第 98 节
作者:管他三七二十一      更新:2021-02-20 05:37      字数:9321
  nais。  What! if we suffer for truth and justice; must we; in retaliation; thrust our persecutors outside the pale of human society; and; when sentenced to an unjust punishment; must we decline exemption if it is offered to us; because it pleases a few base satellites to call it a pardon?  Such is not the wisdom of Christianity。  But I forgot that in the presence of M。 Lamennais this name is no longer pronounced。  May the prophet of 〃L'Avenir〃 be soon restored to liberty and his friends; but; above all; may he henceforth derive his inspiration only from his genius and his heart!
  O proletaires; proletaires! how long are you to be victimized by this spirit of revenge and implacable hatred which your false friends kindle; and which; perhaps; has done more harm to the development of reformatory ideas than the corruption; ignorance; and malice of the government?  Believe me; at the present time everybody is to blame。  In fact; in intention; or in example; all are found wanting; and you have no right to accuse any one。  The king himself (God forgive me!  I do not like to justify a king);the king himself is; like his predecessors; only the personification of an idea; and an idea; proletaires; which possesses you yet。  His greatest wrong consists in wishing for its complete realization; while you wish it realized only partially;consequently; in being logical in his government; while you; in your complaints; are not at all so。  You clamor for a second regicide。  He that is without sin among you;let him cast at the prince of property the first stone!
  How successful you would have been if; in order to influence men; you had appealed to the self…love of men;if; in order to alter the constitution and the law; you had placed yourselves within the constitution and the law!  Fifty thousand laws; they say; make up our political and civil codes。  Of these fifty thousand laws; twenty…five thousand are for you; twenty…five thousand against you。  Is it not clear that your duty is to oppose the former to the latter; and thus; by the argument of contradiction; drive privilege into its last ditch?  This method of action is henceforth the only useful one; being the only moral and rational one。
  For my part; if I had the ear of this nation; to which I am attached by birth and predilection; with no intention of playing the leading part in the future republic; I would instruct the laboring masses to conquer property through institutions and judicial pleadings; to seek auxiliaries and accomplices in the highest ranks of society; and to ruin all privileged classes by taking advantage of their common desire for power and popularity。
  The petition for the electoral reform has already received two hundred thousand signatures; and the illustrious Arago threatens us with a million。  Surely; that will be well done; but from this million of citizens; who are as willing to vote for an emperor as for equality; could we not select ten thousand signaturesI mean bona fide signatureswhose authors can read; write; cipher; and even think a little; and whom we could invite; after due perusal and verbal explanation; to sign such a petition as the following:
  〃TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR:
  〃MONSIEUR LE MINISTRE;On the day when a royal ordinance; decreeing the establishment of model national workshops; shall appear in the ‘Moniteur;' the undersigned; to the number of TEN THOUSAND; will repair to the Palace of the Tuileries; and there; with all the power of their lungs; will shout; ‘Long live Louis Philippe!'
  〃On the day when the ‘Moniteur' shall inform the public that this petition is refused; the undersigned; to the number of TEN THOUSAND; will say secretly in their hearts; ‘Down with Louis Philippe!'〃
  If I am not mistaken; such a petition would have some effect。'1'  The pleasure of a popular ovation would be well worth the sacrifice of a few millions。  They sow so much to reap unpopularity!  Then; if the nation; its hopes of 1830 restored; should feel it its duty to keep its promise;and it would keep it; for the word of the nation is; like that of God; sacred;if; I say; the nation; reconciled by this act with the public…spirited monarchy; should bear to the foot of the throne its cheers and its vows; and should at that solemn moment choose me to speak in its name; the following would be the substance of my speech:
  '1'  The electoral reform; it is continually asserted; is not an END; but a MEANS。  Undoubtedly; but what; then; is the end?  Why not furnish an unequivocal explanation of its object?  How can the people choose their representatives; unless they know in advance the purpose for which they choose them; and the object of the commission which they entrust to them?
  But; it is said; the very business of those chosen by the people is to find out the object of the reform。
  That is a quibble。  What is to hinder these persons; who are to be elected in future; from first seeking for this object; and then; when they have found it; from communicating it to the people?  The reformers have well said; that; while the object of the electoral reform remains in the least indefinite; it will be only a means of transferring power from the hands of petty tyrants to the hands of other tyrants。  We know already how a nation may be oppressed by being led to believe that it is obeying only its own laws。  The history of universal suffrage; among all nations; is the history of the restrictions of liberty by and in the name of the multitude。
  Still; if the electoral reform; in its present shape; were rational; practical; acceptable to clean consciences and upright minds; perhaps one might be excused; though ignorant of its object; for supporting it。  But; no; the text of the petition determines nothing; makes no distinctions; requires no conditions; no guarantee; it establishes the right without the duty。  〃Every Frenchman is a voter; and eligible to office。〃  As well say:  〃Every bayonet is intelligent; every savage is civilized; every slave is free。〃  In its vague generality; the reformatory petition is the weakest of abstractions; or the highest form of political treason。  Consequently; the enlightened patriots distrust and despise each other。  The most radical writer of the time;he whose economical and social theories are; without comparison; the most advanced;M。 Leroux; has taken a bold stand against universal suffrage and democratic government; and has written an exceedingly keen criticism of J。 J。 Rousseau。  That is undoubtedly the reason why M。 Leroux is no longer the philosopher of 〃Le National。〃  That journal; like Napoleon; does not like men of ideas。  Nevertheless; 〃Le National〃 ought to know that he who fights against ideas will perish by ideas。
  〃SIRE;This is what the nation wishes to say to your Majesty:
  〃O King! you see what it costs to gain the applause of the citizens。  Would you like us henceforth to take for our motto:  ‘Let us help the King; the King will help us'?  Do you wish the people to cry:  ‘THE KING AND THE FRENCH NATION'?  Then abandon these grasping bankers; these quarrelsome lawyers; these miserable bourgeois; these infamous writers; these dishonored men。  All these; Sire; hate you; and continue to support you only because they fear us。  Finish the work of our kings; wipe out aristocracy and privilege; consult with these faithful proletaires; with the nation; which alone can honor a sovereign and sincerely shout; ‘Long live the king!'〃
  The rest of what I have to say; sir; is for you alone; others would not understand me。  You are; I perceive; a republican as well as an economist; and your patriotism revolts at the very idea of addressing to the authorities a petition in which the government of Louis Philippe should be tacitly recognized。  〃National workshops! it were well to have such institutions established;〃 you think; 〃but patriotic hearts never will accept them from an aristocratic ministry; nor by the courtesy of a king。〃  Already; undoubtedly; your old prejudices have returned; and you now regard me only as a sophist; as ready to flatter the powers that be as to dishonor; by pushing them to an extreme; the principles of equality and universal fraternity。
  What shall I say to you? 。 。 。  That I should so lightly compromise the future of my theories; either this clever sophistry which is attributed to me must be at bottom a very trifling affair; or else my convictions must be so firm that they deprive me of free…will。
  But; not to insist further on the necessity of a compromise between the executive power and the people; it seems to me; sir; that; in doubting my patriotism; you reason very capriciously; and that your judgments are exceedingly rash。  You; sir; ostensibly defending government and property; are allowed to be a republican; reformer; phalansterian; any thing you wish; I; on the contrary; demanding distinctly enough a slight reform in public economy; am foreordained a conservative; and likewise a friend of the dynasty。  I cannot explain myself more clearly。  So firm a believer am I in the philosophy of accomplished facts and the _statu quo_ of governmental forms that; instead of destroying that which exists and beginning over again the past; I prefer to render every thing legitimate