A Temporary Dictatorship

by Frédéric Bastiat

　　Here is Mably on this subject of the law and the legislator. Inthe passages preceding the one here quoted, Mably has supposed thelaws, due to a neglect of security, to be worn out. He continues toaddress the reader thusly:

　　 "Under these circumstances, it is obvious that the springsof government are slack. Give them a new tension, and the evil willbe cured.... Think less of punishing faults, and more of rewardingthat which you need. In this manner you will restore to your republicthe vigor of youth. Because free people have been ignorant of thisprocedure, they have lost their liberty! But if the evil has madesuch headway that ordinary governmental procedures are unable to cureit, then resort to an extraordinary tribunal with considerable powersfor a short time. The imagination of the citizens needs to be strucka hard blow."

　　In this manner, Mably continues through twenty volumes.

　　Under the influence of teaching like this -- which stems fromclassical education -- there came a time when everyone wished to placehimself above mankind in order to arrange, organize, and regulate itin his own way.