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.destroyed all partialities, and divested one portion of society of the anti-social faculty of constraining, harassing, Wounding, and oppressing the remainder.,; If power had no interest in opposing the progress of
/human sociability, I would regard the success of this enterprise as certain; for if we speak clearly and honestly to the people, I feel satisfied they will immediately dedare themselves for equality. But whereas such state is not relished by the vitiated hearts and perturbed imaginations of the powerful, those who will have the courage to fulfil their duties towards the mass, must expect, not only to be tortured and persecuted in a thousand ways, but also to be represented (which already happens) as brigand*, incendiaries, and royalists. True, it will with difficulty be believed that those who have destroyed the throne, and who cannot endure any inequality, not even that of idleness and riches, can love royalty the maximum of inequalities! But still there will be fools to believe it, and therefore the patriots must be prepared to bear with fortitude this new indignity; indeed, unless they shall make up their minds to risk life itself in defending the * general good, the Revolution will only appear in the eyes of posterity as a blot on history and a crime on themselves.
It still remains for me to dissipate the last doubt of citizen M. V, who fears anarchy in the transition from the existing system to that of equality.
Patriots! join your voices to mine when I exclaim — Oh! fellow citizens, let us cast our gold into the sea — let us all work—let us all enjoy—let us banish idleness and luxury—and this seductive language, supported by the reasons of wisdom, will set reform beyond the reach of all the incertitudes, all the alarms which seemingly are feared. But were it even true that this transition should necessarily involve convulsive extravagances (which, however, have never accompanied our great national movements), I would only call them the last effects of expiring anarchy. For, properly speaking, disorder and anarchy do really exist at present in every actual society in Europe, where, under divers pretexts, and by different means, the population is despoiled of all its rights. And surely it would be well worth risking some momentary