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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE
method, and though the clouds may seem to disperse for the time being from the horizon, they are forced back only to gather more thickly a little later. For favouritism leads to inefficiency and to rivalry of a mean sort, and no empire can hold together when the units composing it lack in efficiency and fitness to take part in the 'struggle for existence. There is no exception to this rule. The downfall of all forms of autocracy is due to this simple law of Nature. Justice, it will be seen, goes a long way to counterbalance fear, for it inspires the heart with confidence, and maintains peace and balance in the mind; it is the mother of goodwill and order in communities, and makes concord between husband and wife and love between master and servant. As Colton said, "if strict justice be not the rudder of all our other virtues, the faster we sail, the further we shall find ourselves from the Haven where we would be.”
If we look around us, we cannot fail to be impressed with the remarkable fact that the ruling races and nations in the world are those which practise the great virtue of justice, and are composed of individuals who have implicit confidence in one another, while the rest, whose main characteristic is want of confidence in one another, simply exist as slaves. Need we wonder at this result? A house divided against itself cannot stand ; for morality is the great force which solidifies families as well as nations and unifies them into a well-organized whole. And the first principle of morality is justice, which springs from truthfulness. Where truthfulness is lacking, there is no self-respect; and in the absence of respect for one's own self, there can be no respect for any
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