On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
vent all their fury V this is the office St ., Mazzini has undertaken to fulfil . '• • _ ' '' . ' ¦ ' ¦ Havinsr appointed himaelf , of his own selection , tp the office of Pjotiureur-Generalof the European Republic ( as ifc is fashioned in his system ) , he will not be astonished ^ t Ids election in that quality not being ratified . From the office of accuser , then , let him descend to the character o £ " accused /' We accuse M . Mazzini of imitating Louis Bonaparte , who in order more effectually to exterminate the-Socialists , used ' their own formulas as a screen . To pretend that he desires association , state credit , taxation on luxuries , primary instruction and equal education for all , in the verp article in which he slanders the men who have wasted their
existence not merely in demanding these things , but in seeking out the means of obtaining them , is an artifice unworthy of a republican soul . We accuse M . Mazzini of haying falsel y invoked against the Socialists that progress which they serve—that sovereignty of the people which they proclaim—that liberty which they adore . We accuse M . Mazzini of having come forward , in the name of his . mere individuality , to decry solutions sought out by men of heart , at the cost of a whole life ' s repose ; the generous s incerity of whose aim is even now being expiated by some in dungeons , by others in exile , by nearly all in destitution , by all in sorrow .
We accuse M . Mazzmiof having descended to a pitiable contradiction , when he acknowledges , on the one hand , that a better organization of society can only issue out of the concurrence of all the huinan faculties , and , on the otller hand , declaims against individual efforts and partial r e searches , without which that concurrence would be impossible . Of what would that continuous revelation whereof he speaks consist if not of a series of particular and successive revelations ? Yes * God is God , and Humanity is His pbophet . The Socialists have used these words long before M . Mazzini . But humanity is composed of men who think , and who interchange their thoughts . Where would be the concert without the voices of which
it is composed r We accuse Mi Mazzini of having applied to _ the Socialists , in a pernicious sense , the word " sectarian ; " insult which , in all . times , has been launched against the apostles or the martyrs of new truths by the defenders of old abuses ; an insult which the Pagans employed against the Christians , the Catholics against the Protestants , nay , the same homicidal insults that preceded and prepared the judicial assassination of John Huss , the massacre of the Thaborites , the extermination of the : Albigens . es . "We accuse M . Mazzini of imputing to the Socialists that distinction between Socialists and Revolutionists which they , on the contrary , have always rejected , seeing that they deem themselves Revolutionists par excellence— --
men who do not aim simply at a displacement of power , but at the transformation of society itself . "We accuse M . Mazzini of declaring , forsooth , that the word republican is enough tor him , when we see that it is also enough for General Cavaignac , for example , who , in June , 1848 , massacred the people . "We accuse M . Mazzini of reproaching the Socialists with the worship of the individual , when he is the very man " whom the most distinguished of his countrymen reproach with incessantly substituting himself for his country , to such a degree , that he has accustomed the press to speak of the Mazzinians , when it is the Italians
with whom they are concerned . "We accuse M . Mazzini of describing the problem of material interests as the sole object of the Socialists' pre-Csessions , when , on the contrary , it is certain , " it is proved „ their writings , that their chief aim is to enlarge the hor izon of human thought , to elevate the standard of human dignity , to render accessible to all the sources of intelligence ; when it ia certain , and proved by all their writings , that , if they deBire with a powerful and indomitable ardour the suppression of pauperism , it is especially because pauperism retains man in ignorance , drives him to vico , encourages him in envy and in hatred , forbids him the noblest joys of love , and tends to degrade or to stigmatize his immortal soul .
