quotations from little-known +theological writers, and he keeps his own incisive logic for the +later part of the book. + +One word as to the translation. Tolstoi's style in his religious +and philosophical works differs considerably from that of his +novels. He no longer cares about the form of his work, and his +style is often slipshod, involved, and diffuse. It has been my +aim to give a faithful reproduction of the original. + +CONSTANCE GARNETT. +January, 1894 + + + + +PREFACE. + +In the year 1884 I wrote a book under the title "What I Believe," +in which I did in fact make a sincere statement of my beliefs. + +In affirming my belief in Christ's teaching, I could not help +explaining why I do not believe, and consider as mistaken, the +Church's doctrine, which is usually called Christianity. + +Among the many points in which this doctrine falls short of the +doctrine of Christ I pointed out as the principal one the absence +of any commandment of non-resistance to evil by force. The +perversion of Christ's teaching by the teaching of the Church is +more clearly apparent in this than in any other point of +difference. + +I know--as we all do--very little of the practice and the spoken and +written doctrine of former times on the subject of non-resistance to +evil. I knew what had been said on the subject by the fathers of the +Church--Origen, Tertullian, and others--I knew too of the existence of +some so-called sects of Mennonites, Herrnhuters, and Quakers, who do not +allow a Christian the use of weapons, and do not enter military service; +but I knew little of what had been done by these so-called sects toward +expounding the question. + +My book was, as I had anticipated, suppressed by the Russian +censorship; but partly owing to my literary reputation, partly +because the book had excited people's curiosity, it circulated in +manuscript and in lithographed copies in Russia and through +translations abroad, and it evolved, on one side, from those who +shared my convictions, a series of essays with a great deal of +information on the subject, on the other side a series of +criticisms on the principles laid down in my book. + +A great deal was made clear to me by both hostile and sympathetic +criticism, and also by the historical events of late years; and I +was led to fresh results and conclusions, which I wish now to +expound. + +First I will speak of the information I received on the history of +the question of non-resistance to evil; then of the views of this +question maintained by spiritual critics, that is, by professed +believers in the Christian religion, and also by temporal ones, +that is, those who do not profess the Christian religion; and +lastly I will speak of the conclusions to which I have been +brought by all this in the light of the historical events of late +years. + +L. TOLSTOI. +YASNAÏA POLIANA, +May 14/26, 1893. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + I. THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE + HAS BEEN PROFESSED BY A MINORITY OF MEN FROM + THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY + + II. CRITICISMS OF THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO + EVIL BY FORCE ON THE PART OF BELIEVERS AND OF UNBELIEVERS + + III. CHRISTIANITY MISUNDERSTOOD BY BELIEVERS + + IV. CHRISTIANITY MISUNDERSTOOD BY MEN OF SCIENCE + + V. CONTRADICTION BETWEEN OUR LIFE AND OUR CHRISTIAN + CONSCIENCE + + VI. ATTITUDE OF MEN OF THE PRESENT DAY TO WAR + + VII. SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPULSORY SERVICE + + VIII. DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE MUST + INEVITABLY BE ACCEPTED BY MEN OF THE PRESENT DAY + + IX. THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF + LIFE WILL EMANCIPATE MEN FROM THE MISERIES OF OUR PAGAN + LIFE + + X. EVIL CANNOT BE SUPRESSED BY THE PHYSICAL FORCE OF THE + GOVERNMENT--THE MORAL PROGRESS OF HUMANITY IS BROUGHT ABOUT + NOT ONLY BY INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION OF THE TRUTH BUT ALSO + THROUGH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PUBLIC OPINION + + XI. THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF LIFE HAS ALREADY + ARISEN IN OUR SOCIETY, AND WILL INFALLIBLY PUT + AN END TO THE PRESENT ORGANIZATION OF OUR LIFE + BASED ON FORCE--WHEN THAT WILL BE + + XII. CONCLUSION--REPENT YE, FOR THE KINGDOM OF + HEAVEN IS AT HAND + + + + + "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you + free. "--John viii. 32. + + "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to + kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to + destroy both soul and body in hell."--MATT. x. 28. + + "Ye have been bought with a price; be not ye the servants + of men."--I COR. vii. 23. + + + + + +"THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU." + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE HAS BEEN PROFESSED +BY A MINORITY OF MEN FROM THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY. + +Of the Book "What I Believe"--The Correspondence Evoked by it--Letters +from Quakers--Garrison's Declaration--Adin Ballou, his Works, his +Catechism--Helchitsky's "Net of Faith"--The Attitude of the World to +Works Elucidating Christ's Teaching--Dymond's Book "On War"--Musser's +"Non-resistance Asserted"--Attitude of the Government in 1818 to Men who +Refused to Serve in the Army--Hostile Attitude of Governments Generally +and of Liberals to Those who Refuse to Assist in Acts of State Violence, +and their Conscious Efforts to Silence and Suppress these Manifestations +of Christian Non-resistance. + + +Among the first responses called forth by my book were some letters from +American Quakers. In these letters, expressing their sympathy with my +views on the unlawfulness for a Christian of war and the use of force of +any kind, the Quakers gave me details of their own so-called sect, which +for more than two hundred years has actually professed the teaching of +Christ on non-resistance to evil by force, and does not make use of +weapons in self-defense. The Quakers sent me books, from which I learnt +how they had, years ago, established beyond doubt the duty for a +Christian of fulfilling the command of non-resistance to evil by force, +and had exposed the error of the Church's teaching in allowing war and +capital punishment. + +In a whole series of arguments and texts showing that war--that +is, the wounding and killing of men--is inconsistent with a +religion founded on peace and good will toward men, the Quakers +maintain and prove that nothing has contributed so much to the +obscuring of Christian truth in the eyes of the heathen, and has +hindered so much the diffusion of Christianity through the world, +as the disregard of this command by men calling themselves +Christians, and the permission of war and violence to Christians. + +"Christ's teaching, which came to be known to men, not by means of +violence and the sword," they say, "but by means of non-resistance +to evil, gentleness, meekness, and peaceableness, can only be +diffused through the world by the example of peace, harmony, and +love among its followers." + +"A Christian, according to the teaching of God himself, can act +only peaceably toward all men, and therefore there can be no +authority able to force the Christian to act in opposition to the +teaching of God and to the principal virtue of the Christian in +his relation with his neighbors." + +"The law of state necessity," they say, "can force only those to +change the law of God who, for the sake of earthly gains, try to +reconcile the irreconcilable; but for a Christian who sincerely +believes that following Christ's teaching will give him salvation, +such considerations of state can have no force." + +Further acquaintance with the labors of the Quakers and their +works--with Fox, Penn, and especially the work of Dymond +(published in 1827)--showed me not only that the impossibility of +reconciling Christianity with force and war had been recognized +long, long ago, but that this irreconcilability had been long ago +proved so clearly and so indubitably that one could only wonder +how this impossible reconciliation of Christian teaching with the +use of force, which has been, and is still, preached in the +churches, could have been maintained in spite of it. + +In addition to what I learned from the Quakers I received about +the same time, also from America, some information on the subject +from a source perfectly distinct and previously unknown to me. + +The son of William Lloyd Garrison, the famous champion of the +emancipation of the negroes, wrote to me that he had read my book, in +which he found ideas similar to those expressed by his father in the +year 1838, and that, thinking it would be interesting to me to know +this, he sent me a declaration or proclamation of "non-resistance" drawn +up by his father nearly fifty years ago. + +This declaration came about under the following circumstances: +William Lloyd Garrison took part in a discussion on the means of +suppressing war in the Society for the Establishment of Peace +among Men, which existed in 1838 in America. He came to the +conclusion that the establishment of universal peace can only be +founded on the open profession of the doctrine of non-resistance +to evil by violence (Matt. v. 39), in its full significance, as +understood by the Quakers, with whom Garrison happened to be on +friendly relations. Having come to this conclusion, Garrison +thereupon composed and laid before the society a declaration, +which was signed at the time--in 1838--by many members. + + "DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS ADOPTED BY PEACE CONVENTION. + "Boston, 1838. + + "We the undersigned, regard it as due to ourselves, to the + cause which we love, to the country in which we live, to + publish a declaration expressive of the purposes we aim to + accomplish and the measures we shall adopt to carry forward the + work of peaceful universal reformation. + + "We do not acknowledge allegiance to any human government. We + recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of + mankind. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all + mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all + other lands. The interests and rights of American citizens are + not dearer to us than those of the whole human race. Hence we + can allow no appeal to patriotism to revenge any national + insult or injury... + + "We conceive that a nation has no right to defend itself + against foreign enemies or to punish its invaders, and no + individual possesses that right in his own case, and the unit + cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate. If + soldiers thronging from abroad with intent to commit rapine and + destroy life may not be resisted by the people or the + magistracy, then ought no resistance to be offered to domestic + troublers of the public peace or of private security. + + "The dogma that all the governments of the world are + approvingly ordained of God, and that the powers that be in the + United States, in Russia, in Turkey, are in accordance with his + will, is no less absurd than impious. It makes the impartial + Author of our existence unequal and tyrannical. It cannot be + affirmed that the powers that be in any nation are actuated by + the spirit or guided by the example of Christ in the treatment + of enemies; therefore they cannot be agreeable to the will of + God, and therefore their overthrow by a spiritual regeneration + of their subjects is inevitable. + + "We regard as unchristian and unlawful not only all wars, + whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; + every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification, we regard + as unchristian and unlawful; the existence of any kind of + standing army, all military chieftains, all monuments + commemorative of victory over a fallen foe, all trophies won in + battle, all celebrations in honor of military exploits, all + appropriations for defense by arms; we regard as unchristian + and unlawful every edict of government requiring of its + subjects military service. + + "Hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms, and we cannot hold any + office which imposes on its incumbent the obligation to compel + men to do right on pain of imprisonment or death. We therefore + voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legislative and + judicial body, and repudiate all human politics, worldly + honors, and stations of authority. If we cannot occupy a seat + in the legislature or on the bench, neither can we elect others + to act as our substitutes in any such capacity. It follows + that we cannot sue any man at law to force him to return + anything he may have wrongly taken from us; if he has seized + our coat, we shall surrender him our cloak also rather than + subject him to punishment. + + "We believe that the penal code of the old covenant--an eye for + an eye, and a tooth for a tooth--has been abrogated by Jesus + Christ, and that under the new covenant the forgiveness instead + of the punishment of enemies has been enjoined on all his + disciples in all cases whatsoever. To extort money from + enemies, cast them into prison, exile or execute them, is + obviously not to forgive but to take retribution. + + "The history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that + physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration, and + that the sinful dispositions of men can be subdued only by + love; that evil can be exterminated only by good; that it is + not safe to rely upon the strength of an arm to preserve us + from harm; that there is great security in being gentle, + long-suffering, and abundant in mercy; that it is only the meek + who shall inherit the earth; for those who take up the sword + shall perish by the sword. + + "Hence as a measure of sound policy--of safety to property, + life, and liberty--of public quietude and private enjoyment--as + well as on the ground of allegiance to Him who is King of kings + and Lord of lords, we cordially adopt the non-resistance + principle, being confident that it provides for all possible + consequences, is armed with omnipotent power, and must + ultimately triumph over every assailing force. + + "We advocate no Jacobinical doctrines. The spirit of + Jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation, violence, and murder. + It neither fears God nor regards man. We would be filled with + the spirit of Christ. If we abide evil by our fundamental + principle of not opposing evil by evil we cannot participate in + sedition, treason, or violence. We shall submit to every + ordinance and every requirement of government, except such as + are contrary to the commands of the Gospel, and in no case + resist the operation of law, except by meekly submitting to the + penalty of disobedience. + + "But while we shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance + and passive submission to enemies, we purpose, in a moral and + spiritual sense, to assail iniquity in high places and in low + places, to apply our principles to all existing evil, + political, legal, and ecclesiastical institutions, and to + hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world will have + become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. It appears to us + a self-evident truth that whatever the Gospel is designed to + destroy at any period of the world, being contrary to it, ought + now to be abandoned. If, then, the time is predicted when + swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning + hooks, and men shall not learn the art of war any more, it + follows that all who manufacture, sell, or wield these deadly + weapons do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion + of the Son of God on earth. + + "Having thus stated our principles, we proceed to specify the + measures we propose to adopt in carrying our object into + effect. + + "We expect to prevail through the Foolishness of Preaching. We + shall endeavor to promulgate our views among all persons, to + whatever nation, sect, or grade of society they may belong. + Hence we shall organize public lectures, circulate tracts and + publications, form societies, and petition every governing + body. It will be our leading object to devise ways and means + for effecting a radical change in the views, feelings, and + practices of society respecting the sinfulness of war and the + treatment of enemies. + + "In entering upon the great work before us, we are not + unmindful that in its prosecution we may be called to test + our sincerity even as in a fiery ordeal. It may subject us to + insult, outrage, suffering, yea, even death itself. We + anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, + and calumny. Tumults may arise against us. The proud and + pharisaical, the ambitious and tyrannical, principalities and + powers, may combine to crush us. So they treated the Messiah + whose example we are humbly striving to imitate. We shall not + be afraid of their terror. Our confidence is in the Lord + Almighty and not in man. Having withdrawn from human + protection, what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes + the world? We shall not think it strange concerning the fiery + trial which is to try us, but rejoice inasmuch as we are + partakers of Christ's sufferings. + + "Wherefore we commit the keeping of our souls to God. For every + one that forsakes houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, + or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for Christ's sake, + shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting + life. + + "Firmly relying upon the certain and universal triumph of the + sentiments contained in this declaration, however formidable + may be the opposition arrayed against them, we hereby affix our + signatures to it; commending it to the reason and conscience of + mankind, and resolving, in the strength of the Lord God, to + calmly and meekly abide the issue." + +Immediately after this declaration a Society for Non-resistance was +founded by Garrison, and a journal called the NON-RESISTANT, in +which the doctrine of non-resistance was advocated in its full +significance and in all its consequences, as it had been expounded +in the declaration. Further information as to the ultimate +destiny of the society and the journal I gained from the excellent +biography of W. L. Garrison, the work of his son. + +The society and the journal did not exist for long. The +greater number of Garrison's fellow-workers in the movement for +the liberation of the slaves, fearing that the too radical +programme of the journal, the NON-RESISTANT, might keep people +away from the practical work of negro-emancipation, gave up the +profession of the principle of non-resistance as it had been +expressed in the declaration, and both society and journal ceased +to exist. + +This declaration of Garrison's gave so powerful and eloquent an +expression of a confession of faith of such importance to men, +that one would have thought it must have produced a strong +impression on people, and have become known throughout the world +and the subject of discussion on every side. But nothing of the +kind occurred. Not only was it unknown in Europe, even the +Americans, who have such a high opinion of Garrison, hardly knew +of the declaration. + +Another champion of non-resistance has been overlooked in the same +way--the American Adin Ballou, who lately died, after spending fifty +years in preaching this doctrine. Lord God, to calmly and meekly abide +the doctrine. How great the ignorance is of everything relating to the +question of non-resistance may be seen from the fact that Garrison the +son, who has written an excellent biography of his father in four great +volumes, in answer to my inquiry whether there are existing now +societies for non-resistance, and adherents of the doctrine, told me +that as far as he knew that society had broken up, and that there were +no adherents of that doctrine, while at the very time when he was +writing to me there was living, at Hopedale in Massachusetts, Adin +Ballou, who had taken part in the labors of Garrison the father, and had +devoted fifty years of his life to advocating, both orally and in print, +the doctrine of non-resistance. Later on I received a letter from Wilson, +a pupil and colleague of Ballou's, and entered into correspondence with +Ballou himself. I wrote to Ballou, and he answered me and sent me his +works. Here is the summary of some extracts from them: + + "Jesus Christ is my Lord and teacher," says Ballou in one of + his essays exposing the inconsistency of Christians who allowed + a right of self-defense and of warfare. "I have promised + leaving all else, to follow good and through evil, to death + itself. But I am a citizen of the democratic republic of the + United States; and in allegiance to it I have sworn to defend + the Constitution of my country, if need be, with my life. + Christ requires of me to do unto others as I would they should + do unto me. The Constitution of the United States requires of + me to do unto two millions of slaves [at that time there were + slaves; now one might venture to substitute the word + 'laborers'] the very opposite of what I would they should do + unto me--that is to help to keep them in their present + condition of slavery. And, in spite of this, I continue to + elect or be elected, I propose to vote, I am even ready to be + appointed to any office under government. That will not hinder + me from being a Christian. I shall still profess Christianity, + and shall find no difficulty in carrying out my covenant + with Christ and with the government. + + "Jesus Christ forbids me to resist evil doers, and to take from + them an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, bloodshed for + bloodshed, and life for life. + + "My government demands from me quite the opposite, and bases a + system of self-defense on gallows, musket, and sword, to be + used against its foreign and domestic foes. And the land is + filled accordingly with gibbets, prisons, arsenals, ships of + war, and soldiers. + + "In the maintenance and use of these expensive appliances for + murder, we can very suitably exercise to the full the virtues + of forgiveness to those who injure us, love toward our enemies, + blessings to those who curse us, and doing good to those who + hate us. + + "For this we have a succession of Christian priests to pray for + us and beseech the blessing of Heaven on the holy work of + slaughter. + + "I see all this (i. e., the contradiction between profession and + practice), and I continue to profess religion and take part in + government, and pride myself on being at the same time a devout + Christian and a devoted servant of the government. I do not + want to agree with these senseless notions of non-resistance. + I cannot renounce my authority and leave only immoral men in + control of the government. The Constitution says the + government has the right to declare war, and I assent to this + and support it, and swear that I will support it. And I do not + for that cease to be a Christian. War, too, is a Christian + duty. Is it not a Christian duty to kill hundreds of thousands + of one's fellow-men, to outrage women, to raze and burn towns, + and to practice every possible cruelty? It is time to dismiss + all these false sentimentalities. It is the truest means of + forgiving injuries and loving enemies. If we only do it in the + spirit of love, nothing can be more Christian than such + murder." + +In another pamphlet, entitled "How many Men are Necessary to +Change a Crime into a Virtue?" he says: "One man may not kill. If +he kills a fellow-creature, he is a murderer. If two, ten, a +hundred men do so, they, too, are murderers. But a government or +a nation may kill as many men as it chooses, and that will not be +murder, but a great and noble action. Only gather the people +together on a large scale, and a battle of ten thousand men +becomes an innocent action. But precisely how many people must +there be to make it so?--that is the question. One man cannot +plunder and pillage, but a whole nation can. But precisely how +many are needed to make it permissible? Why is it that one man, +ten, a hundred, may not break the law of God, but a great number +may?" + +And here is a version of Ballou's catechism composed for his +flock: + + CATECHISM OF NON-RESISTANCE. + + Q. Whence is the word "non-resistance" derived? + + A. From the command, "Resist not evil." (M. v. 39.) + + Q. What does this word express? + + A. It expresses a lofty Christian virtue enjoined on us by + Christ. + + Q. Ought the word "non-resistance" to be taken in its widest + sense--that is to say, as intending that we should not offer + any resistance of any kind to evil? + + A. No; it ought to be taken in the exact sense of our Saviour's + teaching--that is, not repaying evil for evil. We ought to + oppose evil by every righteous means in our power, but not by + evil. + + Q. What is there to show that Christ enjoined non-resistance in + that sense? + + A. It is shown by the words he uttered at the same time. He + said: "Ye have heard, it was said of old, An eye for an eye, + and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you Resist not evil. + But if one smites thee on the right cheek, turn him the other + also; and if one will go to law with thee to take thy coat from + thee, give him thy cloak also." + + Q. Of whom was he speaking in the words, "Ye have heard it was + said of old"? + + A. Of the patriarchs and the prophets, contained in the Old + Testament, which the Hebrews ordinarily call the Law and the + Prophets. + + Q. What utterances did Christ refer to in the words, "It was + said of old"? + + A. The utterances of Noah, Moses, and the other prophets, in + which they admit the right of doing bodily harm to those who + inflict harm, so as to punish and prevent evil deeds. + + Q. Quote such utterances. + + A. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be + shed."--GEN. ix. 6. + + "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to + death... And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life + for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for + foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." + --Ex. xxi. 12 and 23-25. + + "He that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And if + a man cause a blemish in his neighbor, as he hath done, so + shall it be done unto him: breach for breach, eye for eye, + tooth for tooth."--LEV. xxiv. 17, 19, 20. + + "Then the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, + if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely + against his brother, then shall ye do unto him as he had + thought to have done unto his brother... And thine eye shall not + pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, + hand for hand, foot for foot."--DEUT. xix. 18, 21. + + Noah, Moses, and the Prophets taught that he who kills, maims, + or injures his neighbors does evil. To resist such evil, and + to prevent it, the evil doer must be punished with death, or + maiming, or some physical injury. Wrong must be opposed by + wrong, murder by murder, injury by injury, evil by evil. Thus + taught Noah, Moses, and the Prophets. But Christ rejects all + this. "I say unto you," is written in the Gospel, "resist not + evil," do not oppose injury with injury, but rather bear + repeated injury from the evil doer. What was permitted is + forbidden. When we understand what kind of resistance they + taught, we know exactly what resistance Christ forbade. + + Q. Then the ancients allowed the resistance of injury by + injury? + + A. Yes. But Jesus forbids it. The Christian has in no case the + right to put to death his neighbor who has done him evil, or to + do him injury in return. + + Q. May he kill or maim him in self-defense? + + A. No. + + Q. May he go with a complaint to the judge that he who has + wronged him may be punished? + + A. No. What he does through others, he is in reality doing + himself. + + Q. Can he fight in conflict with foreign enemies or disturbers + of the peace? + + A. Certainly not. He cannot take any part in war or in + preparations for war. He cannot make use of a deadly weapon. + He cannot oppose injury to injury, whether he is alone or with + others, either in person or through other people. + + Q. Can he voluntarily vote or furnish soldiers for the + government? + + A. He can do nothing of that kind if he wishes to be faithful + to Christ's law. + + Q. Can he voluntarily give money to aid a government resting on + military force, capital punishment, and violence in general? + + A. No, unless the money is destined for some special object, + right in itself, and good both in aim and means. + + Q. Can he pay taxes to such a government? + + A. No; he ought not voluntarily to pay taxes, but he ought not + to resist the collecting of taxes. A tax is levied by the + government, and is exacted independently of the will of the + subject. It is impossible to resist it without having recourse + to violence of some kind. Since the Christian cannot employ + violence, he is obliged to offer his property at once to the + loss by violence inflicted on it by the authorities. + + Q. Can a Christian give a vote at elections, or take part in + government or law business? + + A. No; participation in election, government, or law business + is participation in government by force. + + Q. Wherein lies the chief significance of the doctrine of + non-resistance? + + A. In the fact that it alone allows of the possibility of + eradicating evil from one's own heart, and also from one's + neighbor's. This doctrine forbids doing that whereby evil has + endured for ages and multiplied in the world. He who attacks + another and injures him, kindles in the other a feeling of + hatred, the root of every evil. To injure another because he + has injured us, even with the aim of overcoming evil, is + doubling the harm for him and for oneself; it is begetting, or + at least setting free and inciting, that evil spirit which we + should wish to drive out. Satan can never be driven out by + Satan. Error can never be corrected by error, and evil cannot + be vanquished by evil. + + True non-resistance is the only real resistance to evil. It is + crushing the serpent's head. It destroys and in the end + extirpates the evil feeling. + + Q. But if that is the true meaning of the rule of non-resistance, + can it always put into practice? + + A. It can be put into practice like every virtue enjoined by + the law of God. A virtue cannot be practiced in all + circumstances without self-sacrifice, privation, suffering, and + in extreme cases loss of life itself. But he who esteems life + more than fulfilling the will of God is already dead to the + only true life. Trying to save his life he loses it. Besides, + generally speaking, where non-resistance costs the sacrifice of + a single life or of some material welfare, resistance costs a + thousand such sacrifices. + + Non-resistance is Salvation; Resistance is Ruin. + + It is incomparably less dangerous to act justly than unjustly, + to submit to injuries than to resist them with violence, less + dangerous even in one's relations to the present life. If all + men refused to resist evil by evil our world would be happy. + + Q. But so long as only a few act thus, what will happen to + them? + + A. If only one man acted thus, and all the rest agreed + to crucify him, would it not be nobler for him to die in the + glory of non-resisting love, praying for his enemies, than to + live to wear the crown of Caesar stained with the blood of the + slain? However, one man, or a thousand men, firmly resolved + not to oppose evil by evil are far more free from danger by + violence than those who resort to violence, whether among + civilized or savage neighbors. The robber, the murderer, and + the cheat will leave them in peace, sooner than those who + oppose them with arms, and those who take up the sword shall + perish by the sword, but those who seek after peace, and behave + kindly and harmlessly, forgiving and forgetting injuries, for + the most part enjoy peace, or, if they die, they die blessed. + In this way, if all kept the ordinance of non-resistance, there + would obviously be no evil nor crime. If the majority acted + thus they would establish the rule of love and good will even + over evil doers, never opposing evil with evil, and never + resorting to force. If there were a moderately large minority + of such men, they would exercise such a salutary moral + influence on society that every cruel punishment would be + abolished, and violence and feud would be replaced by peace and + love. Even if there were only a small minority of them, they + would rarely experience anything worse than the world's + contempt, and meantime the world, though unconscious of it, and + not grateful for it, would be continually becoming wiser and + better for their unseen action on it. And if in the worst case + some members of the minority were persecuted to death, in dying + for the truth they would have left behind them their doctrine, + sanctified by the blood of their martyrdom. Peace, then, to + all who seek peace, and may overruling love be the imperishable + heritage of every soul who obeys willingly Christ's word, + "Resist not evil." + + ADIN BALLOU. + +For fifty years Ballou wrote and published books dealing +principally with the question of non-resistance to evil by force. +In these works, which are distinguished by the clearness of their +thought and eloquence of exposition, the question is looked at +from every possible side, and the binding nature of this command +on every Christian who acknowledges the Bible as the revelation of +God is firmly established. All the ordinary objections to the +doctrine of non-resistance from the Old and New Testaments are +brought forward, such as the expulsion of the moneychangers from +the Temple, and so on, and arguments follow in disproof of them +all. The practical reasonableness of this rule of conduct is +shown independently of Scripture, and all the objections +ordinarily made against its practicability are stated and refuted. +Thus one chapter in a book of his treats of non-resistance in +exceptional cases, and he owns in this connection that if there +were cases in which the rule of non-resistance were impossible of +application, it would prove that the law was not universally +authoritative. Quoting these cases, he shows that it is precisely +in them that the application of the rule is both necessary and +reasonable. There is no aspect of the question, either on his +side or on his opponents', which he has not followed up in his +writings. I mention all this to show the unmistakable interest +which such works ought to have for men who make a profession of +Christianity, and because one would have thought Ballou's work +would have been well known, and the ideas expressed by him would +lave been either accepted or refuted; but such has not been the +case. + +The work of Garrison, the father, in his foundation of the Society +of Non-resistants and his Declaration, even more than my +correspondence with the Quakers, convinced me of the fact that the +departure of the ruling form of Christianity from the law of +Christ on non-resistance by force is an error that has long been +observed and pointed out, and that men have labored, and are still +laboring, to correct. Ballou's work confirmed me still more in +this view. But the fate of Garrison, still more that of Ballou, +in being completely unrecognized in spite of fifty years of +obstinate and persistent work in the same direction, confirmed me +in the idea that there exists a kind of tacit but steadfast +conspiracy of silence about all such efforts. + +Ballou died in August, 1890, and there was as obituary notice of him in +an American journal of Christian views (RELIGIO-PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL, +August 23). In this laudatory notice it is recorded that Ballou was the +spiritual director of a parish, that he delivered from eight to nine +thousand sermons, married one thousand couples, and wrote about five +hundred articles; but there is not a single word said of the object to +which he devoted his life; even the word "non-resistance" is not +mentioned. Precisely as it was with all the preaching of the Quakers for +two hundred years and, too, with the efforts of Garrison the father, the +foundation of his society and journal, and his Declaration, so it is +with the life-work of Ballou. It seems just as though it did not exist +and never had existed. + +We have an astounding example of the obscurity of works which aim +at expounding the doctrine of non-resistance to evil by force, and +at confuting those who do not recognize this commandment, in the +book of the Tsech Helchitsky, which has only lately been noticed +and has not hitherto been printed. + +Soon after the appearance of my book in German, I received a +letter from Prague, from a professor of the university there, +informing me of the existence of a work, never yet printed, by +Helchitsky, a Tsech of the fifteenth century, entitled "The Net of +Faith." In this work, the professor told me, Helchitsky expressed +precisely the same view as to true and false Christianity as I had +expressed in my book "What I Believe." The professor wrote to me +that Helchitsky's work was to be published for the first time in +the Tsech language in the JOURNAL OF THE PETERSBURG ACADEMY OF +SILENCE. Since I could not obtain the book itself, I tried to +make myself acquainted with what was known of Helchitsky, and I +gained the following information from a German book sent me by the +Prague professor and from Pypin's history of Tsech literature. +This was Pypin's account: + + "'The Net of Faith' is Christ's teaching, which ought to draw + man up out of the dark depths of the sea of worldliness and his + own iniquity. True faith consists in believing God's Word; but + now a time has come when men mistake the true faith for heresy, + and therefore it is for the reason to point out what the true + faith consists in, if anyone does not know this. It is hidden + in darkness from men, and they do not recognize the true law of + Christ. + + "To make this law plain, Helchitsky points to the primitive + organization of Christian society--the organization which, he + says, is now regarded in the Roman Church as an abominable + heresy. This Primitive Church was his special ideal of social + organization, founded on equality, liberty, and fraternity. + Christianity, in Helchitsky's view, still preserves these + elements, and it is only necessary for society to return to its + pure doctrine to render unnecessary every other form of social + order in which kings and popes are essential; the law of love + would alone be sufficient in every case. + + "Historically, Helchitsky attributes the degeneration of + Christianity to the times of Constantine the Great, whom he + Pope Sylvester admitted into the Christian Church with all his + heathen morals and life. Constantine, in his turn, endowed the + Pope with worldly riches and power. From that time forward + these two ruling powers were constantly aiding one another to + strive for nothing but outward glory. Divines and + ecclesiastical dignitaries began to concern themselves only + about subduing the whole world to their authority, incited men + against one another to murder and plunder, and in creed and + life reduced Christianity to a nullity. Helchitsky denies + completely the right to make war and to inflict the punishment + of death; every soldier, even the 'knight,' is only a violent + evil doer--a murderer." + +The same account is given by the German book, with the addition of +a few biographical details and some extracts from Helchitsky's +writings. + +Having learnt the drift of Helchitsky's teaching in this way, I +awaited all the more impatiently the appearance of "The Net of +Faith" in the journal of the Academy. But one year passed, then +two and three, and still the book did not appear. It was only in 1888 +that I learned that the printing of the book, which had been +begun, was stopped. I obtained the proofs of what had been +printed and read them through. It is a marvelous book from every +point of view. + +Its general tenor is given with perfect accuracy by Pypin. +Helchitsky's fundamental idea is that Christianity, by allying +itself with temporal power in the days of Constantine, and by +continuing to develop in such conditions, has become completely +distorted, and has ceased to be Christian altogether. Helchitsky +gave the title "The Net of Faith" to his book, taking as his motto +the verse of the Gospel about the calling of the disciples to be +fishers of men; and, developing this metaphor, he says: + + "Christ, by means of his disciples, would have caught all the + world in his net of faith, but the greater fishes broke the net + and escaped out of it, and all the rest have slipped through + the holes made by the greater fishes, so that the net has + remained quite empty. The greater fishes who broke the net are + the rulers, emperors, popes, kings, who have not renounced + power, and instead of true Christianity have put on what is + simply a mask of it." + +Helchitsky teaches precisely what has been and is taught in these +days by the non-resistant Mennonites and Quakers, and in former +tunes by the Bogomilites, Paulicians, and many others. He teaches +that Christianity, expecting from its adherents gentleness, +meekness, peaceableness, forgiveness of injuries, turning the +other cheek when one is struck, and love for enemies, is +inconsistent with the use of force, which is an indispensable +condition of authority. + +The Christian, according to Helchitsky's reasoning, not only +cannot be a ruler or a soldier; he cannot take any part in +government nor in trade, or even be a landowner; he can only be an +artisan or a husbandman. + +This book is one of the few works attacking official Christianity +which has escaped being burned. All such so-called heretical +works were burned at the stake, together with their authors, so +that there are few ancient works exposing the errors of official +Christianity. The book has a special interest for this reason +alone. But apart from its interest from every point of view, it +is one of the most remarkable products of thought for its depth of +aim, for the astounding strength and beauty of the national +language in which it is written, and for its antiquity. And yet +for more than four centuries it has remained unprinted, and is +still unknown, except to a few learned specialists. + +One would have thought that all such works, whether of the +Quakers, of Garrison, of Ballou, or of Helchitsky, asserting and +proving as they do, on the principles of the Gospel, that our +modern world takes a false view of Christ's teaching, would have +awakened interest, excitement, talk, and discussion among +spiritual teachers and their flocks alike. + +Works of this kind, dealing with the very essence of Christian +doctrine, ought, one would have thought, to have been examined and +accepted as true, or refuted and rejected. But nothing of the +kind has occurred, and the same fate has been repeated with all +those works. Men of the most diverse views, believers, and, what +is surprising, unbelieving liberals also, as though by agreement, +all preserve the same persistent silence about them, and all that +has been done by people to explain the true meaning of Christ's +doctrine remains either ignored or forgotten. + +But it is still more astonishing that two other books, of +which I heard on the appearance of my book, should be so little +known, I mean Dymond's book "On War," published for the first time +in London in 1824, and Daniel Musser's book on "Non-resistance," +written in 1864. It is particularly astonishing that these books +should be unknown, because, apart from their intrinsic merits, +both books treat not so much of the theory as of the practical +application of the theory to life, of the attitude of Christianity +to military service, which is especially important and interesting +now in these clays of universal conscription. + +People will ask, perhaps: How ought a subject to behave who +believes that war is inconsistent with his religion while the +government demands from him that he should enter military service? + +This question is, I think, a most vital one, and the answer to it +is specially important in these days of universal conscription. +All--or at least the great majority of the people--are Christians, +and all men are called upon for military service. How ought a +man, as a Christian, to meet this demand? This is the gist of +Dymond's answer: + + "His duty is humbly but steadfastly to refuse to serve." + +There are some people, who, without any definite reasoning about +it, conclude straightway that the responsibility of government +measures rests entirely on those who resolve on them, or that the +governments and sovereigns decide the question of what is good or +bad for their subjects, and the duty of the subjects is merely to +obey. I think that arguments of this kind only obscure men's +conscience. I cannot take part in the councils of government, and +therefore I am not responsible for its misdeeds.. Indeed, but we +are responsible for our own misdeeds. And the misdeeds of our +rulers become our own, if we, knowing that they are misdeeds, +assist in carrying, them out. Those who suppose that they are +bound to obey the government, and that the responsibility for the +misdeeds they commit is transferred from them to their rulers, +deceive themselves. They say: "We give our acts up to the will +of others, and our acts cannot be good or bad; there is no merit +in what is good nor responsibility for what is evil in our +actions, since they are not done of our own will." + +It is remarkable that the very same thing is said in the +instructions to soldiers which they make them learn--that is, that +the officer is alone responsible for the consequences of his +command. But this is not right. A man cannot get rid of the +responsibility, for his own actions. And that is clear from the +following example. If your officer commands you to kill your +neighbor's child, to kill your father or your mother, would you +obey? If you would not obey, the whole argument falls to the +ground, for if you can disobey the governors in one case, where do +you draw the line up to which you can obey them? There is no line +other than that laid down by Christianity, and that line is both +reasonable and practicable. + +And therefore we consider it the duty of every man who thinks war +inconsistent with Christianity, meekly but firmly to refuse to +serve in the army. And let those whose lot it is to act thus, +remember that the fulfillment of a great duty rests with them. +The destiny of humanity in the world depends, so far as it depends +on men at all, on their fidelity to their religion. Let them +confess their conviction, and stand up for it, and not in words +alone, but in sufferings too, if need be. If you believe that +Christ forbade murder, pay no heed to the arguments nor to the +commands of those who call on you to bear a hand in it. By such a +steadfast refusal to make use of force, you call down on +yourselves the blessing promised to those "who hear these sayings +and do them," and the time will come when the world will recognize +you as having aided in the reformation of mankind. + +Musser's book is called "Non-resistance Asserted," or "Kingdom of +Christ and Kingdoms of this World Separated." This book is +devoted to the same question, and was written when the American +Government was exacting military service from its citizens at the +time of the Civil War. And it has, too, a value for all time, +dealing with the question how, in such circumstances, people +should and can refuse to enter military service. Here is the tenor +of the author's introductory remarks: + + "It is well known that there are many persons in the United + States who refuse to fight on grounds of conscience. They are + called the 'defenseless,' or 'non-resistant' Christians. These + Christians refuse to defend their country, to bear arms, or at + the call of government to make war on its enemies. Till lately + this religious scruple seemed a valid excuse to the government, + and those who urged it were let off service. But at the + beginning of our Civil War public opinion was agitated on this + subject. It was natural that persons who considered it their + duty to bear all the hardships and dangers of war in defense of + their country should feel resentment against those persons who + had for long shared with them the advantages of the protection + of government, and who now in time of need and danger would not + share in bearing the labors and dangers of its defense. It was + even natural that they should declare the attitude of such men + monstrous, irrational, and suspicious." + +A host of orators and writers, our author tells us, arose to oppose this +attitude, and tried to prove the sinfulness of non-resistance, both from +Scripture and on common-sense grounds. And this was perfectly natural, +and in many cases the authors were right--right, that is, in regard to +persons who did not renounce the benefits they received from the +government and tried to avoid the hardships of military service, but not +right in regard to the principle of non-resistance itself. Above all, +our author proves the binding nature of the rule of non-resistance for a +Christian, pointing out that this command is perfectly clear, and is +enjoined upon every Christian by Christ without possibility of +misinterpretation. "Bethink yourselves whether it is righteous to obey +man more than God," said Peter and John. And this is precisely what +ought to be the attitude to every man who wishes to be Christian to the +claim on him for military service, when Christ has said, "Resist not +evil by force." As for the question of the principle itself, the author +regards that as decided. As to the second question, whether people have +the right to refuse to serve in the army who have not refused the +benefits conferred by a government resting on force, the author +considers it in detail, and arrives at the conclusion that a Christian +following the law of Christ, since he does not go to war, ought not +either to take advantage of any institutions of government, courts of +law, or elections, and that in his private concerns he must not have +recourse to the authorities, the police, or the law. Further on in the +book he treats of the relation of the Old Testament to the New, the +value of government for those who are Christians, and makes some +observations on the doctrine of non-resistance and the attacks made on +it. The author concludes his book by saying: "Christians do not need +government, and therefore they cannot either obey it in what is contrary +to Christ's teaching nor, still less, take part in it." Christ took his +disciples out of the world, he says. They do not expect worldly +blessings and worldly happiness, but they expect eternal life. The +Spirit in whom they live makes them contented and happy in every +position. If the world tolerates them, they are always happy. If the +world will not leave them in peace, they will go elsewhere, since they +are pilgrims on the earth and they have no fixed place of habitation. +They believe that "the dead may bury their dead." One thing only is +needful for them, "to follow their Master." + +Even putting aside the question as to the principle laid down in these +two books as to the Christian's duty in his attitude to war, one cannot +help perceiving the practical importance and the urgent need of deciding +the question. + +There are people, hundreds of thousands of Quakers, Mennonites, +all our Douhobortsi, Molokani, and others who do not belong to any +definite sect, who consider that the use of force--and, +consequently, military service--is inconsistent with Christianity. +Consequently there are every year among us in Russia some men +called upon for military service who refuse to serve on the ground +of their religious convictions. Does the government let them off +then? No. Does it compel them to go, and in case of disobedience +punish them? No. This was how the government treated them in +1818. Here is an extract from the diary of Nicholas Myravyov of +Kars, which was not passed by the censor, and is not known in +Russia: + + "Tiflis, October 2, 1818. + + "In the morning the commandant told me that five peasants + belonging to a landowner in the Tamboff government had lately + been sent to Georgia. These men had been sent for soldiers, + but they would not serve; they had been several times flogged + and made to run the gauntlet, but they would submit readily to + the cruelest tortures, and even to death, rather than serve. + 'Let us go,' they said, 'and leave us alone; we will not hurt + anyone; all men are equal, and the Tzar is a man like us; why + should we pay him tribute; why should I expose my life to + danger to kill in battle some man who has done me no harm? You + can cut us to pieces and we will not be soldiers. He who has + compassion on us will give us charity, but as for the + government rations, we have not had them and we do not want to + have them.' These were the words of those peasants, who declare + that there are numbers like them Russia. They brought them + four times before the Committee of Ministers, and at last + decided to lay the matter before the Tzar who gave orders that + they should be taken to Georgia for correction, and commanded + the commander-in-chief to send him a report every month of + their gradual success in bringing these peasants to a better + mind." + +How the correction ended is not known, as the whole episode indeed +was unknown, having been kept in profound secrecy. + +This was how the government behaved seventy-five years ago--this +is how it has behaved in a great cumber of cases, studiously +concealed from the people. And this is how the government behaves +now, except in the case of the German Mennonites, living in the +province of Kherson, whose plea against military service is +considered well grounded. They are made to work off their term of +service in labor in the forests. + +But in the recent cases of refusal on the part of Mennonites to +serve in the army on religious grounds, the government authorities +have acted in the following manner: + +To begin with, they have recourse to every means of coercion used +in our times to "correct" the culprit and bring him to "a better +mind," and these measures are carried out with the greatest +secrecy. I know that in the case of one man who declined to serve +in 1884 in Moscow, the official correspondence on the subject had +two months after his refusal accumulated into a big folio, and was +kept absolutely secret among the Ministry. + +They usually begin by sending the culprit to the priests, and the +latter, to their shame be it said, always exhort him to obedience. +But since the exhortation in Christ's name to forswear Christ is +for the most part unsuccessful, after he has received the +admonitions of the spiritual authorities, they send him to the +gendarmes, and the latter, finding, as a rule, no political cause +for offense in him, dispatch him back again, and then he is sent +to the learned men, to the doctors, and to the madhouse. During +all these vicissitudes he is deprived of liberty and has to endure +every kind of humiliation and suffering as a convicted criminal. +(All this has been repeated in four cases.) The doctors let him +out of the madhouse, and then every kind of secret shift is +employed to prevent him from going free--whereby others would be +encouraged to refuse to serve as he has done--and at the same time +to avoid leaving him among the soldiers, for fear they too should +learn from him that military service is not at all their duty by +the law of God, as they are assured, but quite contrary to it. + +The most convenient thing for the government would be to kill the +non-resistant by flogging him to death or some other means, as was +done in former days. But to put a man openly to death because he +believes in the creed we all confess is impossible. To let a man +alone who has refused obedience is also impossible. And so the +government tries either to compel the man by ill-treatment to +renounce Christ, or in some way or other to get rid of him +unobserved, without openly putting him to death, and to hide +somehow both the action and the man himself from other people. +And so all kinds of shifts and wiles and cruelties are set on foot +against him. They either send him to the frontier or provoke him +to insubordination, and then try him for breach of discipline and +shut him up in the prison of the disciplinary battalion, where +they can ill treat him freely unseen by anyone, or they declare +him mad, and lock him up in a lunatic asylum. They sent one man +in this way to Tashkend--that is, they pretended to transfer to +the Tashkend army; another to Omsk; a third him they convicted of +insubordination and shut up in prison; a fourth they sent to a +lunatic asylum. + +Everywhere the same story is repeated. Not only the government, +but the great majority of liberal, advanced people, as they are +called, studiously turn away from everything that has been said, +written, or done, or is being done by men to prove the +incompatibility of force in its most awful, gross, and glaring +form--in the form, that is, of an army of soldiers prepared to +murder anyone, whoever it may be--with the teachings of +Christianity, or even of the humanity which society professes as +its creed. + +So that the information I have gained of the attitude of the +higher ruling classes, not only in Russia but in Europe and +America, toward the elucidation of this question has convinced me +that there exists in these ruling classes a consciously hostile +attitude to true Christianity, which is shown pre-eminently in +their reticence in regard to all manifestations of it. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CRITICISMS OF THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE ON +THE PART OF BELIEVERS AND OF UNBELIEVERS. + +Fate of the Book "What I Believe"--Evasive Character of Religious +Criticisms of Principles of my Book--1st Reply: Use of Force +not Opposed to Christianity--2d Reply: Use of Force Necessary +to Restrain Evil Doers--3d Reply: Duty of Using Force in +Defense of One's Neighbor--4th Reply: The Breach of the Command +of Non-resistance to be Regarded Simply as a Weakness--5th +Reply: Reply Evaded by Making Believe that the Question has +long been Decided--To Devise such Subterfuges and to take +Refuge Behind the Authority of the Church, of Antiquity, and of +Religion is all that Ecclesiastical Critics can do to get out +of the Contradiction between Use of Force and Christianity in +Theory and in Practice--General Attitude of the Ecclesiastical +World and of the Authorities to Profession of True +Christianity--General Character of Russian Freethinking +Critics--Foreign Freethinking Critics--Mistaken Arguments of +these Critics the Result of Misunderstanding the True Meaning +of Christ's Teaching. + + +The impression I gained of a desire to conceal, to hush up, what I +had tried to express in my book, led me to judge the book itself +afresh. + +On its appearance it had, as I had anticipated, been forbidden, +and ought therefore by law to have been burnt. But, at the same +time, it was discussed among officials, and circulated in a great +number of manuscript and lithograph copies, and in translations +printed abroad. + +And very quickly after the book, criticisms, both religious and +secular in character, made their appearance, and these the +government tolerated, and even encouraged. So that the refutation +of a book which no one was supposed to know anything about was +even chosen as the subject for theological dissertations in the +academies. + +The criticisms of my book, Russian and foreign alike, fall under +two general divisions--the religious criticisms of men who regard +themselves as believers, and secular criticisms, that is, those of +freethinkers. + +I will begin with the first class. In my book I made it an +accusation against the teachers of the Church that their teaching +is opposed to Christ's commands clearly and definitely expressed +in the Sermon on the Mount, and opposed in especial to his command +in regard to resistance to evil, and that in this way they deprive +Christ's teaching of all value. The Church authorities accept the +teaching of the Sermon on the Mount on non-resistance to evil by +force as divine revelation; and therefore one would have thought +that if they felt called upon to write about my book at all, they +would have found it inevitable before everything else to reply to +the principal point of my charge against them, and to say plainly, +do they or do they not admit the teaching of the Sermon on the +Mount and the commandment of non-resistance to evil as binding on +a Christian. And they were bound to answer this question, not +after the usual fashion (i. e., "that although on the one side one +cannot absolutely deny, yet on the other side one cannot main +fully assent, all the more seeing that," etc., etc.). No; they +should have answered the question as plainly as it was put +in my book--Did Christ really demand from his disciples +that they should carry out what he taught them in the Sermon on +the Mount? And can a Christian, then, or can he not, always +remaining a Christian, go to law or make any use of the law, or +seek his own protection in the law? And can the Christian, or can +he not, remaining a Christian, take part in the administration of +government, using compulsion against his neighbors? And--the most +important question hanging over the heads of all of us in these +days of universal military service--can the Christian, or can he +not, remaining a Christian, against Christ's direct prohibition, +promise obedience in future actions directly opposed to his +teaching? And can he, by taking his share of service in the army, +prepare himself to murder men, and even actually murder them? + +These questions were put plainly and directly, and seemed to +require a plain and direct answer; but in all the criticisms of my +book there was no such plain and direct answer. No; my book +received precisely the same treatment as all the attacks upon the +teachers of the Church for their defection from the Law of Christ +of which history from the days of Constantine is full. + +A very great deal was said in connection with my book of my having +incorrectly interpreted this and other passages of the Gospel, of +my being in error in not recognizing the Trinity, the redemption, +and the immortality of the soul. A very great deal was said, but +not a word about the one thing which for every Christian is the +most essential question in life--how to reconcile the duty of +forgiveness, meekness, patience, and love for all, neighbors and +enemies alike, which is so clearly expressed in the words of our +teacher, and in the heart of each of us--how to reconcile this +duty with the obligation of using force in war upon men of our own +or a foreign people. + +All that are worth calling answers to this question can be brought +under the following five heads. I have tried to bring together in +this connection all I could, not only from the criticisms on my +book, but from what has been written in past times on this theme. + +The first and crudest form of reply consists in the bold assertion +that the use of force is not opposed by the teaching of Christ; +that it is permitted, and even enjoined, on the Christian by the +Old and New Testaments. + +Assertions of this kind proceed, for the most part, from men who +have attained the highest ranks in the governing or ecclesiastical +hierarchy, and who are consequently perfectly assured that no one +will dare to contradict their assertion, and that if anyone does +contradict it they will hear nothing of the contradiction. These +men have, for the most part, through the intoxication of power, so +lost the right idea of what that Christianity is in the name of +which they hold their position that what is Christian in +Christianity presents itself to them as heresy, while everything +in the Old and New Testaments which can be distorted into an +antichristian and heathen meaning they regard as the foundation of +Christianity. In support of their assertion that Christianity is +not opposed to the use of force, these men usually, with the +greatest audacity, bring together all the most obscure passages +from the Old and New Testaments, interpreting them in the most +unchristian way--the punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, of Simon +the Sorcerer, etc. They quote all those sayings of Christ's which +can possibly be interpreted as justification of cruelty: the +expulsion from the Temple; "It shall be more tolerable for the +land of Sodom than for this city," etc., etc. According to these +people's notions, a Christian government is not in the least bound +to be guided by the spirit of peace, forgiveness of injuries, and +love for enemies. + +To refute such an assertion is useless, because the very +people who make this assertion refute themselves, or, rather, +renounce Christ, inventing a Christianity and a Christ of their +own in the place of him in whose name the Church itself exists, as +well as their office in it. If all men were to learn that the +Church professes to believe in a Christ of punishment and warfare, +not of forgiveness, no one would believe in the Church and it +could not prove to anyone what it is trying to prove. + +The second, somewhat less gross, form of argument consists in +declaring that, though Christ did indeed preach that we should +turn the left cheek, and give the cloak also, and this is the +highest moral duty, yet that there are wicked men in the world, +and if these wicked men mere not restrained by force, the whole +world and all good men would come to ruin through them. This +argument I found for the first time in John Chrysostom, and I show +how he is mistaken in my book "What I believe." + +This argument is ill grounded, because if we allow ourselves to +regard any men as intrinsically wicked men, then in the first +place we annul, by so doing, the whole idea of the Christian +teaching, according to which we are all equals and brothers, as +sons of one father in heaven. Secondly, it is ill founded, +because even if to use force against wicked men had been permitted +by God, since it is impossible to find a perfect and unfailing +distinction by which one could positively know the wicked from the +good, so it would come to all individual men and societies of men +mutually regarding each other as wicked men, as is the case now. +Thirdly, even if it were possible to distinguish the wicked from +the good unfailingly, even then it would be impossible to kill or +injure or shut up in prison these wicked men, because there would +be no one in a Christian society to carry out such punishment, +since every Christian, as a Christian, has been commanded to use +no force against the wicked. + +The third kind of answer, still more subtle than the preceding, +consists in asserting that though the command of non-resistance to +evil by force is binding on the Christian when the evil is +directed against himself personally, it ceases to be binding when +the evil is directed against his neighbors, and that then the +Christian is not only not bound to fulfill the commandment, but is +even bound to act in opposition to it in defense of his neighbors, +and to use force against transgressors by force. This assertion +is an absolute assumption, and one cannot find in all Christ's +teaching any confirmation of such an argument. Such an argument +is not only a limitation, but a direct contradiction and negation +of the commandment. If every man has the right to have recourse +to force in face of a danger threatening an other, the question of +the use of force is reduced to a question of the definition of +danger for another. If my private judgment is to decide the +question of what is danger for another, there is no occasion for +the use of force which could not be justified on the ground of +danger threatening some other man. They killed and burnt witches, +they killed aristocrats and girondists, they killed their enemies +because those who were in authority regarded them as dangerous for +the people. + +If this important limitation, which fundamentally undermines the +whole value of the commandment, had entered into Christ's meaning, +there must have been mention of it somewhere. This restriction is +made nowhere in our Saviour's life or preaching. On the contrary, +warning is given precisely against this treacherous and scandalous +restriction which nullifies the commandment. The error and +impossibility of such a limitation is shown in the Gospel with +special clearness in the account of the judgment of Caiaphas, who +makes precisely this distinction. He acknowledged that it was +wrong to punish the innocent Jesus, but he saw in him a source of +danger not for himself, but for the whole people, and therefore he +said: It is better for one man to die, that the whole people +perish not. And the erroneousness of such a limitation is still +more clearly expressed in the words spoken to Peter when he tried +to resist by force evil directed against Jesus (Matt. xxvi. 52). +Peter was not defending himself, but his beloved and heavenly +Master. And Christ at once reproved him for this, saying, that he +who takes up the sword shall perish by the sword. + +Besides, apologies for violence used against one's neighbor in defense +of another neighbor from greater violence are always untrustworthy, +because when force is used against one who has not yet carried out his +evil intent, I can never know which would be greater--the evil of my act +of violence or of the act I want to prevent. We kill the criminal that +society may be rid of him, and we never know whether the criminal of +to-day would not have been a changed man tomorrow, and whether our +punishment of him is not useless cruelty. We shut up the dangerous--as +we think--member of society, but the next day this man might cease to be +dangerous and his imprisonment might be for nothing. I see that a man I +know to be a ruffian is pursuing a young girl. I have a gun in my +hand--I kill the ruffian and save the girl. But the death or the +wounding of the ruffian has positively taken place, while what would +have happened if this had not been I cannot know. And what an immense +mass of evil must result, and indeed does result, from allowing men to +assume the right of anticipating what may happen. Ninety-nine per cent +of the evil of the world is founded on this reasoning--from the +Inquisition to dynamite bombs, and the executions or punishments of tens +of thousands of political criminals. + +A fourth, still more refined, reply to the question, What ought to +be the Christian's attitude to Christ's command of non-resistance +to evil by force? consists in declaring that they do not deny the +command of non-resisting evil, but recognize it; but they only do +not ascribe to this command the special exclusive value attached +to it by sectarians. To regard this command as the indispensable +condition of Christian life, as Garrison, Ballou, Dymond, the +Quakers, the Mennonites and the Shakers do now, and as the +Moravian brothers, the Waldenses, the Albigenses, the Bogomilites, +and the Paulicians did in the past, is a one-sided heresy. This +command has neither more nor less value than all the other +commands, and the man who through weakness transgresses any +command whatever, the command of non-resistance included, does not +cease to be a Christian if he hold the true faith. This is a very +skillful device, and many people who wish to be deceived are +easily deceived by it. The device consists in reducing a direct +conscious denial of a command to a casual breach of it. But one +need only compare the attitude of the teachers of the Church to +this and to other commands which they really do recognize, to be +convinced that their attitude to this is completely different from +their attitude to other duties. + +The command against fornication they do really recognize, and +consequently they do not admit that in any case fornication can +cease to be wrong. The Church preachers never point out cases in +which the command against fornication can be broken, and always +teach that we must avoid seductions which lead to temptation to +fornication. But not so with the command of non-resistance. All +church preachers recognize cases in which that command can be +broken, and teach the people accordingly. And they not only do +not teach teat we should avoid temptations to break it, chief of +which is the military oath, but they themselves administer it. +The preachers of the Church never in any other case advocate the +breaking of any other commandment. But in connection with the +commandment of non-resistance they openly teach that we must not +understand it too literally, but that there are conditions and +circumstances in which we must do the direct opposite, that is, go +to law, fight, punish. So that occasions for fulfilling the +commandment of non-resistance to evil by force are taught for the +most part as occasions for not fulfilling it. The fulfillment of +this command, they say, is very difficult and pertains only to +perfection. And how can it not be difficult, when the breach of +it is not only not forbidden, but law courts, prisons, cannons, +guns, armies, and wars are under the immediate sanction of the +Church? It cannot be true, then, that this command is recognized +by the preachers of the Church as on a level with other commands. + +The preachers of the Church clearly, do not recognize it; only not +daring to acknowledge this, they try to conceal their not +recognizing it. + +So much for the fourth reply. + +The fifth kind of answer, which is the subtlest, the most often +used, and the most effective, consists in avoiding answering, in +making believe that this question is one which has long ago been +decided perfectly clearly and satisfactorily, and that it is not +worth while to talk about it. This method of reply is employed by +all the more or less cultivated religious writers, that is to say, +those who feel the laws of Christ binding for themselves. Knowing +that the contradiction existing between the teaching of Christ +which we profess with our lips and the whole order of our lives +cannot be removed by words, and that touching upon it can only +make it more obvious, they, with more or less ingenuity, evade it, +pretending that the question of reconciling Christianity with the +use of force has been decided already, or does not exist at all. + + [Footnote: I only know one work which differs somewhat from + this general definition, and that is not a criticism in the + precise meaning of the word, but an article treating of the + same subject and having my book in view. I mean the pamphlet + of Mr. Troizky (published at Kazan), "A Sermon for the + People." The author obviously accepts Christ's teaching in + its true meaning. He says that the prohibition of resistance + to evil by force means exactly what it does mean; and the same + with the prohibition of swearing. He does not, as others do, + deny the meaning of Christ's teaching, but unfortunately he + does not draw from this admission the inevitable deductions + which present themselves spontaneously in our life when we + understand Christ's teaching in that way. If we must not + oppose evil by force, nor swear, everyone naturally asks, + "How, then, about military service? and the oath of + obedience?" To this question the author gives no reply; but + it must be answered. And if he cannot answer, then he would + do better no to speak on the subject at all, as such silence + leads to error.] + +The majority of religious critics of my book use this fifth method +of replying to it. I could quote dozens of such critics, in all of +whom, without exception, we find the same thing repeated: +everything is discussed except what constitutes the principal +subject of the book. As a characteristic example of such +criticisms, I will quote the article of a well-known and ingenious +English writer and preacher--Farrar--who, like many learned +theologians, is a great master of the art of circuitously evading +a question. The article was published in an American journal, the +FORUM, in October, 1888. + +After conscientiously explaining in brief the contents of my book, +Farrar says: + + "Tolstoy came to the conclusion that a coarse deceit had been + palmed upon the world when these words 'Resist not evil,' were + held by civil society to be compatible with war, courts of + justice, capital punishment, divorce, oaths, national + prejudice, and, indeed, with most of the institutions of civil + and social life. He now believes that the kingdom of God would + come if all men kept these five commandments of Christ, viz.: + 1. Live in peace with all men. 2. Be pure. 3. Take no oaths. + 4. Resist not evil. 5. Renounce national distinctions. + + "Tolstoy," he says, "rejects the inspiration of the Old + Testament; hence he rejects the chief doctrines of the Church--that + of the Atonement by blood, the Trinity, the descent of the + Holy Ghost on the Apostles, and his transmission through the + priesthood." And he recognizes only the words and commands of + Christ. "But is this interpretation of Christ a true one?" he + says. "Are all men bound to act as Tolstoy teaches--i. e., to + carry out these five commandments of Christ?" + +You expect, then, that in answer to this essential question, which +is the only one that could induce a man to write an article about +the book, he will say either that this interpretation of Christ's +teaching is true and we ought to follow it, or he will say that +such an interpretation is untrue, will show why, and will give +some other correct interpretation of those words which I interpret +incorrectly. But nothing of this kind is done. Farrar only +expresses his "belief" that, + + "although actuated by the noblest sincerity, Count Tolstoy has + been misled by partial and one-sided interpretations of the + meaning of the Gospel and the mind and will of Christ." What + this error consists in is not made clear; it is only said: + "To enter into the proof of this is impossible in this article, + for I have already exceeded the space at my command." + +And he concludes in a tranquil spirit: + + "Meanwhile, the reader who feels troubled lest it should be his + duty also to forsake all the conditions of his life and to take + up the position and work of a common laborer, may rest for the + present on the principle, SECURUS JUDICAT ORBIS TERRARUM. With + few and rare exceptions," he continues, "the whole of + Christendom, from the days of the Apostles down to our own, has + come to the firm conclusion that it was the object of Christ to + lay down great eternal principles, but not to disturb the bases + and revolutionize the institutions of all human society, which + themselves rest on divine sanctions as well as on inevitable + conditions. Were it my object to prove how untenable is the + doctrine of communism, based by Count Tolstoy upon the divine + paradoxes [sic], which can be interpreted only on historical + principles in accordance with the whole method of the teaching + of Jesus, it would require an ampler canvas than I have here at + my disposal." + +What a pity he has not an "ampler canvas at his disposal"! And what a +strange thing it is that for all these last fifteen centuries no one has +had a "canvas ample enough" to prove that Christ, whom we profess to +believe in, says something utterly unlike what he does say! Still, they +could prove it if they wanted to. But it is not worth while to prove +what everyone knows; it is enough to say "SECURUS JUDICAT ORBIS +TERRARUM." + +And of this kind, without exception, are all the criticisms of educated +believers, who must, as such, understand the danger of their position. +The sole escape from it for them lies in their hope that they may be +able, by using the authority of the Church, of antiquity, and of their +sacred office, to overawe the reader and draw him away from the idea of +reading the Gospel for himself and thinking out the question in his own +mind for himself. And in this they are successful; for, indeed, how +could the notion occur to any one that all that has been repeated from +century to century with such earnestness and solemnity by all those +archdeacons, bishops, archbishops, holy synods, and popes, is all of it +a base lie and a calumny foisted upon Christ by them for the sake of +keeping safe the money they must have to live luxuriously on the necks +of other men? And it is a lie and a calumny so transparent that the only +way of keeping it up consists in overawing people by their earnestness, +their conscientiousness. It is just what has taken place of late years +at recruiting sessions; at a table before the zertzal--the symbol of the +Tzars authority--in the seat of honor under the life-size portrait of +the Tzar, sit dignified old officials, wearing decorations, conversing +freely and easily, writing notes, summoning men before them, and giving +orders. Here, wearing a cross on his breast, near them, is +prosperous-looking old Priest in a silken cassock, with long gray hair +flowing on to his cope; before a lectern who wears the golden cross and +has a Gospel bound in gold. + +They summon Iran Petroff. A young man comes in, wretchedly, +shabbily dressed, and in terror, the muscles of his face working, +his eyes bright and restless; and in a broken voice, hardly above +a whisper, he says: "I--by Christ's law--as a Christian--I +cannot." "What is he muttering?" asks the president, frowning +impatiently and raising his eyes from his book to listen. "Speak +louder," the colonel with shining epaulets shouts to him. "I--I as +a Christian--" And at last it appears that the young man refuses +to serve in the army because he is a Christian. "Don't talk +nonsense. Stand to be measured. Doctor, may I trouble you to +measure him. He is all right?" "Yes." "Reverend father, +administer the oath to him." + +No one is the least disturbed by what the poor scared young man is +muttering. They do not even pay attention to it. "They all mutter +something, but we've no time to listen to it, we have to enroll so +many." + +The recruit tries to say something still. "It's opposed to the +law of Christ." "Go along, go along; we know without your help +what is opposed to the law and what's not; and you soothe his +mind, reverend father, soothe him. Next: Vassily Nikitin." And +they lead the trembling youth away. And it does not strike anyone +--the guards, or Vassily Nikitin, whom they are bringing in, or +any of the spectators of this scene--that these inarticulate words +of the young man, at once suppressed by the authorities, contain +the truth, and that the loud, solemnly uttered sentences of the +calm, self-confident official and the priest are a lie and a +deception. + +Such is the impression produced not only by Farrar's article, but +by all those solemn sermons, articles, and books which make their +appearance from all sides directly there is anywhere a glimpse of +truth exposing a predominant falsehood. At once begins the series +of long, clever, ingenious, and solemn speeches and writings, +which deal with questions nearly related to the subject, but +skillfully avoid touching the subject itself. + +That is the essence of the fifth and most effective means of +getting out of the contradictions in which Church Christianity has +placed itself, by professing its faith in Christ's teaching in +words, while it denies it in its life, and teaches +people to do the same. + +Those who justify themselves by the first method, directly, +crudely asserting that Christ sanctioned violence, wars, and +murder, repudiate Christ's doctrine directly; those who find their +defense in the second, the third, or the fourth method are +confused and can easily be convicted of error; but this last +class, who do not argue, who do not condescend to argue about it, +but take shelter behind their own grandeur, and make a show of all +this having been decided by them or at least by someone long ago, +and no longer offering a possibility of doubt to anyone--they seem +safe from attack, and will be beyond attack till men come to +realize that they are under the narcotic influence exerted on them +by governments and churches, and are no longer affected by it. + +Such was the attitude of the spiritual critics--i. e., those +professing faith in Christ--to my book. And their attitude could +not have been different. They are bound to take up this attitude +by the contradictory position in which they find themselves +between belief in the divinity of their Master and disbelief in +his clearest utterances, and they want to escape from this +contradiction. So that one cannot expect from them free +discussion of the very essence of the question--that is, of the +change in men's life which must result from applying Christ's +teaching to the existing order of the world. Such free discussion +I only expected from worldly, freethinking critics who are not +bound to Christ's teaching in any way, and can therefore take an +independent view of it. I had anticipated that freethinking +writers would look at Christ, not merely, like the Churchmen, as +the founder of a religion of personal salvation, but, to express +it in their language, as a reformer who laid down new principles +of life and destroyed the old, and whose reforms are not yet +complete, but are still in progress even now. + +Such a view of Christ and his teaching follows from my book. But to my +astonishment, out of the great number of critics of my book there was +not one, either Russian or foreign, who treated the subject from the +side from which it was approached in the book--that is, who criticised +Christ's doctrines as philosophical, moral, and social principles, to +use their scientific expressions. This was not done in a single +criticism. The freethinking Russian critics taking my book as though its +whole contents could be reduced to non-resistance to evil, and +understanding the doctrine of non-resistance to evil itself (no doubt +for greater convenience in refuting it) as though it would prohibit +every kind of conflict with evil, fell vehemently upon this doctrine, +and for some years past have been very successfully proving that +Christ's teaching is mistaken in so far as it forbids resistance to +evil. Their refutations of this hypothetical doctrine of Christ were all +the more successful since they knew beforehand that their arguments +could not be contested or corrected, for the censorship, not having +passed the book, did not pass articles in its defense. + +It is a remarkable thing that among us, where one cannot say a +word about the Holy Scriptures without the prohibition of the +censorship, for some years past there have been in all the +journals constant attacks and criticisms on the command of Christ +simply and directly stated in Matt. v. 39. The Russian advanced +critics, obviously unaware of all that has been done to elucidate +the question of non-resistance, and sometimes even imagining +apparently that the rule of non-resistance to evil had been +invented by me personally, fell foul of the very idea of it. They +opposed it and attacked it, and advancing with great heat +arguments which had long ago been analyzed and refuted from every +point of view, they demonstrated that a man ought invariably to +defend (with violence) all the injured and oppressed, and that +thus the doctrine of non-resistance to evil is an immoral +doctrine. + +To all Russian critics the whole import of Christ's command seemed +reducible to the fact that it would hinder them from the active +opposition to evil to which they are accustomed. So that the +principle of non-resistance to evil by force has been attacked by +two opposing camps: the conservatives, because this principle +would hinder their activity in resistance to evil as applied to +the revolutionists, in persecution and punishment of them; the +revolutionists, too, because this principle would hinder their +resistance to evil as applied to the conservatives and the +overthrowing of them. The conservatives were indignant at the +doctrine of non-resistance to evil by force hindering the +energetic destruction of the revolutionary elements, which may +ruin the national prosperity; the revolutionists were indignant at +the doctrine of non-resistance to evil by force hindering the +overthrow of the conservatives, who are ruining the national +prosperity. It is worthy of remark in this connection that the +revolutionists have attacked the principle of non-resistance to +evil by force, in spite of the fact that it is the greatest terror +and danger for every despotism. For ever since the beginning of +the world, the use of violence of every kind, from the Inquisition +to the Schlüsselburg fortress, has rested and still rests on the +opposite principle of the necessity of resisting evil by force. + +Besides this, the Russian critics have pointed out the fact that +the application of the command of non-resistance to practical life +would turn mankind aside out of the path of civilization along +which it is moving. The path of civilization on which mankind in +Europe is moving is in their opinion the one along which all +mankind ought always to move. + +So much for the general character of the Russian critics. + +Foreign critics started from the same premises, but their +discussions of my book were somewhat different from those of +Russian critics, not only in being less bitter, and in showing +more culture, but even in the subject-matter. + +In discussing my book and the Gospel teaching generally, as it is +expressed in the Sermon on the Mount, the foreign critics +maintained that such doctrine is not peculiarly Christian +(Christian doctrine is either Catholicism or Protestantism +according to their views)--the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount +is only a string of very pretty impracticable dreams DU CHARMANT +DOCTEUR, as Reran says, fit for the simple and half-savage +inhabitants of Galilee who lived eighteen hundred years ago, and +for the half-savage Russian peasants--Sutaev and Bondarev--and the +Russian mystic Tolstoy, but not at all consistent with a high +degree of European culture. + +The foreign freethinking critics have tried in a delicate manner, +without being offensive to me, to give the impression that my +conviction that mankind could be guided by such a naïve doctrine +as that of the Sermon on the Mount proceeds from two causes: that +such a conviction is partly due to my want of knowledge, my +ignorance of history, my ignorance of all the vain attempts to +apply the principles of the Sermon on the Mount to life, which +have been made in history and have led to nothing; and partly it +is due to my failing to appreciate the full value of the lofty +civilization to which mankind has attained at present, with its +Krupp cannons, smokeless powder, colonization of Africa, Irish +Coercion Bill, parliamentary government, journalism, strikes, and +the Eiffel Tower. + +So wrote de Vogüé and Leroy Beaulieu and Matthew Arnold; so wrote +the American author Savage, and Ingersoll, the popular +freethinking American preacher, and many others. + +"Christ's teaching is no use, because it is inconsistent with our +industrial age," says Ingersoll naïvely, expressing in this +utterance, with perfect directness and simplicity, the exact +notion of Christ's teaching held by persons of refinement and +culture of our times. The teaching is no use for our industrial +age, precisely as though the existence of this industrial age were +a sacred fact which ought not to and could not be changed. It is +just as though drunkards when advised how they could be brought to +habits of sobriety should answer that the advice is incompatible +with their habit of taking alcohol. + +The arguments of all the freethinking critics, Russian and foreign +alike, different as they may be in tone and manner of +presentation, all amount essentially to the same strange +misapprehension--namely, that Christ's teaching, one of the +consequences of which is non-resistance to evil, is of no use to +us because it requires a change of our life. + +Christ's teaching is useless because, if it were carried into practice, +life could not go on as at present; we must add: if we have begun by +living sinfully, as we do live and are accustomed to live. Not only is +the question of non-resistance to evil not discussed; the very mention +of the fact that the duty of non-resistance enters into Christ's +teaching is regarded as satisfactory proof of the impracticability of +the whole teaching. + +Meanwhile one would have thought it was necessary to point out at +least some kind of solution of the following question, since it is +at the root of almost everything that interests us. + +The question amounts to this: In what way are we to decide men's +disputes, when some men consider evil what others consider good, +and VICE VERSA? And to reply that that is evil which I think +evil, in spite of the fact that my opponent thinks it good, is not +a solution of the difficulty. There can only be two solutions: +either to find a real unquestionable criterion of what is evil or +not to resist evil by force. + +The first course has been tried ever since the beginning of +historical times, and, as we all know, it has not hitherto led to +any successful results. + +The second solution--not forcibly to resist what we consider evil +until we have found a universal criterion--that is the solution +given by Christ. + +We may consider the answer given by Christ unsatisfactory; we may +replace it by another and better, by finding a criterion by which +evil could be defined for all men unanimously and simultaneously; +we may simply, like savage nations, not recognize the existence of +the question. But we cannot treat the question as the learned +critics of Christianity do. They pretend either that no such +question exists at all or that the question is solved by granting +to certain persons or assemblies of persons the right to define +evil and to resist it by force. But we know all the while that +granting such a right to certain persons does not decide the +question (still less so when we are ourselves the certain +persons), since there are always people who do not recognize this +right in the authorized persons or assemblies. + +But this assumption, that what seems evil to us is really evil, +shows a complete misunderstanding of the question, and lies at the +root of the argument of freethinking critics about the Christian +religion. In this way, then, the discussions of my book on the +part of Churchmen and freethinking critics alike showed me that +the majority of men simply do not understand either Christ's +teaching or the questions which Christ's teaching solves. