Natural Law, or Justice as a New Governance for Society according to the Destiny of Man (1854)

Abstract

Napoleon Joseph Louis De Keyser was born on 6 February 1806 in Deinze, near Ghent (Belgium). Nothing much is known about his life. In the 1830s he lived and worked as a land surveyor in Sleidinge, also in the neighbourhood of Ghent. Around 1850 he seems to have left Sleidinge and moved to Brussels, possibly to prepare the publication of the book which he published in 1854. Almost certainly he was acquainted with Jacob Kats (1804–1886), a pioneer of the Flemish socialist movement in Brussels. Whether he knew César De Paepe (1841–1890) or any of the Colinsian socialists is uncertain. He died at an unknown location and at an unknown date, but most probably before 1860.

Translation of excerpts from Napoleon De Keyser, Het Natuer-Regt of de Regtveirdigheyd tot Nieuw Bestuer als Order der Saemenleving volgens de Bestemming van den Mensch (Brussel, Ter Drukkery van J.H. Dehou, 1854). The book, written in a dialect of the Dutch language, was never translated into English. The extracts reproduced here are presented under four headings: I. Motivation and outline of the book (from pp. 1–17); II. Details of the plan (from pp. 274–82); III. The state pension system (from pp. 320–5); and IV. A summary (from pp. 494–8). Translation copyright © 2004 by John Cunliffe and Guido Erreygers.