¥ b accuse M . Mazzini of lending to the Socialists that definition of'life—Life is the search after happiness , whilst he allows it to be understood in tho sense that the only happiness they aspire after is a porsonal and selfish gratification ; whereas tho definition adopted by them is , Life is the accomplishment of a duty ; a duty determined by the end they ascribe to their political actions , the moral , intellectual , and physical amelioration of the poorest and most numerous class , and this formula , by the way , belongs to St . Simon , in whose namo Mazzini considors it a shamo to speak . We accuse M . Mazzini of endeavouring to make tho world believe that to regenerate tho peoplo by fattening them is tho ignoble doctrino of tho Socialists , and of
advancing , as a proof of the chargo , those words : To every man according to his wants . Does ho not know that , in the lan guage of the Socialists , those words , which express the right , have always boon preceded by those , which oxproaB tho duty : fromoverj / manaccording tohis faculties ? WJiy does lie mutilate tho formula ho has caught up , whon to mutilate is to calumniate ? Does ho know what wo tnonn , from each man accordingtohis faculties f "Wo means that the man who can do most , ought to do most ; that th e strongest is bound to employ his strength for tho profit of the weakest : that tho most intelligent fails in his
inisBion , in that mission which in written , as . in a living book , in his own organization , if ho doos not admit his brothers , who aro poor in intellect , to enjoy tho bonofit of liia intelligence . Is that a doctrino of sordid materialism P Ib that ; porchance tho theory of egoism P Wis accuse M . Mazzini of confounding with what ho calls a vague cosmopolitism , that loads to inaction , the forvont ; , active , indefatigable revoronco for humanity , considered as a groat family , and not as a confusion of jealous individualities . And we accuse him of declaring this iniquitous war
against Socialism when the true enemy is before him , not by his side ; when the victory to be won over an unexampled tyranny can only be won by the union of all our forces ; when it is more than ever important to abstain from every intestine quarrel ; when it is notorious that it is on the Socialists that ( to their eternal honour ) the weight of counter-revolutionary hatred chiefly presses ; when M . Mazzini cannot take arms against them without finding himself supported in his iattacks , and not only in their substance , but in their very form , ' by the writers of the Constiiutiohnel and of La Patrie , by the surviving pamphleteers of the Rue de Poitiers , by the Orleanist editors of the Bulletin Frangais , by the surpliced libellists of M . de Montalembert . and the epauletted lampooners of M . IJouis Bonaparte .
It is not at all , as M . Mazzini seems to think , because it has been said that France owes to Europe the solution of the problem of the organization of labour , that France has had to suffer the shame of the 2 nd of December ; such a disgrace she has owed rather to a series of abominable calumnies against Socialism ( calumnies which M . Mazzini now assists in spreading ) , which have di sseminated alarm ; she owes it to that word action , which the Socialists were ever careful to connect withtranquillizing ideas of scientific progress and social organization , and which M . Mazzini , on the contrary , has always kept vague , unexplained , undefined , signifying war > nothing but war , proclaiming revolution for the sake of revolution , and abandoning everything else—to the hazard of events !
"What have been the consequences ? The bourgeoisie , who had been made to fear , trembled : the people was disarmed : a reckless and unscrupulous adventurer takes tlje ground with a drunken soldiery , and cannons charged with grape : all is lost ; If now were the time for recriminations , who would have the better right to make them ? But the past is past ! There will be no lack of pens to write the history of yesterday : we , crippled but unconquered soldiers , we labour at the history of the day that is Coming . For whenever M . Mazzini shall express the certainty of seeing France rise again , we will _ cheer him : and if , instead of estranging himself from us in the great work to be accomplished , he shall resolve to aid us in our
task , our hearts will not be slow to regain the path or his . Although we remain proud of our country , for the sake of what she has already done for humanity , for the sake of what she will yet do hereafter , and in sp ite of her present humiliation , it shall not be outs to isolate her in the struggle , any more than in the victory . Let Italy , if she be the first to be free , aid us to work out our freedom : we will bless her . We believe too sincerely in the mutual responsibility ( solidarity ) of the peoples , to reject all fraternal succour , exclaiming Francia fara da se ; and we congratulate M * Mazzini on having called us to united action , for it was he who once said , Italia fara da se , when Italy was in a situation to be succoured , and France able to save .
