2.M.1.12. THE FUTURE LATENT IN THE PEOPLE
As for the Parisian populace, even when a man grown, it is
always the street Arab; to paint the child is to paint the city;
and it is for that reason that we have studied this eagle in this
arrant sparrow. It is in the faubourgs, above all, we maintain,
that the Parisian race appears; there is the pure blood; there
is the true physiognomy; there this people toils and suffers,
and suffering and toil are the two faces of man. There exist
there immense numbers of unknown beings, among whom
swarm types of the strangest, from the porter of la Rapee to
the knacker of Montfaucon.
Fex urbis, exclaims Cicero;
mob,
adds Burke, indignantly; rabble, multitude, populace. These
are words and quickly uttered. But so be it. What does it
matter? What is it to me if they do go barefoot! They do not
know how to read; so much the worse. Would you abandon
them for that? Would you turn their distress into a malediction?
Cannot the light penetrate these masses? Let us return
to that cry: Light! and let us obstinately persist therein!
Light! Light! Who knows whether these opacities will not
become transparent? Are not revolutions transfigurations?
Come, philosophers, teach, enlighten, light up, think aloud,
speak aloud, hasten joyously to the great sun, fraternize with
the public place, announce the good news, spend your alphabets
lavishly, proclaim rights, sing the Marseillaises, sow
enthusiasms, tear green boughs from the oaks. Make a whirlwind
of the idea. This crowd may be rendered sublime. Let
us learn how to make use of that vast conflagration of principles
and virtues, which sparkles, bursts forth and quivers at
certain hours. These bare feet, these bare arms, these rags,
these ignorances, these abjectnesses, these darknesses, may be
employed in the conquest of the ideal. Gaze past the people,
and you will perceive truth. Let that vile sand which you
trample under foot be cast into the furnace, let it melt and
seethe there, it will become a splendid crystal, and it is thanks
to it that Galileo and Newton will discover stars.