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +CHRISTIANITY MISUNDERSTOOD BY BELIEVERS. + +Meaning of Christian Doctrine, Understood by a Minority, has Become +Completely Incomprehensible for the Majority of Men--Reason of this to +be Found in Misinterpretation of Christianity and Mistaken Conviction of +Believers and Unbelievers Alike that they Understand it--The Meaning of +Christianity Obscured for Believers by the Church--The First Appearance +of Christ's Teaching--Its Essence and Difference from Heathen +Religions--Christianity not Fully Comprehended at the Beginning, Became +More and More Clear to those who Accepted it from its Correspondence +with Truth--Simultaneously with this Arose the Claim to Possession of +the Authentic Meaning of the Doctrine Based on the Miraculous Nature of +its Transmission--Assembly of Disciples as Described in the Acts--The +Authoritative Claim to the Sole Possession of the True Meaning of +Christ's Teaching Supported by Miraculous Evidence has Led by Logical +Development to the Creeds of the Churches--A Church Could Not be Founded +by Christ--Definitions of a Church According to the Catechisms--The +Churches have Always been Several in Number and Hostile to One +Another--What is Heresy--The Work of G. Arnold on Heresies--Heresies the +Manifestations of Progress in the Churches--Churches Cause Dissension +among Men, and are Always Hostile to Christianity--Account of the Work +Done by the Russian Church--Matt. xxiii. 23--The Sermon on the Mount or +the Creed--The Orthodox Church Conceals from the People the True Meaning +of Christianity--The Same Thing is Done by the Other Churches--All the +External Conditions of Modern Life are such as to Destroy the Doctrine +of the Church, and therefore the Churches use Every Effort to Support +their Doctrines. + + +Thus the information I received, after my book came out, went to +show that the Christian doctrine, in its direct and simple sense, +was understood, and had always been understood, by a minority of +men, while the critics, ecclesiastical and freethinking alike, +denied the possibility of taking Christ's teaching in its direct +sense. All this convinced me that while on one hand the true +understanding of this doctrine had never been lost to a minority, +but had been established more and more clearly, on the other hand +the meaning of it had been more and more obscured for the +majority. So that at last such a depth of obscurity has been +reached that men do not take in their direct sense even the +simplest precepts, expressed in the simplest words, in the Gospel. + +Christ's teaching is not generally understood in its true, simple, +and direct sense even in these days, when the light of the Gospel +has penetrated even to the darkest recesses of human +consciousness; when, in the words of Christ, that which was spoken +in the ear is proclaimed from the housetops; and when the Gospel +is influencing every side of human life--domestic, economic, +civic, legislative, and international. This lack of true +understanding of Christ's words at such a time would be +inexplicable, if there were not causes to account for it. + +One of these causes is the fact that believers and unbelievers +alike are firmly persuaded that they have understood Christ's +teaching a long time, and that they understand it so fully, +indubitably, and conclusively that it can have no other +significance than the one they attribute to it. And the reason of +this conviction is that the false interpretation and consequent +misapprehension of the Gospel is an error of such long standing. +Even the strongest current of water cannot add a drop to a cup +which is already full. + +The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man +if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing +cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly +persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid +before him. + +The Christian doctrine is presented to the men of our world to-day +as a doctrine which everyone has known so long and accepted so +unhesitatingly in all its minutest details that it cannot be +understood in any other way than it is understood now. + +Christianity is understood now by all who profess the doctrines of +the Church as a supernatural miraculous revelation of everything +which is repeated in the Creed. By unbelievers it is regarded as +an illustration of man's craving for a belief in the supernatural, +which mankind has now outgrown, as an historical phenomenon which +has received full expression in Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, and +Protestantism, and has no longer any living significance for us. +The significance of the Gospel is hidden from believers by the +Church, from unbelievers by Science. + +I will speak first of the former. Eighteen hundred years ago +there appeared in the midst of the heathen Roman world a strange +new doctrine, unlike any of the old religions, and attributed to a +man, Christ. + +This new doctrine was in both form and content absolutely new to +the Jewish world in which it originated, and still more to the +Roman world in which it was preached and diffused. + +In the midst of the elaborate religious observances of Judaism, in +which, in the words of Isaiah, law was laid upon law, and in the midst +of the Roman legal system worked out to the highest point of perfection, +a new doctrine appeared, which denied not only every deity, and all fear +and worship of them, but even all human institutions and all necessity +for them. In place of all the rules of the old religions, this doctrine +sets up only a type of inward perfection, truth, and love in the person +of Christ, and--as a result of this inward perfection being attained by +men--also the outward perfection foretold by the Prophets--the kingdom +of God, when all men will cease to learn to make war, when all shall be +taught of God and united in love, and the lion will lie down with the +lamb. Instead of the threats of punishment which all the old laws of +religions and governments alike laid down for non-fulfillment of their +rules, instead of promises of rewards for fulfillment of them, this +doctrine called men to it only because it was the truth. John vii. 17: +"If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it +be of God." John viii. 46: "If I say the truth, why do ye not believe +me? But ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth. Ye shall +know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. God is a spirit, and +they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Keep my +sayings, and ye shall know of my sayings whether they be true." No +proofs of this doctrine were offered except its truth, the +correspondence of the doctrine with the truth. The whole teaching +consisted in the recognition of truth and following it, in a greater and +greater attainment of truth, and a closer and closer following of it in +the acts of life. There are no acts in this doctrine which could justify +a man and make him saved. There is only the image of truth to guide-him, +for inward perfection in the person of Christ, and for outward +perfection in the establishment of the kingdom of God. The fulfillment +of this teaching consists only in walking in the chosen way, in getting +nearer to inward perfection in the imitation of Christ, and outward +perfection in the establishment of the kingdom of God. The greater or +less blessedness of a man depends, according to this doctrine, not on +the degree of perfection to which he has attained, but on the greater or +less swiftness with which he is pursuing it. + +The progress toward perfection of the publican Zaccheus, of the woman +that was a sinner, of the robber on the cross, is a greater state of +blessedness, according to this doctrine, than the stationary +righteousness of the Pharisee. The lost sheep is dearer than ninety-nine +that were not lost. The prodigal son, the piece of money that was lost +and found again, are dearer, more precious to God than those which have +not been lost. + +Every condition, according to this doctrine, is only a particular +step in the attainment of inward and outward perfection, and +therefore has no significance of itself. Blessedness consists in +progress toward perfection; to stand still in any condition +whatever means the cessation of this blessedness. + +"Let not thy left hand know what they right hand doeth." "No man +having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the +Kingdom of God." "Rejoice not that the spirits are subject to +you, but seek rather that your names be written in heaven." "Be +ye perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect." "Seek ye +first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness." + +The fulfillment of this precept is only to be found in +uninterrupted progress toward the attainment of ever higher truth, +toward establishing more and more firmly an ever greater love +within oneself, and establishing more and more widely the kingdom +of God outside oneself. + +It is obvious that, appearing as it did in the midst of the Jewish +and heathen world, such teaching could not be accepted by the +majority of men, who were living a life absolutely different from +what was required by it. It is obvious, too, that even for those +by whom it was accepted, it was so absolutely opposed to all their +old views that it could not be comprehensible in its full +significance. + +It has been only by a succession of misunderstandings, errors, +partial explanations, and the corrections and additions of +generations that the meaning of the Christian doctrine has grown +continually more and more clear to men. The Christian view of +life has exerted an influence on the Jewish and heathen, and the +heathen and Jewish view of life has, too, exerted an influence on +the Christian. And Christianity, as the living force, has gained +more and more upon the extinct Judaism and heathenism, and has +grown continually clearer and clearer, as it freed itself from the +admixture of falsehood which had overlaid it. Men went further +and further in the attainment of the meaning of Christianity, and +realized it more and more in life. + +The longer mankind lived, the clearer and clearer became the +meaning of Christianity, as must always be the case with every +theory of life. + +Succeeding generations corrected the errors of their predecessors, +and grew ever nearer and nearer to a comprehension of the true +meaning. It was thus from the very earliest times of +Christianity. And so, too, from the earliest times of +Christianity there were men who began to assert on their own +authority that the meaning they attribute to the doctrine is the +only true one, and as proof bring forward supernatural occurrences +in support of the correctness of their interpretation. + +This was the principal cause at first of the misunderstanding of +the doctrine, and afterward of the complete distortion of it. + +It was supposed that Christ's teaching was transmitted to men not +like every other truth, but in a special miraculous way. Thus the +truth of the teaching was not proved by its correspondence with +the needs of the mind and the whole nature of man, but by the +miraculous manner of its transmission, which was advanced as an +irrefutable proof of the truth of the interpretation put on it. +This hypothesis originated from misunderstanding of the teaching, +and its result was to make it impossible to understand it rightly. + +And this happened first in the earliest times, when the doctrine +was still not so fully understood and often interpreted wrongly, +as we see by the Gospels and the Acts. The less the doctrine was +understood, the more obscure it appeared and the more necessary +were external proofs of its truth. The proposition that we ought +not to do unto others as we would not they should do unto us, did +not need to be proved by miracles and needed no exercise of faith, +because this proposition is in itself convincing and in harmony +with man's mind and nature; but the proposition that Christ was +God had to be proved by miracles completely beyond our +comprehension. + +The more the understanding of Christ's teaching was obscured, the +more the miraculous was introduced into it; and the more the +miraculous was introduced into it, the more the doctrine was +strained from its meaning and the more obscure it became; and the +more it was strained from its meaning and the more obscure it +became, the more strongly its infallibility had to be asserted, +and the less comprehensible the doctrine became. + +One can see by the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles how from +the earliest times the non-comprehension of the doctrine called +forth the need for proofs through the miraculous and +incomprehensible. + +The first example in the book of Acts is the assembly which +gathered together in Jerusalem to decide the question which had +arisen, whether to baptize or not the uncircumcised and those who +had eaten of food sacrificed to idols. + +The very fact of this question being raised showed that +those who discussed it did not understand the teaching of Christ, +who rejected all outward observances--ablutions, purifications, +fasts, and sabbaths. It was plainly said, "Not that which goeth +into a man's mouth, but that which cometh out of a man's mouth, +defileth him," and therefore the question of baptizing the +uncircumcised could only have arisen among men who, though they +loved their Master and dimly felt the grandeur of his teaching, +still did not understand the teaching itself very clearly. And +this was the fact. + +Just in proportion to the failure of the members of the assembly +to understand the doctrine was their need of external confirmation +of their incomplete interpretation of it. And then to settle this +question, the very asking of which proved their misunderstanding +of the doctrine, there was uttered in this assembly, as is +described in the Acts, that strange phrase, which was for the +first time found necessary to give external confirmation to +certain assertions, and which has been productive of so much evil. + +That is, it was asserted that the correctness of what they had +decided was guaranteed by the miraculous participation of the Holy +Ghost, that is, of God, in their decision. But the assertion that +the Holy Ghost, that is, God, spoke through the Apostles, in its +turn wanted proof. And thus it was necessary, to confirm this, +that the Holy Ghost should descend at Pentecost in tongues of fire +upon those who made this assertion. (In the account of it, the +descent of the Holy Ghost precedes the assembly, but the book of +Acts was written much later than both events.) But the descent of +the Holy Ghost too had to be proved for those who had not seen the +tongues of fire (though it is not easy to understand why a tongue +of fire burning above a man's head should prove that what that man +is going to say will be infallibly the truth). And so arose the +necessity for still more miracles and changes, raisings of the +dead to life, and strikings of the living dead, and all those +marvels which have been a stumbling-block to men, of which the +Acts is full, and which, far from ever convincing one of the truth +of the Christian doctrine, can only repel men from it. The result +of such a means of confirming the truth was that the more these +confirmations of truth by tales of miracles were heaped up one +after another, the more the doctrine was distorted from its +original meaning, aid the more incomprehensible it became. + +Thus it was from the earliest times, and so it went on, constantly +increasing, till it reached in our day the logical climax of the dogmas +of transubstantiation and the infallibility of the Pope, or of the +bishops, or of Scripture, and of requiring a blind faith rendered +incomprehensible and utterly meaningless, not in God, but in Christ, not +in a doctrine, but in a person, as in Catholicism, or in persons, as in +Greek Orthodoxy, or in a book, as in Protestantism. The more widely +Christianity was diffused, and the greater the number of people +unprepared for it who were brought under its sway, the less it was +understood, the more absolutely was its infallibility insisted on, and +the less possible it became to understand the true meaning of the +doctrine. In the times of Constantine the whole interpretation of the +doctrine had been already reduced to a RÉSUMÉ--supported by the temporal +authority--of the disputes that had taken place in the Council--to a +creed which reckoned off--I believe in so and so, and so and so, and so +and so to the end--to one holy, Apostolic Church, which means the +infallibility of those persons who call themselves the Church. So that +it all amounts to a man no longer believing in God nor Christ, as they +are revealed to him, but believing in what the Church orders him to +believe in. + +But the Church is holy; the Church was founded by Christ. God +could not leave men to interpret his teaching at random--therefore +he founded the Church. All those statements are so utterly untrue +and unfounded that one is ashamed to refute them. Nowhere nor in +anything, except in the assertion of the Church, can we find that +God or Christ founded anything like what Churchmen understand by +the Church. In the Gospels there is a warning against the Church, +as it is an external authority, a warning most clear and obvious +in the passage where it is said that Christ's followers should +"call no man master." But nowhere is anything said of the +foundation of what Churchmen call the Church. + +The word church is used twice in the Gospels--once in the sense of +an assembly of men to decide a dispute, the other time in +connection with the obscure utterance about a stone--Peter, and +the gates of hell. From these two passages in which the word +church is used, in the signification merely of an assembly, has +been deduced all that we now understand by the Church. + +But Christ could not have founded the Church, that is, what we now +understand by that word. For nothing like the idea of the Church +as we know it now, with its sacraments, miracles, and above all +its claim to infallibility, is to be found either in Christ's +words or in the ideas of the men of that time. + +The fact that men called what was formed afterward by the same +word as Christ used for something totally different, does not give +them the right to assert that Christ founded the one, true Church. + +Besides, if Christ had really founded such an institution as the +Church for the foundation of all his teaching and the whole faith, +he would certainly have described this institution clearly and +definitely, and would have given the only true Church, besides +tales of miracles, which are used to support every kind of +superstition, some tokens so unmistakable that no doubt of its +genuineness could ever have arisen. But nothing of the sort was +done by him. And there have been and still are different +institutions, each calling itself the true Church. + +The Catholic catechism says: "L'Église est la société des fidéles +établie par notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, répandue sur toute la +terre et soumise à l'authorité des pasteurs légitimes, +principalement notre Saint Père le Pape," [see Footnote] +understanding by the words "pasteurs légitimes" an association of +men having the Pope at its head, and consisting of certain +individuals bound together by a certain organization. + + [Footnote: "The Church is the society of the faithful, + established by our Lord Jesus Christ, spread over the + whole earth, and subject to the authority of its lawful + pastors, and chief of them our Holy Father the Pope."] + +The Greek Orthodox catechism says: "The Church is a society +founded upon earth by Jesus Christ, which is united into one +whole, by one divine doctrine and by sacraments, under the rule +and guidance of a priesthood appointed by God," meaning by the +"priesthood appointed by God" the Greek Orthodox priesthood, +consisting of certain individuals who happen to be in such or such +positions. + +The Lutheran catechism says: "The Church is holy Christianity, or +the collection of all believers under Christ, their head, to whom +the Holy Ghost through the Gospels and sacraments promises, +communicates, and administers heavenly salvation," meaning that +the Catholic Church is lost in error, and that the true means of +salvation is in Lutheranism. + +For Catholics the Church of God coincides with the Roman +priesthood and the Pope. For the Greek Orthodox believer the +Church of God coincides with the establishment and priesthood of +Russia. [See Footnote] + + [Footnote: Homyakov's definition of the Church, which + was received with some favor among Russians, does not + improve matters, if we are to agree with Homyakov in + considering the Greek Orthodox Church as the one true + Church. Homyakov asserts that a church is a collection + of men (all without distinction of clergy and laymen) + united together by love, and that only to men united by + love is the truth revealed (let us love each other, that + in the unity of thought, etc.), and that such a church + is the church which, in the first place, recognizes the + Nicene Creed, and in the second place does not, after + the division of the churches, recognize the popes and + new dogmas. But with such a definition of the church, + there is still more difficulty in reconciling, as + Homyakov tries to do, the church united by love with + the church that recognizes the Nicene Creed and the + doctrine of Photius. So that Homyakov's assertion that + this church, united by love, and consequently holy, + is the same church as the Greek Orthodox priesthood + profess faith in, is even more arbitrary than the + assertions of the Catholics or the Orthodox. If we + admit the idea of a church in the sense Homyakov + gives to it--that is, a body of men bound together + by love and truth--then all that any man can predicate + in regard to this body, if such an one exists, is + its love and truth, but there can be no outer signs + by which one could reckon oneself or another as a + member of this holy body, nor by which one could put + anyone outside it; so that no institution having + an external existence can correspond to this idea.] + +For Lutherans the Church of God coincides with a body of men who +recognize the authority of the Bible and Luther's catechism. + +Ordinarily, when speaking of the rise of Christianity, men +belonging to one of the existing churches use the word church in +the singular, as though there were and had been only one church. +But this is absolutely incorrect. The Church, as an institution +which asserted that it possessed infallible truth, did not make +its appearance singly; there were at least two churches directly +this claim was made. + +While believers were agreed among themselves and the body was one, +it had no need to declare itself as a church. It was only when +believers were split up into opposing parties, renouncing one +another, that it seemed necessary to each party to confirm their +own truth by ascribing to themselves infallibility. The +conception of one church only arose when there were two sides +divided and disputing, who each called the other side heresy, and +recognized their own side only as the infallible church. + +If we knew that there was a church which decided in the year 51 to +receive the uncircumcised, it is only so because there was another +church--of the Judaists--who decided to keep the uncircumcised +out. + +If there is a Catholic Church now which asserts its own infallibility, +that is only because there are churches--Greco-Russian, Old Orthodox, +and Lutheran--each asserting its own infallibility and denying that of +all other churches. So that the one Church is only a fantastic +imagination which has not the least trace of reality about it. + +As a real historical fact there has existed, and still exist, +several bodies of men, each asserting that it is the one Church, +founded by Christ, and that all the others who call themselves +churches are only sects and heresies. + +The catechisms of the churches of the most world-wide influence--the +Catholic, the Old Orthodox, and the Lutheran--openly assert this. + +In the Catholic catechism it is said: "Quels sont ceux qui sont +hors de l'église? Les infidèles, les hérétiques, les +schismatiques." [Footnote: "Who are those who are outside the +Church? Infidels, heretics, and schismatics."] The so-called +Greek Orthodox are regarded as schismatics, the Lutherans as +heretics; so that according to the Catholic catechism the only +people in the Church are Catholics. + +In the so-called Orthodox catechism it is said: By the one +Christian Church is understood the Orthodox, which remains fully +in accord with the Universal Church. As for the Roman Church and +other sects (the Lutherans and the rest they do not even dignify +by the name of church), they cannot be included in the one true +Church, since they have themselves separated from it. + +According to this definition the Catholics and Lutherans are +outside the Church, and there are only Orthodox in the Church. + +The Lutheran catechism says: "Die wahre kirche wird darein +erkannt, dass in ihr das Wort Gottes lauter und rein ohne +Menschenzusätze gelehrt and die Sacramente treu nach Christi +Einsetzung gewahret werden." [Footnote: "The true Church will be +known by the Word of God being studied clear and unmixed with +man's additions and the sacraments being maintained faithful to +Christ's teaching."] + +According to this definition all those who have added anything to +the teaching of Christ and the apostles, as the Catholic and Greek +churches have done, are outside the Church. And in the Church +there are only Protestants. + +The Catholics assert that the Holy Ghost has been transmitted +without a break in their priesthood. The Orthodox assert that the +same Holy Ghost has been transmitted without a break in their +priesthood. The Arians asserted that the Holy Ghost was +transmitted in their priesthood (they asserted this with just as +much right as the churches in authority now). The Protestants of +every kind--Lutherans, Reformed Church, Presbyterians, Methodists, +Swedenborgians, Mormons--assert that the Holy Ghost is only +present in their communities. If the Catholics assert that the +Holy Ghost, at the time of the division of the Church into Arian +and Greek, left the Church that fell away and remained in the one +true Church, with precisely the same right the Protestants of +every denomination can assert that at the time of the separation +of their Church from the Catholic the Holy Ghost left the Catholic +and passed into the Church they professed. And this is just what +they do. + +Every church traces its creed through an uninterrupted +transmission from Christ and the Apostles. And truly every +Christian creed that has been derived from Christ must have come +down to the present generation through a certain transmission. +But that does not prove that it alone of all that has been +transmuted, excluding all the rest, can be the sole truth, +admitting of no doubt. + +Every branch in a tree comes from the root in unbroken connection; +but the fact that each branch comes from the one root, does not +prove at all that each branch was the only one. It is precisely +the same with the Church. Every church presents exactly the same +proofs of the succession, and even the same miracles, in support +of its authenticity, as every other. So that there is but one +strict and exact definition of what is a church (not of something +fantastic which we would wish it to be, but of what it is and has +been in reality)--a church is a body of men who claim for +themselves that they are in complete and sole possession of the +truth. And these bodies, having in course of time, aided by the +support of the temporal authorities, developed into powerful +institutions, have been the principal obstacles to the diffusion +of a true comprehension of the teaching of Christ. + +It could not be otherwise. The chief peculiarity which +distinguished Christ's teaching from previous religions consisted +in the fact that those who accepted it strove ever more and more +to comprehend and realize its teaching. But the Church doctrine +asserted its own complete and final comprehension and realization +of it. + +Strange though it may seem to us who have been brought up in the +erroneous view of the Church as a Christian institution, and in +contempt for heresy, yet the fact is that only in what was called +heresy was there any true movement, that is, true Christianity, +and that it only ceased to be so when those heresies stopped short +in their movement and also petrified into the fixed forms of a +church. + +And, indeed what is a heresy? Read all the theological works one +after another. In all of them heresy is the subject which first +presents itself for definition; since every theological work deals +with the true doctrine of Christ as distinguished from the +erroneous doctrines which surround it, that is, heresies. Yet you +will not find anywhere anything like a definition of heresy. + +The treatment of this subject by the learned historian of +Christianity, E. de Pressensé, in his "Histoire du Dogme" (Paris, +1869), under the heading "Ubi Christus, ibi Ecclesia," may serve +as an illustration of the complete absence of anything like a +definition of what is understood by the word heresy. Here is what +he says in his introduction (p. 3): + + "Je sais que l'on nous conteste le droit de qualifier ainsi + [that is, to call heresies] les tendances qui furent si + vivement combattues par les premiers Pères. La désignation + même d'hérésie semble une atteinte portée à la liberté de + conscience et de pensée. Nous ne pouvons partager ce scrupule, + car il n'irait à rien moins qu'à enlever au Christianisme tout + caractère distinctif." [see Footnote] + + [Footnote: "I know that our right to qualify thus the + tendencies which were so actively opposed by the early + Fathers is contested. The very use of the word heresy + seems an attack upon liberty of conscience and thought. + We cannot share this scruple; for it would amount to + nothing less than depriving Christianity of all + distinctive character."] + +And though he tells us that after Constantine's time the Church +did actually abuse its power by designating those who dissented +from it as heretics and persecuting them, yet he says, when +speaking of early times: + + "L'église est une libre association; il y a tout profit a se + séparer d'elle. La polémique contre l'erreur n'a d'autres + ressources que la pensée et le sentiment. Un type doctrinal + uniforme n'a pas encore été élaboré; les divergences + secondaires se produisent en Orient et en Occident avec une + entière liberté; la théologie n'est point liée a d'invariables + formules. Si au sein de cette diversité apparait un fonds + commun de croyances, n'est-on pas en droit d'y voir non pas un + système formulé et composé par les représentants d'une + autorité d'école, mais la foi elle-même dons son instinct le + plus sûr et sa manifestation la plus spontanée? Si cette même + unanimité qui se révèle dans les croyances essentielles, se + retrouve pour repousser telles ou telles tendances ne serons + nous pas en droit de conclure que ces tendances étaient en + désacord flagrant avec les principes fondamentaux du + christianisme? Cette présomption ne se transformerait-elle + pas en certitude si nous reconnaissons dans la doctrine + universellement repoussée par l'Église les traits + caractéristiques de l'une des religions du passé? Pour dire + que le gnosticisme ou l'ébionitisme sont les formes légitimes + de la pensée chrétienne il faut dire hardiment qu'il n'y a pas + de pensée chrétienne, ni de caractère spécifique qui la fasse + reconnaître. Sous prétexte de l'élargir, on la dissout. + Personne au temps de Platon n'eût osé couvrir de son nom une + doctrine qui n'eut pas fait place à la théorie des idées; et + l'on eût excité les justes moqueries de la Grèce, en voulant + faire d'Epicure ou de Zénon un disciple de l'Académie. + Reconnaissons donc que s'il existe une religion ou une + doctrine qui s'appelle christianisme, elle peut avoir ses + hérésies." [see Footnote] + + [Footnote: "The Church is a free association; there is much to + be gained by separation from it. Conflict with error has no + weapons other than thought and feeling. One uniform type of + doctrine has not yet been elaborated; divergencies in + secondary matters arise freely in East and West; theology is + not wedded to invariable formulas. If in the midst of this + diversity a mass of beliefs common to all is apparent, is one + not justified in seeing in it, not a formulated system, framed + by the representatives of pedantic authority, but faith itself + in its surest instinct and its most spontaneous manifestation? + If the same unanimity which is revealed in essential points of + belief is found also in rejecting certain tendencies, are we + not justified in concluding that these tendencies were in + flagrant opposition to the fundamental principles of + Christianity? And will not this presumption be transformed + into certainty if we recognize in the doctrine universally + rejected by the Church the characteristic features of one of + the religions of the past? To say that gnosticism or + ebionitism are legitimate forms of Christian thought, one must + boldly deny the existence of Christian thought at all, or any + specific character by which it could be recognized. While + ostensibly widening its realm, one undermines it. No one in + the time of Plato would have ventured to give his name to a + doctrine in which the theory of ideas had no place, and one + would deservedly have excited the ridicule of Greece by trying + to pass off Epicurus or Zeno as a disciple of the Academy. + Let us recognize, then, that if a religion or a doctrine + exists which is called Christianity, it may have its + heresies."] + +The author's whole argument amounts to this: that every opinion +which differs from the code of dogmas we believe in at a given +time, is heresy. But of course at any given time and place men +always believe in something or other; and this belief in +something, indefinite at any place, at some time, cannot be a +criterion of truth. + +It all amounts to this: since ubi Christus ibi Ecclesia, then +Christus is where we are. + +Every so-called heresy, regarding, as it does, its own creed as +the truth, can just as easily find in Church history a series of +illustrations of its own creed, can use all Pressensé's arguments +on its own behalf, and can call its own creed the one truly +Christian creed. And that is just what all heresies do and have +always done. + +The only definition of heresy (the word [GREEK WORD], means a +part) is this: the name given by a body of men to any opinion +which rejects a part of the Creed professed by that body. The +more frequent meaning, more often ascribed to the word heresy, is +--that of an opinion which rejects the Church doctrine founded and +supported by the temporal authorities. + + [TRANSCRIBIST'S NOTE: The GREEK WORD above used Greek letters, + spelled: alpha(followed by an apostrophe)-iota(with accent)- + rho-epsilon-sigma-iota-zeta] + +There is a remarkable and voluminous work, very little known, +"Unpartheyische Kirchen- und Ketzer-Historie," 1729, by Gottfried +Arnold, which deals with precisely this subject, and points out +all the unlawfulness, the arbitrariness, the senselessness, and +the cruelty of using the word heretic in the sense of reprobate. +This book is an attempt to write the history of Christianity in +the form of a history of heresy. + +In the introduction the author propounds a series of questions: +(1) Of those who make heretics; (2) Of those whom they made +heretics; (3) Of heretical subjects themselves; (4) Of the method +of making heretics; and (5) Of the object and result of making +heretics. + +On each of these points he propounds ten more questions, the +answers to which he gives later on from the works of well-known +theologians. But he leaves the reader to draw for himself the +principal conclusion from the expositions in the whole book. As +examples of these questions, in which the answers are to some +extent included also, I will quote the following. Under the 4th +head, of the manner in which heretics are made, he says, in one of +the questions (in the 7th): + + "Does not all history show that the greatest makers of + heretics and masters of that craft were just these wise men, + from whom the Father hid his secrets, that is, the hypocrites, + the Pharisees, and lawyers, men utterly godless and perverted + (Question 20-21)? And in the corrupt times of Christianity + were not these very men cast out, denounced by the hypocrites + and envious, who were endowed by God with great gifts and who + would in the days of pure Christianity have been held in high + honor? And, on the other hand, would not the men who, in the + decline of Christianity raised themselves above all, and + regarded themselves as the teachers of the purest Christianity, + would not these very men, in the times of the apostles and + disciples of Christ, have been regarded as the most shameless + heretics and anti-Christians?" + +He expounds, among other things in these questions, the theory +that any verbal expression of faith, such as was demanded by the +Church, and the departure from which was reckoned as heresy, could +never fully cover the exact religious ideas of a believer, and +that therefore the demand for an expression of faith in certain +words was ever productive of heresy, and he says, in Question 21: + + "And if heavenly things and thoughts present themselves to a + man's mind as so great and so profound that he does not find + corresponding words to express them, ought one to call him a + heretic, because he cannot express his idea with perfect + exactness?" + +And in Question 33: + + "And is not the fact that there was no heresy in the earliest + days due to the fact that the Christians did not judge one + another by verbal expressions, but by deed and by heart, since + they had perfect liberty to express their ideas without the + dread of being called heretics; was it not the easiest and most + ordinary ecclesiastical proceeding, if the clergy wanted to get + rid of or to ruin anyone, for them to cast suspicion on the + person's belief, and to throw a cloak of heresy upon him, and + by this means to procure his condemnation and removal? + + "True though it may be that there were sins and errors among + the so-called heretics, it is no less true and evident," he + says farther on, "from the innumerable examples quoted here + (i. e., in the history of the Church and of heresy), that there + was not a single sincere and conscientious man of any + importance whom the Churchmen would not from envy or other + causes have ruined." + +Thus, almost two hundred years ago, the real meaning of heresy was +understood. And notwithstanding that, the same conception of it +has gone on existing up to now. And it cannot fail to exist so +long as the conception of a church exists. Heresy is the obverse +side of the Church. Wherever there is a church, there must be the +conception of heresy. A church is a body of men who assert that +they are in possession of infallible truth. Heresy is the opinion +of the men who do not admit the infallibility of the Church's +truth. + +Heresy makes its appearance in the Church. It is the effort to +break through the petrified authority of the Church. All effort +after a living comprehension of the doctrine has been made by +heretics. Tertullian, Origen, Augustine, Luther, Huss, +Savonarola, Helchitsky, and the rest were heretics. It could not +be otherwise. + +The follower of Christ, whose service means an ever-growing +understanding of his teaching, and an ever-closer fulfillment of +it, in progress toward perfection, cannot, just because he is a +follower, of Christ, claim for himself or any other that he +understands Christ's teaching fully and fulfills it. Still less +can he claim this for any body of men. + +To whatever degree of understanding and perfection the follower of +Christ may have attained, he always feels the insufficiency of his +understanding and fulfillment of it, and is always striving toward +a fuller understanding and fulfillment. And therefore, to assert +of one's self or of any body of men, that one is or they are in +possession of perfect understanding and fulfillment of Christ's +word, is to renounce the very spirit of Christ's teaching. + +Strange as it may seem, the churches as churches have always been, +and cannot but be, institutions not only alien in spirit to +Christ's teaching, but even directly antagonistic to it. With +good reason Voltaire calls the Church l'infâme; with good reason +have all or almost all so-called sects of Christians recognized +the Church as the scarlet woman foretold in the Apocalypse; with +good reason is the history of the Church the history of the +greatest cruelties and horrors. + +The churches as churches are not, as many people suppose, +institutions which have Christian principles for their basis, even +though they may have strayed a little away from the straight path. +The churches as churches, as bodies which assert their own +infallibility, are institutions opposed to Christianity. There is +not only nothing in common between the churches as such and +Christianity, except the name, but they represent two principles +fundamentally opposed and antagonistic to one another. One +represents pride, violence, self-assertion, stagnation, and death; +the other, meekness, penitence, humility, progress, and life. + +We cannot serve these two masters; we have to choose between +them. + +The servants of the churches of all denominations, especially of +later times, try to show themselves champions of progress in +Christianity. They make concessions, wish to correct the abuses +that have slipped into the Church, and maintain that one cannot, +on account of these abuses, deny the principle itself of a +Christian church, which alone can bind all men together in unity +and be a mediator between men and God. But this is all a mistake. +Not only have churches never bound men together in unity; they +have always been one of the principal causes of division between +men, of their hatred of one another, of wars, battles, +inquisitions, massacres of St. Bartholomew, and so on. And the +churches have never served as mediators between men and God. Such +mediation is not wanted, and was directly forbidden by Christ, who +has revealed his teaching directly and immediately to each man. +But the churches set up dead forms in the place of God, and far +from revealing God, they obscure him from men's sight. The +churches, which originated from misunderstanding of Christ's +teaching and have maintained this misunderstanding by their +immovability, cannot but persecute and refuse to recognize all +true understanding of Christ's words. They try to conceal this, +but in vain; for every step forward along the path pointed out for +us by Christ is a step toward their destruction. + +To hear and to read the sermons and articles in which Church writers of +later times of all denominations speak of Christian truths and virtues; +to hear or read these skillful arguments that have been elaborated +during centuries, and exhortations and professions, which sometimes seem +like sincere professions, one is ready to doubt whether the churches can +be antagonistic to Christianity. "It cannot be," one says, "that these +people who can point to such men as Chrysostom, Fénelon, Butler, and +others professing the Christian faith, were antagonistic to +Christianity." One is tempted to say, "The churches may have strayed +away from Christianity, they may be in error, but they cannot be hostile +to it." But we must look to the fruit to judge the tree, as Christ +taught us. And if we see that their fruits were evil, that the results +of their activity were antagonistic to Christianity, we cannot but admit +that however good the men were--the work of the Church in which these +men took part was not Christian. The goodness and worth of these men who +served the churches was the goodness and worth of the men, and not of +the institution they served. All the good men, such as Francis of +Assisi, and Francis of Sales, our Tihon Zadonsky, Thomas à Kempis, and +others, were good men in spite of their serving an institution hostile +to Christianity, and they would have been still better if they had not +been under the influence of the error which they were serving. + +But why should we speak of the past and judge from the past, which +may have been misrepresented and misunderstood by us? The +churches, with their principles and their practice, are not a +thing of the past. The churches are before us to-day, and we can +judge of them to some purpose by their practical activity, their +influence on men. + +What is the practical work of the churches to-day? What is their +influence upon men? What is done by the churches among us, among +the Catholics and the Protestants of all denominations--what is +their practical work? and what are the results of their practical +work? + +The practice of our Russian so-called Orthodox Church is plain to +all. It is an enormous fact which there is no possibility of +hiding and about which there can be no disputing. + +What constitutes the practical work of this Russian Church, this +immense, intensely active institution, which consists of a +regiment of half a million men and costs the people tens of +millions of rubles? + +The practical business of the Church consists in instilling by +every conceivable means into the mass of one hundred millions of +the Russian people those extinct relics of beliefs for which there +is nowadays no kind of justification, "in which scarcely anyone +now believes, and often not even those whose duty it is to diffuse +these false beliefs." To instill into the people the formulas of +Byzantine theology, of the Trinity, of the Mother of God, of +Sacraments, of Grace, and so on, extinct conceptions, foreign to +us, and having no kind of meaning for men of our times, +forms only one part of the work of the Russian Church. Another +part of its practice consists in the maintenance of idol-worship +in the most literal meaning of the word; in the veneration of holy +relics, and of ikons, the offering of sacrifices to them, and the +expectation of their answers to prayer. I am not going to speak +of what is preached and what is written by clergy of scientific or +liberal tendencies in the theological journals. I am going to +speak of what is actually done by the clergy through the wide +expanse of the Russian land among a people of one hundred +millions. What do they, diligently, assiduously, everywhere +alike, without intermission, teach the people? What do they +demand from the people in virtue of their (so-called) Christian +faith? + +I will begin from the beginning with the birth of a child. At the +birth of a child they teach them that they must recite a prayer +over the child and mother to purify them, as though without this +prayer the mother of a newborn child were unclean. To do this the +priest holds the child in his arms before the images of the saints +(called by the people plainly gods) and reads words of exorcizing +power, and this purifies the mother. Then it is suggested to the +parents, and even exacted of them, under fear of punishment for +non-fulfillment, that the child must be baptized; that is, be +dipped by the priest three times into the water, while certain +words, understood by no one, are read aloud, and certain actions, +still less understood, are performed; various parts of the body +are rubbed with oil, and the hair is cut, while the sponsors blow +and spit at an imaginary devil. All this is necessary to purify +the child and to make him a Christian. Then it is instilled into +the parents that they ought to administer the sacrament to the +child, that is, give him, in the guise of bread and wine, a +portion of Christ's body to eat, as a result of which the child +receives the grace of God within it, and so on. Then it is +suggested that the child as it grows up must be taught to pray. +To pray means to place himself directly before the wooden boards +on which are painted the faces of Christ, the Mother of God, and +the saints, to bow his head and his whole body, and to touch his +forehead, his shoulders and his stomach with his right hand, +holding his fingers in a certain position, and to utter some words +of Slavonic, the most usual of which as taught to all children +are: Mother of God, virgin, rejoice thee, etc., etc. + +Then it is instilled into the child as it is brought up that at +the sight of any church or ikon he must repeat the same action--i. e., +cross himself. Then it is instilled into him that on holidays +(holidays are the days on which Christ was born, though no one +knows when that was, on which he was circumcised, on which the +Mother of God died, on which the cross was carried in procession, +on which ikons have been set up, on which a lunatic saw a vision, +and so on)--on holidays he must dress himself in his best clothes +and go to church, and must buy candles and place them there before +the images of the saints. Then he must give offerings and prayers +for the dead, and little loaves to be cut up into three-cornered +pieces, and must pray many times for the health and prosperity of +the Tzar and the bishops, and for himself and his own affairs, and +then kiss the cross and the hand of the priest. +Besides these observances, it is instilled into him that at +least once a year he must confess. To confess means to go to the +church and to tell the priest his sins, on the theory that this +informing a stranger of his sins completely purifies him from +them. And after that he must eat with a little spoon a morsel of +bread with wine, which will purify him still more. Next it is +instilled into him that if a man and woman want their physical +union to be sanctified they must go to church, put on metal +crowns, drink certain potions, walk three times round a table to +the sound of singing, and that then the physical union of a man +and woman becomes sacred and altogether different from all other +such unions. + +Further it is instilled into him in his life that he must observe +the following rules: not to eat butter or milk on certain days, +and on certain other days to sing Te Deums and requiems for the +dead, on holidays to entertain the priest and give him money, and +several times in the year to bring the ikons from the church, and +to carry them slung on his shoulders through the fields and +houses. It is instilled into him that on his death-bed a man must +not fail to eat bread and wine with a spoon, and that it will be +still better if he has time to be rubbed with sacred oil. This +will guarantee his welfare in the future life. After his death it +is instilled into his relatives that it is a good thing for the +salvation of the dead man to place a printed paper of prayers in +his hands; it is a good thing further to read aloud a certain book +over the dead body, and to pronounce the dead man's name in church +at a certain time. All this is regarded as faith obligatory on +everyone. + +But if anyone wants to take particular care of his soul, then +according to this faith he is instructed that the greatest +security of the salvation of the soul in the world is attained by +offering money to the churches and monasteries, and engaging the +holy men by this means to pray for him. Entering monasteries too +and kissing relics and miraculous ikons, are further means of +salvation for the soul. + +According to this faith ikons and relics communicate a special +sanctity, power, and grace, and even proximity to these objects, +touching them, kissing them, putting candles before them, crawling +under them while they are being carried along, are all efficacious +for salvation, as well as Te Deums repeated before these holy +things. + +So this, and nothing else, is the faith called Orthodox, that is +the actual faith which, under the guise of Christianity, has been +with all the forces of the Church, and is now with especial zeal, +instilled into the people. + +And let no one say that the Orthodox teachers place the essential +part of their teaching in something else, and that all these are +only ancient forms, which it is not thought necessary to do away +with. That is false. This, and nothing but this, is the faith +taught through the whole of Russia by the whole of the Russian +clergy, and of late years with especial zeal. There is nothing +else taught. Something different may be talked of and written of +in the capitals; but among the hundred millions of the people this +is what is done, this is what is taught, and nothing more. +Churchmen may talk of something else, but this is what they teach +by every means in their power. + +All this, and the worship of relics and of ikons, has been +introduced into works of theology and into the catechisms. Thus +they teach it to the people in theory and in practice, using every +resource of authority, solemnity, pomp, and violence to impress +them. They compel the people, by overawing them, to believe in +this, and jealously guard this faith from any attempt to free the +people from these barbarous superstitions. + +As I said when I published my book, Christ's teaching and his very +words about non-resistance to evil were for many years a subject +for ridicule and low jesting in my eyes, and Churchmen, far from +opposing it, even encouraged this scoffing at sacred things. But +try the experiment of saying a disrespectful word about a hideous +idol which is carried sacrilegiously about Moscow by drunken men +under the name of the ikon of the Iversky virgin, and you will +raise a groan of indignation from these same Churchmen. All that +they preach is an external observance of the rites of idolatry. +And let it not be said that the one does not hinder the other, +that "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other +undone." "All, therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that +observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and +do not" (Matt. xxiii. 23, 3). + +This was spoken of the Pharisees, who fulfilled all the external +observances prescribed by the law, and therefore the words +"whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do," refer to +works of mercy and goodness, and the words "do not ye after their +works, for they say and do not," refer to their observance of +ceremonies and their neglect of good works, and have exactly the +opposite meaning to that which the Churchmen try to give to the +passage, interpreting it as an injunction to observe ceremonies. +External observances and the service of truth and goodness are for +the most part difficult to combine; the one excludes the other. +So it was with the Pharisees, so it is now with Church Christians. + +If a man can be saved by the redemption, by sacraments, and by +prayer, then he does not need good works. + +The Sermon on the Mount, or the Creed. One cannot believe in both. And +Churchmen have chosen the latter. The Creed is taught and is read as a +prayer in the churches, but the Sermon on the Mount is excluded even +from the Gospel passages read in the churches, so that the congregation +never hears it in church, except on those days when the whole of the +Gospel is read. Indeed, it could not be otherwise. People who believe in +a wicked and senseless God--who has cursed the human race and devoted +his own Son to sacrifice, and a part of mankind to eternal +torment--cannot believe in the God of love. The man who believes in a +God, in a Christ coming again in glory to judge and to punish the quick +and the dead, cannot believe in the Christ who bade us turn the left +cheek, judge not, forgive these that wrong us, and love our enemies. The +man who believes in the inspiration of the Old Testament and the sacred +character of David, who commanded on his deathbed the murder of an old +man who had cursed him, and whom he could not kill himself because he +was bound by an oath to him, and the similar atrocities of which the Old +Testament is full, cannot believe in the holy love of Christ. The man +who believes in the Church's doctrine of the compatibility of warfare +and capital punishment with Christianity cannot believe in the +brotherhood of all men. + +And what is most important of all--the man who believes in +salvation through faith in the redemption or the sacraments, +cannot devote all his powers to realizing Christ's moral teaching +in his life. + +The man who has been instructed by the Church in the profane +doctrine that a man cannot be saved by his own powers, but that +there is another means of salvation, will infallibly rely upon +this means and not on his own powers, which, they assure him, it +is sinful to trust in. + +The teaching of every Church, with its redemption and sacraments, +excludes the teaching of Christ; most of all the teaching of the +Orthodox Church with its idolatrous observances. + +"But the people have always believed of their own accord as they +believe now," will be said in answer to this. "The whole history +of the Russian people proves it. One cannot deprive the people of +their traditions." This statement, too, is misleading. The +people did certainly at one time believe in something like what +the Church believes in now, though it was far from being the same +thing. In spite of their superstitious regard for ikons, +housespirits, relics, and festivals with wreaths of birch leaves, +there has still always been in the people a profound moral and +living understanding of Christianity, which there has never been +in the Church as a whole, and which is only met with in its best +representatives. But the people, notwithstanding all the +prejudices instilled into them by the government and the Church, +have in their best representatives long outgrown that crude stage +of understanding, a fact which is proved by the springing up +everywhere of the rationalist sects with which Russia is swarming +to-day, and on which Churchmen are now carrying on an ineffectual +warfare. The people are advancing to a consciousness of the +moral, living side of Christianity. And then the Church +comes forward, not borrowing from the people, but zealously +instilling into them the petrified formalities of an extinct +paganism, and striving to thrust them back again into the +darkness from which they are emerging with such effort. + +"We teach the people nothing new, nothing but what they believe, +only in a more perfect form," say the Churchmen. This is just +what the man did who tied up the full-grown chicken and thrust it +back into the shell it had come out of. + +I have often been irritated, though it would be comic if the +consequences were not so awful, by observing how men shut one +another in a delusion and cannot get out of this magic circle. + +The first question, the first doubt of a Russian who is beginning +to think, is a question about the ikons, and still more the +miraculous relics: Is it true that they are genuine, and that +miracles are worked through them? Hundreds of thousands of men +put this question to themselves, and their principal difficulty in +answering it is the fact that bishops, metropolitans, and all men +in positions of authority kiss the relics and wonder-working +ikons. Ask the bishops and men in positions of authority why they +do so, and they will say they do it for the sake of the people, +while the people kiss them because the bishops and men in +authority do so. + +In spite of all the external varnish of modernity, learning, and +spirituality which the members of the Church begin nowadays to +assume in their works, their articles, their theological journals, +and their sermons, the practical work of the Russian Church +consists of nothing more than keeping the people in their present +condition of coarse and savage idolatry, and worse still, +strengthening and diffusing superstition and religious ignorance, +and suppressing that living understanding of Christianity which +exists in the people side by side with idolatry. + +I remember once being present in the monks' bookshop of the Optchy +Hermitage while an old peasant was choosing books for his +grandson, who could read. A monk pressed on him accounts of +relics, holidays, miraculous ikons, a psalter, etc. I asked the +old man, "Has he the Gospel?" "No." "Give him the Gospel in +Russian," I said to the monk. "That will not do for him," +answered the monk. There you have an epitome of the work of our +Church. + +But this is only in barbarous Russia, the European and American +reader will observe. And such an observation is just, but only so +far as it refers to the government, which aids the Church in its +task of stultification and corruption in Russia. + +It is true that there is nowhere in Europe a government so +despotic and so closely allied with the ruling Church. And +therefore the share of the temporal power in the corruption of the +people is greatest in Russia. But it is untrue that the Russian +Church in its influence on the people is in any respect different +from any other church. + +The churches are everywhere the same, and if the Catholic, the +Anglican, or the Lutheran Church has not at hand a government as +compliant as the Russian, it is not due to any indisposition to +profit by such a government. + +The Church as a church, whatever it may be--Catholic, Anglican, +Lutheran, Presbyterian--every church, in so far as it is a church, +cannot but strive for the same object as the Russian Church. +That object is to conceal the real meaning of Christ's teaching +and to replace it by their own, which lays no obligation on them, +excludes the possibility of understanding the true teaching of +Christ, and what is the chief consideration, justifies the +existence of priests supported at the people's expense. + +What else has Catholicism done, what else is it doing in its +prohibition of reading the Gospel, and in its demand for +unreasoning submission to Church authorities and to an infallible +Pope? Is the religion of Catholicism any other than that of the +Russian Church? There is the same external ritual, the same +relics, miracles, and wonder-working images of Notre Dame, and the +same processions; the same loftily vague discussions of +Christianity in books and sermons, and when it comes to practice, +the same supporting of the present idolatry. And is not the same +thing done in Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and every denomination of +Protestantism which has been formed into a church? There is the +same duty laid on their congregations to believe in the dogmas +expressed in the fourth century, which have lost all meaning for +men of our times, and the same duty of idolatrous worship, if not +of relics and ikons, then of the Sabbath Day and the letter of the +Bible. There is always the same activity directed to concealing +the real duties of Christianity, and to putting in their place an +external respectability and cant, as it is so well described by +the English, who are peculiarly oppressed by it. In Protestantism +this tendency is specially remarkable because it has not the +excuse of antiquity. And does not exactly the same thing show +itself even in contemporary revivalism--the revived Calvinism and +Evangelicalism, to which the Salvation Army owes its origin? + +Uniform is the attitude of all the churches to the teaching of +Christ, whose name they assume for their own advantage. + +The inconsistency of all church forms of religion with the +teaching of Christ is, of course, the reason why special efforts +are necessary to conceal this inconsistency from people. Truly, +we need only imagine ourselves in the position of any grown-up +man, not necessarily educated, even the simplest man of the +present day, who has picked up the ideas that are everywhere in +the air nowadays of geology, physics, chemistry, cosmography, or +history, when he, for the first time, consciously compares them +with the articles of belief instilled into him in childhood, and +maintained by the churches--that God created the world in six +days, and light before the sun; that Noah shut up all the animals +in his ark, and so on; that Jesus is also God the Son, who created +all before time was; that this God came down upon earth to atone +for Adam's sin; that he rose again, ascended into heaven, and +sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and will come in the +clouds to judge the world, and so on. All these propositions, +elaborated by men of the fourth century, had a certain meaning for +men of that time, but for men of to-day they have no meaning +whatever. Men of the present day can repeat these words with +their lips, but believe them they cannot. For such sentences as +that God lives in heaven, that the heavens opened and a voice from +somewhere said something, that Christ rose again, and ascended +somewhere in heaven, and again will come from somewhere on the +clouds, and so on, have no meaning for us. + +A man who regarded the heavens as a solid, finite vault could +believe or disbelieve that God created the heavens, that the +heavens opened, that Christ ascended into heaven, but for us all +these phrases have no sense whatever. Men of the present can only +believe, as indeed they do, that they ought to believe in this; +but believe it they cannot, because it has no meaning for them. + +Even if all these phrases ought to be interpreted in a figurative +sense and are allegories, we know that in the first place all +Churchmen are not agreed about it, but, on the contrary, the +majority stick to understanding the Holy Scripture in its literal +sense; and secondly, that these allegorical interpretations are +very varied and are not supported by any evidence. + +But even if a man wants to force himself to believe in the +doctrines of the Church just as they are taught to him, the +universal diffusion of education and of the Gospel and of +communication between people of different forms of religion +presents a still more insurmountable obstacle to his doing so. + +A man of the present day need only buy a Gospel for three copecks and +read through the plain words, admitting of no misinterpretation, that +Christ said to the Samaritan woman "that the Father seeketh not +worshipers at Jerusalem, nor in this mountain nor in that, but +worshipers in spirit and in truth," or the saying that "the Christian +must not pray like the heathen, nor for show, but secretly, that is, in +his closet," or that Christ's follower must call no man master or +father--he need only read these words to be thoroughly convinced that +the Church pastors, who call themselves teachers in opposition to +Christ's precept, and dispute among themselves, constitute no kind of +authority, and that what the Churchmen teach us is not Christianity. +Less even than that is necessary. Even if a man nowadays did continue to +believe in miracles and did not read the Gospel, mere association with +people of different forms of religion and faith, which happens so easily +in these days, compels him to doubt of the truth of his own faith. It +was all very well when a man did not see men of any other form of +religion than his own; he believed that his form of religion was the one +true one. But a thinking man has only to come into contact--as +constantly happens in these days--with people, equally good and bad, of +different denominations, who condemn each other's beliefs, to doubt of +the truth of the belief he professes himself. In these days only a man +who is absolutely ignorant or absolutely indifferent to the vital +questions with which religion deals, can remain in the faith of the +Church. + +What deceptions and what strenuous efforts the churches must +employ to continue, in spite of all these tendencies subversive of +the faith, to build churches, to perform masses, to preach, to +teach, to convert, and, most of all, to receive for it all immense +emoluments, as do all these priests, pastors, incumbents, +superintendents, abbots, archdeacons, bishops, and archbishops. +They need special supernatural efforts. And the churches do, with +ever-increasing intensity and zeal, make such efforts. With us in +Russia, besides other means, they employ, simple brute force, as +there the temporal power is willing to obey the Church. Men who +refuse an external assent to the faith, and say so openly, are +either directly punished or deprived of their rights; men who +strictly keep the external forms of religion are rewarded and +given privileges. + +That is how the Orthodox clergy proceed; but indeed all churches +without exception avail themselves of every means for the purpose +--one of the most important of which is what is now called +hypnotism. + +Every art, from architecture to poetry, is brought into +requisition to work its effect on men's souls and to reduce them +to a state of stupefaction, and this effect is constantly +produced. This use of hypnotizing influence on men to bring them +to a state of stupefaction is especially apparent in the +proceedings of the Salvation Army, who employ new practices to +which we are unaccustomed: trumpets, drums, songs, flags, +costumes, marching, dancing, tears, and dramatic performances. + +But this only displeases us because these are new practices. Were +not the old practices in churches essentially the same, with their +special lighting, gold, splendor, candles, choirs, organ, bells, +vestments, intoning, etc.? + +But however powerful this hypnotic influence may be, it is not the +chief nor the most pernicious activity of the +Church. The chief and most pernicious work of the Church is that +which is directed to the deception of children--these very +children of whom Christ said: "Woe to him that offendeth one of +these little ones." From the very first awakening of the +consciousness of the child they begin to deceive him, to instill +into him with the utmost solemnity what they do not themselves +believe in, and they continue to instill it into him till the +deception has by habit grown into the child's nature. They +studiously deceive the child on the most important subject in +life, and when the deception has so grown into his life that it +would be difficult to uproot it, then they reveal to him the whole +world of science and reality, which cannot by any means be +reconciled with the beliefs that have been instilled into him, +leaving it to him to find his way as best he can out of these +contradictions. + +If one set oneself the task of trying to confuse a man so that he +could not think clearly nor free himself from the perplexity of +two opposing theories of life which had been instilled into him +from childhood, one could not invent any means more effectual than +the treatment of every young man educated in our so-called +Christian society. + +It is terrible to think what the churches do to men. But +if one imagines oneself in the position of the men who constitute +the Church, we see they could not act differently. The churches +are placed in a dilemma: the Sermon on the Mount or the Nicene +Creed--the one excludes the other. If a man sincerely believes in +the Sermon on the Mount, the Nicene Creed must inevitably lose all +meaning and significance for him, and the Church and its +representatives together with it. If a man believes in the Nicene +Creed, that is, in the Church, that is, in those who call +themselves its representatives, the Sermon on the Mount becomes +superfluous for him. And therefore the churches cannot but make +every possible effort to obscure the meaning of the Sermon on the +Mount, and to attract men to themselves. It is only due to the +intense zeal of the churches in this direction that the influence +of the churches has lasted hitherto. + +Let the Church stop its work of hypnotizing the masses, and +deceiving children even for the briefest interval of time, and men +would begin to understand Christ's teaching. But this +understanding will be the end of the churches and all their +influence. And therefore the churches will not for an instant +relax their zeal in the business of hypnotizing grown-up people +and deceiving children. This, then, is the work of the churches: +to instill a false interpretation of Christ's teaching into men, +and to prevent a true interpretation of it for the majority of +so-called believers. