"Fourth--_or he has wished and has not known how_; in this case he
is incapable of governing us, knowing and wishing the good which he
cannot realize, and which we still less can attain:

"Fifth--_or he has neither wished nor known how_; and we must
attribute to him both want of genius and evil intention:

"Sixth--_or he has known how and has wished_; in this case the
code exists, and he must have provided a mode for its revelation--for
of what use would it be if it were to remain hidden from men for whom
it is destined?"

Page 468: "If the human race were at the commencement of their social
career--in the first ages of civilization--they would perhaps be
excusable for founding some hope of social good upon human science,
upon the legislation of man; but long experience has proved the
impotency of human legislation, and shown clearly that the world has
nothing to hope from human laws and civilized constitutions."

Page 260: "Either the passions _are_ bad or the social mechanism
_is false_, for evil prevails, and to a melancholy extent. If the
former be true, then there is no hope of a better state of things, for
every means of repression and constraint that human ingenuity could
invent has been applied to regulate their action; but all in vain--they
have remained unchanged, and in the eyes of the moralist as perverse as
ever. If, however, the latter be true--that is, if the social mechanism
be false--then there is a chance for a better future; for our
incoherent and absurd societies are changing more or less with every
century. They are at the mercy or whim of a tyrant, or of a revolution