derived his Anarchist
convictions. Anarchists refer not seldom to the gray-headed Master of
Sociology as one of themselves; and still more often do the Socialists
allude to him as an Anarchist. People like Laveleye, Lafarque, and
(lately) Professor Enrico Ferri,[1] have allowed themselves to speak
of Spencer's Anarchist and Individualist views in his book, _The
Individual versus the State_. If Vaillant, the bomb-thrower, rejoiced
in such ignorance of persons and things as to quote Spencer, without
thinking, as a fellow-thinker, we need hardly say much about it; but
when men who are regarded as authorities in so-called scientific
Socialism, do the same, we can only perceive the small amount either
of conscientiousness or science with which whole tendencies of the
social movement are judged, and judged too by a party which, before
all others, is interested in procuring correct and precise judgments
on this matter. For those who number Herbert Spencer among the
Anarchists, either do not understand the essence of Anarchism, or else
do not understand Spencer's views; or both are to them a _terra
incognita_.

[1] _Socialismus und Moderne Wissenschaft_, p. 129. Leipsic,
1895.

As far as concerns the book, _The Individual versus the State_
(London, 1885), this is really only a closely printed pamphlet of some
thirty pages, in which Spencer certainly attacks Socialism severely as
an endeavour to strengthen an organisation of society, based on
compulsion, at the expense of individual freedom and of voluntary
organisations already secured; but not a single Anarchist thought is
to be found in his pages, unless any form of opposition to forcing
human life into a social organisation of regimental severity is to be
called Anarchism. We may remark _en passant_ that here we have a
splendid example of freedom of thought as understood by the
Socialists; in their (so-called) free people's State the elements of
Anarchism would assume a much more repulsive form than under the
present _bourgeois_ conditions. And that is just what Spencer
prophesies in his little book.

Spencer appeals in this work to his views upon a possible organisation
of society better than the present, as he has indicated in _The Study
of Sociology_, _Political Institutions_, and elsewhere; and we think
we ought to permit the appeal and present Spencer's views, not for the
sake of Herbert Spencer--for we cannot undertake to defend everyone
who is suspected