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Joseph Mazzini spent most of his
adult life in exile in France and Britain. In 1831 he founded a nationalist
organization, Young Italy, and he edited a journal of the same name. He
participated in the Revolutions of 1848-49 in Italy. He served as one of the
three Triumvirs in the short-lived Roman Republic that temporarily displaced
the Papacy as the political authority in Rome. Questions:
CHAPTER I. [1] I
intend to speak to you of your duties. I intend to speak to you, according to
the dictates of my heart, of the holiest things we know; to speak to you of
God, of Humanity, of the Fatherland, and the Family. [2]
Listen to me in love, as I shall speak to you in love. My words are words of
conviction, matured by long years of study, of experience, and of sorrow. The
duties which I point out to you I have striven, and shall strive while I
live, to fulfill so far as I have the power. I may err, but my error is not
of the heart. I may deceive myself, but I will not deceive you. Listen to me,
then, fraternally; judge freely among yourselves whether I speak truth or
error. If it seems to you I speak error, leave me; but follow me and act
according to my teachings, if you believe me the apostle of truth. To err is
misfortune, and deserving of commiseration; but to know the truth and fail to
regulate our actions according to its teachings (6)is
a crime condemned alike by Heaven and earth. [3]
Wherefore do I speak to you of your duties before speaking to you of
your rights? Wherefore, in a Society wherein
all, voluntarily or involuntarily, tend to oppress you; wherein the exercise
of so many of the rights that belong to man is continually denied to you;
wherein your portion is suffering, and all that which men call happiness is
for other classes - do I speak to you of self-sacrifice rather than of
conquest? of virtue, of moral improvement,
and of education, rather than of material well-being? [4] This
is a question which I am bound to answer clearly before I go any further,
because this is precisely the point which constitutes the difference between
the school to which I belong and many others now existing in Europe; and also
because this is a question that naturally arises in the vexed mind of the
suffering workingman. [5] "We
are the slaves of labour - poor and unhappy; speak
to us of material improvement, of liberty, of happiness. Tell us if we are
doomed to suffer forever; if we are never to enjoy in our turn. Preach duty
to our employers; to the classes above us, who treat us like machines, and
monopolize the sources of well-being, which, in justice, belong to all men.
Speak to us of our rights; tell us how to gain them. Speak to us of our
strength; let us first obtain a recognized social and political existence;
then indeed you may talk to us of our duties." [6] So
say too many workingmen, and they follow doctrines and join associations
corresponding to such thoughts and desires; forgetful, however, of one thing,
and that is, that these very doctrines to which (7)they still appeal have
been preached during the last fifty years, without resulting in any, the slightest,
material improvement in the condition of the workingman. [7] All
that has been achieved or attempted in the cause of progress and improvement
in Europe during the last fifty years, whether against absolute governments
or the aristocracy of birth, has been attempted in the name of the Rights
of Man and of Liberty, as the means of that well-being which has
been regarded as the end and aim of life. All the acts of the great French
Revolution, and of all of those revolutions which succeeded and imitated it,
were a consequence of the "Declaration of the Rights of Man."
All the works of those philosophers, whose writings prepared the way for that
Revolution, were founded upon a theory of Liberty, and of making known to
every individual his Rights. The doctrines of all the Revolutionary schools
preached that man was born for happiness; that he had a right to seek
happiness by every means in his power; and that no one had a right to impede
him in that search; while he had a right to overthrow whatever obstacles he
met in his path towards it. [8] And
all those obstacles were overthrown; liberty was achieved. In many countries
it lasted for years; in some it exists even yet. [9] Has
the condition of the people improved? Have the millions who live by the daily
labour of their hands acquired any, the smallest
amount, of the promised and desired well-being? No; the condition of the
people is not improved. On the contrary, in most countries it has even
deteriorated; and here, (8)especially, where I
write, the price of the necessaries of life has continually augmented, the
wages of workingmen in many branches of industry have progressively
diminished, while the population has increased. In almost all countries the
condition of the workingman has become more uncertain, more precarious, while
those crises which condemn thousands of workingmen to a certain period of
inertia have become more frequent. [10] The
annual increase of emigration from country to country, and from Europe to
other parts of the world, and the ever-increasing number of benevolent
institutions, of poor's rates, and other precautions against mendicity, suffice to prove this. They indicate that
public attention is continually being attracted to the sufferings of the
people; but their inefficiency visibly to diminish those sufferings
demonstrates an equally progressive augmentation of the misery of the classes
in whose behalf they endeavour to provide. [11] And
nevertheless in these last fifty years the sources of social wealth and the
mass of material means of happiness have been continually on the increase.
