ing, otherwise than on
paper, he must, before any object or interest, concern himself with the
social instinct[4101]; thus preserving and humoring it; find room for it
and its usefulness; let it have full play; getting all the service it is
capable of rendering, and especially not twist or release it.--In this
respect, any blunder might prove disastrous; and in every statute for
each society, for each of the human vessels which gather together and
serve as a retinue of individual vessels, there are two capital errors.
On the one hand, if the statute, in fact and practically, is or becomes
too grossly unjust, if the rights and benefits which it confers are not
compensated by the duties and obligations it imposes; if it multiplies
excessive burdens for some and sinecures for others; if, at last,
the exploited individual discovers that he is overcharged beyond his
due,--thereafter he refuses on his own to add voluntarily to his load.
Let others, let the favored and the privileged bear the gratuitous,
extra weight. Far from stepping forward and offering his shoulders, he
gets out of the way, hides himself, and lightens his load as much as he
can; he even rebels when he has a chance, and violently casts off every
legal burden, be it tax or due of any kind. Thus did the ancient regime
perish.--On the other hand, if the statute withdraws the management of
the ship from those who are concerned; if, on this vessel, which belongs
to them, it permanently installs a foreign crew, which assumes and
exercises all command, then the owner of the vessel, reduced to the
humble condition of a mere subject and quiescent taxpayer, will no
longer feel concerned. Since the intruders exercise all authority, let
them have all the trouble; the working of the ship concerns them and not
him; he looks on as a spectator, without any idea of lending a hand; he
folds his arms, remains idle, and becomes critical.--Against the first
defect, the new regime is on its guard: there must be neither the
preferred nor the disgraced, neither favors nor exemptions, neither
exclusions nor releases, no more misappropriation, embezzlement, or
robbery, not alone in the State, but elsewhere in any direction,--in
the department, in the commune, in the Church, or in educational and
benevolent institutions. It excels in practicing distributive justice.
The second defect is its hidden flaw: the legislator having introduced
this into all local and special statutes, its effe