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Add a tag Cancel Be the first to add a tag for this edition. Lists What are lists? Login to add to list. Be the first to add this to a list. Comments and reviews What are comments? If, like the author of the august Social Contract, I wished the revolution to be undertaken without an effusion of blood it is because I feared, like him, that one drop shed would lead to a flowing torrent.
You must believe, as I do, that it is not blood that cements revolutions; I am quite convinced that the French could go from insurrection to insurrection like the English who after 50 years of civil war still have no constitution. Poland, which followed our example and regenerated itself, offers in its turn a model of wisdom and prudence that should guide all peoples if each one did not have a different idea of government. I appreciate that this pacific revolution is not to everyone's liking, it displeases me in certain areas for the extension of absurd feudal principles offends my reason. In France we have to combat these prejudices as well as greater concerns.
Not only do we have to draw together senseless opinions but also formidable parties that sow discord and who, with differing statements, attempt to re-establish oppression. France, now the mother of all peoples, should destroy all the tyrants of the world, if she can husband the resources that are left to her for this enterprise but if she wastes these resources she will endanger her best interests and throw the Universe back into slavery. What, then, was my aim in attacking the failings of the French spirit?
Manuel, you understood it without difficulty; I wanted to show all my fellow citizens that, given the degree of enlightenment afforded the French, it was easy to make a constitution worthy of all mankind if everyone was reasonable and virtuous, but if it must work with the incapacities of one and the vices of the other, this constitution, as I have written for a long time, will always be very difficult to execute.
The fruits of this revolution will be a source of discord and lead to the complete ruin of the kingdom: Neither the feeble efforts of the ultramontane hydra, nor the credulity of a few men misled by the desperate cries of a priestly rabble, rejected by reason and nature, need concern us. The Supreme Being, tired at last of the crimes that soiled altars, seems to have guided the revolution to confound hypocrisy and purify religion.
The cowardly plots of a few Municipalities, poisoned by the aristocracy, need not concern us; they must be broken and new ones created, the constitution must be made to work surrounded by cannons, bayonets and even pikes if it absolutely necessary: Tell me now, incorruptible man, that Mme de Gouges would have wanted the Revolution to be strewn with flowers; yes, I would have wished it and I do not deny that I still wish it; I sincerely pray that the destructive Parties will see reason enough and may recognise that their true interests lie in uniting all minds for the good of the Citizens and the prosperity of the Motherland.
Blameless Legislator, flawless Magistrate, friend of the People, upholder of the Law, I owe you a justification; I owe you even more, I owe you a sincere avowal, a rare thing and maybe very useful in the circumstances if everyone, following my example, had no desire other than the glory of their country. The diversity of Governments, as you point out, is indeed a fine and great subject for study: If these mistakes are absurd, and harm the functioning of a wise Government, what then of this monstrous mix of exalted ideas belonging to those who only see, in public good, hate, revenge, crime, revolt, a violation of the Law and an approbation of disobedience that wants to leave to future generations the scattered remnants of a new Government founded on immutable principles.
It is therefore not the work itself that I meant to attack: But, to put it more clearly, these two parties, divided by their interests, tend towards the destruction of the constitutional Powers in equal measure, arriving at the same end by different means. One works to reproduce the St. Thanks to these two factions the progress of the Constitution is halted and the Motherland, on the edge of a precipice, is about to plunge over in order to save it; possibly nothing is left but the feeble efforts of those who have never had any other interests than those of the Constitution.
Who are the disinterested citizens that strengthen these two parties? It is certain Journalists whose fortunes have accrued at the expense of reputations and social order. Who leads minds astray, who excites the masses? Once again it is these Journalists. Who violates the Law? Who speaks of war, of illegal powers?
In general I blame them all so as not to attack any in particular; this generality will probably lead them to unite in attacking me. Esprit de corps can be phenomenally effective. Save me from the lightening that threatens. I will offer to make amends for my diatribe against them; if they are generous enough to sacrifice the fruits of their mutual invectives in favour of the Motherland then I will say, Gentlemen, I find your pure civic duty edifying for it teaches me that, far from propagating the actions that damaged the Revolution in order to enlarge your readership and foment disorder in all the kingdom, you parted company in favour of the Motherland, you intended to unite people through your own quarrels, you strengthened public opinion and you helped to liquidate the debts of the State: Let everyone be able to say like me: I have no desire to court anyone; may I only inspire in them a few good thoughts and encourage them to prefer the general good to their personal interests!
