The Abolition of Man - C. S. Lewis [24]
‘To wrong, to rob, to cause to be robbed.’ (Babylonian. Ibid.)
‘I have not stolen.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
‘Thou shalt not steal.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:15)
‘Choose loss rather than shameful gains.’ (Greek. Chilon Fr. 10. Diels)
‘Justice is the settled and permanent intention of rendering to each man his rights.’ (Roman. Justinian, Institutions, 1. i)
‘If the native made a “find” of any kind (e.g. a honey tree) and marked it, it was thereafter safe for him, as far as his own tribesmen were concerned, no matter how long he left it.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 441)
‘The first point of justice is that none should do any mischief to another unless he has first been attacked by the other’s wrongdoing. The second is that a man should treat common property as common property, and private property as his own. There is no such thing as private property by nature, but things have become private either through prior occupation (as when men of old came into empty territory) or by conquest, or law, or agreement, or stipulation, or casting lots.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. 1. vii)
(c) JUSTICE IN COURT, &C.
‘Whoso takes no bribe…well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)
‘I have not traduced the slave to him who is set over him.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)
‘Regard him whom thou knowest like him whom thou knowest not.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 482)
‘Do no unrighteousness in judgement. You must not consider the fact that one party is poor nor the fact that the other is a great man.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:15)
6. The Law of Good Faith and Veracity
‘A sacrifice is obliterated by a lie and the merit of alms by an act of fraud.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 6)
‘Whose mouth, full of lying, avails not before thee: thou burnest their utterance.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
‘With his mouth was he full of Yea, in his heart full of Nay?’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 446)
‘I have not spoken falsehood.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
‘I sought no trickery, nor swore false oaths.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2738)
‘The Master said, Be of unwavering good faith.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)
‘In Nástrond (= Hell) I saw the perjurers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 39)
‘Hateful to me as are the gates of Hades is that man who says one thing, and hides another in his heart.’ (Greek. Homer. Iliad, ix. 312)
‘The foundation of justice is good faith.’ (Roman. Cicero, De Off. 1. vii)
‘[The gentleman] must learn to be faithful to his superiors and to keep promises.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 8)
‘Anything is better than treachery.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál 124)
7. The Law of Mercy
‘The poor and the sick should be regarded as lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
‘Whoso makes intercession for the weak, well pleasing is this to Samas.’ (Babylonian. ERE v. 445)
‘Has he failed to set a prisoner free?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins. ERE v. 446)
‘I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a ferry boat to the boatless.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 446)
‘One should never strike a woman; not even with a flower.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
‘There, Thor, you got disgrace, when you beat women.’ (Old Norse. Hárbarthsljóth 38)
‘In the Dalebura tribe a woman, a cripple from birth, was carried about by the tribes-people in turn until her death at the age of sixty-six.’…‘They never desert the sick.’ (Australian Aborigines. ERE v. 443)
‘You will see them take care of…widows, orphans, and old men, never reproaching them.’ (Redskin. ERE v. 439)
‘Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us.’ (Roman. Juvenal, xv. 131)
‘They said that he had been the mildest and gentlest of the kings of the world.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Praise of the hero in Beowulf, 3180)
‘When thou cuttest down thine harvest…and hast forgot