412 Hitman Physiology. 



be right, politic, and generous, before it can be demanded. No 

 man can be blamed for being born to the inheritance of half a 

 Bounty, a dozen manufacturing towns, or of a square mile of 

 the metropolis, or an income of a hundred thousand or a 

 million pounds a-year but it is an awful responsibility. The 

 American or West Indian inheritor of a great plantation and a 

 thousand negro slaves was in an exactly similar position. One 

 day the British Parliament relieved the English planters of their 

 responsibilities a frightful and desolating war has changed 

 those of the Americans. The fate of the great property holders, 

 and thereby slave holders, of England is in their own hands for 

 a little space. If they are wise they will settle the question of 

 their duties and responsibilities justly and for the benefit of all 

 concerned. If they are unwise, the government will settle it 

 for them. If, using the power of their position, and their here- 

 ditary privileges, both as holders of property and holders of 

 power, they resist a righteous settlement, it will still be settled 

 for them sooner or later, and possibly in a manner not so well 

 for them, or their children, or for England ^even for those so 

 long and deeply injured as might be done speedily and peace- 

 fully, if men would but do, in this and all things, as they would 

 be done by. 



The strong are the natural protectors and helpers of the 

 weak that is what they are for. The wise are the natural 

 counsellors, leaders, and governors of the ignorant. It is their 

 proper function. The rich have no obvious use in the world 

 but to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, aid the suffering, and 

 be the caretakers, guardians, stewards, and distributors of the 

 world's wealth. They have no right to it for any selfish use or 

 exclusive enjoyment. No man can have a right to more food 

 than he can properly eat, to more clothing than he can com- 

 fortably wear, to more of the necessaries and luxuries of life 

 than are proper for his comfort and enjoyment, with a due 

 regard to the needs and rights, the comforts and enjoyments of 



