however, was unsuccessful in the first trial which had been instituted on account of the disturbances at Montceau, so that of the fourteen accused only nine, from secondary reasons, could be condemned to imprisonment from one to five years. On the other hand, in the trial at Lyons, which lasted for eleven days, until the 19th of January, 1883, the chief leaders, such as Krapotkin, Gautier, Bordat, Bernard, and others, were actually hit upon, so that of the sixty-six accused, only three were acquitted, but the rest, on account of the law against the International of the 14th of March, 1872, were condemned to one to five years' imprisonment, the highest punishment possible. Almost all the accused, especially Krapotkin, openly avowed that they had instigated the acts of violence that had taken place in Montceau and Lyons and their adherence to the principles of Anarchism, but denied the existence of an international organization, and consequently the applicability of the law in question to them. They were convincingly confuted, however, by their own speeches at public meetings, by the papers which they had edited, by the numerous communications which had been intercepted, and which proved connections with Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and England, and by the many delegations to the international revolutionary congresses in other countries (London 14th of July, 1881, Lausanne 4th of June, 1882, Geneva 13th of August, 1882). Just as little did the instigators of the demonstrations in Paris escape their fate, of whom, for instance, Louise Michel and Ponget were condemned to six and eight years' imprisonment. In addition to these convictions, all public prosecutors were directed at once to prosecute every inflammatory speaker and every paper of that kind, and unhesitatingly to expel all foreigners who made themselves remarkable in that way. Nevertheless, scarcely any cessation can be perceived in the movement; on the contrary, the above-mentioned convictions have resulted only in outbreaks of the wildest vengeance, so that numberless protests, combined with threats to kill the judges and the juries, were made in all parts of the country. It might, therefore, appear questionable whether, without a corresponding limitation of the freedom of the press and of meeting, the movement can by any means be controlled any longer, and whether such measures as the bill intro

duced at the end of January of this year, and directed solely against demonstrations in the streets, would suffice. But if the Government should again slacken in their timely severity, it would only revive the confidence of the Anarchists to be able to glorify the centenary celebration of the "great political revolution" by the outbreak of the "great social revolution."

It is a matter of great anxiety that in different town councils, such as, for instance, in Paris, Roubaix, Roanne, Lyons, St. Etienne, and Marseilles, already distinctly Socialistic tendencies are becoming apparent, for not only have these several times granted the Socialist congresses a free journey for the delegates, a free place of meeting, and other favours, and here and there number editors of social revolutionary papers among their members, but it seems that even the Town Council of Paris, under the influence of Joffrin, has actually become a place for experimenting on all kinds of Socialistic schemes. It was the Paris Town Council, too, which, on the proposal of Joffrin, when the verdict in the trial at Lyons had scarcely become valid, first declared itself by thirty-one votes against one for the amnesty, and even quite lately, also on the proposal of Joffrin, for the restoration of the National Guard.

Finally, since the transactions and decisions of all Socialist congresses always come from Paris as a centre, it seems that there at all events Socialism has found a place of refuge which, up till now, it has obtained nowhere else in the whole of Europe; it is therefore not wonderful that it will have nothing to do with mere reforms and looks with the greatest confidence to the near future.

ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND.

LTHOUGH England is the cradle of the "International" (it was founded, as already mentioned, on the 28th September, 1864, in London) and the classical soil of the great strikes, it has never succeeded in establishing itself there, because the sober and practical mind of the English workers directs its attention in the first instance to the conditions that immediately concern them, and seeks to reform them gradually through obstinate and persistent activity. Probably from the same reasons the "International Labour Union," which after the dissolution of the "International formed itself out of the members of that body in London, could not flourish, and of its sections, corresponding to the various nationalities, the German alone acquired a certain vitality and importance, while from its midst issued the revolutionary school of Most and the idea of the reconstruction of the International on a purely revolutionary basis. This section called itself "Kommunistischer Arbeiter-Bildungs-Verein," or Social Democratic Working Men's Club, and included four divisions, with about 1,000 members, when in December, 1878, Most was expelled from Berlin and settled in London.

He at once became leader of the Society, founded his notorious paper Freiheit, put himself in connection with the Communists and Nihilists who were numerously represented in London as well as with those holding similar opinions on the Continent, and by speeches and pamphlets began most active propaganda, under whose influence the Society sailed under more and more revolu

tionary colours. As one part of the members by no means agreed with this, besides feeling themselves hurt by Most's dictatorial behaviour, an opposition soon made itself felt, and under the influence of the contemporaneous events within the German Social Democratic party, it also led to a division. Meanwhile Most had secured such an influence to himself that an overwhelming majority voted on his side, and some even went so far as to place themselves entirely at his disposal. With these followers Most, who, in consideration of the condition of France, Belgium, and Ireland, believed the revolution to be close at hand, formed an organization of the "United Socialists," whose motto was "Workers of all countries, unite!" and whose object the spread of social revolutionary principles and the enlightenment of the workers with regard to their class interest as set forth in the Communist manifesto. The head-quarters of the organization should be in London, and be directed by a central committee consisting of seven persons, and should allow all societies holding similar opinions on the Continent to become affiliated. In addition to this union, intended for public activity, Most, who hoped to play a great part in the expected revolution, and therefore wished to secure in time the leadership, founded also, under the name of "Propagandisten Klub," a secret society which was to carry on an international revolutionary agitation, and to make immediate preparations for the general revolution. For this object a committee should be formed in every country in order to take the leadership of the movement existing there and to call into existence numerous groups on Nihilistic lines; all these threads should then be joined in a central committee in London, consisting of representatives of all countries, and by this the whole revolutionary movement in every State was to be directed from the same point of view. Meanwhile, however, they should make as much preparation as possible by distributing Freiheit and other revolutionary leaflets, as well as by sending abroad a large number of agitators. That this plan by no means remained a dead letter was proved by the well-known trial of Breuder and his comrades for high treason at Leipzig, as well as the transactions of the International Revolutionary Congress in London, 14th to 19th July, 1881, which was called together chiefly on the

initiative and owing to the exertions of Most and the notorious Nihilist Hartmann.

The chief object of this congress was to revive the International on a distinctly revolutionary basis. Already in April a preliminary congress had been held at Paris, whose transactions turned principally on the political position of the parties and the social position of the workers in Europe and America. It emphasized the necessity of a union of the Proletariat of all countries against the already united bourgeoisie, repudiated the action of the "parliamentary" Socialists, since only a social revolution could give relief, declared that in the struggle against the existing society all means were just, and with regard to this recommended especially the spreading of leaflets, the sending abroad of propagandists, and the occasional employment of explosives. Of the spirit which imbued even this preliminary congress, and which was faithfully reflected in the party press, testimony was given among others by an amendment put by German social revolutionists in London which favoured the "violent removal of all potentates after the example of the Russian emperor," but was rejected as "" premature and untimely." That such opinions found adherence not in London only was proved by numerous letters of congratulation from Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Pesth, Barcelona, and other places.

The chief Congress was then held from the 14th to the 19th of July in London, in the presence of about forty delegates, who represented several hundred groups of various European countries and of North America. In order to escape the vigilance of the police, it was arranged that the place for each meeting should be changed and that the members should be called by numbers only. During the transactions it was generally agreed upon that the exploitation of the workers by the tyrants must be stopped by every means, that enough words had been spoken and written, but now the time had come to proceed to actions.

The resolutions which finally resulted from the consultations were the following:

"The revolutionists of all countries as a whole unite in an 'International Social Revolutionary Association of Workers' with the object of furthering the social revolution, the head