朱學(xué)勤：《道德理想國(guó)的覆滅》

第七章第二節(jié)：243至249頁(yè)

Carol Blum: Rousseau and the Republic of Virtue

布魯姆：《盧梭與德性共和國(guó)》

pp. 182-194

二、道德救贖——重組市民社會(huì)

　　奇理斯瑪升出了地平線。這是一次輝煌的日出嗎？在它化為日落之前，確實(shí)是。法國(guó)社會(huì)學(xué)家杜爾凱姆說(shuō)：“在法國(guó)革命最初的幾年里，社會(huì)固有的那種自我神話或創(chuàng)造神明的傾向空前顯著地表現(xiàn)了出來(lái)。這種宗教有自己的殉道者和傳道者，深深感化了廣大群眾，最終還產(chǎn)生了一些偉大的事物”。11

　　道德救贖之?dāng)U張，當(dāng)務(wù)之急是觀念先行，倒果為因，把塑造道德新人的教育革命放在首位。１７９３年６月２３日，雅各賓

執(zhí)政的第一個(gè)月，即公布教育體制改革的法令。（1. Blum，182頁(yè)最后一行至183頁(yè)第一段末尾。原文是：雅各賓派認(rèn)為，社會(huì)作為一個(gè)整體造就人，不以共和制社會(huì)結(jié)果取代舊的社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)，塑造道德新人的努力注定只能失敗。所以教育的問(wèn)題，就放在了首位。朱照搬部分原文，不加注釋，又不把Blum的內(nèi)容理清--即雅各賓派為什么認(rèn)為教育要先行，反而加上主觀的“倒果為因”妄加評(píng)斷）

　　圍繞著塑造新人和教改方案，國(guó)民公會(huì)展開(kāi)了激烈辯論。

　　雅各賓黨人俾約·瓦倫出版了一本《共和主義基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)》的小冊(cè)子，提出革命者必須承擔(dān)起“提高人民道德”的責(zé)任，國(guó)家必須代替父權(quán)，抓起年輕一代的教育。否則，“你們必將失去年輕的一代”。（2. Blum，183頁(yè)第1行，第4行，第8-10行）他盛贊斯巴達(dá)教育“是轉(zhuǎn)向道德的一個(gè)明顯例證，這一例證說(shuō)明，從腐敗道德向簡(jiǎn)樸道德的轉(zhuǎn)化能夠進(jìn)行，而且要比敗壞一顆正常心靈更容易、更迅速。人們?nèi)绾文軌驊岩?，人生?lái)就有一種不可抗拒的天性，傾向于追求并崇尚美德？” （3. Blum，183頁(yè)第三段全段逐句照搬翻譯；Blum此處給了注釋，朱沒(méi)有。）

（以上全段全部翻譯自Blum，沒(méi)有一處注釋。）

　　孔多塞，杰出的數(shù)學(xué)家，百科全書(shū)派當(dāng)時(shí)僅存的一個(gè)活著的成員，也提出了一個(gè)教改計(jì)劃，卻遭到雅各賓派議員迪朗· 馬來(lái)納的諷刺。后者說(shuō)孔多塞的這一計(jì)劃是推行百科全書(shū)派的唯物主義、非道德主義和無(wú)神論，而不是追隨盧梭的教誨。（4. Blum，185頁(yè)第一段第1-2行，第5-8行；全段逐句照搬翻譯，沒(méi)有一處注釋；Blum此段英文原文還給了一個(gè)注釋）

　　迪朗·馬來(lái)納的發(fā)言又遭到百科全書(shū)派的崇拜者雅科· 杜邦的反駁：“迪朗·馬來(lái)納竟敢在８月１０日以后重復(fù)那位日內(nèi)瓦哲學(xué)家的懷疑和謬論。那位哲學(xué)家說(shuō)什么科學(xué)與藝術(shù)敗壞了道德。我請(qǐng)問(wèn)迪朗·馬來(lái)納先生，所謂道德的敗壞，說(shuō)得如此夸張，以致人們?nèi)绻凑瘴覀兊呐u(píng)家的看法，是否要