There is something of more importance than to inscribe the word Justice on his standard , as Mr . Mazzini insists : . t is to have the sentiment in his heart . God , People , Love , Association , Liberty , Truth , JSguality , Virtue , the good of all , no doubt these are admirable words , but to rally the grand army of the future it is necessary to have more than wobds . It is requisite to have a programme formed , which shall express the deep , tho profound , sense of these words . Things , and not phrases , are wanted . Phrases f They were always at the service of hypocritical tyrants , and of ambitious men . Let each of us , however , follow the sol ution which he believes himself to have found ; let him write according to his conscience . Mr . Mazzini is willing to permit it ; only , whocyer dares to avail himself of the right , must expect to bo excommunicated by him . Oh ! prodigious inconsistency ! ^ And now , in exchange for the lesson which he gives to French Democracy , we will give him some advice .
First , Let him learn from us what he is , of what he is capable , what ho is worth . Wo do not disown him , it is he who disowns us . His" part is this , and this only to work for tho independence of his country ; and we agree that , for tho purpose of oxpolling the Austrians from Italy , action , such as ho understands it , may suffice . But here , before proceeding further ^ we should bo authorized to enquire if Mr . Mazzini is , in all respects , the man oven for tho part ho has to play . For , the ^ first quality of a man of action is practical sense , and in this Mr . Mazzini is absolutely wanting . With what is it , indeed , that ho reproaches the Socialists ? He has declared , with a naiYoto of imprudence , that he reproaches them with an endeavour to seek positive solutions . Positive , bo it undorstood I Thus , the idea finding its incarnation in the
foot , Mr . Mazzini is perplexed and plagued , and annoyed . To remain with rambling , indefinite ideas , would suit him better . That * ' life should bo loft to manifest itself in tho plonitudo of asp iration and of capacity ; " that " man should bo re-made in the imago of God , " Mr . Mazzini would bo satisfied . Tho how to accomplish this alarms him . Ho will havo no systems . Ho docs not renuiro for his programmes more than a certain number or grand sounding words , Sosquipedalia verba . Such is tho man who thunders against tho XJtopists . Utopist I It is under this titlo that a crowd of Italians , in Italy itself , pursuo this very man . They , moro close than ho in their reasonings on the policy of action , aay- " - That Mr . Mazzini has novor acted but throug h secret correspondences , which have created poril—ho being at a distance . , ' ¦
That his single act has boon tho expedition to Savoy ; his own affair of Boulogne—an advohturo attempted in an honourable spirit , but badly concoiyod , badly contrived , and militarily conducted by a General long known as a traitor . That , having arrived at Rome ftftor tho T » opo had boon put to flight—after tho Ropublio had been proclaimedafter tho Revolution had been complotod—ho wont to sloop in . pompous useloRBnesa between the work of tho constitution and tho toils of its defence ) between SaJUcoti , wno
held the pen of Republican Rome , and Garibaldi , who wielded its sword . . That he has been wanting , according to the expression of Ricciardi , in revolutionary capacity . That he has been—this blind enemy of ideas—an ideologist of inconsistencies and impertinences . That a maladroit plagiarist of the Idea of Unity , borrowed from France , in wishing to apply it at all hazards to Italy he has consulted neither the intellectual state of , the country , nor its local circumstances , nor its situation , nor the proper hour . ¦ That , in complicating the question of independence , ho
has compromised it . ^ > That he has done an i mmense injury to his country by sacrificing to his own Utopia the necessity of not detaching from the common cause Piedmont , which had all : organization , money , and soldiers . . That , in short , he was making speeches , while at Novarra they were dying in battle . To prevent Italy from becoming an assemblage of Free States , hod not Mr . Mazzini then only to present himself and . to say : " I am "Wallenstein ! " This is just what nobody but himself has believed . Mr . Mazzini is one of the representatives , one of the artizans of Italian independence . The part he has to play is sufficiently noble— -let him confine himself to it .
