- So
long as it does no more I am indebted to the State which holds the
hilt: it gives me a security which, without it, I could not have
enjoyed. In return for this security I owe it, for my quota, the
means for keeping this weapon in good condition: he who enjoys a
service is under an obligation to pay for it. Accordingly, there is
between the State and myself, if not an express contract, at least a
tacit understanding equivalent to that which binds a child to its
parent, a believer to his church, and, on both sides, this mutual
understanding is clear and precise. The state engages to look after
my security within and without; I engage to furnish the means for so
doing, which means consist of my respect and gratitude, my zeal as a
citizen, my services as a conscript, my contributions as a tax-payer,
in short, whatever is necessary for the maintenance of an army, a
navy, a diplomatic organization, civil and criminal courts, a militia
and police, central and local administrations, in short, a harmonious
set of organs of which my obedience and loyalty constitute the food,
the substance and the blood. This loyalty and obedience, whatever I
am, whether rich or poor, Catholic, Protestant, Jew or free-thinker,
royalist or republican, individualist or socialist, upon my honor and
in my conscience I owe.
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