Commerce, surmounting those frequent crises which are inevitable in the
absolute absence of all organization, has achieved an increase of power and
activity, and a wider sphere of operation. Communication has almost
everywhere been rendered rapid and secure, and hence the price of produce has
decreased in proportion to the diminished cost of transport. On the other
hand, the idea that there are rights inherent (9)to
human nature is now generally admitted and accepted - hypocritically and in
words at least - even by those who seek to withhold those rights. Why, then,
has not the condition of the people improved? Why has the consumption of
produce, instead of being equally distributed among all the Members of
European Society, become concentrated in the hands of a few, of a class
forming a new aristocracy? Why has the fresh impulse given to industry and
commerce resulted, not in the well-being of the many, but in the luxury of a
few? [12] The
answer is clear to those who look closely into things. Men are the creatures
of education, and their actions are but the consequence of the principle of
education given to them. The promoters of revolutions and political
transformations have hitherto founded them all on one idea, the idea of the rights
pertaining to the individual. Those revolutions achieved Liberty -
individual liberty, liberty of education, liberty of belief, liberty of commerce, liberty in all things and for all
men. [13] But
of what use were rights when acquired by men who had not the means of
exercising them? Of what use was mere liberty of education to men who had
neither time nor means to profit by it? Of what use was mere liberty of
commerce to those who possessed neither merchandise,
capital, nor credit? [14] In
all the countries wherein these principles were proclaimed, Society was
composed of the small number of individuals who were possessors of the land,
of capital, and of credit, and of the vast multitude who possessed nothing
but the labour of their hands, and were compelled
to sell that labour to the first (10)class on any terms, in order to live. For such men,
compelled to spend the whole day in material and monotonous exertion, and
condemned to a continual struggle against hunger and want, what was liberty
but an illusion, a bitter irony? [15] The
only way to prevent this state of things would have been for the upper
classes voluntarily to consent to reduce the hours of labour,
while they increased its remuneration; to bestow an uniform and gratuitous
education upon the multitude; to render the instruments of labour accessible to all, and create a credit for workmen
of good capacity and of good intentions. [16]
Now, why should they have done this? Was not well-being the end and aim of
life? Was not prosperity the one thing desired by all? Why should they
diminish their own enjoyments in favour of others?
"Let those help themselves who can. When Society has secured to each
individual the free exercise of those rights which are inherent in human nature,
it has done all it is bound to do. If there be any one who, from some
fatality of his own position, is unable to exercise any of these rights, let
him resign himself to his fate, and not blame others." [17] It
was natural they should speak thus, and thus in fact they spake.
And this mode of regarding the poor by the privileged classes soon became the
mode in which individuals regarded one another. Each man occupied himself
with his own rights and the amelioration of his own position, without seeking
to provide for others; and when those rights clashed with the rights of
others, the result was a state of war - a war, not of blood, but of gold and
craft; less (11)manly than the other, but equally
fatal; a relentless war in which those who possessed means inexorably crushed
the weak and inexpert. [18] In
this state of continual warfare, men were educated in selfishness and the
exclusive greed of material well-being. Mere liberty of belief had destroyed
all community of faith; mere liberty of education generated moral anarchy.
