Proudhon - A Biography

THE CRITIC OF PROPERTY
Proudhon as distant from Leroux as he was from any other of the
socialist writers o f his time. Perhaps, indeed, it was not wholly a
question o f differing views, for there was more than disparage­
ment in Victor Considerant’s later description of Proudhon as
‘that strange man who was determined that none should share his
views.’ Proudhon was never willing to enter into an alliance that
might limit his individuality or compromise his liberty o f action.
He had no intention of becoming a follower, but equally he had no
desire to be a leader, and when he did work with other people the
resultant combination was much more a group of friends held to­
gether by affinity than a sect or an embryo party. For this reason
he soon began to avoid any close association with those socialists
who had already gained a position and a following, and even at
this early stage it is possible that the failure o f his first enthusiasm
for Leroux may have been due as much to his instinctive shrinking
from close alliances as to the gap which became evident between
their views on socialism.
If he was unsuccessful in converting the socialist Leroux, he
failed equally to influence his dedicatee, Blanqui. Blanqui read
Proudhon’s essay carefully, and wrote him a long letter of criticism.
‘Although you have done me the honour of giving me a share in
this perilous teaching,’ he protested, ‘I cannot accept a partnership
which, so far as talent goes, would surely be a credit to me, but
which would compromise me in every other respect... The terms
in which you characterise the fanatics o f our day are strong enough
to reassure the most suspicious imaginations as to your intentions,
but you conclude in favour of the abolition of property! Vou wish
to abolish the most powerful motive of the human mind, you
would arrest the formation o f capital, and we should build hence­
forth on sand instead of rock. That I cannot agree to, and for this
reason I have criticised your book, so full of fine pages and so
brilliant with knowledge and fervour!’
Finally, Proudhon was the reverse o f successful in winning the
friendly attention he had hoped for among the ‘men of power.’
He had reckoned without the vindictive reaction that grew each
year more oppressive during the final decade of the Orleanist
regime; again he was almost prosecuted, and again he escaped
through the intervention o f Blanqui. This time the police con­
ceived the crassly ludicrous idea that the dedication o f the pam­
phlet constituted evidence of a plot between Blanqui and Proud-