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The Idea of Passive Mankind
It cannot be disputed that these
classical theories [advanced by these latter-day teachers,
writers, legislators, economists, and philosophers] held that
everything came to the people from a source outside themselves.
As another example, take Fenelon [archbishop, author, and
instructor to the Duke of Burgundy]. He was a witness to the
power of Louis XIV. This, plus the fact that he was nurtured in
the classical studies and the admiration of antiquity, naturally
caused Fenelon to accept the idea that mankind should be passive;
that the misfortunes and the prosperity—vices and
virtues—of people are caused by the external influence
exercised upon them by the law and the legislators. Thus, in his
Utopia of Salentum, he puts men—with all their interests,
faculties, desires, and possessions—under the absolute
discretion of the legislator. Whatever the issue may be, persons
do not decide it for themselves; the prince decides for them. The
prince is depicted as the soul of this shapeless mass of people
who form the nation. In the prince resides the thought, the
foresight, all progress, and the principle of all organization.
Thus all responsibility rests with him.
The whole of the tenth book of
Fenelon’s Telemachus proves this. I refer the reader to it,
and content myself with quoting at random from this celebrated
work to which, in every other respect, I am the first to pay
homage.
Clark Simmons, Webmaster
Copyright© 2000, Lillian Martinez Simmons |
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