考慮一下，應(yīng)該把道德和誠(chéng)實(shí)馬上從這塊自由的土地上驅(qū)逐出境？迪朗·馬來(lái)納主張限制人的理性，甚至追隨專制者的榜樣，限定人的思想和能力，而不是讓人的思想和能力在共和制度下，進(jìn)入所有方面，探索所有可能的方式，以擴(kuò)展人的領(lǐng)域，這種主張實(shí)在是太荒謬了”12。（5. Blum，185頁(yè)第一段最后三行和第二段第1-3行，第7行至末尾。Blum原文是杜邦同時(shí)攻擊馬來(lái)納和盧梭兩人，朱只提到攻擊馬來(lái)納不提盧梭，所以下面一段朱文的第一句就顯得很奇怪了）。

        杜邦攻擊盧梭，當(dāng)然不為雅各賓派所容。國(guó)民公會(huì)拒絕了杜邦意見(jiàn)，將雅各賓一派的佩蒂埃所提出的教改方案提上了議事日程。（6. Blum，185頁(yè)最后一行至186頁(yè)第1行；186頁(yè)3-6行；Blum原文有一個(gè)注釋，朱文沒(méi)有）佩蒂埃的方案充滿道德理想：“所有的孩子都從父親身邊領(lǐng)走，交由國(guó)家教育：教育免費(fèi)；男孩從５歲到１１歲，女孩從５歲到１２歲，穿同樣的衣服，受同樣的教育；飲食菜譜有嚴(yán)格規(guī)定，禁絕酒和肉類；他們必須割掉與家庭的聯(lián)系，形成新的人種，愛(ài)勞動(dòng)，有規(guī)范，守紀(jì)律；他們形成一道不可逾越的屏障，與我們已經(jīng)腐爛的那一部分人類隔離開(kāi)來(lái)。”13。（7. Blum，186頁(yè)第8行至第一段末尾）

       有人指責(zé)上述方案是“烏托邦”，佩蒂埃的兄弟費(fèi)里克斯大聲爭(zhēng)辯說(shuō)：“烏托邦？他們?nèi)绱速H低柏拉圖和托馬斯·莫爾的高尚思想？” 。（8. Blum，186頁(yè)腳注2-5行。Blum在其中給了注釋，朱沒(méi)有注釋。朱連Blum的腳注內(nèi)容都不放過(guò)要抄，卻又不象別人Blum提供文獻(xiàn)來(lái)源）

       與此同時(shí)，圣鞠斯特提出了一份更為徹底的方案，勾畫(huà)了一幅完美的民粹主義社會(huì)藍(lán)圖。

佩蒂埃的方案僅僅規(guī)劃了孩子從５歲到１１歲或１２歲的教育。接下來(lái)的歲月怎么辦呢？或者說(shuō)，共和國(guó)如何規(guī)劃成年人的道德生活呢？圣鞠斯特寫(xiě)有《共和主義制度》一書(shū)，回答了這一問(wèn)題。（9. Blum，187頁(yè)最后四行）在這本小冊(cè)子里，最重要的是這三大方面：教育，道德監(jiān)護(hù)官和撫養(yǎng)與繼承，至于經(jīng)濟(jì)和政治則從屬于道德問(wèn)題。。（10. Blum，190頁(yè)第二段全段）

（以上這段，從187頁(yè)跳躍式抄到190頁(yè)，都是一字不漏逐句翻譯，沒(méi)有注釋） 他比佩蒂埃更為徹底之處在于：

　　母親撫養(yǎng)孩子，５歲而止。在此之后，孩子交給共和國(guó)，直至老死；那種從未哺育過(guò)孩子的母親，在祖國(guó)看來(lái)，已不能作為母親而存在；。（11. Blum，190頁(yè)最后一段第3-6行）孩子５歲后進(jìn)學(xué)校，只能穿布

