Having shown the foundation of human rights in human nature, it may be
asked what they are. Perhaps they do not admit very accurate definition
any more than human duties; for the Spiritual cannot be weighed and
measured like the Material. Perhaps a minute criticism may find fault
with the most guarded exposition of them; but they may easily be stated
in language which the unsophisticated mind will recognise as the truth.
Volumes could not do justice to them; and yet perhaps they may be
comprehended in one sentence. They may all be comprised in the Right,
which belongs to every rational being, to exercise his powers for the
promotion of his own and others' Happiness and Virtue. These are the
great purposes of his existence. For these his powers were given, and to
these he is bound to devote them. He is bound to make himself and others
better and happier, according to his ability. His ability for this work
is a sacred trust from God, the greatest of all trusts. He must answer
for the waste or abuse of it. He consequently suffers an unspeakable
wrong, when stripped of it by others, or forbidden to employ it for the
ends for which it is given; when the powers which God has given for such
generous uses are impaired or destroyed by others, or the means for
their action and growth are forcibly withheld. As every human being is
bound to employ his faculties for his own and others' good, there is an
obligation on each to leave all free for the accomplishment of this end;
and whoever respects this obligation, whoever uses his own, without
invading others' powers, or obstructing others' duties, has a sacred,
indefeasible right to be unassailed, unobstructed, unharmed by all with
whom he may be connected. Here is the grand, all-comprehending right of
human nature. Every man should revere it, should assert it for himself
and for all, and should bear solemn testimony against every infraction
of it, by whomsoever made or endured.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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