artment inhabited by three young men and four
young women, all of whom, though belonging by birth to the educated
classes, had the appearance of ordinary factory workers, prepared their
own food, did with their own hands all the domestic work, and sought
to avoid everything which could distinguish them from the labouring
population. In the apartment were found 240 copies of revolutionary
pamphlets, a considerable sum of money, a large amount of correspondence
in cypher, and several forged passports.

How many persons the society contained, it is impossible to say, because
a large portion of them eluded the vigilance of the police; but many
were arrested, and ultimately forty-seven were condemned. Of these,
eleven were noble, seven were sons of parish priests, and the remainder
belong to the lower classes--that is to say, the small officials,
burghers, and peasants. The average age of the prisoners was
twenty-four, the oldest being thirty-six and the youngest under
seventeen! Only five or six were over twenty-five, and none of these
were ringleaders. The female element was represented by no less than
fifteen young persons, whose ages were on an average under twenty-two.
Two of these, to judge by their photographs, were of refined,
prepossessing appearance, and seemingly little fitted for taking part in
wholesale massacres such as the society talked of organising.

The character and aims of the society were clearly depicted in the
documentary and oral evidence produced at the trial. According to the
fundamental principles, there should exist among the members absolute
equality, complete mutual responsibility and full frankness and
confidence with regard to the affairs of the association. Among the
conditions of admission we find that the candidate should devote himself
entirely to revolutionary activity; that he should be ready to sever
all ties, whether of friendship or of love, for the good cause; that
he should possess great powers of self-sacrifice and the capacity for
keeping secrets; and that he should consent to become, when necessary,
a common labourer in a factory. The desire to maintain absolute equality
is well illustrated by the article of the statutes regarding the
administration: the office-bearers are not to be chosen by election,
but all members are to be office-bearers in turn, and the term of office
must not exceed one month!

The avowed aim of the society was to destroy the existing social order,
and