"Walter Jon Williams - Wall, Stone, Craft" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

УAt least,Ф said Mary, Уhe can no longer accuse reformers of being Jacobins. Not with France under the Bourbons again.Ф

УOf course he can,Ф Bysshe said. УReform is an idea, and Jacobinism is an idea, and Ellenborough conceives them the same.Ф

УBut are they not?Ф George said.

MaryТs temper flared. УAre you serious? Comparing those who seek to correct injustice with those whoЧФ

УWho cut the heads off everyone with whom they disagreed?Ф George interrupted. УIТm perfectly serious. Robespierre was the very type of reformerЧ virtuous, sober, sedate, educated, a spotless private life. And how many thousands did he murder?Ф He jabbed his fork at Bysshe again, and Mary restrained the impulse to slap it out of his hand. УYou may not like EllenboroughТs sentencing, but a few hours in the pillory or a few months in prison ainТt the same as beheading. And thatТs what reform in England would come to in the endЧmobs and demagogues heaping up death, and then a dictator like Cromwell, or worse luck Bonaparte, to end liberty for a whole generation.Ф

УI do not look to the French for a model,Ф said Bysshe, Уbut rather to America.Ф

УSo did the French,Ф said George, Уand look what they got.Ф

УIf France had not desperately needed reform,Ф Bysshe said, Уthere would have been nothing so violent as their revolution. If England reforms itself, there need be no violence.Ф

УAh. So if the government simply resigns, and frame-breakers and agitators and democratic philosophers and wandering poets take their place, then things shall be well in England.Ф

УThings will be better in any case,Ф Bysshe said quietly, Уthan they are now.Ф

УExactly!Ф Claire said.

George gave his companions a knowing look. See how I humor this vagabond? Mary read. Loathing stirred her heart.

Bysshe could read a look as well as Mary. His face darkened. УPlease understand me,Ф he said. УI do not look for immediate change, nor do I preach violent revolution. Mr. Godwin has corrected that error in my thought. There will be little amendment for years to come. But Ellenborough is old, and the King is old and mad, and the Regent and his loathsome brothers are not youngЕФ He smiled. УI will outlive them, will I not?Ф

George looked at him. УWill you outlive me, sir? I am not yet thirty.Ф

УI am three-and-twenty.Ф Mildly. УI believe the odds favor me.Ф

Bysshe and the others laughed, while George looked cynical and dyspeptic. Used to being the young cavalier, Mary thought. HeТs not so young any longerЧ how much longer will that pretty face last?

УAnd of course advance of science may turn this debate irrelevant,Ф Bysshe went on. УMr. Godwin calculates that with the use of mechanical aids, people may reduce their daily labor to an hour or two, to the general benefit of all.Ф

УBut you oppose such machines, donТt ye?Ф George said. УYou support the Luddites, I assume?Ф

УAy, butЧФ

УAnd the frame-breakers are destroying the machines that have taken their livelihood, arenТt they? So where is your general benefit, then?Ф

Mary couldnТt hold it in any longer. She slapped her hand down on the table, and George and Bysshe started. УThe riots occur because the profits of the looms were not used to benefit the weavers, but to enrich the mill owners! Were the owners to share their profits with the weavers, there would have been no disorder.Ф

George gave her a civil bow. УYour view of human nature is generous,Ф he said, Уif you expect a mill owner to support the families of those who are not even his employees.Ф

УIt would be for the good of all, wouldnТt it?Ф Bysshe said. УIf he does not want his mills threatened and frames broken.Ф

УIt sounds like extortion wrapped in pretty philosophy.Ф

УThe mill owners will pay one way or another,Ф Mary pointed out. УThey can pay taxes to the government to suppress the Luddites with militia and dragoons, or they can have the goodwill of the people, and let the swords and muskets rust.Ф