Histoire de l'internationalisme

WILLIAM PEisS : PROJKT DE PAIX
they seek, or perforniing. if they prevail, what they i)roinise(l : and
Ihe
blood and poverty tliat usually attend the enterprise weigh more on
earth, as well as in heaven, than what the\' lost or suffered, or what tliey
get by endeavering to mend their condition, cornes to : which disappoint
ment seems to be the voice of heaven and judgment of God against those
violent attempts " (pp. 5— 6).
On peut s'étonner que le Quaker Penn ait admis la légitimité de
certaines guerres, notamment celle des ,, guerres défensives ".^ Il a
probablement reconnu qu'un raisonnement de quakérisme pur n'aurait
guère impressionné les princes ;
nous avons déjà vu que, dans la Charte
de la Pennsylvanie, il a assumé, au nom de sa province, des engagements
d'ordre militaire. Il se place plutôt à un point de vue utilitaue, et s'abs-
tient de tout jugement moral, si ce n'est qu'il voit dans les misères
causées par la guerre, et par le recotu's à la force en général, ,, the voice
of heaven and judgment of God against those violent attempts."
C'est par l'établissement d'un gouvernement stable, assurant la
justice, qu'on a pu créer la paix à l'intérieur d'un Etat : ,, ...peace is
maintained by justice, which is a fruit of govemment, as government
is from society and society from consent " (p. 6).
On voit quel est le fondement de la philosophie sociale de Penn :
,, Government is an expédient against confusion ; a restraint upon ail
disorder ; just weights and even balance : that one maj' not injure
another, nor himseK by intempérance... It is certain the most natural
and human government is that of consent, for that binds freel}»^ (as I
may say), when men hold their liberty bj' true obédience to rules of their
own making " (p. 6) — raisonnement très caractéristique du Quaker Penn,
avocat de la liberté complète des convictions, tant politiques que religieuses.
,, No man is judge in his own cause, which ends the confusion and
blood of so many judges and executioners. For out of society every man
is his own king, does w hat lie lists at his own péril ; but when he comes to
incorporate himself, he submits that royalty {souveraineté) to the con-
veniency of the whole, from whom he receives the returns of protection.
So that he is not now his own judge nor avenger, neither is his antagonist,
but the law, in indiffèrent hands between both " (p. 6— 7). On retrouve
^ Il s'abstient toutefois d'en formuler les critères. Cp. le chap. V : ,, Of the
Causes of Différence, and Motives to violate Peace ", 1. c. pp. 8—9.
87