this brief life of mine, act contrary to the voice of conscience and become a partner in your abominable deeds? "I cannot, and I will not. "And what will come of this? I do not know. Only I think no harm can result from acting as my conscience demands.” So in our time should each honest and sincere man reply to all the arguments about the necessity of governments and of violence, and to every demand or invitation to take part in them. So that the supreme and unimpeachable judge the voice of conscience-confirms to each man the conclusion to which also general reasoning should bring us. AN AFTERWORD. BUT this is again the same old sermon: on the one hand, urging the destruction of the present order of things without putting anything in its place; on the other hand, exhorting to non-action, is what many will say on reading what I have written. "Governmental action is bad, so is the action of the landowner and of the man of business; equally bad is the activity of the Socialist and of the revolutionary Anarchists—that is to say, all real, practical activities are bad, and only some sort of moral, spiritual, indefinite activity which brings everything to utter chaos and inaction is good." Thus I know many serious and sincere people will think and speak! What seems to people most disturbing in the idea of no violence is that property will not be protected, and that each man will, therefore, be able to take from another what he needs or merely likes, and to go unpunished. To people accustomed to the defence of property and person by violence it seems that without such defence there will be perpetual disorder, a constant struggle of every one against every one else. I will not repeat what I have said elsewhere ; to show that the defence of property by vio lence does not lessen, but increases, this dis order. But allowing that in the absence of defence disorder may occur, what are people to do who have understood the cause of the calamities from which they are suffering? If we have understood that we are ill from drunkenness, we must continue to drink, hoping to mend matters by drinking moderately, or continue drinking and take medicines that shortsighted doctors give us. And it is the same with our social sickness. If we have understood that we are ill because some people use violence to others, it is im |