He never doubted, he could not doubt. He did not need to see in order to know, he said, and the coming and going of the plagues of this world no more disturbed in his eyes the moral order of eternal affairs than the passing of a cloud over the sun disturbed their physical order. His resignation was not due to a feeling of humility or affection; for he admitted that he had never been able to reconcile himself to his own sorrows except outwardly; but he believed in a well-spring of optimistic fatalism for the universe at large which was in striking contrast with his personal pessimism, and which formed the most unique feature of his mind and his character.
"Just see," he would say, "logic is everywhere! It is infinite in the works of God; but it is incomplete and intangible in everything, because everything is finite, even man himself, although he is the most impressive reflection of the infinite on this little earth. No man can understand infinite wisdom except as an abstract idea; for, if he looks within himself and about him, he cannot grasp it or fix it in his mind in any way. You often call me a logician; I accept the name: I love logic and cultivate it. I have a tremendous craving for it and I care for nothing that is not akin to it. But am I logical in my acts and my instincts? Less than any one on earth. The more I test myself, the more conscious I am of the abyss of contradictions, the chaotic confusion within me. Very good; I am a special example of what man is in general; and the more illogical I am in my own eyes, the more strongly I feel that the logic of God is soaring over my poor feeble head, which would go astray without that celestial compass and would foolishly hold the earth responsible for its own weakness."
Once he took Emile into the country and they explored, on horseback, the marquis's vast estates. Emile was struck by the small income produced by such territorial wealth.
"All these farms are let at the lowest possible price," said the marquis; "when one is unable to escape from the present economical notions, the best he can do is to bear as lightly as possible on the hard-working cultivator of the soil. These people are grateful to me, as you see, and wish me long life. God save the mark! They consider me very kind, although they do not much like my face. They do not know that I do not care for them as they understand the word, and that I see in them only victims whom I cannot save, but whose executioner I do not choose to be. I know very well that, under logical legislation, this estate should produce a hundred times as much as it does. My dissatisfaction is allayed when I think of it; but in order to think of it and to sustain myself with the certainty that it will some day be the instrument of the voluntary labor of a multitude of prudent men, I must avoid seeing it in its present state, for this spectacle saddens me and turns me cold; for this reason I very rarely expose myself to it."
It was in fact about two years since Monsieur de Boisguilbault had visited his farms and made the circuit of his domain. He could make up his mind to do it only in case of absolute necessity. He was greeted everywhere with demonstrations of respect and affection which were not without a touch of superstitious terror; for his solitude and eccentric habits had given him the reputation of a sorcerer with many peasants.
Many a time, during a storm, they had said sadly: "Ah! if Monsieur de Boisguilbault chose to prevent the hail, he could do it! but, instead of doing what he can, he is always looking for something else that nobody knows and that he will never find perhaps!"
"Well, Emile, what would you do with all this, if it were yours?" said the marquis as they rode home; "for in asking you to make this tiresome round of visits with me, I had no other purpose than to question you."
"I would try!" Emile replied, warmly.
"Of course," said the marquis, "I would try to found a genuine commune if I could. But I should try in vain, I should fail. And you, too, perhaps!"
"What does it matter?"