No, the author is not a revolutionist, but he is acquainted with plenty of good fellows who are. “He has eaten their bread and salt; he has drunk their water and wine.” He has taken pot-luck with them, witnessed their privations, and listened to the telling of their dreams. He thinks he comprehends them, he knows he loves them, and he would present them as he has found them to the world.
This attitude will be understood by all who really believe in fair play, in giving every man his innings and the devil his due; who can admit merits equally in Christians and Pagans, Jesuits and Agnostics, Classicists and Romanticists, Greeks and Goths; who admire a beau geste alike in missionary and filibuster, condottiere and crusader, martyr and toreador, pirate and king,—in a Jeanne d’Arc and a Ravaillac, a Kitchener and a Joubert, a Sheridan and a Mosby, a Dewey and an Aguinaldo, a Hobson and a Cervera, a Makaroff and a Uryu, a Napoleon and a Musolino, a Richard Cœur de Lion and a Robin Hood, a Nelson and a Cambronne. It will be understood by all those who appreciate a joke, even when it turns against themselves; who recognise the nobility of straight thinking and bold speaking, the sublimity of high passion, the regenerating force of righteous resentment and stubborn resistance, and the holiness of self-sacrifice for an ideal; who have a faculty for putting themselves in other men’s places or have learned the hard lesson of calling no thing “common or unclean”; who love men because they are men, serve women because they are women, compassionate suffering because it is suffering, reverence him who hath much struggled to no apparent purpose, and pardon much, like the Christ, to him who hath much loved.
That these persons are the few does not seriously matter. It is a great thing to be understood by a few.
Alvan F. Sanborn.
Paris, January, 1905.
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| I. | What the Anarchist Wants | [5] |
| Suggestions of the beginnings of anarchistic philosophyand of the history of the development of anarchy—Thecontemporary French Encyclopedists, Pierre Kropotkine,Elisée Reclus, and Jean Grave—The introductory chapterof Jean Grave’s L’Anarchie: son But, ses Moyens,selected as the best exposition of the French anarchisticdoctrine—Currentmisconceptions of anarchy—The rationalbases of anarchy—The reasons for its opposition tolaws and to governments—The anarchistic ideal “l’individulibre dans l’humanité libre.”—Development of thephysical, intellectual, and moral nature of the individualnecessary to attain this ideal—Freedom to satisfy all physical,intellectual, and moral needs a necessity—The freedomof the soil the first prerequisite, after that the freedom of thedomain of knowledge and art—Anarchy frankly international—Itsdemands for absolute liberty in the domainof thought as in that of deeds—Its utopianism denied. | ||
| II. | The Oral Propaganda of Anarchy | [25] |
| The simplest, most natural form of propaganda, tellingone’s faith to one’s neighbours—The group the unit ofpublic oral propaganda—Characteristics of the group, itsmeetings, its statistics, its autonomy—Federations andcongresses—Communication between groups—Union meetingsof groups—Anarchist mass-meetings—Punchs-conférencesand soupes-conférences—Ballades de propagande—Déjeunersvégétariens—Amateur theatricals—TheMaison du Peuple—Soirée familiale—The trimardeur—Thechanson as a means of propaganda, withexamples of revolutionary chansons. | ||
| III. | The Written Propaganda of Anarchy | [61] |
| The anarchist press, Le Journal du Peuple, Les Plébéiennes,Le Libertaire—Jean Grave and Les Temps Nouveaux—Thepress as a means of intercommunicationbetween the camarades, the trimardeurs, and the groups—L’EducationLibertaire—Amateur papers—Ephemeralcharacter of the anarchist press—Le Père Peinard andits editors—Anarchist almanacks—Financial difficultiesof the anarchist press and methods of raising funds—Difficultiesencountered in publication and circulation—“LesLois Scélérates”—Placards and fliers—Paul Robinand his system of éducation intégrale—Le College Libertaire—Thestudy of the masters and of their forerunnersand disciples—Popular editions of great writerswho tend towards anarchy—Violent brochures. | ||
