Prudhon was born in 1803. He has thin fair hair that is ruffled and
ill-combed, with a curl on his fine high brow. He wears spectacles. His
gaze is at once troubled, penetrating and steady. There is something
of the house-dog in his almost flat nose and of the monkey in his
chin-beard. His mouth, the nether lip of which is thick, has an habitual
expression of ill-humour. He has a Franc-Comtois accent, he utters the
syllables in the middle of words rapidly and drawls the final syllables;
he puts a circumflex accent on every “a,” and like Charles Nodier,
pronounces: “_honorable, remarquable_.” He speaks badly and writes well.
In the tribune his gesture consists of little feverish pats upon his
manuscript with the palm of his hand. Sometimes he becomes irritated,
and froths; but it is cold slaver. The principal characteristic of his
countenance and physiognomy is mingled embarrassment and assurance.