Chapter I: Preface

_It was the author’s original intention to let this book make shift without the conventional preface, as befitted the unconventionality of its theme. But he has learned since it was begun—what it was very stupid of him not to have known at the outset—that in the matter of heresies, ethical, social, and political as well as theological, interest is bound to pass for approval, explanation for advocacy, and sympathy, be it ever so slight, for profound belief: as if a man who showed a curiosity about and appreciation of dogs should, by that very fact, become a dog; or as if (since there may seem to be an unfortunate implication of contempt in this illustration) a German who attempted to expound honestly English temperament, opinions, and traditions should, by that very fact, become an Englishman._

_Once for all, then, the author is not a_ revolutionist, _though there are moments when he fancies he would like to be one, it appears such an eminently satisfying state. It takes faith to be a revolutionist; and he is, alas! mentally incapable of faith. He is not an anarchist, not a socialist, not a radical, not a “red republican,” nor a_ “mangeur de prêtres.” _His affiliations have not been even_ Dreyfusard _in France, nor even Bryanite in America. He is a conservative of the conservatives, only prevented from being a reactionary by the fact that reaction is but another form of revolution, and the most hopeless and faith-exacting of them all. So far from being a revolutionist, he is an evolutionist only under protest_,—vi et armis, _as it were. He favours things as they are, things as they were quite as often, while things as they might be contain for him no allure. He cherishes enormously this imperfect old world as it is, still more as it was; has not the slightest desire to reconstruct it after his own formula, and would not willingly exchange it for any hypothetical world which, up to the present hour, restless human ingenuity has devised._

_He is “naturally beforehand shy of novelties, new books, new faces, new years,” and is “sanguine only in the prospects of other [former] years.” He likes old cabinets, old comedies, old prints, old stuffs, old pipes, old wine, old ships, old trees, old shoes, old friends, old customs, old crotchets, and old ladies._

_He prefers infinitely—it is very wrong and foolish, perhaps, but he cannot help it—ancient hostelries to modern hotels, spontaneous neighbourliness to organised benevolence, fireplaces to furnace-heaters, and waving meadows to close-cropped lawns; a blooded aristocrat to a social struggler, a patriot to a cosmopolite, a brave drinker to a total abstinence apostle, an illiterate Breton peasant to the “smart” product of improved schools, a mediæval cloister to a free-thinker’s hall, and an easy-going priest to a nervous sceptic; beauty to utility, superstition to science, ritual to plain sense. A uniform appeals to him more than a business suit, a coquettish gown more than the most advanced hygienic bloomer, a solicitous mother and competent housewife more than a brilliant club woman. He finds more satisfaction in old-fashioned, comfortable ideas than in disquieting progressive ones. He would quite as soon be domineered over by a noble as by a parvenu or a pot-house politician, and is less shocked by the colossal pretensions of a pope than by the puerile bumptiousness of a small-minded clergyman. He deplores railways, trolleys, bicycles, automobiles, and compulsory education, because they all tend to destroy native dialects, customs, and costumes, obliterate all local colour, and so render lands far separated dully alike. He resents the presumptuousness of that Reason which is so seldom reasonable, and would not shed a tear nor distil a regret if telephones, telegraphs, and psychical research were swept off the face of the earth._

_He is well aware, therefore, that there is good to be said of time-honoured institutions: of the state; of the army, the church, and the courts of law, the props of the state; and of capitalists, the pets and protégés of the state. On occasion he could write a fervid defence of each and every one of these established things. But he is equally aware that there is good to be said of the conscientious opponents of the state, its props and its protégés. To say this good is his present business; and, if he seems to bend over backward sometimes in saying it, it should be borne in mind that they also have bent over backward—nay, turned double somersaults backward—who, prompted by terror, prejudice, intolerance, hatred, or contempt, have pronounced unqualified condemnation on the consecrated antagonists of things as they are; and it should at least be queried whether his indiscretions may not be excused (if not altogether justified) thereby._

