The great error, it seems, that has been committed, is the supposing that there are any passions of man which require to be restrained. God has made nothing ill--nothing useless. You have but to let these passions quite loose, and it will be found that they move in a beautiful harmony of their own. These _attractions_--such is his favourite word--are as admirably adjusted as those which rule over the course of the planets. _Duty_, he says, is human--it varies from epoch to epoch, from people to people. _Attraction_--that is to say, passion--is divine; and is the same amongst all people, civilized and savage, and in all ages, ancient and modern. At present the passions are compressed, and therefore act unhappily; in future, they shall be free, satisfied, and shall act according to the law they have received from God. To yield to their impulse is the only wisdom; to remove whatever obstacles society has placed in the way of their free exercise, is the great task of the reformer. Fourier does not hesitate to place himself by the side of Newton, in virtue of his discovery of this new law of attraction. If any comparison can be made, we think--inasmuch as to unravel the problem of humanity is a greater task than to elucidate the movements of the planets--that Fourier was warranted in placing himself infinitely above Newton. Unfortunately, there is this difference between the two, that Newton's law explains existing phenomena, while Fourier's explained phenomena that do _not_ exist--that are, however, to exist some day. Having established his fundamental law of the attraction of the passions, (which, he finds, amount to the number of twelve, and, in this respect, to bear some occult analogy to the sidereal system, the prismatic colours, and the gamut,) he has nothing to do but to set them fairly at work. This he does, and discovers that they form men into delightful communities, or _phalanges_, of about eighteen hundred men each. Here nothing shall be wanting. Whether it is love or labour, _attraction_ supplies all. "Labour will be a charm, a taste, a preference--in short, a passion. Each man will devote himself to the occupation that he likes--to twenty occupations, if he likes twenty. A charming rivalry, an enthusiasm always new, will preside over human labour, when, under the law of attraction, men will be associated by _groups_, the last social fraction--by _series_, which are the association of groups--by _phalanges_, which are the association of series."--(P. 123.)