衣，吃蔬菜、水果，只能飲水，不能喝酒；每晚在地席上睡八小時(shí)；他們得學(xué)習(xí)閱讀，寫(xiě)作和游泳，最重要的是他們必須學(xué)會(huì)堅(jiān)強(qiáng)；他們將被教育成熱愛(ài)沉默，厭棄聒絮，他們只學(xué)一些簡(jiǎn)約的詞匯；（12. Blum，190頁(yè)最后五行至191頁(yè)1-2行）

       從１０歲到１６歲，孩子的教育是軍事和農(nóng)藝；逢收獲季節(jié)則要下鄉(xiāng)支援農(nóng)業(yè)；

從１６歲到２０歲，孩子們必須學(xué)會(huì)一門(mén)精湛的工業(yè)技術(shù)或農(nóng)藝技術(shù)。２０歲至２５歲，他們必須去服兵役，為祖國(guó)而戰(zhàn)……。14 （13. Blum, 191頁(yè)第二段1-2行， 4-6行及該段最后兩行）

以上所說(shuō)都是男孩。至于女孩，圣鞠斯特只用兩句話就打發(fā)了：女孩歸母方家庭撫養(yǎng)；一過(guò)１０歲，她們沒(méi)有父母或其它監(jiān)護(hù)人的陪同，則不能在公開(kāi)場(chǎng)合露面。（14. Blum, 191頁(yè)第三段全段） “每一個(gè)人到了２５歲，就必須到神廟里去，向眾人宣布他的朋友是哪些人。這一宣布必須在每年的風(fēng)月里更新一次。（如果一個(gè)人與朋友斷交，他必須向眾人說(shuō)明理由，否則當(dāng)受懲罰！”）

（15. Blum, 191頁(yè)第四段第4-9行。Blum原文有注釋，朱整段都沒(méi)有注釋，也是逐句翻譯。而且，Blum把這兩部分是分開(kāi)的。朱把這兩部分放在同一段，也會(huì)引起誤解，以為只有女性到了25歲才需要這么做）

       盧梭生前所設(shè)想的透明社會(huì)，也就不過(guò)如此？還有甚者：“如果一個(gè)人犯了罪，他的朋友也應(yīng)受懲。因?yàn)樗笥巡恢椋扔谡f(shuō)這個(gè)朋友在友誼中不受信任，也就是說(shuō)，這個(gè)人沒(méi)有朋友了，因此，他必須受懲”15。（16. Blum, 191頁(yè)倒數(shù)第8行至倒數(shù)第5行）

       這豈不是一種連坐法？但圣鞠斯特之初衷卻是，當(dāng)著瓦解家庭聯(lián)系的時(shí)候，應(yīng)該代之以公民之間緊密的道德聯(lián)系，以此奠定新型道德國(guó)家的社會(huì)基礎(chǔ)。（17. Blum, 191頁(yè)第四段第1-4行。Blum原文有一處注釋，朱文沒(méi)有注釋） 為了維持民族的道德聯(lián)系，還必須對(duì)外國(guó)人保持警惕：“正是外來(lái)者，一代又一代地引導(dǎo)我們走向他們的目標(biāo)；外國(guó)影響造成了叛國(guó)者，使得邪惡受到尊崇，美德受到蔑視；他們使我們不得安寧”！16 。（18. Blum, 192頁(yè)第一段第5-10行）

         最后，在這個(gè)民粹主義道德理想國(guó)中，還要選舉道德模范，設(shè)立道德監(jiān)護(hù)：（19. Blum, 192頁(yè)第二段第1-2行。逐字翻譯，沒(méi)有注釋）

　　在每一場(chǎng)革命中，都需要有獨(dú)裁者來(lái)拯救國(guó)家，監(jiān)護(hù)者來(lái)拯救道德；17 ：（20. Blum, 192頁(yè)第二段第3-5行）