By what right -would he pretend to link France to the conditions that history imposes upon Italy ? We have not Austrians in the centre of our towns . What we have to drive away from us is not the foreigner it is falsehood ! W hat we have to conquer and achieve , is not independence , for the advantage of our country ; it is the realization of justice for the advantage of all the countries of the earth . By what excess of arrogance would Mr . Mazzini desire to imprison in the mission which especially concerns Italy , that , which interests the whole World P For French democracy has received from the 18 th century , and from the Revolution , an inheritance which is a command that it shall labour and toil , under a penalty of render ing sterile the floods of heroic blood in which it was drowned by our fathers . And it is this sacred work Mr . Mazzini would dare to interdict to us !
Action ! does he cry out ? to endeavour to enlighten mankind , then , is not action ! He who destroys an error , puts to flight innumerable legions armed for the support of that error . ^ Men have not only arms ; they have intelligence , —they have heart : arms to become and remain free ; intelligence to comprehend that they are equals ; hearts to feel that they are brethren . The human being is triple in his essence . Triple also is action in its most general effect : that action of which . Mr . Mazzini talks so ^ much without comprehending it . Our fathers understood it well when they united us in a league to explain , to develop
philosophically , to realize practically , the three terms of their magnificent formula—Liberty , Equality , Fraternity—inseparable terms , of -which Mr . Mazzini , with a sacrilegious ha , effaces the most touching and the most profound . Yes , to enlighten is ^ to act ; and after all , what we want is less lightning than Light , To write for tho right , to suffer for the right , to die for the right—all this is beautiful—all this is _ . grand . The Socialists know it ; they have proved it . Their blood has streamed over the barricades of the 2 nd of December . It is well that Mr . Mazzini should be reminded , that if he had chanced to bo at that time in Paris burning with indignation , the brave Dussoubs would have placed him where he would havo been side by side with death .
But M . Mazzini docs not perceive that in confining action to physical forco , ho unmasks tho falso side of that spiritualism which he parades . Under those mystical phrases ho dissembles tho grossest materialism . When ho severs from tho duty of action tho operation of tho mind and of the soul , it . is ho who onimolizes humanity . Ah ! it is all very well for him to call holy tho reaction which he preaches . This reaction ( and , in fact , it is reaction ) would be criminal , if it were not senseless . Let us roveal to M . Mazzini , who is self-blinded , tho sccrot of his own heart . As in him vaguo aspirations replace that solid faith , thoso inflexible beliefs upon which tho conscience reposes immovable , tho spectacle of evil triumphant has amazced him . " Lot us attempt a since tions succeed
reaction , " he has said to himself , " reac . Let us act after tho fashion of tho power that has wealth and armies at its bidding , since that policy is effectual . Lot us attack tho Socialists , since in attacking them wo become masters of tho field ; " and thereupon a vertigo has seized him . Ho has had the puerility to imagine that tyranny could only bo crushed by its own weapons . Ho has done to truth tho wrong of doubting its power . Ho has lost all serenity . To such a degree , that , ovon living in England , ho has not perceived the movement that surrounds him . No I ho has scon neithor thoso thousands of workmen who combat by association , nor tho immonBo impression which this fact has produced , nor tho power of that action , calm , silent , and thoughtful . In the work of universal progress each people takes part , according to its own genius . Why doos not M . Mazzini requiro from tho
workmen of tho Amalgamated Society that they sook their emanci p ation by fighting like a band of Condottiori P As for us , God preserve us from that apparent impetuosity which only conceals fainting and weakness . , Wo aro not impatient of Time . While maintaining with energy the increasingly transforming operation of Socialism , wo ' rocogniso in tno peoplo , as in God , iho r ight to bo pationt , because Ho is oternal . Without pardoning discouragement or lassitude in a march so terrible and ho long , and whilo crying continually , Courage 1 courage!—Forward ! wo aro resolved not to tiacriuco to the impatienco of ambitious minds , anything that is just , anything that is true . Tho indignation that fills our souls does not . obscure our Hight-r-does not trouble our thoughts ; and M . Man-« ini himself , when ho insults us , inspires us less with anger than with pity . Ho must have a government , a taxation , and a unity of operations ; he was exclaiming ,
Untitled Article
March 27 , 1852 . ]
THE LEADER . 291
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), March 27, 1852, page 291, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1928/page/7/
-