Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/120

glory of the one or the triumph of the other. All are constrained to enlist in this strange army, in which no substitutes nor voluntary enlistments are allowed, nor any exception made for old age. None among this soldiery may say, I am the son of a poor widow, or the mother of a paralytic, or the wife of a cripple. All mankind alike belong to this army.

Nor is any one permitted to say that he is not disposed to combat; for, in the act of saying so, he already combats; and it is easy to perceive to which side he inclines; because by this very declaration he plainly betrays his inclinations. Nor can any one declare that he is neutral, because, if he wishes to be so, he is already enlisted; nor can he reiterate that he will continue indifferent, for by these very words he clearly indicates which side he embraces. Let no one seek to avoid the perils of this war, for he will do so in vain. This war extends throughout space and will last to the end of time. Only in eternity, the home of the just, can rest be found; because then alone the combat ceases. Nor will the gates of heaven open to receive any who cannot show that they have suffered in this conflict. These portals are closed against all who do not here below bravely fight the battles of the Lord, and like him bear the cross.

The contemplation of the spectacle which history presents to us, must inevitably lead the man who is not enlightened by faith to adopt one of the two systems of manicheism: either the ancient system, according to which there is a principle of good and also a principle of evil, and each of these principles is embodied in a god, and between these gods the only law is war; or the system of Proudhon, who affirms that in God is the