　　監(jiān)護(hù)者從年滿６０歲的男性公民中選出。他們?cè)诿磕甑睦先斯?jié)那天去神廟朝拜，讓眾人評(píng)議。如無(wú)非議，他就可以佩上白色值星帶，標(biāo)志他已當(dāng)選，從此履行對(duì)美德的

監(jiān)護(hù)職責(zé)；（21. Blum, 192頁(yè)第二段最后五行）

　　這些佩戴白色值星帶的監(jiān)護(hù)者要維護(hù)神廟里的燭火長(zhǎng)明不滅，重點(diǎn)監(jiān)督對(duì)象是那些官員、軍官和議員代表的道德行為。這些人一旦被發(fā)現(xiàn)腐敗行為，立刻從高位上撤

換下來(lái)。監(jiān)護(hù)者要使人敬畏，在公共場(chǎng)合，他們通常是緘默不語(yǔ)，這是一條禁令，任何人不得違反。18 （22. Blum, 192頁(yè)第三段第3-7行）

（以上兩段，Blum標(biāo)了兩個(gè)注釋，一個(gè)是526頁(yè)，一個(gè)是531頁(yè)，朱文把兩段放在一起，只給了一個(gè)531頁(yè)注釋）

　　熱月政變后，在圣鞠斯特的文件堆里發(fā)現(xiàn)有一個(gè)法令提綱，宣布建立監(jiān)護(hù)者階級(jí)。圣鞠斯特寫(xiě)道：“救國(guó)委員會(huì)責(zé)成我來(lái)宣布下列法令：在法蘭西生活的每一個(gè)方面都建立監(jiān)護(hù)人…監(jiān)護(hù)制作用于政府，決不能作用于不可腐蝕的人民……”19（23. Blum, 192頁(yè)最后一段）

         該法令幾乎逐字不漏地抄錄了他在《共和主義制度》中的那些狂熱設(shè)想。（24. Blum, 193頁(yè)第1-2行） 至此，似應(yīng)承認(rèn)，雅各賓派并不僅僅崇信行政權(quán)力改造市民社會(huì)的威力。他們不也有權(quán)力制約意識(shí)？只是他們所設(shè)計(jì)的權(quán)力制約，原來(lái)是以道德監(jiān)督權(quán)力，而不是以權(quán)力制約權(quán)力。

         在這場(chǎng)教改大辯倫——實(shí)際上也是再造新人重組市民社會(huì)的大辯論中，羅伯斯庇爾態(tài)度如何？

　?。保罚梗衬辏吩拢保橙?，也就是與圣鞠斯特寫(xiě)作上述小冊(cè)子的日期同時(shí)，羅伯斯庇爾從費(fèi)里克斯那兒接過(guò)佩蒂埃的方案，略加修改后，作為他的提議，向國(guó)民公會(huì)提出。他的演說(shuō)詞是這樣開(kāi)頭的：（25. Blum, 193頁(yè)第二段第1-4行;該段逐字翻譯自Blum，沒(méi)有注釋）

　　國(guó)民公會(huì)給歷史將留下三項(xiàng)足堪紀(jì)念的偉業(yè)：憲法、 市民法典和公共教育。（26. Blum, 193頁(yè)第二段第4-6行）

　　征服和勝利的榮耀只不過(guò)是過(guò)眼煙云。只有美好的制度能夠長(zhǎng)存，并且德化所有的民族。（27. Blum, 193頁(yè)第二段第11-13行）

　　我承認(rèn)，直到目前為止，人們所議論的東西并不符合我長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)的一個(gè)理想：要建立一個(gè)完整的教育計(jì)劃。我已經(jīng)領(lǐng)受了一套龐大的思想體系，并且考慮過(guò)究竟是在哪一關(guān)鍵點(diǎn)上，人類被我們舊的社會(huì)制度的罪惡所腐蝕。我確信，必須來(lái)一次全盤(pán)更新。如果讓我以這種方式來(lái)表達(dá)我的意見(jiàn)，那就是：創(chuàng)造一種全新的人?。?8. Blum, 193頁(yè)第二段最后七行）

