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← ExitThe Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Reading language

UNDATED

66 (Bundle 38.)

Gentlemen,

For many reasons the honor of seeing myself seated among you must be dear and precious to me. I find it beyond my slight merits, whether I consider your functions, whether I consider your virtues, whether I consider what men are your worthy collaborators, or whether I consider what public is the judge of your judgments and the admirer of your wisdom.

Nothing is so great and so worthy of respect as laws. Ours have been too much accused in this century: only great minds or magistrates are permitted to blame them, because they alone can know them well. The duty of all other men is to bless and love them. For one would have to love even bad laws, because they would still be better than men. Yet several sound minds, and you yourselves, gentlemen, desire a reform in several matters which would be needless if all magistrates resembled you. An excellent magistrate supplements insufficient laws and corrects laws whose literal execution would cause some harm. You have shown this several times, gentlemen. And it is above all to you that one may say what a famous orator said to other magistrates: “When the law is, as it were, too raw and too little ripe, your wisdom digests it and makes it useful and wholesome.”

To your praise, gentlemen, one must join that of those tireless ministers of public usefulness who are, as it were, the eye of justice, of which you are the hand. Night and day they watch over our repose: they are the prince’s sentinels and the people’s safeguard. With equal honor they share your sublime functions. In a sense these are perfected only by your marvelous accord with them. You watch over the good man so that he may not be oppressed; they watch over the wicked man so that he may not go unpunished. You punish him in broad daylight; they spy on him in darkness. They do not allow any crime to remain unknown, just as you permit no innocent person to remain accused. And those generous men who have devoted themselves to defending the innocent so that his innocence may shine forth, to defending even the criminal so that even these crimes may not be exaggerated—could I forget, gentlemen, to pay them my homage before you, who find them so worthy of homage?

I shall no longer see among them that upright man, that eloquent and stern orator, who would have honored his profession if anything could honor a profession so respected. One would need his talents to speak of him worthily in few words. Above all he possessed that great art of saying everything with force and brevity, and seemed as sparing of the judges’ time and attention as he was lavish with his own on behalf of the public, and especially the unfortunate. This public which listens to me and regards you, gentlemen, as its refuge and support would doubtless not find me worthy to be counted among you if it considered only my slight talents or my slight enlightenment. I ask its indulgence and hope to obtain it on the same grounds on which you granted me yours. I have not the presumption to regard myself as your equal, but as your pupil. I come among you to prepare myself to become worthy of you. Taught by your lessons, formed by your examples, may I not always be unworthy of my masters and my models; may I earn the esteem of your fellow citizens, whose veneration you have earned.

They come in crowds on these solemn days, as though by their presence to make more august the sanctuary of the laws into which young candidates are introduced. That amiable sex whose gentle virtues temper the austerity of man’s, and whose approval is the most touching reward of useful men, itself comes to adorn these assemblies, as though to encourage virtue.

For what young magistrate can fail to say on the day of his installation: “How many labors are laid upon me, and what vigilance I need to deserve that these venerable mothers may one day wish their sons to resemble me, and that these modest beauties may not think me rash if I were to aspire to the honor of being the husband of one of...” These ideas, gentlemen, do not profane the character of the young magistrate, but rather elevate his soul. And if, in the crowd on the day of his installation, there were a beauty who had all the virtues of her sex and all the charms of her age... would have made him wish to be counted among the citizens who her husband and whose modesty would have allowed him to hope for happiness from her, doubtless on seeing her he would feel more captivated by the love of all his duties. and more keenly stirred by the desire to resemble you, so as to make himself worthy of her.

That is enough, gentlemen; I must not forget that, if today I am permitted to speak before you for a moment, I must confine myself to assuring you that I shall know how to listen to you for the rest of my life.

T126.The salutation remains a distinct paired paragraph, as printed; it is not a translator’s heading. Its comma, left alignment and roman type remain. The separate italic Bundle 38 label supplies no date.

T254.In the French source, printed item 66 is one undated address in eight paragraphs, including a separate left-aligned roman Messieurs, salutation. Paragraph 3 crosses 931–932 and paragraph 7 crosses 932–933; no paragraph or punctuation is added at either join. Liasse 38 is a manuscript-group label, not a date. Literal honeur, jugemens, loix, désirés, double-p ceppendant, avés, cruë with two upper e components and plain-u mure remain. The source has singular une réforme across several matters. Its quoted terminal period lies inside the closing guillemet. No orator or occasion is identified. Paragraph 4 retains one-n inconu, honeur, veillés, punissés, permettés, trouvés and explicit demonstrative ces crimes, confirmed in original-size color/native. It is not silently changed to ses. Paragraph 5 retains talens, two foibles, concitoïens with the i-diaeresis, and repeated puissé-je. Paragraph 7’s initial quotation ends at de followed by raised call 1, a printed ellipsis and closing guillemet. This is a source-recorded unfinished sentence, not a reproduction gap. The call selector uses the fifth literal de (including the substring in modestes) within this paragraph. Only âme is italic at the 932–933 join; its following raised call 1 and baseline period are separate. Later âge is followed by raised call 2 and a printed ellipsis. The disrupted lui eussent... parmi les citoïens qui son époux syntax is reproduced without restoration; annotations explicitly record earlier wording and crossings-out. A very faint small baseline point follows devoirs before lower-case en in color; native retains only thin broken horizontal traces there. It is provisionally transcribed as a period, with reproduction-speck/artifact uncertainty and no assertion of authorial punctuation. Literal voïant, prophanent and final assés remain. No lexical reproduction-loss bracket is introduced.

