登陆注册
14926100000154

第154章

Would you rally them to the support of the government? Then let them take part in it. If not they stand by as an onlooker and see nothing but the mistakes it commits, feeling only its irritations, and disposed only to criticize and to hoot at it. In fact, in this case, they are as if in the theater, where they go to be amused, and, especially, not to be put to any inconvenience. What inconveniences in the established order of things, and indeed in any established order! - In the first place, religion. To the amiable "idlers"whom Voltaire describes,[11] to "the 100,000 persons with nothing to do but to play and to amuse themselves," religion is the most disagreeable of pedagogues, always scolding, hostile to sensible amusement and free discussion, burning books which one wants to read, and imposing dogmas that are no longer comprehensible. In plain terms religion is an eyesore, and whoever wishes to throw stones at her is welcome. -- There is another bond, the moral law of the sexes. It seems onerous to men of pleasure, to the companions of Richelieu, Lauzun and Tilly, to the heroes of Crebillon the younger, and all others belonging to that libertine and gallant society for whom license has become the rule. Our fine gentlemen are quite ready to adopt a theory which justifies their practices.[12] They are very glad to be told that marriage is conventional and a thing of prejudice. Saint- Lambert obtains their applause at supper when, raising a glass of champagne, he proposes as a toast a return to nature and the customs of Tahiti[13].The last fetter of all is the government, the most galling, for it enforces the rest and keeps man down with its weight, along with the added weight of the others. It is absolute, it is centralized, it works through favorites, it is backward, it makes mistakes, it has reverses: how many causes of discontent embraced in a few words! It is opposed by the vague and suppressed resentment of the former powers which it has dispossessed, the provincial assemblies, the parliaments, the grandees of the provinces, the old stock of nobles, who, like the Mirabeau, retain the old feudal spirit, and like Chateaubriand's father, call the AbbéRaynal a "master-man." Against it is the spite of all those who imagine themselves frustrated in the distribution of offices and of favors, not only the provincial nobility who remain outside[14] while the court nobility are feasting at the royal banquet, but again the majority of the courtiers who are obliged to be content with crumbs, while the little circle of intimate favorites swallow down the large morsels. It has against it the ill-humor of those under its direction who, seeing it play the part of Providence and providing for all, accuses it of everything, the high price of bread as well as of the decay of a highway. It has against it the new humanity which, in the most elegant drawing-rooms, lays to its charge the maintenance of the antiquated remains of a barbarous epoch, ill-imposed, ill-apportioned and ill-collected taxes, sanguinary laws, blind prosecutions, atrocious punishments, the persecution of the Protestants, lettres-de-cachet, and prisons of State. And I do not include its excesses, its scandals, its disasters and its disgraces, - Rosbach, the treaty of Paris, Madame du Barry, and bankruptcy.-Disgust intervenes, for everything is decidedly bad. The spectators of the play say to each other that not only is the piece itself poor, but the theater is badly built, uncomfortable, stifling and contracted, to such a degree that, to be at one's ease, the whole thing must be torn down and rebuilt from cellar to garret.

Just at this moment the new architects appear, with their specious arguments and their ready-made plans, proving that every great public structure, religious and moral, and all communities, cannot be otherwise than barbarous and unhealthy, since, thus far, they are built up out of bits and pieces, by degrees, and generally by fools and savages, in any event by common masons, who built aimlessly, feeling their way and devoid of principles. As far as they are concerned, they are genuine architects, and they have principles, that is to say, Reason, Nature, and the Rights of Man, straightforward and fruitful principles which everybody can understand, all that has to be done is to draw their consequences making it possible to replace the imperfect tenements of the past with the admirable edifice of the future.- To irreverent, Epicurean and philanthropic malcontents the temptation is a great one. They readily adopt maxims which seem in conformity with their secret wishes; at least they adopt them in theory and in words. The imposing terms of liberty, justice, public good, man's dignity, are so admirable, and besides so vague! What heart can refuse to cherish them, and what intelligence can foretell their innumerable applications? And all the more because, up to the last, the theory does not descend from the heights, being confined to abstractions, resembling an academic oration, constantly dealing with Natural Man (homme en soi) of the social contract, with an imaginary and perfect society. Is there a courtier at Versailles who would refuse to proclaim equality in the lands of the Franks! - Between the two stories of the human intellect, the upper where abstract reasoning is spun and the lower where an active faith reposes, communication is neither complete nor immediate.A number of principles never leave the upper stories; they remain there as curiosities, so many fragile, clever mechanisms, freely to be seen but rarely employed. If the proprietor sometimes transfers them to the lower story he makes but a partial use of them; established customs, anterior and more powerful interests and instincts restrict their employment. In this respect he is not acting in bad faith, but as a man; each of us professing truths which he does not put in practice.

