A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 08 — Voltaire — John Shaqi
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 08
Voltaire · en
Men, however, cannot forever go on killing one another; and peace is
consequently made, till either party thinks itself sufficiently strong
to recommence the war. Those who can write draw up these treaties of
peace; and the chiefs of every nation, with a view more successfully to
impose upon their enemies, invoke the gods to attest with what sincerity
they bind themselves to the observance of these compacts. Oaths of the
most solemn character are invented and employed, and one party engages
in the name of the great Somonocodom, and the other in that of Jupiter
the Avenger, to live forever in peace and amity; while in the same names
of Somonocodom and Jupiter, they take the first opportunity of cutting
one another's throats.
In times of the greatest civilization and refinement, the lion of Æsop
made a treaty with three animals, who were his neighbors. The object was
to divide the common spoil into four equal parts. The lion, for certain
incontestable and satisfactory reasons which he did not then deem it
necessary to detail, but which he would be always ready to give in due
time and place, first takes three parts out of the four for himself, and
then threatens instant strangulation to whoever shall dare to touch the
fourth. This is the true sublime of policy.
_Internal Policy._
The object here is to accumulate for our own country the greatest
quantity of power, honor, and enjoyment possible. To attain these in any
extraordinary degree, much money is indispensable. In a democracy it is
very difficult to accomplish this object. Every citizen is your rival; a
democracy can never subsist but in a small territory. You may have
wealth almost equal to your wishes through your own mercantile dealings,
or transmitted in patrimony from your industrious and opulent
grandfather; your fortune will excite jealousy and envy, but will
purchase little real co-operation and service. If an affluent family
ever bears sway in a democracy, it is not for a long time.
In an aristocracy, honors, pleasures, power, and money, are more easily
obtainable. Great discretion, however, is necessary. If abuse is
flagrant, revolution will be the consequence. Thus in a democracy all
the citizens are equal. This species of government is at present rare,
and appears to but little advantage, although it is in itself natural
and wise. In aristocracy, inequality or superiority makes itself
sensibly felt; but the less arrogant its demeanor, the more secure and
successful will be its course.
Monarchy remains to be mentioned. In this, all mankind are made for one
individual: he accumulates all honors with which he chooses to decorate
himself, tastes all pleasures to which he feels an inclination, and
exercises a power absolutely without control; provided, let it be
remembered, that he has plenty of money. If he is deficient in that, he
will be unsuccessful at home as well as abroad, and will soon be left
destitute of power, pleasures, honors, and perhaps even of life.