Let each person excuse [themselves] in the depth of their conscience and let them shudder at the misery they have prepared for their country. All that is left is for me to attack the sect that I compare to that of medical doctors: I am convinced that if neither doctors nor journalists existed then men would be more robust and less foolish; doctors wear down the body and journalists alienate the mind.
The truth of these reflections, stripped of metaphysics, is easily proven by an examination of times past, and in particular, of revolutions. Undoubtedly Asclepius's sect is less powerful in times of revolutions than that of the scribblers; there is no time to be ill when body and mind are active. Let me take up the thread I had lost: I am still addressing M. Whatever kind of government the French adopt, as long as it is wise and advantageous for all citizens, I approve of it in advance, even if it were to be a republican government, but it is time to extricate ourselves from this cruel indecision, from the painful place in which we have buried ourselves.
It is time to give an impetus to the Constitution that I consider to be a superb vessel built by able artists to resist tempests and contend with the most dangerous reefs. At last, launched in the port, it only awaits good weather to deploy its sails and navigate the vast ocean; the sky is clear, the sea is calm, the impatient voyagers lift the anchor but a brawl breaks out amongst the pilots and the sailors as to the direction the ship should take, some talk of setting sail others of an embargo.
The dispute takes hold, it becomes serious, the vessel languishes and the most precious cargo perishes. Some want to head for the west, some for the east; time is wasted on empty discussions, the horizon clouds over, the tempest, lightening and thunder rumble all around, the waves rise and that most solid vessel is about to sink in the port.
I repeat, it is not in fact the majestic edifice that I have attacked but those to whom its direction was entrusted; those who through secret schemes, perverse and cunning insinuations, sought to undermine its, as yet, shaky foundations. This is how I see the situation at the moment and it has to be acknowledged that it cannot remain in this state; gangrene is taking hold of the entire Kingdom and the operation may have terrible consequences.
I can envisage a method that I believe to be infallible but that others may find senseless; let it at least be considered as an old wives' remedy that has no other aim, when administered, than to halt the onset of the disease and serve humanity. It is well known that if these remedies fail to cure at least they do no harm, but before proposing them I need to prepare the wound to receive this bizarre topical remedy. Let us return to the opinions and prejudices of the men who alternate between forming and destroying Empires; these habitual prejudices and opinions are self-perpetuating and resonate even when they no longer exist.
For forty years, or maybe even more, the revolution had taken hold of hearts and minds and without the acme of tyranny certainly these habits would have delayed it even longer. An eighty-year-old Ninon still conquered admirers; she was remembered as once having been pretty and it was impossible to deny that she was forever amiable. French by birth I admit that I have long been subjugated by the prejudices that favour our Kings; are there any French who can claim otherwise?
These prejudices stifled the republican dispositions that characterise all my actions and, at times, my writings, but I was careful not to manifest them publicly as I thought they were a danger to my country; it is possible that I was wrong. Sceptres fall just like republics, all passes. This simple observation will convince the foolish that it is not so easy to subdue men once they have shaken off the yoke.
By the same token it is therefore difficult to uproot the prejudices of nobility and fanaticism however great the efforts of sacred philosophy!
The critics cannot deny it, even the seditious ones from diverse parties; at least I fulfilled my task and made myself useful: A diamond found in the desert, is it any less precious, or less valuable? It concerns rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's; I will prove, geometrically, that true nobles are those that the nobility call plebeian: The noble farmer, who has seen his fortune grow as he feeds mankind is no doubt nobler and greater than the son who inherits and demeans himself by abandoning the traditions and virtues of his ancestors in order to shine in idleness, and whose only desire is to be created count or marquis.
The descendants of this anti-philosopher greedily calculate the period that distances them from their ancestors; nature, reason, all is disregarded in this atrocious feudalism, the most recent inheritor cannot bear to mention the original serf to whom he owes his ennoblement. Just as unusual are the self-styled gentlemen who predate the authors of their extravagance.
