The following illustrations of the Natural Law are collected from such sources as come readily to the hand of one who is not a professional historian. The list makes no pretence of completeness. It will be noticed that writers such as Locke and Hooker, who wrote within the Christian tradition, are quoted side by side with the New Testament. This would, of course, be absurd if I were trying to collect independent testimonies to the Tao. But (1) I am not trying to prove its validity by the argument from common consent. Its validity cannot be deduced. For those who do not perceive its rationality, even universal consent could not prove it. (2) The idea of collecting independent testimonies presupposes that ‘civilizations’ have arisen in the world independently of one another; or even that humanity has had several independent emergences on this planet. The biology and anthropology involved in such an assumption are extremely doubtful. It is by no means certain that there has ever (in the sense required) been more than one civilization in all history. It is at least arguable that every civilization we find has been derived from another civilisation and, in the last resort, from a single centre — ‘carried’ like an infectious disease or like the Apostolical succession.

I. The Law of General Beneficence

(a) NEGATIVE

• ‘I have not slain men.’ (Ancient Egyptian. From the Confession of the Righteous Soul, ‘Book of the Dead’,
  v. Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics [= ERE], vol. v, p. 478)
• ‘Do not murder.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:13) ‘Terrify not men or God will terrify thee.’ (Ancient
• Egyptian. Precepts of Ptahhetep. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. i3}n)
• ‘In Nastrond (= Hell) I saw… murderers.’ (Old Norse. Volospá 38, 39)
• ‘I have not brought misery upon my fellows. I have not made the beginning of every day laborious in the sight of him who worked for me.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
• ‘I have not been grasping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Ibid.) ‘Who meditates oppression, his dwelling is overturned.’
  (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
• ‘He who is cruel and calumnious has the character of a cat.’ (Hindu. Laws of Manu. Janet, Histoire de la Science Politique, vol. i, p. 6)
• ‘Slander not.’ (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
• ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.’ (Ancient Jewish. Exodus 20:16)
• ‘Utter not a word by which anyone could be wounded.’ (Hindu. Janet, p. 7)
• ‘Has he … driven an honest man from his family? broken up a well cemented clan?’ (Babylonian. List of Sins from incantation tablets. ERE v. 446)
• ‘I have not caused hunger. I have not caused weeping.’ (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 478)
• ‘Never do to others what you would not like them to do to
  you.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects of Confucius, trans.
  A. Waley, xv. 23; cf. xii. 2)
• ‘Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus 19:17)
• ‘He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon goodness
  will dislike no one.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, iv. 4)

(b) POSITIVE

• ‘Nature urges that a man should wish human society
  to exist and should wish to enter it.’ (Roman. Cicero, De
  Officiis, i. iv)
• ‘By the fundamental Law of Nature Man [is] to be
  preserved as much as possible.’ (Locke, Treatises of Civil
  Govt. ii. 3)
• ‘When the people have multiplied, what next should
  be done for them? The Master said, Enrich them. Jan Ch’iu said, When
  one has enriched them, what next should be done for them? The Master
  said, Instruct them.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, xiii. 9)
• ‘Speak kindness … show good will.’
  (Babylonian. Hymn to Samas. ERE v. 445)
• ‘Men were brought into existence for the sake of
  men that they might do one another good.’ (Roman. Cicero. De
  Off. i. vii)
• ‘Man is man’s delight.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál
  47)
• ‘He who is asked for alms should always give.’ (Hindu.
  Janet, i. 7)
• ‘What good man regards any misfortune as no concern of
  his?’ (Roman. Juvenal xv. 140)
• ‘I am a man: nothing human is alien to me.’ (Roman. Terence,
  Heaut. Tim.)
• ‘Love thy neighbour as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Leviticus
  19:18)
• ‘Love the stranger as thyself.’ (Ancient Jewish. Ibid. 33, 34)
• ‘Do to men what you wish men to do to you.’
  (Christian. Matthew 7:12)

