this work is not adapted for any particular
country alone: the principle on which it is based is general. But as the
rights of man are a new study in this world, and one needing protection
from priestly imposture, and the insolence of oppressions too long
established, I have thought it right to place this little work under
your safeguard. When we reflect on the long and dense night in which
France and all Europe have remained plunged by their governments and
their priests, we must feel less surprise than grief at the bewilderment
caused by the first burst of light that dispels the darkness. The eye
accustomed to darkness can hardly bear at first the broad daylight. It
is by usage the eye learns to see, and it is the same in passing from
any situation to its opposite.

As we have not at one instant renounced all our errors, we cannot at one
stroke acquire knowledge of all our rights. France has had the honour of
adding to the word _Liberty_ that of _Equality_; and this word signifies
essentially a principal that admits of no gradation in the things to
which it applies. But equality is often misunderstood, often misapplied,
and often violated.

_Liberty_ and _Property_ are words expressing all those of our
possessions which are not of an intellectual nature. There are two kinds
of property. Firstly, natural property, or that which comes to us from
the Creator of the universe,--such as the earth, air, water. Secondly,
artificial or acquired property,--the invention of men. In the latter
equality is impossible; for to distribute it equally it would be
necessary that all should have contributed in the same proportion, which
can never be the case; and this being the case, every individual would
hold on to his own property, as his right share. Equality of natural
property is the subject of this little essay. Every individual in
the world is born therein with legitimate claims on a certain kind of
property, or its equivalent.

The right of voting for persons charged with the execution of the laws
that govern society is inherent in the word Liberty, and constitutes
the equality of personal rights. But even if that right (of voting) were
inherent in property, which I deny, the right of suffrage would still
belong to all equally, because, as I have said, all individuals have
legitimate birthrights in a certain species of property.

I have always considered the present Constitution of the French Republic
the _best organized sy