　　羅伯斯庇爾把制度和教育作了區(qū)分，教育作為觀念先行，優(yōu)先于制度建設(shè)：

　　教育聯(lián)系每一個(gè)人，并且澤被天下。然而，現(xiàn)在卻被人們忽視了。

　　就我而言，我堅(jiān)信，我們?cè)诖_立一種制度以前，必須確立這種制度的基礎(chǔ)。制度只能播益于少數(shù)人，教育卻能播益于所有人。20 ?。?9. Blum, 193頁(yè)最后三行至194頁(yè)第8行）

（此段朱誤解Blum。Blum的原文說(shuō)羅伯斯庇爾把“教育”(education)與“教學(xué)”(instruction)作了區(qū)分，朱不懂instruction該翻譯成“教學(xué)”，而翻譯成了“制度”。羅伯斯庇爾認(rèn)為教學(xué) (instruction) 關(guān)注的主要是知識(shí)；而教育(education)應(yīng)該澤被所有人。然后在討論“教學(xué)”時(shí)，羅認(rèn)為制度優(yōu)先，要確立好的制度基礎(chǔ)；因?yàn)榻虒W(xué)更多只是促進(jìn)知識(shí)層面，只會(huì)對(duì)少數(shù)人有好處，而好的制度對(duì)所有人都有好處，因?yàn)橹贫扰囵B(yǎng)與促進(jìn)好的習(xí)性。朱由于對(duì)關(guān)鍵的術(shù)語(yǔ)理解錯(cuò)了，所以誤解成“制度只能播益于少數(shù)人”，恰恰相反，羅認(rèn)為制度重要，能播益于所有人）

　　著重號(hào)是我加的。很顯然，那套龐大的教育體系領(lǐng)受于盧梭。人類被社會(huì)罪惡所腐蝕，必須全盤(pán)更新社會(huì)制度等，也非盧梭莫屬。更重要的是，盧梭“倒果為因，觀點(diǎn)先行”的危險(xiǎn)觀點(diǎn)，在這里開(kāi)始進(jìn)入了實(shí)踐層面。！（30. Blum, 194頁(yè)第一段最后五行）

注釋：

11. 轉(zhuǎn)引自高毅：《法蘭西風(fēng)格——大革命政治文化》，Ｐ１９１。

12. 饒勒斯：《法國(guó)革命社會(huì)史》，第８卷，Ｐ１０—１２。

13. 同上，Ｐ２５。

14. 《圣鞠斯特全集》，第２卷，Ｐ５１６—５１７。

15. 同上，Ｐ５１９。

16. 同上，Ｐ５０９。

17. 同上，Ｐ５２０。

18.  同上，Ｐ５３１。

19. 同上，Ｐ５３８。

20.《羅伯斯庇爾全集》第１０卷，法蘭西大學(xué)出版社１９６７年版，Ｐ３１。

1. Blum, p. 182-183: …by projects to establish a system of education. It was the society as a whole, the Jacobins had learned from Rousseau, which formed men, and efforts to lead them to virtue without destroying monarchical social structures and replacing them with republican ones were bound to fail. The question of education, therefore, underlay all other concerns.

2. Blum, p. 183: Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne,…composed the Elements du republicanisme1…The revolutionaries had to face up to their responsibility to "raise men to virtue" "You will lose the younger generation," Billard-Varenne warned warned, "by abandoning it to parents with prejudices and ignorance... Therefore, let the fatherland take hold of children…”

3. Blum, p. 183: Billaud-Varenne praised the educational efficacy of Sparta, which he termed a "magnanimous nation." "There is the obvious effect of the return to virtue, and this example demonstrates that the transition from depraved morals to austere morals can take place, and more easy and more rapidly than the perversion of an honest heart. How could anyone have questioned that man was born with an irresistible disposition toward searching for and cherishing virtue?"

