all throwing the weight of their influence against Anarchy and Socialism on the one hand, and against high-handed oppression and monopoly on the other.
First, then she teaches that the distinction between rich and poor, between toil and leisure, between the governing and the governed, is inevitable — is a God-given dispensation. For, just as the potter fashions his clay into vessels — some for elegant purposes and others for humbler uses — just as the builder chooses some stones for the foundation and others for the higher parts of the building, so God creates men — some for a nobler, some for a less noble destiny. In building up the social structure He, in His wisdom, places some in a higher, and others in a more lowly position. Thus it is that the power of God, as the Bible says, reacheth from end to end mightily and ordereth all things sweetly. Hence, private possessions, if honestly acquired, far from being robbery and crime, are strictly in accordance with the general design of the Creator. I say, if honestly gained, for every man has a right to the fruits of his own honest industry. In the Gospel parable, he who traded with his five talents and gained five more, and he who traded his two talents and gained other two— both receive from their Lord this commendation: "Well done, good and faithful servant," while he who buried his talent, and so gained nothing, is styled a wicked and slothful servant. No man ever did or ever will get rich or powerful without an effort — which effort gives him a perfect right to enjoy in peace the fruits thereof.
