Page 264 - erewhon

to consider the foundations of duty and of good and evil,
and otherwise to put all sorts of matters on a logical basis,
which people whose time is money are content to accept on
no basis at all.
As a matter of course, the basis on which he decided that
duty could alone rest was one that afforded no standing-
room for many of the old-established habits of the people.
These, he assured them, were all wrong, and whenever any
one ventured to differ from him, he referred the matter to
the unseen power with which he alone was in direct com-
munication, and the unseen power invariably assured him
that he was right. As regards the rights of animals he taught
as follows:-
‘You know, he said, ‘how wicked it is of you to kill one an-
other. Once upon a time your fore-fathers made no scruple
about not only killing, but also eating their relations. No
one would now go back to such detestable practices, for it is
notorious that we have lived much more happily since they
were abandoned. From this increased prosperity we may
confidently deduce the maxim that we should not kill and
eat our fellow-creatures. I have consulted the higher power
by whom you know that I am inspired, and he has assured
me that this conclusion is irrefragable.
‘Now it cannot be denied that sheep, cattle, deer, birds,
and fishes are our fellow-creatures. They differ from us in
some respects, but those in which they differ are few and
secondary, while those that they have in common with us
are many and essential. My friends, if it was wrong of you to
kill and eat your fellow-men, it is wrong also to kill and eat