_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 philosophy and
of the history of the development of anarchy—The contemporary
French Encyclopedists, Pierre Kropotkine, Elisée Reclus, and
Jean Grave—The introductory chapter of Jean Grave’s_
L’Anarchie: son But, ses Moyens, _selected as the best
exposition of the French anarchistic doctrine—Current
misconceptions of anarchy—The rational bases of anarchy—The
reasons for its opposition to laws and to governments—The
anarchistic ideal_ “l’individu libre dans l’humanité
libre.”—_Development of the physical, intellectual, and moral
nature of the individual necessary to attain this
ideal—Freedom to satisfy all physical, intellectual, and moral
needs a necessity—The freedom of the soil the first
prerequisite, after that the freedom of the domain of
knowledge and art—Anarchy frankly international—Its demands
for absolute liberty in the domain of thought as in that of
deeds—Its utopianism denied._

II. The Oral Propaganda of Anarchy 25

_The simplest, most natural form of propaganda, telling
one’s faith to one’s neighbours—The group the unit of
public oral propaganda—Characteristics of the group, its
meetings, its statistics, its autonomy—Federations and
congresses—Communication between groups—Union meetings
of groups—Anarchist mass-meetings_—Punchs-conférences
and soupes-conférences—Ballades de propagande—Déjeuners
végétariens—_Amateur theatricals—The_ Maison du Peuple—Soirée
familiale—_The_ trimardeur—_The_ chanson _as a means of
propaganda, with examples 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—_The press
as a means of intercommunication between the_ camarades, _the_
trimardeurs, _and the groups_—L’Education Libertaire—_Amateur
papers—Ephemeral character of the anarchist press_—Le Père
Peinard _and its editors—Anarchist almanacks—Financial
difficulties of the anarchist press and methods of raising
funds—Difficulties encountered in publication and
circulation_—“Les Lois Scélérates”—_Placards and fliers—Paul
Robin and his system of_ éducation intégrale—Le Collège
Libertaire—_The study of the masters and of their forerunners
and disciples—Popular editions of great writers who tend
towards anarchy—Violent brochures._

IV. The Propaganda of Anarchy by Example 91

_Thoreau and Garrison as precursors of the anarchistic
attitude—Tolstoy on the propaganda by example—Its
importance—Practicable and impracticable acts of this
form of propaganda—Octave Mirbeau on depopulation—Pierre
Lavroff on propaganda by example—Anarchist
experiment stations and reasons for their failure—The
attitude of anarchists towards trade-unionism_—La grève
universelle—_The attitude of anarchists towards
co-operation_—La pan-coopération.

V. The Propaganda of Anarchy _par le Fait_ 105

_Lack of unanimity among French anarchists regarding this
method of propaganda—The emergence into public prominence of
the insurrectional idea—César de Paepe’s speech at the Geneva
Peace Congress of 1867—Declaration of the_ Fédération
Italienne—_Insurrections at Letino and San Galo,
Italy—Utterances at the Congresses of Fribourg and of the_
Fédération Jurasienne—_Distinction between the individual
overt act when directed against an official of the state and
when directed against an individual member of the_
bourgeoisie—_The latter acts disapproved by the majority of
anarchists—Elisée Reclus on this subject—The attitude of_ Les
Temps Nouveaux—_Zo d’Axa on the overt acts of
Ravachol—Statistics of the victims of anarchists—Reasons for
the alarm excited by the propaganda_ par le fait—_Some humorous
features of the panic during the period of “The Terror”—Theft
as a form of propaganda par_ le fait—_Charles Malato and Jean
Grave on this subject—Cases of Clément Duval and Pini—Extent
of anarchist thefts—Counterfeiting—Case of L’Abruti._

VI. The Causes of Propaganda _par le Fait_ 131

_Desire for vengeance the cause of the greater part of the
overt acts of anarchists—The death of Watrin—Such acts proceed
mainly from those who have suffered injustice either in their
own person or in that of those near to them—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—Collusion of state officials and police to turn
revolutionary disturbances to selfish ends—Legality often
strained by the government in its repressive measures—Overt
acts almost never the result of conspiracy—Belief in his
“mission” of the propagandist_ par le fait—_The_ stigmata _of this
vocation—Testimony of Björnson, Zola, and other
writers—Stimulating effect of the executions of anarchists
upon anarchist fanaticism—Sympathy of many who are not
anarchists excited by overstraining of legal forms and undue
severity in repressive measures—The apotheosis of
Vaillant—Anarchist anniversaries—Why so many violent
anarchists are Italians—England’s immunity from overt
anarchist acts—The futility of repressing the free expression
of 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 average
psychic type of the anarchist as indicated by A.
Hamon—Personal character of Ravachol, Pini, Duval,
Faugoux, Salsou—The anarchist’s abhorrence of cruelty
to animals—The propagandist_ par le fait _rarely a worthless
fellow—Frugality and domestic virtues of prominent
anarchist criminals—Personal courage of this type, with
notable examples._

