vii ON THE NATURAL INEQUALITY OF MEN 305 



right, and property which has been acquired by 

 force may rightly be taken away by force. 1 



I am bound to confess, at the outset, that, while 

 quite open to conviction, I incline to think that 

 the obvious practical consequences of these pro- 

 positions are not likely to conduce to the welfare 

 of society, and that they are certain to prove as 

 injurious to the poor as to the rich. Due allow- 

 ance must be made for the possible influence of 

 such prejudice as may flow from this opinion 

 upon my further conviction that, regarded from a 

 purely theoretical and scientific point of view, they 

 are so plainly and demonstrably false that, except 

 for the gravity of their practical consequences, 

 they would be ridiculous. 



What is the meaning of the famous phrase that 

 " all men are born free and equal," which gallicised 

 Americans, who were as much " philosophies " as 

 their inherited common sense and their practical 

 acquaintance with men and with affairs would let 

 them be, put forth as the foundation of the " De- 

 claration of Independence " ? I have seen a consid- 



1 Discours, pp. 276, 280; Conirat, chap. Hi. : "Telle fut 

 on diit etre " (charming alternative !) "1'origine de la societe et 

 ties lois, qui donnerent de nouvelles entraves an foible et de 

 nouvelles forces au riche, detruisirent sans retour la liberte 

 naturelle, fixerent pour jamais la loi de la propriete et de 

 I'inegalite, d'une adroite usurpation firent un droit irrevocable, 

 et, pour le profit de quelques ambitieux, assujettirent desormais 

 tout le genre humain au travail, a la servitude et a la mist-re" 

 (Discours, p. 278). Behold the quintessence of Rousseauisin 

 method and results with practical application, legible by the 

 swiftest runner ! 



VOL. I X 