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CHRISTIANITY MISUNDERSTOOD BY MEN OF SCIENCE. + +Attitude of Men of Science to Religions in General--What Religion is, +and What is its Significance for the Life of Humanity--Three Conceptions +of Life--Christian Religion the Expression of the Divine Conception of +Life--Misinterpretation of Christianity by Men of Science, who Study it +in its External Manifestations Due to their Criticising it from +Standpoint of Social Conception of Life--Opinion, Resulting from this +Misinterpretation, that Christ's Moral Teaching is Exaggerated and +Cannot be put into Practice--Expression of Divine Conception of Life in +the Gospel--False Ideas of Men of Science on Christianity Proceed from +their Conviction that they have an Infallible Method of Criticism--From +which come Two Misconceptions in Regard to Christian Doctrine--First +Misconception, that the Teaching Cannot be put into Practice, Due to the +Christian Religion Directing Life in a Way Different from that of the +Social Theory of Life--Christianity holds up Ideal, does not lay down +Rules--To the Animal Force of Man Christ Adds the Consciousness of a +Divine Force--Christianity Seems to Destroy Possibility of Life only +when the Ideal held up is Mistaken for Rule--Ideal Must Not be +Lowered--Life, According to Christ's Teaching, is Movement--The Ideal +and the Precepts--Second Misconception Shown in Replacing Love and +Service of God by Love and Service of Humanity--Men of Science Imagine +their Doctrine of Service of Humanity and Christianity are +Identical--Doctrine of Service of Humanity Based on Social Conception of +Life--Love for Humanity, Logically Deduced from Love of Self, has No +Meaning because Humanity is a Fiction--Christian Love Deduced from Love +of God, Finds its Object in the whole World, not in Humanity +Alone--Christianity Teaches Man to Live in Accordance with his Divine +Nature--It Shows that the Essence of the Soul of Man is Love, and that +his Happiness Ensues from Love of God, whom he Recognizes as Love within +himself. + + +Now I will speak of the other view of Christianity which hinders +the true understanding of it--the scientific view. + +Churchmen substitute for Christianity the version they have framed +of it for themselves, and this view of Christianity they regard as +the one infallibly true one. + +Men of science regard as Christianity only the tenets held by the +different churches in the past and present; and finding that these +tenets have lost all the significance of Christianity, they accept +it as a religion which has outlived its age. + +To see clearly how impossible it is to understand the Christian +teaching from such a point of view, one must form for oneself an +idea of the place actually held by religions in general, by the +Christian religion in particular, in the life of mankind, and of +the significance attributed to them by science. + +Just as the individual man cannot live without having some theory +of the meaning of his life, and is always, though often +unconsciously, framing his conduct in accordance with the meaning +he attributes to his life, so too associations of men living in +similar conditions--nations--cannot but have theories of the +meaning of their associated life and conduct ensuing from those +theories. And as the individual man, when he attains a fresh +stage of growth, inevitably changes his philosophy of life, and +the grown-up man sees a different meaning in it from the child, so +too associations of men--nations--are bound to change their +philosophy of life and the conduct ensuing from their philosophy, +to correspond with their development. + +The difference, as regards this, between the individual man and +humanity as a whole, lies in the fact that the individual, in +forming the view of life proper to the new period of life on which +he is entering and the conduct resulting from it, benefits by the +experience of men who have lived before him, who have already +passed through the stage of growth upon which he is entering. But +humanity cannot have this aid, because it is always moving along a +hitherto untrodden track, and has no one to ask how to understand +life, and to act in the conditions on which it is entering and +through which no one has ever passed before. + +Nevertheless, just as a man with wife and children cannot continue +to look at life as he looked at it when he was a child, so too in +the face of the various changes that are taking place, the greater +density of population, the establishment of communication between +different peoples, the improvements of the methods of the struggle +with nature, and the accumulation of knowledge, humanity cannot +continue to look at life as of old, and it must frame a new +theory of life, from which conduct may follow adapted to the new +conditions on which it has entered and is entering. + +To meet this need humanity has the special power of producing men +who give a new meaning to the whole of human life--a theory of +life from which follow new forms of activity quite different from +all preceding them. The formation of this philosophy of life +appropriate to humanity in the new conditions on which it is +entering, and of the practice resulting from it, is what is called +religion. + +And therefore, in the first place, religion is not, as science +imagines, a manifestation which at one time corresponded with the +development of humanity, but is afterward outgrown by it. It is a +manifestation always inherent in the life of humanity, and is as +indispensable, as inherent in humanity at the present time as at +any other. Secondly, religion is always the theory of the +practice of the future and not of the past, and therefore it is +clear that investigation of past manifestations cannot in any case +grasp the essence of religion. + +The essence of every religious teaching lies not in the desire for +a symbolic expression of the forces of nature, nor in the dread of +these forces, nor in the craving for the marvelous, nor in the +external forms in which it is manifested, as men of science +imagine; the essence of religion lies in the faculty of men of +foreseeing and pointing out the path of life along which humanity +must move in the discovery of a new theory of life, as a result of +which the whole future conduct of humanity is changed and +different from all that has been before. + +This faculty of foreseeing the path along which humanity must +move, is common in a greater or less degree to all men. But in +all times there have been men in whom this faculty was especially +strong, and these men have given clear and definite expression to +what all men felt vaguely, and formed a new philosophy of life +from which new lines of action followed for hundreds and thousands +of years. + +Of such philosophies of life we know three; two have already been +passed through by humanity, and the third is that we are passing +through now in Christianity. These philosophies of life are three +in number, and only three, not because we have arbitrarily brought +the various theories of life together under these three heads, but +because all men's actions are always based on one of these three +views of life--because we cannot view life otherwise than in these +three ways. + +These three views of life are as follows: First, embracing the +individual, or the animal view of life; second, embracing the +society, or the pagan view of life; third, embracing the whole +world, or the divine view of life. + +In the first theory of life a man's life is limited to his one +individuality; the aim of life is the satisfaction of the will of +this individuality. In the second theory of life a man's life is +limited not to his own individuality, but to certain societies and +classes of individuals: to the tribe, the family, the clan, the +nation; the aim of life is limited to the satisfaction of the will +of those associations of individuals. In the third theory of life +a man's life is limited not to societies and classes of +individuals, but extends to the principle and source of life--to +God. + +These three conceptions of life form the foundation of all the +religious that exist or have existed. + +The savage recognizes life only in himself and his personal +desires. His interest in life is concentrated on himself alone. +The highest happiness for him is the fullest satisfaction of his +desires. The motive power of his life is personal enjoyment. His +religion consists in propitiating his deity and in worshiping his +gods, whom he imagines as persons living only for their personal +aims. + +The civilized pagan recognizes life not in himself alone, but in +societies of men--in the tribe, the clan, the family, the kingdom +--and sacrifices his personal good for these societies. The +motive power of his life is glory. His religion consists in the +exaltation of the glory of those who are allied to him--the +founders of his family, his ancestors, his rulers--and in +worshiping gods who are exclusively protectors of his clan, his +family, his nation, his government [see Footnote]. + + [Footnote: The fact that so many varied forms of + existence, as the life of the family, of the tribe, + of the clan, of the state, and even the life of + humanity theoretically conceived by the Positivists, + are founded on this social or pagan theory of life, + does not destroy the unity of this theory of life. + All these varied forms of life are founded on the + same conception, that the life of the individual is + not a sufficient aim of life--that the meaning of + life can be found only in societies of individuals.] + +The man who holds the divine theory of life recognizes life not in +his own individuality, and not in societies of individualities (in +the family, the clan, the nation, the tribe, or the government), +but in the eternal undying source of life--in God; and to fulfill +the will of God he is ready to sacrifice his individual and family +and social welfare. The motor power of his life is love. And his +religion is the worship in deed and in truth of the principle of +the whole--God. + +The whole historic existence of mankind is nothing else than the +gradual transition from the personal, animal conception of life to +the social conception of life, and from the social conception of +life to the divine conception of life. The whole history of the +ancient peoples, lasting through thousands of years and ending +with the history of Rome, is the history of the transition from +the animal, personal view of life to the social view of life. The +whole of history from the time of the Roman Empire and the +appearance of Christianity is the history of the transition, +through which we are still passing now, from the social view of +life to the divine view of life. + +This view of life is the last, and founded upon it is the +Christian teaching, which is a guide for the whole of our life and +lies at the root of all our activity, practical and theoretic. +Yet men of what is falsely called science, pseudo-scientific men, +looking at it only in its externals, regard it as something +outgrown and having no value for us. + +Reducing it to its dogmatic side only--to the doctrines of the +Trinity, the redemption, the miracles, the Church, the sacraments, +and so on--men of science regard it as only one of an immense +number of religions which have arisen among mankind, and now, they +say, having played out its part in history, it is outliving its +own age and fading away before the light of science and of true +enlightenment. + +We come here upon what, in a large proportion of cases, forms the +source of the grossest errors of mankind. Men on a lower level of +understanding, when brought into contact with phenomena of a +higher order, instead of making efforts to understand them, to +raise themselves up to the point of view from which they must look +at the subject, judge it from their lower standpoint, and the less +they understand what they are talking about, the more confidently +and unhesitatingly they pass judgment on it. + +To the majority of learned then, looking at the living, moral teaching +of Christ from the lower standpoint of the conception of life, this +doctrine appears as nothing but very indefinite and incongruous +combination of Indian asceticism, Stoic and Neoplatonic philosophy, and +insubstantial anti-social visions, which have no serious significance +for our times. Its whole meaning is concentrated for them in its +external manifestations--in Catholicism, Protestantism, in certain +dogmas, or in the conflict with the temporal power. Estimating the value +of Christianity by these phenomena is like a deaf man's judging of the +character and quality of music by seeing the movements of the musicians. + +The result of this is that all these scientific men, from Kant, +Strauss, Spencer, and Renan down, do not understand the meaning of +Christ's sayings, do not understand the significance, the object, +or the reason of their utterance, do not understand even the +question to which they form the answer. Yet, without even taking +the pains to enter into their meaning, they refuse, if unfavorably +disposed, to recognize any reasonableness in his doctrines; or if +they want to treat them indulgently, they condescend, from the +height of their superiority, to correct them, on the supposition +that Christ meant to express precisely their own ideas, but did +not succeed in doing so. They behave to his teaching much as +self-assertive people talk to those whom they consider beneath +them, often supplying their companions' words: "Yes, you mean to +say this and that." This correction is always with the aim of +reducing the teaching of the higher, divine conception of life to +the level of the lower, state conception of life. + +They usually say that the moral teaching of Christianity is very +fine, but overexaggerated; that to make it quite right we must +reject all in it that is superfluous and unnecessary to our manner +of life. "And the doctrine that asks too much, and requires what +cannot be performed, is worse than that which requires of men what +is possible and consistent with their powers," these learned +interpreters of Christianity maintain, repeating what was long ago +asserted, and could not but be asserted, by those who crucified +the Teacher because they did not understand him--the Jews. + +It seems that in the judgment of the learned men of our +time the Hebrew law--a tooth for a tooth, and an eye for +an eye--is a law of just retaliation, known to mankind five +thousand years before the law of holiness which Christ +taught in its place. + +It seems that all that has been done by those men who understood +Christ's teaching literally and lived in accordance with such an +understanding of it, all that has been said and done by all true +Christians, by all the Christian saints, all that is now reforming +the world in the shape of socialism and communism--is simply +exaggeration, not worth talking about. + +After eighteen hundred years of education in Christianity the +civilized world, as represented by its most advanced thinkers, +holds the conviction that the Christian religion is a religion of +dogmas; that its teaching in relation to life is unreasonable, and +is an exaggeration, subversive of the real lawful obligations of +morality consistent with the nature of man; and that very doctrine +of retribution which Christ rejected, and in place of which he put +his teaching, is more practically useful for us. + +To learned men the doctrine of non-resistance to evil by force is +exaggerated and even irrational. Christianity is much better +without it, they think, not observing closely what Christianity, +as represented by them, amounts to. + +They do not see that to say that the doctrine of non-resistance to +evil is an exaggeration in Christ's teaching is just like saying +that the statement of the equality of the radii of a circle is an +exaggeration in the definition of a circle. And those who speak +thus are acting precisely like a man who, having no idea of what a +circle is, should declare that this requirement, that every point +of the circumference should be an equal distance from the center, +is exaggerated. To advocate the rejection of Christ's command of +non-resistance to evil, or its adaptation to the needs of life, +implies a misunderstanding of the teaching of Christ. + +And those who do so certainly do not understand it. They do not +understand that this teaching is the institution of a new theory +of life, corresponding to the new conditions on which men have +entered now for eighteen hundred years, and also the definition of +the new conduct of life which results from it. They do not +believe that Christ meant to say what he said; or he seems to them +to have said what he said in the Sermon on the Mount and in other +places accidentally, or through his lack of intelligence or of +cultivation. + + [Footnote: Here, for example, is a characteristic + view of that kind from the American journal the ARENA + (October, 1890): "New Basis of Church Life." Treating + of the significance of the Sermon on the Mount and + non-resistance to evil in particular, the author, + being under no necessity, like the Churchmen, to + hide its significance, says: + + "Christ in fact preached complete communism and + anarchy; but one must learn to regard Christ always + in his historical and psychological significance. + Like every advocate of the love of humanity, Christ + went to the furthest extreme in his teaching. Every + step forward toward the moral perfection of humanity + is always guided by men who see nothing but their + vocation. Christ, in no disparaging sense be it + said, had the typical temperament of such a reformer. + And therefore we must remember that his precepts + cannot be understood literally as a complete + philosophy of life. We ought to analyze his words + with respect for them, but in the spirit of criticism, + accepting what is true," etc. + + Christ would have been happy to say what he ought, but + he was not able to express himself as exactly and + clearly as we can in the spirit of criticism, and + therefore let us correct him. All that he said about + meekness, sacrifice, lowliness, not caring for the + morrow, was said by accident, through lack of knowing + how to express himself scientifically.] + +Matt. vi. 25-34: "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for +your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for +your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, +and the body than rainment? Behold the fouls of the air; for they +sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your +heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? +Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit onto his stature? +And why take ye thought for rainment? Consider the lilies of the +field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet +I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed +like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the +field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall +he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take +no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? +or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things +do the Gentiles seek), for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye +have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of +God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added +unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the +morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient +unto the day is the evil thereof." Luke xii. 33-34: "Sell that ye +have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a +treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief +approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, +there will your heart be also." Sell all thou hast and follow me; +and he who will not leave father, or mother, or children, or +brothers, or fields, or house, he cannot be my disciple. Deny +thyself, take up thy cross each day and follow me. My meat is to +do the will of him that sent me, and to perform his works. Not my +will, but thine be done; not what I will, but as thou wilt. Life +is to do not one's will, but the will of God. + +All these principles appear to men who regard them from the +standpoint of a lower conception of life as the expression of an +impulsive enthusiasm, having no direct application to life. These +principles, however, follow from the Christian theory of life, +just as logically as the principles of paying a part of one's +private gains to the commonwealth and of sacrificing one's life in +defense of one's country follow from the state theory of life. + +As the man of the stale conception of life said to the savage: Reflect, +bethink yourself! The life of your individuality cannot be true life, +because that life is pitiful and passing. But the life of a society and +succession of individuals, family, clan, tribe, or state, goes on +living, and therefore a man must sacrifice his own individuality for the +life of the family or the state. In exactly the same way the Christian +doctrine says to the man of the social, state conception of life, Repent +ye--[GREEK WORD]-i. e., bethink yourself, or you will be ruined. +Understand that this casual, personal life which now comes into being +and to-morrow is no more can have no permanence, that no external means, +no construction of it can give it consecutiveness and permanence. Take +thought and understand that the life you are living is not real +life--the life of the family, of society, of the state will not save you +from annihilation. The true, the rational life is only possible for man +according to the measure in which he can participate, not in the family +or the state, but in the source of life--the Father; according to the +measure in which he can merge his life in the life of the Father. Such +is undoubtedly the Christian conception of life, visible in every +utterance of the Gospel. + + [TRANSCRIBIST'S NOTE: The GREEK WORD above used Greek letters, + spelled: mu-epsilon-tau-alpha-nu-omicron-zeta-epsilon-tau- + epsilon] + +One may not share this view of life, one may reject it, one may show its +inaccuracy and its erroneousness, but we cannot judge of the Christian +teaching without mastering this view of life. Still less can one +criticise a subject on a higher plane from a lower point of view. From +the basement one cannot judge of the effect of the spire. But this is +just what the learned critics of the day try to do. For they share the +erroneous idea of the orthodox believers that they are in possession of +certain infallible means for investigating a subject. They fancy if they +apply their so-called scientific methods of criticism, there can be no +doubt of their conclusion being correct. + +This testing the subject by the fancied infallible method of +science is the principal obstacle to understanding the Christian +religion for unbelievers, for so-called educated people. From +this follow all the mistakes made by scientific men about the +Christian religion, and especially two strange misconceptions +which, more than everything else, hinder them from a correct +understanding of it. One of these misconceptions is that the +Christian moral teaching cannot be carried out, and that therefore +it has either no force at all--that is, it should not be accepted +as the rule of conduct--or it must be transformed, adapted to the +limits within which its fulfillment is possible in our society. +Another misconception is that the Christian doctrine of love of +God, and therefore of his service, is an obscure, mystic +principle, which gives no definite object for love, and should +therefore be replaced by the more exact and comprehensible +principles of love for men and the service of humanity. + +The first misconception in regard to the impossibility of +following the principle is the result of men of the state +conception of life unconsciously taking that conception as the +standard by which the Christian religion directs men, and taking +the Christian principle of perfection as the rule by which that +life is to be ordered; they think and say that to follow Christ's +teaching is impossible, because the complete fulfillment of all +that is required by this teaching would put an end to life. "If a +man were to carry out all that Christ teaches, he would destroy +his own life; and if all men carried it out, then the human race +would come to an end," they say. + +"If we take no thought for the morrow, what we shall eat and what +we shall drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed, do not defend +our life, nor resist evil by force, lay down our life for others, +and observe perfect chastity, the human race cannot exist," they +say. + +And they are perfectly right if they take the principle of +perfection given by Christ's teaching as a rule which everyone is +bound to fulfill, just as in the state principles of life everyone +is bound to carry out the rule of paying taxes, supporting the +law, and so on. + +The misconception is based precisely on the fact that the teaching +of Christ guides men differently from the way in which the +precepts founded on the lower conception of life guide men. The +precepts of the state conception of life only guide men by +requiring of them an exact fulfillment of rules or laws. Christ's +teaching guides men by pointing them to the infinite perfection of +their heavenly Father, to which every man independently and +voluntarily struggles, whatever the degree of his imperfection in +the present. + +The misunderstanding of men who judge of the Christian principle +from the point of view of the state principle, consists in the +fact that on the supposition that the perfection which Christ +points to, can be fully attained, they ask themselves (just as +they ask the same question on the supposition that state laws will +be carried out) what will be the result of all this being carried +out? This supposition cannot be made, because the perfection held +up to Christians is infinite and can never be attained; and Christ +lays down his principle, having in view the fact that absolute +perfection can never be attained, but that striving toward +absolute, infinite perfection will continually increase the +blessedness of men, and that this blessedness may be increased to +infinity thereby. + +Christ is teaching not angels, but men, living and moving in the animal +life. And so to this animal force of movement Christ, as it were, +applies the new force-the recognition of Divine perfection-and thereby +directs the movement by the resultant of these two forces.. + +To suppose that human life is going in the direction to which +Christ pointed it, is just like supposing that a little boat +afloat on a rabid river, and directing its course almost exactly +against the current, will progress in that direction. + +Christ recognizes the existence of both sides of the +parallelogram, of both eternal indestructible forces of which the +life of man is compounded: the force of his animal nature and the +force of the consciousness of Kinship to God. Saying nothing of +the animal force which asserts itself, remains always the same, +and is therefore independent of human will, Christ speaks only of +the Divine force, calling upon a man to know it more closely, to +set it more free from all that retards it, and to carry it to a +higher degree of intensity. + +In the process of liberating, of strengthening this force, the +true life of man, according to Christ's teaching, consists. The +true life, according to preceding religions, consists in carrying +out rules, the law; according to Christ's teaching it consists in +an ever closer approximation to the divine perfection held up +before every man, and recognized within himself by every man, in +an ever closer and closer approach to the perfect fusion of his +will in the will of God, that fusion toward which man strives, and +the attainment of which would be the destruction of the life me +know. + +The divine perfection is the asymptote of human life to which it +is always striving, and always approaching, though it can only be +reached in infinity. + +The Christian religion seems to exclude the possibility of life only +when men mistake the pointing to an ideal as the laying down of a +rule. It is only then that the principles presented in Christ's +teaching appear to be destructive of life. These principles, on +the contrary, are the only ones that make true life possible. +Without these principles true life could not be possible. + +"One ought not to expect so much," is what people usually say in +discussing the requirements of the Christian religion. "One +cannot expect to take absolutely no thought for the morrow, as is +said in the Gospel, but only not to take too much thought for it; +one cannot give away all to the poor, but one must give away a +certain definite part; one need not aim at virginity, but one must +avoid debauchery; one need not forsake wife and children, but one +must not give too great a place to them in one's heart," and so +on. + +But to speak like this is just like telling a man who is +struggling on a swift river and is directing his course against +the current, that it is impossible to cross the river rowing +against the current, and that to cross it he must float in the +direction of the point he wants to reach. + +In reality, in order to reach the place to which he wants to go, +he must row with all his strength toward a point +much higher up. + +To let go the requirements of the ideal means not only to diminish +the possibility of perfection, but to make an end of the ideal +itself. The ideal that has power over men is not an ideal +invented by someone, but the ideal that every man carries within +his soul. Only this ideal of complete infinite perfection has +power over men, and stimulates them to action. A moderate +perfection loses its power of influencing men's hearts. + +Christ's teaching only has power when it demands absolute +perfection--that is, the fusion of the divine nature which exists +in every man's soul with the will of God--the union of the Son +with the Father. Life according to Christ's teaching consists of +nothing but this setting free of the Son of God, existing in every +man, from the animal, and in bringing him closer to the Father. + +The animal existence of a man does not constitute human life +alone. Life, according to the will of God only, is also not +human life. Human life is a combination of the animal life and +the divine life. And the more this combination approaches to the +divine life, the more life there is in it. + +Life, according to the Christian religion, is a progress toward +the divine perfection. No one condition, according to this +doctrine, can be higher or lower than another. Every condition, +according to this doctrine, is only a particular stage, of no +consequence in itself, on the way toward unattainable perfection, +and therefore in itself it does not imply a greater or lesser +degree of life. Increase of life, according to this, consists in +nothing but the quickening of the progress toward perfection. And +therefore the progress toward perfection of the publican Zaccheus, +of the woman that was a sinner, and of the robber on the cross, +implies a higher degree of life than the stagnant righteousness of +the Pharisee. And therefore for this religion there cannot be +rules which it is obligatory to obey. The man who is at a lower +level but is moving onward toward perfection is living a more +moral, a better life, is more fully carrying out Christ's +teaching, than the man on a much higher level of morality who is +not moving onward toward perfection. + +It is in this sense that the lost sheep is dearer to the Father +than those that were not lost. The prodigal son, the piece of +money lost and found again, were more precious than those that +were not lost. + +The fulfillment of Christ's teaching consists in moving away from +self toward God. It is obvious that there cannot be definite laws +and rules for this fulfillment of the teaching. Every degree of +perfection and every degree of imperfection are equal in it; no +obedience to laws constitutes a fulfillment of this doctrine, and +therefore for it there can be no binding rules and laws. + +From this fundamental distinction between the religion of Christ +and all preceding religions based on the state conception of life, +follows a corresponding difference in the special precepts of the +state theory and the Christian precepts. The precepts of the +state theory of life insist for the most part on certain practical +prescribed acts, by which men are justified and secure of being +right. The Christian precepts (the commandment of love is not a +precept in the strict sense of the word, but the expression of the +very essence of the religion) are the five commandments of the +Sermon on the Mount--all negative in character. They show only +what at a certain stage of development of humanity men may not do. + +These commandments are, as it were, signposts on the endless road +to perfection, toward which humanity is moving, showing the point +of perfection which is possible at a certain period in the +development of humanity. + +Christ has given expression in the Sermon on the Mount to the +eternal ideal toward which men are spontaneously struggling, and +also the degree of attainment of it to which men may reach in our +times. + +The ideal is not to desire to do ill to anyone, not to provoke ill +will, to love all men. The precept, showing the level below which +we cannot fall in the attainment of this ideal, is the prohibition +of evil speaking. And that is the first command. + +The ideal is perfect chastity, even in thought. The precept, +showing the level below which we cannot fall in the attainment of +this ideal, is that of purity of married life, avoidance of +debauchery. That is the second command. + +The ideal is to take no thought for the future, to live in the +present moment. The precept, showing the level below which we +cannot fall, is the prohibition of swearing, of promising anything +in the future. And that is the third command. + +The ideal is never for any purpose to use force. The precept, +showing the level below which we cannot fall is that of returning +good for evil, being patient under wrong, giving the cloak also. +That is the fourth command. + +The ideal is to love the enemies who hate us. The precept, +showing the level below which we cannot fall, is not to do evil to +our enemies, to speak well of them, and to make no difference +between them and our neighbors. + +All these precepts are indications of what, on our journey to +perfection, we are already fully able to avoid, and what we must +labor to attain now, and what we ought by degrees to translate +into instinctive and unconscious habits. But these precepts, far +from constituting the whole of Christ's teaching and exhausting +it, are simply stages on the way to perfection. These precepts +must and will be followed by higher and higher precepts on the way +to the perfection held up by the religion. + +And therefore it is essentially a part of the Christian religion +to make demands higher than those expressed in its precepts; and +by no means to diminish the demands either of the ideal itself, or +of the precepts, as people imagine who judge it from the +standpoint of the social conception of life. + +So much for one misunderstanding of the scientific men, in +relation to the import and aim of Christ's teaching. Another +misunderstanding arising from the same source consists in +substituting love for men, the service of humanity, for the +Christian principles of love for God and his service. + +The Christian doctrine to love God and serve him, and only as a +result of that love to love and serve one's neighbor, seems to +scientific men obscure, mystic, and arbitrary. And they would +absolutely exclude the obligation of love and service of God, +holding that the doctrine of love for men, for humanity alone, is +far more clear, tangible, and reasonable. + +Scientific men teach in theory that the only good and rational +life is that which is devoted to the service of the whole of +humanity. That is for them the import of the Christian doctrine, +and to that they reduce Christ's teaching. They seek confirmation +of their own doctrine in the Gospel, on the supposition that the +two doctrines are really the same. + +This idea is an absolutely mistaken one. The Christian doctrine +has nothing in common with the doctrine of the Positivists, +Communists, and all the apostles of the universal brotherhood of +mankind, based on the general advantage of such a brotherhood. +They differ from one another especially in Christianity's having a +firm and clear basis in the human soul, while love for humanity is +only a theoretical deduction from analogy. + +The doctrine of love for humanity alone is based on the social +conception of life. + +The essence of the social conception of life consists in the +transference of the aim of the individual life to the life of +societies of individuals: family, clan, tribe, or state. This +transference is accomplished easily and naturally in its earliest +forms, in the transference of the aim of life from the individual +to the family and the clan. The transference to the tribe or the +nation is more difficult and requires special training. And the +transference of the sentiment to the state is the furthest limit +which the process can reach. + +To love one's self is natural to everyone, and no one needs any +encouragement to do so. To love one's clan who support and +protect one, to love one's wife, the joy and help of one's +existence, one's children, the hope and consolation of one's life, +and one's parents, who have given one life and education, is +natural. And such love, though far from being so strong as love +of self, is met with pretty often. + +To love--for one's own sake, through personal pride--one's tribe, +one's nation, though not so natural, is nevertheless common. Love +of one's own people who are of the same blood, the same tongue, +and the same religion as one's self is possible, though far from +being so strong as love of self, or even love of family or clan. +But love for a state, such as Turkey, Germany, England, Austria, +or Russia is a thing almost impossible. And though it is +zealously inculcated, it is only an imagined sentiment; it has no +existence in reality. And at that limit man's power of +transferring his interest ceases, and he cannot feel any direct +sentiment for that fictitious entity. The Positivists, however, +and all the apostles of fraternity on scientific principles, +without taking into consideration the weakening of sentiment in +proportion to the extension of its object, draw further deductions +in theory in the same direction. "Since," they say, "it was for +the advantage of the individual to extend his personal interest to +the family, the tribe, and subsequently to the nation and the +state, it would be still more advantageous to extend his interest +in societies of men to the whole of mankind, and so all to live +for humanity just as men live for the family or the state." + +Theoretically it follows, indeed, having extended the love and +interest for the personality to the family, the tribe, and thence +to the nation and the state, it would be perfectly logical for men +to save themselves the strife and calamities which result from the +division of mankind into nations and states by extending their +love to the whole of humanity. This would be most logical, and +theoretically nothing would appear more natural to its advocates, +who do not observe that love is a sentiment which may or may not +be felt, but which it is useless to advocate; and moreover, that +love must have an object, and that humanity is not an object. It +is nothing but a fiction. + +The family, the tribe, even the state were not invented by men, +but formed themselves spontaneously, like ant-hills or swarms of +bees, and have a real existence. The man who, for the sake of his +own animal personality, loves his family, knows whom he loves: +Anna, Dolly, John, Peter, and so on. The man who loves his tribe +and takes pride in it, knows that he loves all the Guelphs or all +the Ghibellines; the man who loves the state knows that he loves +France bounded by the Rhine, and the Pyrenees, and its principal +city Paris, and its history and so on. But the man who loves +humanity--what does he love? There is such a thing as a state, as +a nation; there is the abstract conception of man; but humanity as +a concrete idea does not, and cannot exist. + +Humanity! Where is the definition of humanity? Where does it end +and where does it begin? Does humanity end with the savage, the +idiot, the dipsomaniac, or the madman? If we draw a line +excluding from humanity its lowest representatives, where are we +to draw the line? Shall we exclude the negroes like the +Americans, or the Hindoos like some Englishmen, or the Jews like +some others? If we include all men without exception, why should +we not include also the higher animals, many of whom are superior +to the lowest specimens of the human race. + +We know nothing of humanity as an eternal object, and we know +nothing of its limits. Humanity is a fiction, and it is +impossible to love it. It would, doubtless, be very advantageous +if men could love humanity just as they love their family. It +would be very advantageous, as Communists advocate, to replace the +competitive, individualistic organization of men's activity by a +social universal organization, so that each would be for all and +all for each. + +Only there are no motives to lead men to do this. The +Positivists, the Communists, and all the apostles of fraternity on +scientific principles advocate the extension to the whole of +humanity of the love men feel for themselves, their families, and +the state. They forget that the love which they are discussing is +a personal love, which might expand in a rarefied form to embrace +a man's native country, but which disappears before it can embrace +an artificial state such as Austria, England, or Turkey, and which +we cannot even conceive of in relation to all humanity, an +absolutely mystic conception. + +"A man loves himself (his animal personality), he loves his +family, he even loves his native country. Why should he not love +humanity? That would be such an excellent thing. And by the way, +it is precisely what is taught by Christianity." So think the +advocates of Positivist, Communistic, or Socialistic fraternity. + +It would indeed be an excellent thing. But it can never be, for +the love that is based on a personal or social conception of life +can never rise beyond love for the state. + +The fallacy of the argument lies in the fact that the social +conception of life, on which love for family and nation is +founded, rests itself on love of self, and that love grows weaker +and weaker as it is extended from self to family, tribe, +nationality, and slate; and in the state we reach the furthest +limit beyond which it cannot go. + +The necessity of extending the sphere of love is beyond dispute. +But in reality the possibility of this love is destroyed by the +necessity of extending its object indefinitely. And thus the +insufficiency of personal human love is made manifest. + +And here the advocates of Positivist, Communistic, Socialistic +fraternity propose to draw upon Christian love to make up the +default of this bankrupt human love; but Christian love only in +its results, not in its foundations. They propose love for +humanity alone, apart from love for God. + +But such a love cannot exist. There is no motive to produce it. +Christian love is the result only of the Christian conception of +life, in which the aim of life is to love and serve God. + +The social conception of life has led men, by a natural transition +from love of self and then of family, tribe, nation, and state, to +a consciousness of the necessity of love for humanity, a +conception which has no definite limits and extends to all living +things. And this necessity for love of what awakens no kind of +sentiment in a man is a contradiction which cannot be solved by +the social theory of life. + +The Christian doctrine in its full significance can alone solve +it, by giving a new meaning to life. Christianity recognizes love +of self, of family, of nation, and of humanity, and not only of +humanity, but of everything living, everything existing; it +recognizes the necessity of an infinite extension of the sphere of +love. But the object of this love is not found outside self in +societies of individuals, nor in the external world, but within +self, in the divine self whose essence is that very love, which +the animal self is brought to feel the need of through its +consciousness of its own perishable nature. + +The difference between the Christian doctrine and those which +preceded it is that the social doctrine said: "Live in opposition +to your nature [understanding by this only the animal nature], +make it subject to the external law of family, society, and +state." Christianity says: "Live according to your nature +[understanding by this the divine nature]; do not make it subject +to anything--neither you (an animal self) nor that of others--and +you will attain the very aim to which you are striving when you +subject your external self." + +The Christian doctrine brings a man to the elementary +consciousness of self, only not of the animal self, but of the +divine self, the divine spark, the self as the Son of God, as much +God as the Father himself, though confined in an animal husk. The +consciousness of being the Son of God, whose chief characteristic +is love, satisfies the need for the extension of the sphere of +love to which the man of the social conception of life had been +brought. For the latter, the welfare of the personality demanded +an ever-widening extension of the sphere of love; love was a +necessity and was confined to certain objects--self, family, +society. With the Christian conception of life, love is not a +necessity and is confined to no object; it is the essential +faculty of the human soul. Man loves not because it is his +interest to love this or that, but because love is the essence of +his soul, because he cannot but love. + +The Christian doctrine shows man that the essence of his soul is +love--that his happiness depends not on loving this or that +object, but on loving the principle of the whole--God, whom he +recognizes within himself as love, and therefore he loves all +things and all men. + +In this is the fundamental difference between the Christian +doctrine and the doctrine of the Positivists, and all the +theorizers about universal brotherhood on non-Christian +principles. + +Such are the two principal misunderstandings relating to the +Christian religion, from which the greater number of false +reasonings about it proceed. The first consists in the belief +that Christ's teaching instructs men, like all previous religions, +by rules, which they are bound to follow, and that these rules +cannot be fulfilled. The second is the idea that the whole +purport of Christianity is to teach men to live advantageously +together, as one family, and that to attain this we need only +follow the rule of love to humanity, dismissing all thought of +love of God altogether. + +The mistaken notion of scientific men that the essence of +Christianity consists in the supernatural, and that its moral +teaching is impracticable, constitutes another reason +of the failure of men of the present day to understand +Christianity. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +CONTRADICTION BETWEEN OUR LIFE AND OUR CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE. + +Men Think they can Accept Christianity without Altering their +Life--Pagan Conception of Life does not Correspond with Present Stage of +Development of Humanity, and Christian Conception Alone Can Accord with +it--Christian Conception of Life not yet Understood by Men, but the +Progress of Life itself will Lead them Inevitably to Adopt it--The +Requirements of a New Theory of Life Always Seem Incomprehensible, +Mystic, and Supernatural--So Seem the Requirements of the Christian +Theory of Life to the Majority of Men--The Absorption of the Christian +Conception of Life will Inevitably be Brought About as the Result of +Material and Spiritual Causes--The Fact of Men Knowing the Requirements +of the Higher View of Life, and yet Continuing to Preserve Inferior +Organizations of Life, Leads to Contradictions and Sufferings which +Embitter Existence and Must Result in its Transformation--The +Contradictions of our Life--The Economic Contradiction and the Suffering +Induced by it for Rich and Poor Alike--The Political Contradiction and +the Sufferings Induced by Obedience to the Laws of the State--The +International Contradiction and the Recognition of it by Contemporaries: +Komarovsky, Ferri, Booth, Passy, Lawson, Wilson, Bartlett, Defourney, +Moneta--The Striking Character of the Military Contradiction. + + +There are many reasons why Christ's teaching is not understood. +One reason is that people suppose they have understood it when +they have decided, as the Churchmen do, that it was revealed by +supernatural means, or when they have studied, as the scientific +men do, the external forms in which it has been manifested. +Another reason is the mistaken notion that it is impracticable, +and ought to be replaced by the doctrine of love for humanity. +But the principal reason, which is the source of all the other +mistaken ideas about it, is the notion that Christianity is a +doctrine which can be accepted or rejected without any change of +life. + +Men who are used to the existing order of things, who like it and +dread its being changed, try to take the doctrine as a collection +of revelations and rules which one can accept without their +modifying one's life. While Christ's teaching is not only a +doctrine which gives rules which a man must follow, it unfolds a +new meaning in life, and defines a whole world of human activity +quite different from all that has preceded it and appropriate to +the period on which man is entering. + +The life of humanity changes and advances, like the life of the +individual, by stages, and every stage has a theory of life +appropriate to it, which is inevitably absorbed by men. Those who +do not absorb it consciously, absorb it unconsciously. It is the +same with the changes in the beliefs of peoples and of all +humanity as it is with the changes of belief of individuals. If +the father of a family continues to be guided in his conduct by +his childish conceptions of life, life becomes so difficult for +him that he involuntarily seeks another philosophy and readily +absorbs that which is appropriate to his age. + +That is just what is happening now to humanity at this time of +transition through which we are passing, from the pagan conception +of life to the Christian. The socialized man of the present day +is brought by experience of life itself to the necessity of +abandoning the pagan conception of life, which is inappropriate to +the present stage of humanity, and of submitting to the obligation +of the Christian doctrines, the truths of which, however corrupt +and misinterpreted, are still known to him, and alone offer him a +solution of the contradictions surrounding him. + +If the requirements of the Christian doctrine seem strange and +even alarming to the man of the social theory of life, no less +strange, incomprehensible, and alarming to the savage of ancient +times seemed the requirements of the social doctrine when it was +not fully understood and could not be foreseen in its results. + +"It is unreasonable," said the savage, "to sacrifice my peace of +mind or my life in defense of something incomprehensible, +impalpable, and conventional--family, tribe, or nation; and above +all it is unsafe to put oneself at the disposal of the power of +others." + +But the time came when the savage, on one hand, felt, though +vaguely, the value of the social conception of life, and of its +chief motor power, social censure, or social approbation--glory, +and when, on the other hand, the difficulties of his personal life +became so great that he could not continue to believe in the value +of his old theory of life. Then he accepted the social, state +theory of life and submitted to it. + +That is just what the man of the social theory of life is passing +through now. + +"It is unreasonable," says the socialized man, "to sacrifice my +welfare and that of my family and my country in order to fulfill +some higher law, which requires me to renounce my most natural and +virtuous feelings of love of self, of family, of kindred, and of +country; and above all, it is unsafe to part with the security of +life afforded by the organization of government." + +But the time is coming when, on one hand, the vague consciousness +in his soul of the higher law, of love to God and his neighbor, +and, on the other hand, the suffering, resulting from the +contradictions of life, will force the man to reject the social +theory and to assimilate the new one prepared ready for him, which +solves all the contradictions and removes all his sufferings--the +Christian theory of life. And this time has now come. + +We, who thousands of years ago passed through the transition, from +the personal, animal view of life to the socialized view, imagine +that that transition was an inevitable and natural one; but this +transition through which we have been passing for the last eighteen +hundred years seems arbitrary, unnatural, and alarming. But we +only fancy this because that first transition has been so fully +completed that the practice attained by it has become unconscious +and instinctive in us, while the present transition is not yet +over and we have to complete it consciously. + +It took ages, thousands of years, for the social conception of +life to permeate men's consciousness. It went through various +forms and has now passed into the region of the instinctive +through inheritance, education, and habit. And therefore it seems +natural to us. But five thousand years ago it seemed as unnatural +and alarming to men as the Christian doctrine in its true sense +seems to-day. + +We think to-day that the requirements of the Christian doctrine--of +universal brotherhood, suppression of national distinctions, abolition +of private property, and the strange injunction of non-resistance to +evil by force--demand what is impossible. But it was just the same +thousands of years ago, with every social or even family duty, such as +the duty of parents to support their children, of the young to maintain +the old, of fidelity in marriage. Still more strange, and even +unreasonable, seemed the state duties of submitting to the appointed +authority, and paying taxes, and fighting in defense of the country, and +so on. All such requirements seem simple, comprehensible, and natural to +us to-day, and we see nothing mysterious or alarming in them. But three +or five thousand years ago they seemed to require what was impossible. + +The social conception of life served as the basis of religion +because at the time when it was first presented to men it seemed +to them absolutely incomprehensible, mystic, and supernatural. +Now that we have outlived that phase of the life of humanity, we +understand the rational grounds for uniting men in families, +communities, and states. But in antiquity the duties involved by +such association were presented under cover of the supernatural +and were confirmed by it. + +The patriarchal religions exalted the family, the tribe, the +nation. State religions deified emperors and states. Even now +most ignorant people--like our peasants, who call the Tzar an +earthly god--obey state laws, not through any rational recognition +of their necessity, nor because they have any conception of the +meaning of state, but through a religious sentiment. + +In precisely the same way the Christian doctrine is presented to +men of the social or heathen theory of life to-day, in the guise +of a supernatural religion, though there is in reality nothing +mysterious, mystic, or supernatural about it. It is simply the +theory of life which is appropriate to the present degree of +material development, the present stage of growth of humanity, and +which must therefore inevitably be accepted. + +The time will come--it is already coming--when the Christian principles +of equality and fraternity, community of property, non-resistance of +evil by force, will appear just as natural and simple as the principles +of family or social life seem to us now. + +Humanity can no more go backward in its development than the +individual man. Men have outlived the social, family, and state +conceptions of life. Now they must go forward and assimilate the +next and higher conception of life, which is what is now taking +place. This change is brought about in two ways: consciously +through spiritual causes, and unconsciously through material +causes. + +Just as the individual man very rarely changes his way of life at +the dictates of his reason alone, but generally continues to live +as before, in spite of the new interests and aims revealed to him +by his reason, and only alters his way of living when it has +become absolutely opposed to his conscience, and consequently +intolerable to him; so, too, humanity, long after it has learnt +through its religions the new interests and aims of life, toward +which it must strive, continues in the majority of its +representatives to live as before, and is only brought to accept +the new conception by finding it impossible to go on living its +old life as before. + +Though the need of a change of life is preached by the religious +leaders and recognized and realized by the most intelligent men, +the majority, in spite of their reverential attitude to their +leaders, that is, their faith in their teaching, continue to be +guided by the old theory of life in their present complex +existence. As though the father of a family, knowing how he ought +to behave at his age, should yet continue through habit and +thoughtlessness to live in the same childish way as he did in +boyhood. + +That is just what is happening in the transition of humanity from +one stage to another, through which we are passing now. Humanity +has outgrown its social stage and has entered upon a new period. +It recognizes the doctrine which ought to be made the basis of +life in this new period. But through inertia it continues to keep +up the old forms of life. From this inconsistency between the new +conception of life and practical life follows a whole succession +of contradictions and sufferings which embitter our life and +necessitate its alteration. + +One need only compare the practice of life with the theory of it, +to be dismayed at the glaring antagonism between our conditions of +life and our conscience. + +Our whole life is in flat contradiction with all we know, and with +all we regard as necessary and right. This contradiction runs +through everything, in economic life, in political life, and in +international life. As though we had forgotten what we knew and +put away for a time the principles we believe in (we cannot help +still believing in them because they are the only foundation we +have to base our life on) we do the very opposite of all that our +conscience and our common sense require of us. + +We are guided in economical, political, and international +questions by the principles which were appropriate to men of three +or five thousand years ago, though they are directly opposed to +our conscience and the conditions of life in which we are placed +to-day. + +It was very well for the man of ancient times to live in a society +based on the division of mankind into masters and slaves, because +he believed that such a distinction was decreed by God and must +always exist. But is such a belief possible in these days? + +The man of antiquity could believe he had the right to enjoy the +good things of this world at the expense of other men, and to keep +them in misery for generations, since he believed that men came +from different origins, were base or noble in blood, children of +Ham or of Japhet. The greatest sages of the world, the teachers +of humanity, Plato and Aristotle, justified the existence of +slaves and demonstrated the lawfulness of slavery; and even three +centuries ago, the men who described an imaginary society of the +future, Utopia, could not conceive of it without slaves. + +Men of ancient and medieval times believed, firmly believed, that +men are not equal, that the only true men are Persians, or Greeks, +or Romans, or Franks. But we cannot believe that now. And people +who sacrifice themselves for the principles of aristocracy and of +patriotism to-duty, don't believe and can't believe what they +assert. + +We all know and cannot help knowing--even though we may never have +heard the idea clearly expressed, may never have read of it, and +may never have put it into words, still through unconsciously +imbibing the Christian sentiments that are in the air--with our +whole heart we know and cannot escape knowing the fundamental +truth of the Christian doctrine, that we are all sons of one +Father, wherever we may live and whatever language we may speak; +we are all brothers and are subject to the same law of love +implanted by our common Father in our hearts. + +Whatever the opinions and degree of education of a man of to-day, +whatever his shade of liberalism, whatever his school of +philosophy, or of science, or of economics, however ignorant or +superstitious he may be, every man of the present day knows that +all men have an equal right to life and the good things of life, +and that one set of people are no better nor worse than another, +that all are equal. Everyone knows this, beyond doubt; everyone +feels it in his whole being. Yet at the same time everyone sees +all round him the division of men into two castes--the one, +laboring, oppressed, poor, and suffering, the other idle, +oppressing, luxurious, and profligate. And everyone not only sees +this, but voluntarily or involuntarily, in one way or another, he +takes part in maintaining this distinction which his conscience +condemns. And he cannot help suffering from the consciousness of +this contradiction and his share in it. + +Whether he be master or slave, the man of to-day cannot help +constantly feeling the painful opposition between his conscience +and actual life, and the miseries resulting from it. + +The toiling masses, the immense majority of mankind who are +suffering under the incessant, meaningless, and hopeless toil and +privation in which their whole life is swallowed up, still find +their keenest suffering in the glaring contrast between what is +and what ought to be, according to all the beliefs held by +themselves, and those who have brought them to that condition and +keep them in it. + +They know that they are in slavery and condemned to privation and +darkness to minister to the lusts of the minority who keep them +down. They know it, and they say so plainly. And this knowledge +increases their sufferings and constitutes its bitterest sting. + +The slave of antiquity knew that he was a slave by nature, but our +laborer, while he feels he is a slave, knows that he ought not to +be, and so he tastes the agony of Tantalus, forever desiring and +never gaining what might and ought to be his. + +The sufferings of the working classes, springing from the +contradiction between what is and what ought to be, are increased +tenfold by the envy and hatred engendered by their consciousness +of it. + +The laborer of the present day would not cease to suffer even if +his toil were much lighter than that of the slave of ancient +times, even if he gained an eight-hour working day and a wage of +three dollars a day. For he is working at the manufacture of +things which he will not enjoy, working not by his own will for +his own benefit, but through necessity, to satisfy the desires of +luxurious and idle people in general, and for the profit of a +single rich man, the owner of a factory or workshop in particular. +And he knows that all this is going on in a world in which it is a +recognized scientific principle that labor alone creates wealth, +and that to profit by the labor of others is immoral, dishonest, +and punishable by law; in a world, moreover, which professes to +believe Christ's doctrine that we are all brothers, and that true +merit and dignity is to be found in serving one's neighbor, not in +exploiting him. All this he knows, and he cannot but suffer +keenly from the sharp contrast between what is and what ought to +be. + +"According to all principles, according to all I know, and what +everyone professes," the workman says to himself. "I ought to be +free, equal to everyone else, and loved; and I am--a slave, +humiliated and hated." And he too is filled with hatred and tries +to find means to escape from his position, to shake off the enemy +who is over-riding him, and to oppress him in turn. People say, +"Workmen have no business to try to become capitalists, the poor +to try to put themselves in the place of the rich." That is a +mistake. The workingmen and the poor would be wrong if they tried +to do so in a world in which slaves and masters were regarded as +different species created by God; but they are living in a world +which professes the faith of the Gospel, that all are alike sons +of God, and so brothers and equal. And however men may try to +conceal it, one of the first conditions of Christian life is love, +not in words but in deeds. + +The man of the so-called educated classes lives in still more +glaring inconsistency and suffering. Every educated man, if he +believes in anything, believes in the brotherhood of all men, or +at least he has a sentiment of humanity, or else of justice, or +else he believes in science. And all the while he knows that his +whole life is framed on principles in direct opposition to it all, +to all the principles of Christianity, humanity, justice, and +science. + +He knows that all the habits in which he has been brought up, and +which he could not give up without suffering, can only be +satisfied through the exhausting, often fatal, toil of oppressed +laborers, that is, through the most obvious and brutal violation +of the principles of Christianity, humanity, and justice, and even +of science (that is, economic science). He advocates the +principles of fraternity, humanity, justice, and science, and yet +he lives so that he is dependent on the oppression of the working +classes, which he denounces, and his whole life is based on the +advantages gained by their oppression. Moreover he is directing +every effort to maintaining this state of things so flatly opposed +to all his beliefs. + +We are all brothers--and yet every morning a brother or a sister +must empty the bedroom slops for me. We are all brothers, but +every morning I must have a cigar, a sweetmeat, an ice, and such +things, which my brothers and sisters have been wasting their +health in manufacturing, and I enjoy these things and demand them. +We are all brothers, yet I live by working in a bank, or +mercantile house, or shop at making all goods dearer for my +brothers. We are all brothers, but I live on a salary paid me for +prosecuting, judging, and condemning the thief or the prostitute +whose existence the whole tenor of my life tends to bring about, +and who I know ought not to be punished but reformed. We are all +brothers, but I live on the salary I gain by collecting taxes from +needy laborers to be spent on the luxuries of the rich and idle. +We are all brothers, but I take a stipend for preaching a false +Christian religion, which I do not myself believe in, and which +only serve's to hinder men from understanding true Christianity. +I take a stipend as priest or bishop for deceiving men in the +matter of the greatest importance to them. We are all brothers, +but I will not give the poor the benefit of my educational, +medical, or literary labors except for money. We are all +brothers, yet I take a salary for being ready to commit murder, +for teaching men to murder, or making firearms, gunpowder, or +fortifications. + +The whole life of the upper classes is a constant inconsistency. +The more delicate a man's conscience is, the more painful this +contradiction is to him. + +A man of sensitive conscience cannot but suffer if he lives such a +life. The only means by which he can escape from this suffering +is by blunting his conscience, but even if some men succeed in +dulling their conscience they cannot dull their fears. + +The men of the higher dominating classes whose conscience is +naturally not sensitive or has become blunted, if they don't +suffer through conscience, suffer from fear and hatred. They are +bound to suffer. They know all the hatred of them existing, and +inevitably existing in the working classes. They are aware that +the working classes know that they are deceived and exploited, and +that they are beginning to organize themselves to shake off +oppression and revenge themselves on their oppressors. The higher +classes see the unions, the strikes, the May Day Celebrations, and +feel the calamity that is threatening them, and their terror +passes into an instinct of self-defense and hatred. They know +that if for one instant they are worsted in the struggle with +their oppressed slaves, they will perish, because the slaves are +exasperated and their exasperation is growing more intense with +every day of oppression. The oppressors, even if they wished to +do so, could not make an end to oppression. They know that they +themselves will perish directly they even relax the harshness of +their oppression. And they do not relax it, in spite of all their +pretended care for the welfare of the working classes, for the +eight-hour day, for regulation of the labor of minors and of +women, for savings banks and pensions. All that is humbug, or +else simply anxiety to keep the slave fit to do his work. But the +slave is still a slave, and the master who cannot live without a +slave is less disposed to set him free than ever. + +The attitude of the ruling classes to the laborers is that of a +man who has felled his adversary to the earth and holds him down, +not so much because he wants to hold him down, as because he knows +that if he let him go, even for a second, he would himself be +stabbed, for his adversary is infuriated and has a knife in his +hand. And therefore, whether their conscience is tender or the +reverse, our rich men cannot enjoy the wealth they have filched +from the poor as the ancients did who believed in their right to +it. Their whole life and all their enjoyments are embittered +either by the stings of conscience or by terror. + +So much for the economic contradiction. The political +contradiction is even more striking. + +All men are brought up to the habit of obeying the laws of the +state before everything. The whole existence of modern times is +defined by laws. A man marries and is divorced, educates his +children, and even (in many countries) professes his religious +faith in accordance with the law. What about the law then which +defines our whole existence? Do men believe in it? Do they +regard it as good? Not at all. In the majority of cases people +of the present time do not believe in the justice of the law, they +despise it, but still they obey it. It was very well for the +men of the ancient world to observe their laws. They firmly +believed that their law (it was generally of a religious +character) was the only just law, which everyone ought to obey. +But is it so with us? we know and cannot help knowing that the law +of our country is not the one eternal law; that it is only one of +the many laws of different countries, which are equally imperfect, +often obviously wrong and unjust, and are criticised from every +point of view in the newspapers. The Jew might well obey his +laws, since he had not the slightest doubt that God had written +them with his finger; the Roman too might well obey the laws which +he thought had been dictated by the nymph Egeria. Men might well +observe the laws if they believed the Tzars who made them were +God's anointed, or even if they thought they were the work of +assemblies of lawgivers who had the power and the desire to make +them as good as possible. But we all know how our laws are +made. We have all been behind the scenes, we know that they are +the product of covetousness, trickery, and party struggles; that +there is not and cannot be any real justice in them. And so +modern men cannot believe that obedience to civic or political +laws can satisfy the demands of the reason or of human nature. +Men have long ago recognized that it is irrational to obey a law +the justice of which is very doubtful, and so they cannot but +suffer in obeying a law which they do not accept as judicious and +binding. + +A man cannot but suffer when his whole life is defined beforehand +for him by laws, which he must obey under threat of punishment, +though he does not believe in their wisdom or justice, and often +clearly perceives their injustice, cruelty, and artificiality. + +We recognize the uselessness of customs and import duties, and are +obliged to pay them. We recognize the uselessness of the +expenditure on the maintenance of the Court and other members of +Government, and we regard the teaching of the Church as injurious, +but we are obliged to bear our share of the expenses of these +institutions. We regard the punishments inflicted by law as cruel +and shameless, but we must assist in supporting them. We regard +as unjust and pernicious the distribution of landed property, but +we are obliged to submit to it. We see no necessity for wars and +armies, but we must bear terribly heavy burdens in support of +troops and war expenses. + +But this contradiction is nothing in comparison with the +contradiction which confronts us when we turn to international +questions, and which demands a solution, under pain of the loss of +the sanity and even the existence of the human race. That is the +contradiction between the Christian conscience and war. + +We are all Christian nations living the same spiritual life, so that +every noble and pregnant thought, springing up at one end of the world, +is at once communicated to the whole of Christian humanity and evokes +everywhere the same emotion at pride and rejoicing without distinction +of nationalities. We who love thinkers, philanthropists, poets, and +scientific men of foreign origin, and are as proud of the exploits of +Father Damien as if he were one of ourselves, we, who have a simple love +for men of foreign nationalities, Frenchmen, Germans, Americans, and +Englishmen, who respect their qualities, are glad to meet them and make +them so warmly welcome, cannot regard war with them as anything heroic. +We cannot even imagine without horror the possibility of a disagreement +between these people and ourselves which would call for reciprocal +murder. Yet we are all bound to take a hand in this slaughter which is +bound to come to pass to-morrow not to-day. + +It was very well for the Jew, the Greek, and the Roman to defend +the independence of his nation by murder. For he piously believed +that his people was the only true, fine, and good people dear to +God, and all the rest were Philistines, barbarians. Men of +medieval times--even up to the end of the last and beginning of +this century--might continue to hold this belief. But however +much we work upon ourselves we cannot believe it. And this +contradiction for men of the present day has become so full of +horror that without its solution life is no longer possible. + +"We live in a time which is full of inconsistencies," writes Count +Komarovsky, the professor of international law, in his learned +treatise. + + "The press of all countries is continually expressing the + universal desire for peace, and the general sense of its + necessity for all nations. + + "Representatives of governments, private persons, and official + organs say the same thing; it is repeated in parliamentary + debates, diplomatic correspondence, and even in state treaties. + At the same time governments are increasing the strength of + their armies every year, levying fresh taxes, raising loans, + and leaving as a bequest to future generations the duty of + repairing the blunders of the senseless policy of the present. + What a striking contrast between words and deeds! Of course + governments will plead in justification of these measures that + all their expenditure and armament are exclusively for purposes + of defense. But it remains a mystery to every disinterested + man whence they can expect attacks if all the great powers are + single-hearted in their policy, in pursuing nothing but self + defense. In reality it looks as if each of the great powers + were every instant anticipating an attack on the part of the + others. And this results in a general feeling of insecurity + and superhuman efforts on the part of each government to + increase their forces beyond those of the other powers. Such a + competition of itself increases the danger of war. Nations + cannot endure the constant increase of armies for long, and + sooner or later they will prefer war to all the disadvantages + of their present position and the constant menace of war. Then + the most trifling pretext will be sufficient to throw the whole + of Europe into the fire of universal war. And it is a mistaken + idea that such a crisis might deliver us from the political and + economical troubles that are crushing us. The experience of + the wars of latter years teaches us that every war has only + intensified national hatreds, made military burdens more + crushing and insupportable, and rendered the political and + economical grievous and insoluble." + +"Modern Europe keeps under arms an active army of nine millions of +men," writes Enrico Ferri, + + "besides fifteen millions of reserve, with an outlay of four + hundred millions of francs per annum. By continual increase of + the armed force, the sources of social and individual + prosperity are paralyzed, and the state of the modern world may + be compared to that of a man who condemns himself to wasting + from lack of nutrition in order to provide himself with arms, + losing thereby the strength to use the arms he provides, under + the weight of which he will at last succumb." + +Charles Booth, in his paper read in London before the Association +for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, June 26, +1887, says the same thing. After referring to the same number, +nine millions of the active army and fifteen millions of reserve, +and the enormous expenditure of governments on the support and +arming of these forces, he says: + + "These figures represent only a small part of the real cost, + because besides the recognized expenditure of the war budget of + the various nations, we ought also to take into account the + enormous loss to society involved in withdrawing from it such + an immense number of its most vigorous men, who are taken from + industrial pursuits and every kind of labor, as well as the + enormous interest on the sums expended on military preparations + without any return. The inevitable result of this expenditure + on war and preparations for war is a continually growing + national debt. The greater number of loans raised by the + governments of Europe were with a view to war. Their total sum + amounts to four hundred millions sterling, and these debts are + increasing every year." + +The same Professor Komarovsky says in another place: + + "We live in troubled times. Everywhere we hear complaints of + the depression of trade and manufactures, and the wretchedness + of the economic position generally, the miserable conditions of + existence of the working classes, and the universal + impoverishment of the masses. But in spite of this, governments + in their efforts to maintain their independence rush to the + greatest extremes of senselessness. New taxes and duties are + being devised everywhere, and the financial oppression of the + nations knows no limits. If we glance at the budgets of the + states of Europe for the last hundred years, what strikes us + most of all is their rapid and continually growing increase. + + "How can we explain this extraordinary phenomenon which sooner + or later threatens us all with inevitable bankruptcy? + + "It is caused beyond dispute by the expenditure for the + maintenance of armaments which swallows up a third and even a + half of all the expenditure of European states. And the most + melancholy thing is that one can foresee no limit to this + augmentation of the budget and impoverishment of the masses. + What is socialism but a protest against this abnormal position + in which the greater proportion of the population of our world + is placed? + +"We are ruining ourselves," says Frederick Passy in a letter read +before the last Congress of Universal Peace (in 1890) in London, + + "we are ruining ourselves in order to be able to take part in + the senseless wars of the future or to pay the interest on + debts we have incurred by the senseless and criminal wars of + the past. We are dying of hunger so as to secure the means of + killing each other." + +Speaking later on of the way the subject is looked at in France, +he says: + + "We believe that, a hundred years after the Declaration of the + Rights of Man and of the citizen, the time has come to + recognize the rights of nations and to renounce at once and + forever all those undertakings based on fraud and force, which, + under the name of conquests, are veritable crimes against + humanity, and which, whatever the vanity of monarchs and the + pride of nations may think of them, only weaken even those who + are triumphant over them." + +"I am surprised at the way religion is carried on in this +country," said Sir Wilfrid Lawson at the same congress. + + "You send a boy to Sunday school, and you tell him: 'Dear boy, + you must love your enemies. If another boy strikes you, you + mustn't hit him back, but try to reform him by loving him.' + Well. The boy stays in the Sunday school till he is fourteen + or fifteen, and then his friends send him into the army. What + has he to do in the army? He certainly won't love his enemy; + quite the contrary, if he can only get at him, he will run him + through with his bayonet. That is the nature of all religious + teaching in this country. I do not think that that is a very + good way of carrying out the precepts of religion. I think if + it is a good thing for a boy to love his enemy, it is good for + a grown-up man." + +"There are in Europe twenty-eight millions of men under arms," +says Wilson, + + "to decide disputes, not by discussion, but by murdering one + another. That is the accepted method for deciding disputes + among Christian nations. This method is, at the same time, + very expensive, for, according to the statistics I have read, + the nations of Europe spent in the year 1872 a hundred and + fifty millions sterling on preparations for deciding disputes + by means of murder. It seems to me, therefore, that in such a + state of things one of two alternatives must be admitted: + either Christianity is a failure, or those who have undertaken + to expound it have failed in doing so. Until our warriors are + disarmed and our armies disbanded, the have not the right to + call ourselves a Christian nation." + +In a conference on the subject of the duty of Christian ministers +to preach against war, G. D. Bartlett said among other things: + + "If I understand the Scriptures, I say that men are only + playing with Christianity so long as they ignore the question + of war. I have lived a longish life and have heard our + ministers preach on universal peace hardly half a dozen times. + Twenty years ago, in a drawing room, I dared in the presence of + forty persons to moot the proposition that war was incompatible + with Christianity; I was regarded as an arrant fanatic. The + idea that we could get on without war was regarded as + unmitigated weakness and folly." + +The Catholic priest Defourney has expressed himself in the same +spirit. "One of the first precepts of the eternal law inscribed +in the consciences of all men," says the Abby Defourney, + + "is the prohibition of taking the life or shedding the blood of + a fellow-creature without sufficient cause, without being + forced into the necessity of it. This is one of the + commandments which is most deeply stamped in the heart of man. + But so soon as it is a question of war, that is, of shedding + blood in torrents, men of the present day do not trouble + themselves about a sufficient cause. Those who take part in + wars do not even think of asking themselves whether there is + any justification for these innumerable murders, whether they + are justifiable or unjustifiable, lawful or unlawful, innocent + or criminal; whether they are breaking that fundamental + commandment that forbids killing without lawful cause. + But their conscience is mute. War has ceased to be something + dependent on moral considerations. In warfare men have in all + the toil and dangers they endure no other pleasure than that of + being conquerors, no sorrow other than that of being conquered. + Don't tell me that they are serving their country. A great + genius answered that long ago in the words that have become a + proverb: 'Without justice, what is an empire but a great band + of brigands?' And is not every band of brigands a little + empire? They too have their laws; and they too make war to + gain booty, and even for honor. + + "The aim of the proposed institution [the institution of an + international board of arbitration] is that the nations of + Europe may cease to be nations of robbers, and their armies, + bands of brigands. And one must add, not only brigands, but + slaves. For our armies are simply gangs of slaves at the + disposal of one or two commanders or ministers, who exercise a + despotic control over them without any real responsibility, as + we very well know. + + "The peculiarity of a slave is that he is a mere tool in the + hands of his master, a thing, not a man. That is just what + soldiers, officers, and generals are, going to murder and be + murdered at the will of a ruler or rulers. Military slavery is + an actual fact, and it is the worst form of slavery, especially + now when by means of compulsory service it lays its fetters on + the necks of all the strong and capable men of a nation, to + make them instruments of murder, butchers of human flesh, for + that is all they are taken and trained to do. + + "The rulers, two or three in number, meet together in cabinets, + secretly deliberate without registers, without publicity, and + consequently without responsibility, and send men to be + murdered." + +"Protests against armaments, burdensome to the people, have not +originated in our times," says Signor E. G. Moneta. + + "Hear what Montesquieu wrote in his day. 'France [and one + might say, Europe] will be ruined by soldiers. A new plague is + spreading throughout Europe. It attacks sovereigns and forces + them to maintain an incredible number of armed men. This + plague is infectious and spreads, because directly one + government increases its armament, all the others do likewise. + So that nothing is gained by it but general ruin. + + "'Every government maintains as great an army as it possibly + could maintain if its people were threatened with + extermination, and people call peace this state of tension of + all against all. And therefore Europe is so ruined that if + private persons were in the position of the governments of our + continent, the richest of them would not have enough to live + on. We are poor though we have the wealth and trade of the + whole world.' + + "That was written almost 150 years ago. The picture seems drawn + from the world of to-day. One thing only has changed-the form + of government. In Montesquieu's time it was said that the + cause of the maintenance of great armaments was the despotic + power of kings, who made war in the hope of augmenting by + conquest their personal revenues and gaining glory. People + used to say then: 'Ah, if only people could elect those who + would have the right to refuse governments the soldiers and the + money--then there would be an end to military politics.' Now + there are representative governments in almost the whole of + Europe, and in spite of that, war expenditures and the + preparations for war have increased to alarming proportions. + + "It is evident that the insanity of sovereigns has gained + possession of the ruling classes. War is not made now because + one king has been wanting in civility to the mistress of + another king, as it was in Louis XIV.'s time. But the natural + and honorable sentiments of national honor and patriotism are + so exaggerated, and the public opinion of one nation so excited + against another, that it is enough for a statement to be made + (even though it may be a false report) that the ambassador of + one state was not received by the principal personage of + another state to cause the outbreak of the most awful and + destructive war there has ever been seen. Europe keeps more + soldiers under arms to-day than in the time of the great + Napoleonic wars. All citizens with few exceptions are forced + to spend some years in barracks. Fortresses, arsenals, and + ships are built, new weapons are constantly being invented, to + be replaced in a short time by fresh ones, for, sad to say, + science, which ought always to be aiming at the good of + humanity, assists in the work of destruction, and is constantly + inventing new means for killing the greatest number of men in + the shortest time. And to maintain so great a multitude of + soldiers and to make such vast preparations for murder, + hundreds of millions are spent annually, sums which would be + sufficient for the education of the people and for immense + works of public utility, and which would make it possible to + find a peaceful solution of the social question. + + "Europe, then, is, in this respect, in spite of all the + conquests of science, in the same position as in the darkest + and most barbarous days of the Middle Ages. All deplore this + state of things--neither peace nor war--and all would be glad + to escape from it. The heads of governments all declare that + they all wish for peace, and vie with one another in the most + solemn protestations of peaceful intentions. But the same day + or the next they will lay a scheme for the increase of the + armament before their legislative assembly, saying that these + are the preventive measures they take for the very purpose of + securing peace. + + "But this is not the kind of peace we want. And the nations + are not deceived by it. True peace is based on mutual + confidence, while these huge armaments show open and utter lack + of confidence, if not concealed hostility, between states. + What should we say of a man who, wanting to show his friendly + feelings for his neighbor, should invite him to discuss their + differences with a loaded revolver in his hand? + + "It is just this flagrant contradiction between the peaceful + professions and the warlike policy of governments which all + good citizens desire to put an end to, at any cost." + +People are astonished that every year there are sixty thousand +cases of suicide in Europe, and those only the recognized and +recorded cases--and excluding Russia and Turkey; but one ought +rather to be surprised that there are so few. Every man of the +present day, if we go deep enough into the contradiction between +his conscience and his life, is in a state of despair. + +Not to speak of all the other contradictions between modern life +and the conscience, the permanently armed condition of Europe +together with its profession of Christianity is alone enough to +drive any man to despair, to doubt of the sanity of mankind, and +to terminate an existence in this senseless and brutal world. +This contradiction, which is a quintessence of all the other +contradictions, is so terrible that to live and to take part in it +is only possible if one does not think of it--if one is able to +forget it. + +What! all of us, Christians, not only profess to love one another, but +do actually live one common life; we whose social existence beats with +one common pulse--we aid one another, learn from one another, draw ever +closer to one another to our mutual happiness, and find in this +closeness the whole meaning of life!--and to-morrow some crazy ruler +will say some stupidity, and another will answer in the same spirit, and +then I must go expose myself to being murdered, and murder men--who have +done me no harm--and more than that, whom I love. And this is not a +remote contingency, but the very thing we are all preparing for, which +is not only probable, but an inevitable certainty. + +To recognize this clearly is enough to drive a man out of his +senses or to make him shoot himself. And this is just what does +happen, and especially often among military men. A man need only +come to himself for an instant to be impelled inevitably to such +an end. + +And this is the only explanation of the dreadful intensity with +which men of modern times strive to stupefy themselves, with +spirits, tobacco, opium, cards, reading newspapers, traveling, and +all kinds of spectacles and amusements. These pursuits are +followed up as an important, serious business. And indeed they +are a serious business. If there were no external means of +dulling their sensibilities, half of mankind would shoot +themselves without delay, for to live in opposition to one's +reason is the most intolerable condition. And that is the +condition of all men of the present day. All men of the modern +world exist in a state of continual and flagrant antagonism +between their conscience and their way of life. This antagonism +is apparent in economic as well as political life. But most +striking of all is the contradiction between the Christian law of +the brotherhood of men existing in the conscience and the +necessity under which all men are placed by compulsory military +service of being prepared for hatred and murder--of being at the +same time a Christian and a gladiator. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ATTITUDE OF MEN OF THE PRESENT DAY TO WAR. + +People do not Try to Remove the Contradiction between Life and +Conscience by a Change of Life, but their Cultivated Leaders Exert Every +Effort to Obscure the Demands of Conscience, and justify their Life; in +this Way they Degrade Society below Paganism to a State of Primeval +Barbarism--Undefined Attitude of Modern Leaders of Thought to War, to +Universal Militarism, and to Compulsory Service in Army--One Section +Regards War as an Accidental Political Phenomenon, to be Avoided by +External Measures only--Peace Congress--The Article in the REVUE DES +REVUES--Proposition of Maxime du Camp--Value of Boards of Arbitration +and Suppression of Armies--Attitude of Governments to Men of this +Opinion and What they Do--Another Section Regards War as Cruel, but +Inevitable--Maupassant--Rod--A Third Section Regard War as Necessary, +and not without its Advantages--Doucet-Claretie-Zola-Vogüé. + + +The antagonism between life and the conscience may be removed in +two ways: by a change of life or by a change of conscience. And +there would seem there can be no doubt as to these alternatives. + +A man may cease to do what he regards as wrong, but he cannot +cease to consider wrong what is wrong. Just in the same way all +humanity may cease to do what it regards as wrong, but far from +being able to change, it cannot even retard for a time the +continual growth of a clearer recognition of what is wrong and +therefore ought not to be. And therefore it would seem inevitable +for Christian men to abandon the pagan forms of society which they +condemn, and to reconstruct their social existence on the +Christian principles they profess. + +So it would be were it not for the law of inertia, as immutable a +force in men and nations as in inanimate bodies. In men it takes +the form of the psychological principle, so truly expressed in the +words of the Gospel, "They have loved darkness better than light +because their deeds were evil." This principle shows itself in +men not trying to recognize the truth, but to persuade themselves +that the life they are leading, which is what they like and are +used to, is a life perfectly consistent with truth. + +Slavery was opposed to all the moral principles advocated by Plato +and Aristotle, yet neither of them saw that, because to renounce +slavery would have meant the break up of the life they were +living. We see the same thing in our modern world. + +The division of men into two castes, as well as the use of force +in government and war, are opposed to every moral principle +professed by our modern society. Yet the cultivated and advanced +men of the day seem not to see it. + +The majority, if not all, of the cultivated men of our day try +unconsciously to maintain the old social conception of life, which +justifies their position, and to hide from themselves and others +its insufficiency, and above all the necessity of adopting the +Christian conception of life, which will mean the break up of the +whole existing social order. They struggle to keep up the +organization based on the social conception of life, but do not +believe in it themselves, because it is extinct and it is +impossible to believe in it. + +All modern literature--philosophical, political, and artistic--is +striking in this respect. What wealth of idea, of form, of color, +what erudition, what art, but what a lack of serious matter, what +dread of any exactitude of thought or expression! Subtleties, +allegories, humorous fancies, the widest generalizations, but +nothing simple and clear, nothing going straight to the point, +that is, to the problem of life. + +But that is not all; besides these graceful frivolities, our +literature is full of simple nastiness and brutality, of arguments +which would lead men back in the most refined way to primeval +barbarism, to the principles not only of the pagan, but even of +the animal life, which we have left behind us five thousand years +ago. + +And it could not be otherwise. In their dread of the Christian +conception of life which will destroy the social order, which some +cling to only from habit, others also from interest, men cannot +but be thrown back upon the pagan conception of life and the +principles based on it. Nowadays we see advocated not only +patriotism and aristocratic principles just as they were advocated +two thousand years ago, but even the coarsest epicureanism and +animalism, only with this difference, that the men who then +professed those views believed in them, while nowadays even the +advocates of such views do not believe in them, for they have no +meaning for the present day. No one can stand still when the +earth is shaking under his feet. If we do not go forward we must +go back. And strange and terrible to say, the cultivated men of +our day, the leaders of thought, are in reality with their subtle +reasoning drawing society back, not to paganism even, but to a +state of primitive barbarism. + +This tendency on the part of the leading thinkers of the day is +nowhere more apparent than in their attitude to the phenomenon in +which all the insufficiency of the social conception of life is +presented in the most concentrated form--in their attitude, that +is, to war, to the general arming of nations, and to universal +compulsory service. + +The undefined, if not disingenuous, attitude of modern thinkers to +this phenomenon is striking. It takes three forms in cultivated +society. One section look at it as an incidental phenomenon, +arising out of the special political situation of Europe, and +consider that this state of things can be reformed without a +revolution in the whole internal social order of nations, by +external measures of international diplomacy. Another section +regard it as something cruel and hideous, but at the same time +fated and inevitable, like disease and death. A third party with +cool indifference consider war as an inevitable phenomenon, +beneficial in its effects and therefore desirable. + +Men look at the subject from different points of view, but all +alike talk of war as though it were something absolutely +independent of the will of those who take part in it. And +consequently they do not even admit the natural question which +presents itself to every simple man: "How about me--ought I to +take any part in it?" In their view no question of this kind even +exists, and every man, however he may regard war from a personal +standpoint, must slavishly submit to the requirements of the +authorities on the subject. + +The attitude of the first section of thinkers, those who see a way +out of war in international diplomatic measures, is well expressed +in the report of the last Peace Congress in London, and the +articles and letters upon war that appeared in No. 8 of the REVUE +DES REVUES, 1891. The congress after gathering together from +various quarters the verbal and written opinion of learned men +opened the proceedings by a religious service, and after listening +to addresses for five whole days, concluded them by a public +dinner and speeches. They adopted the following resolutions: + + "1. The congress affirms its belief that the brotherhood of man + involves as a necessary consequence a brotherhood of nations. + + "2. The congress recognizes the important influence that + Christianity exercises on the moral and political progress of + mankind, and earnestly urges upon ministers of the Gospel and + other religious teachers the duty of setting forth the + principles of peace and good will toward men. AND IT RECOMMENDS + THAT THE THIRD SUNDAY IN DECEMBER BE SET APART FOR THAT + PURPOSE. + + "3. The congress expresses the opinion that all teachers of + history should call the attention of the young to the grave + evils inflicted on mankind in all ages by war, and to the fact + that such war has been waged for most inadequate causes. + + "4. The congress protests against the use of military drill in + schools by way of physical exercise, and suggests the formation + of brigades for saving life rather than of a quasi-military + character; and urges the desirability of impressing on the + Board of Examiners who formulate the questions for examination + the propriety of guiding the minds of children in the + principles of peace. + + "5. The congress holds that the doctrine of the Rights of Man + requires that the aboriginal and weaker races, their + territories and liberties, shall be guarded from injustice and + fraud, and that these races shall be shielded against the vices + so prevalent among the so-called advanced races of men. It + further expresses its conviction that there should be concert + of action among the nations for the accomplishment of these + ends. The congress expresses its hearty appreciation of the + resolutions of the Anti-slavery Conference held recently at + Brussels for the amelioration of the condition of the peoples + of Africa. + + "6. The congress believes that the warlike prejudices and + traditions which are still fostered in the various + nationalities, and the misrepresentations by leaders of public + opinion in legislative assemblies or through the press, are + often indirect causes of war, and that these evils should be + counteracted by the publication of accurate information tending + to the removal of misunderstanding between nations, and + recommends the importance of considering the question of + commencing an international newspaper with such a purpose. + + "7. The congress proposes to the Inter-parliamentary Conference + that the utmost support should be given to every project for + unification of weights and measures, coinage, tariff, postage, + and telegraphic arrangements, etc., which would assist in + constituting a commercial, industrial, and scientific union of + the peoples. + + "8. The congress, in view of the vast social and moral + influence of woman, urges upon every woman to sustain the + things that make for peace, as otherwise she incurs grave + responsibility for the continuance of the systems of + militarism. + + "9. The congress expresses the hope that the Financial Reform + Association and other similar societies in Europe and America + should unite in considering means for establishing equitable + commercial relations between states, by the reduction of import + duties. The congress feels that it can affirm that the whole + of Europe desires peace, and awaits with impatience the + suppression of armaments, which, under the plea of defense, + become in their turn a danger by keeping alive mutual distrust, + and are, at the same time, the cause of that general economic + disturbance which stands in the way of settling in a + satisfactory manner the problems of labor and poverty, which + ought to take precedence of all others. + + "10. The congress, recognizing that a general disarmament would + be the best guarantee of peace and would lead to the solution + of the questions which now most divide states, expresses the + wish that a congress of representatives of all the states of + Europe may be assembled as soon as possible to consider the + means of effecting a gradual general disarmament. + + "11. The congress, in consideration of the fact that the + timidity of a single power might delay the convocation of the + above-mentioned congress, is of opinion that the government + which should first dismiss any considerable number of soldiers + would confer a signal benefit on Europe and mankind, because it + would, by public opinion, oblige other governments to follow + its example, and by the moral force of this accomplished fact + would have increased rather than diminished the conditions of + its national defense. + + "12. The congress, considering the question of disarmament, as + of peace in general, depends on public opinion, recommends the + peace societies, as well as all friends of peace, to be active + in its propaganda, especially at the time of parliamentary + elections, in order that the electors should give their votes + to candidates who are pledged to support Peace, Disarmament, + and Arbitration. + + "13. The congress congratulates the friends of peace on the + resolution adopted by the International American Conference, + held at Washington in April last, by which it was recommended + that arbitration should be obligatory in all controversies, + whatever their origin, except only those which may imperil the + independence of one of the nations involved. + + "14. The congress recommends this resolution to the attention + of European statesmen, and expresses the ardent desire that + similar treaties may speedily be entered into between the other + nations of the world. + + "15. The congress expresses its satisfaction at the adoption by + the Spanish Senate on June 16 last of a project of law + authorizing the government to negotiate general or special + treaties of arbitration for the settlement of all disputes + except those relating to the independence or internal + government of the states affected; also at the adoption of + resolutions to a like effect by the Norwegian Storthing and by + the Italian Chamber. + + "16. The congress resolves that a committee be appointed to + address communications to the principal political, religious, + commercial, and labor and peace organizations, requesting them + to send petitions to the governmental authorities praying that + measures be taken for the formation of suitable tribunals for + the adjudicature of international questions so as to avoid the + resort to war. + + "17. Seeing (1) that the object pursued by all peace societies + is the establishment of judicial order between nations, and (2) + that neutralization by international treaties constitutes a + step toward this judicial state and lessens the number of + districts in which war can be carried on, the congress + recommends a larger extension of the rule of neutralization, + and expresses the wish, (1) that all treaties which at present + assure to certain states the benefit of neutrality remain in + force, or if necessary be amended in a manner to render the + neutrality more effective, either by extending neutralization + to the whole of the state or by ordering the demolition of + fortresses, which constitute rather a peril than a guarantee + for neutrality; (2) that new treaties in harmony with the + wishes of the populations concerned be concluded for + establishing the neutralization of other states. + + "18. The sub-committee proposes, (1) that the annual Peace + Congress should be held either immediately before the meeting + of the annual Sub-parliamentary Conference, or immediately + after it in the same town; (2) that the question of an + international peace emblem be postponed SINE DIE; (3) that the + following resolutions be adopted: + + "a. To express satisfaction at the official overtures of the + Presbyterian Church in the United States addressed to the + highest representatives of each church organization in + Christendom to unite in a general conference to promote the + substitution of international arbitration for war. + + "b. To express in the name of the congress its profound + reverence for the memory of Aurelio Saffi, the great Italian + jurist, a member of the committee of the International + League of Peace and Liberty. + + "(4) That the memorial adopted by this congress and + signed by the president to the heads of the civilized states + should, as far as practicable, be presented to each power by + influential deputations. + + "(5) That the following resolutions be adopted: + + "a. A resolution of thanks to the presidents of the various + sittings of the congress. + + "b. A resolution of thanks to the chairman, the secretaries, + and the members of the bureau of the congress. + + "c. A resolution of thanks to the conveners and members of + the sectional committees. + + "d. A resolution of thanks to Rev. Canon Scott Holland, Rev. + Dr. Reuen Thomas, and Rev. J. Morgan Gibbon for their pulpit + addresses before the congress, and also to the authorities + of St. Paul's Cathedral, the City Temple, and Stamford Hill + Congregational Church for the use of those buildings for + public services. + + "e. A letter of thanks to her Majesty for permission to + visit Windror Castle. + + "f. And also a resolution of thanks to the Lord Mayor and + Lady Mayoress, to Mr. Passmore Edwards, and other friends + who have extended their hospitality to the members of the + congress. + + "19. The congress places on record a heartfelt expression of + gratitude to Almighty God for the remarkable harmony and + concord which have characterized the meetings of the assembly, + in which so many men and women of varied nations, creeds, + tongues, and races have gathered in closest co-operation, and + for the conclusion of the labors of the congress; and expresses + its firm and unshaken belief in the ultimate triumph of the + cause of peace and of the principles advocated at these + meetings." + +The fundamental idea of the congress is the necessity (1) of +diffusing among all people by all means the conviction of the +disadvantages of war and the great blessing of peace, and (2) of +rousing governments to the sense of the superiority of +international arbitration over war and of the consequent +advisability and necessity of disarmament. To attain the first +aim the congress has recourse to teachers of history, to women, +and to the clergy, with the advice to the latter to preach on the +evil of war and the blessing of peace every third Sunday in +December. To attain the second object the congress appeals to +governments with the suggestion that they should disband their +armies and replace war by arbitration. + +To preach to men of the evil of war and the blessing of peace! +But the blessing of peace is so well known to men that, ever since +there have been men at all, their best wish has been expressed in +the greeting, "Peace be with you." So why preach about it? + +Not only Christians, but pagans, thousands of years ago, all +recognized the evil of war and the blessing of peace. So that the +recommendation to ministers of the Gospel to preach on the evil of +war and the blessing of peace every third Sunday in December is +quite superfluous. + +The Christian cannot but preach on that subject every day of his +life. If Christians and preachers of Christianity do not do so, +there must be reasons for it. And until these have been removed +no recommendations will be effective. Still less effective will +be the recommendations to governments to disband their armies and +replace them by international boards of arbitration. Governments, +too, know very well the difficulty and the burdensomeness of +raising and maintaining forces, and if in spite of that knowledge +they do, at the cost of terrible strain and effort, raise and +maintain forces, it is evident that they cannot do otherwise, and +the recommendation of the congress can never change it. But the +learned gentlemen are unwilling to see that, and keep hoping to +find a political combination, through which governments shall be +induced to limit their powers themselves. + +"Can we get rid of war"? asks a learned writer in the REVUE DES +REVUES. + + "All are agreed that if it were to break out in Europe, its + consequences would be like those of the great inroads of + barbarians. The existence of whole nationalities would be at + stake, and therefore the war would be desperate, bloody, + atrocious. + + "This consideration, together with the terrible engines of + destruction invented by modern science, retards the moment of + declaring war, and maintains the present temporary situation, + which might continue for an indefinite period, except for the + fearful cost of maintaining armaments which are exhausting the + European states and threatening to reduce nations to a state of + misery hardly less than that of war itself. + + "Struck by this reflection, men of various countries have tried + to find means for preventing, or at least for softening, the + results of the terrible slaughter with which we are threatened. + + "Such are the questions brought forward by the Peace Congress + shortly to be held in Rome, and the publication of a pamphlet, + Sur le Désarmement.' + + "It is unhappily beyond doubt that with the present + organization of the majority of European states, isolated from + one another and guided by distinct interests, the absolute + suppression of war is an illusion with which it would be + dangerous to cheat ourselves. Wiser rules and regulations + imposed on these duels between nations might, however, at least + limit its horrors. + + "It is equally chimerical to reckon on projects of disarmament, + the execution of which is rendered almost impossible by + considerations of a popular character present to the mind of + all our readers. [This probably means that France cannot + disband its army before taking its revenge.] Public opinion is + not prepared to accept them, and moreover, the international + relations between different peoples are not such as to make + their acceptance possible. Disarmament imposed on one nation + by another in circumstances threatening its security would be + equivalent to a declaration of war. + + "However, one may admit that an exchange of ideas between the + nations interested could aid, to a certain degree, in bringing + about the good understanding indispensable to any negotiations, + and would render possible a considerable reduction of the + military expenditure which is crushing the nations of Europe + and greatly hindering the solution of the social question, + which each individually must solve on pain of having internal + war as the price for escaping it externally. + + "We might at least demand the reduction of the enormous + expenses of war organized as it is at present with a view to + the power of invasion within twenty-four hours and a decisive + battle within a week of the declaration of war. + + "We ought to manage so that states could not make the attack + suddenly and invade each other's territories within twenty-four + hours." + +This practical notion has been put forth by Maxime du Camp, and +his article concludes with it. + +The propositions of M. du Camp are as follows: + + 1. A diplomatic congress to be held every year. + + 2. No war to be declared till two months after the incident + which provoked it. (The difficulty here would be to decide + precisely what incident did provoke the war, since whenever war + is declared there are very many such incidents, and one would + have to decide from which to reckon the two months' interval.) + + 3. No war to be declared before it has been submitted to a + plebiscitum of the nations preparing to take part in it. + + 4. No hostilities to be commenced till a month after the + official declaration of war. + +"No war to be declared. No hostilities to be commenced," etc. +But who is to arrange that no war is to be declared? Who is to +compel people to do this and that? Who is to force states to +delay their operations for a certain fixed time? All the other +states. But all these others are also states which want holding +in check and keeping within limits, and forcing, too. Who is to +force them, and how? Public opinion. But if there is a public +opinion which can force governments to delay their operations for +a fixed period, the same public opinion can force governments not +to declare war at all. + +But, it will be replied, there may be such a balance of power, +such a PONDÉRATION DE FORCES, as would lead states to hold back of +their own accord. Well, that has been tried and is being tried +even now. The Holy Alliance was nothing but that, the League of +Peace was another attempt at the same thing, and so on. + +But, it will be answered, suppose all were agreed. If all were +agreed there would be no more war certainly, and no need for +arbitration either. + +"A court of arbitration! Arbitration shall replace war. Questions +shall be decided by a court of arbitration. The Alabama question +was decided by a court of arbitration, and the question of the +Caroline Islands was submitted to the decision of the Pope. +Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, and Holland have all declared that +they prefer arbitration to war." + +I dare say Monaco has expressed the same preference. The only +unfortunate thing is that Germany, Russia, Austria, and France +have not so far shown the same inclination. It is amazing how men +can deceive themselves when they find it necessary! Governments +consent to decide their disagreements by arbitration and to +disband their armies! The differences between Russia and Poland, +between England and Ireland, between Austria and Bohemia, between +Turkey and the Slavonic states, between France and Germany, to be +soothed away by amiable conciliation! + +One might as well suggest to merchants and bankers that they +should sell nothing for a greater price than they gave for it, +should undertake the distribution of wealth for no profit, and +should abolish money, as it would thus be rendered unnecessary. + +But since commercial and banking operations consist in nothing but +selling for more than the cost price, this would be equivalent to +an invitation to suppress themselves. It is the same in regard to +governments. To suggest to governments that they should not have +recourse to violence, but should decide their misunderstandings in +accordance with equity, is inviting them to abolish themselves as +rulers, and that no government can ever consent to do. + +The learned men form societies (there are more than a hundred such +societies), assemble in congresses (such as those recently held in +London and Paris, and shortly to be held in Rome), deliver +addresses, eat public dinners and make speeches, publish journals, +and prove by every means possible that the nations forced to +support millions of troops are strained to the furthest limits of +their endurance, that the maintenance of these huge armed forces +is in opposition to all the aims, the interests, and the wishes of +the people, and that it is possible, moreover, by writing numerous +papers, and uttering a great many words, to bring all men into +agreement and to arrange so that they shall have no antagonistic +interests, and then there will be no more war. + +When I was a little boy they told me if I wanted to catch a bird I +must put salt on its tail. I ran after the birds with the salt in +my hand, but I soon convinced myself that if I could put salt on a +bird's tail, I could catch it, and realized that I had been +hoaxed. + +People ought to realize the same fact when they read books and +articles on arbitration and disarmament. + +If one could put salt on a bird's tail, it would be because it +could not fly and there would be no difficulty in catching it. If +the bird had wings and did not want to be caught, it would not let +one put salt on its tail, because the specialty of a bird is to +fly. In precisely the same way the specialty of government is not +to obey, but to enforce obedience. And a government is only a +government so long as it can make itself obeyed, and therefore it +always strives for that and will never willingly abandon its +power. But since it is on the army that the power of government +rests, it will never give up the army, and the use of the army in +war. + +The error arises from the learned jurists deceiving themselves and +others, by asserting that government is not what it really is, one +set of men banded together to oppress another set of men, but, as +shown by science, is the representation of the citizens in their +collective capacity. They have so long been persuading other +people of this that at last they have persuaded themselves of it; +and thus they often seriously suppose that government can be bound +by considerations of justice. But history shows that from Caesar +to Napoleon, and from Napoleon to Bismarck, government is in its +essence always a force acting in violation of justice, and that it +cannot be otherwise. Justice can have no binding force on a ruler +or rulers who keep men, deluded and drilled in readiness for acts +of violence--soldiers, and by means of them control others. And +so governments can never be brought to consent to diminish the +number of these drilled slaves, who constitute their whole power +and importance. + +Such is the attitude of certain learned men to the contradiction +under which our society is being crushed, and such are their +methods of solving it. Tell these people that the whole matter +rests on the personal attitude of each man to the moral and +religious question put nowadays to everyone, the question, that +is, whether it is lawful or unlawful for him to take his share of +military service, and these learned gentlemen will shrug their +shoulders and not condescend to listen or to answer you. The +solution of the question in their idea is to be found in reading +addresses, writing books, electing presidents, vice-presidents, +and secretaries, and meeting and speaking first in one town and +then in another. From all this speechifying and writing it will +come to pass, according to their notions, that governments will +cease to levy the soldiers, on whom their whole strength depends, +will listen to their discourses, and will disband their forces, +leaving themselves without any defense, not only against their +neighbors, but also against their own subjects. As though a band +of brigands, who have some unarmed travelers bound and ready to be +plundered, should be so touched by their complaints of the pain +caused by the cords they are fastened with as to let them go +again. + +Still there are people who believe in this, busy themselves over +peace congresses, read addresses, and write books. And +governments, we may be quite sure, express their sympathy and make +a show of encouraging them. In the same way they pretend to +support temperance societies, while they are living principally on +the drunkenness of the people; and pretend to encourage education, +when their whole strength is based on ignorance; and to support +constitutional freedom, when their strength rests on the absence +of freedom; and to be anxious for the improvement of the condition +of the working classes, when their very existence depends on their +oppression; and to support Christianity, when Christianity +destroys all government. + +To be able to do this they have long ago elaborated methods +encouraging temperance, which cannot suppress drunkenness; methods +of supporting education, which not only fail to prevent ignorance, +but even increase it; methods of aiming at freedom and +constitutionalism, which are no hindrance to despotism; methods of +protecting the working classes, which will not free them from +slavery; and a Christianity, too, they have elaborated, which does +not destroy, but supports governments. + +Now there is something more for the government to encourage--peace. The +sovereigns, who nowadays take counsel with their ministers, decide by +their will alone whether the butchery of millions is to be begun this +year or next. They know very well that all these discourses upon peace +will not hinder them from sending millions of men to butchery when it +seems good to them. They listen even with satisfaction to these +discourses, encourage them, and take part in them. + +All this, far from being detrimental, is even of service to +governments, by turning people's attention from the most important +and pressing question: Ought or ought not each man called upon for +military service to submit to serve in the army? + +"Peace will soon be arranged, thanks to alliances and congresses, +to books and pamphlets; meantime go and put on your uniform, and +prepare to cause suffering and to endure it for our benefit," is +the government's line of argument. And the learned gentlemen who +get up congresses and write articles are in perfect agreement with +it. + +This is the attitude of one set of thinkers. And since it is that +most beneficial to governments, it is also the most encouraged by +all intelligent governments. + +Another attitude to war has something tragical in it. There are +men who maintain that the love for peace and the inevitability of +war form a hideous contradiction, and that such is the fate of +man. These are mostly gifted and sensitive men, who see and +realize all the horror and imbecility and cruelty of war, but +through some strange perversion of mind neither see nor seek to +find any way out of this position, and seem to take pleasure in +teasing the wound by dwelling on the desperate position of +humanity. A notable example of such an attitude to war is to be +found in the celebrated French writer Guy de Maupassant. Looking +from his yacht at the drill and firing practice of the French +soldiers the following reflections occur to him: + + "When I think only of this word war, a kind of terror seizes + upon me, as though I were listening to some tale of sorcery, of + the Inquisition, some long past, remote abomination, monstrous, + unnatural. + + "When cannibalism is spoken of, we smile with pride, + proclaiming our superiority to these savages. Which are the + savages, the real savages? Those who fight to eat the + conquered, or those who fight to kill, for nothing but to kill? + + "The young recruits, moving about in lines yonder, are destined + to death like the flocks of sheep driven by the butcher along + the road. They will fall in some plain with a saber cut in the + head, or a bullet through the breast. And these are young men + who might work, be productive and useful. Their fathers are + old and poor. Their mothers, who have loved them for twenty + years, worshiped them as none but mothers can, will learn in + six months' time, or a year perhaps, that their son, their boy, + the big boy reared with so much labor, so much expense, so much + love, has been thrown in a hole like some dead dog, after being + disemboweled by a bullet, and trampled, crushed, to a mass of + pulp by the charges of cavalry. Why have they killed her boy, + her handsome boy, her one hope, her pride, her life? She does + not know. Ah, why? + + "War! fighting! slaughter! massacres of men! And we have now, + in our century, with our civilization, with the spread of + science, and the degree of philosophy which the genius of man + is supposed to have attained, schools for training to kill, to + kill very far off, to perfection, great numbers at once, to + kill poor devils of innocent men with families and without any + kind of trial. + + "AND WHAT IS MOST BEWILDERING IS THAT THE PEOPLE DO NOT RISE + AGAINST THEIR GOVERNMENTS. FOR WHAT DIFFERENCE IS THERE + BETWEEN MONARCHIES AND REPUBLICS? THE MOST BEWILDERING THING + IS THAT THE WHOLE OF SOCIETY IS NOT IN REVOLT AT THE WORD WAR." + + "Ah! we shall always live under the burden of the ancient and + odious customs, the criminal prejudices, the ferocious ideas of + our barbarous ancestors, for we are beasts, and beasts we shall + remain, dominated by instinct and changed by nothing. Would + not any other man than Victor Hugo have been exiled for that + mighty cry of deliverance and truth? 'To-day force is called + violence, and is being brought to judgment; war has been put on + its trial. At the plea of the human race, civilization + arraigns warfare, and draws up the great list of crimes laid at + the charge of conquerors and generals. The nations are coming + to understand that the magnitude of a crime cannot be its + extenuation; that if killing is a crime, killing many can be no + extenuating circumstance; that if robbery is disgraceful, + invasion cannot be glorious. Ah! let us proclaim these + absolute truths; let us dishonor war!' + +"Vain wrath," continues Maupassant, "a poet's indignation. War is +held in more veneration than ever. + + "A skilled proficient in that line, a slaughterer of genius, + Von Moltke, in reply to the peace delegates, once uttered these + strange words: + + "'War is holy, war is ordained of God. It is one of the most + sacred laws of the world. It maintains among men all the great + and noble sentiments--honor, devotion, virtue, and courage, and + saves them in short from falling into the most hideous + materialism.' + + "So, then, bringing millions of men together into herds, + marching by day and by night without rest, thinking of nothing, + studying nothing, learning nothing, reading nothing, being + useful to no one, wallowing in filth, sleeping in mud, living + like brutes in a continual state of stupefaction, sacking + towns, burning villages, ruining whole populations, then + meeting another mass of human flesh, falling upon them, making + pools of blood, and plains of flesh mixed with trodden mire and + red with heaps of corpses, having your arms or legs carried + off, your brains blown out for no advantage to anyone, and + dying in some corner of a field while your old parents, your + wife and children are perishing of hunger--that is what is + meant by not falling into the most hideous materialism! + + "Warriors are the scourge of the world. We struggle against + nature and ignorance and obstacles of all kinds to make our + wretched life less hard. Learned men--benefactors of all--spend + their lives in working, in seeking what can aid, what be + of use, what can alleviate the lot of their fellows. They + devote themselves unsparingly to their task of usefulness, + making one discovery after another, enlarging the sphere of + human intelligence, extending the bounds of science, adding + each day some new store to the sum of knowledge, gaining each + day prosperity, ease, strength for their country. + + "War breaks out. In six months the generals have destroyed the + work of twenty years of effort, of patience, and of genius. + + "That is what is meant by not falling into the most hideous + materialism. + + "We have seen it, war. "We have seen men turned to brutes, + frenzied, killing for fun, for terror, for bravado, for + ostentation. Then when right is no more, law is dead, every + notion of justice has disappeared. We have seen men shoot + innocent creatures found on the road, and suspected because + they were afraid. We have seen them kill dogs chained at their + masters' doors to try their new revolvers, we have seen them + fire on cows lying in a field for no reason whatever, simply + for the sake of shooting, for a joke. + + "That is what is meant by not falling into the most hideous + materialism. + + "Going into a country, cutting the man's throat who defends his + house because he wears a blouse and has not a military cap on + his head, burning the dwellings of wretched beings who have + nothing to eat, breaking furniture and stealing goods, drinking + the wine found in the cellars, violating the women in the + streets, burning thousands of francs' worth of powder, and + leaving misery and cholera in one's track-- + + "That is what is meant by not falling into the most hideous + materialism. + + "What have they done, those warriors, that proves the least + intelligence? Nothing. What have they invented? Cannons and + muskets. That is all. + + "What remains to us from Greece? Books and statues. Is Greece + great from her conquests or her creations? + + "Was it the invasions of the Persians which saved Greece from + falling into the most hideous materialism? + + "Were the invasions of the barbarians what saved and + regenerated Rome? + + "Was it Napoleon I. who carried forward the great intellectual + movement started by the philosophers of the end of last + century? + + "Yes, indeed, since government assumes the right of + annihilating peoples thus, there is nothing surprising in the + fact that the peoples assume the right of annihilating + governments. + + "They defend themselves. They are right. No one has an + absolute right to govern others. It ought only to be done for + the benefit of those who are governed. And it is as much the + duty of anyone who governs to avoid war as it is the duty of a + captain of a ship to avoid shipwreck. + + "When a captain has let his ship come to ruin, he is judged and + condemned, if he is found guilty of negligence or even + incapacity. + + "Why should not the government be put on its trial after every + declaration of war? IF THE PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD THAT, IF THEY + THEMSELVES PASSED JUDGMENT ON MURDEROUS GOVERNMENTS, IF THEY + REFUSED TO LET THEMSELVES BE KILLED FOR NOTHING, IF THEY WOULD + ONLY TURN THEIR ARMS AGAINST THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEM TO THEM + FOR MASSACRE, ON THAT DAY WAR WOULD BE NO MORE. BUT THAT DAY + WILL NEVER COME" [Footnote: "Sur l'Eau," pp. 71-80]. + +The author sees all the horror of war. He sees that it is caused +by governments forcing men by deception to go out to slaughter and +be slain without any advantage to themselves. And he sees, too, +that the men who make up the armies could turn their arms against +the governments and bring them to judgment. But he thinks that +that will never come to pass, and that there is, therefore, no +escape from the present position. + + "I think war is terrible, but that it is inevitable; that + compulsory military service is as inevitable as death, and that + since government will always desire it, war will always exist." + +So writes this talented and sincere writer, who is endowed with +that power of penetrating to the innermost core of the subjects +which is the essence of the poetic faculty. He brings before us +all the cruelty of the inconsistency between men's moral sense and +their actions, but without trying to remove it; seems to admit +that this inconsistency must exist and that it is the poetic +tragedy of life. + +Another no less gifted writer, Edouard Rod, paints in still more +vivid colors the cruelty and madness of the present state of +things. He too only aims at presenting its tragic features, +without suggesting or forseeing any issue from the position. + + "What is the good of doing anything? What is the good of + undertaking any enterprise? And how are we to love men in + these troubled times when every fresh day is a menace of + danger?... All we have begun, the plans we are developing, our + schemes of work, the little good we may have been able to do, + will it not all be swept away by the tempest that is in + preparation?... Everywhere the earth is shaking under our feet + and storm-clouds are gathering on our horizon which will have + no pity on us. + + "Ah! if all we had to dread were the revolution which is held + up as a specter to terrify us! Since I cannot imagine a + society more detestable than ours, I feel more skeptical than + alarmed in regard to that which will replace it. If I should + have to suffer from the change, I should be consoled by + thinking that the executioners of that day were the victims of + the previous time, and the hope of something better would help + us to endure the worst. But it is not that remote peril which + frightens me. I see another danger, nearer and far more cruel; + more cruel because there is no excuse for it, because it is + absurd, because it can lead to no good. Every day one balances + the chances of war on the morrow, every day they become more + merciless. + + "The imagination revolts before the catastrophe which is coming + at the end of our century as the goal of the progress of our + era, and yet we must get used to facing it. For twenty years + past every resource of science has been exhausted in the + invention of engines of destruction, and soon a few charges of + cannon will suffice to annihilate a whole army. No longer a + few thousands of poor devils, who were paid a price for their + blood, are kept under arms, but whole nations are under arms to + cut each other's throats. They are robbed of their time now + (by compulsory service) that they may be robbed of their lives + later. To prepare them for the work of massacre, their hatred + is kindled by persuading them that they are hated. And + peaceable men let themselves be played on thus and go and fall + on one another with the ferocity of wild beasts; furious troops + of peaceful citizens taking up arms at an empty word of + command, for some ridiculous question of frontiers or colonial + trade interests--Heaven only knows what... They will go like + sheep to the slaughter, knowing all the while where they are + going, knowing that they are leaving their wives, knowing + that their children will want for food, full of misgivings, yet + intoxicated by the fine-sounding lies that are dinned into + their ears. THEY WILL MARCH WITHOUT REVOLT, PASSIVE, + RESIGNED--THOUGH THE NUMBERS AND THE STRENGTH ARE THEIRS, AND + THEY MIGHT, IF THEY KNEW HOW TO CO-OPERATE TOGETHER, ESTABLISH + THE REIGN OF GOOD SENSE AND FRATERNITY, instead of the + barbarous trickery of diplomacy. They will march to battle so + deluded, so duped, that they will believe slaughter to be a + duty, and will ask the benediction of God on their lust for + blood. They will march to battle trampling underfoot the + harvests they have sown, burning the towns they have built--with + songs of triumph, festive music, and cries of jubilation. + And their sons will raise statues to those who have done most + in their slaughter. + + "The destiny of a whole generation depends on the hour in which + some ill-fated politician may give the signal that will be + followed. We know that the best of us will be cut down and our + work will be destroyed in embryo. WE KNOW IT AND TREMBLE WITH + RAGE, BUT WE CAN DO NOTHING. We are held fast in the toils of + officialdom and red tape, and too rude a shock would be needed + to set us free. We are enslaved by the laws we set up for our + protection, which have become our oppression. WE ARE BUT THE + TOOLS OF THAT AUTOCRATIC ABSTRACTION THE STATE, WHICH ENSLAVES + EACH INDIVIDUAL IN THE NAME OF THE WILL OF ALL, WHO WOULD ALL, + TAKEN INDIVIDUALLY, DESIRE EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THEY + WILL BE MADE TO DO. + + "And if it were only a generation that must be sacrificed! But + there are graver interests at stake. + + "The paid politicians, the ambitious statesmen, who exploit the + evil passions of the populace, and the imbeciles who are + deluded by fine-sounding phrases, have so embittered national + feuds that the existence of a whole race will be at stake in + the war of the morrow. One of the elements that constitute the + modern world is threatened, the conquered people will be wiped + out of existence, and whichever it may be, we shall see a moral + force annihilated, as if there were too many forces to work for + good--we shall have a new Europe formed on foundations so + unjust, so brutal, so sanguinary, stained with so monstrous a + crime, that it cannot but be worse than the Europe of to-day--more + iniquitous, more barbarous, more violent. + + "Thus one feels crushed under the weight of an immense + discouragement. We are struggling in a CUL DE SAC with muskets + aimed at us from the housetops. Our labor is like that of + sailors executing their last task as the ship begins to sink. + Our pleasures are those of the condemned victim, who is + offered his choice of dainties a quarter of an hour before his + execution. Thought is paralyzed by anguish, and the most it is + capable of is to calculate--interpreting the vague phrases of + ministers, spelling out the sense of the speeches of + sovereigns, and ruminating on the words attributed to + diplomatists reported on the uncertain authority of the + newspapers--whether it is to be to-morrow or the day after, + this year or the next, that we are to be murdered. So that one + might seek in vain in history an epoch more insecure, more + crushed under the weight of suffering" [footnote: "Le Sens de + la Vie," pp. 208-13]. + +Here it is pointed out that the force is in the hands of those who +work their own destruction, in the hands of the individual men who +make up the masses; it is pointed out that the source of the evil +is the government. It would seem evident that the contradiction +between life and conscience had reached the limit beyond which it +cannot go, and after reaching this limit some solution of it must +be found. + +But the author does not think so. He sees in this the tragedy of +human life, and after depicting all the horror of the position he +concludes that human life must be spent in the midst of this +horror. + +So much for the attitude to war of those who regard it as +something tragic and fated by destiny. + +The third category consists of men who have lost all conscience +and, consequently, all common sense and feeling of humanity. + +To this category belongs Moltke, whose opinion has been quoted +above by Maupassant, and the majority of military men, who have +been educated in this cruel superstition, live by it, and +consequently are often in all simplicity convinced that war is not +only an inevitable, but even a necessary and beneficial thing. +This is also the view of some civilians, so-called educated and +cultivated people. + +Here is what the celebrated academician Camille Doucet writes in +reply to the editor of the REVUE DES REVUES, where several letters +on war were published together: + + "Dear Sir: When you ask the least warlike of academicians + whether he is a partisan of war, his answer is known + beforehand. + + "Alas! sir, you yourself speak of the pacific ideal inspiring + your generous compatriots as a dream. + + "During my life I have heard a great many good people protest + against this frightful custom of international butchery, which + all admit and deplore; but how is it to be remedied? + + "Often, too, there have been attempts to suppress dueling; one + would fancy that seemed an easy task: but not at all! All that + has been done hitherto with that noble object has never been + and never will be of use. + + "All the congresses of both hemispheres may vote against war, + and against dueling too, but above all arbitrations, + conventions, and legislations there will always be the personal + honor of individual men, which has always demanded dueling, and + the interests of nations, which will always demand war. + + "I wish none the less from the depths of my heart that the + Congress of Universal Peace may succeed at last in its very + honorable and difficult enterprise. + + "I am, dear sir, etc., + "CAMILLE DOUCET." + +The upshot of this is that personal honor requires men to fight, +and the interests of nations require them to ruin and exterminate +each other. As for the efforts to abolish war, they call for +nothing but a smile. + +The opinion of another well-known academician, Jules Claretie, is +of the same kind. + + "Dear Sir [he writes]: For a man of sense there can be but one + opinion on the subject of peace and war. + + "Humanity is created to live, to live free, to perfect and + ameliorate its fate by peaceful labor. The general harmony + preached by the Universal Peace Congress is but a dream + perhaps, but at least it is the fairest of all dreams. Man is + always looking toward the Promised Land, and there the harvests + are to ripen with no fear of their being torn up by shells or + crushed by cannon wheels... But! Ah! but----since philosophers + and philanthropists are not the controlling powers, it is well + for our soldiers to guard our frontier and homes, and their + arms, skillfully used, are perhaps the surest guarantee of the + peace we all love. + + "Peace is a gift only granted to the strong and the resolute. + + "I am, dear sir, etc., + "JULES CLARETIE." + +The upshot of this letter is that there is no harm in talking +about what no one intends or feels obliged to do. But when it +comes to practice, we must fight. + +And here now is the view lately expressed by the most popular +novelist in Europe, Émile Zola: + + "I regard war as a fatal necessity, which appears inevitable + for us from its close connection with human nature and the + whole constitution of the world. I should wish that war could + be put off for the longest possible time. Nevertheless, the + moment will come when we shall be forced to go to war. I am + considering it at this moment from the standpoint of universal + humanity, and making no reference to our misunderstanding with + Germany--a most trivial incident in the history of mankind. I + say that war is necessary and beneficial, since it seems one of + the conditions of existence for humanity. War confronts us + everywhere, not only war between different races and peoples, + but war too, in private and family life. It seems one of the + principal elements of progress, and every step in advance that + humanity has taken hitherto has been attended by bloodshed. + + "Men have talked, and still talk, of disarmament, while + disarmament is something impossible, to which, even if it were + possible, we ought not to consent. I am convinced that a + general disarmament throughout the world would involve + something like a moral decadence, which would show itself in + general feebleness, and would hinder the progressive + advancement of humanity. A warlike nation has always been + strong and flourishing. The art of war has led to the + development of all the other arts. History bears witness to + it. So in Athens and in Rome, commerce, manufactures, and + literature never attained so high a point of development as + when those cities were masters of the whole world by force of + arms. To take an example from times nearer our own, we may + recall the age of Louis XIV. The wars of the Grand Monarque + were not only no hindrance to the progress of the arts and + sciences, but even, on the contrary, seem to have promoted and + favored their development." + +So war is a beneficial thing! + +But the best expression of this attitude is the view of the most +gifted of the writers of this school, the academician de Vogüé. +This is what he writes in an article on the Military Section of +the Exhibition of 1889: + + "On the Esplanade des Invalides, among the exotic and colonial + encampments, a building in a more severe style overawes the + picturesque bazaar; all these fragments of the globe have come + to gather round the Palace of War, and in turn our guests mount + guard submissively before the mother building, but for whom + they would not be here. Fine subject for the antithesis of + rhetoric, of humanitarians who could not fail to whimper over + this juxtaposition, and to say that 'CECI TUERA CELA,' + [footnote: Phrase quoted from Victor-Hugo, "Notre-Dame de + Paris."] that the union of the nations through science and + labor will overcome the instinct of war. Let us leave them to + cherish the chimera of a golden age, which would soon become, + if it could be realized, an age of mud. All history teaches us + that the one is created for the other, that blood is needed to + hasten and cement the union of the nations. Natural science + has ratified in our day the mysterious law revealed to Joseph + de Maistre by the intuition of his genius and by meditation on + fundamental truths; he saw the world redeeming itself from + hereditary degenerations by sacrifice; science shows it + advancing to perfection through struggle and violent selection; + there is the statement of the same law in both, expressed in + different formulas. The statement is disagreeable, no doubt; + but the laws of the world are not made for our pleasure, they + are made for our progress. Let us enter this inevitable, + necessary palace of war; we shall be able to observe there how + the most tenacious of our instincts, without losing any of its + vigor, is transformed and adapted to the varying exigencies of + historical epochs." + +M. de Vogüé finds the necessity for war, according to his views, +well expressed by the two great writers, Joseph de Maistre and +Darwin, whose statements he likes so much that he quotes them +again. + + "Dear Sir [he writes to the editor of the REVUE DES REVUES]: + You ask me my view as to the possible success of the Universal + Congress of Peace. I hold with Darwin that violent struggle is + a law of nature which overrules all other laws; I hold with + Joseph de Maistre that it is a divine law; two different ways + of describing the same thing. If by some impossible chance a + fraction of human society--all the civilized West, let us + suppose--were to succeed in suspending the action of this law, + some races of stronger instincts would undertake the task of + putting it into action against us: those races would vindicate + nature's reasoning against human reason; they would be + successful, because the certainty of peace--I do not say PEACE, + I say the CERTAINTY OF PEACE--would, in half a century, + engender a corruption and a decadence more destructive for + mankind than the worst of wars. I believe that we must do with + war--the criminal law of humanity--as with all our criminal + laws, that is, soften them, put them in force as rarely as + possible; use every effort to make their application + unnecessary. But all the experience of history teaches us that + they cannot be altogether suppressed so long as two men are + left on earth, with bread, money, and a woman between them. + + "I should be very happy if the Congress would prove me in + error. But I doubt if it can prove history, nature, and God in + error also. + + "I am, dear sir, etc. + "E. M. DE VOGÜÉ." + +This amounts to saying that history, human nature, and God show us that +so long as there are two men, and bread, money and a woman--there will +be war. That is to say that no progress will lead men to rise above the +savage conception of life, which regards no participation of bread, +money (money is good in this context) and woman possible without +fighting. + +They are strange people, these men who assemble in Congresses, and +make speeches to show us how to catch birds by putting salt on +their tails, though they must know it is impossible to do it. And +amazing are they too, who, like Maupassant, Rod, and many others, +see clearly all the horror of war, all the inconsistency of men +not doing what is needful, right, and beneficial for them to do; +who lament over the tragedy of life, and do not see that the whole +tragedy is at an end directly men, ceasing to take account of any +unnecessary considerations, refuse to do what is hateful and +disastrous to them. They are amazing people truly, but those who, +like De Vogüé and others, who, professing the doctrine of +evolution, regard war as not only inevitable, but beneficial and +therefore desirable--they are terrible, hideous, in their moral +perversion. The others, at least, say that they hate evil, and +love good, but these openly declare that good and evil do not +exist. + +All discussion of the possibility of re-establishing peace instead +of everlasting war--is the pernicious sentimentality of +phrasemongers. There is a law of evolution by which it follows +that I must live and act in an evil way; what is to be done? I am +an educated man, I know the law of evolution, and therefore I will +act in an evil way. "ENTRONS AU PALAIS DE LA GUERRE." There is +the law of evolution, and therefore there is neither good nor +evil, and one must live for the sake of one's personal existence, +leaving the rest to the action of the law of evolution. This is +the last word of refined culture, and with it, of that +overshadowing of conscience which has come upon the educated +classes of our times. The desire of the educated classes to +support the ideas they prefer, and the order of existence based on +them, has attained its furthest limits. They lie, and delude +themselves, and one another, with the subtlest forms of deception, +simply to obscure, to deaden conscience. + +Instead of transforming their life into harmony with their +conscience, they try by every means to stifle its voice. But +it is in darkness that the light begins to shine, and so the +light is rising upon our epoch. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPULSORY SERVICE. + +Universal Compulsory Service is not a Political Accident, but the +Furthest Limit of the Contradiction Inherent in the Social Conception of +Life--Origin of Authority in Society--Basis of Authority is Physical +Violence--To be Able to Perform its Acts of Violence Authority Needs a +Special Organization--The Army--Authority, that is, Violence, is the +Principle which is Destroying the Social Conception of Life--Attitude of +Authority to the Masses, that is, Attitude of Government to Working +Oppressed Classes--Governments Try to Foster in Working Classes the Idea +that State Force is Necessary to Defend Them from External Enemies--But +the Army is Principally Needed to Preserve Government from its own +Subjects--The Working Classes--Speech of M. de Caprivi--All Privileges +of Ruling Classes Based on Violence--The Increase of Armies up to Point +of Universal Service--Universal Compulsory Service Destroys all the +Advantages of Social Life, which Government is Intended to +Preserve--Compulsory Service is the Furthest Limit of Submission, since +in Name of the State it Requires Sacrifice of all that can be Precious +to a Man--Is Government Necessary?--The Sacrifices Demanded by +Government in Compulsory Service have No Longer any Reasonable +Basis--And there is More Advantage to be Gained by not Submitting to the +Demands of the State than by Submitting to Them. + + +Educated people of the upper classes are trying to stifle the +ever-growing sense of the necessity of transforming the existing +social order. But life, which goes on growing more complex, and +developing in the same direction, and increases the +inconsistencies and the sufferings of men, brings them to the +limit beyond which they cannot go. This furthest limit of +inconsistency is universal compulsory military service. + +It is usually supposed that universal military service and the +increased armaments connected with it, as well as the resulting +increase of taxes and national debts, are a passing phenomenon, +produced by the particular political situation of Europe, and that +it may be removed by certain political combinations without any +modification of the inner order of life. + +This is absolutely incorrect. Universal military service is only +the internal inconsistency inherent in the social conception of +life, carried to its furthest limits, and becoming evident when a +certain stage of material development is reached. + +The social conception of life, we have seen, consists in the +transfer of the aim of life from the individual to groups and +their maintenance--to the tribe, family, race, or state. + +In the social conception of life it is supposed that since the aim +of life is found in groups of individuals, individuals will +voluntarily sacrifice their own interests for the interests of the +group. And so it has been, and still is, in fact, in certain +groups, the distinction being that they are the most primitive +forms of association in the family or tribe or race, or even in +the patriarchal state. Through tradition handed down by education +and supported by religious sentiment, individuals without +compulsion merged their interests in the interest of the group and +sacrificed their own good for the general welfare. + +But the more complex and the larger societies become, and +especially the more often conquest becomes the cause of the +amalgamation of people into a state, the more often individuals +strive to attain their own aims at the public expense, and the +more often it becomes necessary to restrain these insubordinate +individuals by recourse to authority, that is, to violence. The +champions of the social conception of life usually try to connect +the idea of authority, that is, of violence, with the idea of +moral influence, but this connection is quite impossible. + +The effect of moral influence on a man is to change his desires +and to bend them in the direction of the duty required of him. +The man who is controlled by moral influence acts in accordance +with his own desires. Authority, in the sense in which the word +is ordinarily understood, is a means of forcing a man to act in +opposition to his desires. The man who submits to authority does +not do as he chooses but as he is obliged by authority. Nothing +can oblige a man to do what he does not choose except physical +force, or the threat of it, that is--deprivation of freedom, +blows, imprisonment, or threats--easily carried out--of such +punishments. This is what authority consists of and always has +consisted of. + +In spite of the unceasing efforts of those who happen to be in authority +to conceal this and attribute some other significance to it, authority +has always meant for man the cord, the chain with which he is bound and +fettered, or the knout with which he is to be flogged, or the ax with +which he is to have hands, ears, nose, or head cut off, or at the very +least, the threat of these terrors. So it was under Nero and Ghenghis +Khan, and so it is to-day, even under the most liberal government in the +Republics of the United States or of France. If men submit to authority, +it is only because they are liable to these punishments in case of +non-submission. All state obligations, payment of taxes, fulfillment of +state duties, and submission to punishments, exile, fines, etc., to +which people appear to submit voluntarily, are always based on bodily +violence or the threat of it. + +The basis of authority is bodily violence. The possibility of +applying bodily violence to people is provided above all by an +organization of armed men, trained to act in unison in submission +to one will. These bands of armed men, submissive to a single +will, are what constitute the army. The army has always been and +still is the basis of power. Power is always in the hands of +those who control the army, and all men in power--from the Roman +Caesars to the Russian and German Emperors--take more interest in +their army than in anything, and court popularity in the army, +knowing that if that is on their side their power is secure. + +The formation and aggrandizement of the army, indispensable to the +maintenance of authority, is what has introduced into the social +conception of life the principle that is destroying it. + +The object of authority and the justification for its existence +lie in the restraint of those who aim at attaining their personal +interests to the detriment of the interests of society. + +But however power has been gained, those who possess it are in no +way different from other men, and therefore no more disposed than +others to subordinate their own interests to those of the society. +On the contrary, having the power to do so at their disposal, they +are more disposed than others to subordinate the public interests +to their own. Whatever means men have devised for preventing +those in authority from over-riding public interests for their own +benefit, or for intrusting power only to the most faultless +people, they have not so far succeeded in either of those aims. + +All the methods of appointing authorities that have been tried, +divine right, and election, and heredity, and balloting, and +assemblies and parliaments and senate--have all proved +ineffectual. Everyone knows that not one of these methods attains +the aim either of intrusting power only to the incorruptible, or +of preventing power from being abused. Everyone knows on the +contrary that men in authority--be they emperors, ministers, +governors, or police officers--are always, simply from the +possession of power, more liable to be demoralized, that is, to +subordinate public interests to their personal aims than those who +have not the power to do so. Indeed, it could not be otherwise. + +The state conception of life could be justified only so long as +all men voluntarily sacrificed their personal interests to the +public welfare. But so soon as there were individuals who would +not voluntarily sacrifice their own interests, and authority, that +is, violence, was needed to restrain them, then the disintegrating +principle of the coercion of one set of people by another set +entered into the social conception of the organization based on +it. + +For the authority of one set of men over another to attain its +object of restraining those who override public interests for +their personal ends, power ought only to be put into the hands of +the impeccable, as it is supposed to be among the Chinese, and as +it was supposed to be in the Middle Ages, and is even now supposed +to be by those who believe in the consecration by anointing. Only +under those conditions could the social organization be justified. + +But since this is not the case, and on the contrary men in power +are always far from being saints, through the very fact of their +possession of power, the social organization based on power has no +justification. + +Even if there was once a time when, owing to the low standard of +morals, and the disposition of men to violence, the existence of +an authority to restrain such violence was an advantage, because +the violence of government was less than the violence of +individuals, one cannot but see that this advantage could not be +lasting. As the disposition of individuals to violence +diminished, and as the habits of the people became more civilized, +and as power grew more social organization demoralized through +lack of restraint, this advantage disappeared. + +The whole history of the last two thousand years is nothing but +the history of this gradual change of relation between the moral +development of the masses on the one hand and the demoralization +of governments on the other. + +This, put simply, is how it has come to pass. + +Men lived in families, tribes, and races, at feud with one +another, plundering, outraging, and killing one another. These +violent hostilities were carried on on a large and on a small +scale: man against man, family against family, tribe against +tribe, race against race, and people against people. The larger +and stronger groups conquered and absorbed the weaker, and the +larger and stronger they became, the more internal feuds +disappeared and the more the continuity of the group seemed +assured. + +The members of a family or tribe, united into one community, are +less hostile among themselves, and families and tribes do not die +like one man, but have a continuity of existence. Between the +members of one state, subject to a single authority, the strife +between individuals seems still less and the life of the state +seems even more secure. + +Their association into larger and larger groups was not the result +of the conscious recognition of the benefits of such associations, +as it is said to be in the story of the Varyagi. It was produced, +on one hand, by the natural growth of population, and, on the +other, by struggle and conquest. + +After conquest the power of the emperor puts an end to internal +dissensions, and so the state conception of life justifies itself. +But this justification is never more than temporary. Internal +dissensions disappear only in proportion to the degree of +oppression exerted by the authority over the dissentient +individuals. The violence of internal feud crushed by authority +reappears in authority itself, which falls into the hands of men +who, like the rest, are frequently or always ready to sacrifice +the public welfare to their personal interest, with the difference +that their subjects cannot resist them, and thus they are exposed +to all the demoralizing influence of authority. And thus the evil +of violence, when it passes into the hands of authority, is always +growing and growing, and in time becomes greater than the evil it +is supposed to suppress, while, at the same time, the tendency to +violence in the members of the society becomes weaker and weaker, +so that the violence of authority is less and less needed. + +Government authority, even if it does suppress private violence, +always introduces into the life of men fresh forms of violence, +which tend to become greater and greater in proportion to the +duration and strength of the government. + +So that though the violence of power is less noticeable in +government than when it is employed by members of society against +one another, because it finds expression in submission, and not in +strife, it nevertheless exists, and often to a greater degree than +in former days. + +And it could not be otherwise, since, apart from the demoralizing +influence of power, the policy or even the unconscious tendency of +those in power will always be to reduce their subjects to the +extreme of weakness, for the weaker the oppressed, the less effort +need be made to keep him in subjection. + +And therefore the oppression of the oppressed always goes on +growing up to the furthest limit, beyond which it cannot go +without killing the goose with the golden eggs. And if the goose +lays no more eggs, like the American Indians, negroes, and +Fijians, then it is killed in spite of the sincere protests of +philanthropists. + +The most convincing example of this is to be found in the +condition of the working classes of our epoch, who are in reality +no better than the slaves of ancient times subdued by conquest. + +In spite of the pretended efforts of the higher classes to +ameliorate the position of the workers, all the working classes of +the present day are kept down by the inflexible iron law by which +they only get just what is barely necessary, so that they are +forced to work without ceasing while still retaining strength +enough to labor for their employers, who are really those who have +conquered and enslaved them. + +So it has always been. In ratio to the duration and increasing +strength of authority its advantages for its subjects disappear +and its disadvantages increase. + +And this has been so, independently of the forms of government +under which nations have lived. The only difference is that under +a despotic form of government the authority is concentrated in a +small number of oppressors and violence takes a cruder form; under +constitutional monarchies and republics as in France and America +authority is divided among a great number of oppressors and the +forms assumed by violence is less crude, but its effect of making +the disadvantages of authority greater than its advantages, and of +enfeebling the oppressed to the furthest extreme to which they can +be reduced with advantage to the oppressors, remains always the +same. + +Such has been and still is the condition of all the oppressed, but +hitherto they have not recognized the fact. In the majority of instances +they have believed in all simplicity that governments exist for their +benefit; that they would be lost without a government; that the very +idea of living without a government is a blasphemy which one hardly dare +put into words; that this is the--for some reason terrible--doctrine of +anarchism, with which a mental picture of all kinds of horrors is +associated. + +People have believed, as though it were something fully proved, +and so needing no proof, that since all nations have hitherto +developed in the form of states, that form of organization is an +indispensable condition of the development of humanity. + +And in that way it has lasted for hundreds and thousands of years, +and governments--those who happened to be in power--have tried it, +and are now trying more zealously than ever to keep their subjects +in this error. + +So it was under the Roman emperors and so it is now. In spite of +the fact that the sense of the uselessness and even injurious +effects of state violence is more and more penetrating into men's +consciousness, things might have gone on in the same way forever +if governments were not under the necessity of constantly +increasing their armies in order to maintain their power. + +It is generally supposed that governments strengthen their forces +only to defend the state from other states, in oblivion of the +fact that armies are necessary, before all things, for the defense +of governments from their own oppressed and enslaved subjects. + +That has always been necessary, and has become more and more +necessary with the increased diffusion of education among the +masses, with the improved communication between people of the same +and of different nationalities. It has become particularly +indispensable now in the face of communism, socialism, anarchism, +and the labor movement generally. Governments feel that it is so, +and strengthen the force of their disciplined armies. [See +Footnote] + + [Footnote: The fact that in America the abuses of + authority exist in spite of the small number of their + troops not only fails to disprove this position, + but positively confirms it. In America there are + fewer soldiers than in other states. That is why + there is nowhere else so little oppression of the + working classes, and no country where the end of the + abuses of government and of government itself seems + so near. Of late as the combinations of laborers + gain in strength, one hears more and more frequently + the cry raised for the increase of the army, though + the United States are not threatened with any attack + from without. The upper classes know that an army of + fifty thousand will soon be insufficient, and no longer + relying on Pinkerton's men, they feel that the security + of their position depends on the increased strength of + the army.] + + +In the German Reichstag not long ago, in reply to a question why funds +were needed for raising the salaries of the under-officers, the German +Chancellor openly declared that trustworthy under-officers were +necessary to contend against socialism. Caprivi only said aloud what +every statesman knows and assiduously conceals from the people. The +reason to which he gave expression is essentially the same as that which +made the French kings and the popes engage Swiss and Scotch guards, and +makes the Russian authorities of to-day so carefully distribute the +recruits, so that the regiments from the frontiers are stationed in +central districts, and the regiments from the center are stationed on +the frontiers. The meaning of Caprivi's speech, put into plain language, +is that funds are needed, not to resist foreign foes, but to BUY +UNDER-OFFICERS to be ready to act against the enslaved toiling masses. + +Caprivi incautiously gave utterance to what everyone knows +perfectly well, or at least feels vaguely if he does not recognize +it, that is, that the existing order of life is as it is, not, as +would be natural and right, because the people wish it to be so, +but because it is so maintained by state violence, by the army +with its BOUGHT UNDER-OFFICERS and generals. + +If the laborer has no land, if he cannot use the natural right of +every man to derive subsistence for himself and his family out of +the land, that is not because the people wish it to be so, but +because a certain set of men, the land-owners, have appropriated +the right of giving or refusing admittance to the land to the +laborers. And this abnormal order of things is maintained by the +army. If the immense wealth produced by the labor of the working +classes is not regarded as the property of all, but as the +property of a few exceptional persons; if labor is taxed by +authority and the taxes spent by a few on what they think fit; if +strikes on the part of laborers are repressesd, while on the part +of capitalists they are encouraged; if certain persons appropriate +the right of choosing the form of the education, religious and +secular, of children, and certain persons monopolize the right of +making the laws all must obey, and so dispose of the lives and +properties of other people--all this is not done because the +people wish it and because it is what is natural and right, but +because the government and ruling classes wish this to be so for +their own benefit, and insist on its being so even by physical +violence. + +Everyone, if he does not recognize this now, will know that it is +so at the first attempt at insubordination or at a revolution of +the existing order. + +Armies, then, are needed by governments and by the ruling classes +above all to support the present order, which, far from being the +result of the people's needs, is often in direct antagonism to +them, and is only beneficial to the government and ruling classes. + +To keep their subjects in oppression and to be able to enjoy the +fruits of their labor the government must have armed forces. + +But there is not only one government. There are other +governments, exploiting their subjects by violence in the same +way, and always ready to pounce down on any other government and +carry off the fruits of the toil of its enslaved subjects. And so +every government needs an army also to protect its booty from its +neighbor brigands. Every government is thus involuntarily reduced +to the necessity of emulating one another in the increase of their +armies. This increase is contagious, as Montesquieu pointed out +150 years ago. + +Every increase in the army of one state, with the aim of +self-defense against its subjects, becomes a source of danger for +neighboring states and calls for a similar increase in their +armies. + +The armed forces have reached their present number of millions not +only through the menace of danger from neighboring states, but +principally through the necessity of subduing every effort at +revolt on the part of the subjects. + +Both causes, mutually dependent, contribute to the same result at +once; troops are required against internal forces and also to keep +up a position with other states. One is the result of the other. +The despotism of a government always increases with the strength +of the army and its external successes, and the aggressiveness of +a government increases with its internal despotism. + +The rivalry of the European states in constantly increasing their +forces has reduced them to the necessity of having recourse to +universal military service, since by that means the greatest +possible number of soldiers is obtained at the least possible +expense. Germany first hit on this device. And directly one +state adopted it the others were obliged to do the same. And by +this means all citizens are under arms to support the iniquities +practiced upon them; all citizens have become their own +oppressors. + +Universal military service was an inevitable logical necessity, to +which we were bound to come. But it is also the last expression +of the inconsistency inherent in the social conception of life, +when violence is needed to maintain it. This inconsistency has +become obvious in universal military service. In fact, the whole +significance of the social conception of life consists in man's +recognition of the barbarity of strife between individuals, and +the transitoriness of personal life itself, and the transference +of the aim of life to groups of persons. But with universal +military service it comes to pass that men, after making every +sacrifice to get rid of the cruelty of strife and the insecurity +of existence, are called upon to face all the perils they had +meant to avoid. And in addition to this the state, for whose sake +individuals renounced their personal advantages, is exposed again +to the same risks of insecurity and lack of permanence as the +individual himself was in previous times. + +Governments were to give men freedom from the cruelty of personal +strife and security in the permanence of the state order of +existence. But instead of doing that they expose the individuals +to the same necessity of strife, substituting strife with +individuals of other states for strife with neighbors. And the +danger of destruction for the individual, and the state too, they +leave just as it was. + +Universal military service may be compared to the efforts of a man +to prop up his falling house who so surrounds it and fills it with +props and buttresses and planks and scaffolding that he manages to +keep the house standing only by making it impossible to live in +it. + +In the same way universal military service destroys all the +benefits of the social order of life which it is employed to +maintain. + +The advantages of social organization are security of property and labor +and associated action for the improvement of existence--universal +military service destroys all this. + +The taxes raised from the people for war preparations absorb the greater +part of the produce of labor which the army ought to defend. + +The withdrawing of all men from the ordinary course of life +destroys the possibility of labor itself. The danger of war, ever +ready to break out, renders all reforms of life social life vain +and fruitless. + +In former days if a man were told that if he did not acknowledge +the authority of the state, he would be exposed to attack from +enemies domestic and foreign, that he would have to resist them +alone, and would be liable to be killed, and that therefore it +would be to his advantage to put up with some hardships to secure +himself from these calamities, he might well believe it, seeing +that the sacrifices he made to the state were only partial and +gave him the hope of a tranquil existence in a permanent state. +But now, when the sacrifices have been increased tenfold and +the promised advantages are disappearing, it would be a natural +reflection that submission to authority is absolutely useless. + +But the fatal significance of universal military service, as the +manifestation of the contradiction inherent in the social +conception of life, is not only apparent in that. The greatest +manifestation of this contradiction consists in the fact that +every citizen in being made a soldier becomes a prop of the +government organization, and shares the responsibility of +everything the government does, even though he may not admit its +legitimacy. + +Governments assert that armies are needed above all for external +defense, but that is not true. They are needed principally +against their subjects, and every man, under universal military +service, becomes an accomplice in all the acts of violence of the +government against the citizens without any choice of his own. + +To convince oneself of this one need only remember what things are +done in every state, in the name of order and the public welfare, +of which the execution always falls to the army. All civil +outbreaks for dynastic or other party reasons, all the executions +that follow on such disturbances, all repression of insurrections, +and military intervention to break up meetings and to suppress +strikes, all forced extortion of taxes, all the iniquitous +distributions of land, all the restrictions on labor--are either +carried out directly by the military or by the police with the +army at their back. Anyone who serves his time in the army shares +the responsibility of all these things, about which he is, in some +cases, dubious, while very often they are directly opposed to his +conscience. People are unwilling to be turned out of the land +they have cultivated for generations, or they are unwilling to +disperse when the government authority orders them, or they are +unwilling to pay the taxes required of them, or to recognize laws +as binding on them when they have had no hand in making them, or +to be deprived of their nationality--and I, in the fulfillment of +my military duty, must go and shoot them for it. How can I help +asking myself when I take part in such punishments, whether they +are just, and whether I ought to assist in carrying them out? + +Universal service is the extreme limit of violence necessary for +the support of the whole state organization, and it is the extreme +limit to which submission on the part of the subjects can go. It +is the keystone of the whole edifice, and its fall will bring it +all down. + +The time has come when the ever-growing abuse of power by governments +and their struggles with one another has led to their demanding such +material and even moral sacrifices from their subjects that everyone is +forced to reflect and ask himself, "Can I make these sacrifices? And for +the sake of what am I making them? I am expected for the sake of the +state to make these sacrifices, to renounce everything that can be +precious to man--peace, family, security, and human dignity." What is +this state, for whose sake such terrible sacrifices have to be made? And +why is it so indispensably necessary? "The state," they tell us, "is +indispensably needed, in the first place, because without it we should +not be protected against the attacks of evil-disposed persons; and +secondly, except for the state we should be savages and should have +neither religion, culture, education, nor commerce, nor means of +communication, nor other social institutions; and thirdly, without the +state to defend us we should be liable to be conquered and enslaved by +neighboring peoples." + +"Except for the state," they say, "we should be exposed to the +attacks of evil-disposed persons in our own country." + +But who are these evil-disposed persons in our midst from whose attacks +we are preserved by the state and its army? Even if, three or four +centuries ago, when men prided themselves on their warlike prowess, when +killing men was considered an heroic achievement, there were such +persons; we know very well that there are no such persons now, that we +do not nowadays carry or use firearms, but everyone professes humane +principles and feels sympathy for his fellows, and wants nothing more +than we all do--that is, to be left in peace to enjoy his existence +undisturbed. So that nowadays there are no special malefactors from whom +the state could defend us. If by these evil disposed persons is meant +the men who are punished as criminals, we know very well that they are +not a different kind of being like wild beasts among sheep, but are men +just like ourselves, and no more naturally inclined to crimes than those +against whom they commit them. We know now that threats and punishments +cannot diminish their number; that that can only be done by change of +environment and moral influence. So that the justification of state +violence on the ground of the protection it gives us from evil-disposed +persons, even if it had some foundation three or four centuries ago, has +none whatever now. At present one would rather say on the contrary that +the action of the state with its cruel methods of punishment, behind the +general moral standard of the age, such as prisons, galleys, gibbets, +and guillotines, tends rather to brutalize the people than to civilize +them, and consequently rather to increase than diminish the number of +malefactors. + +"Except for the state," they tell us, "we should not have any +religion, education, culture, means of communication, and so on. +Without the state men would not have been able to form the social +institutions needed for doing any thing." This argument too was +well founded only some centuries ago. + +If there was a time when people were so disunited, when they had +so little means of communication and interchange of ideas, that +they could not co-operate and agree together in any common action +in commerce, economics, or education without the state as a +center, this want of common action exists no longer. The great +extension of means of communication and interchange of ideas has +made men completely able to dispense with state aid in forming +societies, associations, corporations, and congresses for +scientific, economic, and political objects. Indeed government is +more often an obstacle than an assistance in attaining these aims. + +From the end of last century there has hardly been a single +progressive movement of humanity which has not been retarded by +the government. So it has been with abolition of corporal +punishment, of trial by torture, and of slavery, as well as with +the establishment of the liberty of the press and the right of +public meeting. In our day governments not only fail to +encourage, but directly hinder every movement by which people try +to work out new forms of life for themselves. Every attempt at +the solution of the problems of labor, land, politics, and +religion meets with direct opposition on the part of government. + +"Without governments nations would be enslaved by their +neighbors." It is scarcely necessary to refute this last +argument. It carries its refutation on the face of it. The +government, they tell us, with its army, is necessary to defend us +from neighboring states who might enslave us. But we know this is +what all governments say of one another, and yet we know that all +the European nations profess the same principles of liberty and +fraternity, and therefore stand in no need of protection against +one another. And if defense against barbarous nations is meant, +one-thousandth part of the troops now under arms would be amply +sufficient for that purpose. We see that it is really the very +opposite of what we have been told. The power of the state, far +from being a security against the attacks of our neighbors, +exposes us, on the contrary, to much greater danger of such +attacks. So that every man who is led, through his compulsory +service in the army, to reflect on the value of the state for +whose sake he is expected to be ready to sacrifice his peace, +security, and life, cannot fail to perceive that there is no kind +of justification in modern times for such a sacrifice. + +And it is not only from the theoretical standpoint that every man +must see that the sacrifices demanded by the state have no +justification. Even looking at it practically, weighing, that is +to say, all the burdens laid on him by the state, no man can fail +to see that for him personally to comply with state demands and +serve in the army, would, in the majority of cases, be more +disadvantageous than to refuse to do so. + +If the majority of men choose to submit rather than to refuse, it +is not the result of sober balancing of advantages and +disadvantages, but because they are induced by a kind of +hypnotizing process practiced upon them. In submitting they +simply yield to the suggestions given them as orders, without +thought or effort of will. To resist would need independent +thought and effort of which every man is not capable. Even apart +from the moral significance of compliance or non-compliance, +considering material advantage only, non-compliance will be more +advantageous in general. + +Whoever I may be, whether I belong to the well-to-do class of the +oppressors, or the working class of the oppressed, in either case +the disadvantages of non-compliance are less and its advantages +greater than those of compliance. If I belong to the minority of +oppressors the disadvantages of non-compliance will consist in my +being brought to judgment for refusing to perform my duties to the +state, and if I am lucky, being acquitted or, as is done in the +case of the Mennonites in Russia, being set to work out my +military service at some civil occupation for the state; while if +I am unlucky, I may be condemned to exile or imprisonment for two +or three years (I judge by the cases that have occurred in +Russia), possibly to even longer imprisonment, or possibly to +death, though the probability of that latter is very remote. + +So much for the disadvantages of non-compliance. The +disadvantages of compliance will be as follows: if I am lucky I +shall not be sent to murder my fellow-creatures, and shall not be +exposed to great danger of being maimed and killed, but shall only +be enrolled into military slavery. I shall be dressed up like a +clown, I shall be at the beck and call of every man of a higher +grade than my own from corporal to field-marshal, shall be put +through any bodily contortions at their pleasure, and after being +kept from one to five years I shall have for ten years afterward +to be in readiness to undertake all of it again at any minute. If +I am unlucky I may, in addition, be sent to war, where I shall be +forced to kill men of foreign nations who have done me no harm, +where I may be maimed or killed, or sent to certain destruction as +in the case of the garrison of Sevastopol, and other cases in +every war, or what would be most terrible of all, I may be sent +against my own compatriots and have to kill my own brothers for +some dynastic or other state interests which have absolutely +nothing to do with me. So much for the comparative disadvantages. + +The comparative advantages of compliance and non-compliance are as +follows: + +For the man who submits, the advantages will be that, after +exposing himself to all the humiliation and performing all the +barbarities required of him, he may, if he escapes being killed, +get a decoration of red or gold tinsel to stick on his clown's +dress; he may, if he is very lucky, be put in command of hundreds +of thousands of others as brutalized as himself; be called a +field-marshal, and get a lot of money. + +The advantages of the man who refuses to obey will consist in +preserving his dignity as a man, gaining the approbation of good +men, and above all knowing that he is doing the work of God, and +so undoubtedly doing good to his fellow-men. + +So much for the advantages and disadvantages of both lines of +conduct for a man of the wealthy classes, an oppressor. For a man +of the poor working class the advantages and disadvantages will be +the same, but with a great increase of disadvantages. The +disadvantages for the poor man who submits will be aggravated by +the fact that he will by taking part in it, and, as it were, +assenting to it strengthen the state of subjection in which he is +held himself. + +But no considerations as to how far the state is useful or +beneficial to the men who help to support it by serving in the +army, nor of the advantages or disadvantages for the individual of +compliance or non-compliance with state demands, will decide the +question of the continued existence or the abolition of +government. This question will be finally decided beyond appeal +by the religious consciousness or conscience of every man who is +forced, whether he will or no, through universal conscription, to +face the question whether the state is to continue to exist or +not. