Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/42

implies unity and variety combined in one. Man was made by God, and in his image, and not only in his image, but also in his likeness; and for this reason man is one in essence, and represents a sort of trinity of persons. Eve proceeds from Adam, Abel is begotten by Adam and Eve, and Adam, Abel, and Eve are the same thing: they are man, they are human nature. Adam is man the father, Eve is man the woman, Abel is man the son. Eve is man as Adam, but she is not the father; she is man as Abel, but she is not the son. Adam is man as Abel without being the son, and as Eve without being the woman. Abel is man as Eve without being the woman, and as Adam without being the father.

All these names are divine, even as the functions which they signify are divine. The idea of paternity, the foundation of the family, could not have had its origin in the human mind. No fundamental differences exist, in the relation between father and son, of sufficient importance to constitute in themselves a right. Priority is simply a fact, and nothing more; and the same thing may be said of power; and both united cannot of themselves make the right of paternity, although they may originate another fact, that of servitude. This fact supposed, the proper name of father is master, as that of son is slave. This truth, which reason suggests to us, is confirmed by history. Among those nations who have forgotten the great biblical traditions, the title of paternity has ever been but the synonym for domestic tyranny. If there could have existed a nation forgetful, on the one hand, of those great traditions, and on the other neglecting the worship of material power, among this people the fathers and sons would have been, and would have called themselves, brothers. Paternity comes