Study in Karma

Author(s): Annie Besant
Publisher: Theosophist Office Adyar

Page 20

LAWS : NATURAL AND MAN-MADE 9
repeal them. Natural laws are unchanging; they cannot be altered nor repealed, but lie in the nature of things. Artificial laws , are local, while natural are universal. The law in any country against robbery may be enforced by any penalty' chosen by the, legislator; sometimes the hand is cut off, sometimes the thief is sent to gaol; sometimes he is hanged. Moreover, the infliction of the penalty is dependent on the discovery of the crime. A penalty which is variable and artificial, and which may be escaped, is obviously not causally related to the crime it punishes. A natural law has no penalty, but one condition follows invariably on another; if a man steals, his nature becomes more thievish, the tendency to dishonesty is increased, and the difficuliy of being honest becomes greater; this consequence works in every case, in all countries, and the knowledge or ignorance of others as