Petrus Jacobus Joubert

“ Some of the [6] brightest pages of the Transvaal's history had been written by a brave soldier uncle of his—Petrus Joubert [6] —whose great-great-grandfather had fled from France to South Africa with hundreds of his persecuted countrymen for freedom to read his Bible and to worship among the Dutch Boers of the Transvaal. He became one of them, fought in their wars, was made their president, and later they appointed him commandant-general of all the Boer forces when hostilities began against England. Petrus was his namesake. Of this he was very proud. His family called him "Koos" for short. ”

“ In moralizing literature there is one work of the very highest excellence, which, though not published till long afterwards, belongs in point of composition to this period. This is the Pensées of Joseph Joubert. Joubert (1754–1824) , the most illustrious successor of Pascal and Vauvenargues, and to be ranked perhaps above both in the literary finish of his maxims, and certainly above Vauvenargues in the breadth and depth of thought which they exhibit. ”

“ If there exists a man tormented by the accursed ambition of putting a whole book into a page, a whole page into a phrase, and that phrase into a word, that man is myself.
Joubert was a natural unchangeable classicist in taste and spirit. The Periclean age of Greece, the Augustan age of Rome, the “great age” of France, that of Louis XIV., supplied Joubert with most of the books that fed his mind. ”

“ I asked, recalling his strictures on German females.
"Ma foi!" replied Joubert—"one does not kiss their feet."
[Pg 8]
He leaned with me over the balcony watching the scene below.
The hatred of Germans which filled the breast of Joubert was a hatred based on the firm foundation of Blücher. Joubert did not hate the English. This "cur of a Blücher," who turned up on Waterloo Day to reap the harvest of other men's work, gave him all the food for hatred he required.
"Joubert," said I, "do you see that man with the big stomach and watchchain sitting there—the one with a cigar?" ”

“ When I see his ceaseless struggle to keep the heel of his spirit on the neck of his flesh, it suggests a fanatical rebellion against that equipoise God saw fit to establish. Like Joubert, 'he seems to be a soul that by accident met with a body, and tries to make the best of it.' My cousin Temple is fond of you."
"Despite much difference of opinion on many questions, our friendship has survived the 'storm and stress' period, and I honor a man whose battle cry for humanity is:
"'Make trade a Christian possibility,
And individual right no general wrong.'
Have you noticed the expression of Mrs. ”

“ He is a carpenter and lives in the court at the rear——"
"It is he I have found, Madame." And turning aside, Matthieu beckoned toward the corridor, and Monsieur Joubert entered. He was well known to Moira and saluted her, his brow troubled.
"Bon jour, Monsieur Joubert," she said, trying to control the beating of her heart and the labor of her breathing, for here she knew was to be the test of the worth of her discoveries. Everything that she believed, would stand or fall by the testimony of the people who had followed Jim Horton up the stair. ”

“ It was not the quality which gained friends for Kruger nor that which made Joubert popular, but rather a mysterious, involuntary influence which he exerted over everybody with whom he came in contact. A man less handsome, of less commanding appearance than Botha might have possessed such a power, and been considered less [201] extraordinary than he, but it was not wholly his personal appearance—for he was the handsomest man in the Boer army—which aroused the admiration of men. His voice, his eyes, his facial expression and his manner—all combined to strengthen the man’s power over others. ”

“ The place of Joubert seems to me then, below and very far from the philosophers and the true poets, but honorable among the moralists and the critics. He is one of those men who are superior to their works, and who have themselves the unity which these lack. ”

“ In his temperament, as shown by his action, Joubert reflected the fighting characteristics of his people, of whom he has been the most conspicuous military representative, honoured by friend and foe alike for his fearlessness, his intelligence, and his humanity. Courage of the highest proof as regards personal danger, but not the courage that throws away the scabbard, much less that which burns its ships. The hunter, meeting superior strength with superior cunning, without even the very least willingness to lose his life in order to carry his end, may be brave even to recklessness ”