I may be wrong but I believe true nobles to be those who never abandon reason, nature or the social good; that the most ancient families, whose august efforts go back to the times of the first men, are those who nobly till the soil; there, it seems to me, is the true and good nobility that we should establish and if it were possible to destroy the presumptuousness of a usurped power, without spilling the blood of citizens, I would suggest that the oldest family of farmers, derived from earliest man, should be placed on the throne.
These maxims merely show us that it is not justice or manners that have founded empires but good fortune, skill or crime. Peoples consented to the subjugation of tyrants' yokes; sovereign masters, they can choose, when auspicious, to remove a power entrusted to those who have administered it poorly: What, then, would become of the nobility, the potentates of Europe, if men were to follow this lesson, if the majority were to decide on their fate entirely, if without anger they wanted to make reason and justice triumphant, if they finally accepted that poor humanity, adaptable and rich in invention, were still to need the prejudices that direct them; centuries of enlightenment must at least have rendered them less absurd, reflection is the preamble to the remedy that I believe indispensable in the circumstance.
A common intent is needed to pronounce in favour of kings or of people, or parties won over by reason or armed means; if France is to be the Areopagus that pronounces on this vital subject then she must give the Universe an example of impartiality and freedom of expression, so that the fate of kings can be decided by the greatest number of votes.
Every citizen is master of his own will and it is only the will of the majority that can establish laws: How wonderful it would be if all men could subscribe it and only through the strength of reason and without the use of arms. Oh my fellow citizens, if only I could penetrate you with the heroism that enflames my soul at this moment, if only I could electrify you with the pure civic duty that guides all my actions, then you would lay aside all passion, hatred and vengeance in order to restore the motherland and your only ambition would be the glory of serving your country and immortalising your work!
The answer is to make the method intelligible to all, I will say more, I bet that all the parties would adopt it and, if it were possible to give it the weight of law, this method, that I would convert into a philosophical proposition, will take its place in the rights of man. Man, therefore, is within his rights to express his opinions so long as they do not threaten public order; I would like this wish to be supported by reason and the fairness of the rights of man.
The interests of the motherland are to be decided upon; a rational method is needed to resolve which party will save it and I believe that to be a plurality of votes. Would it not be profound and logical to call forth everyone in the kingdom and to add this method to the additional articles of the constitution. Those who are absent should be recalled and a declaration made by solemn decree that they must return to their homes, within a certain time, in order to opine legally and voluntarily on the style of government, or risk losing all their property.
Personally I will opine in advance that I favour the constitutional principles; if the royalist, aristocratic, party thinks it is equally strong in favours then, it must, at this time of parties, be given its due. But, fearful patriots will ask me, what if the balance swings in their favour, no, no, we have nothing to fear; but if that were to happen would we not be able to follow the example of great peoples when it comes to deciding on the fate of the state. This method, this debate, this decree cannot be allowed to threaten the sovereignty of the people, or of the constitution, in any way but it must win over minds; each person must be free to decide on the fate of their country.
Our enemies must no longer be able to say, we have not been consulted, arson was committed, our properties were destroyed, while we sought to work for the general good upon which we had every right to pronounce freely, in common accord with all the French. If tyranny and injustice had not opposed it this would have been my motion and, like M. Robespierre, I oppose the use of war to decide this question. Meanwhile we must always maintain the constitution and surround it with public force, contain the rebels and use all our vigilance to keep a watchful eye on the interior that is suffering in all parts of the realm.
This is what commonsense dictates to me, perhaps I will not be thought so unreasonable. I did not wait for the criticism of idiots or the praise of sycophants to manifest my opinions; my genius is like my fortune, I have to grab it while I can for if I write when I am indisposed my works suffer for it. I never pause to reflect when I write; I never make corrections; always natural, never methodical, I am often diffuse and mistaken, but sometimes astounding. I believe I am not mistaken and though my writings may be obscure they have produced a focus for enlightenment.
I call upon the men who are able to judge of these things and in particular to you, M.
Forgive this audacity, it is the fruit of injustice, or rather of the grossest ingratitude; my principles have been judged according to the most feeble passages of my works, outrageously they were considered aristocratic while the aristocrats considered them to be demagogic: Who is better placed than you to vouch for my true principles?
