I would have given it the chalice of suffering to empty at a
single draft; instead of which it must now drink it drop by
drop.
That which is now fermenting in Spain and at Rome will soon
cause a general commotion. Then the crisis will be terrible.
I know men and the age; I would have hastened the advent of
happiness on earth, if those with whom I had to deal had not
been villains. They accuse me of having despised and
enslaved them; their own groveling spirit and thirst for
gold and distinction brought them to my feet. Could I take
one step without crushing them? I did not need to spread
snares in their path; it sufficed to present to them the cup
of worldly riches and honors. Then, like a swarm of hungry
flies, they precipitated themselves on their prey. The
slaves needed a master, but I had no need of slaves.
What shall we think of forty millions of people who complain
bitterly of the oppression of a single individual!
Cupidity, envy, vanity, false glory, pursue them like furies
through this stormy life; they talk incessantly of virtue,
generosity, and love, while, like an incurable cancer, envy,
interest, and ambition are gnawing the inner folds of their
hearts. They carefully conceal their wickedness, and feign a
virtue which they do not possess; they reciprocally lavish
flatteries on one another. Though no one of them believes in
the honor of the rest, nevertheless, through weakness, they
play together the parts they have learned, for want of
courage to show themselves such as they are.
The best among them are those who are most condemned,
because they do not know how to feign, and the false virtue
of the rest gives more eclat to their crimes.
Nothing is more revolting to me than this mania for
falsehood, to which I have sometimes been myself obliged to
make sacrifices, that I might not expose others.
Their private life is but a constant series of boasting, a
disconnected conversation, the repetition of a part
carefully studied.
As I saw everywhere that ambition and interest prevailed
(taking from all and giving to none), that all wished to
command and no one wished to obey, I resolved to terminate
this insensate dispute, by taking from all what they desired
so eagerly and could not possess; thus, the men who loudly
demanded liberty were compelled to learn to know it, and
appreciate it by a blind obedience.
It was in this manner that by a voluntary reciprocity each
one recovered his due.
Renouncing all these frivolous manners, all these theatrical
caricatures of our times, let us be more sincere; less of
courtiers, more serious, more reflective, and less apish.
This is a sure method, if there is one, of renewing the
Golden Age.
For myself, I care very little what may be said, thought, or
written of me. I have been accused of having done, and
suffered to be done, much evil.
When the storm hovers over the surface of the earth, to
purify the air and fertilize the mountains, ought we to
complain if, in its course, it carries away roofs and loose
tiles, or shakes off the fruits of trees? Even the sun, when
he sheds his beneficent light upon the Arctic pole, kills
and scorches all vital plants beneath his meridian.
With the amiable popularity of a Caesar and of a Henry IV, I
might not have found, it is true, a single Brutus, but a
hundred Ravaillacs.
Although I care little for the people, because they are
fickle, flattering, cruel, and capricious as children (for
they are always such) and trample beneath their feet to-day
those they idolized yesterday, nevertheless I would have
promoted their welfare, more than those who have so basely
betrayed them.