ey proposed, in the words of Bakounin, "to destroy
something--a person, a cause, a condition that hinders the emancipation
of the people."[8] Consequently, they undertook immediately to carry
into effect these new theories of propaganda, and during the year 1877
they organized two important demonstrations, the avowed purpose of which
was to show anarchism in action.

The first event, which occurred at Bern, March 18, under the leadership
of Paul Brousse, was a manifestation to celebrate the anniversary of the
proclamation of the Commune. All the members of the Jura Federation were
invited to take part, and the red flag was to be unfurled. Among the
most conspicuous in this demonstration were Brousse, Werner, Chopard,
Schwitzguebel, Kropotkin, Pindy, Jeallot, Ferre, Spichiger, Guillaume,
and George Plechanoff, recently arrived from St. Petersburg. The
participants became mixed up in a violent affray in the streets, blows
were exchanged between them and the police, but in the effort to tear
away the red flags many of the gendarmes were wounded. The climax came
on August 16 of the same year, when twenty-five of the _manifestants_
appeared before the correctional tribunal of Bern, accused "(1) of
participation in a brawl with deadly instruments, (2) of resisting, by
means of force, the employees of the police." Most of the prisoners were
condemned to imprisonment, the terms varying from ten days to two
months. James Guillaume was condemned to forty days, Brousse to a month.
The latter and five other convicted foreigners were also banished for
three years from the canton of Bern.[9]

The second of these demonstrations took place in April in the form of an
insurrectionary movement of the Internationalists of Italy. They chose
the massive group of mountains which border on the Province of Benevent
for the scene of their operations, and made Naples their headquarters.
During the whole of the preceding winter they were occupied in making
their preparations, and endeavoring to gain the support of the peasants
of the near-by villages. They instructed all those who joined their
cause from Emilia, Romagna, and Tuscany to be ready for action the
beginning of April, as soon as the snow disappeared from the summits of
the Apennines. According to information furnished by Malatesta to
Guillaume, on April 6 and 7 they journeyed from San Lupo (Province of
Benevent) into the region at the south of the Malta Mountains (Province
of Caserte).