Mankind, without any common bond, without unity of religious belief or aim,
bent upon enjoyment and naught beyond, sought each and all to tread in their
own path, little heeding if, in pursuing it, they trampled upon the bodies of
their brothers - brothers in name, but enemies in fact. This is the state of
things we have reached at the present day, thanks to the theory of rights. [19]
Rights no doubt exist; but when the rights of one individual happen to clash
with those of another, how can we hope to reconcile and harmonize them, if we
do not refer to something which is above all rights? And when the rights of
an individual, or of many individuals, clash with the rights of the country,
to what tribunal shall we appeal? [20] If
the right to the greatest possible amount of happiness
exist in all human beings, how are we to solve the question
between the workingman and the manufacturer? If the right to existence is the
first inviolable right of every man, who shall demand the sacrifice of that
existence for the benefit of other men? [21]
Will you demand it in the name of the country, of Society, of the multitude,
your brothers? CHAPTER V. [22]Your
first duties - first as regards importance - are, as I have already told you,
towards Humanity. You are men before you are either citizens or
fathers. If you do not embrace the whole human family in your affection; if
you do not bear witness to your belief in the Unity of that family,
consequent upon the Unity of God, and in that fraternity among the peoples
which is destined to reduce that Unity to action; if, wheresoever
a fellow-creature suffers, or the dignity of human nature is violated by falsehood
or tyranny - you are not ready, if able, to aid the unhappy, and do not feel
called upon to combat, if able, for the redemption of the betrayed and
oppressed - you violate your law of life, you comprehend not that Religion
which will be the guide and blessing of the future. [23] But
what can each of you, singly, do for the moral improvement and
progress of Humanity? You can from time to time give sterile utterance to
your belief; you may, on some rare occasions, perform some act of charity
towards a brother-man not belonging to your own land - no more. But charity
is not the watchword of the Faith of the Future. The watchword of the faith
of the future is Association and fraternal cooperation towards a
common aim; (58)and this is far superior to all
charity, as the edifice which all of you should unite to raise would be
superior to the humble hut each one of you might build alone, or with the
mere assistance of lending and borrowing stone, mortar, and tools. [24]
But, you tell me, you cannot attempt united action, distinct and divided as
you are in language, customs, tendencies, and capacity. The individual is too
insignificant, and Humanity too vast. The mariner of Brittany prays to God as
he puts to sea; "Help me, my God! my boat is
so small and Thy ocean so wide!" And this prayer is the true
expression of the condition of each one of you, until you find the means of
infinitely multiplying your forces and powers of action. [25]
This means was provided for you by God when He gave you a country; when, even
as a wise overseer of labour distributes the
various branches of employment according to the different capacities of the
workmen, he divided Humanity into distinct groups or nuclei upon the face of
the earth, thus creating the germ of nationalities. Evil governments have
disfigured the Divine design. Nevertheless you may still trace it, distinctly
marked out - at least as far as Europe is concerned - by the course of the
great rivers, the direction of the higher mountains, and other geographical
conditions. They have disfigured it by their conquests, their greed, and
their jealousy even of the righteous power of others; disfigured it so far
that, if we except England and France, there is not perhaps a single country
whose present boundaries correspond to that design. [26]
These governments did not, and do not, recognize (59)any
country save their own families or dynasty, the egoism of caste. But the
Divine design will infallibly be realized; natural divisions and the
spontaneous, innate tendencies of the peoples will take the place of the
arbitrary divisions, sanctioned by evil governments. The map of Europe will
be redrawn. The countries of the peoples, defined by the vote of free men,
will arise upon the ruins of the countries of kings and privileged castes,
and between these countries harmony and fraternity will exist. And the common
work of Humanity, of general amelioration, and the gradual discovery and
application of its Law of life, being distributed according to local and
general capacities, will be wrought out in peaceful and progressive
development and advance. Then may each one of you, fortified by the power and
affection of many millions, all speaking the same language, gifted with the
same tendencies, and educated by the same historical tradition, hope even by
your own single efforts to be able to benefit all Humanity. [27] 0,
my brothers, love your Country! Our country is our Home, a house God has
given us, placing therein a numerous family that loves us, and whom we love;
a family with whom we sympathize more readily and whom we understand more
quickly than we do others; and which, from its being centred
round a given spot, and from the homogeneous nature of its elements, is
adapted to a special branch of activity. Our Country is our common workshop,
whence the products of our activity are sent forth for the benefit of the
whole world; wherein the tools and implements of labour