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE MUST INEVITABLY BE +ACCEPTED BY MEN OF THE PRESENT DAY. + +Christianity is Not a System of Rules, but a New Conception of +Life, and therefore it was Not Obligatory and was Not Accepted +in its True Significance by All, but only by a Few--Christianity +is, Moreover, Prophetic of the Destruction of the Pagan Life, +and therefore of Necessity of the Acceptance of the Christian +Doctrines--Non-resistance of Evil by Force is One Aspect of the +Christian Doctrine, which must Inevitably in Our Times be +Accepted by Men--Two Methods of Deciding Every Quarrel--First +Method is to Find a Universal Definition of Evil, which All Must +Accept, and to Resist this Evil by Force--Second Method is the +Christian One of Complete Non-resistance by Force--Though the +Failure of the First Method was Recognized since the Early Days of +Christianity, it was Still Proposed, and only as Mankind has +Progressed it has Become More and More Evident that there Cannot +be any Universal Definition of Evil--This is Recognized by All at +the Present Day, and if Force is Still Used to Resist Evil, it is +Not Because it is Now Regarded as Right, but Because People Don't +Know How to Avoid It--The Difficulty of Avoiding It is the Result +of the Subtle and Complex Character of the Government Use of +Force--Force is Used in Four Ways: Intimidation, Bribery, +Hypnotism, and Coercion by Force of Arms--State Violence Can Never +be Suppressed by the Forcible Overthrow of the Government--Men are +Led by the Sufferings of the Pagan Mode of Life to the Necessity +of Accepting Christ's Teaching with its Doctrine of Non-resistance +by Force--The Consciousness of its Truth which is Diffused +Throughout Our Society, Will also Bring About its Acceptance--This +Consciousness is in Complete Contradiction with Our Life--This is +Specially Obvious in Compulsory Military Service, but Through +Habit and the Application of the Four Methods of Violence by the +State, Men do not See this Inconsistency of Christianity with Life +of a Soldier--They do Not even See It, though the Authorities +Themselves Show all the Immorality of a Soldier's Duties with +Perfect Clearness--The Call to Military Service is the Supreme +Test for Every Man, when the Choice is Offered Him, between +Adopting the Christian Doctrine of Non-resistance, or Slavishly +Submitting to the Existing State Organization--Men Usually +Renounce All They Hold Sacred, and Submit to the Demands of +Government, Seeming to See No Other Course Open to Them--For Men +of the Pagan Conception of Life there is No Other Course Open, and +Never Will Be, in Spite of the Growing Horrors of War--Society, +Made Up of Such Men, Must Perish, and No Social Reorganization Can +Save It--Pagan Life Has Reached Its Extreme Limit, and Will +Annihilate Itself. + + +It is often said that if Christianity is a truth, it ought to have +been accepted by everyone directly it appeared, and ought to have +transformed men's lives for the better. But this is like saying +that if the seed were ripe it ought at once to bring forth stalls, +flower, and fruit. + +The Christian religion is not a legal system which, being imposed +by violence, may transform men's lives. Christianity is a new and +higher conception of life. A new conception of life cannot be +imposed on men; it can only be freely assimilated. And it can +only be freely assimilated in two ways: one spiritual and +internal, the other experimental and external. + +Some people--a minority--by a kind of prophetic instinct divine +the truth of the doctrine, surrender themselves to it and adopt +it. Others--the majority--only through a long course of mistakes, +experiments, and suffering are brought to recognize the truth of +the doctrine and the necessity of adopting it. + +And by this experimental external method the majority of Christian +men have now been brought to this necessity of assimilating the +doctrine. One sometimes wonders what necessitated the corruption +of Christianity which is now the greatest obstacle to its +acceptance in its true significance. + +If Christianity had been presented to men in its true, uncorrupted +form, it would not have been accepted by the majority, who would +have been as untouched by it as the nations of Asia are now. The +peoples who accepted it in its corrupt form were subjected to its +slow but certain influence, and by a long course of errors and +experiments and their resultant sufferings have now been brought +to the necessity of assimilating it in its true significance. + +The corruption of Christianity and its acceptance in its corrupt +form by the majority of men was as necessary as it is that the +seed should remain hidden for a certain time in the earth in order +to germinate. + +Christianity is at once a doctrine of truth and a prophecy. +Eighteen centuries ago Christianity revealed to men the truth in +which they ought to live, and at the same time foretold what human +life would become if men would not live by it but continued to +live by their previous principles, and what it would become if +they accepted the Christian doctrine and carried it out in their +lives. + +Laying down in the Sermon on the Mount the principles by which to +guide men's lives, Christ said: "Whosoever heareth these sayings +of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who +built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended, and the +floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it +fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone that +heareth these sayings, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a +foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain +descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon +that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it" (Matt. vii. +24-27). + +And now after eighteen centuries the prophecy has been fulfilled. +Not having followed Christ's teaching generally and its +application to social life in non-resistance to evil, men have +been brought in spite of themselves to the inevitable destruction +foretold by Christ for those who do not fulfill his teaching. + +People often think the question of non-resistance to evil by force +is a theoretical one, which can be neglected. Yet this question +is presented by life itself to all men, and calls for some answer +from every thinking man. Ever since Christianity has been +outwardly professed, this question is for men in their social life +like the question which presents itself to a traveler when the +road on which he has been journeying divides into two branches. +He must go on and he cannot say: I will not think about it, but +will go on just as I did before. There was one road, now there +are two, and he must make his choice. + +In the same way since Christ's teaching has been known by men they +cannot say: I will live as before and will not decide the question +of resistance or non-resistance to evil by force. At every new +struggle that arises one must inevitably decide; am I, or am I +not, to resist by force what I regard as evil. + +The question of resistance or non-resistance to evil arose when +the first conflict between men took place, since every conflict is +nothing else than resistance by force to what each of the +combatants regards as evil. But before Christ, men did not see +that resistance by force to what each regards as evil, simply +because one thinks evil what the other thinks good, is only one of +the methods of settling the dispute, and that there is another +method, that of not resisting evil by force at all. + +Before Christ's teaching, it seemed to men that the one only means +of settling a dispute was by resistance to evil by force. And +they acted accordingly, each of the combatants trying to convince +himself and others that what each respectively regards as evil, is +actually, absolutely evil. + +And to do this from the earliest time men have devised definitions +of evil and tried to make them binding on everyone. And such +definitions of evil sometimes took the form of laws, supposed to +have been received by supernatural means, sometimes of the +commands of rulers or assemblies to whom infallibility was +attributed. Men resorted to violence against others, and +convinced themselves and others that they were directing their +violence against evil recognized as such by all. + +This means was employed from the earliest times, especially by +those who had gained possession of authority, and for a long while +its irrationality was not detected. + +But the longer men lived in the world and the more complex their +relations became, the more evident it was that to resist by force +what each regarded as evil was irrational, that conflict was in no +way lessened thereby, and that no human definitions can succeed in +making what some regard as evil be accepted as such by others. + +Already at the time Christianity arose, it was evident to a great +number of people in the Roman Empire where it arose, that what was +regarded as evil by Nero and Caligula could not be regarded as +evil by others. Even at that time men had begun to understand +that human laws, though given out for divine laws, were compiled +by men, and cannot be infallible, whatever the external majesty +with which they are invested, and that erring men are not rendered +infallible by assembling together and calling themselves a senate +or any other name. Even at that time this was felt and understood +by many. And it was then that Christ preached his doctrine, which +consisted not only of the prohibition of resistance to evil by +force, but gave a new conception of life and a means of putting an +end to conflict between all men, not by making it the duty of one +section only of mankind to submit without conflict to what is +prescribed to them by certain authorities, but by making it the +duty of all--and consequently of those in authority--not to resort +to force against anyone in any circumstances. + +This doctrine was accepted at the time by only a very small number +of disciples. The majority of men, especially all who were in +power, even after the nominal acceptance of Christianity, +continued to maintain for themselves the principle of resistance +by force to what they regarded as evil. So it was under the Roman +and Byzantine emperors, and so it continued to be later. + +The insufficiency of the principle of the authoritative definition +of evil and resistance to it by force, evident as it was in the +early ages of Christianity, becomes still more obvious through the +division of the Roman Empire into many states of equal authority, +through their hostilities and the internal conflicts that broke +out within them. + +But men were not ready to accept the solution given by Christ, and +the old definitions of evil, which ought to be resisted, continued +to be laid down by means of making laws binding on all and +enforced by forcible means. The authority who decided what ought +to be regarded as evil and resisted by force was at one time the +Pope, at another an emperor or king, an elective assembly or a +whole nation. But both within and without the state there were +always men to be found who did not accept as binding on themselves +the laws given out as the decrees of a god, or made by men +invested with a sacred character, or the institutions supposed to +represent the will of the nation; and there were men who thought +good what the existing authorities regarded as bad, and who +struggled against the authorities with the same violence as was +employed against them. + +The men invested with religious authority regarded as evil what +the men and institutions invested with temporal authority regarded +as good and vice versa, and the struggle grew more and more +intense. And the longer men used violence as the means of +settling their disputes, the more obvious it became that it was an +unsuitable means, since there could be no external authority able +to define evil recognized by all. + +Things went on like this for eighteen centuries, and at last +reached the present position in which it is absolutely obvious +that there is, and can be, no external definition of evil binding +upon all. Men have come to the point of ceasing to believe in the +possibility or even desirability of finding and establishing such +a general definition. It has come to men in power ceasing to +attempt to prove that what they regard as evil is evil, and simply +declaring that they regard as evil what they don't like, while +their subjects no longer obey them because they accept the +definition of evil laid down by them, but simply obey because they +cannot help themselves. It was not because it was a good thing, +necessary and beneficial to men, and the contrary course would +have been an evil, but simply because it was the will of those in +power that Nice was incorporated into France, and Lorraine into +Germany, and Bohemia into Austria, and that Poland was divided, +and Ireland and India ruled by the English government, and that +the Chinese are attacked and the Africans slaughtered, and the +Chinese prevented from immigrating by the Americans, and the Jews +persecuted by the Russians, and that landowners appropriate lands +they do not cultivate and capitalists enjoy the fruits of the +labor of others. It has come to the present state of things; one +set of men commit acts of violence no longer on the pretext of +resistance to evil, but simply for their profit or their caprice, +and another set submit to violence, not because they suppose, as +was supposed in former times, that this violence was practised +upon them for the sake of securing them from evil, but simply +because they cannot avoid it. + +If the Roman, or the man of mediaeval times, or the average +Russian of fifty years ago, as I remember him, was convinced +without a shade of doubt that the violence of authority was +indispensable to preserve him from evil; that taxes, dues, +serfage, prisons, scourging, knouts, executions, the army and war +were what ought to be--we know now that one can seldom find a man +who believes that all these means of violence preserve anyone from +any evil whatever, and indeed does not clearly perceive that most +of these acts of violence to which he is exposed, and in which he +has some share, are in themselves a great and useless evil. + +There is no one to-day who does not see the uselessness and injustice of +collecting taxes from the toiling masses to enrich idle officials; or +the senselessness of inflicting punishments on weak or depraved persons +in the shape of transportation from one place to another, or of +imprisonment in a fortress where, living in security and indolence, they +only become weaker and more depraved; or the worse than uselessness and +injustice, the positive insanity and barbarity of preparations for war +and of wars, causing devastation and ruin, and having no kind of +justification. Yet these forms of violence continue and are supported by +the very people who see their uselessness, injustice, and cruelty, and +suffer from them. If fifty years ago the idle rich man and the +illiterate laborer were both alike convinced that their state of +everlasting holiday for one and everlasting toil for the other was +ordained by God himself, we know very well that nowadays, thanks to the +growth of population and the diffusion of books and education, it would +be hard to find in Europe or even in Russia, either among rich or poor, +a man to whom in one shape or another a doubt as to the justice of this +state of things had never presented itself. The rich know that they are +guilty in the very fact of being rich, and try to expiate their guilt by +sacrifices to art and science, as of old they expiated their sins by +sacrifices to the Church. And even the larger half of the working people +openly declare that the existing order is iniquitous and bound to be +destroyed or reformed. One set of religious people of whom there are +millions in Russia, the so-called sectaries, consider the existing +social order as unjust and to be destroyed on the ground of the Gospel +teaching taken in its true sense. Others regard it as unjust on the +ground of the socialistic, communistic, or anarchistic theories, which +are springing up in the lower strata of the working people. Violence no +longer rests on the belief in its utility, but only on the fact of its +having existed so long, and being organized by the ruling classes who +profit by it, so that those who are under their authority cannot +extricate themselves from it. The governments of our day--all of them, +the most despotic and the liberal alike--have become what Herzen so well +called "Ghenghis Khan with the telegraph;" that is to say, organizations +of violence based on no principle but the grossest tyranny, and at the +same time taking advantage of all the means invented by science for the +peaceful collective social activity of free and equal men, used by them +to enslave and oppress their fellows. + +Governments and the ruling classes no longer take their stand on +right or even on the semblance of justice, but on a skillful +organization carried to such a point of perfection by the aid of +science that everyone is caught in the circle of violence and has +no chance of escaping from it. This circle is made up now of four +methods of working upon men, joined together like the limes of a +chain ring. + +The first and oldest method is intimidation. This consists in +representing the existing state organization--whatever it may be, +free republic or the most savage despotism--as something sacred +and immutable, and therefore following any efforts to alter it +with the cruellest punishments. This method is in use now--as it +has been from olden times--wherever there is a government: in +Russia against the so-called Nihilists, in America against +Anarchists, in France against Imperialists, Legitimists, +Communards, and Anarchists. + +Railways, telegraphs, telephones, photographs, and the great +perfection of the means of getting rid of men for years, without +killing them, by solitary confinement, where, hidden from the +world, they perish and are forgotten, and the many other modern +inventions employed by government, give such power that when once +authority has come into certain hands, the police, open and +secret, the administration and prosecutors, jailers and +executioners of all kinds, do their work so zealously that there +is no chance of overturning the government, however cruel and +senseless it may be. + +The second method is corruption. It consists in plundering the +industrious working people of their wealth by means of taxes and +distributing it in satisfying the greed of officials, who are +bound in return to support and keep up the oppression of the +people. These bought officials, from the highest ministers to the +poorest copying clerks, make up an unbroken network of men bound +together by the same interest--that of living at the expense of +the people. They become the richer the more submissively they +carry out the will of the government; and at all times and places, +sticking at nothing, in all departments support by word and deed +the violence of government, on which their own prosperity also +rests. + +The third method is what I can only describe as hypnotizing the +people. This consists in checking the moral development of men, +and by various suggestions keeping them back in the ideal of life, +outgrown by mankind at large, on which the power of government +rests. This hypnotizing process is organized at the present in the +most complex manner, and starting from their earliest childhood, +continues to act on men till the day of their death. It begins in +their earliest years in the compulsory schools, created for this +purpose, in which the children have instilled into them the ideas +of life of their ancestors, which are in direct antagonism with +the conscience of the modern world. In countries where there is a +state religion, they teach the children the senseless blasphemies +of the Church catechisms, together with the duty of obedience to +their superiors. In republican states they teach them the savage +superstition of patriotism and the same pretended obedience to the +governing authorities. + +The process is kept up during later years by the encouragement of +religious and patriotic superstitions. + +The religious superstition is encouraged by establishing, with +money taken from the people, temples, processions, memorials, and +festivals, which, aided by painting, architecture, music, and +incense, intoxicate the people, and above all by the support of +the clergy, whose duty consists in brutalizing the people and +keeping them in a permanent state of stupefaction by their +teaching, the solemnity of their services, their sermons, and +their interference in private life--at births, deaths, and +marriages. The patriotic superstition is encouraged by the +creation, with money taken from the people, of national fêtes, +spectacles, monuments, and festivals to dispose men to attach +importance to their own nation, and to the aggrandizement of the +state and its rulers, and to feel antagonism and even hatred for +other nations. With these objects under despotic governments there +is direct prohibition against printing and disseminating books to +enlighten the people, and everyone who might rouse the people from +their lethargy is exiled or imprisoned. Moreover, under every +government without exception everything is kept back that might +emancipate and everything encouraged that tends to corrupt the +people, such as literary works tending to keep them in the +barbarism of religious and patriotic superstition, all kinds of +sensual amusements, spectacles, circuses, theaters, and even the +physical means of inducing stupefaction, as tobacco and alcohol, +which form the principal source of revenue of states. Even +prostitution is encouraged, and not only recognized, but even +organized by the government in the majority of states. So much for +the third method. + +The fourth method consists in selecting from all the men who have +been stupefied and enslaved by the three former methods a certain +number, exposing them to special and intensified means of +stupefaction and brutalization, and so making them into a passive +instrument for carrying out all the cruelties and brutalities +needed by the government. This result is attained by taking them +at the youthful age when men have not had time to form clear and +definite principles of morals, and removing them from all natural +and human conditions of life, home, family and kindred, and useful +labor. They are shut up together in barracks, dressed in special +clothes, and worked upon by cries, drums, music, and shining +objects to go through certain daily actions invented for this +purpose, and by this means are brought into an hypnotic condition +in which they cease to be men and become mere senseless machines, +submissive to the hypnotizer. These physically vigorous young men +(in these days of universal conscription, all young men), +hypnotized, armed with murderous weapons, always obedient to the +governing authorities and ready for any act of violence at their +command, constitute the fourth and principal method of enslaving +men. + +By this method the circle of violence is completed. + +Intimidation, corruption, and hypnotizing bring people into a +condition in which they are willing to be soldiers; the soldiers +give the power of punishing and plundering them (and purchasing +officials with the spoils), and hypnotizing them and converting +them in time into these same soldiers again. + +The circle is complete, and there is no chance of breaking through +it by force. + +Some persons maintain that freedom from violence, or at least a +great diminution of it, may be gained by the oppressed forcibly +overturning the oppressive government and replacing it by a new +one under which such violence and oppression will be unnecessary, +but they deceive themselves and others, and their efforts do not +better the position of the oppressed, but only make it worse. +Their conduct only tends to increase the despotism of government. +Their efforts only afford a plausible pretext for government to +strengthen their power. + +Even if we admit that under a combination of circumstances +specially unfavorable for the government, as in France in 1870, +any government might be forcibly overturned and the power +transferred to other hands, the new authority would rarely be less +oppressive than the old one; on the contrary, always having to +defend itself against its dispossessed and exasperated enemies, it +would be more despotic and cruel, as has always been the rule in +all revolutions. + +While socialists and communists regard the individualistic, +capitalistic organization of society as an evil, and the +anarchists regard as an evil all government whatever, there are +royalists, conservatives, and capitalists who consider any +socialistic or communistic organization or anarchy as an evil, and +all these parties have no means other than violence to bring men +to agreement. Whichever of these parties were successful in +bringing their schemes to pass, must resort to support its +authority to all the existing methods of violence, and even invent +new ones. + +The oppressed would be another set of people, and coercion would +take some new form; but the violence and oppression would be +unchanged or even more cruel, since hatred would be intensified by +the struggle, and new forms of oppression would have been devised. +So it has always been after all revolutions and all attempts at +revolution, all conspiracies, and all violent changes of +government. Every conflict only strengthens the means of +oppression in the hands of those who happen at a given moment to +be in power. + +The position of our Christian society, and especially the ideals +most current in it, prove this in a strikingly convincing way. + +There remains now only one sphere of human life not encroached +upon by government authority--that is the domestic, economic +sphere, the sphere of private life and labor. And even this is +now--thanks to the efforts of communists and socialists--being +gradually encroached upon by government, so that labor and +recreation, dwellings, dress, and food will gradually, if the +hopes of the reformers are successful, be prescribed and regulated +by government. + +The slow progress of eighteen centuries has brought the Christian +nations again to the necessity of deciding the question they have +evaded--the question of the acceptance or non-acceptance of +Christ's teaching, and the question following upon it in social +life of resistance or non-resistance to evil by force. But there +is this difference, that whereas formerly men could accept or +refuse to accept the solution given by Christ, now that solution +cannot be avoided, since it alone can save men from the slavery in +which they are caught like a net. + +But it is not only the misery of the position which makes this +inevitable. + +While the pagan organization has been proved more and more false, +the truth of the Christian religion has been growing more and more +evident. + +Not in vain have the best men of Christian humanity, who +apprehended the truth by spiritual intuition, for eighteen +centuries testified to it in spite of every menace, every +privation, and every suffering. By their martyrdom they passed on +the truth to the masses, and impressed it on their hearts. + +Christianity has penetrated into the consciousness of humanity, +not only negatively by the demonstration of the impossibility of +continuing in the pagan life, but also through its simplification, +its increased clearness and freedom from the superstitions +intermingled with it, and its diffusion through all classes of the +population. + +Eighteen centuries of Christianity have not passed without an +effect even on those who accepted it only externally. These +eighteen centuries have brought men so far that even while they +continue to live the pagan life which is no longer consistent with +the development of humanity, they not only see clearly all the +wretchedness of their position, but in the depths of their souls +they believe (they can only live through this belief) that the +only salvation from this position is to be found in fulfilling the +Christian doctrine in its true significance. As to the time and +manner of salvation, opinions are divided according to the +intellectual development and the prejudices of each society. But +every man of the modern world recognizes that our salvation lies +in fulfilling the law of Christ. Some believers in the +supernatural character of Christianity hold that salvation will +come when all men are brought to believe in Christ, whose second +coming is at hand. Other believers in supernatural Christianity +hold that salvation will come through the Church, which will draw +all men into its fold, train them in the Christian virtues, and +transform their life. A third section, who do not admit the +divinity of Christ, hold that the salvation of mankind will be +brought about by slow and gradual progress, through which the +pagan principles of our existence will be replaced by the +principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity--that is, by +Christian principles. A fourth section, who believe in the social +revolution, hold that salvation will come when through a violent +revolution men are forced into community of property, abolition of +government, and collective instead of individual industry--that is +to say, the realization of one side of the Christian doctrine. In +one way or another all men of our day in their inner consciousness +condemn the existing effete pagan order, and admit, often +unconsciously and while regarding themselves as hostile to +Christianity, that our salvation is only to be found in the +application of the Christian doctrine, or parts of it, in its true +significance to our daily life. + +Christianity cannot, as its Founder said, be realized by the +majority of men all at once; it must grow like a huge tree from a +tiny seed. And so it has grown, and now has reached its full +development, not yet in actual life, but in the conscience of men +of to-day. + +Now not only the minority, who have always comprehended +Christianity by spiritual intuition, but all the vast majority who +seem so far from it in their social existence recognize its true +significance. + +Look at individual men in their private life, listen to their +standards of conduct in their judgment of one another; hear not +only their public utterances, but the counsels given by parents +and guardians to the young in their charge; and you will see that, +far as their social life based on violence may be from realizing +Christian truth, in their private life what is considered good by +all without exception is nothing but the Christian virtues; what +is considered as bad is nothing but the antichristian vices. Those +who consecrate their lives self-sacrificingly to the service of +humanity are regarded as the best men. The selfish, who make use +of the misfortunes of others for their own advantage, are regarded +as the worst of men. + +Though some non-Christian ideals, such as strength, courage, and +wealth, are still worshiped by a few who have not been penetrated +by the Christian spirit, these ideals are out of date and are +abandoned, if not by all, at least by all those regarded as the +best people. There are no ideals, other than the Christian ideals, +which are accepted by all and regarded as binding on all. + +The position of our Christian humanity, if you look at it from the +outside with all its cruelty and degradation of men, is terrible +indeed. But if one looks at it within, in its inner consciousness, +the spectacle it presents is absolutely different. + +All the evil of our life seems to exist only because it has been +so for so long; those who do the evil have not had time yet to +learn how to act otherwise, though they do not want to act as they +do. + +All the evil seems to exist through some cause independent of the +conscience of men. + +Strange and contradictory as it seems, all men of the present day +hate the very social order they are themselves supporting. + +I think it is Max Müller who describes the amazement of an Indian +convert to Christianity, who after absorbing the essence of the +Christian doctrine came to Europe and saw the actual life of +Christians. He could not recover from his astonishment at the +complete contrast between the reality and what he had expected to +find among Christian nations. If we feel no astonishment at the +contrast between our convictions and our conduct, that is because +the influences, tending to obscure the contrast, produce an effect +upon us too. We need only look at our life from the point of view +of that Indian, who understood Christianity in its true +significance, without any compromises or concessions, we need but +look at the savage brutalities of which our life is full, to be +appalled at the contradictions in the midst of which we live often +without observing them. + +We need only recall the preparations for war, the mitrailleuses, +the silver-gilt bullets, the torpedoes, and--the Red Cross; the +solitary prison cells, the experiments of execution by +electricity--and the care of the hygienic welfare of prisoners; +the philanthropy of the rich, and their life, which produces the +poor they are benefiting. + +And these inconsistencies are not, as it might seem, because men +pretend to be Christians while they are really pagans, but because +of something lacking in men, or some kind of force hindering them +from being what they already feel themselves to be in their +consciousness, and what they genuinely wish to be. Men of the +present day do not merely pretend to hate oppression, inequality, +class distinction, and every kind of cruelty to animals as well as +human beings. They genuinely detest all this, but they do not +know how to put a stop to it, or perhaps cannot decide to give up +what preserves it all, and seems to them necessary. + +Indeed, ask every man separately whether he thinks it laudable and +worthy of a man of this age to hold a position from which he +receives a salary disproportionate to his work; to take from the +people--often in poverty--taxes to be spent on constructing +cannon, torpedoes, and other instruments of butchery, so as to +make war on people with whom we wish to be at peace, and who feel +the same wish in regard to us; or to receive a salary for devoting +one's whole life to constructing these instruments of butchery, or +to preparing oneself and others for the work of murder. And ask +him whether it is laudable and worthy of a man, and suitable for a +Christian, to employ himself, for a salary, in seizing wretched, +misguided, often illiterate and drunken, creatures because they +appropriate the property of others--on a much smaller scale than +we do--or because they kill men in a different fashion from that +in which we undertake to do it--and shutting them in prison for +it, ill treating them and killing them; and whether it is laudable +and worthy of a man and a Christian to preach for a salary to the +people not Christianity, but superstitions which one knows to be +stupid and pernicious; and whether it is laudable and worthy of a +man to rob his neighbor for his gratification of what he wants to +satisfy his simplest needs, as the great landowners do; or to +force him to exhausting labor beyond his strength to augment one's +wealth, as do factory owners and manufacturers; or to profit by +the poverty of men to increase one's gains, as merchants do. And +everyone taken separately, especially if one's remarks are +directed at someone else, not himself, will answer, No! And yet +the very man who sees all the baseness of those actions, of his +own free will, uncoerced by anyone, often even for no pecuniary +profit, but only from childish vanity, for a china cross, a scrap +of ribbon, a bit of fringe he is allowed to wear, will enter +military service, become a magistrate or justice of the peace, +commissioner, archbishop, or beadle, though in fulfilling these +offices he must commit acts the baseness and shamefulness of which +he cannot fail to recognize. + +I know that many of these men will confidently try to prove that +they have reasons for regarding their position as legitimate and +quite indispensable. They will say in their defense that +authority is given by God, that the functions of the state are +indispensable for the welfare of humanity, that property is not +opposed to Christianity, that the rich young man was only +commanded to sell all he had and give to the poor if he wished to +be perfect, that the existing distribution of property and our +commercial system must always remain as they are, and are to the +advantage of all, and so on. But, however much they try to +deceive themselves and others, they all know that what they are +doing is opposed to all the beliefs which they profess, and in the +depths of their souls, when they are left alone with their +conscience, they are ashamed and miserable at the recollection of +it, especially if the baseness of their action has been pointed +out to them. A man of the present day, whether he believes in the +divinity of Christ or not, cannot fail to see that to assist in +the capacity of tzar, minister, governor, or commissioner in +taking from a poor family its last cow for taxes to be spent on +cannons, or on the pay and pensions of idle officials, who live in +luxury and are worse than useless; or in putting into prison some +man we have ourselves corrupted, and throwing his family on the +streets; or in plundering and butchering in war; or in inculcating +savage and idolatrous superstitious in the place of the law of +Christ; or in impounding the cow found on one's land, though it +belongs to a man who has no land; or to cheat the workman in a +factory, by imposing fines for accidentally spoiled articles; or +making a poor man pay double the value for anything simply because +he is in the direst poverty;--not a man of the present day can +fail to know that all these actions are base and disgraceful, and +that they need not do them. They all know it. They know that +what they are doing is wrong, and would not do it for anything in +the world if they had the power of resisting the forces which shut +their eyes to the criminality of their actions and impel them to +commit them. + +In nothing is the pitch of inconsistency modern life has attained +to so evident as in universal conscription, which is the last +resource and the final expression of violence. + +Indeed, it is only because this state of universal armament has +been brought about gradually and imperceptibly, and because +governments have exerted, in maintaining it, every resource of +intimidation, corruption, brutalization, and violence, that we do +not see its flagrant inconsistency with the Christian ideas and +sentiments by which the modern world is permeated. + +We are so accustomed to the inconsistency that we do not see all +the hideous folly and immorality of men voluntarily choosing the +profession of butchery as though it were an honorable career, of +poor wretches submitting to conscription, or in countries where +compulsory service has not been introduced, of people voluntarily +abandoning a life of industry to recruit soldiers and train them +as murderers. We know that all of these men are either +Christians, or profess humane and liberal principles, and they +know that they thus become partly responsible--through universal +conscription, personally responsible--for the most insane, +aimless, and brutal murders. And yet they all do it. + +More than that, in Germany, where compulsory service first +originated, Caprivi has given expression to what had been hitherto +so assiduously concealed--that is, that the men that the soldiers +will have to kill are not foreigners alone, but their own +countrymen, the very working people from whom they themselves are +taken. And this admission has not opened people's eyes, has not +horrified them! They still go like sheep to the slaughter, and +submit to everything required of them. + +And that is not all: the Emperor of Germany has lately shown still +more clearly the duties of the army, by thanking and rewarding a +soldier for killing a defenseless citizen who made his approach +incautiously. By rewarding an action always regarded as base and +cowardly even by men on the lowest level of morality, William has +shown that a soldier's chief duty--the one most appreciated by the +authorities--is that of executioner; and not a professional +executioner who kills only condemned criminals, but one ready to +butcher any innocent man at the word of command. + +And even that is not all. In 1892, the same William, the ENFANT +TERRIBLE of state authority, who says plainly what other people +only think, in addressing some soldiers gave public utterance to +the following speech, which was reported next day in thousands of +newspapers: "Conscripts!" he said, "you have sworn fidelity to ME +before the altar and the minister of God! You are still too young +to understand all the importance of what has been said here; let +your care before all things be to obey the orders and instructions +given you. You have sworn fidelity TO ME, lads of my guard; THAT +MEANS THAT YOU ARE NOW MY SOLDIERS, that YOU HAVE GIVEN YOURSELVES +TO ME BODY AND SOUL. For you there is now but one enemy, MY +enemy. IN THESE DAYS OF SOCIALISTIC SEDITION IT MAY COME TO PASS +THAT I COMMAND YOU TO FIRE ON YOUR OWN KINDRED, YOUR BROTHERS, +EVEN YOUR OWN FATHERS AND MOTHERS--WHICH GOD FORBID!--even then +you are bound to obey my orders without hesitation." + +This man expresses what all sensible rulers think, but studiously +conceal. He says openly that the soldiers are in HIS service, at +HIS disposal, and must be ready for HIS advantage to murder even +their brothers and fathers. + +In the most brutal words he frankly exposes all the horrors and +criminality for which men prepare themselves in entering the army, +and the depths of ignominy to which they fall in promising +obedience. Like a bold hypnotizer, he tests the degree of +insensibility of the hypnotized subject. He touches his skin with +a red-hot iron; the skin smokes and scorches, but the sleeper does +not awake. + +This miserable man, imbecile and drunk with power, outrages in +this utterance everything that can be sacred for a man of the +modern world. And yet all the Christians, liberals, and +cultivated people, far from resenting this outrage, did not even +observe it. + +The last, the most extreme test is put before men in its coarsest +form. And they do not seem even to notice that it is a test, that +there is any choice about it. They seem to think there is no +course open but slavish submission. One would have thought these +insane words, which outrage everything a man of the present day +holds sacred, must rouse indignation. But there has been nothing +of the kind. + +All the young men through the whole of Europe are exposed year +after year to this test, and with very few exceptions they +renounce all that a man can hold sacred, all express their +readiness to kill their brothers, even their fathers, at the +bidding of the first crazy creature dressed up in a livery with +red and gold trimming, and only wait to be told where and when +they are to kill. And they actually are ready. + +Every savage has something he holds sacred, something for which he +is ready to suffer, something he will not consent to do. But what +is it that is sacred to the civilized man of to-day? They say to +him: "You must become my slave, and this slavery may force you +to kill even your own father;" and he, often very well educated, +trained in all the sciences at the university, quietly puts his +head under the yoke. They dress him up in a clown's costume, and +order him to cut capers, turn and twist and bow, and kill--he does +it all submissively. And when they let him go, he seems to shake +himself and go back to his former life, and he continues to +discourse upon the dignity of man, liberty, equality, and +fraternity as before. + +"Yes, but what is one to do?" people often ask in genuine +perplexity. "If everyone would stand out it would be something, +but by myself, I shall only suffer without doing any good to +anyone." + +And that is true. A man with the social conception of life cannot +resist. The aim of his life is his personal welfare. It is better +for his personal welfare for him to submit, and he submits. + +Whatever they do to him, however they torture or humiliate him, he +will submit, for, alone, he can do nothing; he has no principle +for the sake of which he could resist violence alone. And those +who control them never allow them to unite together. It is often +said that the invention of terrible weapons of destruction will +put an end to war. That is an error. As the means of +extermination are improved, the means of reducing men who hold the +state conception of life to submission can be improved to +correspond. They may slaughter them by thousands, by millions, +they may tear them to pieces, still they will march to war like +senseless cattle. Some will want beating to make them move, +others will be proud to go if they are allowed to wear a scrap of +ribbon or gold lace. + +And of this mass of men so brutalized as to be ready to promise to +kill their own parents, the social reformers--conservatives, +liberals, socialists, and anarchists--propose to form a rational +and moral society. What sort of moral and rational society can be +formed out of such elements? With warped and rotten planks you +cannot build a house, however you put them together. And to form +a rational moral society of such men is just as impossible a task. +They can be formed into nothing but a herd of cattle, driven by +the shouts and whips of the herdsmen. As indeed they are. + +So, then, we have on one side men calling themselves Christians, +and professing the principles of liberty, equality, and +fraternity, and along with that ready, in the name of liberty, to +submit to the most slavish degradation; in the name of equality, +to accept the crudest, most senseless division of men by externals +merely into higher and lower classes, allies and enemies; and, in +the name of fraternity, ready to murder their brothers [see +footnote]. + + [Footnote: The fact that among certain nations, as + the English and the American, military service is not + compulsory (though already one hears there are some + who advocate that it should be made so) does not + affect the servility of the citizens to the government + in principle. Here we have each to go and kill or be + killed, there they have each to give the fruit of their + toil to pay for the recruiting and training of soldiers.] + +The contradiction between life and conscience and the misery +resulting from it have reached the extreme limit and can go no +further. The state organization of life based on violence, the +aim of which was the security of personal, family, and social +welfare, has come to the point of renouncing the very objects for +which it was founded--it has reduced men to absolute renunciation +and loss of the welfare it was to secure. + +The first half of the prophecy has been fulfilled in the +generation of men who have not accepted Christ's teaching, Their +descendants have been brought now to the absolute necessity of +patting the truth of the second half to the test of experience. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF LIFE WILL EMANCIPATE +MEN FROM THE MISERIES OF OUR PAGAN LIFE. + +The External Life of Christian Peoples Remains Pagan Though they are +Penetrated by Christian Consciousness--The Way Out of this Contradiction +is by the Acceptance of the Christian Theory of Life--Only Through +Christianity is Every Man Free, and Emancipated of All Human +Authority--This Emancipation can be Effected by no Change in External +Conditions of Life, but Only by a Change in the Conception of Life--The +Christian Ideal of Life Requires Renunciation of all Violence, and in +Emancipating the Man who Accepts it, Emancipates the Whole World from +All External Authorities--The Way Out of the Present Apparently Hopeless +Position is for Every Man who is Capable of Assimilating the Christian +Conception of Life, to Accept it and Live in Accordance with it--But Men +Consider this Way too Slow, and Look for Deliverance Through Changes in +Material Conditions of Life Aided by Government--That Will Lead to No +Improvement, as it is simply Increasing the Evil under which Men are +Suffering--A Striking Instance of this is the Submission to Compulsory +Military Service, which it would be More Advantageous for Every Man to +Refuse than to Submit to--The Emancipation of Men Can Only be Brought +About by each Individual Emancipating Himself, and the Examples of this +Self-emancipation which are already Appearing Threaten the Destruction +of Governmental Authority--Refusal to Comply with the Unchristian +Demands of Government Undermines the Authority of the State and +Emancipates Men--And therefore Cases of such Non-compliance are Regarded +with more Dread by State Authorities than any Conspiracies or Acts of +Violence--Examples of Non-compliance in Russia, in Regard to Oath of +Allegiance, Payment of Taxes, Passports, Police Duties, and Military +Service--Examples of such Non-compliance in other States--Governments do +not Know how to Treat Men who Refuse to Comply with their Demands on +Christian Grounds--Such People, without Striking a Blow, Undermine the +very Basis of Government from Within--To Punish them is Equivalent to +Openly Renouncing Christianity, and Assisting in Diffusing the Very +Principle by which these Men justify their Non-compliance--So +Governments are in a Helpless Position--Men who Maintain the Uselessness +of Personal Independence, only Retard the Dissolution of the Present +State Organization Based on Force. + + +The position of the Christian peoples in our days has remained +just as cruel as it was in the times of paganism. In many +respects, especially in the oppression of the masses, it has +become even more cruel than it was in the days of paganism. + +But between the condition of men in ancient times and their +condition in our days there is just the difference that we see in +the world of vegetation between the last days of autumn and the +first days of spring. In the autumn the external lifelessness in +nature corresponds with its inward condition of death, while in +the spring the external lifelessness is in sharp contrast with the +internal state of reviving and passing into new forms of life. + +In the same way the similarity between the ancient heathen life +and the life of to-day is merely external: the inward condition of +men in the times of heathenism was absolutely different from their +inward condition at the present time. + +Then the outward condition of cruelty and of slavery was in +complete harmony with the inner conscience of men, and every step +in advance intensified this harmony; now the outward condition of +cruelty and of slavery is completely contradictory to the +Christian consciousness of men, and every step in advance only +intensifies this contradiction. + +Humanity is passing through seemingly unnecessary, fruitless +agonies. It is passing through something like the throes of +birth. Everything is ready for the new life, but still the new +life does not come. + +There seems no way out of the position. And there would be none, +except that a man (and thereby all men) is gifted with the power +of forming a different, higher theory of life, which at once frees +him from all the bonds by which he seems indissolubly fettered. + +And such a theory is the Christian view of life made known to +mankind eighteen hundred years ago. + +A man need only make this theory of life his own, for the fetters +which seemed so indissolubly forged upon him to drop off of +themselves, and for him to feel himself absolutely free, just as a +bird would feel itself free in a fenced-in place directly it tools +to its wings. + +People talk about the liberty of the Christian Church, about +giving or not giving freedom to Christians. Underlying all these +ideas and expressions there is some strange misconception. +Freedom cannot be bestowed on or taken from a Christian or +Christians. Freedom is an inalienable possession of the +Christian. + +If we talk of bestowing freedom on Christians or withholding it +from them, we are obviously talking not of real Christians but of +people who only call themselves Christians. A Christian cannot +fail to be free, because the attainment of the aim he sets before +himself cannot be prevented or even hindered by anyone or +anything. + +Let a man only understand his life as Christianity teaches him to +understand it, let him understand, that is, that his life belongs +not to him--not to his own individuality, nor to his family, nor +to the state--but to him who has sent him into the world, and let +him once understand that he must therefore fulfill not the law of +his own individuality, nor his family, nor of the state, but the +infinite law of him from whom he has come; and he will not only +feel himself absolutely free from every human power, but will even +cease to regard such power as at all able to hamper anyone. + +Let a man but realize that the aim of his life is the fulfillment +of God's law, and that law will replace all other laws for him, +and he will give it his sole allegiance, so that by that very +allegiance every human law will lose all binding and controlling +power in his eyes. + +The Christian is independent of every human authority by the fact +that he regards the divine law of love, implanted in the soul of +every man, and brought before his consciousness by Christ, as the +sole guide of his life and other men's also. + +The Christian may be subjected to external violence, he may be +deprived of bodily freedom, he may be in bondage to his passions +(he who commits sin is the slave of sin), but he cannot be in +bondage in the sense of being forced by any danger or by any +threat of external harm to perform an act which is against his +conscience. + +He cannot be compelled to do this, because the deprivations and +sufferings which form such a powerful weapon against men of the +state conception of life, have not the least power to compel him. + +Deprivations and sufferings take from them the happiness for which +they live; but far from disturbing the happiness of the Christian, +which consists in the consciousness of fulfilling the will of God, +they may even intensify it, when they are inflicted on him for +fulfilling his will. + +And therefore the Christian, who is subject only to the inner +divine law, not only cannot carry out the enactments of the +external law, when they are not in agreement with the divine law +of love which he acknowledges (as is usually the case with state +obligations), he cannot even recognize the duty of obedience to +anyone or anything whatever, he cannot recognize the duty of what +is called allegiance. + +For a Christian the oath of allegiance to any government whatever +--the very act which is regarded as the foundation of the +existence of a state--is a direct renunciation of Christianity. +For the man who promises unconditional obedience in the future to +laws, made or to be made, by that very promise is in the most, +positive manner renouncing Christianity, which means obeying in +every circumstance of life only the divine law of love he +recognizes within him. + +Under the pagan conception of life it was possible to carry out +the will of the temporal authorities, without infringing the law +of God expressed in circumcisions, Sabbaths, fixed times of +prayer, abstention from certain kinds of food, and so on. The one +law was not opposed to the other. But that is just the +distinction between the Christian religion and heathen religion. +Christianity does not require of a man certain definite negative +acts, but puts him in a new, different relation to men, from which +may result the most diverse acts, which cannot be defined +beforehand. And therefore the Christian not only cannot promise +to obey the will of any other man, without knowing what will be +required by that will; he not only cannot obey the changing laws +of man, but he cannot even promise to do anything definite at a +certain time, or to abstain from doing anything for a certain +time. For he cannot know what at any time will be required of him +by that Christian law of love, obedience to which constitutes the +meaning of life for him. The Christian, in promising +unconditional fulfillment of the laws of men in the future, would +show plainly by that promise that the inner law of God does not +constitute for him the sole law of his life. + +For a Christian to promise obedience to men, or the laws of men, +is just as though a workman bound to one employer should also +promise to carry out every order that might be given him by +outsiders. One cannot serve two masters. + +The Christian is independent of human authority, because he +acknowledges God's authority alone. His law, revealed by Christ, +he recognizes in himself, and voluntarily obeys it. + +And this independence is gained, not by means of strife, not by +the destruction of existing forms of life, but only by a change in +the interpretation of life. This independence results first from +the Christian recognizing the law of love, revealed to him by his +teacher, as perfectly sufficient for all human relations, and +therefore he regards every use of force as unnecessary and +unlawful; and secondly, from the fact that those deprivations and +sufferings, or threats of deprivations and sufferings (which +reduce the man of the social conception of life to the necessity +of obeying) to the Christian from his different conception of +life, present themselves merely as the inevitable conditions of +existence. And these conditions, without striving against them by +force, he patiently endures, like sickness, hunger, and every +other hardship, but they cannot serve him as a guide for his +actions. The only guide for the Christian's actions is to be +found in the divine principle living within him, which cannot be +checked or governed by anything. + +The Christian acts according to the words of the prophecy applied +to his teacher: "He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any +man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not +break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth +judgment unto victory." (Matt. xii. 19, 20.) + +The Christian will not dispute with anyone, nor attack anyone, nor +use violence against anyone. On the contrary, he will bear +violence without opposing it. But by this very attitude to +violence, he will not only himself be free, but will free the +whole world from all external power. + +"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." If +there were any doubt of Christianity being the truth, the perfect +liberty, that nothing can curtail, which a man experiences +directly he makes the Christian theory of life his own, would be +an unmistakable proof of its truth. + +Men in their present condition are like a swarm of bees hanging in +a cluster to a branch. The position of the bees on the branch is +temporary, and must inevitably be changed. They must start off +and find themselves a habitation. Each of the bees knows this, +and desires to change her own and the others' position, but no one +of them can do it till the rest of them do it. They cannot all +start off at once, because one hangs on to another and hinders her +from separating from the swarm, and therefore they all continue to +hang there. It would seem that the bees could never escape from +their position, just as it seems that worldly men, caught in the +toils of the state conception of life, can never escape. And +there would be no escape for the bees, if each of them were not a +living, separate creature, endowed with wings of its own. +Similarly there would be no escape for men, if each were not a +living being endowed with the faculty of entering into the +Christian conception of life. + +If every bee who could fly, did not try to fly, the others, too, +would never be stirred, and the swarm would never change its +position. And if the man who has mastered the Christian +conception of life would not, without waiting for other people, +begin to live in accordance with this conception, mankind would +never change its position. But only let one bee spread her wings, +start off, and fly away, and after her another, and another, and +the clinging, inert cluster would become a freely flying swarm of +bees. Just in the same way, only let one man look at life as +Christianity teaches him to look at it, and after him let another +and another do the same, and the enchanted circle of existence in +the state conception of life, from which there seemed no escape, +will be broken through. + +But men think that to set all men free by this means is +too slow a process, that they must find some other means by which +they could set all men free at once. It is just as though the +bees who want to start and fly away should consider it too long a +process to wait for all the swarm to start one by one; and should +think they ought to find some means by which it would not be +necessary for every separate bee to spread her wings and fly off, +but by which the whole swarm could fly at once where it wanted to. +But that is not possible; till a first, a second, a third, a +hundredth bee spreads her wings and flies off of her own accord, +the swarm will not fly off and will not begin its new life. Till +every individual man makes the Christian conception of life his +own, and begins to live in accord with it, there can be no +solution of the problem of human life, and no establishment of a +new form of life. + +One of the most striking phenomena of our times is precisely this +advocacy of slavery, which is promulgated among the masses, not by +governments, in whom it is inevitable, but by men who, in +advocating socialistic theories, regard themselves as the +champions of freedom. + +These people advance the opinion that the amelioration of life, +the bringing of the facts of life into harmony with the +conscience, will come, not as the result of the personal efforts +of individual men, but of itself as the result of a certain +possible reconstruction of society effected in some way or other. +The idea is promulgated that men ought not to walk on their own +legs where they want and ought to go, but that a kind of floor +under their feet will be moved somehow, so that on it they can +reach where they ought to go without moving their own legs. And, +therefore, all their efforts ought to be directed, not to going so +far as their strength allows in the direction they ought to go, +but to standing still and constructing such a floor. + +In the sphere of political economy a theory is propounded which +amounts to saying that the worse things are the better they are; +that the greater the accumulation of capital, and therefore the +oppression of the workman, the nearer the day of emancipation, +and, therefore, every personal effort on the part of a man to free +himself from the oppression of capital is useless. In the sphere +of government it is maintained that the greater the power of the +government, which, according to this theory, ought to intervene in +every department of private life in which it has not yet +intervened, the better it will be, and that therefore we ought to +invoke the interference of government in private life. In +politics and international questions it is maintained that the +improvement of the means of destruction, the multiplication of +armaments, will lead to the necessity of making war by means of +congresses, arbitration, and so on. And, marvelous to say, so +great is the dullness of men, that they believe in these theories, +in spite of the fact that the whole course of life, every step +they take, shows how unworthy they are of belief. + +The people are suffering from oppression, and to deliver them from +this oppression they are advised to frame general measures for the +improvement of their position, which measures are to be intrusted +to the authorities, and themselves to continue to yield obedience +to the authorities. And obviously all that results from this is +only greater power in the hands of the authorities, and greater +oppression resulting from it. + +Not one of the errors of men carries them so far away from the aim +toward which they are struggling as this very one. They do all +kinds of different things for the attainment of their aim, but not +the one simple obvious thing which is within reach of everyone. +They devise the subtlest means for changing the position which is +irksome to them, but not that simplest means, that everyone should +refrain from doing what leads to that position. + +I have been told a story of a gallant police officer, who came to +a village where the peasants were in insurrection and the military +had been called out, and he undertook to pacify the insurrection +in the spirit of Nicholas I., by his personal influence alone. He +ordered some loads of rods to be brought, and collecting all the +peasants together into a barn, he went in with them, locking the +door after him. To begin with, he so terrified the peasants by +his loud threats that, reduced to submission by him, they set to +work to flog one another at his command. And so they flogged one +another until a simpleton was found who would not allow himself to +be flogged, and shouted to his companions not to flog one another. +Only then the fogging ceased, and the police officer made his +escape. Well, this simpleton's advice would never be followed by +men of the state conception of life, who continue to flog one +another, and teach people that this very act of self-castigation +is the last word of human wisdom. + +Indeed, can one imagine a more striking instance of men flogging +themselves than the submissiveness with which men of our times +will perform the very duties required of them to keep them in +slavery, especially the duty of military service? We see people +enslaving themselves, suffering from this slavery, and believing +that it must be so, that it does not matter, and will not hinder +the emancipation of men, which is being prepared somewhere, +somehow, in spite of the ever-increasing growth of slavery. + +In fact, take any man of the present time whatever (I don't mean a +true Christian, but an average man of the present day), educated +or uneducated, believing or unbelieving, rich or poor, married or +unmarried. Such a man lives working at his work, or enjoying his +amusements, spending the fruits of his labors on himself or on +those near to him, and, like everyone, hating every kind of +restriction and deprivation, dissension and suffering. Such a man +is going his way peaceably, when suddenly people come and say to +him: First, promise and swear to us that you will slavishly obey +us in everything we dictate to you, and will consider absolutely +good and authoritative everything we plan, decide, and call law. +Secondly, hand over a part of the fruits of your labors for us to +dispose of--we will use the money to keep you in slavery, and to +hinder you from forcibly opposing our orders. Thirdly, elect +others, or be yourself elected, to take a pretended share in the +government, knowing all the while that the government will proceed +quite without regard to the foolish speeches you, and those like +you, may utter, and knowing that its proceedings will be according +to our will, the will of those who have the army in their hands. +Fourthly, come at a certain time to the law courts and take your +share in those senseless cruelties which we perpetrate on sinners, +and those whom we have corrupted, in the shape of penal servitude, +exile, solitary confinement, and death. And fifthly and lastly, +more than all this, in spite of the fact that you maybe on the +friendliest terms with people of other nations, be ready, directly +we order you to do so, to regard those whom we indicate to you as +your enemies; and be ready to assist, either in person or by +proxy, in devastation, plunder, and murder of their men, women, +children, and aged alike--possibly your own kinsmen or relations--if +that is necessary to us. + +One would expect that every man of the present day who has a grain +of sense left, might reply to such requirements, "But why should I +do all this?" One would think every right-minded man must say in +amazement: "Why should I promise to yield obedience to everything +that has been decreed first by Salisbury, then by Gladstone; one +day by Boulanger, and another by Parliament; one day by Peter +III., the next by Catherine, and the day after by Pougachef; one +day by a mad king of Bavaria, another by William? Why should I +promise to obey them, knowing them to be wicked or foolish people, +or else not knowing them at all? Why am I to hand over the fruits +of my labors to them in the shape of taxes, knowing that the money +will be spent on the support of officials, prisons, churches, +armies, on things that are harmful, and on my own enslavement? +Why should I punish myself? Why should I go wasting my time and +hoodwinking myself, giving to miscreant evildoers a semblance of +legality, by taking part in elections, and pretending that I am +taking part in the government, when I know very well that the real +control of the government is in the hands of those who have got +hold of the army? Why should I go to the law courts to take part +in the trial and punishment of men because they have sinned, +knowing, if I am a Christian, that the law of vengeance is replaced +by the law of love, and, if I am an educated man, that punishments +do not reform, but only deprave those on whom they are inflicted? +And why, most of all, am I to consider as enemies the people of a +neighboring nation, with whom I have hitherto lived and with whom +I wish to live in love and harmony, and to kill and rob them, or +to bring them to misery, simply in order that the keys of the +temple at Jerusalem may be in the hands of one archbishop and not +another, that one German and not another may be prince in +Bulgaria, or that the English rather than the American merchants +may capture seals? + +And why, most of all, should I take part in person or hire others +to murder my own brothers and kinsmen? Why should I flog myself? +It is altogether unnecessary for me; it is hurtful to me, and from +every point of view it is immoral, base, and vile. So why should +I do this? If you tell me that if I do it not I shall receive +some injury from someone, then, in the first place, I cannot +anticipate from anyone an injury so great as the injury you bring +on me if I obey you; and secondly, it is perfectly clear to me +that if we our own selves do not flog ourselves, no one will flog +us. + +As for the government--that means the tzars, ministers, and +officials with pens in their hands, who cannot force us into doing +anything, as that officer of police compelled the peasants; the +men who will drag us to the law court, to prison, and to +execution, are not tzars or officials with pens in their hands, +but the very people who are in the same position as we are. And +it is just as unprofitable and harmful and unpleasant to them to +be flogged as to me, and therefore there is every likelihood that +if I open their eyes they not only would not treat me with +violence, but would do just as I am doing. + +Thirdly, even if it should come to pass that I had to suffer for it, +even then it would be better for me to be exiled or sent to prison for +standing up for common sense and right--which, if not to-day, at least +within a very short time, must be triumphant--than to suffer for folly +and wrong which must come to an end directly. And therefore, even in +that case, it is better to run the risk of their banishing me, shutting +me up in prison, or executing me, than of my living all my life in +bondage, through my own fault, to wicked men. Better is this than the +possibility of being destroyed by victorious enemies, and being stupidly +tortured and killed by them, in fighting for a cannon, or a piece of +land of no use to anyone, or for a senseless rag called a banner. + +I don't want to flog myself and I won't do it. I have no reason to do +it. Do it yourselves, if you want it done; but I won't do it. + +One would have thought that not religious or moral feeling alone, +but the simplest common sense and foresight should impel every man +of the present day to answer and to act in that way. But not so. +Men of the state conception of life are of the opinion that to act +in that way is not necessary, and is even prejudicial to the +attainment of their object, the emancipation of men from slavery. +They hold that we must continue, like the police officer's +peasants, to flog one another, consoling ourselves with the +reflection that we are talking away in the assemblies and +meetings, founding trades unions, marching through the streets on +the 1st of May, getting up conspiracies, and stealthily teasing +the government that is flogging us, and that through all this it +will be brought to pass that, by enslaving ourselves in closer and +closer bondage, we shall very soon be free. + +Nothing hinders the emancipation of men from slavery so much as +this amazing error. Instead of every man directing his energies +to freeing himself, to transforming his conception of life, people +seek for an external united method of gaining freedom, and +continue to rivet their chains faster and faster. + +It is much as if men were to maintain that to make up a fire there +was no need to kindle any of the coals, but that all that was +necessary was to arrange the coals in a certain order. Yet the +fact that the freedom of all men will be brought about only +through the freedom of individual persons, becomes more and more +clear as time goes on. The freedom of individual men, in the name +of the Christian conception of life, from state domination, which +was formerly an exceptional and unnoticed phenomenon, has of late +acquired threatening significance for state authorities. + +If in a former age, in the Roman times, it happened that a +Christian confessed his religion and refused to take part in +sacrifices, and to worship the emperors or the gods; or in the +Middle Ages a Christian refused to worship images, or to +acknowledge the authority of the Pope--these cases were in the +first place a matter of chance. A man might be placed under the +necessity of confessing his faith, or he might live all his life +without being placed under this necessity. But now all men, +without exception, are subjected to this trial of their faith. +Every man of the present day is under the necessity of taking part +in the cruelties of pagan life, or of refusing all participation +in them. And secondly, in those days cases of refusal to worship +the gods or the images or the Pope were not incidents that had any +material bearing on the state. Whether men worshiped or did not +worship the gods or the images or the Pope, the state remained +just as powerful. But now cases of refusing to comply with the +unchristian demands of the government are striking at the very +root of state authority, because the whole authority of the state +is based on the compliance with these unchristian demands. + +The sovereign powers of the world have in the course of time been +brought into a position in which, for their own preservation, they +must require from all men actions which cannot be performed by men +who profess true Christianity. + +And therefore in our days every profession of true Christianity, +by any individual man, strikes at the most essential power of the +state, and inevitably leads the way for the emancipation of all. + +What importance, one might think, can one attach to such an +incident as some dozens of crazy fellows, as people will call +them, refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the government, +refusing to pay taxes, to take part in law proceedings or in +military service? + +These people are punished and exiled to a distance, and life goes +on in its old way. One might think there was no importance in +such incidents; but yet, it is just those incidents, more than +anything else, that will undermine the power of the state and +prepare the way for the freedom of men. These are the individual +bees, who are beginning to separate from the swarm, and are flying +near it, waiting till the whole swarm can no longer be prevented +from starting off after them. And the governments know this, and +fear such incidents more than all the socialists, communists, and +anarchists, and their plots and dynamite bombs. + +A new reign is beginning. According to the universal rule and +established order it is required that all the subjects should take +the oath of allegiance to the new government. There is a general +decree to that effect, and all are summoned to the council-houses +to take the oath. All at once one man in Perm, another in Tula, a +third in Moscow, and a fourth in Kalouga declare that they will +not take the oath, and though there is no communication between +them, they all explain their refusal on the same grounds--namely, +that swearing is forbidden by the law of Christ, and that even if +swearing had not been forbidden, they could not, in the spirit of +the law of Christ, promise to perform the evil actions required of +them in the oath, such as informing against all such as may act +against the interests of the government, or defending their +government with firearms or attacking its enemies. They are +brought before rural police officers, district police captains, +priests, and governors. They are admonished, questioned, +threatened, and punished; but they adhere to their resolution, and +do not take the oath. And among the millions of those who did +take the oath, those dozens go on living who did not take the +oath. And they are questioned: + +"What, didn't you take the oath?" + +"No, I didn't take the oath." + +"And what happened--nothing?" + +"Nothing." + +The subjects of a state are all bound to pay taxes. And everyone +pays taxes, till suddenly one man in Kharkov, another in Tver, and +a third in Samara refuse to pay taxes--all, as though in +collusion, saying the same thing. One says he will only pay when +they tell him what object the money taken from him will be spent +on. "If it is for good deeds," he says, "he will give it of his +own accord, and more even than is required of him. If for evil +deeds, then he will give nothing voluntarily, because by the law +of Christ, whose follower he is, he cannot take part in evil +deeds." The others, too, say the same in other words, and will +not voluntarily pay the taxes. + +Those who have anything to be taken have their property taken from +them by force; as for those who have nothing, they are left alone. + +"What, didn't you pay the tax?" + +"No, I didn't pay it." + +"And what happened-nothing?" + +"Nothing." + +There is the institution of passports. Everyone moving from his +place of residence is bound to carry one, and to pay a duty on it. +Suddenly people are to be found in various places declaring that +to carry a passport is not necessary, that one ought not to +recognize one's dependence on a state which exists by means of +force; and these people do not carry passports, or pay the duty on +them. And again, it's impossible to force those people by any +means to do what is required. They send them to jail, and let +them out again, and these people live without passports. + +All peasants are bound to fill certain police offices--that of +village constable, and of watchman, and so on. Suddenly in +Kharkov a peasant refuses to perform this duty, justifying his +refusal on the ground that by the law of Christ, of which he is a +follower, he cannot put any man in fetters, lock him up, or drag +him from place to place. The same declaration is made by a +peasant in Tver, another in Tambov. These peasants are abused, +beaten, shut up in prison, but they stick to their resolution and +don't fill these offices against their convictions. And at last +they cease to appoint them as constables. And again nothing +happens. + +All citizens are obliged to take a share in law proceedings in the +character of jurymen. Suddenly the most different people--mechanics, +professors, tradesmen, peasants, servants, as though by agreement refuse +to fill this office, and not on the grounds allowed as sufficient by +law, but because any process at law is, according to their views, +unchristian. They fine these people, trying not to let them have an +opportunity of explaining their motives in public, and replace them by +others. And again nothing can be done. + +All young men of twenty-one years of age are obliged to draw lots +for service in the army. All at once one young man in Moscow, +another in Tver, a third in Kharkov, and a fourth in Kiev present +themselves before the authorities, and, as though by previous +agreement, declare that they will not take the oath, they will not +serve because they are Christians. I will give the details of one +of the first cases, since they have become more frequent, which I +happen to know about [footnote: All the details of this case, as +well as those preceding it, are authentic]. The same treatment +has been repeated in every other case. A young man of fair +education refuses in the Moscow Townhall to take the oath. No +attention is paid to what he says, and it is requested that he +should pronounce the words of the oath like the rest. He +declines, quoting a particular passage of the Gospel in which +swearing is forbidden. No attention is paid to his arguments, and +he is again requested to comply with the order, but he does not +comply with it. Then it is supposed that he is a sectary and +therefore does not understand Christianity in the right sense, +that is to say, not in the sense in which the priests in the pay +of the government understand it. And the young man is conducted +under escort to the priests, that they may bring him to reason. +The priests begin to reason with him, but their efforts in +Christ's name to persuade him to renounce Christ obviously have no +influence on him; he is pronounced incorrigible and sent back +again to the army. He persists in not taking the oath and openly +refuses to perform any military duties. It is a case that has not +been provided for by the laws. To overlook such a refusal to +comply with the demands of the authorities is out of the question, +but to put such a case on a par with simple breach of discipline +is also out of the question. + +After deliberation among themselves, the military authorities +decide to get rid of the troublesome young man, to consider him as +a revolutionist, and they dispatch him under escort to the +committee of the secret police. The police authorities and +gendarmes cross-question him, but nothing that he says can be +brought under the head of any of the misdemeanors which come under +their jurisdiction. And there is no possibility of accusing him +either of revolutionary acts or revolutionary plotting, since he +declares that he does not wish to attack anything, but, on the +contrary, is opposed to any use of force, and, far from plotting +in secret, he seeks every opportunity of saying and doing all that +he says and does in the most open manner. And the gendarmes, +though they are bound by no hard-and-fast rules, still find no +ground for a criminal charge in the young man, and, like the +clergy, they send him back to the army. Again the authorities +deliberate together, and decide to accept him though he has not +taken the oath, and to enrol him among the soldiers. They put him +into the uniform, enrol him, and send him under guard to the place +where the army is quartered. There the chief officer of the +division which he enters again expects the young man to perform +his military duties, and again he refuses to obey, and in the +presence of other soldiers explains the reason of his refusal, +saying that he as a Christian cannot voluntarily prepare himself +to commit murder, which is forbidden by the law of Moses. + +This incident occurs in a provincial town. The case awakens the +interest, and even the sympathy, not only of outsiders, but even +of the officers. And the chief officers consequently do not +decide to punish this refusal of obedience with disciplinary +measures. To save appearances, though, they shut the young man up +in prison, and write to the highest military authorities to +inquire what they are to do. To refuse to serve in the army, in +which the Tzar himself serves, and which enjoys the blessing of +the Church, seems insanity from the official point of view. +Consequently they write from Petersburg that, since the young man +must be out of his mind, they must not use any severe treatment +with him, but must send him to a lunatic asylum, that his mental +condition may be inquired into and be scientifically treated. +They send him to the asylum in the hope that he will remain there, +like another young man, who refused ten years ago at Tver to serve +in the army, and who was tortured in the asylum till he submitted. +But even this step does not rid the military authorities of the +inconvenient man. The doctors examine him, interest themselves +warmly in his case, and naturally finding in him no symptoms of +mental disease, send him back to the army. There they receive +him, and making believe to have forgotten his refusal, and his +motives for it, they again request him to go to drill, and again +in the presence of the other soldiers he refuses and explains the +reason of his refusal. The affair continues to attract more and +more attention, both among the soldiers and the inhabitants of the +town. Again they write to Petersburg, and thence comes the decree +to transfer the young man to some division of the army stationed +on the frontier, in some place where the army is under martial +law, where he can be shot for refusing to obey, and where the +matter can proceed without attracting observation, seeing that +there are few Russians and Christians in such a distant part, but +the majority are foreigners and Mohammedans. This is accordingly +done. They transfer him to a division stationed on the Zacaspian +border, and in company with convicts send him to a chief officer +who is notorious for his harshness and severity. + +All this time, through all these changes from place to place, the +young man is roughly treated, kept in cold, hunger, and filth, and +life is made burdensome to him generally. But all these +sufferings do not compel him to change his resolution. On the +Zacaspian border, where he is again requested to go on guard fully +armed, he again declines to obey. He does not refuse to go and +stand near the haystacks where they place him, but refuses to take +his arms, declaring that he will not use violence in any case +against anyone. All this takes place in the presence of the other +soldiers. To let such a refusal pass unpunished is impossible, +and the young man is put on his trial for breach of discipline. +The trial takes place, and he is sentenced to confinement in the +military prison for two years. He is again transferred, in +company with convicts, by étape, to Caucasus, and there he is shut +up in prison and falls under the irresponsible power of the +jailer. There he is persecuted for a year and a half, but he does +not for all that alter his decision not to bear arms, and he +explains why he will not do this to everyone with whom he is +brought in contact. At the end of the second year they set him +free, before the end of his term of imprisonment, reckoning it +contrary to law to keep him in prison after his time of military +service was over, and only too glad to get rid of him as soon as +possible. + +Other men in various parts of Russia behave, as though by +agreement, precisely in the same way as this young man, and in all +these cases the government has adopted the same timorous, +undecided, and secretive course of action. Some of these men are +sent to the lunatic asylum, some are enrolled as clerks and +transferred to Siberia, some are sent to work in the forests, some +are sent to prison, some are fined. And at this very time some +men of this kind are in prison, not charged with their real +offense--that is, denying the lawfulness of the action of the +government, but for non-fulfillment of special obligations imposed +by government. Thus an officer of reserve, who did not report his +change of residence, and justified this on the ground that he +would not serve in the army any longer, was fined thirty rubles +for non-compliance with the orders of the superior authority. +This fine he also declined voluntarily to pay. In the same way +some peasants and soldiers who have refused to be drilled and to +bear arms have been placed under arrest on a charge of breach of +discipline and insolence. + +And cases of refusing to comply with the demands of government when they +are opposed to Christianity, and especially cases of refusing to serve +in the army, are occurring of late not in Russia only, but everywhere. +Thus I happen to know that in Servia men of the so-called sect of +Nazarenes steadily refuse to serve in the army, and the Austrian +Government has been carrying on a fruitless contest with them for years, +punishing them with imprisonment. In the year 1885 there were 130 such +cases. I know that in Switzerland in the year 1890 there were men in +prison in the castle of Chillon for declining to serve in the army, +whose resolution was not shaken by their punishment. There have been +such cases in Sweden, and the men who refused obedience were sent to +prison in exactly the same way, and the government studiously concealed +these cases from the people. There have been similar cases also in +Prussia. I know of the case of a sub-lieutenant of the Guards, who in +1891 declared to the authorities in Berlin that he would not, as a +Christian, continue to serve, and in spite of all admonitions, threats, +and punishments he stuck to his resolution. In the south of France a +society has arisen of late bearing the name of the Hinschists (these +facts are taken from the PEACE HERALD, July, 1891), the members of which +refuse to enter military service on the grounds of their Christian +principles. At first they were enrolled in the ambulance corps, but now, +as their numbers increase, they are subjected to punishment for +non-compliance, but they still refuse to bear arms just the same. + +The socialists, the communists, the anarchists, with their bombs +and riots and revolutions, are not nearly so much dreaded by +governments as these disconnected individuals coming from +different parts, and all justifying their non-compliance on the +grounds of the same religion, which is known to all the world. +Every government knows by what means and in what manner to defend +itself from revolutionists, and has resources for doing so, and +therefore does not dread these external foes. But what are +governments to do against men who show the uselessness, +superfluousness, and perniciousness of all governments, and who +do not contend against them, but simply do not need them and do +without them, and therefore are unwilling to take any part in +them? The revolutionists say: The form of government is bad in +this respect and that respect; we must overturn it and substitute +this or that form of government. The Christian says: I know +nothing about the form of government, I don't know whether it is +good or bad, and I don't want to overturn it precisely because I +don't know whether it is good or bad, but for the very same reason +I don't want to support it either. And I not only don't want to, +but I can't, because what it demands of me is against my +conscience. + +All state obligations are against the conscience of a Christian--the +oath of allegiance, taxes, law proceedings, and military service. And +the whole power of the government rests on these very obligations. + +Revolutionary enemies attack the government from without. +Christianity does not attack it at all, but, from within, it +destroys all the foundations on which government rests. + +Among the Russian people, especially since the age of Peter I., the +protest of Christianity against the government has never ceased, and the +social organization has been such that men emigrate in communes to +Turkey, to China, and to uninhabited lands, and not only feel no need of +state aid, but always regard the state as a useless burden, only to be +endured as a misfortune, whether it happens to be Turkish, Russian, or +Chinese. And so, too, among the Russian people more and more frequent +examples have of late appeared of conscious Christian freedom from +subjection to the state. And these examples are the more alarming for +the government from the fact that these non-compliant persons often +belong not to the so-called lower uneducated classes, but are men of +fair or good education; and also from the fact that they do not in these +days justify their position by any mystic and exceptional views, as in +former times, do not associate themselves with any superstitious or +fanatic rites, like the sects who practice self-immolation by fire, or +the wandering pilgrims, but put their refusal on the very simplest and +clearest grounds, comprehensible to all, and recognized as true by all. + +Thus they refuse the voluntary payment of taxes, because taxes are spent +on deeds of violence--on the pay of men of violence--soldiers, on the +construction of prisons, fortresses, and cannons. They as Christians +regard it as sinful and immoral to have any hand in such deeds. + +Those who refuse to take the oath of allegiance refuse because to +promise obedience to authorities, that is, to men who are given to +deeds of violence, is contrary to the sense of Christ's teaching. +They refuse to take the oath in the law courts, because oaths are +directly forbidden by the Gospel. They refuse to perform police +duties, because in the performance of these duties they must use +force against their brothers and ill treat them, and a Christian +cannot do that. They refuse to take part in trials at law, +because they consider every appeal to law is fulfilling the law of +vengeance, which is inconsistent with the Christian law of +forgiveness and love. They refuse to take any part in military +preparations and in the army, because they cannot be executioners, +and they are unwilling to prepare themselves to be so. + +The motives in all these cases are so excellent that, however +despotic governments may be, they could hardly punish them openly. +To punish men for refusing to act against their conscience the +government must renounce all claim to good sense and benevolence. +And they assure people that they only rule in the name of good +sense and benevolence. + +What are governments to do against such people? + +Governments can of course flog to death or execute or keep in +perpetual imprisonment all enemies who want to overturn them by +violence, they can lavish gold on that section of the people who +are ready to destroy their enemies. But what can they do against +men who, without wishing to overturn or destroy anything, desire +simply for their part to do nothing against the law of Christ, and +who, therefore, refuse to perform the commonest state +requirements, which are, therefore, the most indispensable to the +maintenance of the state? + +If they had been revolutionists, advocating and practicing +violence and murder, their suppression would have been an easy +matter; some of them could have been bought over, some could have +been duped, some could have been overawed, and these who could not +be bought over, duped, or overawed would have been treated as +criminals, enemies of society, would have been executed or +imprisoned, and the crowd would have approved of the action of the +government. If they had been fanatics, professing some peculiar +belief, it might have been possible, in disproving the +superstitious errors mixed in with their religion, to attack also +the truth they advocate. But what is to be done with men who +profess no revolutionary ideas nor any peculiar religious dogmas, +but merely because they are unwilling to do evil to any man, +refuse to take the oath, to pay taxes, to take part in law +proceedings, to serve in the army, to fulfill, in fact, any of the +obligations upon which the whole fabric of a state rests? What is +to done with such people? To buy them over with bribes is +impossible; the very risks to which they voluntarily expose +themselves show that they are incorruptible. To dupe them into +believing that this is their duty to God is also impossible, since +their refusal is based on the clear, unmistakable law of God, +recognized even by those who are trying to compel men to act +against it. To terrify them by threats is still less possible, +because the deprivations and sufferings to which they are +subjected only strengthen their desire to follow the faith by +which they are commanded: to obey God rather than men, and not to +fear those who can destroy the body, but to fear him who can +destroy body and soul. To kill them or keep them in perpetual +imprisonment is also impossible. These men have friends, and a +past; their way of thinking and acting is well known; they are +known by everyone for good, gentle, peaceable people, and they +cannot be regarded as criminals who must be removed for the safety +of society. And to put men to death who are regarded as good men +is to provoke others to champion them and justify their refusal. +And it is only necessary to explain the reasons of their refusal +to make clear to everyone that these reasons have the same force +for all other men, and that they all ought to have done the same +long ago. These cases put the ruling powers into a desperate +position. They see that the prophecy of Christianity is coming to +pass, that it is loosening the fetters of those in chains, and +setting free them that are in bondage, and that this must +inevitably be the end of all oppressors. The ruling authorities +see this, they know that their hours are numbered, and they can do +nothing. All that they can do to save themselves is only +deferring the hour of their downfall. And this they do, but their +position is none the less desperate. + +It is like the position of a conqueror who is trying to save a +town which has been been set on fire by its own inhabitants. +Directly he puts out the conflagration in one place, it is alight +in two other places; directly he gives in to the fire and cuts off +what is on fire from a large building, the building itself is +alight at both ends. These separate fires may be few, but they +are burning with a flame which, however small a spark it starts +from, never ceases till it has set the whole ablaze. + +Thus it is that the ruling authorities are in such a defenseless +position before men who advocate Christianity, that but little is +necessary to overthrow this sovereign power which seems so +powerful, and has held such an exalted position for so many +centuries. And yet social reformers are busy promulgating the +idea that it is not necessary and is even pernicious and immoral +for every man separately to work out his own freedom. As though, +while one set of men have been at work a long while turning a +river into a new channel, and had dug out a complete water-course +and had only to open the floodgates for the water to rush in and +do the rest, another set of men should come along and begin to +advise them that it would be much better, instead of letting the +water out, to construct a machine which would ladle the water up +from one side and pour it over the other side. + +But the thing has gone too far. Already ruling governments feel +their weak and defenseless position, and men of Christian +principles are awakening from their apathy, and already begin to +feel their power. + +"I am come to send a fire on the earth," said Christ, "and what +will I, if it be already kindled?" + +And this fire is beginning to burn. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +EVIL CANNOT BE SUPPRESSED BY THE PHYSICAL FORCE OF THE +GOVERNMENT--THE MORAL PROGRESS OF HUMANITY IS BROUGHT ABOUT NOT +ONLY BY INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION OF TRUTH, BUT ALSO THROUGH THE +ESTABLISHMENT OF A PUBLIC OPINION. + +Christianity Destroys the State--But Which is Most Necessary: +Christianity or the State?--There are Some who Assert the Necessity of a +State Organization, and Others who Deny it, both Arguing from same First +Principles--Neither Contention can be Proved by Abstract Argument--The +Question must be Decided by the Stage in the Development of Conscience +of Each Man, which will either Prevent or Allow him to Support a +Government Organization--Recognition of the Futility and Immorality of +Supporting a State Organization Contrary to Christian Principles will +Decide the Question for Every Man, in Spite of any Action on Part of the +State--Argument of those who Defend the Government, that it is a Form of +Social Life, Needed to Protect the Good from the Wicked, till all +Nations and all Members of each Nation have Become Christians--The Most +Wicked are Always those in Power--The whole History of Humanity is the +History of the Forcible Appropriation of Power by the Wicked and their +Oppression of the Good--The Recognition by Governments of the Necessity +of Opposing Evil by Force is Equivalent to Suicide on their Part--The +Abolition of State-violence cannot Increase the Sum Total of Acts of +Violence--The Suppression of the Use of Force is not only Possible, but +is even Taking Place before Our Eyes--But it will Never be Suppressed by +the Violence of Government, but through Men who have Attained Power by +Evidence Recognizing its Emptiness and Becoming Better and Less Capable +of Using Force--Individual Men and also Whole Nations Pass Through this +Process--By this Means Christianity is Diffused Through Consciousness of +Men, not only in Spite of Use of Violence by Government, but even +Through its Action, and therefore the Suppression is not to be Dreaded, +but is Brought About by the National Progress of Life--Objection of +those who Defend State Organization that Universal Adoption of +Christianity is hardly Likely to be Realized at any Time--The General +Adoption of the Truths of Christianity is being Brought About not only +by the Gradual and Inward Means, that is, by Knowledge of the Truth, +Prophetic Insight, and Recognition of the Emptiness of Power, and +Renunciation of it by Individuals, but also by Another External Means, +the Acceptance of a New Truth by Whole Masses of Men on a Lower Level of +Development Through Simple Confidence in their Leaders--When a Certain +Stage in the Diffusion of a Truth has been Reached, a Public Opinion is +Created which Impels a Whole Mass of Men, formerly Antagonistic to the +New Truth, to Accept it--And therefore all Men may Quickly be Brought to +Renounce the use of Violence when once a Christian Public Opinion is +Established--The Conviction of Force being Necessary Hinders the +Establishment of a Christian Public Opinion--The Use of Violence Leads +Men to Distrust the Spiritual Force which is the Only Force by which +they Advance--Neither Nations nor Individuals have been really +Subjugated by Force, but only by Public Opinion, which no Force can +Resist--Savage Nations and Savage Men can only be Subdued by the +Diffusion of a Christian Standard among them, while actually Christian +Nations in order to Subdue them do all they can to Destroy a Christian +Standard--These Fruitless Attempts to Civilize Savages Cannot be Adduced +as Proofs that Men Cannot be Subdued by Christianity--Violence by +Corrupting Public Opinion, only Hinders the Social Organization from +being What it Ought to Be--And by the Use of Violence being Suppressed, +a Christian Public Opinion would be Established--Whatever might be the +Result of the Suppression of Use of Force, this Unknown Future could not +be Worse than the Present Condition, and so there is no Need to Dread +it--To Attain Knowledge of the Unknown, and to Move Toward it, is the +Essence of Life. + + +Christianity in its true sense puts an end to government. So it +was understood at its very commencement; it was for that cause +that Christ was crucified. So it has always been understood by +people who were not under the necessity of justifying a Christian +government. Only from the time that the heads of government +assumed an external and nominal Christianity, men began to invent +all the impossible, cunningly devised theories by means of which +Christianity can be reconciled with government. But no honest and +serious-minded man of our day can help seeing the incompatibility +of true Christianity--the doctrine of meekness, forgiveness of +injuries, and love--with government, with its pomp, acts of +violence, executions, and wars. The profession of true +Christianity not only excludes the possibility of recognizing +government, but even destroys its very foundations. + +But if it is so, and we are right in saying that Christianity is +incompatible with government, then the question naturally presents +itself: which is more necessary to the good of humanity, in which +way is men's happiness best to be secured, by maintaining the +organization of government or by destroying it and replacing it by +Christianity? + +Some people maintain that government is more necessary for +humanity, that the destruction of the state organization would +involve the destruction of all that humanity has gained, that the +state has been and still is the only form in which humanity can +develop. The evil which we see among peoples living under a +government organization they attribute not to that type of +society, but to its abuses, which, they say, can be corrected +without destroying it, and thus humanity, without discarding the +state organization, can develop and attain a high degree of +happiness. And men of this way of thinking bring forward in +support of their views arguments which they think irrefutable +drawn from history, philosophy, and even religion. But there are +men who hold on the contrary that, as there was a time when +humanity lived without government, such an organization is +temporary, and that a time must come when men need a new +organization, and that that time has come now. And men of this +way of thinking also bring forward in support of their views +arguments which they think irrefutable from philosophy, history, +and religion. + +Volumes may be written in defense of the former view (and volumes +indeed have long ago been written and more will still be written +on that side), but much also can be written against it (and much +also, and most brilliantly, has been written--though more recently +--on this side). + +And it cannot be proved, as the champions of the state maintain, +that the destruction of government involves a social chaos, mutual +spoliation and murder, the destruction of all social institutions, +and the return of mankind to barbarism. Nor can it be proved as +the opponents of government maintain that men have already become +so wise and good that they will not spoil or murder one another, +but will prefer peaceful associations to hostilities; that of +their own accord, unaided by the state, they will make all the +arrangements that they need, and that therefore government, far +from being any aid, under show of guarding men exerts a pernicious +and brutalizing influence over them. It is impossible to prove +either of these contentions by abstract reasoning. Still less +possible is it to prove them by experiment, since the whole matter +turns on the question, ought we to try the experiment? The +question whether or not the time has come to make an end of +government would be unanswerable, except that there exists another +living means of settling it beyond dispute. + +We may dispute upon the question whether the nestlings are ready +to do without the mother-hen and to come out of the eggs, or +whether they are not yet advanced enough. But the young birds +will decide the question without any regard for our arguments when +they find themselves cramped for space in the eggs. Then they +will begin to try them with their beaks and come out of them of +their own accord. + +It is the same with the question whether the time has come to do +away with the governmental type of society and to replace it by a +new type. If a man, through the growth of a higher conscience, +can no longer comply with the demands of government, he finds +himself cramped by it and at the same time no longer needs its +protection. When this comes to pass, the question whether men are +ready to discard the governmental type is solved. And the +conclusion will be as final for them as for the young birds +hatched out of the eggs. Just as no power in the world can put +them back into the shells, so can no power in the world bring men +again under the governmental type of society when once they have +outgrown it. + +"It may well be that government was necessary and is still +necessary for all the advantages which you attribute to it," says +the man who has mastered the Christian theory of life. "I only +know that on the one hand, government is no longer necessary for +ME, and on the other hand, I can no longer carry out the measures +that are necessary to the existence of a government. Settle for +yourselves what you need for your life. I cannot prove the need +or the harm of governments in general. I know only what I need +and do not need, what I can do and what I cannot. I know that I +do not need to divide myself off from other nations, and therefore +I cannot admit that I belong exclusively to any state or nation, +or that I owe allegiance to any government. I know that I do not +need all the government institutions organized within the state, +and therefore I cannot deprive people who need my labor to give it +in the form of taxes to institutions which I do not need, which +for all I know may be pernicious. I know that I have no need of +the administration or of courts of justice founded upon force, and +therefore I can take no part in either. I know that I do not need +to attack and slaughter other nations or to defend myself from +them with arms, and therefore I can take no part in wars or +preparations for wars. It may well be that there are people who +cannot help regarding all this as necessary and indispensable. I +cannot dispute the question with them, I can only speak for +myself; but I can say with absolute certainty that I do not need +it, and that I cannot do it. And I do not need this and I cannot +do it, not because such is my own, my personal will, but because +such is the will of him who sent me into life, and gave me an +indubitable law for my conduct through life." + +Whatever arguments may be advanced in support of the contention +that the suppression of government authority would be injurious +and would lead to great calamities, men who have once outgrown the +governmental form of society cannot go back to it again. And all +the reasoning in the world cannot make the man who has outgrown +the governmental form of society take part in actions disallowed +by his conscience, any more than the full-grown bird can be made +to return into the egg-shell. + +"But even it be so," say the champions of the existing order of +things, "still the suppression of government violence can only be +possible and desirable when all men have become Christians. So +long as among people nominally Christians there are unchristian +wicked men, who for the gratification of their own lusts are ready +to do harm to others, the suppression of government authority, far +from being a blessing to others, would only increase their +miseries. The suppression of the governmental type of society is +not only undesirable so long as there is only a minority of true +Christians; it would not even be desirable if the whole of a +nation were Christians, but among and around them were still +unchristian men of other nations. For these unchristian men would +rob, outrage, and kill the Christians with impunity and would make +their lives miserable. All that would result, would be that the +bad would oppress and outrage the good with impunity. And +therefore the authority of government must not be suppressed till +all the wicked and rapacious people in the world are extinct. And +since this will either never be, or at least cannot be for a long +time to come, in spite of the efforts of individual Christians to +be independent of government authority, it ought to be maintained +in the interests of the majority. The champions of government +assert that without it the wicked will oppress and outrage the +good, and that the power of the government enables the good to +resist the wicked." + +But in this assertion the champions of the existing order of +things take for granted the proposition they want to prove. When +they say that except for the government the bad would oppress the +good, they take it for granted that the good are those who at the +present time are in possession of power, and the bad are those who +are in subjection to it. But this is just what wants proving. It +would only be true if the custom of our society were what is, or +rather is supposed to be, the custom in China; that is, that the +good always rule, and that directly those at the head of +government cease to be better than those they rule over, the +citizens are bound to remove them. This is supposed to be the +custom in China. In reality it is not so and can never be so. +For to remove the heads of a government ruling by force, it is not +the right alone, but the power to do so that is needed. So that +even in China this is only an imaginary custom. And in our +Christian world we do not even suppose such a custom, and we have +nothing on which to build up the supposition that it is the good +or the superior who are in power; in reality it is those who have +seized power and who keep it for their own and their retainers' +benefit. + +The good cannot seize power, nor retain it; to do this men must +love power. And love of power is inconsistent with goodness; but +quite consistent with the very opposite qualities--pride, cunning, +cruelty. + +Without the aggrandizement of self and the abasement of others, +without hypocrisies and deceptions, without prisons, fortresses, +executions, and murders, no power can come into existence or be +maintained. + +"If the power of government is suppressed the more wicked will +oppress the less wicked," say the champions of state authority. +But when the Egyptians conquered the Jews, the Romans conquered +the Greeks, and the Barbarians conquered the Romans, is it +possible that all the conquerors were always better than those +they conquered? And the same with the transitions of power within +a state from one personage to another: has the power always passed +from a worse person to a better one? When Louis XVI. was removed +and Robespierre came to power, and afterward Napoleon--who ruled +then, a better man or a worse? And when were better men in power, +when the Versaillist party or when the Commune was in power? When +Charles I. was ruler, or when Cromwell? And when Peter III. was +Tzar, or when he was killed and Catherine was Tzaritsa in one-half +of Russia and Pougachef ruled the other? Which was bad then, and +which was good? All men who happen to be in authority assert that +their authority is necessary to keep the bad from oppressing the +good, assuming that they themselves are the good PAR EXCELLENCE, +who protect other good people from the bad. + +But ruling means using force, and using force means doing to him to whom +force is used, what he does not like and what he who uses the force +would certainly not like done to himself. Consequently ruling means +doing to others what we would not they should do unto us, that is, doing +wrong. + + +To submit means to prefer suffering to using force. And to prefer +suffering to using force means to be good, or at least less wicked +than those who do unto others what they would not like themselves. + +And therefore, in all probability, not the better but the worse +have always ruled and are ruling now. There may be bad men among +those who are ruled, but it cannot be that those who are better +have generally ruled those who are worse. + +It might be possible to suppose this with the inexact heathen +definition of good; but with the clear Christian definition of +good and evil, it is impossible to imagine it. + +If the more or less good, and the more or less bad cannot be +distinguished in the heathen world, the Christian conception of +good and evil has so clearly defined the characteristics of the +good and the wicked, that it is impossible to confound them. +According to Christ's teaching the good are those who are meek and +long-suffering, do not resist evil by force, forgive injuries, and +love their enemies; those are wicked who exalt themselves, +oppress, strive, and use force. Therefore by Christ's teaching +there can be no doubt whether the good are to be found among +rulers or ruled, and whether the wicked are among the ruled or the +rulers. Indeed it is absurd even to speak of Christians ruling. + +Non-Christians, that is those who find the aim of their lives in +earthly happiness, must always rule Christians, the aim of whose +lives is the renunciation of such earthly happiness. + +This difference has always existed and has become more and more +defined as the Christian religion has been more widely diffused +and more correctly understood. + +The more widely true Christianity was diffused and the more it +penetrated men's conscience, the more impossible it was for +Christians to be rulers, and the easier it became for non-Christians +to rule them. + +"To get rid of governmental violence in a society in which all are +not true Christians, will only result in the wicked dominating the +good and oppressing them with impunity," say the champions of the +existing order of things. But it has never been, and cannot be +otherwise. So it has always been from the beginning of the world, +and so it is still. THE WICKED WILL ALWAYS DOMINATE THE GOOD, AND +WILL ALWAYS OPPRESS THEM. Cain overpowered Abel, the cunning +Jacob oppressed the guileless Esau and was in his turn deceived by +Laban, Caiaphas and Pilate oppressed Christ, the Roman emperors +oppressed Seneca, Epictetus, and the good Romans who lived in +their times. John IV. with his favorites, the syphilitic drunken +Peter with his buffoons, the vicious Catherine with her paramours, +ruled and oppressed the industrious religious Russians of their +times. + +William is ruling over the Germans, Stambouloff over the +Bulgarians, the Russian officials over the Russian people. The +Germans have dominated the Italians, now they dominate the +Hungarians and Slavonians; the Turks have dominated and still +dominate the Slavonians and Greeks; the English dominate the +Hindoos, the Mongolians dominate the Chinese. + +So that whether governmental violence is suppressed or not, the +position of good men, in being oppressed by the wicked, will be +unchanged. + +To terrify men with the prospect of the wicked dominating the good +is impossible, for that is just what has always been, and is now, +and cannot but be. + +The whole history of pagan times is nothing but a recital of the +incidents and means by which the more wicked gained possession of +power over the less wicked, and retained it by cruelties and +deceptions, ruling over the good under the pretense of guarding +the right and protecting the good from the wicked. All the +revolutions in history are only examples of the more wicked +seizing power and oppressing the good. In declaring that if their +authority did not exist the more wicked would oppress the good, +the ruling authorities only show their disinclination to let other +oppressors come to power who would like to snatch it from them. + +But in asserting this they only accuse themselves, say that their +power, i. e., violence, is needed to defend men from other +possible oppressors in the present or the future [see footnote]. + + [Footnote: I may quote in this connection the amazingly + naive and comic declaration of the Russian authorities, + the oppressors of other nationalities--the Poles, the + Germans of the Baltic provinces, and the Jews. The + Russian Government has oppressed its subjects for + centuries, and has never troubled itself about the + Little Russians of Poland, or the Letts of the Baltic + provinces, or the Russian peasants, exploited by everyone. + And now it has all of a sudden become the champion of + the oppressed--the very oppressed whom it is itself + oppressing.] + +The weakness of the use of violence lies in the fact that all the +arguments brought forward by oppressors in their own defense can +with even better reason be advanced against them. They plead the +danger of violence--most often imagined in the future--but they +are all the while continuing to practice actual violence +themselves. "You say that men used to pillage and murder in the +past, and that you are afraid that they will pillage and murder +one another if your power were no more. That may happen--or it +may not happen. But the fact that you ruin thousands of men in +prisons, fortresses, galleys, and exile, break up millions of +families and ruin millions of men, physically as well as morally, +in the army, that fact is not an imaginary but a real act of +violence, which, according to your own argument, one ought to +oppose by violence. And so you are yourselves these wicked men +against whom, according to your own argument, it is absolutely +necessary to use violence," the oppressed are sure to say to their +oppressors. And non-Christian men always do say, and think and +act on this reasoning. If the oppressed are more wicked than +their oppressors, they attack them and try to overthrow them; and +in favorable circumstances they succeed in overthrowing them, or +what is more common, they rise into the ranks of the oppressors +and assist in their acts of violence. + +So that the very violence which the champions of government hold +up as a terror--pretending that except for its oppressive power +the wicked would oppress the good--has really always existed and +will exist in human society. And therefore the suppression of +state violence cannot in any case be the cause of increased +oppression of the good by the wicked. + +If state violence ceased, there would be acts of violence perhaps +on the part of different people, other than those who had done +deeds of violence before. But the total amount of violence could +not in any case be increased by the mere fact of power passing +from one set of men to another. + +"State violence can only cease when there are no more wicked men +in society," say the champions of the existing order of things, +assuming in this of course that since there will always be wicked +men, it can never cease. And that would be right enough if it +were the case, as they assume, that the oppressors are always the +best of men, and that the sole means of saving men from evil is by +violence. Then, indeed, violence could never cease. But since +this is not the case, but quite the contrary, that it is not the +better oppress the worse, but the worse oppress the better, and +since violence will never put an end to evil, and there is, +moreover, another means of putting an end to it, the assertion +that violence will never cease is incorrect. The use of violence +grows less and less and evidently must disappear. But this will +not come to pass, as some champions of the existing order imagine, +through the oppressed becoming better and better under the +influence of government (on the contrary, its influence causes +their continual degradation), but through the fact that all men +are constantly growing better and better of themselves, so that +even the most wicked, who are in power, will become less and less +wicked, till at last they are so good as to be incapable of using +violence. + +The progressive movement of humanity does not proceed from the +better elements in society seizing power and making those who are +subject to them better, by forcible means, as both conservatives +and revolutionists imagine. It proceeds first and principally +from the fact that all men in general are advancing steadily and +undeviatingly toward a more and more conscious assimilation of the +Christian theory of life; and secondly, from the fact that, even +apart from conscious spiritual life, men are unconsciously brought +into a more Christian attitude to life by the very process of one +set of men grasping the power, and again being replaced by others. + +The worse elements of society, gaining possession of power, under the +sobering influence which always accompanies power, grow less and less +cruel, and become incapable of using cruel forms of violence. +Consequently others are able to seize their place, and the same process +of softening and, so to say, unconscious Christianizing goes on with +them. It is something like the process of ebullition. The majority of +men, having the non-Christian view of life, always strive for power and +struggle to obtain it. In this struggle the most cruel, the coarsest, +the least Christian elements of society overpower the most gentle, +well-disposed, and Christian, and rise by means of their violence to the +upper ranks of society. And in them is Christ's prophecy fulfilled: "Woe +to you that are rich! woe unto you that are full! woe unto you when all +men shall speak well of you!" For the men who are in possession of power +and all that results from it--glory and wealth--and have attained the +various aims they set before themselves, recognize the vanity of it all +and return to the position from which they came. Charles V., John IV., +Alexander I., recognizing the emptiness and the evil of power, renounced +it because they were incapable of using violence for their own benefit +as they had done. + +But they are not the solitary examples of this recognition of the +emptiness and evil of power. Everyone who gains a position of +power he has striven for, every general, every minister, every +millionaire, every petty official who has gained the place he has +coveted for ten years, every rich peasant who has laid by some +hundred rubles, passes through this unconscious process of +softening. + +And not only individual men, but societies of men, whole nations, +pass through this process. + +The seductions of power, and all the wealth, honor, and luxury it +gives, seem a sufficient aim for men's efforts only so long as +they are unattained. Directly a man reaches them he sees all +their vanity, and they gradually lose all their power of +attraction. They are like clouds which have form and beauty only +from the distance; directly one ascends into them, all their +splendor vanishes. + +Men who are in possession of power and wealth, sometimes even +those who have gained for themselves their power and wealth, but +more often their heirs, cease to be so eager for power, and so +cruel in their efforts to obtain it. + +Having learnt by experience, under the operation of Christian +influence, the vanity of all that is gained by violence, men +sometimes in one, sometimes in several generations lose the vices +which are generated by the passion for power and wealth. They +become less cruel and so cannot maintain their position, and are +expelled from power by others less Christian and more wicked. +Thus they return to a rank of society lower in position, but +higher in morality, raising thereby the average level of Christian +consciousness in men. But directly after them again the worst, +coarsest, least Christian elements of society rise to the top, and +are subjected to the same process as their predecessors, and again +in a generation or so, seeing the vanity of what is gained by +violence, and having imbibed Christianity, they come down again +among the oppressed, and their place is again filled by new +oppressors, less brutal than former oppressors, though more so +than those they oppress. So that, although power remains +externally the same as it was, with every change of the men in +power there is a constant increase of the number of men who have +been brought by experience to the necessity of assimilating the +Christian conception of life, and with every change--though it is +the coarsest, crudest, and least Christian who come into +possession of power, they are less coarse and cruel and more +Christian than their predecessors when they gained possession of +power. + +Power selects and attracts the worst elements of society, +transforms them, improves and softens them, and returns them to +society. + +"Such is the process by means of which Christianity, in spite of +the hindrances to human progress resulting from the violence of +power, gains more and more hold of men. Christianity penetrates +to the consciousness of men, not only in spite of the violence of +power, but also by means of it. + +And therefore the assertion of the champions of the state, that if +the power of government were suppressed the wicked would oppress +the good, not only fails to show that that is to be dreaded, since +it is just what happens now, but proves, on the contrary, that it +is governmental power which enables the wicked to oppress the +good, and is the evil most desirable to suppress, and that it is +being gradually suppressed in the natural course of things. + +"But if it be true that governmental power will disappear when +those in power become so Christian that they renounce power of +their own accord, and there are no men found willing to take their +place, and even if this process is already going on," say the +champions of the existing order, "when will that come to pass? +If, after eighteen hundred years, there are still so many eager +for power, and so few anxious to obey, there seems no likelihood +of its happening very soon--or indeed of its ever happening at +all. + +"Even if there are, as there have always been, some men who prefer +renouncing power to enjoying it, the mass of men in reserve, who +prefer dominion to subjection, is so great that it is difficult to +imagine a time when the number will be exhausted. + +"Before this Christianizing process could so affect all men one +after another that they would pass from the heathen to the +Christian conception of life, and would voluntarily abandon power +and wealth, it would be necessary that all the coarse, half-savage +men, completely incapable of appreciating Christianity or acting +upon it, of whom there are always a great many in every Christian +society, should be converted to Christianity. More than this, all +the savage and absolutely non-Christian peoples, who are so +numerous outside the Christian world, must also be converted. And +therefore, even if we admit that this Christianizing process will +some day affect everyone, still, judging by the amount of progress +it has made in eighteen hundred years, it will be many times +eighteen centuries before it will do so. And it is therefore +impossible and unprofitable to think at present of anything so +impracticable as the suppression of authority. We ought only to +try to put authority into the best hands." + +And this criticism would be perfectly just, if the transition from +one conception of life to another were only accomplished by the +single process of all men, separately and successively, realizing, +each for himself, the emptiness of power, and reaching Christian +truth by the inner spiritual path. That process goes on +unceasingly, and men are passing over to Christianity one after +another by this inner way. + +But there is also another external means by which men reach +Christianity and by which the transition is less gradual. + +This transition from one organization of life to another is not +accomplished by degrees like the sand running through the +hourglass grain after grain. It is more like the water filling a +vessel floating on water. At first the water only runs in slowly +on one side, but as the vessel grows heavier it suddenly begins to +sink, and almost instantaneously fills with water. + +It is just the same with the transitions of mankind from one +conception--and so from one organization of life--to another. At +first only gradually and slowly, one after another, men attain to +the new truth by the inner spiritual way, and follow it out in +life. But when a certain point in the diffusion of the truth has +been reached, it is suddenly assimilated by everyone, not by the +inner way, but, as it were, involuntarily. + +That is why the champions of the existing order are wrong in +arguing that, since only a small section of mankind has passed +over to Christianity in eighteen centuries, it must be many times +eighteen centuries before all the remainder do the same. For in +that argument they do not take into account any other means, +besides the inward spiritual one, by which men assimilate a new +truth and pass from one order of life to another. + +Men do not only assimilate a truth through recognizing it by +prophetic insight, or by experience of life. When the truth has +become sufficiently widely diffused, men at a lower stage of +development accept it all at once simply through confidence in +those who have reached it by the inner spiritual way, and are +applying it to life. + +Every new truth, by which the order of human life is changed and +humanity is advanced, is at first accepted by only a very small +number of men who understand it through inner spiritual intuition. +The remainder of mankind who accepted on trust the preceding truth +on which the existing order is based, are always opposed to the +diffusion of the new truth. + +But seeing that, to begin with, men do not stand still, but are +steadily advancing to a greater recognition of the truth and a +closer adaptation of their life to it, and secondly, all men in +varying degrees according to their age, their education, and their +race are capable of understanding the new truths, at first those +who are nearest to the men who have attained the new truth by +spiritual intuition, slowly and one by one, but afterward more and +more quickly, pass over to the new truth. Thus the number of men +who accept the new truth becomes greater and greater, and the +truth becomes more and more comprehensible. + +And thus more confidence is aroused in the remainder, who are at a +less advanced stage of capacity for understanding the truth. And +it becomes easier for them to grasp it, and an increasing number +accept it. + +And so the movement goes on more and more quickly, and on an +ever-increasing scale, like a snowball, till at last a public opinion in +harmony with the new truth is created, and then the whole mass of men is +carried over all at once by its momentum to the new truth and +establishes a new social order in accordance with it. + +Those men who accept a new truth when it has gained a certain +degree of acceptance, always pass over all at once in masses. +They are like the ballast with which every ship is always loaded, +at once to keep it upright and enable it to sail properly. If +there were no ballast, the ship would not be low enough in the +water, and would shift its position at the slightest change in its +conditions. This ballast, which strikes one at first as +superfluous and even as hindering the progress of the vessel, is +really indispensable to its good navigation. + +It is the same with the mass of mankind, who not individually, but +always in a mass, under the influence of a new social idea pass +all at once from one organization of life to another. This mass +always hinders, by its inertia, frequent and rapid revolutions in +the social order which have not been sufficiently proved by human +experience. And it delays every truth a long while till it has +stood the test of prolonged struggles, and has thoroughly +permeated the consciousness of humanity. + +And that is why it is a mistake to say that because only a very +small minority of men has assimilated Christianity in eighteen +centuries, it must take many times as many centuries for all +mankind to assimilate it, and that since that time is so far off +we who live in the present need not even think about it. It is a +mistake, because the men at a lower stage of culture, the, men and +the nations who are represented as the obstacle to the realization +of the Christian order of life, are the very people who always +pass over in masses all at once to any truth that has once been +recognized by public opinion. + +And therefore the transformation of human life, through which men +in power will renounce it, and there will be none anxious to take +their place, will not come only by all men consciously and +separately assimilating the Christian conception of life. It will +come when a Christian public opinion has arisen, so definite and +easily comprehensible as to reach the whole of the inert mass, +which is not able to attain truth by its own intuition, and +therefore is always under the sway of public opinion. + +Public opinion arises spontaneously and spreads for hundreds and +thousands of years, but it has the power of working on men by +infection, and with great rapidity gains a hold on great numbers +of men. + +"But," say the champions of the existing order, "even if it is +true that public opinion, when it has attained a certain degree of +definiteness and precision, can convert the inert mass of men +outside the Christian world--the non-Christian races--as well as +the coarse and depraved who are living in its midst, what proofs +have we that this Christian public opinion has arisen and is able +to replace force and render it unnecessary. + +"We must not give up force, by which the existing order is +maintained, and by relying on the vague and impalpable influence +of public opinion expose Christians to the risk of being pillaged, +murdered, and outraged in every way by the savages inside and +outside of civilized society. + +"Since, even supported by the use of force, we can hardly control +the non-Christian elements which are always ready to pour down on +us and to destroy all that has been gained by civilization, is it +likely that public opinion could take the place of force and +render us secure? And besides, how are we to find the moment when +public opinion has become strong enough to be able to replace the +use of force? To reject the use of force and trust to public +opinion to defend us would be as insane as to remove all weapons +of defense in a menagerie, and then to let loose all the lions and +tigers, relying on the fact that the animals seemed peaceable when +kept in their cages and held in check by red-hot irons. And +therefore people in power, who have been put in positions of +authority by fate or by God, have not the right to run the risk, +ruining all that has been gained by civilization, just because +they want to try an experiment to see whether public opinion is or +is not able to replace the protection given by authority." + +A French writer, forgotten now, Alphonse Karr, said somewhere, +trying to show the impossibility of doing away with the death +penalty: "Que messieurs les assassins commencent par nous donner +l'exemple." Often have I heard this BON MOT repeated by men who +thought that these words were a witty and convincing argument +against the abolition of capital punishment. And yet all the +erroneousness of the argument of those who consider that +governments cannot give up the use of force till all people are +capable of doing the same, could not be more clearly expressed +than it is in that epigram. + +"Let the murderers," say the champions of state violence, "set us +the example by giving up murder and then we will give it up." But +the murderers say just the same, only with much more right. They +say: "Let those who have undertaken to teach us and guide us set +us the example of giving up legal murder, and then we will imitate +them." And they say this, not as a jest, but seriously, because +it is the actual state of the case. + +"We cannot give up the use of violence, because we are surrounded +by violent ruffians." Nothing in our days hinders the progress of +humanity and the establishment of the organization corresponding +to its present development more than this false reasoning. Those +in authority are convinced that men are only guided and only +progress through the use of force, and therefore they confidently +make use of it to support the existing organization. The existing +order is maintained, not by force, but by public opinion, the +action of which is disturbed by the use of force. So that the +effect of using force is to disturb and to weaken the very thing +it tries to maintain. + +Violence, even in the most favorable case, when it is not used +simply for some personal aims of those in power, always punishes +under the one inelastic formula of the law what has long before +been condemned by public opinion. But there is this difference, +that while public opinion censures and condemns all the acts +opposed to the moral law, including the most varied cases in its +reprobation, the law which rests on violence only condemns and +punishes a certain very limited range of acts, and by so doing +seems to justify all other acts of the same kind which do not come +under its scope. + +Public opinion ever since the time of Moses has regarded +covetousness, profligacy, and cruelty as wrong, and censured them +accordingly. And it condemns every kind of manifestation of +covetousness, not only the appropriation of the property of others +by force or fraud or trickery, but even the cruel abuse of wealth; +it condemns every form of profligacy, whether with concubine, +slave, divorced woman, or even one's own wife; it condemns every +kind of cruelty, whether shown in blows, in ill-treatment, or in +murder, not only of men, but even of animals. The law resting on +force only punishes certain forms of covetousness, such as robbery +and swindling, certain forms of profligacy and cruelty, such as +conjugal infidelity, murder, and wounding. And in this way it +seems to countenance all the manifestations of covetousness, +profligacy, and cruelty which do not come under its narrow +definition. + +But besides corrupting public opinion, the use of force leads men to the +fatal conviction that they progress, not through the spiritual impulse +which impels them to the attainment of truth and its realization in +life, and which constitutes the only source of every progressive +movement of humanity, but by means of violence, the very force which, +far from leading men to truth, always carries them further away from it. +This is a fatal error, because it leads men to neglect the chief force +underlying their life--their spiritual activity--and to turn all their +attention and energy to the use of violence, which is superficial, +sluggish, and most generally pernicious in its action. + +They make the same mistake as men who, trying to set a steam +engine in motion, should turn its wheels round with their hands, +not suspecting that the underlying cause of its movement was the +expansion of the steam, and not the motion of the wheels. By +turning the wheels by hand and by levers they could only produce a +semblance of movement, and meantime they would be wrenching the +wheels and so preventing their being fit for real movement. + +That is just what people are doing who think to make men advance +by means of external force. + +They say that the Christian life cannot be established without the +use of violence, because there are savage races outside the pale +of Christian societies in Africa and in Asia (there are some who +even represent the Chinese as a danger to civilization), and that +in the midst of Christian societies there are savage, corrupt, +and, according to the new theory of heredity, congenital +criminals. And violence, they say, is necessary to keep savages +and criminals from annihilating our civilization. + +But these savages within and without Christian society, who are +such a terror to us, have never been subjugated by violence, and +are not subjugated by it now. Nations have never subjugated other +nations by violence alone. If a nation which subjugated another +was on a lower level of civilization, it has never happened that +it succeeded in introducing its organization of life by violence. +On the contrary, it was always forced to adopt the organization of +life existing in the conquered nation. If ever any of the nations +conquered by force have been really subjugated, or even nearly so, +it has always been by the action of public opinion, and never by +violence, which only tends to drive a people to further rebellion. + +When whole nations have been subjugated by a new religion, and +have become Christian or Mohammedan, such a conversion has never +been brought about because the authorities made it obligatory (on +the contrary, violence has much oftener acted in the opposite +direction), but because public opinion made such a change +inevitable. Nations, on the contrary, who have been driven by +force to accept the faith of their conquerors have always remained +antagonistic to it. + +It is just the same with the savage elements existing in the midst +of our civilized societies. Neither the increased nor the +diminished severity of punishment, nor the modifications of +prisons, nor the increase of police will increase or diminish the +number of criminals. Their number will only be diminished by the +change of the moral standard of society. No severities could put +an end to duels and vendettas in certain districts. In spite of +the number of Tcherkesses executed for robbery, they continue to +be robbers from their youth up, for no maiden will marry a +Tcherkess youth till he has given proof of his bravery by carrying +off a horse, or at least a sheep. If men cease to fight duels, +and the Tcherkesses cease to be robbers, it will not be from fear +of punishment (indeed, that invests the crime with additional +charm for youth), but through a change in the moral standard of +public opinion. It is the same with all other crimes. Force can +never suppress what is sanctioned by public opinion. On the +contrary, public opinion need only be in direct opposition to +force to neutralize the whole effect of the use of force. It has +always been so and always will be in every case of martyrdom. + +What would happen if force were not used against hostile nations +and the criminal elements of society we do not know. But we do +know by prolonged experience that neither enemies nor criminals +have been successfully suppressed by force. + +And indeed how could nations be subjugated by violence who are led +by their whole education, their traditions, and even their +religion to see the loftiest virtue in warring with their +oppressors and fighting for freedom? And how are we to suppress +by force acts committed in the midst of our society which are +regarded as crimes by the government and as daring exploits by the +people? + +To exterminate such nations and such criminals by violence is +possible, and indeed is done, but to subdue them is impossible. + +The sole guide which directs men and nations has always been and +is the unseen, intangible, underlying force, the resultant of all +the spiritual forces of a certain people, or of all humanity, +which finds its outward expression in public opinion. + +The use of violence only weakens this force, hinders it and +corrupts it, and tries to replace it by another which far from +being conducive to the progress of humanity, is detrimental to it. + +To bring under the sway of Christianity all the savage nations +outside the pale of the Christian world--all the Zulus, Mandchoos, +and Chinese, whom many regard as savages--and the savages who live +in our midst, there is only ONE MEANS. That means is the +propagation among these nations of the Christian ideal of society, +which can only be realized by a Christian life, Christian actions, +and Christian examples. And meanwhile, though this is the ONE +ONLY MEANS of gaining a hold over the people who have remained +non-Christian, the men of our day set to work in the directly +opposite fashion to attain this result. + +To bring under the sway of Christianity savage nations who do not +attack us and whom we have therefore no excuse for oppressing, we +ought before all things to leave them in peace, and in case we +need or wish to enter into closer relations with them, we ought +only to influence them by Christian manners and Christian +teaching, setting them the example of the Christian virtues of +patience, meekness, endurance, purity, brotherhood, and love. +Instead of that we begin by establishing among them new markets +for our commerce, with the sole aim of our own profit; then we +appropriate their lands, i. e., rob them; then we sell them +spirits, tobacco, and opium, i. e., corrupt them; then we +establish our morals among them, teach them the use of violence +and new methods of destruction, i, e., we teach them nothing but +the animal law of strife, below which man cannot sink, and we do +all we can to conceal from them all that is Christian in us. +After this we send some dozens of missionaries prating to them of +the hypocritical absurdities of the Church, and then quote the +failure of our efforts to turn the heathen to Christianity as an +incontrovertible proof of the impossibility of applying the truths +of Christianity in practical life. + +It is just the same with the so-called criminals living in our +midst. To bring these people under the sway of Christianity there +is one only means, that is, the Christian social ideal, which can +only be realized among them by true Christian teaching and +supported by a true example of the Christian life. And to preach +this Christian truth and to support it by Christian example we set +up among them prisons, guillotines, gallows, preparations for +murder; we diffuse among the common herd idolatrous superstitions +to stupefy them; we sell them spirits, tobacco, and opium to +brutalize them; we even organize legalized prostitution; we give +land to those who do not need it; we make a display of senseless +luxury in the midst of suffering poverty; we destroy the +possibility of anything like a Christian public opinion, and +studiously try to suppress what Christian public opinion is +existing. And then, after having ourselves assiduously corrupted +men, we shut them up like wild beasts in places from which they +cannot escape, and where they become still more brutalized, or +else we kill them. And these very men whom we have corrupted and +brutalized by every means, we bring forward as a proof that one +cannot deal with criminals except by brute force. + +We are just like ignorant doctors who put a man, recovering from +illness by the force of nature, into the most unfavorable +conditions of hygiene, and dose him with the most deleterious +drugs, and then assert triumphantly that their hygiene and their +drugs saved his life, when the patient would have been well long +before if they had left him alone. + +Violence, which is held up as the means of supporting the +Christian organization of life, not only fails to produce that +effect, it even hinders the social organization of life from being +what it might and ought to be. The social organization is as good +as it is not as a result of force, but in spite of it. + +And therefore the champions of the existing order are mistaken in +arguing that since, even with the aid of force, the bad and +non-Christian elements of humanity can hardly be kept from attacking us, +the abolition of the use of force and the substitution of public opinion +for it would leave humanity quite unprotected. + +They are mistaken, because force does not protect humanity, but, +on the contrary, deprives it of the only possible means of really +protecting itself, that is, the establishment and diffusion of a +Christian public opinion. Only by the suppression of violence +will a Christian public opinion cease to be corrupted, and be +enabled to be diffused without hindrance, and men will then turn +their efforts in the spiritual direction by which alone they can +advance. + +"But how are we to cast off the visible tangible protection of an +armed policeman, and trust to something so intangible as public +opinion? Does it yet exist? Moreover, the condition of things in +which we are living now, we know, good or bad; we know its +shortcomings and are used to it, we know what to do, and how to +behave under present conditions. But what will happen when we +give it up and trust ourselves to something invisible and +intangible, and altogether unknown?" + +The unknown world on which they are entering in renouncing their +habitual ways of life appears itself as dreadful to them. It is +all very well to dread the unknown when our habitual position is +sound and secure. But our position is so far from being secure +that we know, beyond all doubt, that we are standing on the brink +of a precipice. If we must be afraid let us be afraid of what is +really alarming, and not what we imagine as alarming. + +Fearing to make the effort to detach ourselves from our perilous +position because the future is not fully clear to us, we are like +passengers in a foundering ship who, through being afraid to trust +themselves to the boat which would carry them to the shore, shut +themselves up in the cabin and refuse to come out of it; or like +sheep, who, terrified by their barn being on fire, huddle in a +corner and do not go out of the wide-open door. + +We are standing on the threshold of the murderous war of social +revolution, terrific in its miseries, beside which, as those who +are preparing it tell us, the horrors of 1793 will be child's +play. And can we talk of the danger threatening us from the +warriors of Dahomey, the Zulus, and such, who live so far away and +are not dreaming of attacking us, and from some thousands of +swindlers, thieves, and murderers, brutalized and corrupted by +ourselves, whose number is in no way lessened by all our +sentences, prisons, and executions? + +Moreover this dread of the suppression of the visible protection +of the policeman is essentially a sentiment of townspeople, that +is, of people who are living in abnormal and artificial +conditions. People living in natural conditions of life, not in +towns, but in the midst of nature, and carrying on the struggle +with nature, live without this protection and know how little +force can protect us from the real dangers with which we are +surrounded. There is something sickly in this dread, which is +essentially dependent on the artificial conditions in which many +of us live and have been brought up. + +A doctor, a specialist in insanity, told a story that one summer +day when he was leaving the asylum, the lunatics accompanied him +to the street door. "Come for a walk in the town with me?" the +doctor suggested to them. The lunatics agreed, and a small band +followed the doctor. But the further they proceeded along the +street where healthy people were freely moving about, the more +timid they became, and they pressed closer and closer to the +doctor, hindering him from walking. At last they all began to beg +him to take them back to the asylum, to their meaningless but +customary way of life, to their keepers, to blows, strait +waistcoats, and solitary cells. + +This is just how men of to-day huddle in terror and draw back to +their irrational manner of life, their factories, law courts, +prisons, executions, and wars, when Christianity calls them to +liberty, to the free, rational life of the future coming age. + +People ask, "How will our security be guaranteed when the existing +organization is suppressed? What precisely will the new +organization be that is to replace it? So long as we do not know +precisely how our life will be organized, we will not stir a step +forward." + +An explorer going to an unknown country might as well ask for a +detailed map of the country before he would start. + +If a man, before he passed from one stage to another, could know +his future life in full detail, he would have nothing to live for. +It is the same with the life of humanity. If it had a programme of +the life which awaited it before entering a new stage, it would be +the surest sign that it was not living, nor advancing, but simply +rotating in the same place. + +The conditions of the new order of life cannot be known by us +because we have to create them by our own labors. That is all +that life is, to learn the unknown, and to adapt our actions to +this new knowledge. + +That is the life of each individual man, and that is the life of +human societies and of humanity. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTION OF LIFE HAS ALREADY ARISEN IN OUR +SOCIETY, AND WILL INFALLIBLY PUT AN END TO THE PRESENT +ORGANIZATION OF OUR LIFE BASED ON FORCE--WHEN THAT WILL BE. + +The Condition and Organization of our Society are Terrible, but they +Rest only on Public Opinion, and can be Destroyed by it--Already +Violence is Regarded from a Different Point of View; the Number of those +who are Ready to Serve the Government is Diminishing; and even the +Servants of Government are Ashamed of their Position, and so often Do +Not Perform their Duties--These Facts are all Signs of the Rise of a +Public Opinion, which Continually Growing will Lead to No One being +Willing to Enter Government Service--Moreover, it Becomes More and More +Evident that those Offices are of No Practical Use--Men already Begin to +Understand the Futility of all Institutions Based on Violence, and if a +Few already Understand it, All will One Day Understand it--The Day of +Deliverance is Unknown, but it Depends on Men Themselves, on how far +Each Man Lives According to the Light that is in Him. + + +The position of Christian humanity with its prisons, galleys, +gibbets, its factories and accumulation of capital, its taxes, +churches, gin-palaces, licensed brothels, its ever-increasing +armament and its millions of brutalized men, ready, like chained +dogs, to attack anyone against whom their master incites them, +would be terrible indeed if it were the product of violence, but +it is pre-eminently the product of public opinion. And what has +been established by public opinion can be destroyed by public +opinion--and, indeed, is being destroyed by public opinion. + +Money lavished by hundreds of millions, tens of millions of +disciplined troops, weapons of astounding destructive power, all +organizations carried to the highest point of perfection, a whole +army of men charged with the task of deluding and hypnotizing the +people, and all this, by means of electricity which annihilates +distance, under the direct control of men who regard such an +organization of society not only as necessary for profit, but even +for self-preservation, and therefore exert every effort of their +ingenuity to preserve it--what an invincible power it would seem! +And yet we need only imagine for a moment what will really +inevitably come to pass, that is, the Christian social standard +replacing the heathen social standard and established with the +same power and universality, and the majority of men as much +ashamed of taking any part in violence or in profiting by it, as +they are to-day of thieving, swindling, begging, and cowardice; +and at once we see the whole of this complex, and seemingly +powerful organization of society falls into ruins of itself +without a struggle. + +And to bring this to pass, nothing new need be brought before +men's minds. Only let the mist, which veils from men's eyes the +true meaning of certain acts of violence, pass away, and the +Christian public opinion which is springing up would overpower the +extinct public opinion which permitted and justified acts of +violence. People need only come to be as much ashamed to do deeds +of violence, to assist in them or to profit by them, as they now +are of being, or being reputed a swindler, a thief, a coward, or a +beggar. And already this change is beginning to take place. We +do not notice it just as we do not notice the movement of the +earth, because we are moved together with everything around us. + +It is true that the organization of society remains in its +principal features just as much an organization based on violence +as it was one thousand years ago, and even in some respects, +especially in the preparation for war and in war itself, it +appears still more brutal. But the rising Christian ideal, which +must at a certain stage of development replace the heathen ideal +of life, already makes its influence felt. A dead tree stands +apparently as firmly as ever--it may even seem firmer because it +is harder--but it is rotten at the core, and soon must fall. It +is just so with the present order of society, based on force. The +external aspect is unchanged. There is the same division of +oppressors and oppressed, but their view of the significance and +dignity of their respective positions is no longer what it once +was. + +The oppressors, that is, those who take part in government, and +those who profit by oppression, that is, the rich, no longer +imagine, as they once did, that they are the elect of the world, +and that they constitute the ideal of human happiness and +greatness, to attain which was once the highest aim of the +oppressed. + +Very often now it is not the oppressed who strive to attain the +position of the oppressors, and try to imitate them, but on the +contrary the oppressors who voluntarily abandon the advantages of +their position, prefer the condition of the oppressed, and try to +resemble them in the simplicity of their life. + +Not to speak of the duties and occupations now openly despised, +such as that of spy, agent of secret police, moneylender, and +publican, there are a great number of professions formerly +regarded as honorable, such as those of police officials, +courtiers, judges, and administrative functionaries, clergymen, +military officers, speculators, and bankers, which are no longer +considered desirable positions by everyone, and are even despised +by a special circle of the most respected people. There are +already men who voluntarily abandon these professions which were +once reckoned irreproachable, and prefer less lucrative callings +which are in no way connected with the use of force. +And there are even rich men who, not through religious sentiment, +but simply through special sensitiveness to the social standard +that is springing up, relinquish their inherited property, +believing that a man can only justly consume what he has gained by +his own labor. + +The position of a government official or of a rich man is no +longer, as it once was, and still is among non-Christian peoples, +regarded as necessarily honorable and deserving of respect, and +under the special blessing of God. The most delicate and moral +people (they are generally also the most cultivated) avoid such +positions and prefer more humble callings that are not dependent +on the use of force. + +The best of our young people, at the age when they are still +uncorrupted by life and are choosing a career, prefer the calling +of doctor, engineer, teacher, artist, writer, or even that of +simple farmer living on his own labor, to legal, administrative, +clerical, and military positions in the pay of government, or to +an idle existence living on their incomes. + +Monuments and memorials in these days are mostly not erected in +honor of government dignitaries, or generals, or still less of +rich men, but rather of artists, men of science, and inventors, +persons who have nothing in common with the government, and often +have even been in conflict with it. They are the men whose +praises are celebrated in poetry, who are honored by sculpture and +received with triumphant jubilations. + +The best men of our day are all striving for such places of honor. +Consequently the class from which the wealthy and the government +officials are drawn grows less in number and lower in intelligence +and education, and still more in moral qualities. So that +nowadays the wealthy class and men at the head of government do +not constitute, as they did in former days, the ÉLITE of society; +on the contrary, they are inferior to the middle class. + +In Russia and Turkey as in America and France, however often the +government change its officials, the majority of them are self-seeking +and corrupt, of so low a moral standard that they do not even come up +the elementary requirements of common honesty expected by the +government. One may often nowadays hear from persons in authority the +naïve complaint that the best people are always, by some strange--as it +seems to them--fatality, to be found in the camp of the opposition. As +though men were to complain that those who accepted the office of +hangman were--by some strange fatality--all persons of very little +refinement or beauty of character. + +The most cultivated and refined people of our society are not +nowadays to be found among the very rich, as used formerly to be +the rule. The rich are mostly coarse money grubbers, absorbed +only, in increasing their hoard, generally by dishonest means, or +else the degenerate heirs of such money grubbers, who, far from +playing any prominent part in society, are mostly treated with +general contempt. + +And besides the fact that the class from which the servants of +government and the wealthy are drawn grows less in number and +lower in caliber, they no longer themselves attach the same +importance to their positions as they once did; often they are +ashamed of the ignominy of their calling and do not perform the +duties they are bound to perform in their position. Kings and +emperors scarcely govern at all; they scarcely ever decide upon an +internal reform or a new departure in foreign politics. They +mostly leave the decision of such questions to government +institutions or to public opinion. All their duties are reduced +to representing the unity and majesty of government. And even +this duty they perform less and less successfully. The majority +of them do not keep up their old unapproachable majesty, but +become more and more democratized and even vulgarized, casting +aside the external prestige that remained to them, and thereby +destroying the very thing it was their function to maintain. + +It is just the same with the army. Military officers of the +highest rank, instead of encouraging in their soldiers the +brutality and ferocity necessary for their work, diffuse education +among the soldiers, inculcate humanity, and often even themselves +share the socialistic ideas of the masses and denounce war. In +the last plots against the Russian Government many of the +conspirators were in the army. And the number of the disaffected +in the army is always increasing. And it often happens (there was +a case, indeed, within the last few days) that when called upon to +quell disturbances they refuse to fire upon the people. Military +exploits are openly reprobated by the military themselves, and are +often the subject of jests among them. + +It is the same with judges and public prosecutors. The judges, +whose duty it is to judge and condemn criminals, conduct the +proceedings so as to whitewash them as far as possible. So that +the Russian Government, to procure the condemnation of those whom +they want to punish, never intrust them to the ordinary tribunals, +but have them tried before a court martial, which is only a +parody of justice. The prosecutors themselves often refuse to +proceed, and even when they do proceed, often in spite of the law, +really defend those they ought to be accusing. The learned +jurists whose business it is to justify the violence of authority, +are more and more disposed to deny the right of punishment and to +replace it by theories of irresponsibility and even of moral +insanity, proposing to deal with those they call criminals by +medical treatment only. + +Jailers and overseers of galleys generally become the champions of +those whom they ought to torture. Police officers and detectives +are continually assisting the escape of those they ought to +arrest. The clergy preach tolerance, and even sometimes condemn +the use of force, and the more educated among them try in their +sermons to avoid the very deception which is the basis of their +position and which it is their duty to support. Executioners +refuse to perform their functions, so that in Russia the death +penalty cannot be carried out for want of executioners. And in +spite of all the advantages bestowed on these men, who are +selected from convicts, there is a constantly diminishing number +of volunteers for the post. Governors, police officials, tax +collectors often have compassion on the people and try to find +pretexts for not collecting the tax from them. The rich are not +at ease in spending their wealth only on themselves, and lavish +it on works of public utility. Landowners build schools and +hospitals on their property, and some even give up the ownership +of their land and transfer it to the cultivators, or establish +communities upon it. Millowners and manufacturers build +hospitals, schools, savings banks, asylums, and dwellings for +their workpeople. Some of them form co-operative associations in +which they have shares on the same terms as the others. +Capitalists expend a part of their capital on educational, +artistic, philanthropic, and other public institutions. And many, +who are not equal to parting with their wealth in their lifetime, +leave it in their wills to public institutions. + +All these phenomena might seem to be mere exceptions, except that +they can all be referred to one common cause. Just as one might +fancy the first leaves on the budding trees in April were +exceptional if we did not know that they all have a common cause, +the spring, and that if we see the branches on some trees shooting +and turning green, it is certain that it will soon be so with all. + +So it is with the manifestation of the Christian standard of +opinion on force and all that is based on force. If this standard +already influences some, the most impressionable, and impels each +in his own sphere to abandon advantages based on the use of force, +then its influence will extend further and further till it +transforms the whole order of men's actions and puts it into +accord with the Christian ideal which is already a living force in +the vanguard of humanity. + +And if there are now rulers, who do not decide on any step on +their own authority, who try to be as unlike monarchs, and as like +plain mortals as possible, who state their readiness to give up +their prerogatives and become simply the first citizens of a +republic; if there are already soldiers who realize all the sin +and harm of war, and are not willing to fire on men either of +their own or a foreign country; judges and prosecutors who do not +like to try and to condemn criminals; priests, who abjure +deception; tax-gatherers who try to perform as little as they can +of their duties, and rich men renouncing their wealth--then the +same thing will inevitably happen to other rulers, other soldiers, +other judges, priests, tax-gatherers, and rich men. And when +there are no longer men willing to fill these offices, these +offices themselves will disappear too. + +But this is not the only way in which public opinion is leading +men to the abolition of the prevailing order and the substitution +of a new order. As the positions based on the rule of force +become less attractive and fewer men are found willing to fill +them, the more will their uselessness be apparent. + +Everywhere throughout the Christian world the same rulers, and the +same governments, the same armies, the same law courts, the same +tax-gatherers, the same priests, the same rich men, landowners, +manufacturers, and capitalists, as ever, but the attitude of the +world to them, and their attitude to themselves is altogether +changed. + +The same sovereigns have still the same audiences and interviews, +hunts and banquets, and balls and uniforms; there are the same +diplomats and the same deliberations on alliances and wars; there +are still the same parliaments, with the same debates on the +Eastern question and Africa, on treaties and violations of +treaties, and Home Rule and the eight-hour day; and one set of +ministers replacing another in the same way, and the same speeches +and the same incidents. But for men who observe how one newspaper +article has more effect on the position of affairs than dozens of +royal audiences or parliamentary sessions, it becomes more and +more evident that these audiences and interviews and debates in +parliaments do not direct the course of affairs, but something +independent of all that, which cannot be concentrated in one +place. + +The same generals and officers and soldiers, and cannons and +fortresses, and reviews and maneuvers, but no war breaks out. One +year, ten, twenty years pass by. And it becomes less and less +possible to rely on the army for the pacification of riots, and +more and more evident, consequently, that generals, and officers, +and soldiers are only figures in solemn processions--objects of +amusement for governments--a sort of immense--and far too +expensive--CORPS DE BALLET. + +The same lawyers and judges, and the same assizes, but it becomes +more and more evident that the civil courts decide cases on the +most diverse grounds, but regardless of justice, and that criminal +trials are quite senseless, because the punishments do not attain +the objects aimed at by the judges themselves. These institutions +therefore serve no other purpose than to provide a means of +livelihood for men who are not capable of doing anything more +useful. + +The same priests and archbishops and churches and synods, but it +becomes more and more evident that they have long ago ceased to +believe in what they preach, and therefore they can convince no +one of the necessity of believing what they don't believe +themselves. + +The same tax collectors, but they are less and less capable of +taking men's property from them by force, and it becomes more and +more evident that people can collect all that is necessary by +voluntary subscription without their aid. + +The same rich men, but it becomes more and more evident that they +can only be of use by ceasing to administer their property in +person and giving up to society the whole or at least a part of +their wealth. + +And when all this has become absolutely evident to everyone, it +will be natural for men to ask themselves: "But why should we keep +and maintain all these kings, emperors, presidents, and members of +all sorts of senates and ministries, since nothing comes of all +their debates and audiences? Wouldn't it be better, as some +humorist suggested, to make a queen of india-rubber?" + +And what good to us are these armies with their generals and bands +and horses and drums? And what need is there of them when there +is no war, and no one wants to make war? and if there were a war, +other nations would not let us gain any advantage from it; while +the soldiers refuse to fire on their fellow-countrymen. + +And what is the use of these lawyers and judges who don't decide +civil cases with justice and recognize themselves the uselessness +of punishments in criminal cases? + +And what is the use of tax collectors who collect the taxes +unwillingly, when it is easy to raise all that is wanted without +them? + +What is the use of the clergy, who don't believe in what they +preach? + +And what is the use of capital in the hands of private persons, +when it can only be of use as the property of all? + +And when once people have asked themselves these questions they +cannot help coming to some decision and ceasing to support all +these institutions which are no longer of use. + +But even before those who support these institutions decide to +abolish them, the men who occupy these positions will be reduced +to the necessity of throwing them up. + +Public opinion more and more condemns the use of force, and +therefore men are less and less willing to fill positions which +rest on the use of force, and if they do occupy them, are less and +less able to make use of force in them. And hence they must become +more and more superfluous. + +I once took part in Moscow in a religious meeting which used to +take place generally in the week after Easter near the church in +the Ohotny Row. A little knot of some twenty men were collected +together on the pavement, engaged in serious religious discussion. +At the same time there was a kind of concert going on in the +buildings of the Court Club in the same street, and a police +officer noticing the little group collected near the church sent a +mounted policeman to disperse it. It was absolutely unnecessary +for the officer to disperse it. A group of twenty men was no +obstruction to anyone, but he had been standing there the whole +morning, and he wanted to do something. The policeman, a young +fellow, with a resolute flourish of his right arm and a clink of +his saber, came up to us and commanded us severely: "Move on! +what's this meeting about?" Everyone looked at the policeman, and +one of the speakers, a quiet man in a peasant's dress, answered +with a calm and gracious air, "We are speaking of serious matters, +and there is no need for us to move on; you would do better, young +man, to get off your horse and listen. It might do you good"; +and turning round he continued his discourse. The policeman +turned his horse and went off without a word. + +That is just what should be done in all cases of violence. + +The officer was bored, he had nothing to do. He had been put, +poor fellow, in a position in which he had no choice but to give +orders. He was shut off from all human existence; he could do +nothing but superintend and give orders, and give orders and +superintend, though his superintendence and his orders served no +useful purpose whatever. And this is the position in which all +these unlucky rulers, ministers, members of parliament, governors, +generals, officers, archbishops, priests, and even rich men find +themselves to some extent already, and will find themselves +altogether as time goes on. They can do nothing but give orders, +and they give orders and send their messengers, as the officer +sent the policeman, to interfere with people. And because the +people they hinder turn to them and request them not to interfere, +they fancy they are very useful indeed. + +But the time will come and is coming when it will be perfectly +evident to everyone that they are not of any use at all, and only +a hindrance, and those whom they interfere with will say gently +and quietly to them, like my friend in the street meeting, "Pray +don't interfere with us." And all the messengers and those who +send them too will be obliged to follow this good advice, that is +to say, will leave off galloping about, with their arms akimbo, +interfering with people, and getting off their horses and removing +their spurs, will listen to what is being said, and mixing with +others, will take their place with them in some real human work. + +The time will come and is inevitably coming when all institutions +based on force will disappear through their uselessness, +stupidity, and even inconvenience becoming obvious to all. + +The time must come when the men of our modern world who fill +offices based upon violence will find themselves in the position +of the emperor in Andersen's tale of "The Emperor's New Clothes," +when the child seeing the emperor undressed, cried in all +simplicity, "Look, he is naked!" And then all the rest, who had +seen him and said nothing, could not help recognizing it too. + +The story is that there was once an emperor, very fond of new +clothes. And to him came two tailors, who promised to make him +some extraordinary clothes. The emperor engages them and they +begin to sew at them, but they explain that the clothes have the +extraordinary property of remaining invisible to anyone who is +unfit for his position. The courtiers come to look at the +tailors' work and see nothing, for the men are plying their +needles in empty space. But remembering the extraordinary +property of the clothes, they all declare they see them and are +loud in their admiration. The emperor does the same himself. The +day of the procession comes in which the emperor is to go out in +his new clothes. The emperor undresses and puts on his new +clothes, that is to say, remains naked, and naked he walks through +the town. But remembering the magic property of the clothes, no +one ventures to say that he has nothing on till a little child +cries out: "Look, he is naked!" + +This will be exactly the situation of all who continue through +inertia to fill offices which have long become useless directly +someone who has no interest in concealing their uselessness +exclaims in all simplicity: "But these people have been of no use +to anyone for a long time past!" + +The condition of Christian humanity with its fortresses, cannons, +dynamite, guns, torpedoes, prisons, gallows, churches, factories, +customs offices, and palaces is really terrible. But still +cannons and guns will not fire themselves, prisons will not shut +men up of themselves, gallows will not hang them, churches will +not delude them, nor customs offices hinder them, and palaces and +factories are not built nor kept up of themselves. All those +things are the work of men. If men come to understand that they +ought not to do these things, then they will cease to be. And +already they are beginning to understand it. Though all do not +understand it yet, the advanced guard understand and the rest will +follow them. And the advanced guard cannot cease to understand +what they have once understood; and what they understand the rest +not only can but must inevitably understand hereafter. + +So that the prophecy that the time will come when men will be +taught of God, will learn war no more, will beat their swords into +plowshares and their spears into reaping-hooks, which means, +translating it into our language, the fortresses, prisons, +barracks, palaces, and churches will remain empty, and all the +gibbets and guns and cannons will be left unused, is no longer a +dream, but the definite new form of life to which mankind is +approaching with ever-increasing rapidity. + +But when will it be? + +Eighteen hundred years ago to this question Christ answered +that the end of the world (that is, of the pagan organization of +life) shall come when the tribulation of men is greater than it +has ever been, and when the Gospel of the kingdom of God, that is, +the possibility of a new organization of life, shall be preached +in the world unto all nations. (Matt. xxiv. 3-28.) But of that +day and hour knoweth no man but the Father only (Matt. xxiv. 3-6), +said Christ. For it may come any time, in such an hour as +ye think not. + +To the question when this hour cometh Christ answers that we +cannot know, but just because we cannot know when that hour is +coming we ought to be always ready to meet it, just as the master +ought to watch who guards his house from thieves, as the virgins +ought to watch with lamps alight for the bridegroom; and further, +we ought to work with all the powers given us to bring that hour +to pass, as the servants ought to work with the talents intrusted +to them. (Matt. xxiv. 43, and xxvi. 13, 14-30.) And there could +be no answer but this one. Men cannot know when the day and the +hour of the kingdom of God will come, because its coming depends +on themselves alone. + +The answer is like that of the wise man who, when asked whether it +was far to the town, answered, "Walk!" + +How can we tell whether it is far to the goal which humanity is +approaching, when we do not know how men are going toward it, +while it depends on them whether they go or do not go, stand +still, slacken their pace or hasten it? All we can know is what +we who make up mankind ought to do, and not to do, to bring about +the coming of the kingdom of God. And that we all know. And we +need only each begin to do what we ought to do, we need only each +live with all the light that is in us, to bring about at once the +promised kingdom of God to which every man's heart is yearning. