Every proposition of reform which does not satisfy this
condition is simply one scourge more, a rod doing sentry duty,
virgam vigilantem, as a prophet said, which threatens the
proletariat.
The crown of this system is religion. There is no occasion for
me to deal here with the philosophic value of religious opinions,
relate their history, or seek their interpretation. I confine
myself to a consideration of the economic origin of religion, the
secret bond which connects it with police, the place which it
occupies in the series of social manifestations.
Man, despairing of finding the equilibrium of his powers, leaps,
as it were, outside of himself and seeks in infinity that
sovereign harmony the realization of which is to him the highest
degree of reason, power, and happiness. Unable to harmonize with
himself, he kneels before God and prays. He prays, and his
prayer, a hymn sung to God, is a blasphemy against society.
It is from God, man says to himself, that authority and power
come to me: then, let us obey God and the prince.
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