“Sir,—Be my saviour. I am dying of starvation. For fifteen days I eat only bread and drink water; I work without a fire, and I have sold everything save my garments to cover the expense of the copies. It is a passion for science and the public good, it is the desire of discovering a means of terminating in a peaceable manner the dreadful crisis in which I find the entire European society engaged, that has caused me to fall into this condition of distress; therefore, it is without blushing that I am able to confess my misery and demand assistance to enable me to continue my work.”
This letter met with no very favorable response, though Cuvier made him a small donation and others showed a mild interest in his welfare. His disciples, however, were afterwards proud of it. The following exhortation follows its quotation in the “Doctrine de Saint-Simon:”[41] “Children of Saint-Simon! generations of the future! guard as a religious memorial these lines which your father has left you as a sacred legacy. When his word shall have renewed the face of the earth, when the doctrine of recompense according to works shall have been realized among men, when the last of the living shall obtain from the solicitude of society a guaranteed subsistence, a remuneration in proportion to merits, children of Saint-Simon, you will then love to repeat how, in order to accomplish his mission of regeneration, your father was reduced to begging.”
A small pension was finally granted Saint-Simon by his family, and he worked on quietly till 1823, but he found little sympathy and encouragement, and for once his courage deserted him. He was more than sixty years of age, his strength began to decrease, he was in want of every comfort and convenience and lacked the support and helpful consolations of domestic life. In his state of loneliness he was filled with despair by the thought that his life had been a failure, and he resolved to put an end to his own wretched existence.
Fortunately, however, he only succeeded in inflicting severe but not fatal injuries upon himself. His pitiable condition appears to have moved some kind hearts, for he was cared for tenderly until he recovered, when he regained faith in his mission and worked more diligently than ever. In the same year he finished his “Catéchisme des Industriels,” and in 1825, the year of his death, he completed the “Nouveau Christianisme.” These two works and his “Système Industriel,” published in 1821-22, are his three most important productions.
Perhaps the most celebrated of them all is his last work, the “Nouveau Christianisme,” the New Christianity. It was from this that his disciples chiefly drew their inspiration, and it was in this that his hopes centred as he lay on his death-bed, surrounded by his friends, Auguste Comte, Rodrigues, and others. Reybaud[42] describes the last scene in the following manner: “Saint-Simon, feeling the approach of death, assembled about his bed his confidants and said to them: ‘For twelve days, my friends, I have been occupied with plans designed to assure the success of our enterprise (a projected journal called Le Producteur); for three hours, despite my sufferings, I have been endeavoring to present to you a résumé of my thoughts. You have arrived at a period where by your combined efforts you will achieve a great success; ... The fruit is ripe; you are able to gather it. The last part of my labors, the New Christianity, will not be immediately understood. It has been thought that every religious system ought to disappear because men have succeeded in proving the weakness and insufficiency of Catholicism. People are deceived in this. Religion cannot disappear from the world; it can only be changed. Rodrigues,’ addressing his favorite scholar, ‘do not forget, but remember that to accomplish grand deeds you must be enthusiastic. All my life is comprised in this one thought; to guarantee to all men the freest development of their faculties.’
“He paused for a few moments, then in the final struggle added,
“‘Forty-eight hours after our second publication the party of the laborers will be formed; the future is ours.’
“After having said these words, he raised his hand to his head and died.”
There are certain leading doctrines in Saint-Simon’s writings, which I will endeavor to present briefly, before passing on to a consideration of his followers, the Saint-Simonians. Comparatively unimportant changes of opinion respecting the details of his practical programme, as well as other minor points, will be omitted in this presentation.