Proudhon - A Biography

THE HILLS OF THE JURA
On many points he disputed the ideas put forward by the Abbe
Bergier, but he also developed a real respect for the man and his
work, and would refer to him as ‘my theologian in ordinary.’
There were many points in common between the rebel and the
churchman; both were of Comtois peasant race, and both had the
brusque, outspoken manner o f their country. Bergier had chosen,
rather than revelling in the glory o f fashionable pulpits, to spend
his years among the farmers o f the village o f Franche-Rouge,
tramping the roads in sabots and in his free hours studying the
doctrines o f the Church at their most ancient sources. An adver­
sary of the worldly magnificence which attended the Gallican
Church, he had been asked by d’Alembert to edit the theological
items for the celebrated Encyclopaedia, and these articles formed
the basis o f the Dictionary reprinted by Gauthier. Proudhon’s
thinking on religious matters always bore the traces of his early
encounter with this now almost forgotten theologian. Perhaps,
indeed, it was Bergier’s dedicated life, his love for the poor and
his despising o f magnificence, that really attracted Proudhon and
made him credit the old scholar with a greater importance as a
thinker than he really deserved.
During these years Proudhon seems to have made an effort to
renounce his literary ambitions, and he even avoided contact with
intellectual circles in Besangon. A t times, however, the old
dreams returned to torment him and never more than when he had
news o f Fallot. In the years since they had been together in Paris,
Fallot had become librarian of the Institut de France, and at the
beginning o f 1836 Proudhon wrote and asked whether he could
find him employment there. Perhaps he could become Fallot’s
secretary. Or perhaps he could work at the press that would pro­
duce his friend’s philological treatise.
Fallot had not in fact become so influential a personage as he
may have appeared from the shadows of a provincial printing
shop, and he replied that not only was he unable to give Proudhon
employment, but that he had not even found a publisher for his
own book. Accordingly, Proudhon abandoned the idea o f return­
ing to Paris, and instead decided to advance himself by means of
his trade into a position where he could earn the leisure that would
enable him to carry on his studies. On the 17th February, 1836,
Charles Weiss noted in his diary: ‘Lambert and Proudhon, two
foremen of the house of Gauthier, Proudhon a well-read workman,