THE CAUSES OF PERSECUTION 



a man may sincerely believe himself to be doing 

 God service, while he is in reality obeying an 

 impulse which, in an ultimate analysis, is neither 

 more nor less than the impulse to domineer 

 over one's fellow-creatures. Thus, though the 

 plea of mistaken benevolence may now and 

 then be properly urged in extenuation of certain 

 special acts of persecution, it cannot excuse per- 

 secution, or obscure the fact that its diminution 

 is largely due to a slow moral progress, to 

 a decrease in self-assertion, and a concomitant 

 increase in respect for the rights of other peo- 

 pie. 



Very closely connected with this moral root 

 of the persecuting spirit in mere arrogant self- 

 assertion is its intellectual root, in the assump- 

 tion that one's own opinions are infallible. That 

 persecution can have no theoretical basis or jus- 

 tification, save on the assumption that some- 

 body's opinions are infallibly true, has been so 

 thoroughly illustrated by Mr. Mill in his beau- 

 tiful essay on " Liberty," that I need not dwell 

 hereupon this part of the subject. It behooves 

 us, however, to consider in what ways the pro- 

 gress of civilization has contributed to weaken 

 the spirit of self-assertion and the assumption 

 of infallibility. 



Obviously, the disposition to domineer over 

 others, to assert one's own personality at the 

 expense of others, is simply one particular phase 

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