ETERNAL REST GIVE UNTO THEM, O LORD, AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM. AMEN.
Justice and generosity are different virtues, and are frequently regarded as opposites; yet Liberality, though not prescribed by statute law is still a duty of natural and of Christian justice. This is specially a duty incumbent on those who have received an abundance of this world's goods. The products of the earth, the mother of all, are intended primarily for the support of the life of all in a suitable manner. If, in the natural course, wealth accumulates largely in individual hands, it should be used with a sense of responsibility to the community and to God. Through the organization and self-restraint of the community, some receive more than the share of the earth's productions which their labours have earned, and are enabled to enjoy it in security. They in turn should render service to the community in proportion to their privileges. If they insist on their personal rights and rigid legal claims, they are guilty of an offence which is not the less real because it is not punished by the law. Wealth should not be hoarded for private advantage, but should benefit the whole community. It should be like the waters of the earth, which flow by ten thousand channels into the accumulation of the ocean, and are given back to the earth in the form of vapour and rain. For the accomplishment of this justice it is absolutely necessary that economical principles and civil laws should be supplemented by the Christian law of Liberality. Without this, the operation of natural forces turns law and social order into an engine for the oppression of the poor, and weak, and ignorant multitudes who are the bulk of human society.
