Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/36

 forbear threatenings, knowning that the Lord of all is in heaven, and there is no respect of persons with Him. Were all these things observed by every one whom they concern, according to the intent of the divine Will, each family would truly present a likeness of the heavenly home, and the wondrous benefits thence resulting would not be limited simply to the family circle, but would spread abroad abundantly over the State at large.

As regards the maintenance of public and private tranquillity, Catholic wisdom, sustained by both divine and natural law, prudently provides through what it holds and teaches touching the right of ownership and the apportioning of personal property which has been accumulated for the wants and requirements of life. For the Socialists wrongly assume the right of property to be of mere human invention, repugnant to the natural equality between men, and, preaching up the community of goods, declare that no one should endure poverty meekly, and that all may with impunity seize upon the possessions and usurp the rights of the wealthy. More wisely and profitably the Church recognizes the existence of inequality amongst men, who are by nature unlike in mental endowment and strength of body, and even in amount of fortune; and she enjoins that the right of property and of its disposal, derived from nature, should in the case of every individual remain intact and inviolate. She knows full well indeed that robbery and rapine have been so forbidden by God, the Author and Protector of every right, that it is unlawful even to covet the goods of others, and that thieves and robbers no less than adulterers and idolaters are excluded from the kingdom of heaven. Nor does she, on this account, loving mother as she is, omit solicitude for the poor or fail to provide for their needs; nay, taking them to her arms with maternal affection, and knowing that they in a manner represent the person