The Summary Cause for the
Stability or Downfall of Human Societies
CHAPTER 16
The substantial form of society changes position; the law governing this change
127. What has been said so far seems clear and certain. In fact, it is not difficult to understand how the vigour of a State has to be found by making a calculation of all the forces which in their ultimate associated effect either come together to strengthen or destroy it, or cancel one another out in a collision of equal forces which leave the State extremely weak. Nor is it difficult to convince oneself that the supreme rule of government consists in increasing the total effect of all the contributing forces, in so far as this effect is favourable to social existence.
128. The difficulty lies in carrying out this complicated calculation in which the individual forces, many of which act quietly and secretly and thus escape the observation of even the wisest people, have first to be accurately assessed, then associated and finally evaluated from the point of view of the results of their various junctures.
129. A new investigation is now required, which would be of great assistance to such an important calculation. We have to enquire whether in the different states of a society there is some special force which prevails over others in such a way that taking account of it would be sufficient to save the society, even at the cost of neglecting other forces and considering them infinitely small compared with the prevalent force. We would then go on to consider whether such a force (which would consequently be the substance of society) would always be the same or whether it would, so to speak, change its position as society itself changed its state.
As everyone will see, this is a very serious question, requiring prolonged observation, accurate study of different human societies and great acumen.
130. It is from a calculation based on the facts of history that we should draw a demonstration of the following truth: `In different states of society there has been a prevalent force which has undergone variations in position as it has passed from one social element to another.’ We should also show by means of facts `the order in which the different social elements succes-sively containing the prevalent force follow one another.’ Then, by tracing the order of these elements as each in turn prevails, we should be able to establish one of the great laws of social movement which determine the series of different, progressive states reached by society when its movement is considered from this point of view.
131. Such an investigation cannot even be attempted in an essay as brief as this where we intend to touch only in passing what concerns the general question `of the summary cause of the downfall and stability of societies’. Nevertheless, we shall offer some hints about this new problem.
132. We shall consider how the prevalent force changes position in the successive movements of Christian civil societies. What I am going to say will also illustrate what was affirmed when I maintained that Christian societies would never perish totally, but simply undergo upheavals and more or less serious afflictions from which, when these were overcome, such societies would emerge sounder and healthier than before. This usually occurs, I said, in the course of three generations. What I shall say now will prove in addition the constant progress made in Christian societies.
133. History has never perhaps provided a case in which civil society in Europe was subject to such violent pressure as in the last century. Any ancient society would have perished under such an assault.
134. The deepest foundations of social life were targeted. The 18th century was a century of material teachings; the branches of knowledge concerning the spirit were abandoned, calumniated and almost annihilated as the century applied itself exclusively to material development. Everything connected with quantity was the object of incredibly intense study; mathematics, the mechanical arts and everything concerned with the professions, commerce and industry certainly made swift and marvellous progress. But this is only an accident relative to peoples’ happiness. Matter is subject to division; the spirit on the contrary reduces all things to unity, in which alone resides the force which constitutes true, social power. Matter is an external, superficial object; the spirit is an internal, fundamental subject, the inner home of true satisfaction, under threat from external disquiet and need.
135. As a result, the century most developed in material, accidental knowledge was blinded to the principles and elements of civil life; those responsible for defending society from assault committed the grossest errors. Supremely anxious about accidents, they gave no thought to substance; they neglected the whole for the part.
136. Only France, as the aggressor, gave momentary signs of real energy as she attacked all the European States (and all their institutions) which, having lost sight of the reasons for their foundation, were scarcely able to defend themselves. Only very late in the day did they realise that the struggle was not about the loss of useless, out-dated practices, but about the loss of everything, existence included. This explains why the heads of government were so slow to act and so disunited in face of a nation which laid assault to everything ancient. Ignoring the danger to their existence, they preferred to keep their sight on commerce.(41) An acute writer notes:
| Ximenes and Richelieu should have noted the revolution taking place within human spirits. But Europe’s administrators, like their century, were preoccupied with factories, banks, embellishments, arts and roads; in other words, they paid more attention to things than to human beings, and saw in the French revolution simply a great lottery in which neighbouring States had everything to gain. The weak would gain without risking anything; the strong would gain in proportion to what they contributed.(42) |
137. Nevertheless, when the crisis came and people began to see the consequences of the overthrow of the ancient foundations, many awoke from what seemed a deep stupor. As we said, it is precisely when existence is in danger that many individuals rouse themselves in Christian nations to produce hidden intellectual and moral force capable of bridling the course of the multitudes. People begin to reflect and cease to lose themselves in the frivolous pursuit of accidentals. They look finally for a substantial force capable of sustaining society. But despite searching everywhere — in human beings, in things, in principles — they do not easily find it.
