of man and adhesion to the "Contrat Social." That is enough: from now
on the will of the people is known, and known beforehand; a consultation
among citizens previous to action is not essential; there is no
obligation to await their votes. In any events, a ratification by the
people is sure; and should this not be forthcoming it is owing to their
ignorance, disdain or malice, in which case their response deserves
to be considered as null. The best thing to do, consequently, through
precaution and to protect the people from what is bad for them, is
to dictate to them what is good for them.--Here, the Jacobin might
be sincere; for the men in whose behalf he claims rights are not
flesh-and-blood Frenchmen, as we see them in the streets and in the
fields, but men in general, as they ought to be on leaving the hands of
Nature, or after the teachings of Reason. As to the former, there is no
need of being scrupulous because they are infatuated with prejudices
and their opinions are mere drivel; as for the latter, it is just the
opposite: full of respect for the vainglorious images of his own theory,
of ghosts produced by his own intellectual device, the Jacobin will
always bow down to responses that he himself has provided, for, the
beings that he has created are more real in his eyes than living ones
and it is their suffrage on which he counts. Accordingly, viewing
things in the worst lights, he has nothing against him but the momentary
antipathy of a purblind generation. To offset this, he enjoys the
approval of humanity, self-obtained; that of a posterity which his acts
have regenerated; that of men who, thanks to him, who are again become
what they should never have ceased to be. Hence, far from looking upon
himself as an usurper or a tyrant, he considers himself the natural
mandatory of a veritable people, the authorized executor of the common
will. Marching along in the procession formed for him by this imaginary
crowd, sustained by millions of metaphysical wills created by himself
in his own image, he has their unanimous assent, and, like a chorus of
triumphant shouts, he will fill the outward world with the inward echo
of his own voice.

IV.--What the theory promises.

How it flatters wounded self-esteem.--The ruling passion of
the Jacobin.--Apparent both in style and conduct.--He alone
is virtuous in his own estimation, while his adversaries are
vile.--They must accordingly be put out of th