VIII. Socialists and Other Revolutionists 167

_Revolutionary and evolutionary socialists—Radical differences
between theoretic socialism and anarchism—Practical aims
common to both—Similarity in methods of propaganda—Union of
anarchists and socialists against common enemies in troubled
periods—Similarity in attitude of both towards trade-unionism
and co-operation—Revolutionary tendencies of royalists,
imperialists, anti-Semites, and nationalists—Déroulède’s
proclamation to his electors—Anarchist approval of Jules
Guérin’s defence of “Fort Chabrol.”_

IX. The Revolutionary Traditions of the Latin Quarter 177

_The Sorbonne as a centre of epoch-making
thought—Abélard—Richness of the Latin Quarter in souvenirs of
intellectual and political revolution—Latin Quarter martyrs of
revolutionary thinking—Periods of cringing on the part of the
university the exception—The lawless student life of the
Middle Ages—The students in the time of Louis XIV.—The cafés
and cabarets as revolutionary agents—The conflict between
Romanticists and Classicists at the beginning of the
nineteenth century—The part played by the students in the
revolutions of_ 1830 _and_ 1848—_The student protest against the_
coup d’état _of the third Napoleon—The students as a
revolutionary force under the Second Empire—Vallès, Gambetta,
Vermesch, Blanqui, Rochefort—The students and the Commune—The
relation of the Latin Quarter cafés and cabarets to the
Commune—Love of laughter, love of liberty, and love of love
the three characteristic 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—The
truth and the falsity of the charge—Differences in the
present-day manifestation of the three characteristic traits
of the spirit of the Quarter—The dress and manners of students
of to-day—The contemporary_ grisette—_The anniversary of
Mürger—The real student cafés and cabarets—The student
publications—The_ cénacles _of the Quarter—The present hour
primarily a period of transition, the student of to-day
seeking his way—Revolutionary thought well represented in the
university faculties—Student outbreaks during the last thirty
years._

XI. Bohemians of the Latin Quarter 207

_Bohemians by choice—Those not attached to the university who
inhabit the Latin Quarter for the sake of its advantages, from
affection, or from force of habit—A typical example—Henri
Pille, Maurice Bouchor, Jean Richepin, Paul Bourget_—“Les
Vivants”—_Bohemians from necessity—Renegades from the
Bohemianism of the Quarter—Clovis Hugues on the sacrifice of
long hair—Two types of_ “moutons”—_Ways and means of the
Bohemians—Their hardships—The arrival of prosperity too late._

XII. Those who Starve 221

_Mürger’s_ Biographie d’un Inconnu—_A brief recital of its
story—The hero of the novel a permanent type_—Saint Joseph
de la Dèche—La misère en habit noir—_The case of
Dr. Laporte—The verdict of the judge._

XIII. Those who Kill Themselves 231

“La littérature qui tue”—_Picturesque suicide of a young
Latin Quarter poet as narrated by Emile Goudeau—Suicide
of René Leclerc—Other cases of suicide—Greater proportion
of suicide among victims_ of la misère en habit noir.