(p. 38).

4. Blum, p. 185: Condorcet, the celebrated mathematician, friend and disciple of the Encyclopedists, had prepared a detailed plan for the reformation of education…,2 Durand-Maillane, deputy from Bouchesdu-Rhone, attacked it as promoting the materialism, immorality, and atheism of the philosophes rather than following the wisdom of Rousseau…

5. Blum, p. 185: Jacob Dupont, deputy from Indre-et-Loire and admirer of the Encyclopedists, denounced both Durand-Maillane and Rousseau for equating ignorance with virtue: Durand-Maillane has dared to repeat, even after August 10, the sophisms and the paradoxes of the Genevan philosopher who [said] that the sciences and the arts corrupt morals: I ask Durand-Maillane,… What is this so-called corruption of morals, then, so much exaggerated that

according to our critics one would have to think that virtue and probity would soon be exiled from the land of liberty?I will confess that Durand-Maillane's assertions seemed most strange to me, when he wanted to circumscribe within certain limits man's reason, or, following the example of the despot, give one direction rather than another to the thought and the hand of man, whereas, under the republican regime, man's thoughts and man's hand can go in all directions and take all possible forms in widening his domain.

6. Blum, p. 185-186: Dupont's liberal, open-ended idea of education… did not correspond to the Jacobin vision…It was the educational project of Michel Le Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau, former great noble elected to the Convention, which was to receive Jacobin endorsement and would eventually…, be reformulated for presentation by Robespierre to the Convention.3

7. Blum, p. 186: The project called for all children to be taken from their parents and raised by the state, free of charge, from the age of five until twelve for boys, and eleven for girls, "all children, without distinction and without exception, will be raised in common

at the expense of the Republic and all, under the holy law of equality, will receive the same clothing, the same nourishment, the same instruction, the same care."

8.Blum, p. 186: Michel's brother, Felix Le Pelletier de Saint-Fargeau, anxious to defend the project against charges of being "Utopian,"… "A Utopia! that's how they tried to denigrate the lofty thoughts of Plato and Thomas More…!" (Jaures, 8: 27).

9. Blum, p. Le Pelletier's ideas, however, regulated the life of the child only from five years until eleven or twelve. How was the Republic to mold the citizenry to virtue the rest of the time? In his Institutions republicaines, Saint-Just addressed himself to this question.

10. Blum, p. 190: Three areas were accorded special importance: education, the office of censor of morals, and the question of adoption and inheritance. The last appears to have been a matter of great personal concern to the orphaned Saint-Just.

11.Blum, p. 190: "Children belong to their mother until the age of five, if she has nursed them, and to the republic after that, until death. The mother who has not nursed her baby ceases to be a mother in the eyes of the fatherland" (2: 516-17).

12. Blum, p. There they were to dress in cloth, sleep eight hours a night on mats, eat only roots, fruits, legumes, dairy products, and bread, and drink only water. They might not be petted or struck. They would learn to read, write, and swim. Above all, they must learn to be still. "Children are raised," said Saint-Just, "to love silence and to hold chatterers in contempt. They are trained for laconism" (2: 517).

13. Blum, p. 191: "From age ten to sixteen, the education of children is military and agricultural." …Besides performing these military efforts, they would be "distributed to farmers, at harvest time." From sixteen until twenty-one, boys were to undergo specialized training in farming, manufacturing, or the navy…From twenty-one until twenty-five, they were part of the national militia.

14. Blum, p. 191: The education of girls, however, was dismissed summarily in two

sentences. "Girls are raised in the maternal home," Saint-Just specified; further, "on holidays a virgin over the age of ten may not

appear in public without her mother, father, or tutor."

