Perhaps it was this conservatism on my part that caused my advice to
be sought after by the inner circle; what you might term the governing
body of the anarchists; for, strange as it may appear, this
organisation, sworn to put down all law and order, was itself most
rigidly governed, with a Russian prince elected as its chairman, a man
of striking ability, who, nevertheless, I believe, owed his election
more to the fact that he was a nobleman than to the recognition of his
intrinsic worth. And another point which interested me much was that
this prince ruled his obstreperous subjects after the fashion of
Russian despotism, rather than according to the liberal ideas of the
country in which he was domiciled. I have known him more than once
ruthlessly overturn the action of the majority, stamp his foot, smite
his huge fist on the table, and declare so and so should not be done,
no matter what the vote was. And the thing was not done, either.
At the more recent period of which I speak, the chairmanship of the
London anarchists was held by a weak, vacillating man, and the mob had
got somewhat out of hand. In the crisis that confronted us, I yearned
for the firm fist and dominant boot of the uncompromising Russian.
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