The new truths with which genius had enriched philosophy, politics..

The new truths with which genius had enriched philosophy, politics..

The new truths with which genius had enriched philosophy, politics

and public economy, adopted by enlightened men, extended still further their salutary influence. The art of printing had been applied to so many subjects, it had so greatly increased the number of books, the makers of books knew how to adapt them so well to every level of knowledge, of studiousness and even of fortune, had so skillfully made them suitable for every taste and every cast of mind, and presented instruction that was so easy and often so delightful, and books had opened so many doors to truth that couldn’t ever all be closed again, that there was no longer any class or profession that truth could be kept out of.
Thus, these things— a general knowledge of the natural rights of man; the opinion that these rights aren’t given and can’t be taken away; a strongly expressed demand for freedom of thinking and writing, freedom of industry and commerce, relief of the people’s distress, abolition of torture and cruel punishments; the desire for a milder system of criminal legislation, jurisprudence giving complete security to innocence, a civil code that is simpler and more in harmony with reason and nature; contempt for prejudices; and lastly, a zeal for the propagation of truth; —passed, a little at a time, from the writings of philosophers into every class of society.
A natural consequence of these principles was the feeling for humanity, i.e. the feeling of tender and active compassion for all the afflictions of the human race, and of horror for whatever miseries public institutions, acts of government and private actions add to the miseries inevitably inflicted by nature. This feeling ·for humanity· breathed in every written work and in every conversation, and its benign effects were already visible in the laws and administration even of countries subject to despotism. Philosophers of various nations, embracing in their meditations the interests of mankind as a whole without distinction of country, race or religion, formed a strongly united battalion against all errors, all kinds of tyranny; and they did this despite the difference of their speculative opinions. Driven by a feeling of universal philanthropy, they fought against injustice when it existed in a foreign country and couldn’t harm them, and fought against it also when it was perpetrated by their own country against another.
But philosophy, standing on the unbreakable base that science had prepared for it, set up a barrier that was unbreachable. By comparing the disposition of ·individuals’· minds, which I have already sketched, with the prevailing systems of government, one could easily predict that a big revolution was inevitable, and that it would have to happen in one of two ways: (i) the populace itself would establish the principles of reason and of nature that philosophy had made so dear to them; or (ii) governments would hurry to get ahead of the populace and act in accordance with the way public opinion was moving. Of these revolutions (i) would be faster and more radical but more stormy; (ii) would be slower and less complete but more tranquil. In (i) the price of liberty and happiness would be transient evils ·which are inevitable in a sudden popular revolution·; in (ii) the price of avoiding these evils would be a delay in the full enjoyment of liberty and happiness—perhaps a long delay, but inevitably those benefits would eventually appear. The corruption and ignorance of governments have led to (i), and the sudden triumph of reason and liberty has avenged the human race.

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