2. The Law of Special Beneficence

• ‘It is upon the trunk that a gentleman works. When
  that is firmly set up, the Way grows. And surely proper behaviour to
  parents and elder brothers is the trunk of goodness.’ (Ancient
  Chinese. Analects, i. 2)
• ‘Brothers shall fight and be each others’ bane.’
  (Old Norse. Account of the Evil Age before the World’s end,
  Volospá 45)
• ‘Has he insulted his elder sister?’ (Babylonian. List of
  Sins. ERE v. 446)
• ‘You will see them take care of their kindred [and] the children of
  their friends … never reproaching them in the least.’ (Redskin. Le
  Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)
• ‘Love thy wife studiously. Gladden her heart all thy life long.’
  (Ancient Egyptian. ERE v. 481)
• ‘Nothing can ever change the claims of kinship for a right
  thinking man.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2600)
• ‘Did not Socrates love his own children, though he did so as a free
  man and as one not forgetting that the gods have the first claim on
  our friendship?’ (Greek, Epictetus, iii. 24)
• ‘Natural affection is a thing right and according to Nature.’
  (Greek. Ibid. i. xi)
• ‘I ought not to be unfeeling like a statue but
  should fulfil both my natural and artificial relations, as a
  worshipper, a son, a brother, a father, and a citizen.’
  (Greek. Ibid. 111. ii)
• ‘This first I rede thee: be blameless to thy kindred. Take no
  vengeance even though they do thee wrong.’ (Old
  Norse. Sigdrifumál, 22)
• ‘Is it only the sons of Atreus who love their
  wives? For every good man, who is right-minded, loves and cherishes
  his own.’ (Greek. Homer, Iliad, ix. 340)
• ‘The union and fellowship of men will be best
  preserved if each receives from us the more kindness in proportion as
  he is more closely connected with us.’ (Roman. Cicero. De
  Off. i. xvi)
• ‘Part of us is claimed by our country, part by our
  parents, part by our friends.’ (Roman. Ibid. i. vii)
• ‘If a ruler … compassed the salvation of the
  whole state, surely you would call him Good? The Master said, It would
  no longer be a matter of “Good”. He would without doubt be a Divine
  Sage.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, vi. 28)
• ‘Has it escaped you that, in the eyes of gods and
  good men, your native land deserves from you more honour, worship, and
  reverence than your mother and father and all your ancestors? That you
  should give a softer answer to its anger than to a father’s anger?
  That if you cannot persuade it to alter its mind you must obey it in
  all quietness, whether it binds you or beats you or sends you to a war
  where you may get wounds or
  death?’ (Greek. Plato, Crito, 51, a, b)
• ‘If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own
  house, he hath denied the faith.’ (Christian. I Timothy 5:8)
• ‘Put them in mind to obey magistrates.’… ‘I exhort that prayers
  be made for kings and all that are in authority.’ (Christian. Titus
  3:1 and I Timothy 2:1, 2)

3. Duties to Parents, Elders, Ancestors

• ‘Your father is an image of the Lord of Creation, your mother an
  image of the Earth. For him who fails to honour them, every work of
  piety is in vain. This is the first duty.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 9)
• ‘Has he despised Father and Mother?’ (Babylonian. List
  of Sins. ERE v. 446)
• ‘I was a staff by my Father’s side … I went in and out at
  his command.’ (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the
  Righteous Soul. ERE v. 481)
• ‘Honour thy Father and thy Mother.’ (Ancient Jewish.
  Exodus 20:12)
• ‘To care for parents.’ (Greek. List of duties in Epictetus,
  in. vii)
• ‘Children, old men, the poor, and the sick, should
  be considered as the lords of the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
• ‘Rise up before the hoary head and honour the old man.’ (Ancient
  Jewish. Leviticus 19:32)
• ‘I tended the old man, I gave him my staff.’ (Ancient
  Egyptian. ERE v. 481)
• ‘You will see them take care … of old men.’ (Redskin. Le
  Jeune, quoted ERE v. 437)
• ‘I have not taken away the oblations of the blessed dead.’
  (Ancient Egyptian. Confession of the Righteous Soul. ERE v. 478)
• ‘When proper respect towards the dead is shown at the
  end and continued after they are far away, the moral
  force (tê) of a people has reached its highest point.’
  (Ancient Chinese. Analects, i. 9)

4. Duties to Children and Posterity

• ‘Children, the old, the poor, etc. should be considered as lords of
  the atmosphere.’ (Hindu. Janet, i. 8)
• ‘To marry and to beget children.’ (Greek. List of
  duties. Epictetus, in. vii)
• ‘Can you conceive an Epicurean commonwealth?
  . . . What will happen? Whence is the population to be kept up? Who
  will educate them? Who will be Director of Adolescents? Who will be
  Director of Physical Training? What will be taught?’ (Greek. Ibid.)
• ‘Nature produces a special love of offspring’ and
  ‘To live according to Nature is the supreme good.’ (Roman. Cicero,
  De Off. i. iv, and De Legibus, i. xxi)
• ‘The second of these achievements is no less
  glorious than the first; for while the first did good on one occasion,
  the second will continue to benefit the state for ever.’
  (Roman. Cicero. De Off. i. xxii)
• ‘Great reverence is owed to a child.’
  (Roman. Juvenal, xiv. 47)
• ‘The Master said, Respect the young.’ (Ancient
  Chinese. Analects, ix. 22)
• ‘The killing of the women and more especially of
  the young boys and girls who are to go to make up the future strength
  of the people, is the saddest part… and we feel it very sorely.’
  (Redskin. Account of the Battle of Wounded Knee. ERE v. 432)

