from 90 centimes to a franc. Light up, then, swine! As the war
continues, we shall probably have a recrudescence o f Caesarian
absolutism, of clerical hypocrisy, o f military brutality, of adminis
trative squandering and stock-jobbers’ juggling. I am looking
for a corner where there are real savages whom I would like to
teach by example to despise and hate the Jingoes, Jacobins,
speculators, judges, soldiers and priests. I would gladly exile
myself there with my progeny.’
Proudhon’s whole-hearted opposition to the Crimean war, his
detestation of its barbarity and his realisation o f the way in which
it fostered the growth o f tyranny must be borne well in mind if
we are to understand his later writings on the subject of war, on
which this experience had a profound influence.
7
During the Crimean War there occurred an incident which,
though slight in itself, was to be turned by its consequences into
one o f the most important single events in Proudhon’s life. In
the summer o f 1854 he met a writer who passed under the pen
name o f Eugtoe de Mirecourt (his real name was Jacquot), and
who wished to include a pamphlet on Proudhon in a series of
‘contemporary biographies’ which he was preparing. Proudhon
made no initial objection, and the ‘biography’ appeared in May,- It was nothing more than a mendacious lampoon, which
represented its subject as a monster of envy, impiety and in
humanity. Since ‘de Mirecourt’ posed as a representative of the
Catholic interest, it is only fair to the Church to quote the opinion
expressed by a modern Jesuit scholar, Father de Lubac.
‘His [Proudhon’s] indignation againsthis “ biographer” was fully
justified,’ says de Lubac. ‘M. Eugene de Mirecourt’s book was an
incredibly scurvy production. According to him, Proudhon was
devoid of all human feeling. His mother’s death had left him
indifferent, and he had enjoyed the bloody riots of 1848 as though
they had been an entertainment. Gall flowed from his soul. He
was a “ lying sectarian.” His alleged continence was “ planned for
selfish motives.” As for his social ideas, nothing was easier to
explain: “ Yes, juicy steaks, the belly, gluttony, a fondness for all
material things, for eatables, for palpable things, for anything
that gives sensual pleasure, the neighbour’s dinner, his wine, his
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