we can most usefully (60)employ are gathered
together; nor may we reject them without disobeying the plan of the Almighty,
and diminishing our own strength. [28] In labouring for our own country on the right principle, we labour for Humanity. Our country is the fulcrum of the
lever we have to wield for the common good. If we abandon the fulcrum, we run
the risk of rendering ourselves useless not only to Humanity but to our
country itself. Before men can associate with the nations of which
Humanity is composed, they must have a national existence. There is no true
association except among equals. It is only through our country that we can
have a recognized collective existence. [29] Humanity is a vast army
advancing to the conquest of lands unknown, against enemies both powerful and
astute. The peoples are the different corps, the divisions of that army. Each
of them has its post assigned to it, and its special operation to execute;
and the common victory depends upon the exactitude with which those distinct
operations are fulfilled. Disturb not the order of battle. Forsake not the
banner given to you by God. Wheresoever you may be,
in the centre of whatsoever people circumstances may have placed you, be ever
ready to combat for the liberty of that people, should it be necessary, but
combat in such wise that the blood you shed may reflect glory, not on
yourself alone, but on your country. Say not I, but We. Let
each man among you strive to incarnate his country in himself. Let each man
among you regard himself as a guarantor, responsible for his
fellow-countrymen, and learn so to govern his actions as to cause his country
to be loved and respected (61)through him. Your country is the sign of the
Mission God has given you to fulfill towards Humanity. The faculties and
forces of all her sons should be associated in the accomplishment of
that mission. The true country is a community of free men and equals, bound
together in fraternal concord to labour towards a
common aim. You are bound to make it and to maintain it such. The country is
not an aggregation, but an association. There is, therefore, no
true country without a uniform right. There is no true country where the
uniformity of that right is violated by the existence of caste privilege and
inequality. Where the activity of a portion of the powers and faculties of
the individual is either cancelled or dormant; where there is not a common
Principle, recognized, accepted, and developed by all, there is no true
Nation, no People; but only a multitude, a fortuitous agglomeration of men
whom circumstances have called together and whom circumstances may again
divide. In the name of the love you bear your country, you must peacefully
but untiringly combat the existence of privilege and inequality in the land
that gave you life. [30]
There is but one sole legitimate privilege, the privilege of Genius when it
reveals itself united with virtue. But this is a privilege given by God, and
when you acknowledge it, and follow its inspiration, you do so freely,
exercising your own reason and your own choice. Every privilege which demands
submission from you in virtue of power, inheritance, or any other right than
the Right common to all, is a usurpation and a
tyranny which you are bound to resist and destroy. [31] Be
your country your Temple: God at the summit; a people of equals at the base. [32]
Accept no other formula, no other moral law, if you would not dishonour alike your country and yourselves. Let all
secondary laws be but the gradual regulation of your existence by the
progressive application of this Supreme law. And in order that they may be
such, it is necessary that all of you should aid in framing them. Laws
framed only by a single fraction of the citizens, can never, in the very
nature of things, be other than the mere expression of the thoughts,
aspirations, and desires of that fraction; the representation, not of the
country, but of a third or fourth part, of a class or zone of the country. [33] The
laws should be the expression of the universal aspiration, and promote
the universal good. They should be a pulsation of the heart of the
nation. The entire nation should, either directly or indirectly, legislate. [34] By
yielding up this mission into the hands of a few, you substitute the
selfishness of one class for the Country, which is the union of all classes. [35]
Country is not only a mere zone of territory. The true Country is the Idea to
which it gives birth; it is the Thought of love, the sense of communion which
unites in one all the sons of that territory. [36] So
long as a single one amongst your brothers has no vote to represent him in
the development of the national life, so long as there is one left to
vegetate in ignorance where others are educated, so long as a single man,
able and willing to work, languishes in poverty through want of work to do,
you have no (63)country in the sense in which
Country ought to exist - the country of all and for all. [37]
Education, labour, and the franchise, are the three
main pillars of the Nation; rest not until you have built them thoroughly up
with your own labour and exertions. [38] Be
it yours to evolve the life of your country in loveliness and strength; free
from all servile fears or sceptical doubts;
maintaining as its basis the People; as its guide the principles of its
Religious Faith, logically and energetically applied; its strength, the
united strength of all; its aim, the fulfillment of the mission given to it
by God. [39] And
so long as you are ready to die for Humanity, the life of your country will
be immortal.
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