5. The Law of Justice

(a) SEXUAL JUSTICE

• ‘Has he approached his neighbour’s wife?’ (Babylonian. List of
  Sins. ERE v. 446)
• ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’ (Ancient Jewish.
  Exodus 20:14)
• ‘I saw in Nastrond (= Hell)… beguilers of others’ wives.’ (Old
  Norse. Volospá 38, 39)

(b) HONESTY

• ‘Has he drawn false boundaries?’ (Babylonian. List of
  Sins. ERE v. 446)
• ‘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, I. 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. I. 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 Nastrond (= 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. i.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 a sheaf… thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.’ (Ancient Jewish. Deuteronomy 24:19)

8. The Law of Magnanimity

(a)

• ‘There are two kinds of injustice: the first is
  found in those who do an injury, the second in those who fail to
  protect another from injury when they can.’ (Roman. Cicero, De
  Off. I. vii)
• ‘Men always knew that when force and injury was
  offered they might be defenders of themselves; they knew that
  howsoever men may seek their own commodity, yet if this were done with
  injury unto others it was not to be suffered, but by all men and by
  all good means to be withstood.’ (English. Hooker, Laws of
  Eccl. Polity, I. ix. 4)
• ‘To take no notice of a violent attack is to strengthen the heart of the enemy. Vigour is valiant, but cowardice is vile.’ (Ancient Egyptian. The Pharaoh Senusert III, cit. H. R. Hall, Ancient History of the Near East, p. 161)
• ‘They came to the fields of joy, the fresh turf of
  the Fortunate Woods and the dwellings of the Blessed . . . here was
  the company of those who had suffered wounds fighting for their
  fatherland.’ (Roman. Virgil, Aeneid, vi. 638-9, 660)
• ‘Courage has got to be harder, heart the stouter,
  spirit the sterner, as our strength weakens. Here lies our lord, cut
  to pieces, out best man in the dust. If anyone thinks of leaving this
  battle, he can howl forever.’ (Anglo-Saxon. Maldon, 312)
• ‘Praise and imitate that man to whom, while life is pleasing, death
  is not grievous.’ (Stoic. Seneca, Ep. liv)
• ‘The Master said, Love learning and if attacked be ready to die for
  the Good Way.’ (Ancient Chinese. Analects, viii. 13)

(b)

• ‘Death is to be chosen before slavery and base deeds.’
  (Roman. Cicero, De Off. i, xxiii)
• ‘Death is better for every man than life with shame.’
  (Anglo-Saxon. Beowulf, 2890)
• ‘Nature and Reason command that nothing uncomely, nothing
  effeminate, nothing lascivious be done or thought.’ (Roman. Cicero,
  De Off. i.iv)
• ‘We must not listen to those who advise us “being men to think
  human thoughts, and being mortal to think mortal thoughts,” but must
  put on immortality as much as is possible and strain every nerve to
  live according to that best part of us, which, being small in bulk,
  yet much more in its power and honour surpasses all else.’ (Ancient
  Greek. Aristotle, Eth. Nic. 1177 B)
• ‘The soul then ought to conduct the body, and the spirit of our
  minds the soul. This is therefore the first Law, whereby the highest
  power of the mind requireth obedience at the hands of all the rest.’
  (Hooker, op. cit. i. viii. 6)
• ‘Let him not desire to die, let him not desire to
  live, let him wait for his time … let him patiently bear hard words,
  entirely abstaining from bodily pleasures.’ (Ancient Indian. Laws of
  Manu. ERE ii. 98)
• ‘He who is unmoved, who has restrained his senses
  … is said to be devoted. As a flame in a windless place that
  flickers not, so is the devoted.’ (Ancient Indian. Bhagavad
  gita. ERE ii 90)

(c)

• ‘Is not the love of Wisdom a practice of death?’ (Ancient
  Greek. Plato, Phadeo, 81 A)
• ‘I know that I hung on the gallows for nine nights,
  wounded with the spear as a sacrifice to Odin, myself offered to
  Myself.’ (Old Norse. Hávamál, I. 10 in Corpus
  Poeticum Boreale; stanza 139 in Hildebrand’s Lieder der
  Älteren Edda. 1922)
• ‘Verily, verily I say to you unless a grain of
  wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies
  it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it.’ (Christian. John
  12:24,25)