| IV. | The Propaganda of Anarchy by Example | [91] |
| Thoreau and Garrison as precursors of the anarchisticattitude—Tolstoy on the propaganda by example—Itsimportance—Practicable and impracticable acts of thisform of propaganda—Octave Mirbeau on depopulation—PierreLavroff on propaganda by example—Anarchistexperiment stations and reasons for their failure—Theattitude of anarchists towards trade-unionism—La grèveuniverselle—The attitude of anarchists towards co-operation—Lapan-coopération. | ||
| V. | The Propaganda of Anarchy par le Fait | [109] |
| Lack of unanimity among French anarchists regardingthis method of propaganda—The emergence into publicprominence of the insurrectional idea—César de Paepe’sspeech at the Geneva Peace Congress of 1867—Declarationof the Fédération Italienne—Insurrections at Letinoand San Galo, Italy—Utterances at the Congresses ofFribourg and of the Fédération Jurasienne—Distinctionbetween the individual overt act when directed againstan official of the state and when directed against an individualmember of the bourgeoisie—The latter acts disapprovedby the majority of anarchists—Elisée Recluson this subject—The attitude of Les Temps Nouveaux—Zod’Axa on the overt acts of Ravachol—Statistics of thevictims of anarchists—Reasons for the alarm excited bythe propaganda par le fait—Some humorous features ofthe panic during the period of “The Terror”—Theft as aform of propaganda par le fait—Charles Malato andJean Grave on this subject—Cases of Clément Duval andPini—Extent of anarchist thefts—Counterfeiting—Caseof L’Abruti. | ||
| VI. | The Causes of Propaganda par le Fait | [131] |
| Desire for vengeance the cause of the greater part of theovert acts of anarchists—The death of Watrin—Such actsproceed mainly from those who have suffered injusticeeither in their own person or in that of those near tothem—The cases of Duval, Pini, Dardare, Decamp, Léveillé,Rulliers, Pedduzi, Ravachol, Lorion, Vaillant,Etievant, Salsou—Zo d’Axa on the police rafle of April,1892—Recent questionable repressive measures—Collusionof state officials and police to turn revolutionary disturbancesto selfish ends—Legality often strained by thegovernment in its repressive measures—Overt acts almostnever the result of conspiracy—Belief in his “mission” ofthe propagandist par le fait—The stigmata of this vocation—Testimonyof Björnson, Zola, and other writers—Stimulating effectof the executions of anarchists upon anarchistfanaticism—Sympathy of many who are not anarchistsexcited by overstraining of legal forms and undueseverity in repressive measures—The apotheosis of Vaillant—Anarchistanniversaries—Why so many violentanarchists are Italians—England’s immunity from overtanarchist acts—The futility of repressing the free expressionof violent ideas—The case of Laurent Tailhade. | ||
| VII. | The Character of the Propagandist par le Fait | [155] |
| The salient traits of the anarchist character—The averagepsychic type of the anarchist as indicated by A.Hamon—Personal character of Ravachol, Pini, Duval,Faugoux, Salsou—The anarchist’s abhorrence of crueltyto animals—The propagandist par le fait rarely a worthlessfellow—Frugality and domestic virtues of prominentanarchist criminals—Personal courage of this type, withnotable examples. | ||
| VIII. | Socialists and Other Revolutionists | [167] |
| Revolutionary and evolutionary socialists—Radical differencesbetween theoretic socialism and anarchism—Practicalaims common to both—Similarity in methods of propaganda—Unionof anarchists and socialists against commonenemies in troubled periods—Similarity in attitudeof both towards trade-unionism and co-operation—Revolutionarytendencies of royalists, imperialists, anti-Semites,and nationalists—Déroulède’s proclamation to his electors—Anarchistapproval of Jules Guérin’s defence of “FortChabrol.” | ||
