That is what Christianity did; and now, after many years, what have they done who destroyed it?  They saw that the poor allowed themselves to be oppressed by the rich, the feeble by the strong, because of that saying:  “The rich and the strong will oppress me on earth; but when they wish to enter paradise, I shall be at the door and I will accuse them before the tribunal of God.”  And so, alas! they were patient.

The antagonists of Christ therefore said to the poor:  “You wait patiently for the day of justice:  there is no justice; you wait for the life eternal to achieve your vengeance:  there is no life eternal; you gather up your tears and those of your family, the cries of children and the sobs of women, to place them at the feet of God at the hour of death:  there is no God.”

Then it is certain that the poor man dried his tears, that he told his wife to check her sobs, his children to come with him, and that he stood erect upon the soil with the power of a bull.  He said to the rich:  “Thou who oppressest me, thou art only man,” and to the priest:  “Thou who hast consoled me, thou hast lied.”  That was just what the antagonists of Christ desired.  Perhaps they thought this was the way to achieve man’s happiness, sending him out to the conquest of liberty.

But, if the poor man, once satisfied that the priests deceive him, that the rich rob him, that all men have rights, that all good is of this world, and that misery is impiety; if the poor man, believing in himself and in his two arms, says to himself some fine day:  “War on the rich!  For me, happiness here in this life, since there is no other! for me, the earth, since heaven is empty! for me and for all, since all are equal.”  Oh! reasoners sublime, who have led him to this, what will you say to him if he is conquered?

Doubtless you are philanthropists, doubtless you are right about the future, and the day will come when you will be blessed; but thus far, we have not blessed you.  When the oppressor said:  “This world for me!” the oppressed replied:  “Heaven for me!” Now what can he say?

All the evils of the present come from two causes:  the people who have passed through 1793 and 1814 nurse wounds in their hearts.  That which was is no more; what will be, is not yet.  Do not seek elsewhere the cause of our malady.

Here is a man whose house falls in ruins; he has torn it down in order to build another.  The rubbish encumbers the spot, and he waits for new materials for his new home.  At the moment he has prepared to cut the stone and mix the cement, while standing pick in hand with sleeves rolled up, he is informed that there is no more stone, and is advised to whiten the old material and make the best possible use of that.  What can you expect this man to do who is unwilling to build his nest out of ruins?  The quarry is deep, the tools too weak to hew out the stones.  “Wait!” they say to him, “we will draw out the stones one by one; hope, work, advance, withdraw.”  What do they not tell him?  And in the mean time he has lost his old house, and has not yet built the new; he does not know where to protect himself from the rain, or how to prepare his evening meal, nor where to work, nor where to sleep, nor where to die; and his children are newly born.