THE GHOSTS OF THE SLAIN

I said to myself: I shall escape from the shambles and dwell in the days of Peace to come. For my nostrils are choked with the smell of blood and my ears are deaf with the clamour of battle. The priests of God have profaned His temples they pass the children of men through the Fire to Moloch. Those who sit in the high places have cast the people into the pit; those who sit in the secret places have ensnared them with lies.

So man goes forth to kill his brother and Pity and Mercy are banished from Earth.

The world is sodden with blood and the skies are black with the thunder of War. I hear the moaning of those who perish and the wailing of those left desolate. He who has given high service to man his throat is cut, he is peer of the hog in the hands of the butcher.

The toiler slays his comrade, and slave kills slave at the will of his master In the heart of each is faith in his cause and each kills in the name of God who said: THOU SHALT NOT KILL

Madness possesses the nations, bred in the womb of Fear, it has mastered the peoples.

So the sword will not be sheathed whilst nation can stand against nation. Till the kingdom of Death is established. So I close the doors of the madhouse and seek to dwell in the days of Peace to come.

Slain are the millions the treasure exhausted the world no longer shakes to the earthquake of battle, its thunders are hushed, its red torrents have ceased to Flow. Peace has come and silence has fallen upon the land, the silence of death in the darkness of night.

The ghosts of the slain have risen, from the setting of the sun to the dawn of day they people the earth.

Shattered and torn they cry to the living "Why did you slay us; we who had but a little while to live. Have we not died in vain?

And in the silence that lay upon earth man said in his heart "Why did I kill?" And answer could no man give to himself but this: "I slew so that I might not be slain." For Truth was lifting the curtain and all men saw that madness possessed them That each had slain his brother and knew it not.

And now they looked upon desolation and heard the voices of the dead rising in accusation, together with the wailing of the widows and of the fatherless.

And in the silence that lay upon Earth Rage entered the heart of man. And a great cry of wrath went up from the peoples: "Where are they who deceived us; bring them forth to judgment." So was the silence broken that came with Peace, whilst the Earth was still haunted by the ghosts of the slain.

Then there went forth over the world the First-born of War and Famine led Death from the battlefield to stand by the side of the cradle. The breast of the mother is dry, the sap has gone out of the tree, and as Autumn leaves in the Forest so fall and perish her children. A great moaning goes up from the peoples because they despair and because they remember the days before they went forth to battle.

For now there is silence where once was heard the thunder of the mills and the roar of the looms. Slain are those for whom they fashioned, they need to be clad and fed no more.

And men cried: "Were we saved from the battlefield to perish." And the women taunted them because of their folly. Saying: "Did we then bear sons for the sword and the spear." And the maidens said "Who is there left to go with us from amongst the strong and the brave?" And when the people saw what they had done Terror seized upon them

Then FAMINE went forth and recruited an army and millions flocked to her standard. Throughout the world was heard the noise of their marching and the sound of the wrath that possessed them. And when they had come together, crafty ones stood forth to lead them as they had done in the days gone by, saying: "Put your trust in us and all will be well." But the people answered "We shall have no leaders and no Governments, because we put our trust in these we have been brought to confusion. Those that are left we shall destroy for man will not harm his fellow man unless he be led astray. And like the sound of a mighty storm rose the voice of the peoples crying: "WE SHALL DESTROY."

And when the people came together to destroy one stood from among them and said: "There is no God, or if there be we shall deny Him for in the name of God we were sent forth to kill. His priests blessed our banners and bade speed to our swords."

And the people answered: "There is no God of Battles, no Christ who blessed the sword."

Then they sought for the priests in the temples and drove them out, crying "Go wash your hands of blood. On Golgotha the Place of Skulls, you have crucified Christ anew. On world-wide Golgotha you have slain THE PRINCE OF PEACE." Then the people rejoiced saying "In Life we are one in Joy and in Sorrow, and in Death there is no division. We have seen the Ghosts of the Slain go by, and have heard them wailing: 'Woe! Woe! for on Earth we slew one another' Not in vain shall be their warning.

Pilgrims seeking sanctuary, Earth shall be our common Shrine undefiled by sacrifice.

For the God of Battles is overthrown and the priests are cast out of the temples."

And when again the people had assembled one from amongst them stood forth and said: "Will you again suffer yourselves to be commanded to kill? Will you again be driven like beasts to the slaughter? And the people answered "NO." Then he said to them: IF so be your will you must destroy Kings and Governments who rule and mock you It is they who have brought this curse upon earth. It is they who have set man against man, who concealed the truth so that madness came upon you and the slaying of brother by brother.

It is they who sent you to kill and now leave you to starve, seeking to fill you with words. The laws deny freedom to you they hem you round so that you may not live

The lawgiver is the servant of Murder. He consecrates Theft and calls it Justice. He goes with those who despoil you. He guards the oppressors in your midst whilst sending you to slay those who have done you no wrong. If you rise against these your reward at his hands will be the prison and gallows.

The dead have risen from their graves and call for retribution. Tomorrow we may be sent forth again to kill if we pass not judgment now.

Kings and legislators will launch their armies again if you surrender yourselves to their keeping. Either they or the people must perish."

And the people answered: "Lest our brothers should have died in vain, the thrones shall fall and the chambers of the legislators shall be silent."

And the world shook as these things were done in the wrath of the people and out of its travail was LIBERTY born.

And again the people came together to seek for guidance in Liberty. And one from among them spoke. "You have laid tyrants in the dust but Hunger still has Empire over you. Think you that you were born into the world as outcasts to perish were you not rather born to possess it and live Whose inheritance is it but yours and who has greater claim to it than another? Your hands would not be idle if you possessed the earth, and you would not starve if you garnered its fruits Fruitful is the soil, the rain falls in due season and the sun shines to ripen the harvest. The Earth is our Mother, she cries to her children: 'Come take of my riches and kill one another no more.' Your hands are idle, your granaries empty because you are disinherited. The table is spread for the few, and the many who spread it struggle for crumbs that fall. So is envy brought among them and the slaves of one nation grow jealous of those of another. And they who possess the earth levy tribute and send forth the dispossessed to slay.

Idle is it to command: Thou shalt not kill, unless first we ordain: Thou shalt not steal Because of injustice, evil has befallen. If you would have peace on earth let justice be done and let this commandment prevail:

THE EARTH SHALL BE HELD IN TRUST FOR ALL, AND THE FRUITS OF MAN'S LABOUR SHALL BE HIS.

And the people answered "We went forth to die for our country and now we shall live to possess it. So shall it be that our brothers have not perished in vain. No longer will the ghosts from the battlefields haunt us and the voices of the dead accuse us. For then we shall have overthrown Wrong, and Justice shall keep Peace for evermore."