As a member of the Constituent Assembly you have received all my projects, all my political and philosophical reflections, in a word I have produced all that would characterise an honest man; under a despotic regime I have spoken the language of truth and liberty; still in its cradle this liberty brought down on me a mass of detractors; the concise almanac of great women proves it.
Today, you have in your hands, M.
The great virtue of the monarch at that time inspired in me some enthusiasm; this enthusiasm grew when I saw him abused and endangered; by and by he taught me to no longer believe in the virtue of kings above that of the rest of humanity. My enthusiasm is much diminished and if it only depended on my opinion to decide his fate I would say to him: Sir, if you are bad then you wanted to harm us considerably; if you are merely feeble, then you have allowed us to do much more damage.
Therefore, as you are incapable, retire to a castle where you may enjoy all the benefits that belong to your position as the king of a free people along with an inalienable tranquillity, but abdicate your crown. As a result of this proposition I see the bloody sword of the counter-revolution raised against me, I see the Cromwellians smile and my proposition makes me shudder. Dear God, which regent would the constitutional rules assign to France? I love loyalty alone, the interests of my country are my only concern, I find everything else odious. And you, great Magistrate, who are not yet influenced by proximity to the throne, maintain this fortitude and you will end your career in glory despite the thorny interventions of party jealousies.
I had your letter printed, I hope you will forgive me, for I needed to regain the good opinion that I had lost: Manuel, forgive me, however slapdash the letter that you wrote in a rush it retains a style that is too pure and flowing to figure in a crude work despite the facility with which it was written; and you, my critics, read what follows and judge me fairly. And you, famous authors, who only knew how to speak to kings, aspire to something greater, purer and more praiseworthy: I address the people. This fruit is not for sale. Oh how I pity those who, against their better nature, sell their eulogies to the highest bidder!
You have always guided me, been the foundation of my opinions, take away my ability to write if ever I betray the conscience that your light has illuminated. Oh [People,] unhappy citizens! Listen to the voice of a fair-minded and sensitive woman.
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Your can only be happy if you do not face financial ruin. Your labour is arduous your ambitions modest. You work solely to feed your wives and children whose languishing arms reach out to you; and during this public disorder, maybe you are abandoning them to die of want or pain. The twenty-four hours that you lose create a deficit in your finances that are as dangerous as those of the State: If you wear it out with late night foolishness, how will you find the vigour and the courage to usefully return to work?
What am I saying? Is that all you have to fear? What of the bloody battles that always follow these unbridled jubilations? Authority has to be maintained and the result is a frightful butchery. Without knowing whom you are fighting for, you throw yourselves heart and soul into a treacherous path cleared for you by a seditious, ill-intentioned Felon. This can start a civil war: I tremble as I speak of it! Are there any greater fears for humanity than this calamity? What then is this system that in my opinion would be suitable to pay off the national debt? It would be, I believe, voluntary taxation, something the Nation would celebrate.
Some muddle-headed individuals argue that this expedient would bring shame upon the State; I argue that the opposite is true and that it would glorify the State. The King, [in order to ease the financial crisis and to honour his commitments,] asks for extra taxes. Parliament, sensing that the populace is facing ruin, refuses: Pages 18 and I will start with the Market Stallholders and indiscriminately rise up to the highest levels of society; all who call themselves French will co-operate to save the State.
The purse fit to receive these voluntary sums, offered to the King by his subjects, will be considered sacred; these assets will be limited by statute to paying off the national debt, no sum whatsoever can be taken from them under any pretext, or for any form of speculation. All citizens contributing a sum to this purse, according to their means, would inscribe their names on a register, below the sum they had remitted to the said purse. This precaution would protect us from corruption and give each contributor a chance to acknowledge the other; all citizens would see themselves through the same mirror and this touching portrait would define both the soul, the heart and the spirit of the French.
The Cobbler, the Tailor, the Wig-maker, the general Shop-keeper, seeing that all is blocked by inaction, that commerce is virtually destroyed, will make savings in the considered belief that when the State is less indebted all will flourish again: As for Priests and Monks and others of the type, I must make some alternative suggestions: Habituated, as they are, to self-imposed privations, a few more in order to pay off the national debt, as the good citizens they are, will be as nothing to them. Those who find themselves endowed with great abbeys and vast priories will, without doubt, render to the King what is his due, as much from religious observation as from gratitude.
