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Marziyeh Jadidi
Last Letter
Enlightenment
Dear Countrymen,
If there are those among you who doubt the justice of our cause, I wish to point out that Rousseau himself feared from the beginning that he had deceived himself into promoting a chimerical dream. The best remedy for fostering this illusion is to spread abroad a clear, full and authentic idea of what it is we hope for; for there are plenty of people, even among those most attached to principles, who would be deterred by what they failed to see when they first embraced them.
I, therefore, have chosen to offer you a few reflections, which I feel certain, will be useful to you and will be drawn from the clearest and widely diffused maxims of the Revolution. It is said that man is born free and everywhere he is in chains. He who speaks thus thinks only of the title of liberty which he applies to himself in his own person; by not considering that it can easily be transferred from him as soon as he finds himself in the presence of his fellow citizens.
The principle of equality is sacred and inviolable, i.e. no one may be subject to that principle except in the performance of so-called public functions as they best suit particular communities, or are approved by those who possess them; since each form of government must be considered as a public function. If we consider things without prejudice, however, and without taking into account the particular interests which we may have or happen to share with those who dominate others, it is less easy to understand how one citizen should be subject to another. Social relations must always be based on the principle of mutual advantage.
The common good opposes no obstacles to the private good; if social well-being cannot be achieved in the exercise of private rights, each one is free to protect himself; but no one can expect that he will not need assistance from others in this exercise. We as the French people should not be condemned to live in perpetual slavery, as many philosophers think possible. The condition of man is not fixed in this simple and uniform manner.
The nobles and the clergy, who today rule over France, do not believe they will ever be able to establish their domination again. This has been the case for a long time; their decline has been slow and almost imperceptible. Therefore, I urge you to take care not to let your ruling be as fleeting as that of others, for your power will soon pass into the hands of others. In a society where no one is any longer master of anything, where all is held in common, where the condition of all is equal, nothing can be threatened – everyone has no more than the equal share of nothing.
The Revolution begins its reign then; it must establish its principles and not destroy them. It should punish tyrants, but not depose all social bodies which dare to exist without relating to it. The hostility against the nobility, which appears to be excessive, is ill-suited to help establish the Revolution.
It seems to me that nothing should be done, either in the general administration or in particular laws, to extend the authority of our laws over all citizens. This could easily foster a spirit of freedom without making civil obedience firmer: one can be free and subject at once.
Yours truly,
Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès