登陆注册
4710300000122

第122章

But property passes through donation or inheritance to those who do not create it. Gift, in one case, makes it as really the new owner's, as labor made it the first owner's: in the other case, of patrimony, the law makes an ownership, which will be valid in each man's view according to the estimate which he sets on the public tranquillity.

It was not, however, found easy to embody the readily admitted principle, that property should make law for property, and persons for persons: since persons and property mixed themselves in every transaction. At last it seemed settled, that the rightful distinction was, that the proprietors should have more elective franchise than non-proprietors, on the Spartan principle of "calling that which is just, equal; not that which is equal, just."

That principle no longer looks so self-evident as it appeared in former times, partly, because doubts have arisen whether too much weight had not been allowed in the laws, to property, and such a structure given to our usages, as allowed the rich to encroach on the poor, and to keep them poor; but mainly, because there is an instinctive sense, however obscure and yet inarticulate, that the whole constitution of property, on its present tenures, is injurious, and its influence on persons deteriorating and degrading; that truly, the only interest for the consideration of the State, is persons: that property will always follow persons; that the highest end of government is the culture of men: and if men can be educated, the institutions will share their improvement, and the moral sentiment will write the law of the land.

If it be not easy to settle the equity of this question, the peril is less when we take note of our natural defences. We are kept by better guards than the vigilance of such magistrates as we commonly elect. Society always consists, in greatest part, of young and foolish persons. The old, who have seen through the hypocrisy of courts and statesmen, die, and leave no wisdom to their sons. They believe their own newspaper, as their fathers did at their age. With such an ignorant and deceivable majority, States would soon run to ruin, but that there are limitations, beyond which the folly and ambition of governors cannot go. Things have their laws, as well as men; and things refuse to be trifled with. Property will be protected. Corn will not grow, unless it is planted and manured; but the farmer will not plant or hoe it, unless the chances are a hundred to one, that he will cut and harvest it. Under any forms, persons and property must and will have their just sway. They exert their power, as steadily as matter its attraction. Cover up a pound of earth never so cunningly, divide and subdivide it; melt it to liquid, convert it to gas; it will always weigh a pound: it will always attract and resist other matter, by the full virtue of one pound weight; -- and the attributes of a person, his wit and his moral energy, will exercise, under any law or extinguishing tyranny, their proper force, -- if not overtly, then covertly; if not for the law, then against it; with right, or by might.

The boundaries of personal influence it is impossible to fix, as persons are organs of moral or supernatural force. Under the dominion of an idea, which possesses the minds of multitudes, as civil freedom, or the religious sentiment, the powers of persons are no longer subjects of calculation. A nation of men unanimously bent on freedom, or conquest, can easily confound the arithmetic of statists, and achieve extravagant actions, out of all proportion to their means; as, the Greeks, the Saracens, the Swiss, the Americans, and the French have done.

In like manner, to every particle of property belongs its own attraction. A cent is the representative of a certain quantity of corn or other commodity. Its value is in the necessities of the animal man. It is so much warmth, so much bread, so much water, so much land. The law may do what it will with the owner of property, its just power will still attach to the cent. The law may in a mad freak say, that all shall have power except the owners of property: they shall have no vote. Nevertheless, by a higher law, the property will, year after year, write every statute that respects property.

The non-proprietor will be the scribe of the proprietor. What the owners wish to do, the whole power of property will do, either through the law, or else in defiance of it. Of course, I speak of all the property, not merely of the great estates. When the rich are outvoted, as frequently happens, it is the joint treasury of the poor which exceeds their accumulations. Every man owns something, if it is only a cow, or a wheelbarrow, or his arms, and so has that property to dispose of.

