The sun., 1894-03-04
voLTAIRINE DE CLEYRE
PHTLhDELPnIA's WOMAN ANARcBIsT,
HER THEORIES AND VBRsEs

EsEisud Puritaa womsn, she Was Borr
60 Esthu.,ssu, sad Hobbies-RabId .,
| Her AnarchI-., srd Believes In Usbnp
| piuss- s- Part OF the Highest Id.nI Lite
| Picture to yourself a tall womau-her age
may be- 30 years-with an oval face pale as a
students deep-set blue eyes. teeth white and
| even, a countenance grave far beyond her
years save when a slow smile brightens II
picture this young woman sitting opposite
you. expoundne calmly aud clearly tho doc
| trine OF anarchy. and you arc In the presence
OF voltairine de Cleyre.
| To the readers OF newspapers the name IA
| not a familiar one. Even among the Anarchists
that is. among the rank and file OF those
who attend the Anarchist meetings and listen
| in open m ptled admiration 10 what the lead
| ers have to sly-it Is not widely known. II Is
| the name. however. Of n young woman who is
probably the cleverest Anarchist in this coun-
try, who. we're she to work in that osten-
tatious fashion which seems to take we'll with
Anarchists. might some day become their rec
oGnized leader.
few months ago there was a meeting OF
Anarchists in this city to denounce the arrest
and conviction OF Emma Goldman. and
among the speakers was Miss Voltairine de
Cleyre. So eloquent plea and clever a
speech as hers was had never been heard at a
New York Anarchist meeting before
81 have not tongue OF 1re as Emma Gold
mann has" she said. 81 cannot stir tho peo-
pie. l must speak In my own cold way,
otherwise would not he allowed TO speak at
all But II had the power
Were Brutus
And Brutus Antony. there were an Antony
Would rune up your spirits. and put tongue
In every wound OF Cr'ars that should NOV,
The stones OF Rome to rise and mutny.
H. therefore. 1 do not give you the advice
which Emma Goldman gave you. let not the
authorities suppose It is because have any
more respect for their Constitution and their
law than she had or that regard them as
being right in the matter"
The influence which such q speaker could
have upon an inflammable minded audience
can easily be imagined THE Sun sent a re-
porter to lind this young woman and
learn something Of her history. but she had
disappeared ns suddenly and. seemingly. as
mysteriously as she had turned up. And. al
though. as it now appears. she made no at
tempt to conceal herself. yet no one to whom
THE SnN reporter applied during those two
months could tell where she lived.
The other day. however one OF the Assistant
District Attorneys OF this county received n
pamphlet. OF which the title page read as fol-
lows: In Defence OF Emma Goldman and
the Right OF appropriation. By Voltairine do
Ccyre. 3.Jl5 Wallace street. Pntlade phia."
The next day THIS Sun representative called
upon Miss de Cleyre.
A little room on the second floor Of typical
with the odor OF books and ornain ented with
NAM NAM strange shells and q. dried s7nrll.hes. is
read snG viii tell you %hn MGas you
some sage once said. A glance at Miss do
Cleyre's library tells more ei9Guently than an
Proudhon. Karl Marx. Ferdinand l.assalle,
Adam Smith, Aristotle, ,spinoza, and ,Conte
of her study. a silent index to her character.
writing table. upon which stood por:
' water % G'S % sa soadsses sSsS
ming sat Miss dc Cleyre.
York to says ~ shs tn. .. S% TSS NST
can / say to yout"
Indeed. when he sa. face to face with this
eyes. and that she was comely and young and
very womanly in her appearance and her
centrate his mind upon the fact that here was
an Anarchist OF the most radical type.
She smiled the SLOW, calm smile OF woman
who does not smile ofton.
course sew You ID do mo not % want to E1oW-ToitairIne
do Cleyre is one Of the most rabd Anarchists
OF this country That's the way yopr story
too II you like. is that what you wantY | see
by your face thT YOU are dsGustcd Don't
are outspoken. even II what thcy say is not
iia!ttsring,"
We'll. suppose It was born in me- although
L. DID not T know ot IL until certain circum-
She spoke very slowly. selecting each word
with care. and concentrating her attention
upon her answer as though she feared to make
NY father was French Communist, and
was sure TO become enthusiastic over some-
thing or other. wan born in Michigan. where
voted considerable attention to some Of the
subjects which interest me now. and although
dation for my subsequent studies.
When l left college was a free thinker. |
thought. had always been Interested in the |
relation OF the sexes and after leaving college |
! devoted great deal of thought to the sub |
erng a lecture on free thought In Iinesville,
Ia. met Chicago lawyer whose name WAS |
and became acquainted with him. A short |
time alter that heard him lecture on social |
vi remained rem soeiSiist for W about lTT Six Ws.is
and then found the true solution Of the So
eial problem ! became an Anarchist i was
could Join II he wished, Among the regular
who was a communistic Anarchist lie ire-
quently spoke at these meetings in favor OF |
reasoning. He took advantage OF my own
arguments 10 push me into n corner and mako |
mo Aiullt tnht was all wrong. ! nAu many |
long talks with him, in which stood uD for
socialism and he for anarchism-authority |
versus Individual liberty lie nsver could |
convince me OF the truth, CT communism. but
what he told me induced mo to study anar-
chism as a science. read stephen Pearl An
drowss Science OF Society Lysanier spoon
eL's letter 70 Grover Cleveland. and Proudhon's |
what Is ProPertyr 2 and gradually became
an Anarchist"
VIXEN did you begin to Lecturer"
Il have never been what is commonly called
an agitator. not that have not been willing to |
become one, but because have not the ability. /
To ne an Agitator one must he able to speak
without much preparation, My speeches must
always be- prepared. and il takes me quite a
long while TO prepare them. don't care mprh |
Tor eHtemnoraneous speakers Their speeches
are disconnected and badly ATrang ed as q rule
1 have not lectuTed often on anarchsm al.
though my anGIchistic ideas have influenced
my Viows on every other subject | look al
through anarchists speetacles."
non what other su bjects do you lecturaY"
II have lsctuIed on ethics, although. OF
course, my anarchism ie as much u system OF
sthics as II is q System OF economy on religion
p which am a free thinker on the race ques-
lion in relation to the development OF society
and on the woman question. have delivered |
more lectures on the woman question than on
m ALI 50 |