15. Blum, p. 191: "Every man twenty-five years old," Saint-Just stated, "is obliged to declare in the temple who his friends are. This declaration must be renewed every year during the month of ventose. If a man abandons his friend, he must explain his reasons before the people, in the temples If he refuses, he is banished" (2: 519).

16. Blum, p. 191: If one committed a crime, the other was banished. As for "the one who says he does not believe in friendship, or has no friend, he is banished" (2: 519).

17. Blum, p. 191: One emotional tie was institutionalized to permeate this otherwise abstemious society: masculine friendship. Friendship, the nonbiological tie, neither dictated by the family nor linked to procreation, was elevated to the level of a national principle.8

18. Blum, p. 192: The same thinking led Saint-Just to purge the foreigner, for it was he who introduced corruption into France. It was the alien, who, "from vicissitude to vicissitude has led us to his ends," and who, Saint-Just said elsewhere, "troubles our repose." According to Saint-Just, it is "the foreign influence which forms traitors, or has the Gracchi killed, causes crime to be honored and virtue proscribed" (2:

509).

19. Blum, p. 192: The second key institution of the republic of virtue would be a class of "censors" or "magistrates to provide the example of morals."

20. Blum, p. 192: "In every revolution," he wrote, "it is necessary to have a dictator to save the State by force, or censors to save it by virtue" (2: 530).

21. Blum, p. 192: "Men who have always led blameless lives will wear a white sash at

the age of sixty. They will present themselves for this purpose in the temple on the day of the festival of old age, to be judged by their

fellow citizens. If no one accuses them, they will take the white sash. Respect for old age is a cult in our society" (2: 526).

22. Blum, p. 192: Their principal function, however, was supervising the morals of public officials, army officers, and elected

representatives. They were to rid high office of corruption. These awesome figures pursued their ends in a Saint-Justian silence: "It is

forbidden for censors to speak in public" (2: 531).

23. Blum, p. After Thermidor a project for a decree was found among his papers, one proposing the establishment of a class of

censors. Saint-Just restated the arguments he had put forth in the Institutions but now declared: "The Committee of Public Safety has

charged me with presenting the following decree" (2: 538). He then went on to dictate the terms of an actual law, establishing censors in each district in France. "This censorship is exercised upon the government," he stipulated, "and cannot be exercised upon the incorruptible people."

24. Blum, p. 193: The articles of the decrees are either paraphrases of the Institutions or word-for-word transpositions.

25. Blum, p. 193: On July 13, 1793, a few months after Saint-Just had probably written most of his Institutions, Robespierre presented the Convention with his version of Le Pelletier's plan for education. He began by declaring the importance of the subject.

26.  Blum, p. 193: "The National Convention owes three monuments to history," he declared, "the Constitution, the code of civil laws, and public education."

27. Blum, p. 193: "For the glory of conquests and victories is sometimes ephemeral, but beautiful institutions remain and they immortalize nations."

28.  Blum, p. 193: "I confess that what has been said up until now does not correspond to the idea I have formed for myself of a complete plan for education. I have dared to conceive vaster thoughts; and considering to what point the human species is degraded by the vice of our former social system, I am convinced of the necessity of operating a total regeneration, and, if I may express myself in this way, of creating a new people."

29. Blum, p. 193-194: He addresses the distinction between "education" and "instruction." The latter, concerned with intellectual achievements, in Robespierre's opinion, and in any case was of secondary importance. "Education," on the other hand, "must be common to everyone and universally beneficial. [The Committee] has entirely neglected it." Before the question of instruction, Robespierre placed priority upon the necessity for "institution": "For my part, I believed we had to lay foundations for the institution of the public before instruction. The latter profits a few people, the former is for the good of all. Instruction propagates useful knowledge, institutions create and propagate necessary habits" (10: 31).

30. Blum, p. 194: Thus Robespierre… incorporated it into a bold new program for France, one designed to move from the page into the lives of the people, destroying the "aristocratic" mentality inherent in family life and substituting for it a new consciousness, one derived from institutions generating a virtuous race.