Javel found him accommodation with an old crippled captain
who had served through the Revolutionary wars and who now
lived on his scanty pension, supplemented by the earnings of his
daughters from embroidery, and by the produce o f a tiny vine
yard. They were a simple and friendly family, and Proudhon
appreciated their hospitable consideration for his wishes.
He soon regulated his days in a manner which enabled him to
make the most o f his time. He would rise before dawn, start work
early and then, at two or three in the afternoon, glance through
the work he had done, set his case of type in order, and say: ‘My
day is ended.’
His afternoons were spent in walking, and it is characteristic of
the way in which Proudhon loved to mingle opposites that his
companion on these lengthy rambles was a notary who was reputed
to be ‘the gravest personality and the most obstinate conservative
in all Arbois.’ The notary was an amateur artist, and when they
had found a pleasant place to rest he would sketch the scenery,
while Proudhon would take out his notebook and jot down any
ideas that occurred to him during the day. In his reminiscences
Javel reproduces a page which he somehow acquired from this
notebook and which gives an indication of Proudhon’s thoughts
at the time. It ran as follows:
‘A U TH O R IT Y. Right to respect? Yes, if elective, conven
tional, temporary. Senis si senis. CAPITAL. Its role in produc
tion (Malthus). Its dividend (study and repute the formulae o f the
sects). Negative. CLER ICAL INF. Incompatible with human
dignity, Civil Liberty, Economy.’
All the hints contained in these brief jottings o f some summer
afternoon in the Jura were to find their place, magnified into
major arguments, in Proudhon’s later and more mature writings.
In the evenings Proudhon would sometimes retire, after his
meals, to read and study. On the other occasions he would en
courage the captain to tell his reminiscences o f the wars, and
would sit smoking his pipe and listening silently, in his charac
teristic attitude, astride a chair, with his hands on the back, his
bearded chin resting upon them. On Sunday evenings there would
be parties to which the young friends of the family would come
to play lotto, the loser paying for the chestnuts and the strong,
straw-coloured Arbois wine that was consumed. Proudhon
would join in amiably, but Javel noticed that whenever the other
THE HILLS OF THE JURA2?