Chapter XII: The Two Aphorisms

[69] When the van-guard of the Icarian expedition left Havre, I questioned some of these visionaries with a view to discover their real thoughts. ‹Competence easily obtained›, such was their hope and their motive. One of them said to me, “I am going, and my brother follows with the second expedition. He has eight children, and you see what a great thing it will be for him to have no longer to educate and maintain them.” “I see it at once,” I replied, “but that heavy charge must fall on some other body.” To rid oneself of a burden and transfer it to the shoulders of another, such was the sense in which these unfortunate people understood the apophthegm of Fraternity—‹all for each›.

[70] See the pamphlet ‹Spoliation et Loi›, p. 22 ‹et seq.›—«Editor.»