And this is the identical bourgeoisie, that now howls over
the "stupidity of the masses," over the "vile multitude," which, it
claims, betrayed it to Bonaparte. Itself has violently fortified the
imperialism of the farmer class; it firmly maintained the conditions
that Constitute the birth-place of this farmer-religion. Indeed, the
bourgeoisie has every reason to fear the stupidity of the masses--so
long as they remain conservative; and their intelligence--so soon as
they become revolutionary.
In the revolts that took place after the "coup d'etat" a part of the
French farmers protested, arms in hand, against their own vote of
December 10, 1848. The school house had, since 1848, sharpened their
wits. But they had bound themselves over to the nether world of history,
and history kept them to their word. Moreover, the majority of this
population was still so full of prejudices that, just in the "reddest"
Departments, it voted openly for Bonaparte. The National Assembly
prevented, as it thought, this population from walking; the farmers now
snapped the fetters which the cities had struck upon the will of the
country districts.
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