Pagina 7 de 88

The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation

hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has

converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the

man of science, into its paid wage labourers.

The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental

veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money

relation.

The bourgeoisie has disclosed how it came to pass that the brutal

display of vigour in the Middle Ages, which Reactionists so much

admire, found its fitting complement in the most slothful

indolence. It has been the first to show what man's activity can

bring about. It has accomplished wonders far surpassing Egyptian

pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals; it has

conducted expeditions that put in the shade all former Exoduses

of nations and crusades.