XIV. Freaks and Fumistes 239

_The_ chevaliers d’industrie _of the Quarter—Their detestation
of the_ bourgeoisie—_More comedy than tragedy in their lives—The
types of Vallès’_ Réfractaires—_Fontan-Crusoe, Poupelin, and
M. Chaque—Other vagabond types—Eugène Cochet, Amédée Cloux,
Bibi-la-Purée, La Mère Casimir, Le Marquis de Soudin, the
artist bard of Père Lunette’s, Achille Leroy, Gaillepand, La
Mère Souris, Victor Sainbault, Coulet—Professional humourists
and deliberate farceurs—Sapeck, Karl, Zo d’Axa—A novel
candidate—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—Origin
of the phrase—Literary, artistic, and musical celebrities who
have eaten of the_ Vache Enragée—_The manner of living of the
typical_ Montmartrois—_His resourcefulness—His poses and
so-called affectations often devices for cheap living—The
restaurants, cafés, crèmeries, and cabarets of
Montmartre—Their traditions and their esprit de corps—The
Montmartre of the tourist—The real Montmartre—Its relation to
Paris—Cost of living at Montmartre—Spring-time in 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—The_ Grand’
Pinte—_Rodolphe Salis—The origin, career, and influence of
the_ Chat Noir—_Its successors and imitators—Closest existing
counterparts of the_ Chat Noir—Le Conservatoire, Le Cabaret
des Quat’z’ Arts, Le Cabaret des Arts, La Veine, La Boîte à
Fursy, and Le Tréteau de Tabarin—_Bohemian conclaves which
have superseded the cabarets—The chanson as a moulder of
public opinion—Revolutionary chansons in Montmartre
cabarets—Jules Jouy, Maxime Lisbonne, Marcel Legay, Gaston
Couté, Xavier Privas_—Cabarets brutaux—_Bruant’s_ Mirliton,
_Alexandre’s_ Cabaret Bruyant—_Three poets of talent imbued
with a revolutionary spirit, Bruant, Jehan Rictus, Maurice
Boukay—The revolutionary traditions of Montmartre—Bourgeois
fear of Montmartre_—“Montmartre va descendre”—_The relations
between the workingmen, the littérateurs, and the artists at
Montmartre—Their revolutionary spirit._

XVII. The Revolutionary Spirit in Prose Literature and
the Drama 313

_The revolutionary attitude of Tolstoy, Ibsen, and
Zola—Revolutionary influence of Anatole France and Octave
Mirbeau—Lucien Descaves—Victor Barrucand and his campaign for
free bread—Other novelists whose works have a revolutionary
trend—Revolutionary psychology—Rosny’s_ Le Bilatéral—_Other
fiction writers who understand the gravity of the issue—The
influence of “les auteurs gais”—Essayists, critics, and
philosophers who are more or less militant iconoclasts or
révoltés—The origin and influence of_ L’Endehors—_The
subsequent activity of the_ Endehors group—_The group of_
L’Idée Nouvelle—Revues des jeunes—_Other_ revues _hospitable
to revolutionary writings—Octave Mirbeau, Lucien Descaves,
Maurice Donnay—Other playwrights whose pieces are frankly
revolutionary—Playwrights whose works are revolutionary by
implication—The_ Théâtre Libre _and its successors—Variety
theatres and concert halls—The trend of literature from
socialism to anarchism—The testimony of Clovis Hugues and
Fierens-Gevaert—The relation of the French_ libertaire _literary
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—Revolutionary singers in France at the beginning of the
nineteenth century—Hégésippe Moreau, Victor Hugo, Eugène
Vermesch—Living poets of revolt—Laurent Tailhade, Jean
Richepin—Tailhade’s imprisonment—The socialist poets Clovis
Hugues and Maurice Bouchor—The relations between freedom of
expression and freedom of thought in poetry—More
revolutionists among artists than in any other class engaged
in liberal pursuits—Courbet, Cazin, Carrière—Impressionism and
the revolutionary spirit—Luce and Signac_—The Salon des
Indépendants _as a refuge for revolutionists—The import of the
work of Rodin and Meunier—Jules Dalou—Painters who picture the
Christ in a modern setting—The revolutionary leanings of the_
dessinateurs—_Léandre, Forain, Hermann-Paul, Willette,
Steinlen_—L’Assiette au Beurre—_The revolutionary attitude of
the great body of contemporary French caricaturists towards
the institutions of society—Bernard Shaw’s comment on the
music of Wagner—Wagner as a revolutionist—The revolutionary
spirit in the new school of French music—Alfred Bruneau and
Gustave Charpentier_—Louise—_The evident connection between
the anarchistic philosophy and polyphonic orchestration, vers
libre, and impressionism in art._

XIX. To What End? 391

_The advice of Gamaliel, the Pharisee, on innovators in
religion and the words of Montaigne concerning the strange
and the incredible—The proper province of philosophic
doubt_—“La folie d’hier est la sagesse de demain”—_The
difficulty with which human nature realises the truth of
the maxim—The attitude of public opinion to Barrucand’s
scheme for free bread—Pertinent questions regarding
the alleged unreasonableness of revolutionary theories—The
theories of anarchism and socialism in comparison
with the history of social evolution—The natural result of
education of the masses—A successful social revolution no
guarantee of a millennium—The essentials of happiness
found in the eternal realities of life._

