he dictatorship of the mob; which is rejected
in theory by Anarchists of all types, just as much as any other kind
of authority. That the followers of Baboeuf had nothing else in view
is shown by the two placards prepared for this day, one of which said,
"Those who usurp the sovereignty ought to be put to death by free
men," while the other, explaining and limiting the first, demanded the
"Constitution of 1793, liberty, equality, and universal happiness."
This constitution of 1793 was, however, Robespierre's work, and
certainly did not mean the introduction of Anarchy.

Echoes and traditions of Baboeuf's views, often passing through
intermediaries like Buonarotti, are found in the Carbonarists of the
first thirty years of our own century, and applied to this (as to so
many other popular movements) the epithet "Anarchical," so glibly
uttered by the lips of the people. But among the chiefs, at least, of
that secret society that was once so powerful, we find no trace of it;
on the contrary they declared absolute freedom to be a delusion which
could never be realised. Yet even here, though the fundamental dogma
of Anarchism is rejected, we notice a step forward in the extension of
the Anarchist idea. It was indeed rejected by the members of that
society, but it was known to them, and what is more, they take account
of it, and support every effort which, by encouraging individualism
to an unlimited extent, is hostile to the union of society as such.
Thus we even find individual Carbonarists with pronounced Anarchist
views and tendencies. Malegari, for instance, in 1835, described the
_raison d'etre_ of the organisation in these words[11]: "We form a
union of brothers in all parts of the earth; we all strive for the
freedom of mankind; we wish to break every kind of yoke."

[11] J. A. M. Bruehle: _Die Geheimbunde gegen Rom. Zur Genesis
der italien. Revolution._ Prague, 1860.

Between the time when these words were spoken and the appearance of
the famous _What is Property?_ and the _Individual and his Property_,
there elapsed only about ten years. How much since then has been
changed, whether for better or worse, how much has been cleared up
and confused, in the life and thought of the nations!

* * * * *

Feuerbach described the development which he had passed through as a
thinker in the words: "God was my first thought, Reason my second, Man
my third and last." Not only Feuerbach,