right to refuse。 Hence it is that we appoint or maintain people in
spite of themselves; in the magistracy; in the army and in every other
species of employment。 In vain may they excuse themselves or try get
out of the way; they must remain or become generals; judges; mayors;
national agents; town councilors; commissioners of public welfare or
administration;'17' even against their will。 Too bad for them if the
responsibility is expensive or dangerous; if they have no time for
leisure; if they do not feel themselves qualified for it; if the rank
or services seems to them to lead to a prison or the guillotine; when
they declare that the work is forced labor we reply that they liable
to work for the State。 Such is; henceforth; the condition of all
Frenchmen; and likewise of all French women。 We force mothers to take
their daughters to the meetings of popular clubs。 We oblige women to
parade in companies; and march in procession at republican festivals;
we invade the family and select the most beautiful to be draped as
antique goddesses; and publicly promenaded on a chariot; we sometimes
even designate those among the rich who must wed patriots'18': there
is no reason why marriage; which is the most important of all
services; should not be put in requisition like the others。
Accordingly; we enter families; we carry of the child; we subject him
to a civic education。 We are schoolmasters; philanthropists;
theologians; and moralists。 We impose by force our religion and our
ritual; our morality and our social customs。 We lord it over private
lives and consciences; we dictate ideas; we scrutinize and punish
secret inclinations; we tax; imprison and guillotine not only the
evil…disposed; but again 〃the indifferent; the moderate and the
egoists。〃'19' Over and above his visible acts we dictate to the
individual his ideas and his deepest feelings; we prescribe to him his
affections as well as his beliefs; and; according to a preconceived
type; we refashion his intellect; his conscience and his
sensibilities。
III。
The object of the State is the regeneration of man。 … Two sides to
this undertaking。 … Restoration of the Natural man。 … Formation of
the Social man。 … Grandeur of the undertaking。 … To carry it out;
the use of force is a right and a duty。
There is nothing arbitrary in this operation; for the ideal model is
traced beforehand。 If the State is omnipotent; it is for the purpose
of 〃regenerating Mankind;〃 and the theory which confers its rights; at
the same time assigns to it its object。 In what does this
regeneration of Man consist? … Consider a domestic animal such as a
dog or a horse。 Scrawny; battered; tied up or chained; a thousand are
strained and overworked compared to the few basking in idleness; dying
from rich living; and with all of them; whether fat or lean; the soul
is more spoiled than the body。 A superstitious respect keeps them
cowed under their burden; or makes them cringe before their master。
Servile; slothful; gluttonous; feeble; incapable of resisting
adversity; if they have acquired the miserable skills of slavery; they
have also contracted its needs; weaknesses and vices。 A crust of
absurd habits and perverse inclinations; a sort of artificial and
supplementary being; has covered over their original nature。 … And;
on the other hand; the better side of their original nature has had no
chance to develop itself; for lack of use。 Separated from the other;
these two parts of its nature have not acquired the sentiment of
community; they do not know; like their brethren of the prairies; how
to help each other and subordinate private interests to the interests
of the flock。 Each pulls his own way; nobody cares for others; all
are egoists; social interests have miscarried。 … Such is Man
nowadays; a disfigured slave that has to be restored。 Our task;
accordingly is two…fold: we have to demolish and we have to construct;
we must first set free the natural Man that we may afterwards build up
the social Man。
It is a vast enterprise and we are conscious of its vastness。
〃It is necessary;〃 says Billaud…Varennes;'20' 〃that the people to
which one desires to restore their freedom should in some way be
created anew; since old prejudices must be destroyed; old habits
changed; depraved affections improved; superfluous wants restricted;
and inveterate vices extirpated。〃
But the task is sublime; as the aim is 〃to fulfill the desires of
nature;'21' accomplish the destinies of humanity; and fulfill the
promises of philosophy〃。…
〃Our purpose;〃 says Robespierre;'22' 〃is to substitute morality for
egoism; honesty for honor; principles for custom; duties for
etiquette; the empire of reason for the tyranny of fashion; contempt
of vice for indifference to misfortune; pride for arrogance; a noble
mind for vanity; love of glory for the love of profit; good people for
high society; merit for intrigue; genius for intellectual brilliancy;
