صفحة 6 من 88

The bourgeoisie, historically, has played a most revolutionary

part.

The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an

end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has

pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to

his "natural superiors," and has left remaining no other nexus

between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous "cash

payment." It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious

fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism,

in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved

personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the

numberless and indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that

single, unconscionable freedom-Free Trade. In one word, for

exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, naked,

shameless, direct, brutal exploitation.