When I was a lad I met with an old book entitled "Equality," by Abraham
Tucker. The main idea of the book, so far as I can recollect, was, that
as God is infinitely just, He must treat all His creatures with absolute
equality. As such a thing is evidently not in force now, the idea was
that the future life will exactly rectify all the inequalities of the
present, so that upon the whole there will be perfect equality. It was
an ingenious and reverent theory; but on turning it over in my mind just
now, I find some formidable objections to it.

For one thing, the inequalities that prevail now, when not painful, give
us no serious discontent. In fact, except in extreme cases, we rather
approve and enjoy them. No doubt we have a love of variety; but apart
from that, we rather delight to have superiors and inferiors. It is
pleasant to have some one to whom we can look up, as better endowed than
ourselves; and it is pleasant to have others who can look up to us. And
our best and most ethical judgment approves of this feeling. In
particular, there is no feeling so ennobling as reverence; but there
would be no proper place for reverence if we were equal. It would not,
therefore, be easy to think that an ideal state of society
demands equality.

Again: Analogy points decisively the same way. If we look above us we
find that there are among the angels, thrones, dominions, principalities
and powers. If we look below us, we find a striking variety among the
animals. In either case, there is not equality; and so far as we know,
no compensations to produce equality. It would be hard to believe that
there ever will be such compensations in the case of the human race.

Moreover: The theory of equality in the long run would seem to require