It has been Mr. Belloc's task and delight to reconcile the principles of the Revolution with his own faith. He would show that the two were opposed only by this intellectual accident or that political blunder: that the dogmas of each are capable of being held by the same mind. And, in the revival of religion in our own times, which "may be called, according to the taste of the scholar, the Catholic reaction or the Catholic renaissance," he sees not only the first and most beneficent result of the principles of the Revolution, but also a sign that the wounds then inflicted are beginning to be healed.
His clearest and most connected exposition of these things is to be found in the little book which is called _The French Revolution_, of which the object, he says, is "to lay, if that be possible, an explanation of it before the reader."
He begins by making a detailed explanation of the democratic theory, which is drawn from Rousseau's treatise _Le Contrat Social_. Let us select one significant passage on the doctrine of equality:
The doctrine of the equality of man is a transcendent doctrine: a "dogma" as we call such doctrines in the field of transcendental religion. It corresponds to no physical reality which we can grasp, it is hardly to be adumbrated even by metaphors drawn from physical objects. We may attempt to rationalize it by saying that what is common to all men is not _more_ important but _infinitely more_ important than the accidents by which men differ.
On such a simple statement does he found his explanation of the greatest event of the modern world, an upheaval and a remoulding which astonishes us equally whether we consider how far it fell short of its highest intentions or how much it actually accomplished.
Now he proceeds from the obvious and historical fact of the quarrel which actually took place between the Revolution and the Church, and asks: "_Was there a necessary and fundamental quarrel between the doctrines of the Revolution and those of the Catholic Church_?" And he replies:
It is impossible for the theologian, or even for the practical ecclesiastical teacher, to put his finger upon a political doctrine essential to the Revolution and to say, "This doctrine is opposed to Catholic dogma or to Catholic morals." Conversely, it is impossible for the Republican to put his finger upon a matter of ecclesiastical discipline or religious dogma and to say, "This Catholic point is at issue with my political theory of the State."