Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1888-04-19
NATURAL LAW.


Cardinal Manning Explains His Late Ut
terences in Regard to the Right of Man
to L;ye-..The Law of Nature Divine and
Supreme"
BALTIMORE, April 12.-The April num-
Der of the american Catholic Quarterly
Rerieao of Philadelphia, will contain an
important paper from the pen of Cardinal
Manning entitled: 'sThe Law OF Nature,
Divine and Supreme" The article was
written for the purpose Of making more
clear the doctrine of the Catholic church
regarding the rights of the poor, as stated
by His Eminence last January, and which
has been more or less misunderstood.
The following are extracts from the arti-
Gle:
The Atlantic cable has so fully explained the
circumstances under which I appealed to the
law of nature, that hardly like to weary the
reader with a repetition. Nevertheless, may
so far return upon the past to say that my
words were spoken in a conference, not mere
public meeting, and written for use in of
our most literary, I may say esoteric,
reviews. 1t can hardly be necessary
to justify what I have said among
Catholics, might even say among Christians;
but both Catholics and Christians are often not
fully aware of the broad and solid ground
which they habitually rest. will, therefore,
draw out in full what the other day gave only
in the reference do this not out of pedantry.
Out OUT Oh prudence, LOT some BOOu men may,
for want of knowledge, be miSled. BY the
law of nature all men have a common right to
the use of things which were created for them
and their sustenance But this common right
does not exclude the possession of any thing
which becomes proper to each. The common
right is by natural law, and the positive law of
property is expedient for three reasons What
is our own is more carefully used than
what is common. Human affairs are bet
ter ordered by recognized private rights.
Human society is more peaceful when each has
his own, protected by the law of justice
cuique. 3.-Theft therefore, is always a sin
for two reasons: Tt is contrary to Justice. 1t
is committed either by stealth or by violence.
4.-But the human and positive law can not
derrogate from the natural and Divine law.
According to the Divine law, all things are or
dained to sustain the life of man, and there
fore the division and appropriation
OF things can not hinder the SuS-
tenance of man in case of necessity Therefore,
the possessions of those who have food super
abundantly are due by the natural law for the
sustenance of the poor. This doctrine lies at
the foundation of the positive law of
all property in Christendom. It ex-
lists as an unwrtten law in all Catholic
countries. In France it is the droh
trdgaat In England it is clothed in a legal
statute in our Poor law, under which every one
has "a right either to work or to bread without
work. In the old Scotch law it was recog-
nized under the title of Burdensech-a starv-
Ing man nau f1Bnb TO carry away
as much meat he could his
back. All these authorities I give not
by way of example or exhortaton to larceny,
but in proof of the natural right from which
they flow. 1t must be borne in mind that my
purpose to justify and elevate the Poor
law of England by showing that it was founded
upon the natural right of man to live and to
the sustenance of life. In proving this I was
compelled to show that this natural law is SUI
preme over all positive law. The opponents of
the Poor law, to cvade the main question,
promptly seized the latter to escape the
former. The obligation to feed the
hungry springs from the natural
right of every man to life and to
the food necessary for the sustenance
of life So strict is this natural right
that it prevails over all positive laws of prop
erty. Necessity has no law, and starving
man has natural right to his neighbours
bread. I am afraid that those who speak so
confidently about right, obligations and laws
have not studied, or have forgotten the first
principles of all human positive law. If the
law of property did not rest upon a natural
right it could not long exist. They who deny
it justify the dictum u propr1ete c'est te cot
Before the natural right to live all human laws
must give way.