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CONCLUSION--REPENT YE, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND. + +1. Chance Meeting with a Train Carrying Soldiers to Restore Order +Among the Famishing Peasants--Reason of the Expedition--How the +Decisions of the Higher Authorities are Enforced in Cases of +Insubordination on Part of the Peasants--What Happened at Orel, as +an Example of How the Rights of the Propertied Classes are +Maintained by Murder and Torture--All the Privileges of the +Wealthy are Based on Similar Acts of Violence. + +2. The Elements that Made up the Force Sent to Toula, and the Conduct of +the Men Composing it--How these Men Could Carry Out such Acts--The +Explanation is Not to be Found in Ignorance, Conviction, Cruelty, +Heartlessness, or Want of Moral Sense--They do these Things Because they +are Necessary to Support the Existing Order, which they Consider it +Every Man's Duty to Support--The Basis of this Conviction that the +Existing Order is Necessary and Inevitable--In the Upper Classes this +Conviction is Based on the Advantages of the Existing Order for +Themselves--But what Forces Men of the Lower Classes to Believe in the +Immutability of the Existing Order, from which they Derive no Advantage, +and which they Aid in Maintaining, Facts Contrary to their +Conscience?--This is the Result of the Lower Classes being Deluded by +the Upper, Both as to the Inevitability of the Existing Order and the +Lawfulness of the Acts of Violence Needed to Maintain it--Deception in +General--Special Form of Deception in Regard to Military +Service--Conscription. + +3. How can Men Allow that Murder is Permissible while they Preach +Principles of Morality, and How can they Allow of the Existence in their +Midst of a Military Organization of Physical Force which is a Constant +Menace to Public Security?--It is only Allowed by the Upper Classes, who +Profit by this Organization, Because their Privileges are Maintained by +it--The Upper Classes Allow it, and the Lower Classes Carry it into +Effect in Spite of their Consciousness of the Immorality of the Deeds of +Violence, the More Readily Because Through the Arrangements of the +Government the Moral Responsibility for such Deeds is Divided among a +Great Number of Participants in it, and Everyone Throws the +Responsibility on Someone Else--Moreover, the Sense of Moral +Responsibility is Lost through the Delusion of Inequality, and the +Consequent Intoxication of Power on the Part of Superiors, and Servility +on the Part of Inferiors--The Condition of these Men, Acting against the +Dictates of their Conscience, is Like that of Hypnotized Subjects Acting +by Suggestion--The Difference between this Obedience to Government +Suggestion, and Obedience to Public Opinion, and to the Guidance of Men +of a Higher Moral Sense--The Existing Order of Society, which is the +Result of an Extinct Public Opinion and is Inconsistent with the Already +Existing Public Opinion of the Future, is only Maintained by the +Stupefaction of the Conscience, Produced Spontaneously by Self-interest +in the Upper Classes and Through Hypnotizing in the Lower Classes--The +Conscience or the Common Sense of such Men may Awaken, and there are +Examples of its Sudden Awakening, so that one can Never be Sure of the +Deeds of Violence they are Prepared for--It Depends Entirely on the +Point which the Sense of the Unlawfulness of Acts of Violence has +Reached, and this Sense may Spontaneously Awaken in Men, or may be +Reawakened by the Influence of Men of more Conscience. + +4. Everything Depends on the Strength of the Consciousness of +Christian Truths in Each Individual Man--The Leading Men of Modern +Times, however, do not Think it Necessary to Preach or Practice +the Truths of Christianity, but Regard the Modification of the +External Conditions of Existence within the Limit Imposed by +Governments as Sufficient to Reform the Life of Humanity--On this +Scientific Theory of Hypocrisy, which has Replaced the Hypocrisy +of Religion, Men of the Wealthy Classes Base their Justification +of their Position--Through this Hypocrisy they can Enjoy the +Exclusive Privileges of their Position by Force and Fraud, and +Still Pretend to be Christians to One Another and be Easy in their +Minds--This Hypocrisy Allows Men who Preach Christianity to Take +Part in Institutions Based on Violence--No External Reformation of +Life will Render it Less Miserable--Its Misery the Result of +Disunion Caused by Following Lies, not the Truth--Union only +Possible in Truth--Hypocrisy Hinders this Union, since Hypocrites +Conceal from themselves and Others the Truth they Know--Hypocrisy +Turns all Reforms of Life to Evil--Hypocrisy Distorts the Idea of +Good and Evil, and so Stands in the Way of the Progress of Men +toward Perfection--Undisguised Criminals and Malefactors do Less +Harm than those who Live by Legalized Violence, Disguised by +Hypocrisy--All Men Feel the Iniquity of our Life, and would Long +Ago have Transformed it if it had not been Dissimulated by +Hypocrisy--But Seem to have Reached the Extreme Limits of +Hypocrisy, and we Need only Make an Effort of Conscience to Awaken +as from a Nightmare to a Different Reality. + +5. Can Man Make this Effort?--According to the Hypocritical Theory +of the Day, Man is not Free to Transform his Life--Man is not Free +in his Actions, but he is Free to Admit or to Deny the Truth he +Knows--When Truth is Once Admitted, it Becomes the Basis of +Action--Man's Threefold Relation to Truth--The Reason of the +Apparent Insolubility of the Problem of Free Will--Man's Freedom +Consists in the Recognition of the Truth Revealed to him. There +is no Other Freedom--Recognition of Truth Gives Freedom, and Shows +the Path Along which, Willingly or Unwillingly by Mankind, Man +Must Advance--The Recognition of Truth and Real Freedom Enables +Man to Share in the Work of God, not as the Slave, but as the +Creator of Life--Men Need only Make the Effort to Renounce all +Thought of Bettering the External Conditions of Life and Bend all +their Efforts to Recognizing and Preaching the Truth they Know, to +put an End to the Existing Miserable State of Things, and to Enter +upon the Kingdom of God so far as it is yet Accessible to Man--All +that is Needed is to Make an End of Lying and Hypocrisy--But then +what Awaits us in the Future?--What will Happen to Humanity if Men +Follow the Dictates of their Conscience, and how can Life go on +with the Conditions of Civilized Life to which we are Accustomed? +--All Uneasiness on these Points may be Removed by the Reflection +that Nothing True and Good can be Destroyed by the Realization of +Truth, but will only be Freed from the Alloy of Falsehood. + +6. Our Life has Reached the Extreme Limit of Misery and Cannot be +Improved by any Systems of Organization--All our Life and all our +Institutions are Quite Meaningless--Are we Doing what God Wills of us by +Preserving our Privileges and Duties to Government?--We are put in this +Position not Because the World is so Made and it is Inevitable, but +Because we Wish it to be so, Because it is to the Advantage of Some of +us--Our Conscience is in Opposition to our Position and all our Conduct, +and the Way Out of the Contradiction is to be Found in the Recognition +of the Christian Truth: Do Not unto Others what you Would Not they +should Do unto You--As our Duties to Self Must be Subordinated to our +Duties to Others, so Must our Duties to Others be Subordinated to our +Duties to God--The Only Way Out of our Position Lies, if not in +Renouncing our Position and our Privileges, at Least in Recognizing our +Sin and not Justifying it nor Disguising it--The Only Object of Life is +to Learn the Truth and to Act on it--Acceptance of the Position and of +State Action Deprives Life of all Object--It is God's Will that we +should Serve Him in our Life, that is, that we should Bring About the +Greatest Unity of all that has Life, a Unity only Possible in Truth. + + +I was finishing this book, which I had been working at for two +years, when I happened on the 9th of September to be traveling by +rail through the governments of Toula and Riazan, where the +peasants were starving last year and where the famine is even more +severe now. At one of the railway stations my train passed an +extra train which was taking a troop of soldiers under the conduct +of the governor of the province, together with muskets, +cartridges, and rods, to flog and murder these same famishing +peasants. + +The punishment of flogging by way of carrying the decrees of the +authorities into effect has been more and more frequently adopted +of late in Russia, in spite of the fact that corporal punishment +was abolished by law thirty years ago. + +I had heard of this, I had even read in the newspapers of the +fearful floggings which had been inflicted in Tchernigov, Tambov, +Saratov, Astrakhan, and Orel, and of those of which the governor +of Nijni-Novgorod, General Baranov, had boasted. But I had never +before happened to see men in the process of carrying out these +punishments. + +And here I saw the spectacle of good Russians full of the +Christian spirit traveling with guns and rods to torture and kill +their starving brethren. The reason for their expedition was as +follows: + +On one of the estates of a rich landowner the peasants had common +rights on the forest, and having always enjoyed these rights, +regarded the forest as their own, or at least as theirs in common +with the owner. The landowner wished to keep the forest entirely +to himself and began to fell the trees. The peasants lodged a +complaint. The judges in the first instance gave an unjust +decision (I say unjust on the authority of the lawyer and +governor, who ought to understand the matter), and decided the +case in favor of the landowner. All the later decisions, even +that of the senate, though they could see that the matter had been +unjustly decided, confirmed the judgment and adjudged the forest +to the landowner. He began to cut down the trees, but the +peasants, unable to believe that such obvious injustice could be +done them by the higher authorities, did not submit to the +decision and drove away the men sent to cut down the trees, +declaring that the forest belonged to them and they would go to +the Tzar before they would let them cut it down. + +The matter was referred to Petersburg, and the order was +transmitted to the governor to carry the decision of the court +into effect. The governor asked for a troop of soldiers. And +here were the soldiers with bayonets and cartridges, and moreover, +a supply of rods, expressly prepared for the purpose and heaped up +in one of the trucks, going to carry the decision of the higher +authorities into effect. + +The decisions of the higher authorities are carried into effect by +means of murder or torture, or threats of one or the other, +according to whether they offer resistance or not. + +In the first case if the peasants offer resistance the practice is +in Russia, and it is the same everywhere where a state +organization and private property exist, as follows. The governor +delivers an address in which he demands submission. The excited +crowd, generally deluded by their leaders, don't understand a word +of what the representative of authority is saying in the pompous +official language, and their excitement continues. Then the +governor announces that if they do not submit and disperse, he +will be obliged to have recourse to force. If the crowd does not +disperse even on this, the governor gives the order to fire over +the heads of the crowd. If the crowd does not even then disperse, +the governor gives the order to fire straight into the crowd; the +soldiers fire and the killed and wounded fall about the street. +Then the crowd usually runs away in all directions, and the troops +at the governor's command take those who are supposed to be the +ringleaders and lead them off under escort. Then they pick up the +dying, the wounded, and the dead, covered with blood, sometimes +women and children among them. The dead they bury and the wounded +they carry to the hospital. Those whom they regard as the +ringleaders they take to the town hall and have them tried by a +special court-martial. And if they have had recourse to violence +on their side, they are condemned to be hanged. And then the +gallows is erected. And they solemnly strangle a few defenseless +creatures. + +This is what has often been done in Russia, and is and must always +be done where the social order is based on force. + +But in the second case, when the peasants do submit, something +quite special, peculiar to Russia, takes place. The governor +arrives on the scene of action and delivers an harangue to the +people, reproaching them for their insubordination, and either +stations troops in the houses of the villages, where sometimes for +a whole month the soldiers drain the resources of the peasants, or +contenting himself with threats, he mercifully takes leave of the +people, or what is the most frequent course, he announces that the +ringleaders must be punished, and quite arbitrarily without any +trial selects a certain number of men, regarded as ringleaders, +and commands them to be flogged in his presence. + +In order to give an idea of how such things are done I will +describe a proceeding of the kind which took place in Orel, and +received the full approval of the highest authorities. + +This is what took place in Orel. Just as here in the Toula +province, a landlord wanted to appropriate the property of the +peasants and just in the same way the peasants opposed it. The +matter in dispute was a fall of water, which irrigated the +peasants' fields, and which the landowner wanted to cut off and +divert to turn his mill. The peasants rebelled against this being +done. The land owner laid a complaint before the district +commander, who illegally (as was recognized later even by a legal +decision) decided the matter in favor of the landowner, and +allowed him to divert the water course. The landowner sent +workmen to dig the conduit by which the water was to be let off to +turn the mill. The peasants were indignant at this unjust +decision, and sent their women to prevent the landowner's men from +digging this conduit. The women went to the dykes, overturned the +carts, and drove away the men. The landowner made a complaint +against the women for thus taking the law into their own hands. +The district commander made out an order that from every house +throughout the village one woman was to be taken and put in prison. +The order was not easily executed. For in every household there +were several women, and it was impossible to know which one was to +be arrested. Consequently the police did not carry out the order. +The landowner complained to the governor of the neglect on the +part of the police, and the latter, without examining into the +affair, gave the chief official of the police strict orders to +carry out the instructions of the district commander without +delay. The police official, in obedience to his superior, went to +the village and with the insolence peculiar to Russian officials +ordered his policemen to take one woman out of each house. But +since there were more than one woman in each house, and there was +no knowing which one was sentenced to imprisonment, disputes and +opposition arose. In spite of these disputes and opposition, +however, the officer of police gave orders that some woman, +whichever came first, should be taken from each household and led +away to prison. The peasants began to defend their wives and +mothers, would not let them go, and beat the police and their +officer. This was a fresh and terrible crime: resistance was +offered to the authorities. A report of this new offense was sent +to the town. And so this governor--precisely as the governor of +Toula was doing on that day--with a battalion of soldiers with +guns and rods, hastily brought together by means of telegraphs and +telephones and railways, proceeded by a special train to the scene +of action, with a learned doctor whose duty it was to insure the +flogging being of an hygienic character. Herzen's prophecy of the +modern Ghenghis Khan with his telegrams is completely realized by +this governor. + +Before the town hall of the district were the soldiery, a +battalion of police with their revolvers slung round them with red +cords, the persons of most importance among the peasants, and the +culprits. A crowd of one thousand or more people were standing +round. The governor, on arriving, stepped out of his carriage, +delivered a prepared harangue, and asked for the culprits and a +bench. The latter demand was at first not understood. But a +police constable whom the governor always took about with him, and +who undertook to organize such executions--by no means exceptional +in that province--explained that what was meant was a bench for +flogging. A bench was brought as well as the rods, and then the +executioners were summoned (the latter had been selected +beforehand from some horsestealers of the same village, as the +soldiers refused the office). When everything was ready, the +governor ordered the first of the twelve culprits pointed out by +the landowner as the most guilty to come forward. The first to +come forward was the head of a family, a man of forty who had +always stood up manfully for the rights of his class, and +therefore was held in the greatest esteem by all the villagers. +He was led to the bench and stripped, and then ordered to lie +down. + +The peasant attempted to supplicate for mercy, but seeing it was +useless, he crossed himself and lay down. Two police constables +hastened to hold him down. The learned doctor stood by, in +readiness to give his aid and his medical science when they should +be needed. The convicts spit into their hands, brandished the +rods, and began to flog. It seemed, however, that the bench was +too narrow, and it was difficult to keep the victim writhing in +torture upon it. Then the governor ordered them to bring another +bench and to put a plank across them. Soldiers, with their hands +raised to their caps, and respectful murmurs of "Yes, your +Excellency," hasten obediently to carry out this order. Meanwhile +the tortured man, half naked, pale and scowling, stood waiting, +his eyes fixed on the ground and his teeth chattering. When +another bench had been brought they again made him lie down, and +the convicted thieves again began to flog him. + +The victim's back and thighs and legs, and even his sides, became +more and more covered with scars and wheals, and at every blow +there came the sound of the deep groans which he could no longer +restrain. In the crowd standing round were heard the sobs of +wives, mothers, children, the families of the tortured man and of +all the others picked out for punishment. + +The miserable governor, intoxicated with power, was counting the +strokes on his fingers, and never left off smoking cigarettes, +while several officious persons hastened on every opportunity to +offer him a burning match to light them. When more than fifty +strokes had been given, the peasant ceased to shriek and writhe, +and the doctor, who had been educated in a government institution +to serve his sovereign and his country with his scientific +attainments, went up to the victim, felt his pulse, listened to +his heart, and announced to the representative of authority that +the man undergoing punishment had lost consciousness, and that, in +accordance with the conclusions of science, to continue the +punishment would endanger the victim's life. But the miserable +governor, now completely intoxicated by the sight of blood, gave +orders that the punishment should go on, and the flogging was +continued up to seventy strokes, the number which the governor had +for some reason fixed upon as necessary. When the seventieth +stroke had been reached, the governor said "Enough! Next one!" +And the mutilated victim, his back covered with blood, was lifted +up and carried away unconscious, and another was led up. The sobs +and groans of the crowd grew louder. But the representative of +the state continued the torture. + +Thus they flogged each of them up to the twelfth, and each of them +received seventy strokes. They all implored mercy, shrieked and +groaned. The sobs and cries of the crowd of women grew louder and +more heart-rending, and the men's faces grew darker and darker. +But they were surrounded by troops, and the torture did not cease +till it had reached the limit which had been fixed by the caprice +of the miserable half-drunken and insane creature they called the +governor. + +The officials, and officers, and soldiers not only assisted in it, +but were even partly responsible for the affair, since by their +presence they prevented any interference on the part of the crowd. + +When I inquired of one of the governors why they made use of this +kind of torture when people had already submitted and soldiers +were stationed in the village, he replied with the important air +of a man who thoroughly understands all the subtleties of +statecraft, that if the peasants were not thoroughly subdued by +flogging, they would begin offering opposition to the decisions of +authorities again. When some of them had been thoroughly +tortured, the authority of the state would be secured forever +among them. + +And so that was why the Governor of Toula was going in his turn +with his subordinate officials, officers, and soldiers to carry +out a similar measure. By precisely the same means, i. e., by +murder and torture, obedience to the decision of the higher +authorities was to be secured. And this decision was to enable a +young landowner, who had an income of one hundred thousand, to +gain three thousand rubles more by stealing a forest from a whole +community of cold and famished peasants, to spend it, in two or +three weeks in the saloons of Moscow, Petersburg, or Paris. That +was what those people whom I met were going to do. + +After my thoughts had for two years been turned in the same +direction, fate seemed expressly to have brought me face to face +for the first time in my life with a fact which showed me +absolutely unmistakably in practice what had long been clear to me +in theory, that the organization of our society rests, not as +people interested in maintaining the present order of things like +to imagine, on certain principles of jurisprudence, but on simple +brute force, on the murder and torture of men. + +People who own great estates or fortunes, or who receive great +revenues drawn from the class who are in want even of necessities, +the working class, as well as all those who like merchants, +doctors, artists, clerks, learned professors, coachmen, cooks, +writers, valets, and barristers, make their living about these +rich people, like to believe that the privileges they enjoy are +not the result of force, but of absolutely free and just +interchange of services, and that their advantages, far from being +gained by such punishments and murders as took place in Orel and +several parts of Russia this year, and are always taking place all +over Europe and America, have no kind of connection with these +acts of violence. They like to believe that their privileges +exist apart and are the result of free contract among people; and +that the violent cruelties perpetrated on the people also exist +apart and are the result of some general judicial, political, or +economical laws. They try not to see that they all enjoy their +privileges as a result of the same fact which forces the peasants +who have tended the forest, and who are in the direct need of it +for fuel, to give it up to a rich landowner who has taken no part +in caring for its growth and has no need of it whatever--the fact, +that is, that if they don't give it up they will be flogged or +killed. + +And yet if it is clear that it was only by means of menaces, blows, or +murder, that the mill in Orel was enabled to yield a larger income, or +that the forest which the peasants had planted became the property of a +landowner, it should be equally clear that all the other exclusive +rights enjoyed by the rich, by robbing the poor of their necessities, +rest on the same basis of violence. If the peasants, who need land to +maintain their families, may not cultivate the land about their houses, +but one man, a Russian, English, Austrian, or any other great landowner, +possesses land enough to maintain a thousand families, though he does +not cultivate it himself, and if a merchant profiting by the misery of +the cultivators, taking corn from them at a third of its value, can keep +this corn in his granaries with perfect security while men are starving +all around him, and sell it again for three times its value to the very +cultivators he bought it from, it is evident that all this too comes +from the same cause. And if one man may not buy of another a commodity +from the other side of a certain fixed line, called the frontier, +without paying certain duties on it to men who have taken no part +whatever in its production--and if men are driven to sell their last cow +to pay taxes which the government distributes among its functionaries, +and spends on maintaining soldiers to murder these very taxpayers--it +would appear self-evident that all this does not come about as the +result of any abstract laws, but is based on just what was done in Orel, +and which may be done in Toula, and is done periodically in one form or +another throughout the whole world wherever there is a government, and +where there are rich and poor. + +Simply because torture and murder are not employed in every +instance of oppression by force, those who enjoy the exclusive +privileges of the ruling classes persuade themselves and others +that their privileges are not based on torture and murder, but on +some mysterious general causes, abstract laws, and so on. Yet one +would think it was perfectly clear that if men, who consider it +unjust (and all the working classes do consider it so nowadays), +still pay the principal part of the produce of their labor away to +the capitalist and the landowner, and pay taxes, though they know +to what a bad use these taxes are put, they do so not from +recognition of abstract laws of which they have never heard, but +only because they know they will be beaten and killed if they +don't do so. + +And if there is no need to imprison, beat, and kill men every time +the landlord collects his rents, every time those who are in want +of bread have to pay a swindling merchant three times its value, +every time the factory hand has to be content with a wage less +than half of the profit made by the employer, and every time a +poor man pays his last ruble in taxes, it is because so many men +have been beaten and killed for trying to resist these demands, +that the lesson has now been learnt very thoroughly. + +Just as a trained tiger, who does not eat meat put under his nose, +and jumps over a stick at the word of command, does not act thus +because he likes it, but because he remembers the red-hot irons or +the fast with which he was punished every time he did not obey; so +men submitting to what is disadvantageous or even ruinous to them, +and considered by them as unjust, act thus because they remember +what they suffered for resisting it. + +As for those who profit by the privileges gained by previous acts +of violence, they often forget and like to forget how these +privileges were obtained. But one need only recall the facts of +history, not the history of the exploits of different dynasties of +rulers, but real history, the history of the oppression of the +majority by a small number of men, to see that all the advantages +the rich have over the poor are based on nothing but flogging, +imprisonment, and murder. + +One need but reflect on the unceasing, persistent struggle of all +to better their material position, which is the guiding motive of +men of the present day, to be convinced that the advantages of the +rich over the poor could never and can never be maintained by +anything but force. + +There may be cases of oppression, of violence, and of punishments, +though they are rare, the aim of which is not to secure the +privileges of the propertied classes. But one may confidently +assert that in any society where, for every man living in ease, +there are ten exhausted by labor, envious, covetous, and often +suffering with their families from direct privation, all the +privileges of the rich, all their luxuries and superfluities, are +obtained and maintained only by tortures, imprisonment, and +murder. + +The train I met on the 9th of September going with soldiers, guns, +cartridges, and rods, to confirm the rich landowner in the +possession of a small forest which he had taken from the starving +peasants, which they were in the direst need of, and he was in no +need of at all, was a striking proof of how men are capable of +doing deeds directly opposed to their principles and their +conscience without perceiving it. + +The special train consisted of one first-class carriage for the +governor, the officials, and officers, and several luggage vans +crammed full of soldiers. The latter, smart young fellows in +their clean new uniforms, were standing about in groups or sitting +swinging their legs in the wide open doorways of the luggage vans. +Some were smoking, nudging each other, joking, grinning, and +laughing, others were munching sunflower seeds and spitting out +the husks with an air of dignity. Some of them ran along the +platform to drink some water from a tub there, and when they met +the officers they slackened their pace, made their stupid gesture +of salutation, raising their hands to their heads with serious +faces as though they were doing something of the greatest +importance. They kept their eyes on them till they had passed by +them, and then set off running still more merrily, stamping their +heels on the platform, laughing and chattering after the manner of +healthy, good-natured young fellows, traveling in lively company. + +They were going to assist at the murder of their fathers or +grandfathers just as if they were going on a party of pleasure, or +at any rate on some quite ordinary business. + +The same impression was produced by the well-dressed functionaries +and officers who were scattered about the platform and in the +first-class carriage. At a table covered with bottles was sitting +the governor, who was responsible for the whole expedition, +dressed in his half-military uniform and eating something while he +chatted tranquilly about the weather with some acquaintances he +had met, as though the business he was upon was of so simple and +ordinary a character that it could not disturb his serenity and +his interest in the change of weather. + +At a little distance from the table sat the general of the police. +He was not taking any refreshment, and had an impenetrable bored +expression, as though he were weary of the formalities to be gone +through. On all sides officers were bustling noisily about in +their red uniforms trimmed with gold; one sat at a table finishing +his bottle of beer, another stood at the buffet eating a cake, and +brushing the crumbs off his uniform, threw down his money with a +self-confident air; another was sauntering before the carriages of +our train, staring at the faces of the women. + +All these men who were going to murder or to torture the famishing +and defenseless creatures who provide them their sustenance had +the air of men who knew very well that they were doing their duty, +and some were even proud, were "glorying" in what they were doing. + +What is the meaning of it? + +All these people are within half an hour of reaching the place +where, in order to provide a wealthy young man with three thousand +rubles stolen from a whole community of famishing peasants, they +may be forced to commit the most horrible acts one can conceive, +to murder or torture, as was done in Orel, innocent beings, their +brothers. And they see the place and time approaching with +untroubled serenity. + +To say that all these government officials, officers, and soldiers +do not know what is before them is impossible, for they are +prepared for it. The governor must have given directions about +the rods, the officials must have sent an order for them, +purchased them, and entered the item in their accounts. The +military officers have given and received orders about cartridges. +They all know that they are going to torture, perhaps to kill, +their famishing fellow-creatures, and that they must set to work +within an hour. + +To say, as is usually said, and as they would themselves repeat, +that they are acting from conviction of the necessity for +supporting the state organization, would be a mistake. For in the +first place, these men have probably never even thought about +state organization and the necessity of it; in the second place, +they cannot possibly be convinced that the act in which they are +taking part will tend to support rather than to ruin the state; +and thirdly, in reality the majority, if not all, of these men, +far from ever sacrificing their own pleasure or tranquillity to +support the state, never let slip an opportunity of profiting at +the expense of the state in every way they can increase their own +pleasure and ease. So that they are not acting thus for the sake +of the abstract principle of the state. + +What is the meaning of it? + +Yet I know all these men. If I don't know all of them personally, +I know their characters pretty nearly, their past, and their way +of thinking. They certainly all have mothers, some of them wives +and children. They are certainly for the most part good, kind, +even tender-hearted fellows, who hate every sort of cruelty, not +to speak of murder; many of them would not kill or hurt an animal. +Moreover, they are all professed Christians and regard all +violence directed against the defenseless as base and disgraceful. + +Certainly not one of them would be capable in everyday life, for +his own personal profit, of doing a hundredth part of what the +Governor of Orel did. Every one of them would be insulted at the +supposition that he was capable of doing anything of the kind in +private life. + +And yet they are within half an hour of reaching the place where +they may be reduced to the inevitable necessity of committing this +crime. + +What is the meaning of it? + +But it is not only these men who are going by train prepared for +murder and torture. How could the men who began the whole +business, the landowner, the commissioner, the judges, and those +who gave the order and are responsible for it, the ministers, the +Tzar, who are also good men, professed Christians, how could they +elaborate such a plan and assent to it, knowing its consequences? +The spectators even, who took no part in the affair, how could +they, who are indignant at the sight of any cruelty in private +life, even the overtaxing of a horse, allow such a horrible deed +to be perpetrated? How was it they did not rise in indignation +and bar the roads, shouting, "No; flog and kill starving men +because they won't let their last possession be stolen from them +without resistance, that we won't allow!" But far from anyone +doing this, the majority, even of those who were the cause of the +affair, such as the commissioner, the landowner, the judge, and +those who took part in it and arranged it, as the governor, the +ministers, and the Tzar, are perfectly tranquil and do not even +feel a prick of conscience. And apparently all the men who are +going to carry out this crime are equally undisturbed. + +The spectators, who one would suppose could have no personal +interest in the affair, looked rather with sympathy than with +disapproval at all these people preparing to carry out this +infamous action. In the same compartment with me was a wood +merchant, who had risen from a peasant. He openly expressed aloud +his sympathy with such punishments. "They can't disobey the +authorities," he said; "that's what the authorities are for. Let +them have a lesson; send their fleas flying! They'll give over +making commotions, I warrant you. That's what they want." + +What is the meaning of it? + +It is not possible to say that all these people who have provoked +or aided or allowed this deed are such worthless creatures that, +knowing all the infamy of what they are doing, they do it against +their principles, some for pay and for profit, others through fear +of punishment. All of them in certain circumstances know how to +stand up for their principles. Not one of these officials would +steal a purse, read another man's letter, or put up with an +affront without demanding satisfaction. Not one of these officers +would consent to cheat at cards, would refuse to pay a debt of +honor, would betray a comrade, run away on the field of battle, or +desert the flag. Not one of these soldiers would spit out the +holy sacrament or eat meat on Good Friday. All these men are +ready to face any kind of privation, suffering, or danger rather +than consent to do what they regard as wrong. They have therefore +the strength to resist doing what is against their principles. + +It is even less possible to assert that all these men are such +brutes that it is natural and not distasteful to them to do such +deeds. One need only talk to these people a little to see that +all of them, the landowner even, and the judge, and the minister +and the Tzar and the government, the officers and the soldiers, +not only disapprove of such things in the depth of their soul, but +suffer from the consciousness of their participation in them when +they recollect what they imply. But they try not to think about +it. + +One need only talk to any of these who are taking part in the +affair from the landowner to the lowest policeman or soldier to +see that in the depth of their soul they all know it is a wicked +thing, that it would be better to have nothing to do with it, and +are suffering from the knowledge. + +A lady of liberal views, who was traveling in the same train with +us, seeing the governor and the officers in the first-class saloon +and learning the object of the expedition, began, intentionally +raising her voice so that they should hear, to abuse the existing +order of things and to cry shame on men who would take part in +such proceedings. Everyone felt awkward, none knew where to look, +but no one contradicted her. They tried to look as though such +remarks were not worth answering. But one could see by their +faces and their averted eyes that they were ashamed. I noticed +the same thing in the soldiers. They too knew that what they were +sent to do was a shameful thing, but they did not want to think +about what was before them. + +When the wood merchant, as I suspect insincerely only to show that +he was a man of education, began to speak of the necessity of such +measures, the soldiers who heard him all turned away from him, +scowling and pretending not to hear. + +All the men who, like the landowner, the commissioner, the +minister, and the Tzar, were responsible for the perpetration of +this act, as well as those who were now going to execute it, and +even those who were mere spectators of it, knew that it was a +wickedness, and were ashamed of taking any share in it, and even +of being present at it. + +Then why did they do it, or allow it to be done? + +Ask them the question. And the landowner who started the affair, +and the judge who pronounced a clearly unjust even though formally +legal decision, and those who commanded the execution of the +decision, and those who, like the policemen, soldiers, and +peasants, will execute the deed with their own hands, flogging and +killing their brothers, all who have devised, abetted, decreed, +executed, or allowed such crimes, will make substantially the same +reply. + +The authorities, those who have started, devised, and decreed the +matter, will say that such acts are necessary for the maintenance +of the existing order; the maintenance of the existing order is +necessary for the welfare of the country and of humanity, for the +possibility of social existence and human progress. + +Men of the poorer class, peasants and soldiers, who will have to +execute the deed of violence with their own hands, say that they +do so because it is the command of their superior authority, and +the superior authority knows what he is about. That those are in +authority who ought to be in authority, and that they know what +they are doing appears to them a truth of which there can be no +doubt. If they could admit the possibility of mistake or error, +it would only be in functionaries of a lower grade; the highest +authority on which all the rest depends seems to them immaculate +beyond suspicion. + +Though expressing the motives of their conduct differently, both +those in command and their subordinates are agreed in saying that +they act thus because the existing order is the order which must +and ought to exist at the present time, and that therefore to +support it is the sacred duty of every man. + +On this acceptance of the necessity and therefore immutability of +the existing order, all who take part in acts of violence on the +part of government base the argument always advanced in their +justification. "Since the existing order is immutable," they say, +"the refusal of a single individual to perform the duties laid +upon him will effect no change in things, and will only mean that +some other man will be put in his place who may do the work worse, +that is to say, more cruelly, to the still greater injury of the +victims of the act of violence." + +This conviction that the existing order is the necessary and +therefore immutable order, which it is a sacred duty for every man +to support, enables good men, of high principles in private life, +to take part with conscience more or less untroubled in crimes +such as that perpetrated in Orel, and that which the men in the +Toula train were going to perpetrate. + +But what is this conviction based on? It is easy to understand +that the landowner prefers to believe that the existing order is +inevitable and immutable, because this existing order secures him +an income from his hundreds and thousands of acres, by means of +which he can lead his habitual indolent and luxurious life. + +It is easy to understand that the judge readily believes in the +necessity of an order of things through which he receives a wage +fifty times as great as the most industrious laborer can earn, and +the same applies to all the higher officials. It is only under +the existing RÉGIME that as governor, prosecutor, senator, members +of the various councils, they can receive their several thousands +of rubles a year, without which they and their families would at +once sink into ruin, since if it were not for the position they +occupy they would never by their own abilities, industry, or +acquirements get a thousandth part of their salaries. The +minister, the Tzar, and all the higher authorities are in the same +position. The only distinction is that the higher and the more +exceptional their position, the more necessary it is for them to +believe that the existing order is the only possible order of +things. For without it they would not only be unable to gain an +equal position, but would be found to fall lower than all other +people. A man who has of his own free will entered the police +force at a wage of ten rubles, which he could easily earn in any +other position, is hardly dependent on the preservation of the +existing RÉGIME, and so he may not believe in its immutability. +But a king or an emperor, who receives millions for his post, and +knows that there are thousands of people round him who would like +to dethrone him and take his place, who knows that he will never +receive such a revenue or so much honor in any other position, who +knows, in most cases through his more or less despotic rule, that +if he were dethroned he would have to answer for all his abuse of +power--he cannot but believe in the necessity and even sacredness +of the existing order. The higher and the more profitable a man's +position, the more unstable it becomes, and the more terrible and +dangerous a fall from it for him, the more firmly the man believes +in the existing order, and therefore with the more ease of +conscience can such a man perpetrate cruel and wicked acts, as +though they were not in his own interest, but for the maintenance +of that order. + +This is the case with all men in authority, who occupy positions +more profitable than they could occupy except for the present +RÉGIME, from the lowest police officer to the Tzar. All of them +are more or less convinced that the existing order is immutable, +because--the chief consideration--it is to their advantage. But +the peasants, the soldiers, who are at the bottom of the social +scale, who have no kind of advantage from the existing order, who +are in the very lowest position of subjection and humiliation, +what forces them to believe that the existing order in which they +are in their humble and disadvantageous position is the order +which ought to exist, and which they ought to support even at the +cost of evil actions contrary to their conscience? + +What forces these men to the false reasoning that the existing +order is unchanging, and that therefore they ought to support it, +when it is so obvious, on the contrary, that it is only unchanging +because they themselves support it? + +What forces these peasants, taken only yesterday from the plow and +dressed in ugly and unseemly costumes with blue collars and gilt +buttons, to go with guns and sabers and murder their famishing +fathers and brothers? They gain no kind of advantage and can be +in no fear of losing the position they occupy, because it is worse +than that from which they have been taken. + +The persons in authority of the higher orders--landowners, +merchants, judges, senators, governors, ministers, tzars, and +officers--take part in such doings because the existing order is +to their advantage. In other respects they are often good and +kind-hearted men, and they are more able to take part in such +doings because their share in them is limited to suggestions, +decisions, and orders. These persons in authority never do +themselves what they suggest, decide, or command to be done. For +the most part they do not even see how all the atrocious deeds +they have suggested and authorized are carried out. But the +unfortunate men of the lower orders, who gain no kind of advantage +from the existing RÉGIME, but, on the contrary, are treated with +the utmost contempt, support it even by dragging people with their +own hands from their families, handcuffing them, throwing them in +prison, guarding them, shooting them. + +Why do they do it? What forces them to believe that the existing +order is unchanging and they must support it? + +All violence rests, we know, on those who do the beating, the +handcuffing, the imprisoning, and the killing with their own hands. If +there were no soldiers or armed policemen, ready to kill or outrage +anyone as they are ordered, not one of those people who sign sentences +of death, imprisonment, or galley-slavery for life would make up his +mind to hang, imprison, or torture a thousandth part of those whom, +quietly sitting in his study, he now orders to be tortured in all kinds +of ways, simply because he does not see it nor do it himself, but only +gets it done at a distance by these servile tools. + +All the acts of injustice and cruelty which are committed in the +ordinary course of daily life have only become habitual because +there are these men always ready to carry out such acts of +injustice and cruelty. If it were not for them, far from anyone +using violence against the immense masses who are now ill-treated, +those who now command their punishment would not venture to +sentence them, would not even dare to dream of the sentences they +decree with such easy confidence at present. And if it were not +for these men, ready to kill or torture anyone at their +commander's will, no one would dare to claim, as all the idle +landowners claim with such assurance, that a piece of land, +surrounded by peasants, who are in wretchedness from want of land, +is the property of a man who does not cultivate it, or that stores +of corn taken by swindling from the peasants ought to remain +untouched in the midst of a population dying of hunger because the +merchants must make their profit. If it were not for these +servile instruments at the disposal of the authorities, it could +never have entered the head of the landowner to rob the peasants +of the forest they had tended, nor of the officials to think they +are entitled to their salaries, taken from the famishing people, +the price of their oppression; least of all could anyone dream of +killing or exiling men for exposing falsehood and telling the +truth. All this can only be done because the authorities are +confidently assured that they have always these servile tools at +hand, ready to carry all their demands into effect by means of +torture and murder. + +All the deeds of violence of tyrants from Napoleon to the lowest +commander of a company who fires upon a crowd, can only be +explained by the intoxicating effect of their absolute power over +these slaves. All force, therefore, rests on these men, who carry +out the deeds of violence with their own hands, the men who serve +in the police or the army, especially the army, for the police +only venture to do their work because the army is at their back. + +What, then, has brought these masses of honest men, on whom the +whole thing depends, who gain nothing by it, and who have to do +these atrocious deeds with their own hands, what has brought them +to accept the amazing delusion that the existing order, +unprofitable, ruinous, and fatal as it is for them, is the order +which ought to exist? + +Who has led them into this amazing delusion? + +They can never have persuaded themselves that they ought to do what is +against their conscience, and also the source of misery and ruin for +themselves, and all their class, who make up nine-tenths of the +population. + +"How can you kill people, when it is written in God's commandment: +'Thou shalt not kill'?" I have often inquired of different +soldiers. And I always drove them to embarrassment and confusion +by reminding them of what they did not want to think about. They +knew they were bound by the law of God, "Thou shalt not kill," and +knew too that they were bound by their duty as soldiers, but had +never reflected on the contradiction between these duties. The +drift of the timid answers I received to this question was always +approximately this: that killing in war and executing criminals by +command of the government are not included in the general +prohibition of murder. But when I said this distinction was not +made in the law of God, and reminded them of the Christian duty of +fraternity, forgiveness of injuries, and love, which could not be +reconciled with murder, the peasants usually agreed, but in their +turn began to ask me questions. "How does it happen," they +inquired, "that the government [which according to their ideas +cannot do wrong] sends the army to war and orders criminals to be +executed." When I answered that the government does wrong in +giving such orders, the peasants fell into still greater +confusion, and either broke off the conversation or else got angry +with me. + +"They must have found a law for it. The archbishops know as much +about it as we do, I should hope," a Russian soldier once observed +to me. And in saying this the soldier obviously set his mind at +rest, in the full conviction that his spiritual guides had found a +law which authorized his ancestors, and the tzars and their +descendants, and millions of men, to serve as he was doing +himself, and that the question I had put him was a kind of hoax or +conundrum on my part. + +Everyone in our Christian society knows, either by tradition or by +revelation or by the voice of conscience, that murder is one of +the most fearful crimes a man can commit, as the Gospel tells us, +and that the sin of murder cannot be limited to certain persons, +that is, murder cannot be a sin for some and not a sin for others. +Everyone knows that if murder is a sin, it is always a sin, +whoever are the victims murdered, just like the sin of adultery, +theft, or any other. At the same time from their childhood up men +see that murder is not only permitted, but even sanctioned by the +blessing of those whom they are accustomed to regard as their +divinely appointed spiritual guides, and see their secular leaders +with calm assurance organizing murder, proud to wear murderous +arms, and demanding of others in the name of the laws of the +country, and even of God, that they should take part in murder. +Men see that there is some inconsistency here, but not being able +to analyze it, involuntarily assume that this apparent +inconsistency is only the result of their ignorance. The very +grossness and obviousness of the inconsistency confirms them in +this conviction. + +They cannot imagine that the leaders of civilization, the +educated classes, could so confidently preach two such opposed +principles as the law of Christ and murder. A simple uncorrupted +youth cannot imagine that those who stand so high in his opinion, +whom he regards as holy or learned men, could for any object +whatever mislead him so shamefully. But this is just what has +always been and always is done to him. It is done (1) by +instilling, by example and direct instruction, from childhood up, +into the working people, who have not time to study moral and +religious questions for themselves, the idea that torture and +murder are compatible with Christianity, and that for certain +objects of state, torture and murder are not only admissible, but +ought to be employed; and (2) by instilling into certain of the +people, who have either voluntarily enlisted or been taken by +compulsion into the army, the idea that the perpetration of murder +and torture with their own hands is a sacred duty, and even a +glorious exploit, worthy of praise and reward. + +The general delusion is diffused among all people by means of the +catechisms or books, which nowadays replace them, in use for the +compulsory education of children. In them it is stated that +violence, that is, imprisonment and execution, as well as murder +in civil or foreign war in the defense and maintenance of the +existing state organization (whatever that may be, absolute or +limited monarchy, convention, consulate, empire of this or that +Napoleon or Boulanger, constitutional monarchy, commune or +republic) is absolutely lawful and not opposed to morality and +Christianity. + +This is stated in all catechisms or books used in schools. And +men are so thoroughly persuaded of it that they grow up, live and +die in that conviction without once entertaining a doubt about it. + +This is one form of deception, the general deception instilled +into everyone, but there is another special deception practiced +upon the soldiers or police who are picked out by one means or +another to do the torturing and murdering necessary to defend and +maintain the existing RÉGIME. + +In all military instructions there appears in one form or another +what is expressed in the Russian military code in the following +words: + +ARTICLE 87. To carry out exactly and without comment the orders +of a superior officer means: to carry out an order received from a +superior officer exactly without considering whether it is good or +not, and whether it is possible to carry it out. The superior +officer is responsible for the consequences of the order he gives. + +ARTICLE 88. The subordinate ought never to refuse to carry out +the orders of a superior officer except when he sees clearly that +in carrying out his superior officer's command, he breaks [the law +of God, one involuntarily expects; not at all] HIS OATH OF +FIDELITY AND ALLEGIANCE TO THE TZAR. + +It is here said that the man who is a soldier can and ought to +carry out all the orders of his superior without exception. And +as these orders for the most part involve murder, it follows that +he ought to break all the laws of God and man. The one law he may +not break is that of fidelity and allegiance to the man who +happens at a given moment to be in power. + +Precisely the same thing is said in other words in all codes of +military instruction. And it could not be otherwise, since the +whole power of the army and the state is based in reality on this +delusive emancipation of men from their duty to God and their +conscience, and the substitution of duty to their superior officer +for all other duties. + +This, then, is the foundation of the belief of the lower classes +that the existing RÉGIME so fatal for them is the RÉGIME which +ought to exist, and which they ought therefore to support even by +torture and murder. + +This belief is founded on a conscious deception practiced on them +by the higher classes. + +And it cannot be otherwise. To compel the lower classes, which +are more numerous, to oppress and ill treat themselves, even at +the cost of actions opposed to their conscience, it was necessary +to deceive them. And it has been done accordingly. + +Not many days ago I saw once more this shameless deception being +openly practiced, and once more I marveled that it could be +practiced so easily and impudently. + +At the beginning of November, as I was passing through Toula, I +saw once again at the gates of the Zemsky Courthouse the crowd of +peasants I had so often seen before, and heard the drunken shouts +of the men mingled with the pitiful lamentations of their wives +and mothers. It was the recruiting session. + +I can never pass by the spectacle. It attracts me by a kind of +fascination of repulsion. I again went into the crowd, took my +stand among the peasants, looked about and asked questions. And +once again I was amazed that this hideous crime can be perpetrated +so easily in broad daylight and in the midst of a large town. + +As the custom is every year, in all the villages and hamlets of +the one hundred millions of Russians, on the 1st of November, the +village elders had assembled the young men inscribed on the lists, +often their own sons among them, and had brought them to the town. + +On the road the recruits have been drinking without intermission, +unchecked by the elders, who feel that going on such an insane +errand, abandoning their wives and mothers and renouncing all they +hold sacred in order to become a senseless instrument of +destruction, would be too agonizing if they were not stupefied +with spirits. + +And so they have come, drinking, swearing, singing, fighting and +scuffling with one another. They have spent the night in taverns. +In the morning they have slept off their drunkenness and have +gathered together at the Zemsky Court-house. + +Some of them, in new sheepskin pelisses, with knitted scarves +round their necks, their eyes swollen from drinking, are shouting +wildly to one another to show their courage; others, crowded near +the door, are quietly and mournfully waiting their turn, between +their weeping wives and mothers (I had chanced upon the day of the +actual enrolling, that is, the examination of those whose names +are on the list); others meantime were crowding into the hall of +the recruiting office. + +Inside the office the work was going on rapidly. The door is +opened and the guard calls Piotr Sidorov. Piotr Sidorov starts, +crosses himself, and goes into a little room with a glass door, +where the conscripts undress. A comrade of Piotr Sidorov's, who +has just been passed for service, and come naked out of the +revision office, is dressing hurriedly, his teeth chattering. +Sidorov has already heard the news, and can see from his face too +that he has been taken. He wants to ask him questions, but they +hurry him and tell him to make haste and undress. He throws off +his pelisse, slips his boots off his feet, takes off his waistcoat +and draws his shirt over his head, and naked, trembling all over, +and exhaling an odor of tobacco, spirits, and sweat, goes into the +revision office, not knowing what to do with his brawny bare arms. + +Directly facing him in the revision office hangs in a great gold +frame a portrait of the Tzar in full uniform with decorations, and +in the corner a little portrait of Christ in a shirt and a crown +of thorns. In the middle of the room is a table covered with +green cloth, on which there are papers lying and a three-cornered +ornament surmounted by an eagle--the zertzal. Round the table are +sitting the revising officers, looking collected and indifferent. +One is smoking a cigarette; another is looking through some +papers. Directly Sidorov comes in, a guard goes up to him, places +him under the measuring frame, raising him under his chin, and +straightening his legs. + +The man with the cigarette--he is the doctor--comes up, and without +looking at the recruit's face, but somewhere beyond it, feels his body +over with an air of disgust, measures him, tests him, tells the guard to +open his mouth, tells him to breathe, to speak. Someone notes something +down. At last without having once looked him in the face the doctor +says, "Right. Next one!" and with a weary air sits down again at the +table. The soldiers again hustle and hurry the lad. He somehow gets into +his trousers, wraps his feet in rags, puts on his boots, looks for his +scarf and cap, and bundles his pelisse under his arm. Then they lead him +into the main hall, shutting him off apart from the rest by a bench, +behind which all the conscripts who have been passed for service are +waiting. Another village lad like himself, but from a distant province, +now a soldier armed with a gun with a sharp-pointed bayonet at the end, +keeps watch over him, ready to run him through the body if he should +think of trying to escape. + +Meantime the crowd of fathers, mothers, and wives, hustled by the +police, are pressing round the doors to hear whose lad has been +taken, whose is let off. One of the rejected comes out and +announces that Piotr is taken, and at once a shrill cry is heard +from Piotr's young wife, for whom this word "taken" means +separation for four or five years, the life of a soldier's wife as +a servant, often a prostitute. + +But here comes a man along the street with flowing hair and in a +peculiar dress, who gets out of his droskhy and goes into the +Zemsky Court-house. The police clear a way for him through the +crowd. It is the "reverend father" come to administer the oath. +And this "father," who has been persuaded that he is specially and +exclusively devoted to the service of Christ, and who, for the +most part, does not himself see the deception in which he lives, +goes into the hall where the conscripts are waiting. He throws +round him a kind of curtain of brocade, pulls his long hair out +over it, opens the very Gospel in which swearing is forbidden, +takes the cross, the very cross on which Christ was crucified +because he would not do what this false servant of his is telling +men to do, and puts them on the lectern. And all these unhappy, +defenseless, and deluded lads repeat after him the lie, which he +utters with the assurance of familiarity. + +He reads and they repeat after him: + +"I promise and swear by Almighty God upon his holy Gospel," etc., +"to defend," etc., and that is, to murder anyone I am told to, and +to do everything I am told by men I know nothing of, and who care +nothing for me except as an instrument for perpetrating the crimes +by which they are kept in their position of power, and my brothers +in their condition of misery. All the conscripts repeat these +ferocious words without thinking. And then the so-called +"father" goes away with a sense of having correctly and +conscientiously done his duty. And all these poor deluded lads +believe that these nonsensical and incomprehensible words which +they have just uttered set them free for the whole time of their +service from their duties as men, and lay upon them fresh and more +binding duties as soldiers. + +And this crime is perpetrated publicly and no one cries out to the +deceiving and the deceived: "Think what you are doing; this is the +basest, falsest lie, by which not bodies only, but souls too, are +destroyed." + +No one does this. On the contrary, when all have been enrolled, +and they are to be let out again, the military officer goes with a +confident and majestic air into the hall where the drunken, +cheated lads are shut up, and cries in a bold, military voice: +"Your health, my lads! I congratulate you on 'serving the Tzar!'" +And they, poor fellows (someone has given them a hint beforehand), +mutter awkwardly, their voices thick with drink, something to the +effect that they are glad. + +Meantime the crowd of fathers, mothers, and wives is standing at +the doors waiting. The women keep their tearful eyes fixed on the +doors. They open at last, and out come the conscripts, unsteady, +but trying to put a good face on it. Here are Piotr and Vania and +Makar trying not to look their dear ones in the face. Nothing is +heard but the wailing of the wives and mothers. Some of the lads +embrace them and weep with them, others make a show of courage, +and others try to comfort them. + +The wives and mothers, knowing that they will be left for three, +four, or five years without their breadwinners, weep and rehearse +their woes aloud. The fathers say little. They only utter a +clucking sound with their tongues and sigh mournfully, knowing +that they will see no more of the steady lads they have reared and +trained to help them, that they will come back not the same quiet +hard-working laborers, but for the most part conceited and +demoralized, unfitted for their simple life. + +And then all the crowd get into their sledges again and move away +down the street to the taverns and pot-houses, and louder than +ever sounds the medley of singing and sobbing, drunken shouts, and +the wailing of the wives and mothers, the sounds of the accordeon +and oaths. They all turn into the taverns, whose revenues go to +the government, and the drinking bout begins, which stifles their +sense of the wrong which is being done them. + +For two or three weeks they go on living at home, and most of that +time they are "jaunting," that is, drinking. + +On a fixed day they collect them, drive them together like a flock +of sheep, and begin to train them in the military exercises and +drill. Their teachers are fellows like themselves, only deceived +and brutalized two or three years sooner. The means of +instruction are: deception, stupefaction, blows, and vodka. And +before a year has passed these good, intelligent, healthy-minded +lads will be as brutal beings as their instructors. + +"Come, now, suppose your father were arrested and tried to make +his escape?" I asked a young soldier. + +"I should run him through with my bayonet," he answered with the +foolish intonation peculiar to soldiers; "and if he made off, I +ought to shoot him," he added, obviously proud of knowing what he +must do if his father were escaping. + +And when a good-hearted lad has been brought to a state lower than +that of a brute, he is just what is wanted by those who use him as +an instrument of violence. He is ready; the man has been +destroyed and a new instrument of violence has been created. And +all this is done every year, every autumn, everywhere, through all +Russia in broad daylight in the midst of large towns, where all +may see it, and the deception is so clever, so skillful, that +though all men know the infamy of it in their hearts, and see all +its horrible results, they cannot throw it off and be free. + +When one's eyes are opened to this awful deception practiced upon +us, one marvels that the teachers of the Christian religion and of +morals, the instructors of youth, or even the good-hearted and +intelligent parents who are to be found in every society, can +teach any kind of morality in a society in which it is openly +admitted (it is so admitted, under all governments and all +churches) that murder and torture form an indispensable element in +the life of all, and that there must always be special men trained +to kill their fellows, and that any one of us may have to become +such a trained assassin. + +How can children, youths, and people generally be taught any kind +of morality--not to speak of teaching in the spirit of +Christianity--side by side with the doctrine that murder is +necessary for the public weal, and therefore legitimate, and that +there are men, of whom each of us may have to be one, whose duty +is to murder and torture and commit all sorts of crimes at the +will of those who are in possession of authority. If this is so, +and one can and ought to murder and torture, there is not, and +cannot be, any kind of moral law, but only the law that might is +right. And this is just how it is. In reality that is the +doctrine--justified to some by the theory of the struggle for +existence--which reigns in our society. + +And, indeed, what sort of ethical doctrine could admit the +legitimacy of murder for any object whatever? It is as impossible +as a theory of mathematics admitting that two is equal to three. + +There may be a semblance of mathematics admitting that two is +equal to three, but there can be no real science of mathematics. +And there can only be a semblance of ethics in which murder in the +shape of war and the execution of criminals is allowed, but no +true ethics. The recognition of the life of every man as sacred +is the first and only basis of all ethics. + +The doctrine of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth has been +abrogated by Christianity, because it is the justification of +immorality, and a mere semblance of equity, and has no real +meaning. Life is a value which has no weight nor size, and cannot +be compared to any other, and so there is no sense in destroying a +life for a life. Besides, every social law aims at the +amelioration of man's life. What way, then, can the annihilation +of the life of some men ameliorate men's life? Annihilation of +life cannot be a means of the amelioration of life; it is a +suicidal act. + +To destroy another life for the sake of justice is as though a +man, to repair the misfortune of losing one arm, should cut off +the other arm for the sake of equity. + +But putting aside the sin of deluding men into regarding the most +awful crime as a duty, putting aside the revolting sin of using +the name and authority of Christ to sanction what he most +condemned, not to speak of the curse on those who cause these +"little ones" to offend--how can people who cherish their own way +of life, their progress, even from the point of view of their +personal security, allow the formation in their midst of an +overwhelming force as senseless, cruel, and destructive as every +government is organized on the basis of an army? Even the most +cruel band of brigands is not so much to be dreaded as such a +government. + +The power of every brigand chief is at least so far limited that +the men of his band preserve at least some human liberty, and can +refuse to commit acts opposed to their conscience. But, owing to +the perfection to which the discipline of the army has been +brought, there is no limit to check men who form part of a +regularly organized government. There are no crimes so revolting +that they would not readily be committed by men who form part of a +government or army, at the will of anyone (such as Boulanger, +Napoleon, or Pougachef) who may chance to be at their head. + +Often when one sees conscription levies, military drills and +maneuvers, police officers with loaded revolvers, and sentinels at +their posts with bayonets on their rifles; when one hears for +whole days at a time (as I hear it in Hamovniky where I live) the +whistle of balls and the dull thud as they fall in the sand; when +one sees in the midst of a town where any effort at violence in +self-defense is forbidden, where the sale of powder and of +chemicals, where furious driving and practicing as a doctor +without a diploma, and so on, are not allowed; thousands of +disciplined troops, trained to murder, and subject to one man's +will; one asks oneself how can people who prize their security +quietly allow it, and put up with it? Apart from the immorality +and evil effects of it, nothing can possibly be more unsafe. What +are people thinking about? I don't mean now Christians, ministers +of religion, philanthropists, and moralists, but simply people who +value their life, their security, and their comfort. This +organization, we know, will work just as well in one man's hands +as another's. To-day, let us assume, power is in the hands of a +ruler who can be endured, but to-morrow it may be seized by a +Biron, an Elizabeth, a Catherine, a Pougachef, a Napoleon I., or a +Napoleon III. + +And the man in authority, endurable to-day, may become a brute +to-morrow, or may be succeeded by a mad or imbecile heir, like the King +of Bavaria or our Paul I. + +And not only the highest authorities, but all little satraps +scattered over everywhere, like so many General Baranovs, +governors, police officers even, and commanders of companies, can +perpetrate the most awful crimes before there is time for them to +be removed from office. And this is what is constantly happening. + +One involuntarily asks how can men let it go on, not from higher +considerations only, but from regard to their own safety? + +The answer to this question is that it is not all people who do +tolerate it (some--the greater proportion--deluded and submissive, +have no choice and have to tolerate anything). It is tolerated by +those who only under such an organization can occupy a position of +profit. They tolerate it, because for them the risks of suffering +from a foolish or cruel man being at the head of the government or +the army are always less than the disadvantages to which they +would be exposed by the destruction of the organization itself. + +A judge, a commander of police, a governor, or an officer will +keep his position just the same under Boulanger or the republic, +under Pougachef or Catherine. He will lose his profitable +position for certain, if the existing order of things which +secured it to him is destroyed. And so all these people feel no +uneasiness as to who is at the head of the organization, they will +adapt themselves to anyone; they only dread the downfall of the +organization itself, and that is the reason--though often an +unconscious one--that they support it. + +One often wonders why independent people, who are not forced to do so in +any way, the so-called ÉLITE of society, should go into the army in +Russia, England, Germany, Austria, and even France, and seek +opportunities of becoming murderers. Why do even high-principled parents +send their boys to military schools? Why do mothers buy their children +toy helmets, guns, and swords as playthings? (The peasant's children +never play at soldiers, by the way). Why do good men and even women, who +have certainly no interest in war, go into raptures over the various +exploits of Skobeloff and others, and vie with one another in glorifying +them? Why do men, who are not obliged to do so, and get no fee for it, +devote, like the marshals of nobility in Russia, whole months of toil to +a business physically disagreeable and morally painful--the enrolling of +conscripts? Why do all kings and emperors wear the military uniform? Why +do they all hold military reviews, why do they organize maneuvers, +distribute rewards to the military, and raise monuments to generals and +successful commanders? Why do rich men of independent position consider +it an honor to perform a valet's duties in attendance on crowned +personages, flattering them and cringing to them and pretending to +believe in their peculiar superiority? Why do men who have ceased to +believe in the superstitions of the mediaeval Church, and who could not +possibly believe in them seriously and consistently, pretend to believe +in and give their support to the demoralizing and blasphemous +institution of the church? Why is it that not only governments but +private persons of the higher classes, try so jealously to maintain the +ignorance of the people? Why do they fall with such fury on any effort +at breaking down religious superstitions or really enlightening the +people? Why do historians, novelists, and poets, who have no hope of +gaining anything by their flatteries, make heroes of kings, emperors, +and conquerors of past times? Why do men, who call themselves learned, +dedicate whole lifetimes to making theories to prove that violence +employed by authority against the people is not violence at all, but a +special right? One often wonders why a fashionable lady or an artist, +who, one would think, would take no interest in political or military +questions, should always condemn strikes of working people, and defend +war; and should always be found without hesitation opposed to the one, +favorable to the other. + +But one no longer wonders when one realizes that in the higher +classes there is an unerring instinct of what tends to maintain +and of what tends to destroy the organization by virtue of which +they enjoy their privileges. The fashionable lady had certainly +not reasoned out that if there were no capitalists and no army to +defend them, her husband would have no fortune, and she could not +have her entertainments and her ball-dresses. And the artist +certainly does not argue that he needs the capitalists and the +troops to defend them, so that they may buy his pictures. But +instinct, replacing reason in this instance, guides them +unerringly. And it is precisely this instinct which leads all +men, with few exceptions, to support all the religious, political, +and economic institutions which are to their advantage. + +But is it possible that the higher classes support the existing +order of things simply because it is to their advantage? Cannot +they see that this order of things is essentially irrational, that +it is no longer consistent with the stage of moral development +attained by people, and with public opinion, and that it is +fraught with perils? The governing classes, or at least the good, +honest, and intelligent people of them, cannot but suffer from +these fundamental inconsistencies, and see the dangers with which +they are threatened. And is it possible that all the millions of +the lower classes can feel easy in conscience when they commit +such obviously evil deeds as torture and murder from fear of +punishment? Indeed, it could not be so, neither the former nor +the latter could fail to see the irrationality of their conduct, +if the complexity of government organization did not obscure the +unnatural senselessness of their actions. + +So many instigate, assist, or sanction the commission of every one +of these actions that no one who has a hand in them feels himself +morally responsible for it. + +It is the custom among assassins to oblige all the witnesses of a +murder to strike the murdered victim, that the responsibility may +be divided among as large a number of people as possible. The +same principle in different forms is applied under the government +organization in the perpetration of the crimes, without which no +government organization could exist. Rulers always try to +implicate as many citizens as possible in all the crimes committed +in their support. + +Of late this tendency has been expressed in a very obvious manner +by the obligation of all citizens to take part in legal processes +as jurors, in the army as soldiers, in the local government, or +legislative assembly, as electors or members. + +Just as in a wicker basket all the ends are so hidden away that it +is hard to find them, in the state organization the responsibility +for the crimes committed is so hidden away that men will commit +the most atrocious acts without seeing their responsibility for +them. + +In ancient times tyrants got credit for the crimes they committed, +but in our day the most atrocious infamies, inconceivable under +the Neros, are perpetrated and no one gets blamed for them. + +One set of people have suggested, another set have proposed, a +third have reported, a fourth have decided, a fifth have +confirmed, a sixth have given the order, and a seventh set of men +have carried it out. They hang, they flog to death women, old +men, and innocent people, as was done recently among us in Russia +at the Yuzovsky factory, and is always being done everywhere in +Europe and America in the struggle with the anarchists and all +other rebels against the existing order; they shoot and hang men +by hundreds and thousands, or massacre millions in war, or break +men's hearts in solitary confinement, and ruin their souls in the +corruption of a soldier's life, and no one is responsible. + +At the bottom of the social scale soldiers, armed with guns, +pistols, and sabers, injure and murder people, and compel men +through these means to enter the army, and are absolutely +convinced that the responsibility for the actions rests solely on +the officers who command them. + +At the top of the scale--the Tzars, presidents, ministers, and +parliaments decree these tortures and murders and military +conscription, and are fully convinced that since they are either +placed in authority by the grace of God or by the society they +govern, which demands such decrees from them, they cannot be held +responsible. Between these two extremes are the intermediary +personages who superintend the murders and other acts of violence, +and are fully convinced that the responsibility is taken off their +shoulders partly by their superiors who have given the order, +partly by the fact that such orders are expected from them by all +who are at the bottom of the scale. + +The authority who gives the orders and the authority who executes +them at the two extreme ends of the state organization, meet +together like the two ends of a ring; they support and rest on one +another and inclose all that lies within the ring. + +Without the conviction that there is a person or persons who will +take the whole responsibility of his acts, not one soldier would +ever lift a hand to commit a murder or other deed of violence. + +Without the conviction that it is expected by the whole people not +a single king, emperor, president, or parliament would order +murders or acts of violence. + +Without the conviction that there are persons of a higher grade +who will take the responsibility, and people of a lower grade who +require such acts for their welfare, not one of the intermediate +class would superintend such deeds. + +The state is so organized that wherever a man is placed in the +social scale, his irresponsibility is the same. The higher his +grade the more he is under the influence of demands from below, +and the less he is controlled by orders from above, and VICE +VERSA. + +All men, then, bound together by state organization, throw the +responsibility of their acts on one another, the peasant soldier +on the nobleman or merchant who is his officer, and the officer on +the nobleman who has been appointed governor, the governor on the +nobleman or son of an official who is minister, the minister on +the member of the royal family who occupies the post of Tzar, and +the Tzar again on all these officials, noblemen, merchants, and +peasants. But that is not all. Besides the fact that men get rid +of the sense of responsibility for their actions in this way, they +lose their moral sense of responsibility also, by the fact that in +forming themselves into a state organization they persuade +themselves and each other so continually, and so indefatigably, +that they are not all equal, but "as the stars apart," that they +come to believe it genuinely themselves. Thus some are persuaded +that they are not simple people like everyone else, but special +people who are to be specially honored. It is instilled into +another set of men by every possible means that they are inferior +to others, and therefore must submit without a murmur to every +order given them by their superiors. + +On this inequality, above all, on the elevation of some and the +degradation of others, rests the capacity men have of being blind +to the insanity of the existing order of life, and all the cruelty +and criminality of the deception practiced by one set of men on +another. + +Those in whom the idea has been instilled that they are invested +with a special supernatural grandeur and consequence, are so +intoxicated with a sense of their own imaginary dignity that they +cease to feel their responsibility for what they do. + +While those, on the other hand, in whom the idea is fostered that +they are inferior animals, bound to obey their superiors in +everything, fall, through this perpetual humiliation, into a +strange condition of stupefied servility, and in this stupefied +state do not see the significance of their actions and lose all +consciousness of responsibility for what they do. + +The intermediate class, who obey the orders of their superiors on +the one hand and regard themselves as superior beings on the +other, are intoxicated by power and stupefied by servility at the +same time and so lose the sense of their responsibility. + +One need only glance during a review at the commander-in-chief, +intoxicated with self-importance, followed by his retinue, all on +magnificent and gayly appareled horses, in splendid uniforms and wearing +decorations, and see how they ride to the harmonious and solemn strains +of music before the ranks of soldiers, all presenting arms and petrified +with servility. One need only glance at this spectacle to understand +that at such moments, when they are in a state of the most complete +intoxication, commander-in-chief, soldiers, and intermediate officers +alike, would be capable of committing crimes of which they would never +dream under other conditions. + +The intoxication produced by such stimulants as parades, reviews, +religious solemnities, and coronations, is, however, an acute and +temporary condition; but there are other forms of chronic, +permanent intoxication, to which those are liable who have any +kind of authority, from that of the Tzar to that of the lowest +police officer at the street corner, and also those who are in +subjection to authority and in a state of stupefied servility. +The latter, like all slaves, always find a justification for their +own servility, in ascribing the greatest possible dignity and +importance to those they serve. + +It is principally through this false idea of inequality, and the +intoxication of power and of servility resulting from it, that men +associated in a state organization are enabled to commit acts opposed to +their conscience without the least scruple or remorse. Under the +influence of this intoxication, men imagine themselves no longer simply +men as they are, but some special beings--noblemen, merchants, +governors, judges, officers, tzars, ministers, or soldiers--no longer +bound by ordinary human duties, but by other duties far more +weighty--the peculiar duties of a nobleman, merchant, governor, judge, +officer, tzar, minister, or soldier. + +Thus the landowner, who claimed the forest, acted as he did only +because he fancied himself not a simple man, having the same +rights to life as the peasants living beside him and everyone +else, but a great landowner, a member of the nobility, and under +the influence of the intoxication of power he felt his dignity +offended by the peasants' claims. It was only through this +feeling that, without considering the consequences that might +follow, he sent in a claim to be reinstated in his pretended +rights. + +In the same way the judges, who wrongfully adjudged the forest to +the proprietor, did so simply because they fancied themselves not +simply