THERE was an intriguing conversation between the first modern Anarchist, William Godwin (1756-1836), and the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). Having met for dinner, on 16th December 1794, the men entered into a discussion about Unitarianism and Godwin advanced the notion that ‘universal benevolence’ and what he described as ‘private affections’ are polar opposites.

He based this idea on the fact that the famous Roman senator, Lucius Junius Brutus (d. 509 BCE), who was still regarded as a champion of liberty in the late-eighteenth century, had called for the execution of his own sons on account of them plotting to restore the Tarquin monarchy. As some of you will know, when Roman officers later presented his offspring for burial Brutus merely sat beside the statue of the goddess Roma and found himself completely unmoved by the whole affair. Although Godwin believed that Brutus had put the cause of the people first, even to the detriment of his own family, Coleridge replied by saying that the

“ardour of private Attachments makes Philanthropy a necessary habit of the soul. I love my Friend – such as he is, all mankind are or should be.”

The inference being, of course, that whilst ‘private affections’ should provide the very basis for ‘universal benevolence’ it is impossible to extend such love to the world if people do not live up to the standards of one’s nearest and dearest. And that, in a nutshell, is why some lives matter more than others.