the charm of contentment for the boredom of voluptuous pleasure; the
majesty of Man for the high…breeding of the great; a magnanimous;
powerful and happy people for an amiable; frivolous and wretched
people; that is to say; every virtue and miracle of the Republic in
the place of the vices and absurdities of the monarchy。〃
We will do this; the whole of it; whatever the cost。 Little do we
care for the present generation: we are working for generations to
come。
〃Man; forced to isolate himself from society; anchors himself in the
future and presses to his heart a posterity innocent of existing
evils。〃'23'
He sacrifices to this work his own and the lives of others。
〃On the day that I am persuaded;〃 writes Saint…Just; 〃that it is
impossible to render the French people kind; energetic; tender and
relentless against tyranny and injustice; I will stab myself。〃
… 〃What I have done in the South I will do in the North;〃 says Baudot;
〃I will convert them into patriots; either they or I must die。〃 …
〃We will make France a cemetery;〃 says Carrier; 〃rather than not
regenerate it our own way。〃
In vain may the ignorant or the vicious protest; they protest because
they are ignorant or vicious。 In vain may the individual plead his
personal rights; he has none: through the social contract; which is
obligatory and solely valid; he has surrendered his entire being;
having made no reservation; 〃he has nothing to claim。〃 Undoubtedly;
some will grumble; because; with them; the old wrinkle remains and
artificial habits still cover over the original instinct。 Untie the
mill…horse; and he will still go round in the same track; let the
mountebank's dog be turned loose; and he will still raise himself on
his hind…legs; if we would bring them back to their natural gait we
must handle them roughly。 In like manner; to restore Man to his
normal attitude; you must handle him roughly。 But; in this respect;
have no scruples;'24' for we do not bow him down; we raise him up ; as
Rousseau says; 〃we compel him to be free;〃 we confer on him the
greatest boon a human being can receive; we bring him back to nature
and to justice。 For this reason; now that he is warned; if he
persists in his resistance; he is a criminal and merits every kind of
chastisements'25'; for; he declares himself a rebel and a perjurer;
inimical to humanity; and a traitor to the social compact。
IV。
Two distortions of the natural man。 … Positive religion。 …
Proscription of the orthodox cult。 … Measures against unsworn
priests。 … Measures against the loyal orthodox。 … Destruction of the
constitutional cult。 … Pressure on the sworn priests。 … Churches
closed and ceremonies suppressed。 … Continuation of these
persecutions until the Consulate。
Let us (Taine lets the Jacobin say) begin by figuring to ourselves the
natural man; certainly we of to…day have some difficulty in
recognizing him; he bears but little resemblance to the artificial
being who (in 1789) stands in his shoes; the creature which an
antiquated system of constraint and fraud has deformed; held fast in
his hereditary harness of thralldom and superstition; blinded by his
religion and held in check by prestige; exploited by his government
and tamed by dint of blows; always with a halter on; always put to
work in the wrong way and against nature; whatever stall he may
occupy; high or low; however full or empty his crib may be; now in
menial service like the blinded hack…horse turning the mill…wheel; and
now on parade like a trained dog which; decked with flags; shows off
its antics before the public。'26' But imagine all these out of the
way; the flags and the bands; the fetters and compartments in the
social stable; and you will see a new man appearing; the original man;
intact and healthy in mind; soul and body。 … In this condition; he is
free of prejudice; he is not ensnared in a net of lies; he is neither
Jew; Protestant nor Catholic; if he tries to imagine the universe as a
whole and the principle of events; he will not let himself be duped by
a pretended revelation; he will listen only to his own reason; he may
chance; now and then; to become an atheist; but; generally; he will
settle down into a deist。 … In this condition of things he is not
fettered by a hierarchy; he is neither noble nor commoner; land…owner
nor tenant; inferior nor superior。 Independent of the others; all are
equal; and; if all agree in the forming of an association; their
common…sense will stipulate that its first article shall secure the
maintenance of this primordial equality。 … Such is man; as nature
made him; as history has unmade him; and as the Revolution is to re…
make him。'27' One cannot batter away too vigorously against the two
casings that hold him tight; one the positive religion which narrows
and perverts his intellect; and the other the social inequality which
perverts and weaken
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