| IX. | The Revolutionary Traditions of the Latin Quarter | [177] |
| The Sorbonne as a centre of epoch-making thought—Abélard—Richnessof the Latin Quarter in souvenirs of intellectualand political revolution—Latin Quarter martyrs ofrevolutionary thinking—Periods of cringing on thepart of the university the exception—The lawless studentlife of the Middle Ages—The students in the time of LouisXIV.—The cafés and cabarets as revolutionary agents—Theconflict between Romanticists and Classicists at thebeginning of the nineteenth century—The part played bythe students in the revolutions of 1830 and 1848—Thestudent protest against the coup d’état of the third Napoleon—Thestudents as a revolutionary force under theSecond Empire—Vallès, Gambetta, Vermesch, Blanqui,Rochefort—The students and the Commune—The relationof the Latin Quarter cafés and cabarets to the Commune—Loveof laughter, love of liberty, and love of love the threecharacteristic traits of the spirit of the Latin Quarter. | ||
| X. | The Revolutionary Spirit in the Latin Quarter of To-day | [189] |
| The alleged decadence of the spirit of the Latin Quarter—Thetruth and the falsity of the charge—Differences in thepresent-day manifestation of the three characteristic traitsof the spirit of the Quarter—The dress and manners ofstudents of to-day—The contemporary grisette—The anniversaryof Mürger—The real student cafés and cabarets—Thestudent publications—The cénacles of the Quarter—Thepresent hour primarily a period of transition, thestudent of to-day seeking his way—Revolutionary thoughtwell represented in the university faculties—Student outbreaksduring the last thirty years. | ||
| XI. | Bohemians of the Latin Quarter | [207] |
| Bohemians by choice—Those not attached to the universitywho inhabit the Latin Quarter for the sake of its advantages,from affection, or from force of habit—A typical example—HenriPille, Maurice Bouchor, Jean Richepin,Paul Bourget—“Les Vivants”—Bohemians from necessity—Renegadesfrom the Bohemianism of the Quarter—ClovisHugues on the sacrifice of long hair—Two types of“moutons”—Ways and means of the Bohemians—Theirhardships—The arrival of prosperity too late. | ||
| XII. | Those who Starve | [221] |
| Mürger’s Biographie d’un Inconnu—A brief recital of itsstory—The hero of the novel a permanent type—Saint Josephde la Dèche——La misère en habit noir—The case ofDr. Laporte—The verdict of the judge. | ||
| XIII. | Those who Kill Themselves | [231] |
| “La littérature qui tue”—Picturesque suicide of a youngLatin Quarter poet as narrated by Emile Goudeau—Suicideof René Leclerc—Other cases of suicide—Greater proportionof suicide among victims of la misère en habit noir. | ||
| XIV. | Freaks and Fumistes | [239] |
| The chevaliers d’industrie of the Quarter—Their detestationof the bourgeoisie—More comedy than tragedy intheir lives—The types of Vallès’ Réfractaires—Fontan-Crusoe,Poupelin, and M. Chaque—Other vagabond types—EugèneCochet, Amédée Cloux, Bibi-la-Purée, La MèreCasimir, Le Marquis de Soudin, the artist bard of PèreLunette’s, Achille Leroy, Gaillepand, La Mère Souris,Victor Sainbault, Coulet—Professional humourists anddeliberate farceurs—Sapeck, Karl, Zo d’Axa—A novelcandidate—Relation of starvation, suicide, freakishness,and fumisterie to the revolutionary spirit. | ||
| XV. | Montmartre and La Vache Enragée | [257] |
| The cavalcades of La Vache Enragée in 1896 and 1897—Originof the phrase—Literary, artistic, and musical celebritieswho have eaten of the Vache Enragée—The mannerof living of the typical Montmartrois—His resourcefulness—Hisposes and so-called affectations often devicesfor cheap living—The restaurants, cafés, crèmeries, andcabarets of Montmartre—Their traditions and their espritde corps—The Montmartre of the tourist—The realMontmartre—Its relation to Paris—Cost of living at Montmartre—Spring-timein Montmartre. | ||
| XVI. | Literary and Artistic Cabarets of Montmartre | [281] |
