THE PALADIN OF JUSTICE
reigns here as in other human situations, the duty rests on
society to see where it has been at fault towards the delinquent,
and to work for its own amendment by the incessant revision of
its institutions.
The second sanction lies in the fact that a lack o f moral
equilibrium produces a corresponding failure o f the balance of
economic forces, and so our vices and iniquities are punished by
poverty. The third sanction is political, since a society without
moral equilibrium turns towards violence, expressed in despotism
and regicide. When the material and the spiritual are reunited in
the reign o f Justice, this condition will automatically be amended,
and social peace be established. The last sanction is that the viola
tion o f Justice engenders metaphysical doubt, leading to moral
scepticism, while the Revolution, by restoring Justice, at the
same time resolves the problem o f certitude and reconstruct
philosophy on a sound basis.
Proudhon could not resist ending with a final shot at the
Church, and he concluded his third volume with an ironic
challenge to Cardinal Mathieu. Let the Church accept the Revolu
tion, and amend itself in such a way that it can take part in the
task o f establishing true Justice, and he himself will lead hi
family back into the fold. The Cardinal did not reciprocate.
II
The reception o f Justice showed a live interest among the
Parisian public in the first serious work to appear under Proud
hon’s signature since 1852. Six thousand copies sold immediately,
and Proudhon hoped that, if the public curiosity continued, it
would soon run into a second edition. But before this could
happen, and less than a week after publication, the police seized
the few remaining copies in the possession o f the publishers. The
grounds for seizure were made known immediately to Proudhon,
and the list o f charges, as he recorded them in his diary, was
formidable: ‘ 1. Reproduction in bad faith o f false news likely to
disturb the public peace. 2. Excitement o f hatred between citizens.- Attack on the rights o f the family. 4. Outrage to public and
religious morality. 5. Attack on respect for the laws. 6. Apology
for acts defined as crimes or misdemeanours.’
The weight o f these accusations showed that the authorities