“ A more complete edition was published by Joubert’s nephew, Paul de Raynal, under the title Pensées, essais, maximes et correspondance (2 vols. 1842) . A selection of letters addressed to Joubert was published in 1883. Joubert constantly strove after perfection, and the small quantity of his work was partly due to his desire to find adequate and luminous expression for his discriminating criticism of literature and morals. ”

“ Sir George White, the defender of Ladysmith, summed up Joubert’s character when he called him “a soldier and a gentleman, and a brave and honourable opponent.”
JOUFFROY, JEAN (c. 1412-1473) , French prelate and diplomatist, was born at Luxeuil (Haute-Saône) . After entering the Benedictine order and teaching at the university of Paris from 1435 to 1438, he became almoner to Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, who entrusted him with diplomatic missions in France, Italy, Portugal and Castile. Jouffroy was appointed abbot of Luxeuil (1451?) bishop of Arras (1453) , and papal legate (1459) . ”

“ This, I presume, he did for the sake of appearances, for it is well known that he entertains a strong hatred against those natives who in any way showed a partiality for British rule; and when it is remembered that Piet Joubert’s journey did not result in a cessation of hostilities, but in an increase, and that ever since his journey the war has increased in area and in numbers, and that in no single instance has a Boer volunteer been prevented from crossing the border, or ammunition for use against Montsiou been stopped, the sincerity of his intentions may well be doubted. ”

“ This tone was notably taken up towards the other end of the century by Amiel (q.v.) , who, however, does not strictly belong to French literature: while in Ximénès Doudon (1800–1872) , author of Mélanges et lettres posthumously published, we find more of a return to the attitude of Joubert—literary criticism occupying a very large part of his reflections. Political philosophy and its kindred sciences have naturally received a large share of attention. ”

“ Now that the separation had occurred, the great blank caused by it appeared in Joubert's face.
Joubert had many good qualities; among others, he was a born and perfect swordsman. When quite young, and stationed in Paris, he had put in a good deal of his spare time at Carduso's School of Arms, then situated near the Chinese Baths. He made a little money [Pg 240] this way, instructing young bloods in the art of self-defence; and he had learnt many tricks from Carduso, that magician of whom it has been said that he was born with a rapier in his hand. ”

“ Johnny piped after her, pivoting round on his heel, and strewing the grass and leaves in his hands as if he were sowing seed. Archer and Jacob jumped up from behind the mound where they had been crouching with the intention of springing upon their mother unexpectedly, and they all began to walk slowly home.
"Who is that?" said Mrs. Flanders, shading her eyes.
"That old man in the road?" said Archer, looking below.
"He's not an old man," said Mrs. Flanders. "He's—no, he's not—I thought it was the Captain, but it's Mr. Floyd. Come along, boys." ”

“ The wine was not spared, and so well did it loosen every tongue, that before the close of the repast, I had learned the abode of Gueuvive, as well as that of his worthy coadjutor, Joubert, and the names of many of their comrades; at the moment of our separating I hinted that I did not exactly know where I should procure a bed, and Joubert immediately offered to give me a night's lodging with him, and conducted me to Rue St Jaques, where he occupied a back room on the second-floor, there I shared with him the bed of his mistress, the girl Cornevin. ”

“ In his opinion it was not the people so much as the Church which was opposed to the French, and accordingly he did his best to get Joubert to issue a proclamation that there should be no interference with religion. Still, the situation must have been galling to a man of culture and a theoretical liberal, for, while forcing democratic institutions on an unwilling people, he had at the same time to strip their capital of all objects of art ”

“ I learnt pretty nearly the same thing from Manoury at Caen. M. Joubert is a very sensible and respectable man; and is not only "Seul Imprimeur de Monseigneur l'Evêque" (PIERRE DUPONT-POURSAT) , but is in fact almost the only bookseller worth consulting in the place. I bought of him a copy of the Livre d'Eglise ou Nouveau Paroissien à l'usage du Diocèse de Coutances, or the common prayer book of the diocese. ”

