Justice, No. I

Justice, No. I. [No. 42]

Justice—not merely meting out the Law,
E’en to the Letter, but giving to each Man,
Woman, and Child, whatever rightly can
Be call’d their Own—would save unmeasured Woe
To all the Human Race. It binds in one 5
Pillar of Strength and Beauty all the rest
Of Virtues; wanting this heavenly guest,
They would be useless: none can stand alone.
“Best boon of Heaven,” good HESIOD well did name
This Master Virtue. Much Evil has been done— 10
Mere work of Vengeance—in its name and gone
Unquestion’d for long ages: as if the aim
Of Justice was to Injure,—not Redress
All Creatures’ Wrongs, and make the sum of Suffering less.

by George Markham Tweddell 1st published 1887