按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
myself' I served him zealously; when he said; 'myself and France;' I
served him with devotion。 It is only when he said; 'Myself without
France;' that I left him。〃
'63' An expression found by Joseph de Maistre。
'64' An expression heard by Mickiewicz in his childhood。
'65' These sums are given; the former by Mérimée and the latter by
Sainte… Beuve。
'66' M。 de Champagny 〃Souvenirs;〃 III。; 183。 Napoleon; passing his
marshals in review; said to him (1811): 〃None of them can take my
place in the command of my armies; some are without the talent; and
others would carry on war for their own benefit。 Didn't that burly
Soult want to be king of Portugal?〃 〃Well; sire; war need not be
carried on any longer。〃 〃Yes; but how maintain my army? And I must
have an army。〃
'67' 〃Souvenirs〃; by PASQUIER (Etienne…Dennis; duc); chancelier de
France。 in VI volumes; Librarie Plon; Paris 1893。 IV。; 112。
(According to the papers of Savary; many of Napoleon's letters and
statements by M。 de Saint…Aignan。)
'68' 〃Mémorial;〃 Aug。26; 1816。
'69' The driving motor of unlimited capitalism as well; a driving
force only to be tempered by the law and by a desire for social
admiration of different kinds。 (SR。)
'70' 〃Travels in France during the years 1814 and 1815。〃 (Edinburgh;
1816; 2 vols。) … The author; a very good observer; thus sums up the
principle of the system: 〃To give active employment to all men of
talent and enterprise。〃 There is no other condition: 〃Birth;
education; moral character were completely set aside。〃 … Hence the
general defect of the system。 〃The French have literally no idea of
any duties which they must voluntarily; without the prospect of
reward; undertake for their country。 It never enters their heads that
a man may be responsible for the neglect of those public duties for
the performance of which he receives no regular salary。〃
BOOK FOURTH。 Defect and Effects of the System。
CHAPTER I。 Local Society。
I。 Human Incentives。
The two Stimuli of human action。 … The egoistic instinct and the
social instinct。 … Motives for not weakening the social instinct。 …
Influence on society of the law it prescribes。 … The clauses of a
statute depend on the legislator who adopts or imposes them。 …
Conditions of a good statute。 … It favors the social instinct。 …
Different for different societies。 … Determined by the peculiar and
permanent traits of the society it governs。 … Capital defect of the
statute under the new régime。
So long as a man takes an interest only in himself; in his own
fortune; in his own advancement; in his own success; his interests are
trivial: all that is; like himself; of little importance and of short
duration。 Alongside of the small boat which he steers so carefully
there are thousands and millions of others of like it; none of them
are worth much; and his own is not worth more。 However well he may
have provisioned and sailed it; it will always remain what it is;
slight and fragile; in vain will he hoist his flags; decorate it; and
shove ahead to get the first place; in three steps he has reached its
length。 However well he handles and maintains it; in a few years it
leaks; sooner or later it crumbles and sinks; and with it goes all his
effort。 Is it reasonable to work so hard for this; and is so slight an
object worth so great an effort?
Fortunately; man has; for a better placement of his effort; other
aims; more vast and more substantial: a family; a commune; a church; a
country; all the associations of which he is or becomes a member; all
the collective undertakings in behalf of science; education; and
charity; of local or general utility; most of them provided with legal
statutes and organized as corporations or even as a legal entity。 They
are as well defined and protected as he is; but more precious and more
viable: for they are of service to a large number of men and last for
ever。 Some; even; have a secular history; and their age predicts their
longevity。 In the countless fleet of boats which so constantly sink;
and which are so constantly replaced by others; they last like top
rated liners。 The men from the flotilla now and then sign on these
large vessels; and the result of their labor is not; as it is at home;
futile or short…lived; it will remain above the surface after he and
his boat have disappeared。 It has entered into the common mass of work
which owes its protection to its mass; undoubtedly the portion he
contributes may be worked over again later on; but its substance
remains; and often also its form:
* like a precept of Jesus;
* like Archimedes' theorem
which rests a definite acquisition; intact and permanently fixed for
two thousand years; immortal from the first day。 … Consequently; the
individual may take an interest; no longer merely in his own boat; but
again in some ship; in this or that particular one; in this or that
association or community; according to his preferences and his
aptitudes; according to attractiveness; proximity; and convenience of
access; all of which is a new motivation for his activities; opposing
his egoism; which; powerful as it may be; may still be overcome; since
a soul might be very generous or qualified by long and special
discipline。 Out of this issues every sacrifice; the surrender of
one's…self to one's work or to a cause;
* the devotion of the sister of charity or of the missionary;
* the abnegation of the scientist who buries himself for twenty years
in the minutia of a thankless task;
* the heroism of the explorer who risks himself on a desert or among
savages;
* the courage of the soldier who stakes his life in defense of his
flag。
But these cases are rare; with the mass of men; and in most of their
actions; personal interest prevails against common interest; while
against the egoistic instinct the social instinct is feeble。 Hence the
danger of weakening this。 The temptation of the individual to prefer
his own boat to the large ship is only too great; if it is desirable
for him to go aboard and work there; he must be provided with the
facilities and motives which prompt him to go aboard and do the work;
at the very least; he must not be deprived of them。 Now; that depends
on the State; a sort of central flag…ship; the only one that is armed;
and which has all subordinate vessels under its guns; for; whatever
the society may be; provincial or municipal; educational or
charitable; religious or laic; it is the State which sanctions or
adopts its statues; good or bad; and which; by its laws; tribunals;
and police; insures their execution; whether rigidly or carelessly。
Therefore; on this point; it is responsible; it must adopt or impose
the proper statute; the most suitable social form for strengthening
the social instinct; for maintaining disinterested zeal; for the
encouragement of voluntary and gratuitous labor。
This form; of course; differs according to di