同类推荐
  • 还源篇阐微

    还源篇阐微

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 雅堂文集

    雅堂文集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Twenty Years After

    Twenty Years After

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 养性延命录

    养性延命录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 裨海记游

    裨海记游

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 豆叶进城记

    豆叶进城记

    双腿被打折的妈妈用自己的身体为豆叶换了500块钱,让她逃进城里……勤劳的豆叶挣扎在城市的底层……单纯的豆叶做了一回灰姑娘的美梦……美丽的豆叶吸引了若干男人的目光……坚强的豆叶给自己穿上了盔甲……本文根据漂亮保姆叶嫂的真实经历改编,谨以此文献给叶嫂和那些进城打拼的农村女孩们。
  • 宋文骢传

    宋文骢传

    本书是一本人物传记。歼10飞机总没计师宋文骢,是中国航空界一位杰出的飞机设计大师,是一个有着传奇色彩的人物。他的一生,见证和浓缩了新中国现代战斗机研制的整个历史。他志存高远,却又严谨务实;他严厉刚毅,却又可爱可亲;在飞机型号研制中,他独树一帜成就斐然,当选为中国工程院院士;他的人生,丰富多彩而又跌宕起伏、险象环生。本书以翔实的史料、深沉的情感、流畅的文笔、紧凑的情节描写了宋文骢传奇的人生。本书也是广大军事爱好者了解我国现代战斗机发展历史的一本难得的读物。
  • 喀纳斯丛林

    喀纳斯丛林

    盛夏,我作为保护区的老护林人,跟随深山巡护队,对喀纳斯保护区的纵深地带进行了五天的巡山护边。第一日和以往一样,我们先要坐船穿越二十四公里的喀纳斯湖,再骑马进入深山。从地图上看,喀纳斯保护区呈一个“丫”字形状。喀纳斯湖在下面一竖的位置,我们这一次,是要从左面的叉进去,翻越两叉之间的达坂后,再从右面的叉出来。这既是一次正常的对保护区的巡护,又是一次难得的对保护区核心区进行资源普查的机会。所以我们的队员巾,既有边防部队的两位官兵,也有保护区的科考人员。中午时分,我们乘船到达喀纳斯湖的湖头。
  • 公司因你而不同

    公司因你而不同

    “公司因你而不同”,是微软和IBM等公司成功的秘诀,也是我们在工作中十分值得提倡的一种职业理念。《公司因你而不同》通过这个理念,帮你激发工作潜能,提升工作价值,实现人企双赢。
  • 大汉王朝3

    大汉王朝3

    七国之乱大汉王朝岌岌可危,帝国又如何转危为安?“国恒以弱灭,而汉独以强亡!”是什么让血管里流淌着血性与勇武的刘氏家族构建起的汉帝国轰然崩塌?……
  • 情殇之豪门爱恋

    情殇之豪门爱恋

    如同一具行尸走肉,浑浑噩噩的头脑还未完全清醒。昨天是她毕业的日子,她却被亲哥哥金文宇贩卖到了夜总会,成了妓女。莫名被夺去初夜,可她却不知道那个男人是谁!姓什么,叫什么,多高,多胖,只知道他有一张俊俏到自愧不如的脸。全身酸痛,毫无力气,金不瑶一个瘫软蹲坐在石阶上,脑海在不断回放昨夜那无休止的缠绵。欢爱,是让人兴奋的,可却是让金不瑶感到惧怕的。她不知道那一个晚上被要了多少次,只知道每一次长……
  • 大明锦衣神探

    大明锦衣神探

    刑侦专家林凌启穿越了,带着研究室附身于一名最底层的锦衣卫。此时正值嘉靖内忧外患的时期。朱厚熜藏身于西苑求长生不老术,严嵩把持朝政,西南土司作乱,北疆俺答汗屡屡进犯,东南倭寇时时为虐。此时戚继光只是中下层军官,张居正未露峥嵘,杨继盛被关待斩,徐渭不过县学廪膳生……但这些对林凌启来说,似乎有些遥远,他正为自家的债务伤透脑筋……
  • 抗战文学与正面战场

    抗战文学与正面战场

    《抗战文学与正面战场》在查阅了大量第一手文献资料和进行了大量实地的考察的基础上,从宏观与微观两个方面论证了正面战场文学的客观性、丰富性与重要性。书书视角独特,选题新颖,引证的材料以往现代文学研究几乎未曾涉猎过。
  • 明伦汇编人事典斋戒部

    明伦汇编人事典斋戒部

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 华严经传记

    华严经传记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。