138. Let us see what has happened during the past forty years, and ask ourselves if this force has been found, and where.
The first thought that comes to mind — and it occurs almost invariably when the State needs reinforcing — is that of brute force. This is, in fact, the sole hope of aggressors who know only too well that `innovators have to be well-armed, and that force rather than prayer is needed if their work is to succeed.’(43)
139. Society possessed individuals who thought seriously about the brute force possessed by society, and used it. But it was not enough. Human beings and things are sufficient for all those struggles in which human beings and things play their part without reference to principles. In other words, the world, as long as it finds itself in a certain state of undevelopment, takes no thought about changing its principles. Everyone, friends and enemies alike, accepts them without discussion and respects them. At moments like these, every battle is fought between human beings and between things. But circumstances change; principles themselves are drawn into the conflict. Everything is re-thought, everything called into doubt, as in the last century. At this point, it is vain to rely solely on human prudence or on the number of physical forces. No government can hope any longer to factually prevail with these means alone. The battle is no longer between these elements; a force superior to them both has entered the lists. This force, the force of principles, disposes both of human beings and things as it wishes. Principles sown in the mind govern human beings, and through them human affairs. In this state, and we have seen it in our own days, a once substantial force becomes accidental.
140. Three moments have to be distinguished, therefore, in the vicissitudes which the world has undergone until now. First, the moment in which physical force alone almost came to dominate. Whoever prevailed through strength, or show of arms, endured. Soon, a subtle kind of prudence, or astuteness, took the place of force, especially when wealth was brought into play.(44) A greater effect is produced by a lesser, well directed force than by greater force which lacks direction. In this state of affairs, physical force, which had now become accidental, was no longer the greatest power. Cleverness and ability of spirit became the greatest and the substantial power. Things had ceded to human beings.
141. Experience, however, soon showed that there was nothing more uncertain or weak than human prudence and indivi-dual astuteness. No one was so clever that another, cleverer person could not arise; and there was certainly no one who was incapable of failing in what he undertook. Moreover, nature’s erratic distribution of the prudence and astuteness in which dominion over things existed, had to be an everlasting source of disturbance and change. This must have been especially clear after the development of common knowledge which gave everyone the opportunity of developing his own capacities and fighting his own corner. As a result, people recognised that the need for secure properties, small and great, was no longer satisfied by dependence upon the doubtful outcome of sheer cleverness which became so prevalent that perpetual lying and self-destruction took the place of any kind of solid conclusion. Hence the recognition of the happy need to agree finally about moral principles.
In this way, God gently guided human beings through the pressure of self-interest to bow before the truth. Indeed, all parties, even those dissatisfied with the quality of the right they have received, must admit the solemn fact that only in our days have we witnessed powerful rulers arrive at an agreement in which all declared that their confidence and individual glory rests solely upon the common principles of justice, faith and religion. The only harm religion suffered from its enemies was a unanimous judgment from the greatest monarchs of Europe who proclaimed it the sole protectrix of the States and the unique source of public happiness!(45)
142. Thus, the best Provider of all, who has fixed a law for all beings, has driven human beings towards the truth. As we noted, three moments are well established in the progress made by things. If we think about the moments carefully, considering them as three levels of human advancement, or as three terms of a continuous series, it will not be difficult to imagine a fourth level or term towards which the state of humanity seems to advance ineluctably. I realise, of course, that not everyone will share my opinion, but nevertheless I believe it to be very probable and clear.
143. As human society moves forward from positing its foundation and guarantee first in force, then in foresight, and finally in the principles of justice and the Christian religion, it passes continuously from a weaker force to a stronger force, from a less true force to one more true, from an external to an internal force. My own firm belief, therefore, is that we now have to move, within the same teaching on justice, from an external, incomplete right to a perfect right, that is, from right to morality taken in its broadest sense. We have to place the supreme social force in the unlimited practice of VIRTUE, and finally recover from within Christianity its most solid, complete and intimate factor, in order to establish the tranquillity and well-being of nations. And there is no doubt that this factor is Catholicism.
In the end, only Catholicism will be found to stand firm; only Catholicism, a truly complete religion with followers who are simultaneously fully enlightened and sincere, possesses solidity and an absolute capacity. From then on, there will be no question of seeking something more solid, but of rendering Catholicism itself ever purer in people’s minds, ever deeper in their hearts and ever more effective in practice. This will be the final work of perfect political theory.
