One hundred years ago
A MONSTROUS story comes from Paris. Three Anarchists have been arrested, against whom, it is said, there is evidence that they intended to carry out their principles by poisoning all the members of a fashionable club. Sub- stances supposed to be poisonous have been found in their possession, and one of them has made efforts to obtain a place as a waiter in the club. Letters, moreover, have been found written in cipher which point to such a conspiracy. We do not know why the use of poison should seem worse than the use of dynamite; but it does, probably because it involves a deeper treachery. The police of Paris seem to have been thor- oughly aroused, and the Anarchists' bomb factory has been discovered; but five cases of dynamite have recently been stolen en route from a factory of explosives to a port, and they cannot be traced. "Beneficent science" has cer- tainly not added greatly to the happi- ness of life in France. An Anarchist waiter in the refreshment-rooms of the Chamber, with the knowledge of an apothecary, and the heart of De Quincey's hero, Williams, might destroy a whole generation of political emi- nences. The Spectator 28 March 1892
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