Man was free to begin with--as free as the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air. Who, then enslaved humanity? Man himself. So when Man seeks liberty, he seeks to free himself from conditions that he has imposed on his own kind--to free himself from “Man’s inhumanity to Man.” It is Desire--selfish Desire for conquest, possession and control--that has enslaved mankind. The man that seeks liberty, then, should have no place in his breast for greed and selfish desire. If, underneath his feelings of revolt against the Tyrant and the Master, there burns in his own soul the flame of selfish desire, how can he condemn those that aspire to be masters of the world? How would he himself use supreme power if it were his? Would he dominate others with an iron hand, or would he lend his strength to the weak? When a man has answered that question to his own satisfaction, knowing in his soul that he has been truthful with himself, he may justly claim to be a lover of liberty. * * * * * Carlyle pictured humanity in the mass as an “Egyptian urn filled with tamed vipers, each one struggling to raise its head above the others.” That is a bitter expression of life’s struggle--but in the light of history not an exaggerated one. That kind of struggle does not make for liberty. That is a struggle for _supremacy_. Until the desire for supremacy--for conquest and control, be checked in the human soul, that bitter struggle will go on. Don’t mistake the meaning of the cry for liberty. Liberty does not mean freedom from subjection for _us_ that _we_ may master others. It means freedom for all men--everywhere--always. The love of liberty implies the love of humanity--the spirit of true democracy. * * * * * Some years ago I heard a great leader of our people define democracy. “We observe,” he said, “a young man of high social standing making a companion of his washerwoman’s son, and we call him democratic. Is he really so? Perhaps the washerwoman’s son possesses qualities that would command the attention and respect of every one; perhaps he has tastes in common with the young man. That is not democracy. That is natural selection--like seeking like. It is very easy for a man to be democratic with people he likes. But that is not democracy. _True_ democracy is that spirit in a man which makes the welfare of his fellow men a thing vital to him, _whether he likes them or not_.” * * * * *