626 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



fatigue. And herein we begin to discern the true cause of 

 the " rights " delusion. Nature has implanted in many 

 people a dislike of labour ; and, also, experience proves that 

 a sialwart profession of rights often succeeds in acquiring 

 much more value than will ever be obtained by a stalwart 

 exhibition of hard work — as in the case of the Irishry during the 

 war. Further, it will be observed that all politicians of every 

 shade have one character in common, they are invariably 

 preachers of the great superstition of rights : the demagogues, 

 of the rights of the people ; the " reactionaries," of the rights 

 of their special autocrat ; the diplomats, of the rights of their 

 own nation or tribe. And as unfortunately all these cannot 

 obtain their rights simultaneously, their clamour, reacting 

 upon the immense stupidity of the masses of mankind, is 

 apt to produce little disturbances such as those from which 

 we have been suffering during the last four years. 



Now let us examine duties. Can it be claimed of these also 

 that they are imposed upon us by supernal command ? There 

 are many who think so. In that great Book, which is obeyed 

 so scrupulously by the Christians who caused the war, there 

 is no mention whatever of rights — but of duties, innumerable. 

 There is no Decalogue of rights, but only one of duties ; and, 

 in the Prayer, God is besought and not commanded to give 

 us our daily bread. So also in those other bibles, the great 

 Poems, duties are ever opposed to rights ; and the whole 

 teaching of the Fathers of Humanity has been based upon 

 this text. But apart from those injunctions (which some may 

 scoff at) there is this supernal fiat regarding duties, that 

 without them we perish. Civilisation can exist without 

 rights, but not without duties. That is a fact — and facts are 

 supernal. 



Who is free from duties ? Only he who is free from every- 

 thing — that is, no one. On this earth there is no such thing 

 as freedom, and liberty does not exist ; and these are the 

 lies of the rights-mongers. We are all slaves — slaves of our 

 fellow men ; and from our birth we are bound in their chains. 

 You may try — openly by violence, or secretly by cunning — 

 to break those chains ; but then they will be bound more tightly 

 about you. You may pretend to liberty by vaunting supernal 

 rights or a supernal conscience ; but you will find that the 

 rights and consciences of your 'fellows are still more supernal. 