Pages 21 and Dare I say on behalf of the performers, as well as the audience that the theatres will undoubtedly contribute to fill the purse that I propose for, despite the poverty of the State and the People, they are still attended with the same zeal. As for princes, lords and the wealthy, they will all compete to pay this voluntary tax; a suitable name is needed to better embody this tax; I would like it to be called the patriotic tax: So many young people would register themselves on this list; yes, I dare opine in this way and, based on my own feelings, judge all my fellow citizens.
Pages 23 and Penetrated as I am by my love for the motherland I can present my opinions, fired up with this emotion, right up to the steps of the Throne and remind the king of the august promise he made to his people, when he encircled his brow with the diadem, to ceaselessly watch over the happiness of his subjects; his wishes were thwarted for fate, that master of the world, its people and its kings, decided otherwise; but this contrary fate cannot stop mistakes and injustices being rectified once one understands the universal harm they do.
All sums used in fruitless expenditure should be refused and, instead, sent annually to the Patriotic purse. France is sunk in grief, the people are suffering and the monarch cries out. Parliament is demanding the Estates-General and the Nation cannot come to an agreement. There is no consensus on electing these assemblies. All these alternations are hobbling the welfare that the State expects from these lights.
The Third Estate, with reason, claims a voice equal to that of the Clergy and Nobility; but the dignity of the latter will not allow that the representatives of the People have voices that are equally beneficial to the administration of the Finances or to finding prompt remedies for the problems that get worse every day. I feel as though I am seeing someone on their sickbed in need of an urgent operation. A good Doctor recommends immediate intervention; but the parents who frequently hold opposing views to those of the wise Doctor ask for a second opinion on the operation from the cream of the Faculty.
The august Assembly of Asclepius cannot agree. Long discussions ensue; the illness becomes acute, or the patient dies: The gentlemen of the Nobility are the august Assembly of Doctors to whom I address, with the freedom that my sex permits me, the plea that they leave aside their rank, their titles and the pointless prejudices of their perfect dignity, to fly en masse to attend to the kingdom, chasing away the bad and introducing the good.
These are the subjects we must discuss. Superciliousness must keep quiet and allow reason to take its place and in such a calamity barons, marquises, counts, dukes, princes, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, all must become citizens [all must set the example of patriotic love to the rest of the Nation] and work together for the good of the State and the glory of the country.
Trade is suppressed, incalculable numbers of workers are unemployed and without bread. What becomes of them? I ask you, can you bear witness to this without trembling? All is in stasis while the heartless rich stash away their wealth, that vile instrument of their cupidity; can it prolong their lives, can it make them happier?
These inactive treasures, what good do they do anyone? They must be offered, interest free, to the State,in the same way they are placed in the safes. If such a beautiful victory fails to touch your abject souls then you must fear the desperation of the poor and their subsequent revolts. You cannot hide from yourselves that it is always the rich who are attacked by their murderous hands. It is therefore up to you wise, great, good, citizens to deflect these problems that I fear will assail the motherland.
It is conceivable that my troubled heart has become over anxious and that these fears have enabled me to perceive an obvious danger. How many times have States self-destructed by failing to foresee great upheavals? These are controversies that involve everyone and the most powerful party must happily accept and hear the opinions of the weakest.
You must pronounce on the concerns of the State and the People; but these pronouncements must unify and be agreeable to both for if you create divisions you will lose them both. I appreciate that in happier times the principles of the State differ from those of the public, and that the rules of government would not permit any observations to be made concerning its administration. And you, unhappy citizens, unfortunate people, see how courageous I am in revealing myself in order to place under the eyes of the monarch the terrifying images of your sad situation; yes, I dare hope that he will be moved by them, and that he will be enlightened with regard to your future by the pains his mistaken beliefs have created.
Man can only learn from experience, and you, great King, allow me to show you what you understand so well, that the virtues of a true man make a good King, that you were born with these virtues, but that you were misled like all your predecessors. Public outcry presently pursues ministers right into their sanctuaries; how satisfying, therefore, for an honest man to leave the ministry with the esteem of his monarch and the goodwill of the people!
And you king of the French, you have been given a feeble account of the ills of your people; their pains, their sufferings, their miseries have been painted in favourable colours.