| The history of Montmartre—The exodus of the “Hydropathies”and the “Hirsutes” from the Latin Quarter—TheGrand’ Pinte—Rodolphe Salis—The origin, career,and influence of the Chat Noir—Its successors and imitators—Closestexisting counterparts of the Chat Noir—LeConservatoire, Le Cabaret des Quat’z’ Arts, Le Cabaretdes Arts, La Veine, La Boîte à Fursy, and Le Tréteaude Tabarin—Bohemian conclaves which have supersededthe cabarets—The chanson as a moulder of publicopinion—Revolutionary chansons in Montmartre cabarets—JulesJouy, Maxime Lisbonne, Marcel Legay,Gaston Couté, Xavier Privas—Cabarets brutaux—Bruant’sMirliton, Alexandre’s Cabaret Bruyant—Threepoets of talent imbued with a revolutionary spirit, Bruant,Jehan Rictus, Maurice Boukay—The revolutionary traditionsof Montmartre—Bourgeois fear of Montmartre—“Montmartreva descendre”—The relations between theworkingmen, the littérateurs, and the artists at Montmartre—Theirrevolutionary spirit. | ||
| XVII. | The Revolutionary Spirit in Prose Literature and the Drama | [313] |
| The revolutionary attitude of Tolstoy, Ibsen, and Zola—Revolutionaryinfluence of Anatole France and OctaveMirbeau—Lucien Descaves—Victor Barrucand and hiscampaign for free bread—Other novelists whose works havea revolutionary trend—Revolutionary psychology—Rosny’sLe Bilatéral—Other fiction writers who understand thegravity of the issue—The influence of “les auteurs gais”—Essayists,critics, and philosophers who are more or lessmilitant iconoclasts or révoltés—The origin and influenceof L’Endehors—The subsequent activity of the Endehorsgroup—The group of L’Idée Nouvelle—Revues desjeunes—Other revues hospitable to revolutionary writings—OctaveMirbeau, Lucien Descaves, Maurice Donnay—Other playwrights whose pieces are frankly revolutionary—Playwrightswhose works are revolutionary by implication—TheThéâtre Libre and its successors—Varietytheatres and concert halls—The trend of literature fromsocialism to anarchism—The testimony of Clovis Huguesand Fierens-Gevaert—The relation of the French libertaireliterary movement to that in other European countries. | ||
| XVIII. | The Revolutionary Spirit in Poetry, Music, and Art | [361] |
| The anarchistic spirit more or less natural to the poet—Revolutionarysingers in France at the beginning of thenineteenth century—Hégésippe Moreau, Victor Hugo,Eugène Vermesch—Living poets of revolt—Laurent Tailhade,Jean Richepin—Tailhade’s imprisonment—Thesocialist poets Clovis Hugues and Maurice Bouchor—Therelations between freedom of expression and freedomof thought in poetry—More revolutionists among artiststhan in any other class engaged in liberal pursuits—Courbet,Cazin, Carrière—Impressionism and the revolutionaryspirit—Luce and Signac—The Salon des Indépendantsas a refuge for revolutionists—The import ofthe work of Rodin and Meunier—Jules Dalou—Painterswho picture the Christ in a modern setting—The revolutionaryleanings of the dessinateurs—Léandre, Forain,Hermann-Paul, Willette, Steinlen—L’Assiette auBeurre—The revolutionary attitude of the great body ofcontemporary French caricaturists towards the institutionsof society—Bernard Shaw’s comment on the music ofWagner—Wagner as a revolutionist—The revolutionaryspirit in the new school of French music—Alfred Bruneauand Gustave Charpentier—Louise—The evident connectionbetween the anarchistic philosophy and polyphonicorchestration, vers libre, and impressionism in art. | ||
| XIX. | To What End? | [391] |
| The advice of Gamaliel, the Pharisee, on innovators inreligion and the words of Montaigne concerning the strangeand the incredible—The proper province of philosophicdoubt—“La folie d’hier est la sagesse de demain”—Thedifficulty with which human nature realises the truth ofthe maxim—The attitude of public opinion to Barrucand’sscheme for free bread—Pertinent questions regardingthe alleged unreasonableness of revolutionary theories—Thetheories of anarchism and socialism in comparisonwith the history of social evolution—The natural result ofeducation of the masses—A successful social revolution noguarantee of a millennium—The essentials of happinessfound in the eternal realities of life. |