同类推荐
  • 瞿文懿公制科集

    瞿文懿公制科集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 杀子报

    杀子报

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 渑水燕谈录

    渑水燕谈录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 拟太平策序

    拟太平策序

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 梦粱录

    梦粱录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 清酒暖风:路过青春路过you

    清酒暖风:路过青春路过you

    庆幸,我们曾遇见,遗憾,我们只遇见。他和她是青梅竹马,渐行渐远的韶华时光令她不知不觉恋上他的美好,他却待她如亲生妹妹,宠溺却不逾矩,她默默将心中这份恋爱悸动搁浅于记忆流年,他毫无察觉,待她如初。她鼓起勇气准备告白,他却温情牵手女友向她宣誓他的幸福光点,她微笑祝福,而后独自一人默默躲在角落哭泣,一个男生伸出手,借给她肩膀,悄然行走在她的青春里。
  • 马斯洛的人本哲学

    马斯洛的人本哲学

    本书以全新的视角,介绍了马斯洛的理论精华,书中解答了我们关于人生的一系列问题:什么是人生的意义?人性的本质为何?我们怎样才能获得幸福和安宁?我们怎样才能健全自我的人格?我们怎样才能挖掘自我的潜能?我们怎样才能实现自我的价值?我们如何才能达到力所能及的目标?我们如何才能成为优秀的人?本书引导我们了解马斯洛,了解自己的人生,帮助我们调动自身一切积极的因素以实现最完美的自我,创造最美好的人生境界。
  • 许你天长地久

    许你天长地久

    三年前,沐希一觉醒来,自己竟然被一个陌生的男人摸遍全身,而且摇身一变还成了她的专属女佣!她除了每天帮他按摩暖床,还得应付来自四面八方的狐狸精。三年后,沐希丢了一张离婚协议书到洛瑾寒面前:“洛瑾寒,我腻了,离婚请签字!”哪能料想,离婚当天,他抵她在墙,一脸邪魅,“偷了我的东西,就想跑了?”沐希:“别墅豪车钻石项链还有结婚戒指我一样不要,我偷你什么了?”“孩子……”他轻柔的将掌心覆上她的小腹,低声呢喃。
  • 军魂不灭之军犬事迹

    军魂不灭之军犬事迹

    猎豹,这只立下汗马功劳的军犬,它经历过汶川大地震,雅安大地震,从军队到特警支队,再回到退役军犬,这只狗无时无刻都在想念它第一位训导员。。。
  • 武道之星

    武道之星

    武星降世,天下大乱被穿越之后林凡握着咸菜馒头发誓,终有一日,我要在这大地上竖起属于我的丰碑,建起我的武城
  • 异能皇妃:九爷

    异能皇妃:九爷

    拥有风刃异能+空间撕裂异能者,转世投胎到了未知古代。传言,大栖王朝帝后情深生有二子一女。有朝一日明州流言四起,九妖门崛起,一个月内击杀明州大陆五大顶级杀手阁。一时间,九妖门让人闻风丧胆。崇明国浴帝在大栖王朝太子满月日送来仅七岁质子七皇叔释崇王浴重音。一切命中注定。小公主跑去偷看嬷嬷洗澡,七皇叔蹑手蹑脚凑合。“你说你一个大老爷们的偷看人家嬷嬷洗澡!妈呀,不害燥!哼!”七皇叔“……”小公主偷吃东西,趁着七皇叔不注意,偷偷将吃空的盘子摆在七皇叔面前,大喊:“皇祖母!皇叔居然偷吃!”七皇叔看着满嘴糕点沫的小公主:“……”“臭面瘫!”“……”1v1宠文,异能,扮猪吃老虎。
  • 白晓白的成长日记

    白晓白的成长日记

    一本小说,我的一段成长和大家分享我的故事和成长让我们看看成长的那些相同足迹
  • 与你情深一场

    与你情深一场

    “我的心已经留在你身上了,如果你不打算走进来,那么你猜猜看,我会不会得失心疯?”一场意外让他们相遇,他成为她的老师对她颐指气使,她视他为仇人恨不得将他手刃。然而,有一天他们却爱上彼此,情不知所起,从此一往而深。
  • 最强血士

    最强血士

    一个身怀妖胎的少年,自这片白茫茫的世界中走出。他体内流淌着最普通的血液,他心中深藏着对人们的眷恋。故事就在他拥有空间戒与一把匕首开始了。
  • 反斗邪魂炼

    反斗邪魂炼

    (本人第一套书《炼魂之旅》完结了,因为特殊情况,不得不换书号!而这《反斗邪魂炼》则是悠闲之作,有兴趣的可以看看!)————————【寰宇魔印】已上传!大家前去支持!【寰宇魔印】已上传!大家前去支持!