men like everyone else, and so bound to be guided in +everything only by what they consider right, but, under the +intoxicating influence of power, imagined themselves the +representatives of the justice which cannot err; while under the +intoxicating influence of servility they imagined themselves bound +to carry out to the letter the instructions inscribed in a certain +book, the so-called law. In the same way all who take part in +such an affair, from the highest representative of authority who +signs his assent to the report, from the superintendent presiding +at the recruiting sessions, and the priest who deludes the +recruits, to the lowest soldier who is ready now to fire on his +own brothers, imagine, in the intoxication of power or of +servility, that they are some conventional characters. They do +not face the question that is presented to them, whether or not +they ought to take part in what their conscience judges an evil +act, but fancy themselves various conventional personages--one as +the Tzar, God's anointed, an exceptional being, called to watch +over the happiness of one hundred millions of men; another as the +representative of nobility; another as a priest, who has received +special grace by his ordination; another as a soldier, bound by +his military oath to carry out all he is commanded without +reflection. + +Only under the intoxication of the power or the servility of their +imagined positions could all these people act as they do. + +Were not they all firmly convinced that their respective vocations +of tzar, minister, governor, judge, nobleman, landowner, +superintendent, officer, and soldier are something real and +important, not one of them would even think without horror and +aversion of taking part in what they do now. + +The conventional positions, established hundreds of years, +recognized for centuries and by everyone, distinguished by special +names and dresses, and, moreover, confirmed by every kind of +solemnity, have so penetrated into men's minds through their +senses, that, forgetting the ordinary conditions of life common to +all, they look at themselves and everyone only from this +conventional point of view, and are guided in their estimation of +their own actions and those of others by this conventional +standard. + +Thus we see a man of perfect sanity and ripe age, simply because +he is decked out with some fringe, or embroidered keys on his coat +tails, or a colored ribbon only fit for some gayly dressed girl, +and is told that he is a general, a chamberlain, a knight of the +order of St. Andrew, or some similar nonsense, suddenly become +self-important, proud, and even happy, or, on the contrary, grow +melancholy and unhappy to the point of falling ill, because he has +failed to obtain the expected decoration or title. Or what is +still more striking, a young man, perfectly sane in every other +matter, independent and beyond the fear of want, simply because he +has been appointed judicial prosecutor or district commander, +separates a poor widow from her little children, and shuts her up +in prison, leaving her children uncared for, all because the +unhappy woman carried on a secret trade in spirits, and so +deprived the revenue of twenty-five rubles, and he does not feel +the least pang of remorse. Or what is still more amazing; a man, +otherwise sensible and good-hearted, simply because he is given a +badge or a uniform to wear, and told that he is a guard or customs +officer, is ready to fire on people, and neither he nor those +around him regard him as to blame for it, but, on the contrary, +would regard him as to blame if he did not fire. To say nothing +of judges and juries who condemn men to death, and soldiers who +kill men by thousands without the slightest scruple merely because +it has been instilled into them that they are not simply men, but +jurors, judges, generals, and soldiers. + +This strange and abnormal condition of men under state +organization is usually expressed in the following words: "As a +man, I pity him; but as guard, judge, general, governor, tzar, or +soldier, it is my duty to kill or torture him." Just as though +there were some positions conferred and recognized, which would +exonerate us from the obligations laid on each of us by the fact +of our common humanity. + +So, for example, in the case before us, men are going to murder +and torture the famishing, and they admit that in the dispute +between the peasants and the landowner the peasants are right (all +those in command said as much to me). They know that the peasants +are wretched, poor, and hungry, and the landowner is rich and +inspires no sympathy. Yet they are all going to kill the peasants +to secure three thousand rubles for the landowner, only because at +that moment they fancy themselves not men but governor, official, +general of police, officer, and soldier, respectively, and +consider themselves bound to obey, not the eternal demands of the +conscience of man, but the casual, temporary demands of their +positions as officers or soldiers. + +Strange as it may seem, the sole explanation of this astonishing +phenomenon is that they are in the condition of the hypnotized, +who, they say, feel and act like the creatures they are commanded +by the hypnotizer to represent. When, for instance, it is +suggested to the hypnotized subject that he is lame, he begins to +walk lame, that he is blind, and he cannot see, that he is a wild +beast, and he begins to bite. This is the state, not only of +those who were going on this expedition, but of all men who +fulfill their state and social duties in preference to and in +detriment of their human duties. + +The essence of this state is that under the influence of one +suggestion they lose the power of criticising their actions, and +therefore do, without thinking, everything consistent with the +suggestion to which they are led by example, precept, or +insinuation. + +The difference between those hypnotized by scientific men and +those under the influence of the state hypnotism, is that an +imaginary position is suggested to the former suddenly by one +person in a very brief space of time, and so the hypnotized state +appears to us in a striking and surprising form, while the +imaginary position suggested by state influence is induced slowly, +little by little, imperceptibly from childhood, sometimes during +years, or even generations, and not in one person alone but in a +whole society. + +"But," it will be said, "at all times, in all societies, the +majority of persons--all the children, all the women absorbed in +the bearing and rearing of the young, all the great mass of the +laboring population, who are under the necessity of incessant and +fatiguing physical labor, all those of weak character by nature, +all those who are abnormally enfeebled intellectually by the +effects of nicotine, alcohol, opium, or other intoxicants--are +always in a condition of incapacity for independent thought, and +are either in subjection to those who are on a higher intellectual +level, or else under the influence of family or social traditions, +of what is called public opinion, and there is nothing unnatural +or incongruous in their subjection." + +And truly there is nothing unnatural in it, and the tendency of +men of small intellectual power to follow the lead of those on a +higher level of intelligence is a constant law, and it is owing to +it that men can live in societies and on the same principles at +all. The minority consciously adopt certain rational principles +through their correspondence with reason, while the majority act +on the same principles unconsciously because it is required by +public opinion. + +Such subjection to public opinion on the part of the +unintellectual does not assume an unnatural character till the +public opinion is split into two. + +But there are times when a higher truth, revealed at first to a +few persons, gradually gains ground till it has taken hold of such +a number of persons that the old public opinion, founded on a +lower order of truths, begins to totter and the new is ready to +take its place, but has not yet been firmly established. It is +like the spring, this time of transition, when the old order of +ideas has not quite broken up and the new has not quite gained a +footing. Men begin to criticise their actions in the light of the +new truth, but in the meantime in practice, through inertia and +tradition, they continue to follow the principles which once +represented the highest point of rational consciousness, but are +now in flagrant contradiction with it. + +Then men are in an abnormal, wavering condition, feeling the +necessity of following the new ideal, and yet not bold enough to +break with the old-established traditions. + +Such is the attitude in regard to the truth of Christianity not +only of the men in the Toula train, but of the majority of men of +our times, alike of the higher and the lower orders. + +Those of the ruling classes, having no longer any reasonable +justification for the profitable positions they occupy, are +forced, in order to keep them, to stifle their higher rational +faculty of loving, and to persuade themselves that their positions +are indispensable. And those of the lower classes, exhausted by +toil and brutalized of set purpose, are kept in a permanent +deception, practiced deliberately and continuously by the higher +classes upon them. + +Only in this way can one explain the amazing contradictions with +which our life is full, and of which a striking example was +presented to me by the expedition I met on the 9th of September; +good, peaceful men, known to me personally, going with untroubled +tranquillity to perpetrate the most beastly, senseless, and vile +of crimes. Had not they some means of stifling their conscience, +not one of them would be capable of committing a hundredth part of +such a villainy. + +It is not that they have not a conscience which forbids them from +acting thus, just as, even three or four hundred years ago, when +people burnt men at the stake and put them to the rack they had a +conscience which prohibited it; the conscience is there, but it +has been put to sleep--in those in command by what the +psychologists call auto-suggestion; in the soldiers, by the direct +conscious hypnotizing exerted by the higher classes. + +Though asleep, the conscience is there, and in spite of the +hypnotism it is already speaking in them, and it may awake. + +All these men are in a position like that of a man under +hypnotism, commanded to do something opposed to everything he +regards as good and rational, such as to kill his mother or his +child. The hypnotized subject feels himself bound to carry out +the suggestion--he thinks he cannot stop--but the nearer he gets +to the time and the place of the action, the more the benumbed +conscience begins to stir, to resist, and to try to awake. And no +one can say beforehand whether he will carry out the suggestion or +not; which will gain the upper hand, the rational conscience or +the irrational suggestion. It all depends on their relative +strength. + +That is just the case with the men in the Toula train and in +general with everyone carrying out acts of state violence in our +day. + +There was a time when men who set out with the object of murder and +violence, to make an example, did not return till they had carried out +their object, and then, untroubled by doubts or scruples, having calmly +flogged men to death, they returned home and caressed their children, +laughed, amused themselves, and enjoyed the peaceful pleasures of family +life. In those days it never struck the landowners and wealthy men who +profited by these crimes, that the privileges they enjoyed had any +direct connection with these atrocities. But now it is no longer so. Men +know now, or are not far from knowing, what they are doing and for what +object they do it. They can shut their eyes and force their conscience +to be still, but so long as their eyes are opened and their conscience +undulled, they must all--those who carry out and those who profit by +these crimes alike--see the import of them. Sometimes they realize it +only after the crime has been perpetrated, sometimes they realize it +just before its perpetration. Thus those who commanded the recent acts +of violence in Nijni-Novgorod, Saratov, Orel, and the Yuzovsky factory +realized their significance only after their perpetration, and now those +who commanded and those who carried out these crimes are ashamed before +public opinion and their conscience. I have talked to soldiers who had +taken part in these crimes, and they always studiously turned the +conversation off the subject, and when they spoke of it it was with +horror and bewilderment. There are cases, too, when men come to +themselves just before the perpetration of the crime. Thus I know the +case of a sergeant-major who had been beaten by two peasants during the +repression of disorder and had made a complaint. The next day, after +seeing the atrocities perpetrated on the other peasants, he entreated +the commander of his company to tear up his complaint and let off the +two peasants. I know cases when soldiers, commanded to fire, have +refused to obey, and I know many cases of officers who have refused to +command expeditions for torture and murder. So that men sometimes come +to their senses long before perpetrating the suggested crime, sometimes +at the very moment before perpetrating it, sometimes only afterward. + +The men traveling in the Toula train were going with the object of +killing and injuring their fellow-creatures, but none could tell +whether they would carry out their object or not. However obscure +his responsibility for the affair is to each, and however strong +the idea instilled into all of them that they are not men, but +governors, officials, officers, and soldiers, and as such beings +can violate every human duty, the nearer they approach the place +of the execution, the stronger their doubts as to its being right, +and this doubt will reach its highest point when the very moment +for carrying it out has come. + +The governor, in spite of all the stupefying effect of his +surroundings, cannot help hesitating when the moment comes to give +final decisive command. He knows that the action of the Governor +of Orel has called down upon him the disapproval of the best +people, and he himself, influenced by the public opinion of the +circles in which he moves, has more than once expressed his +disapprobation of him. He knows that the prosecutor, who ought to +have come, flatly refused to have anything to do with it, because +he regarded it as disgraceful. He knows, too, that there may be +changes any day in the government, and that what was a ground for +advancement yesterday may be the cause of disgrace to-morrow. And +he knows that there is a press, if not in Russia, at least abroad, +which may report the affair and cover him with ignominy forever. +He is already conscious of a change in public opinion which +condemns what was formerly a duty. Moreover, he cannot feel fully +assured that his soldiers will at the last moment obey him. He is +wavering, and none can say beforehand what he will do. + +All the officers and functionaries who accompany him experience in +greater or less degree the same emotions. In the depths of their +hearts they all know that what they are doing is shameful, that to +take part in it is a discredit and blemish in the eyes of some +people whose opinion they value. They know that after murdering +and torturing the defenseless, each of them will be ashamed to +face his betrothed or the woman he is courting. And besides, they +too, like the governor, are doubtful whether the soldiers' +obedience to orders can be reckoned on. What a contrast with the +confident air they all put on as they sauntered about the station +and platform! Inwardly they were not only in a state of suffering +but even of suspense. Indeed they only assumed this bold and +composed manner to conceal the wavering within. And this feeling +increased as they drew near the scene of action. + +And imperceptible as it was, and strange as it seems to say so, +all that mass of lads, the soldiers, who seemed so submissive, +were in precisely the same condition. + +These are not the soldiers of former days, who gave up the natural +life of industry and devoted their whole existence to debauchery, +plunder, and murder, like the Roman legionaries or the warriors of +the Thirty Years' War, or even the soldiers of more recent times +who served for twenty-five years in the army. They have mostly +been only lately taken from their families, and are full of the +recollections of the good, rational, natural life they have left +behind them. + +All these lads, peasants for the most part, know what is the +business they have come about; they know that the landowners +always oppress their brothers the peasants, and that therefore it +is most likely the same thing here. Moreover, a majority of them +can now read, and the books they read are not all such as exalt a +military life; there are some which point out its immorality. +Among them are often free-thinking comrades--who have enlisted +voluntarily--or young officers of liberal ideas, and already the +first germ of doubt has been sown in regard to the unconditional +legitimacy and glory of their occupation. + +It is true that they have all passed through that terrible, skillful +education, elaborated through centuries, which kills all initiative in a +man, and that they are so trained to mechanical obedience that at the +word of command: "Fire!--All the line!--Fire!" and so on, their guns +will rise of themselves and the habitual movements will be performed. +But "Fire!" now does not mean shooting into the sand for amusement, it +means firing on their broken-down, exploited fathers and brothers whom +they see there in the crowd, with women and children shouting and waving +their arms. Here they are--one with his scanty beard and patched coat +and plaited shoes of reed, just like the father left at home in Kazan or +Riazan province; one with gray beard and bent back, leaning on a staff +like the old grandfather; one, a young fellow in boots and a red shirt, +just as he was himself a year ago--he, the soldier who must fire upon +him. There, too, a woman in reed shoes and PANYOVA, just like the mother +left at home. + +Is it possible they must fire on them? And no one knows what each +soldier will do at the last minute. The least word, the slightest +allusion would be enough to stop them. + +At the last moment they will all find themselves in the position +of a hypnotized man to whom it has been suggested to chop a log, +who coming up to what has been indicated to him as a log, with the +ax already lifted to strike, sees that it is not a log but his +sleeping brother. He may perform the act that has been suggested +to him, and he may come to his senses at the moment of performing +it. In the same way all these men may come to themselves in time +or they may go on to the end. + +If they do not come to themselves, the most fearful crime will be +committed, as in Orel, and then the hypnotic suggestion under +which they act will be strengthened in all other men. If they do +come to themselves, not only this terrible crime will not be +perpetrated, but many also who hear of the turn the affair has +taken will be emancipated from the hypnotic influence in which +they were held, or at least will be nearer being emancipated from +it. + +Even if a few only come to themselves, and boldly explain to the +others all the wickedness of such a crime, the influence of these +few may rouse the others to shake off the controlling suggestion, +and the atrocity will not be perpetrated. + +More than that, if a few men, even of those who are not taking +part in the affair but are only present at the preparations for +it, or have heard of such things being done in the past, do not +remain indifferent but boldly and plainly express their +detestation of such crimes to those who have to execute them, and +point out to them all the senselessness, cruelty, and wickedness +of such acts, that alone will be productive of good. + +That was what took place in the instance before us. It was enough +for a few men, some personally concerned in the affair and others +simply outsiders, to express their disapproval of floggings that +had taken place elsewhere, and their contempt and loathing for +those who had taken part in inflicting them, for a few persons in +the Toula case to express their repugnance to having any share in +it; for a lady traveling by the train, and a few other bystanders +at the station, to express to those who formed the expedition +their disgust at what they were doing; for one of the commanders +of a company, who was asked for troops for the restoration of +order, to reply that soldiers ought not to be butchers--and thanks +to these and a few other seemingly insignificant influences +brought to bear on these hypnotized men, the affair took a +completely different turn, and the troops, when they reached the +place, did not inflict any punishment, but contented themselves +with cutting down the forest and giving it to the landowner. + +Had not a few persons had a clear consciousness that what they +were doing was wrong, and consequently influenced one another in +that direction, what was done at Orel would have taken place at +Toula. Had this consciousness been still stronger, and had the +influence exerted been therefore greater than it was, it might +well have been that the governor with his troops would not even +have ventured to cut down the forest and give it to the landowner. + +Had that consciousness been stronger still, it might well have +been that the governor would not have ventured to go to the scene +of action at all; even that the minister would not have ventured +to form this decision or the Tzar to ratify it. + +All depends, therefore, on the strength of the consciousness of +Christian truth on the part of each individual man. + +And, therefore, one would have thought that the efforts of all men +of the present day who profess to wish to work for the welfare of +humanity would have been directed to strengthening this +consciousness of Christian truth in themselves and others. + +But, strange to say, it is precisely those people who profess most +anxiety for the amelioration of human life, and are regarded as +the leaders of public opinion, who assert that there is no need to +do that, and that there are other more effective means for the +amelioration of men's condition. They affirm that the +amelioration of human life is effected not by the efforts of +individual men, to recognize and propagate the truth, but by the +gradual modification of the general conditions of life, and that +therefore the efforts of individuals should be directed to the +gradual modification of external conditions for the better. For +every advocacy of a truth inconsistent with the existing order by +an individual is, they maintain, not only useless but injurious, +since in provokes coercive measures on the part of the +authorities, restricting these individuals from continuing any +action useful to society. According to this doctrine all +modifications in human life are brought about by precisely the +same laws as in the life of the animals. + +So that, according to this doctrine, all the founders of +religions, such as Moses and the prophets, Confucius, Lao-Tse, +Buddha, Christ, and others, preached their doctrines and their +followers accepted them, not because they loved the truth, but +because the political, social, and above all economic conditions +of the peoples among whom these religions arose were favorable for +their origination and development. + +And therefore the chief efforts of the man who wishes to serve +society and improve the condition of humanity ought, according to +this doctrine, to be directed not to the elucidation and +propagation of truth, but to the improvement of the external +political, social, and above all economic conditions. And the +modification of these conditions is partly effected by serving the +government and introducing liberal and progressive principles into +it, partly in promoting the development of industry and the +propagation of socialistic ideas, and most of all by the diffusion +of science. According to this theory it is of no consequence +whether you profess the truth revealed to you, and therefore +realize it in your life, or at least refrain from committing +actions opposed to the truth, such as serving the government and +strengthening its authority when you regard it as injurious, +profiting by the capitalistic system when you regard it as wrong, +showing veneration for various ceremonies which you believe to be +degrading superstitions, giving support to the law when you +believe it to be founded on error, serving as a soldier, taking +oaths, and lying, and lowering yourself generally. It is useless +to refrain from all that; what is of use is not altering the +existing forms of life, but submitting to them against your own +convictions, introducing liberalism into the existing +institutions, promoting commerce, the propaganda of socialism, and +the triumphs of what is called science, and the diffusion of +education. According to this theory one can remain a landowner, +merchant, manufacturer, judge, official in government pay, officer +or soldier, and still be not only a humane man, but even a +socialist and revolutionist. + +Hypocrisy, which had formerly only a religious basis in the +doctrine of original sin, the redemption, and the Church, has in +our day gained a new scientific basis and has consequently caught +in its nets all those who had reached too high a stage of +development to be able to find support in religious hypocrisy. So +that while in former days a man who professed the religion of the +Church could take part in all the crimes of the state, and profit +by them, and still regard himself as free from any taint of sin, +so long as he fulfilled the external observances of his creed, +nowadays all who do not believe in the Christianity of the Church, +find similar well-founded irrefutable reasons in science for +regarding themselves as blameless and even highly moral in spite +of their participation in the misdeeds of government and the +advantages they gain from them. + +A rich landowner--not only in Russia, but in France, England, Germany, +or America--lives on the rents exacted; from the people living on his +land, and robs these generally poverty-stricken people of all he can get +from them. This man's right of property in the land rests on the fact +that at every effort on the part of the oppressed people, without his +consent, to make use of the land he considers his, troops are called out +to subject them to punishment and murder. One would have thought that it +was obvious that a man living in this way was an evil, egoistic creature +and could not possibly consider himself a Christian or a liberal. One +would have supposed it evident that the first thing such a man must do, +if he wishes to approximate to Christianity or liberalism, would be to +cease to plunder and ruin men by means of acts of state violence in +support of his claim to the land. And so it would be if it were not for +the logic of hypocrisy, which reasons that from a religious point of +view possession or non-possession of land is of no consequence for +salvation, and from the scientific point of view, giving up the +ownership of land is a useless individual renunciation, and that the +welfare of mankind is not promoted in that way, but by a gradual +modification of external forms. And so we see this man, without the +least trouble of mind or doubt that people will believe in his +sincerity, organizing an agricultural exhibition, or a temperance +society, or sending some soup and stockings by his wife or children to +three old women, and boldly in his family, in drawing rooms, in +committees, and in the press, advocating the Gospel or humanitarian +doctrine of love for one's neighbor in general and the agricultural +laboring population in particular whom he is continually exploiting and +oppressing. And other people who are in the same position as he believe +him, commend him, and solemnly discuss with him measures for +ameliorating the condition of the working-class, on whose exploitation +their whole life rests, devising all kinds of possible methods for this, +except the one without which all improvement of their condition is +impossible, i. e., refraining from taking from them the land necessary +for their subsistence. (A striking example of this hypocrisy was the +solicitude displayed by the Russian landowners last year, their efforts +to combat the famine which they had caused, and by which they profited, +selling not only bread at the highest price, but even potato haulm at +five rubles the dessiatine (about 2 and four-fifths acres) for fuel to +the freezing peasants.) + +Or take a merchant whose whole trade--like all trade indeed--is +founded on a series of trickery, by means of which, profiting by +the ignorance or need of others, he buys goods below their value +and sells them again above their value. One would have fancied it +obvious that a man whose whole occupation was based on what in his +own language is called swindling, if it is done under other +conditions, ought to be ashamed of his position, and could not any +way, while he continues a merchant, profess himself a Christian or +a liberal. + +But the sophistry of hypocrisy reasons that the merchant can pass for a +virtuous man without giving up his pernicious course of action; a +religious man need only have faith and a liberal man need only promote +the modification of external conditions--the progress of industry. And +so we see the merchant (who often goes further and commits acts of +direct dishonesty, selling adulterated goods, using false weights and +measures, and trading in products injurious to health, such as alcohol +and opium) boldly regarding himself and being regarded by others, so +long as he does not directly deceive his colleagues in business, as a +pattern of probity and virtue. And if he spends a thousandth part of his +stolen wealth on some public institution, a hospital or museum or +school, then he is even regarded as the benefactor of the people on the +exploitation and corruption of whom his whole prosperity has been +founded: if he sacrifices, too, a portion of his ill-gotten gains on a +Church and the poor, then he is an exemplary Christian. + +A manufacturer is a man whose whole income consists of value +squeezed out of the workmen, and whose whole occupation is based +on forced, unnatural labor, exhausting whole generations of men. +It would seem obvious that if this man professes any Christian or +liberal principles, he must first of all give up ruining human +lives for his own profit. But by the existing theory he is +promoting industry, and he ought not to abandon his pursuit. It +would even be injuring society for him to do so. And so we see +this man, the harsh slave-driver of thousands of men, building +almshouses with little gardens two yards square for the workmen +broken down in toiling for him, and a bank, and a poorhouse, and a +hospital--fully persuaded that he has amply expiated in this way +for all the human lives morally and physically ruined by him--and +calmly going on with his business, taking pride in it. + +Any civil, religious, or military official in government employ, +who serves the state from vanity, or, as is most often the case, +simply for the sake of the pay wrung from the harassed and +toilworn working classes (all taxes, however raised, always fall +on labor), if he, as is very seldom the case, does not directly +rob the government in the usual way, considers himself, and is +considered by his fellows, as a most useful and virtuous member of +society. + +A judge or a public prosecutor knows that through his sentence or +his prosecution hundreds or thousands of poor wretches are at once +torn from their families and thrown into prison, where they may go +out of their minds, kill themselves with pieces of broken glass, +or starve themselves; he knows that they have wives and mothers +and children, disgraced and made miserable by separation from +them, vainly begging for pardon for them or some alleviation of +their sentence, and this judge or this prosecutor is so hardened +in his hypocrisy that he and his fellows and his wife and his +household are all fully convinced that he may be a most exemplary +man. According to the metaphysics of hypocrisy it is held that he +is doing a work of public utility. And this man who has ruined +hundreds, thousands of men, who curse him and are driven to +desperation by his action, goes to mass, a smile of shining +benevolence on his smooth face, in perfect faith in good and in +God, listens to the Gospel, caresses his children, preaches moral +principles to them, and is moved by imaginary sufferings. + +All these men and those who depend on them, their wives, tutors, +children, cooks, actors, jockeys, and so on, are living on the blood +which by one means or another, through one set of blood-suckers or +another, is drawn out of the working class, and every day their +pleasures cost hundreds or thousands of days of labor. They see the +sufferings and privations of these laborers and their children, their +aged, their wives, and their sick, they know the punishments inflicted +on those who resist this organized plunder, and far from decreasing, far +from concealing their luxury, they insolently display it before these +oppressed laborers who hate them, as though intentionally provoking them +with the pomp of their parks and palaces, their theaters, hunts, and +races. At the same time they continue to persuade themselves and others +that they are all much concerned about the welfare of these working +classes, whom they have always trampled under their feet, and on +Sundays, richly dressed, they drive in sumptuous carriages to the houses +of God built in very mockery of Christianity, and there listen to men, +trained to this work of deception, who in white neckties or in brocaded +vestments, according to their denomination, preach the love for their +neighbor which they all gainsay in their lives. And these people have so +entered into their part that they seriously believe that they really are +what they pretend to be. + +The universal hypocrisy has so entered into the flesh and blood of +all classes of our modern society, it has reached such a pitch +that nothing in that way can rouse indignation. Hypocrisy in the +Greek means "acting," and acting--playing a part--is always +possible. The representatives of Christ give their blessing to +the ranks of murderers holding their guns loaded against their +brothers; "for prayer" priests, ministers of various Christian +sects are always present, as indispensably as the hangman, at +executions, and sanction by their presence the compatibility of +murder with Christianity (a clergyman assisted at the attempt at +murder by electricity in America)--but such facts cause no one any +surprise. + +There was recently held at Petersburg an international exhibition +of instruments of torture, handcuffs, models of solitary cells, +that is to say instruments of torture worse than knouts or rods, +and sensitive ladies and gentlemen went and amused themselves by +looking at them. + +No one is surprised that together with its recognition of liberty, +equality, and fraternity, liberal science should prove the +necessity of war, punishment, customs, the censure, the regulation +of prostitution, the exclusion of cheap foreign laborers, the +hindrance of emigration, the justifiableness of colonization, +based on poisoning and destroying whole races of men called +savages, and so on. + +People talk of the time when all men shall profess what is called +Christianity (that is, various professions of faith hostile to one +another), when all shall be well-fed and clothed, when all shall +be united from one end of the world to the other by telegraphs and +telephones, and be able to communicate by balloons, when all the +working classes are permeated by socialistic doctrines, when the +Trades Unions possess so many millions of members and so many +millions of rubles, when everyone is educated and all can read +newspapers and learn all the sciences. + +But what good or useful thing can come of all these improvements, +if men do not speak and act in accordance with what they believe +to be the truth? + +The condition of men is the result of their disunion. Their +disunion results from their not following the truth which is one, +but falsehoods which are many. The sole means of uniting men is +their union in the truth. And therefore the more sincerely men +strive toward the truth, the nearer they get to unity. + +But how can men be united in the truth or even approximate to it, +if they do not even express the truth they know, but hold that +there is no need to do so, and pretend to regard as truth what +they believe to be false? + +And therefore no improvement is possible so long as men are +hypocritical and hide the truth from themselves, so long as they +do not recognize that their union and therefore their welfare is +only possible in the truth, and do not put the recognition and +profession of the truth revealed to them higher than everything +else. + +All the material improvements that religious and scientific men +can dream of may be accomplished; all men may accept Christianity, +and all the reforms desired by the Bellamys may be brought about +with every possible addition and improvement, but if the hypocrisy +which rules nowadays still exists, if men do not profess the truth +they know, but continue to feign belief in what they do not +believe and veneration for what they do not respect, their +condition will remain the same, or even grow worse and worse. The +more men are freed from privation; the more telegraphs, +telephones, books, papers, and journals there are; the more means +there will be of diffusing inconsistent lies and hypocrisies, and +the more disunited and consequently miserable will men become, +which indeed is what we see actually taking place. + +All these material reforms may be realized, but the position of +humanity will not be improved. But only let each man, according +to his powers, at once realize in his life the truth he knows, or +at least cease to support the falsehoods he is supporting in the +place of the truth, and at once, in this year 1893, we should see +such reforms as we do not dare to hope for within a century--the +emancipation of men and the reign of truth upon earth. + +Not without good reason was Christ's only harsh and threatening +reproof directed against hypocrites and hypocrisy. It is not +theft nor robbery nor murder nor fornication, but falsehood, the +special falsehood of hypocrisy, which corrupts men, brutalizes +them and makes them vindictive, destroys all distinction between +right and wrong in their conscience, deprives them of what is the +true meaning of all real human life, and debars them from all +progress toward perfection. + +Those who do evil through ignorance of the truth provoke sympathy +with their victims and repugnance for their actions, they do harm +only to those they attack; but those who know the truth and do +evil masked by hypocrisy, injure themselves and their victims, and +thousands of other men as well who are led astray by the falsehood +with which the wrongdoing is disguised. + +Thieves, robbers, murderers, and cheats, who commit crimes +recognized by themselves and everyone else as evil, serve as an +example of what ought not to be done, and deter others from +similar crimes. But those who commit the same thefts, robberies, +murders, and other crimes, disguising them under all kinds of +religious or scientific or humanitarian justifications, as all +landowners, merchants, manufacturers, and government officials do, +provoke others to imitation, and so do harm not only to those who +are directly the victims of their crimes, but to thousands and +millions of men whom they corrupt by obliterating their sense of +the distinction between right and wrong. + +A single fortune gained by trading in goods necessary to the +people or in goods pernicious in their effects, or by financial +speculations, or by acquiring land at a low price the value of +which is increased by the needs of the population, or by an +industry ruinous to the health and life of those employed in it, +or by military or civil service of the state, or by any employment +which trades on men's evil instincts--a single fortune acquired in +any of these ways, not only with the sanction, but even with the +approbation of the leading men in society, and masked with an +ostentation of philanthropy, corrupts men incomparably more than +millions of thefts and robberies committed against the recognized +forms of law and punishable as crimes. + +A single execution carried out by prosperous educated men +uninfluenced by passion, with the approbation and assistance of +Christian ministers, and represented as something necessary and +even just, is infinitely more corrupting and brutalizing to men +than thousands of murders committed by uneducated working people +under the influence of passion. An execution such as was proposed +by Joukovsky, which would produce even a sentiment of religious +emotion in the spectators, would be one of the most perverting +actions imaginable. (SEE vol. iv. of the works of Joukovsky.) + +Every war, even the most humanely conducted, with all its ordinary +consequences, the destruction of harvests, robberies, the license +and debauchery, and the murder with the justifications of its +necessity and justice, the exaltation and glorification of +military exploits, the worship of the flag, the patriotic +sentiments, the feigned solicitude for the wounded, and so on, +does more in one year to pervert men's minds than thousands of +robberies, murders, and arsons perpetrated during hundreds of +years by individual men under the influence of passion. + +The luxurious expenditure of a single respectable and so-called +honorable family, even within the conventional limits, consuming +as it does the produce of as many days of labor as would suffice +to provide for thousands living in privation near, does more to +pervert men's minds than thousands of the violent orgies of coarse +tradespeople, officers, and workmen of drunken and debauched +habits, who smash up glasses and crockery for amusement. + +One solemn religious procession, one service, one sermon from the +altar-steps or the pulpit, in which the preacher does not believe, +produces incomparably more evil than thousands of swindling +tricks, adulteration of food, and so on. + +We talk of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. But the hypocrisy of +our society far surpasses the comparatively innocent hypocrisy of +the Pharisees. They had at least an external religious law, the +fulfillment of which hindered them from seeing their obligations +to their neighbors. Moreover, these obligations were not nearly +so clearly defined in their day. Nowadays we have no such +religious law to exonerate us from our duties to our neighbors (I +am not speaking now of the coarse and ignorant persons who still +fancy their sins can be absolved by confession to a priest or by +the absolution of the Pope). On the contrary, the law of the +Gospel which we all profess in one form or another directly +defines these duties. Besides, the duties which had then been +only vaguely and mystically expressed by a few prophets have now +been so clearly formulated, have become such truisms, that they +are repeated even by schoolboys and journalists. And so it would +seem that men of to-day cannot pretend that they do not know these +duties. + +A man of the modern world who profits by the order of things based +on violence, and at the same time protests that he loves his +neighbor and does not observe what he is doing in his daily life +to his neighbor, is like a brigand who has spent his life in +robbing men, and who, caught at last, knife in hand, in the very +act of striking his shrieking victim, should declare that he had +no idea that what he was doing was disagreeable to the man he had +robbed and was prepared to murder. Just as this robber and +murderer could not deny what was evident to everyone, so it would +seem that a man living upon the privations of the oppressed +classes cannot persuade himself and others that he desires the +welfare of those he plunders, and that he does not know how the +advantages he enjoys are obtained. + +It is impossible to convince ourselves that we do not know that +there are a hundred thousand men in prison in Russia alone to +guarantee the security of our property and tranquillity, and that +we do not know of the law tribunals in which we take part, and +which, at our initiative, condemn those who have attacked our +property or our security to prison, exile, or forced labor, +whereby men no worse than those who condemn them are ruined and +corrupted; or that we do not know that we only possess all that we +do possess because it has been acquired and is defended for us by +murder and violence. + +We cannot pretend that we do not see the armed policeman who +marches up and down beneath our windows to guarantee our security +while we eat our luxurious dinner, or look at the new piece at the +theater, or that we are unaware of the existence of the soldiers +who will make their appearance with guns and cartridges directly +our property is attacked. + +We know very well that we are only allowed to go on eating our +dinner, to finish seeing the new play, or to enjoy to the end the +ball, the Christmas fete, the promenade, the races or, the hunt, +thanks to the policeman's revolver or the soldier's rifle, which +will shoot down the famished outcast who has been robbed of his +share, and who looks round the corner with covetous eyes at our +pleasures, ready to interrupt them instantly, were not the +policeman and the soldier there prepared to run up at our first +call for help. + +And therefore just as a brigand caught in broad daylight in the +act cannot persuade us that he did not lift his knife in order to +rob his victim of his purse, and had no thought of killing him, we +too, it would seem, cannot persuade ourselves or others that the +soldiers and policemen around us are not to guard us, but only for +defense against foreign foes, and to regulate traffic and fêtes +and reviews; we cannot persuade ourselves and others that we do +not know that men do not like dying of hunger, bereft of the right +to gain their subsistence from the earth on which they live; that +they do not like working underground, in the water, or in stifling +heat, for ten to fourteen hours a day, at night in factories to +manufacture objects for our pleasure. One would imagine it +impossible to deny what is so obvious. Yet it is denied. + +Still, there are, among the rich, especially among the young, and +among women, persons whom I am glad to meet more and more +frequently, who, when they are shown in what way and at what cost +their pleasures are purchased, do not try to conceal the truth, +but hiding their heads in their hands, cry: "Ah! don't speak of +that. If it is so, life is impossible." But though there are +such sincere people who even though they cannot renounce their +fault, at least see it, the vast majority of the men of the modern +world have so entered into the parts they play in their hypocrisy +that they boldly deny what is staring everyone in the face. + +"All that is unjust," they say; "no one forces the people to work +for the landowners and manufacturers. That is an affair of free +contract. Great properties and fortunes are necessary, because +they provide and organize work for the working classes. And labor +in the factories and workshops is not at all the terrible thing +you make it out to be. Even if there are some abuses in +factories, the government and the public are taking steps to +obviate them and to make the labor of the factory workers much +easier, and even agreeable. The working classes are accustomed to +physical labor, and are, so far, fit for nothing else. The +poverty of the people is not the result of private property in +land, nor of capitalistic oppression, but of other causes: it is +the result of the ignorance, brutality, and intemperance of the +people. And we men in authority who are striving against this +impoverishment of the people by wise legislation, we capitalists +who are combating it by the extension of useful inventions, we +clergymen by religious instruction, and we liberals by the +formation of trades unions, and the diffusion of education, are in +this way increasing the prosperity of the people without changing +our own positions. We do not want all to be as poor as the poor; +we want all to be as rich as the rich. As for the assertion that +men are ill treated and murdered to force them to work for the +profit of the rich, that is a sophism. The army is only called +out against the mob, when the people, in ignorance of their own +interests, make disturbances and destroy the tranquillity +necessary for the public welfare. In the same way, too, it is +necessary to keep in restraint the malefactors for whom the +prisons and gallows are established. We ourselves wish to +suppress these forms of punishment and are working in that +direction." + +Hypocrisy in our day is supported on two sides: by false religion +and by false science. And it has reached such proportions that if +we were not living in its midst, we could not believe that men +could attain such a pitch of self-deception. Men of the present +day have come into such an extraordinary condition, their hearts +are so hardened, that seeing they see not, hearing they do not +hear, and understand not. + +Men have long been living in antagonism to their conscience. If +it were not for hypocrisy they could not go on living such a life. +This social organization in opposition to their conscience only +continues to exist because it is disguised by hypocrisy. + +And the greater the divergence between actual life and men's +conscience, the greater the extension of hypocrisy. But even +hypocrisy has its limits. And it seems to me that we have reached +those limits in the present day. + +Every man of the present day with the Christian principles +assimilated involuntarily in his conscience, finds himself in +precisely the position of a man asleep who dreams that he is +obliged to do something which even in his dream he knows he ought +not to do. He knows this in the depths of his conscience, and all +the same he seems unable to change his position; he cannot stop +and cease doing what he ought not to do. And just as in a dream, +his position becoming more and more painful, at last reaches such +a pitch of intensity that he begins sometimes to doubt the reality +of what is passing and makes a moral effort to shake off the +nightmare which is oppressing him. + +This is just the condition of the average man of our Christian +society. He feels that all that he does himself and that is done +around him is something absurd, hideous, impossible, and opposed +to his conscience; he feels that his position is becoming more and +more unendurable and reaching a crisis of intensity. + +It is not possible that we modern men, with the Christian sense of +human dignity and equality permeating us soul and body, with our +need for peaceful association and unity between nations, should +really go on living in such a way that every joy, every +gratification we have is bought by the sufferings, by the lives of +our brother men, and moreover, that we should be every instant +within a hair's-breadth of falling on one another, nation against +nation, like wild beasts, mercilessly destroying men's lives and +labor, only because some benighted diplomatist or ruler says or +writes some stupidity to another equally benighted diplomatist or +ruler. + +It is impossible. Yet every man of our day sees that this is so +and awaits the calamity. And the situation becomes more and more +insupportable. + +And as the man who is dreaming does not believe that what appears +to him can be truly the reality and tries to wake up to the actual +real world again, so the average man of modern days cannot in the +bottom of his heart believe that the awful position in which he is +placed and which is growing worse and worse can be the reality, +and tries to wake up to a true, real life, as it exists in his +conscience. + +And just as the dreamer need only make a moral effort and ask +himself, "Isn't it a dream?" and the situation which seemed to him +so hopeless will instantly disappear, and he will wake up to +peaceful and happy reality, so the man of the modern world need +only make a moral effort to doubt the reality presented to him by +his own hypocrisy and the general hypocrisy around him, and to ask +himself, "Isn't it all a delusion?" and he will at once, like the +dreamer awakened, feel himself transported from an imaginary and +dreadful world to the true, calm, and happy reality. + +And to do this a man need accomplish no great feats or exploits. +He need only make a moral effort. + +But can a man make this effort? + +According to the existing theory so essential to support +hypocrisy, man is not free and cannot change his life. + +"Man cannot change his life, because he is not free. He is not +free, because all his actions are conditioned by previously +existing causes. And whatever the man may do there are always +some causes or other through which he does these or those acts, +and therefore man cannot be free and change his life," say the +champions of the metaphysics of hypocrisy. And they would be +perfectly right if man were a creature without conscience and +incapable of moving toward the truth; that is to say, if after +recognizing a new truth, man always remained at the same stage of +moral development. But man is a creature with a conscience and +capable of attaining a higher and higher degree of truth. And +therefore even if man is not free as regards performing these or +those acts because there exists a previous cause for every act, +the very causes of his acts, consisting as they do for the man of +conscience of the recognition of this or that truth, are within +his own control. + +So that though man may not be free as regards the performance of +his actions, he is free as regards the foundation on which they +are performed. Just as the mechanician who is not free to modify +the movement of his locomotive when it is in motion, is free to +regulate the machine beforehand so as to determine what the +movement is to be. + +Whatever the conscious man does, he acts just as he does, and not +otherwise, only because he recognizes that to act as he is acting +is in accord with the truth, or because he has recognized it at +some previous time, and is now only through inertia, through +habit, acting in accordance with his previous recognition of +truth. + +In any case, the cause of his action is not to be found in any +given previous fact, but in the consciousness of a given relation +to truth, and the consequent recognition of this or that fact as a +sufficient basis for action. + +Whether a man eats or does not eat, works or rests, runs risks or +avoids them, if he has a conscience he acts thus only because he +considers it right and rational, because he considers that to act +thus is in harmony with truth, or else because he has made this +reflection in the past. + +The recognition or non-recognition of a certain truth depends not +on external causes, but on certain other causes within the man +himself. So that at times under external conditions apparently +very favorable for the recognition of truth, one man will not +recognize it, and another, on the contrary, under the most +unfavorable conditions will, without apparent cause, recognize it. +As it is said in the Gospel, "No man can come unto me, except the +Father which hath sent me draw him." That is to say, the +recognition of truth, which is the cause of all the manifestations +of human life, does not depend on external phenomena, but on +certain inner spiritual characteristics of the man which escape +our observation. + +And therefore man, though not free in his acts, always feels +himself free in what is the motive of his acts--the recognition or +non-recognition of truth. And he feels himself independent not +only of facts external to his own personality, but even of his own +actions. + +Thus a man who under the influence of passion has committed an act +contrary to the truth he recognizes, remains none the less free to +recognize it or not to recognize it; that is, he can by refusing +to recognize the truth regard his action as necessary and +justifiable, or he may recognize the truth and regard his act as +wrong and censure himself for it. + +Thus a gambler or a drunkard who does not resist temptation and +yields to his passion is still free to recognize gambling and +drunkenness as wrong or to regard them as a harmless pastime. In +the first case even if he does not at once get over his passion, +he gets the more free from it the more sincerely he recognizes the +truth about it; in the second case he will be strengthened in his +vice and will deprive himself of every possibility of shaking it +off. + +In the same way a man who has made his escape alone from a house +on fire, not having had the courage to save his friend, remains +free, recognizing the truth that a man ought to save the life of +another even at the risk of his own, to regard his action as bad +and to censure himself for it, or, not recognizing this truth, to +regard his action as natural and necessary and to justify it to +himself. In the first case, if he recognizes the truth in spite +of his departure from it, he prepares for himself in the future a +whole series of acts of self-sacrifice necessarily flowing from +this recognition of the truth; in the second case, a whole series +of egoistic acts. + +Not that a man is always free to recognize or to refuse to +recognize every truth. There are truths which he has recognized +long before or which have been handed down to him by education and +tradition and accepted by him on faith, and to follow these truths +has become a habit, a second nature with him; and there are +truths, only vaguely, as it were distantly, apprehended by him. +The man is not free to refuse to recognize the first, nor to +recognize the second class of truths. But there are truths of a +third kind, which have not yet become an unconscious motive of +action, but yet have been revealed so clearly to him that he +cannot pass them by, and is inevitably obliged to do one thing or +the other, to recognize or not to recognize them. And it is in +regard to these truths that the man's freedom manifests itself. + +Every man during his life finds himself in regard to truth in the +position of a man walking in the darkness with light thrown before +him by the lantern he carries. He does not see what is not yet +lighted up by the lantern; he does not see what he has passed +which is hidden in the darkness; but at every stage of his journey +he sees what is lighted up by the lantern, and he can always +choose one side or the other of the road. + +There are always unseen truths not yet revealed to the man's +intellectual vision, and there are other truths outlived, +forgotten, and assimilated by him, and there are also certain +truths that rise up before the light of his reason and require his +recognition. And it is in the recognition or non-recognition of +these truths that what we call his freedom is manifested. + +All the difficulty and seeming insolubility of the question of the +freedom of man results from those who tried to solve the question +imagining man as stationary in his relation to the truth. + +Man is certainly not free if we imagine him stationary, and if we +forget that the life of a man and of humanity is nothing but a +continual movement from darkness into light, from a lower stage of +truth to a higher, from a truth more alloyed with errors to a +truth more purified from them. + +Man would not be free if he knew no truth at all, and in the same +way he would not be free and would not even have any idea of +freedom if the whole truth which was to guide him in life had been +revealed once for all to him in all its purity without any +admixture of error. + +But man is not stationary in regard to truth, but every individual +man as he passes through life, and humanity as a whole in the same +way, is continually learning to know a greater and greater degree +of truth, and growing more and more free from error. + +And therefore men are in a threefold relation to truth. Some +truths have been so assimilated by them that they have become the +unconscious basis of action, others are only just on the point of +being revealed to him, and a third class, though not yet +assimilated by him, have been revealed to him with sufficient +clearness to force him to decide either to recognize them or to +refuse to recognize them. + +These, then, are the truths which man is free to recognize or to +refuse to recognize. + +The liberty of man does not consist in the power of acting +independently of the progress of life and the influences arising +from it, but in the capacity for recognizing and acknowledging the +truth revealed to him, and becoming the free and joyful +participator in the eternal and infinite work of God, the life of +the world; or on the other hand for refusing to recognize the +truth, and so being a miserable and reluctant slave dragged +whither he has no desire to go. + +Truth not only points out the way along which human life ought to +move, but reveals also the only way along which it can move. And +therefore all men must willingly or unwillingly move along the way +of truth, some spontaneously accomplishing the task set them in +life, others submitting involuntarily to the law of life. Man's +freedom lies in the power of this choice. + +This freedom within these narrow limits seems so insignificant to +men that they do not notice it. Some--the determinists--consider +this amount of freedom so trifling that they do not recognize it +at all. Others--the champions of complete free will--keep their +eyes fixed on their hypothetical free will and neglect this which +seemed to them such a trivial degree of freedom. + +This freedom, confined between the limits of complete ignorance of +the truth and a recognition of a part of the truth, seems hardly +freedom at all, especially since, whether a man is willing or +unwilling to recognize the truth revealed to him, he will be +inevitably forced to carry it out in life. + +A horse harnessed with others to a cart is not free to refrain +from moving the cart. If he does not move forward the cart will +knock him down and go on dragging him with it, whether he will or +not. But the horse is free to drag the cart himself or to be +dragged with it. And so it is with man. + +Whether this is a great or small degree of freedom in comparison +with the fantastic liberty we should like to have, it is the only +freedom that really exists, and in it consists the only happiness +attainable by man. + +And more than that, this freedom is the sole means of +accomplishing the divine work of the life of the world. + +According to Christ's doctrine, the man who sees the significance +of life in the domain in which it is not free, in the domain of +effects, that is, of acts, has not the true life. According to +the Christian doctrine, that man is living in the truth who has +transported his life to the domain in which it is free--the domain +of causes, that is, the knowledge and recognition, the profession +and realization in life of revealed truth. + +Devoting his life to works of the flesh, a man busies himself with +actions depending on temporary causes outside himself. He himself +does nothing really, he merely seems to be doing something. In +reality all the acts which seem to be his are the work of a higher +power, and he is not the creator of his own life, but the slave of +it. Devoting his life to the recognition and fulfillment of the +truth revealed to him, he identifies himself with the source of +universal life and accomplishes acts not personal, and dependent +on conditions of space and time, but acts unconditioned by +previous causes, acts which constitute the causes of everything +else, and have an infinite, unlimited significance. + +"The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it +by force." (Matt. xi. 12.) + +It is this violent effort to rise above external conditions to the +recognition and realization of truth by which the kingdom of +heaven is taken, and it is this effort of violence which must and +can be made in our times. + +Men need only understand this, they need only cease to trouble +themselves about the general external conditions in which they are +not free, and devote one-hundredth part of the energy they waste +on those material things to that in which they are free, to the +recognition and realization of the truth which is before them, and +to the liberation of themselves and others from deception and +hypocrisy, and, without effort or conflict, there would be an end +at once of the false organization of life which makes men +miserable, and threatens them with worse calamities in the future. +And then the kingdom of God would be realized, or at least that +first stage of it for which men are ready now by the degree of +development of their conscience. + +Just as a single shock may be sufficient, when a liquid is +saturated with some salt, to precipitate it at once in crystals, a +slight effort may be perhaps all that is needed now that the truth +already revealed to men may gain a mastery over hundreds, +thousands, millions of men, that a public opinion consistent with +conscience may be established, and through this change of public +opinion the whole order of life may be transformed. And it +depends upon us to make this effort. + +Let each of us only try to understand and accept the Christian +truth which in the most varied forms surrounds us on all sides and +forces itself upon us; let us only cease from lying and pretending +that we do not see this truth or wish to realize it, at least in +what it demands from us above all else; only let us accept and +boldly profess the truth to which we are called, and we should +find at once that hundreds, thousands, millions of men are in the +same position as we, that they see the truth as we do, and dread +as we do to stand alone in recognizing it, and like us are only +waiting for others to recognize it also. + +Only let men cease to be hypocrites, and they would at once see +that this cruel social organization, which holds them in bondage, +and is represented to them as something stable, necessary, and +ordained of God, is already tottering and is only propped up by +the falsehood of hypocrisy, with which we, and others like us, +support it. + +But if this is so, if it is true that it depends on us to break +down the existing organization of life, have we the right to +destroy it, without knowing clearly what we shall set up in its +place? What will become of human society when the existing order +of things is at an end? + + "What shall we find the other side of the walls of the world we + are abandoning? + + "Fear will come upon us--a void, a vast emptiness, freedom--how + are we to go forward not knowing whither, how face loss, not + seeing hope of gain? . . . If Columbus had reasoned thus he + would never have weighed anchor. It was madness to set off + upon the ocean, not knowing the route, on the ocean on which no + one had sailed, to sail toward a land whose existence was + doubtful. By this madness he discovered a new world. + Doubtless if the peoples of the world could simply transfer + themselves from one furnished mansion to another and better + one--it would make it much easier; but unluckily there is no + one to get humanity's new dwelling ready for it. The future is + even worse than the ocean--there is nothing there--it will be + what men and circumstances make it. + + "If you are content with the old world, try to preserve it, it + is very sick and cannot hold out much longer. But if you + cannot bear to live in everlasting dissonance between your + beliefs and your life, thinking one thing and doing another, + get out of the mediaeval whited sepulchers, and face your + fears. I know very well it is not easy. + + "It is not a little thing to cut one's self off from all to + which a man has been accustomed from his birth, with which he + has grown up to maturity. Men are ready for tremendous + sacrifices, but not for those which life demands of them. Are + they ready to sacrifice modern civilization, their manner of + life, their religion, the received conventional morality? + + "Are we ready to give up all the results we have attained with + such effort, results of which we have been boasting for three + centuries; to give up every convenience and charm of our + existence, to prefer savage youth to the senile decay of + civilization, to pull down the palace raised for us by our + ancestors only for the pleasure of having a hand in the + founding of a new house, which will doubtless be built long + after we are gone?" (Herzen, vol. v. p. 55.) + +Thus wrote almost half a century ago the Russian writer, who with +prophetic insight saw clearly then, what even the most +unreflecting man sees to-day, the impossibility, that is, of life +continuing on its old basis, and the necessity of establishing new +forms of life. + +It is clear now from the very simplest, most commonplace point of +view, that it is madness to remain under the roof of a building +which cannot support its weight, and that we must leave it. And +indeed it is difficult to imagine a position more wretched than +that of the Christian world to-day, with its nations armed against +one another, with its constantly increasing taxation to maintain +its armies, with the hatred of the working class for the rich ever +growing more intense, with the Damocles sword of war forever +hanging over the heads of all, ready every instant to fall, +certain to fall sooner or later. + +Hardly could any revolution be more disastrous for the great mass +of the population than the present order or rather disorder of our +life, with its daily sacrifices to exhausting and unnatural toil, +to poverty, drunkenness, and profligacy, with all the horrors of +the war that is at hand, which will swallow up in one year more +victims than all the revolutions of the century. + +What will become of humanity if each of us performs the duty God +demands of us through the conscience implanted within us? Will +not harm come if, being wholly in the power of a master, I carry +out, in the workshop erected and directed by him, the orders he +gives me, strange though they may seem to me who do not know the +Master's final aims? + +But it is not even this question "What will happen?" that agitates +men when they hesitate to fulfill the Master's will. They are +troubled by the question how to live without those habitual +conditions of life which we call civilization, culture, art, and +science. We feel ourselves all the burdensomeness of life as it +is; we see also that this organization of life must inevitably be +our ruin, if it continues. At the same time we want the +conditions of our life which arise out of this organization--our +civilization, culture, art, and science--to remain intact. It is +as though a man, living in an old house and suffering from cold +and all sorts of inconvenience in it, knowing, too, that it is on +the point of falling to pieces, should consent to its being +rebuilt, but only on the condition that he should not be required +to leave it: a condition which is equivalent to refusing to have +it rebuilt at all. + +"But what if I leave the house and give up every convenience for a +time, and the new house is not built, or is built on a different +plan so that I do not find in it the comforts to which I am +accustomed?" But seeing that the materials and the builders are +here, there is every likelihood that the new house will on the +contrary be better built than the old one. And at the same time, +there is not only the likelihood but the certainty that the old +house will fall down and crush those who remain within it. +Whether the old habitual conditions of life are supported, or +whether they are abolished and altogether new and better +conditions arise; in any case, there is no doubt we shall be +forced to leave the old forms of life which have become impossible +and fatal, and must go forward to meet the future. + +"Civilization, art, science, culture, will disappear!" + +Yes, but all these we know are only various manifestations of +truth, and the change that is before us is only to be made for the +sake of a closer attainment and realization of truth. How then +can the manifestations of truth disappear through our realizing +it? These manifestations will be different, higher, better, but +they will not cease to be. Only what is false in them will be +destroyed; all the truth there was in them will only be stronger +and more flourishing. + +Take thought, oh, men, and have faith in the Gospel, in whose +teaching is your happiness. If you do not take thought, you will +perish just as the men perished, slain by Pilate, or crushed by +the tower of Siloam; as millions of men have perished, slayers and +slain, executing and executed, torturers and tortured alike, and +as the man foolishly perished, who filled his granaries full and +made ready for a long life and died the very night that he planned +to begin his life. Take thought and have faith in the Gospel, +Christ said eighteen hundred years ago, and he says it with even +greater force now that the calamities foretold by him have come to +pass, and the senselessness of our life has reached the furthest +point of suffering and madness. + +Nowadays, after so many centuries of fruitless efforts to make our +life secure by the pagan organization of life, it must be evident +to everyone that all efforts in that direction only introduce +fresh dangers into personal and social life, and do not render it +more secure in any way. + +Whatever names we dignify ourselves with, whatever uniforms we wear, +whatever priests we anoint ourselves before, however many millions we +possess, however many guards are stationed along our road, however many +policemen guard our wealth, however many so-called criminals, +revolutionists, and anarchists we punish, whatever exploits we have +performed, whatever states we may have founded, fortresses and towers we +may have erected--from Babel to the Eiffel Tower--there are two +inevitable conditions of life, confronting all of us, which destroy its +whole meaning; (1) death, which may at any moment pounce upon each of +us; and (2) the transitoriness of all our works, which so soon pass away +and leave no trace. Whatever we may do--found companies, build palaces +and monuments, write songs and poems--it is all not for long time. Soon +it passes away, leaving no trace. And therefore, however we may conceal +it from ourselves, we cannot help seeing that the significance of our +life cannot lie in our personal fleshly existence, the prey of incurable +suffering and inevitable death, nor in any social institution or +organization. Whoever you may be who are reading these lines, think of +your position and of your duties--not of your position as landowner, +merchant, judge, emperor, president, minister, priest, soldier, which +has been temporarily allotted you by men, and not of the imaginary +duties laid on you by those positions, but of your real positions in +eternity as a creature who at the will of Someone has been called out of +unconsciousness after an eternity of non-existence to which you may +return at any moment at his will. Think of your duties--not your +supposed duties as a landowner to your estate, as a merchant to your +business, as emperor, minister, or official to the state, but of your +real duties, the duties that follow from your real position as a being +called into life and endowed with reason and love. + +Are you doing what he demands of you who has sent you into the +world, and to whom you will soon return? Are you doing what he +wills? Are you doing his will, when as landowner or manufacturer +you rob the poor of the fruits of their toil, basing your life on +this plunder of the workers, or when, as judge or governor, you +ill treat men, sentence them to execution, or when as soldiers you +prepare for war, kill and plunder? + +You will say that the world is so made that this is inevitable, +and that you do not do this of your own free will, but because you +are forced to do so. But can it be that you have such a strong +aversion to men's sufferings, ill treatment, and murder, that you +have such an intense need of love and co-operation with your +fellows that you see clearly that only by the recognition of the +equality of all, and by mutual services, can the greatest possible +happiness be realized; that your head and your heart, the faith +you profess, and even science itself tell you the same thing, and +yet that in spite of it all you can be forced by some confused and +complicated reasoning to act in direct opposition to all this; +that as landowner or capitalist you are bound to base your whole +life on the oppression of the people; that as emperor or president +you are to command armies, that is, to be the head and commander +of murderers; or that as government official you are forced to +take from the poor their last pence for rich men to profit and +share them among themselves; or that as judge or juryman you could +be forced to sentence erring men to ill treatment and death +because the truth was not revealed to them, or above all, for that +is the basis of all the evil, that you could be forced to become a +soldier, and renouncing your free will and your human sentiments, +could undertake to kill anyone at the command of other men? + +It cannot be. + +Even if you are told that all this is necessary for the +maintenance of the existing order of things, and that this social +order with its pauperism, famines, prisons, gallows, armies, and +wars is necessary to society; that still greater disasters would +ensue if this organization were destroyed; all that is said only +by those who profit by this organization, while those who suffer +from it--and they are ten times as numerous--think and say quite +the contrary. And at the bottom of your heart you know yourself +that it is not true, that the existing organization has outlived +its time, and must inevitably be reconstructed on new principles, +and that consequently there is no obligation upon you to sacrifice +your sentiments of humanity to support it. + +Above all, even if you allow that this organization is necessary, +why do you believe it to be your duty to maintain it at the cost +of your best feelings? Who has made you the nurse in charge of +this sick and moribund organization? Not society nor the state +nor anyone; no one has asked you to undertake this; you who fill +your position of landowner, merchant, tzar, priest, or soldier +know very well that you occupy that position by no means with the +unselfish aim of maintaining the organization of life necessary to +men's happiness, but simply in your own interests, to satisfy your +own covetousness or vanity or ambition or indolence or cowardice. +If you did not desire that position, you would not be doing your +utmost to retain it. Try the experiment of ceasing to commit the +cruel, treacherous, and base actions that you are constantly +committing in order to retain your position, and you will lose it +at once. Try the simple experiment, as a government official, of +giving up lying, and refusing to take a part in executions and +acts of violence; as a priest, of giving up deception; as a +soldier, of giving up murder; as landowner or manufacturer, of +giving up defending your property by fraud and force; and you will +at once lose the position which you pretend is forced upon you, +and which seems burdensome to you. + +A man cannot be placed against his will in a situation opposed to +his conscience. + +If you find yourself in such a position it is not because it is +necessary to anyone whatever, but simply because you wish it. And +therefore knowing that your position is repugnant to your heart +and your head, and to your faith, and even to the science in which +you believe, you cannot help reflecting upon the question whether +in retaining it, and above all trying to justify it, you are doing +what you ought to do. + +You might risk making a mistake if you had time to see and +retrieve your fault, and if you ran the risk for something of some +value. But when you know beyond all doubt that you may disappear +any minute, without the least possibility either for yourself or +those you draw after you into your error, of retrieving the +mistake, when you know that whatever you may do in the external +organization of life it will all disappear as quickly and surely +as you will yourself, and will leave no trace behind, it is clear +that you have no reasonable ground for running the risk of such a +fearful mistake. + +It would be perfectly simple and clear if you did not by your +hypocrisy disguise the truth which has so unmistakably been +revealed to us. + +Share all that you have with others, do not heap up riches, do not +steal, do not cause suffering, do not kill, do not unto others +what you would not they should do unto you, all that has been said +not eighteen hundred, but five thousand years ago, and there could +be no doubt of the truth of this law if it were not for hypocrisy. +Except for hypocrisy men could not have failed, if not to put the +law in practice, at least to recognize it, and admit that it is +wrong not to put it in practice. + +But you will say that there is the public good to be considered, +and that on that account one must not and ought not to conform to +these principles; for the public good one may commit acts of +violence and murder. It is better for one man to die than that +the whole people perish, you will say like Caiaphas, and you sign +the sentence of death of one man, of a second, and a third; you +load your gun against this man who is to perish for the public +good, you imprison him, you take his possessions. You say that +you commit these acts of cruelty because you are a part of the +society and of the state; that it is your duty to serve them, and +as landowner, judge, emperor, or soldier to conform to their laws. +But besides belonging to the state and having duties created by +that position, you belong also to eternity and to God, who also +lays duties upon you. And just as your duties to your family and +to society are subordinate to your superior duties to the state, +in the same way the latter must necessarily be subordinated to the +duties dictated to you by the eternal life and by God. And just +as it would be senseless to pull up the telegraph posts for fuel +for a family or society and thus to increase its welfare at the +expense of public interests, in the same way it is senseless to do +violence, to execute, and to murder to increase the welfare of the +nation, because that is at the expense of the interests of +humanity. + +Your duties as a citizen cannot but be subordinated to the +superior obligations of the eternal life of God, and cannot be in +opposition to them. As Christ's disciples said eighteen centuries +ago: "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you +more than unto God, judge ye" (Acts iv. 19); and, "We ought to +obey God rather than men" (Acts v. 29). + +It is asserted that, in order that the unstable order of things, +established in one corner of the world for a few men, may not be +destroyed, you ought to commit acts of violence which destroy the +eternal and immutable order established by God and by reason. Can +that possibly be? + +And therefore you cannot but reflect on your position as +landowner, manufacturer, judge, emperor, president, minister, +priest, and soldier, which is bound up with violence, deception, +and murder, and recognize its unlawfulness. + +I do not say that if you are a landowner you are bound to give up +your lands immediately to the poor; if a capitalist or +manufacturer, your money to your workpeople; or that if you are +Tzar, minister, official, judge, or general, you are bound to +renounce immediately the advantages of your position; or if a +soldier, on whom all the system of violence is based, to refuse +immediately to obey in spite of all the dangers of +insubordination. + +If you do so, you will be doing the best thing possible. But it +may happen, and it is most likely, that you will not have the +strength to do so. You have relations, a family, subordinates and +superiors; you are under an influence so powerful that you cannot +shake it off; but you can always recognize the truth and refuse to +tell a lie about it. You need not declare that you are remaining +a landowner, manufacturer, merchant, artist, or writer because it +is useful to mankind; that you are governor, prosecutor, or tzar, +not because it is agreeable to you, because you are used to it, +but for the public good; that you continue to be a soldier, not +from fear of punishment, but because you consider the army +necessary to society. You can always avoid lying in this way to +yourself and to others, and you ought to do so; because the one +aim of your life ought to be to purify yourself from falsehood and +to confess the truth. And you need only do that and your +situation will change directly of itself. + +There is one thing, and only one thing, in which it is granted to +you to be free in life, all else being beyond your power: that is +to recognize and profess the truth. + +And yet simply from the fact that other men as misguided and as +pitiful creatures as yourself have made you soldier, tzar, +landowner, capitalist, priest, or general, you undertake to commit +acts of violence obviously opposed to your reason and your heart, +to base your existence on the misfortunes of others, and above +all, instead of filling the one duty of your life, recognizing and +professing the truth, you feign not to recognize it and disguise +it from yourself and others. + +And what are the conditions in which you are doing this? You who +may die any instant, you sign sentences of death, you declare war, +you take part in it, you judge, you punish, you plunder the +working people, you live luxuriously in the midst of the poor, and +teach weak men who have confidence in you that this must be so, +that the duty of men is to do this, and yet it may happen at the +moment when you are acting thus that a bacterium or a bull may +attack you and you will fall and die, losing forever the chance of +repairing the harm you have done to others, and above all to +yourself, in uselessly wasting a life which has been given you +only once in eternity, without having accomplished the only thing +you ought to have done. + +However commonplace and out of date it may seem to us, however +confused we may be by hypocrisy and by the hypnotic suggestion +which results from it, nothing can destroy the certainty of this +simple and clearly defined truth. No external conditions can +guarantee our life, which is attended with inevitable sufferings +and infallibly terminated by death, and which consequently can +have no significance except in the constant accomplishment of what +is demanded by the Power which has placed us in life with a sole +certain guide--the rational conscience. + +That is why that Power cannot require of us what is irrational and +impossible: the organization of our temporary external life, the +life of society or of the state. That Power demands of us only +what is reasonable, certain, and possible: to serve the kingdom of +God, that is, to contribute to the establishment of the greatest +possible union between all living beings--a union possible only in +the truth; and to recognize and to profess the revealed truth, +which is always in our power. + +"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and +all these things shall be added unto you." (Matt. vi. 33.) + +The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity by contributing to +the establishment of the kingdom of God, which can only be done by +the recognition and profession of the truth by every man. + +"The kingdom of God cometh not with outward show; neither shall +they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for behold, the kingdom of God is +within you." (Luke xvii. 20, 21.) + +THE END. + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------- +[Transcribists note: This translation contains what seems to my +early 21st Century perception as mistakes, both in typography and +in standardness of language. I have left issues of standard +language uncorrected, and have only fixed typographical errors +in which the word was nearly unrecognizable, but clear from context. + +An example: "...those who have seized power AUD who keep it..." was +changed to: "...those who have seized power AND who keep it...". + +Another example: where he meant "village" the book has "vilage"; +I left such misspellings as is. + +In some cases, missing punctuation in a series was corrected, where +every other member of the series is punctuated: 1. 2. 3 4. +If I had a doubt, nothing was changed. + +I indented paragraphs, for clarity, when Tolstoy quotes large blocks +of text from other authors. However, often Tolsoy interspersed +quoted material with his commentary [as when talking about the author +Farrar]. I was not able to separate these for fear of editing the +author. + +Italics were represented here, with the substitution of capital +letters. + +Translations for long passages of French follow in the footnotes.] +-------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Kingdom of God Is Within You, by +graf Leo Tolstoy + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU *** + +***** This file should be named 4602-8.txt or 4602-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/0/4602/ + +Produced by Jack Eden <jackeden@yahoo.com> + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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