ILLUSTRATIONS

Sellers of _Chansons_ Frontispiece

The Anarchist’s Dream Vignette Title-page

Place Clichy (_Vignette Section Title_) Page 1

Jean Grave in his Workshop facing ” 10

La France Libre (_Tailpiece_) ” 22

Mauled to Death for shouting _“Vive l’Armée”_ ” 35

A Contrast in Dances:—

I. A Ball at the _Maison du Peuple_ facing ” 38

II. Dancing at the _Moulin Rouge_

A _Trimardeur_ disputing with Socialists ” 40

Evening in a _Cabaret_ facing ” 42

_A la Renommée des Pommes-de-terres Frites_ ” 52

“_Enlevez l’homme tonneau_” (_Tailpiece_) ” 57

Dormer-window of Jean Grave’s Workshop

(_Office of “Les Temps Nouveaux”_) facing ” 62

Pierre Joseph Proudhon ” 74

Little Anarchists ” 75

A Revolutionary Poster (_Tailpiece_) ” 87

Charles Malato ” 112

A Raid by the Police (_Tailpiece_) ” 127

Salsou ” 135

A Street Riot (_Place de la Concorde_) facing ” 148

The Guillotine in Moonlight (_Tailpiece_) ” 152

Louise Michel ” 158

Anniversary Decorations, _Mur des Fédérés_ (_Tailpiece_) ” 163

A Socialist Bookshelf ” 167

M. Vaillant ” 168

Léandre’s Caricature of Paul Déroulède facing ” 168

M. Brousse ” 169

M. Jaurès ” 170

M. Guesde ” 171

M. Allemane ” 171

Jules Guérin ” 172

“_Montmartre va descendre_” (_Vignette Section Title_) ” 173

Mégotiers of the Place Maubert ” 179

Notre Dame from Pont d’Austerlitz (_Tailpiece_) ” 185

A Caveau of the Latin Quarter ” 189

A Latin Quarter Type (_Félix Gras’ Son_) facing ” 198

The Panthéon (_Tailpiece_) ” 203

Jean Richepin ” 212

Taverne du Panthéon on Mardigras facing ” 216

The Institute (_Tailpiece_) ” 218

The Louvre (_Tailpiece_) ” 227

A Suicide of the Latin Quarter ” 233

The Pont du Carrousel (_Tailpiece_) ” 236

Site of the Château Rouge (_rue Galande_) facing ” 246

Zo d’Axa’s Novel Candidate ” 248

Second-hand Book Mart of the Latin Quarter (_Tailpiece_) ” 253

Grün’s Design for Float in Cavalcade of _La Vache Enragée_ ” 258

The Real Montmartre (I. _La rue Mont-Cénis_) facing ” 262

Montmartre Types ” 268

The Real Montmartre (II. _La rue St. Vincent_) facing ” 268

The Real Montmartre (III. _La rue Mont-Cénis_) ” 273

A Montmartre Carrousel (_Tailpiece_) ” 278

The Real Montmartre (IV. _Cabaret du Lapin Agile_) ” 281

At Aristide Bruant’s
(_Cabaret du Boulevard Rochechouart_) facing ” 284

“Buffalo” ” 290

Alexandre ” 294

At Alexandre’s (_Cabaret de la rue Pigalle_) facing ” 296

Maurice Boukay ” 297

_Maquereaux_ ” 300

Jehan Rictus (_with fac-simile of manuscript_) facing ” 300

“_Les Corbeaux_” (_Tailpiece_) ” 310

Emile Zola facing ” 314

Anatole France ” 317

A Pair of Army Officers ” 321

Octave Mirbeau ” 326

Xavier Privas delivering his Lecture “_L’Argent
contre l’Humanité_” facing ” 342

La Comédie Française (_Tailpiece_) ” 358

Laurent Tailhade facing ” 368

Clovis Hugues ” 369

Paris from Montmartre (_Tailpiece_) ” 388

A Contrast in Funerals facing ” 394

The Eternal Realities (_Endpiece_) ” 399

PART I

THE PEOPLE

“_I think I hear a little bird who sings
The people by and by will be the stronger:
The veriest jade will wince whose harness wrings
So much into the raw as quite to wrong her
Beyond the rules of posting,—and the mob
At last fall sick of imitating Job._”

LORD BYRON.