XXll

INTRO  D  UCTION.

sessions  by  virtue  of  an  agreement  only.”  Elsewhere  he  thus
sums  up  the  conflict  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  ;  “  It  is  an
obscure  but  terrible  combat,  in  which  the  powerful,  shielded
by  the  law,  oppress  the  feeble,  and  where  property  crushes
labour  by  the  weight  of  its  prerogative.  The  capitalists  have
the  power  of  giving  only  the  minimum  salary  in  exchange  for
labour.  They  always  impose  the  law  ;  the  labourers  are  obliged
to  receive  it.  ’  1  he  idea  which  Montesquieu  borrowed  from
Aristotle,  namely,  that  democracy  should  have  for  basis  a  grand
equality  of  conditions,  is  reproduced  on  all  sides.  Rabaud
Saint  Etienne  desires  that  equality  of  wealth  should  be
established,  not  by  force,  but  by  law,  and  should  be  maintained ­
  by  laws  calculated  to  prevent  future  inequalities.  “  In
a  well-ordered  republic,  no  person  would  be  without  some
property”  (Report  of  Barrère,  22  Floréal,  year  IL).  “  Wealth
and  opulence  should  both  disappear  before  the  reign  of
equality  ”  (Order  of  the  Commune  of  Paris,  3  Frimaire,
year  III.).  “A  real  equality  is  the  ultimate  aim  of  social
science  ”  (Condorcet,  Progrh  de  LEsprit  Humain,  II.,  59).
“  We  wish  to  apply  to  politics  the  same  equality  that  the
Gospel  grants  to  Christians”  (Baudot,  quoted  by  Quinet,
Revolution  Française,  IL,  407).  “Opulence  is  infamous”
(Saint-Just).  “The  richest  Frenchman  should  not  have  an
income  of  more  than  300  livres  ”  (Robespierre).  “  Ut  redeat
miseris,  abeat  fortuna  superbis,"  is  the  motto  of  Marat’s  paper,
d  he  idea  of  the  French  Revolution,  freed  from  the  extravagances ­
  of  the  contest,  is  exactly  summed  up  by  the  philosopher
Joubert,  when  he  says,  “  Men  are  born  unequal.  It  is  the
great  benefit  of  society  to  diminish  this  inequality  as  much  as
possible,  by  granting  to  all  security,  a  competency,  education,
and  help”  {Pensées,  XIV.,  Du  Gouvernement  et  des  Constitutions, ­
  XXXVIIL).
At  the  very  time  that  equal  rights  were  granted  to  all  men,
a  change  in  the  methods  of  production  brought  about  a  profound ­
  alteration  in  the  condition  of  the  workers.  By  losing
their  ancient  guarantees  they  became  more  dependent  ;  and
while  raised  to  the  rank  of  sovereign  in  the  political  régime,  in
the  economic  order  they  fell  to  the  condition  of  hirelings.