T127.The repeated whether I consider, four reasons and judge/judgments repetition remain. The occasion, audience and speaker are not dated or identified beyond the source. French retains one-n honeur and jugemens, with all four soit que clauses. English adds or before the final whether to clarify the alternatives. The entire paragraph is roman.

T128.The exclusive permission, bad-laws comparison, conditional reform and raw/ripe/digests/wholesome metaphor remain. This paragraph crosses 931–932. The orator is unnamed and the quotation is newly translated without claiming its source has been identified. A reform retains singular une réforme across several matters. English supplements and corrects turn the source nouns supplément and correctif into natural verbs, without correcting French. Literal loix, désirés, ceppendant with two p letters, avés, cruë and plain-u mure remain in the source. The quoted terminal period is already inside the French closing guillemet. The complete paragraph is roman; no break or new punctuation is introduced at the page join.

T129.The eye/hand and light/dark images, corresponding watches, even the criminal, and repeated homage remain. These crimes renders the confirmed demonstrative ces crimes rather than silently substituting possessive ses. They do not allow gives the present force of Ils ne souffrent pas, in parallel with the following prohibition; no future action is asserted. French retains one-n inconu and honeur, and literal veillés, punissés, permettés and trouvés. The English dash before could I forget replaces the source comma. All main text is roman.

T130.The unnamed remembered man, counterfactual praise, sparing/lavish contrast, repeated slight and worthy/unworthy, and carefully scoped not always remain. The unusual not...but as your pupil construction is kept without adding a missing main verb. French retains talens, two foibles forms, concitoïens and repeated puissé-je. His own contextually follows compressed du sien, referring most directly back to his time after the time/attention pair. No missing verb or biographical identification is supplied. The paragraph is roman.

T131.They follows fellow citizens. The source’s sex-based rhetoric, gentle/austere contrast, sanctuary image and repeated as though remain; no modernized account of the ceremony replaces it. English adorn and encourage give natural verbs for servir d’ornement and servir d’encouragement; the repeated French servir is not duplicated as serve in English. The paragraph is roman, and the described assembly supplies no date.

S1.Source editor’s annotationThe sentence is unfinished.

S1.Source editor’s annotationAt first: “may mingle with the young magistrate’s reflections...”

S2.Source editor’s annotationHere, crossings-out.

T132.The first quoted sentence remains unfinished after of; source call 1 follows the final de before the printed ellipsis and closing guillemet. The later source sentence is disrupted: after age... it continues would have made him wish... among the citizens who her husband. English preserves this broken construction without supplying a lost relative clause or repairing the revision. The two printed ellipses and the source editor’s crossings-out notice do not certify new reproduction losses. Only âme and soul are italic; the following call 1 and baseline period remain separate. The later call 2 follows âge before its printed ellipsis. The very faint point after devoirs is provisionally read as a period, with a reproduction-speck or artifact alternative retained and no claim about authorial punctuation. English keeps the corresponding period after duties and lower-case and, while moving en la voïant before feel for readability. French retains voïant, prophanent and citoïens; English supplies the comma after gentlemen in These ideas, gentlemen, where French has none after messieurs. The single paragraph crosses 932–933 without a new paragraph or invented text.

T134.The source editor describes the unfinished quoted sentence; this is separate from the main speech. The complete roman annotation certifies no completion. Its call follows the final de inside the main quotation, before the printed ellipsis.

T135.The source editor’s earlier wording and ellipsis remain; they do not replace the main elevate his soul reading. The full annotation, including its quoted printed ellipsis, is roman. Plural peuvent is rendered may without supplying a lost subject. Its call follows main italic âme before the separate roman period.

T136.The source editor records physical crossings-out after âge, before the printed ellipsis. This is evidence of revision in the underlying text, not certification of a new lexical loss in the available page reproduction. No missing wording is reconstructed. The complete annotation is roman.

T257.In the French source, one roman physical-revision notice. Its call follows âge before the printed ellipsis; it does not certify missing lexical content in the current reproduction.

T133.The moment/rest-of-life contrast, permission and self-limitation remain. No date or occasion is supplied. French retains assés. Today belongs to the speech and does not establish a dated entry. The complete paragraph is roman.