The Duties of Man And Other Essays

conviction matured by long years of sorrow and of observation and of study. The duties which I am going to point out to you I strive and shall strive as long as I live to fulfil, to the utmost of my power. I may make mistakes, but my heart is true. I may deceive myself, but I will not deceive you. Hear me therefore as a brother; judge freely among yourselves, whether it seems to you that I speak the truth; abandon me if you think that I preach what is false; but follow a1e and do according to my teaching if you find me an apostle of truth. To be mistaken is a misfortune to be pitied; but to know the truth and not to conform one's actions to it is a crime which Heaven and Earth condemn. Why do I speak to you of your duties before speaking to you of your rights ? Why in a society in which all, voluntarily or involuntarily, oppress you, in which the exercise of all the rights which belong to man is constantly denied you, in which misery is your lot, and what is called happiness is for other classes of men, why do I speak to you of self-sacrifice and not of conquest; of virtue, moral improvement, education, andnot of material well-being? This is a question which I must answer before going further, because here precisely lies the difference between our school and many others which are being preached to-day in Europe ; because, moreover, it is a question which rises readily in the indignant mind of the suffering working-man. We are poor, enslaved, unhappy; speak t...