If these things are considered carefully, it will not be difficult to see what is required today from those who govern. It seems to me certain that people in power will undoubtedly perish if they inadvertently oppose this natural movement of human affairs, or refuse to take refuge in the shelter to which they are driven by ineluctable, joyous necessity. Our present condition requires that the on-going struggle for existence should make no one anxious about losing some partial prerogative or external splendour. Everyone must learn to judge sagely the stupid or even blameworthy counsels of those who flatter human passions with the aim of persuading others to fight over tiny, adventitious, uncertain or pretended rights instead of maintaining their own greater, fundamental rights.(46)
Notes
(41) In 1795, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, abandoning the cause common to the Italian Princes and the whole of Europe for fear of a temporary interruption to trade, sent Carletti to France to sue for peace. The people `were intensely glad. This was especially true of the citizens of Liverno, where commerce was flourishing. They praised the wisdom of Grand Duke Ferdinand who, oblivious to the indignation of Europe, aimed at happiness for his subjects by gaining for them security and a quiet life' (Botta, Ist. d'Ital., bk. 5).
(42) Bonald, Discours politiques sur l'état actuel de l'Europe, §1.
(43) Machiavelli, Del Principe, c. 6.
(44) Signor Carlo Dupin, in his work Forze produttive e commerciali della Francia, offers as a sure criterion for estimating the capacity of nations the quantity and quality of their productive and commercial forces. This is partially true, that is, it is true for the second of the three steps we have distinguished in the history of States, when wealth prevails over force. We are now at the stage of human ingenuity and prudence, not of things. But Signor Dupin's criterion would not be valid if, for example, it were applied to the Romans in the finest hour of the republic, the first of the three steps when force prevails over wealth. Nor would it be valid if it were applied to the third step in which moral principles prevail (the point at which we would hope to have finally arrived). In passing, I would like to note here that each of the three stages I have distinguished (things, human beings, principles) has its own proper statistics. At the first step, the governing principle of statistics is the calculation of the prevalent force, that is, of the force consisting in physical forces (population, armed forces, and so on); at the second, the governing principle is found at a higher level where it calculates intellectual forces, especially the forces of production and commerce, in addition to physical forces. Finally, the statistics of the third and last step are raised to the dignity of moral statistics. Their governing principle is far more sublime and broad than those of the two preceding steps. Calculation is now made of all other forces in relationship to the force of the principles which move human beings and things. In these statistics everything is complete and unified. And these are the statistics which must be compiled in our days.
(45) A recent author commented as follows: `Besides the popular opposition which sovereigns had to face at home, the events of the past ten years have revealed the deficiencies inherent in coalitions and their insufficiency in such extraordinary circumstances. Cabinets which supported the ancient right of nations in Europe retained their old habits also. For them, the perfection of diplomacy consisted in astuteness; they would have been ashamed not to have had devious secrets and not to have had in view ends more distant than those towards which they openly worked. The "balance of power" system meant that States always needed to view one another with mutual suspicion. Trick-ery, carried out with the intention of hiding from other powers one's own ambitions of aggrandisement, was indeed innocent up to a certain point in a peaceful epoch, such as that which preceded the revolution; the matter in hand could not have been of great importance. But now, everything had changed, and it was still not possible to convince people that the question was not a matter of possessing more or less, but of losing everything. It was no longer sufficient to think of anything less than the common danger; only a truthful, disinterested and loyal policy could save European independence. The advantages gained by one of the allied powers excited the jealousy of the others; the damage suffered by one in particular was looked at with indifference and sometimes with satisfaction by its rivals. Rapprochement was accompanied by distrust, and separation by irritation' (Del sistema continentale).
(46) There are people profoundly aware of the present state of things who see in our modern tranquillity an untrustworthy calm that presages some disastrous storm. Napoleon was certainly amongst these prophets of woe. His feelings are expressed in Pensées philosophiques d'un ci devant philosophe souverain even though the words may not be his. Less exaggerated, but more authoritative are the words of Leo XII: `Beloved children, it has always been necessary, but is now more necessary than ever, to return to the heart, to bring forth worthy fruits of penance, and TO FLEE THE WRATH THAT IS TO COME. Present evils forcefully persuade us that worse could befall unless we take heed and truly return to sounder ways. Even now his hand is extended'. And we should note that amongst the sovereigns of Europe only Pius VI foresaw and proclaimed in time the imminent evils. He was neither heard nor believed, and unbelievers harvested the whirlwind.