“ Another interesting and far from improbable story was current at the time, that Joubert's retirement was due to peremptory orders from Pretoria, elicited by the progress of Methuen, the operations around Naauwport, and the increase of British force in that central region which French's movements, and those of Gatacre before Stormberg, seemed to indicate. This report is mentioned by two correspondents then at Estcourt, [23] as based upon despatches captured (p. 212) on Boer couriers on November 25, directing Joubert to return at once to Ladysmith, and even to prepare for moving homeward. ”

“ He could do nothing but talk French, a useless accomplishment in South Africa. And so they sent him into our camp to help eat our rations. The information he gave was small. Joubert believes hePg 123 can starve us out in a fortnight. He little knows. We could still hold out for over a month without eating a single horse, to say nothing of rats. It is true we have to drop our luxuries. Butter has gone long ago, and whisky has followed. Tinned meats, biscuits, jams—all are gone. "I wish to Heaven the relief column would hurry up," sighed a young officer to me. ”

“ Such a man to turn against me!" he added, in his shrill voice. "Yet, really, nothing in the world would have made me distrust Jobert."
"I know very well that he sold you, Javatte," replied [Pg 174] the Skeleton, who seemed to protect the prisoner peculiarly; "and as a proof that they have done for thy nose the same as they have done for Bras-Rouge, they have not dared to leave Jobert here, but sent him to the stone jug of the Conciergerie. Well, there must be an end put to this! There must be an example ”

“ In common with other farmers, Mr. Joubert expressed great dissatisfaction with the Transvaal Republic. He held the post of field-cornet, and tried to induce me to employ any influence I might have in urging the British Government to annex the Molapo valley. The complaints of the way in which justice was administered were very bitter; the farmers murmuring, moreover, that after the Republic had conceded to them the purchase of farms and land, it was impotent to protect them from the Barolongs, to whom the territory by ancient right belonged. ”

“ Flanders's wool which had rolled beneath the chair. Talk of the chicken farm came back and back, the women, even at fifty, impulsive at heart, sketching on the cloudy future flocks of Leghorns, Cochin Chinas, Orpingtons; like Jacob in the blur of her outline; but powerful as he was; fresh and vigorous, running about the house, scolding Rebecca.
The letter lay upon the hall table; Florinda coming in that night took it up with her, put it on the table as she kissed Jacob, and Jacob seeing the hand, left it there under the lamp, between the biscuit-tin and the tobacco-box. ”

“ On the day of Pieter’s Hill General Piet Cronje surrendered at Paardeberg, and a month later Joubert died, whereupon Botha, the most prominent of the young, eager, and capable Boers, was promoted to be commandant-general of the Transvaal. He at once began to infuse new energy into the fighting forces of his countrymen. ”

“ During the last six, all the symptoms of consumption, and some in the last degree: I lack only the illusions, and maybe I have some!"
M. Joubert, alarmed at this desire for death which was torturing Madame de Beaumont, addressed these words to her in his Pensées:
"Love life and respect it, if not for its own sake, at least for that of your friends. ”

“ In the course of a few months the Reverend Nicholas Joubert received a call at Garies from a young Jew, who stated that he had abjured the errors of Judaism and wished to embrace the Christian faith. Although his face seemed familiar, Mr Joubert did not at first recognise the convert. However, he eventually recalled—or said that he recalled—having seen him at Namies. ”

“ And the angel of the Lord commanded him to send to the city of Joppa, and to summon Peter the Apostle from the house of Simon the sewer, so that he might have mercy upon him and show him the way of God; and he sent and brought him. And when Peter the Apostle came to him Cornelius bowed down before him at his feet, and Peter the Apostle raised him up, and said unto him, “I am a man even as thou art.” ”

“ But Jacob might have been thinking of Rome; of architecture; of jurisprudence; as he sat under the plane tree in Hyde Park.
The omnibus stopped outside Charing Cross; and behind it were clogged omnibuses, vans, motor-cars, for a procession with banners was passing down Whitehall, and elderly people were stiffly descending from between the paws of the slippery lions, where they had been testifying to their faith, singing lustily, raising their eyes from their music to look into the sky, and still their eyes were on the sky as they marched behind the gold letters of their creed. ”