Life Among the Socialists of a German University.

In Leipsic University, a few years ago, the socialistic element was particularly strong. German Socialists, Russian Nihilists, and bold radical spirits from Poland, Roumania, and other countries of Europe, composed a strange and reckless company in the heart of the university. A young American, of extremely radical views, entered the university at about this time, and it was his fortune to meet in daily intercourse the most extreme socialistic and nihilistic section. B - , as his name may be called, had determined to earn his own living for the first year, and, as a result, he soon found himself in the Convictorium, - an institution in which three hundred impecunious students received free, but very scanty board. At B's table were only those who had obtained scholarships in Political Economy, and as the socialists took the greatest interest in that subject, his party embraced the leading socialists of the hall. The party consisted of four Germans, two Russians, two Roumanians, and one representative each from Poland, Switzerland, Greece, and America, and a wild fantastic group they made, both in appearance and in opinions. Their dress was plain, but varied and nondescript, partaking of the striking characteristics of the various nationalities represented. The determined though uneasy air of each man showed plainer than any words the powerful and turbulent forces with which despotic governments would later be compelled to contend.

Many of the students had had a bitter personal experience with their governments, and many others had seen relatives and dear friends arrested, on mere suspicion, and banished even without trial. Naturally politics was the ill-absorbing topic of conversation, and, as may be imagined, the young reformers, although united in opposition to the existing evils of society, were often divided by the most conflicting opinions as to the remedy of those evils. The club to which the young American belonged, was a veritable centre of political news; and many of the members were active writers for the press, and also corresponded with leading politicians. Writing and teaching was a great resource to the poor students, obliged to earn their own living. They were not mere theorists, but showed a practical earnestness by giving public lectures to workingmen on great economical and political questions. Some gave lectures once a week before the workingmen's societies, while others had classes of working-men in the same subjects. Nearly all were assisting, either by writing or by teaching, in the propagation of liberal ideas.

Notwithstanding the hardships suffered by many of the company, and their fierce struggles, first for existence and then for an education, the young socialists, old beyond their years and savage in their hatred of the existing order of things, showed among themselves a manly cordiality and a true convivial spirit. The American pronounced them all "good fellows." Yet each preserved his strong personality at all times, and it would be hard to find any where such resolution and firmness of character as was exhibited by these students.

The personal history of some of the students was thrilling. The oldest of the two Russians, a man of middle age, was a medical student. As a teacher, a lay doctor, and the propagandist of liberal ideas, he wandered over Russia for ten years. He had seen with pitying eye the misery and suffering of his native land under the despotic rule of the Czar. He had followed his own brother, banished without trial, in his weary march to Siberia, until driven away from the band of exiles by the brutal blows of the guards. Soon he expected to take his degree, and then to wander again as a physician and propagandist among the peasants of Russia. Another remarkable man was a Jew, from Southern Russia. He had been arrested for publishing a paper, and thrown into prison without trial. He was kept for six months with thirty other men, in a room dirty beyond description.

These two examples will suffice to give an idea of the previous life of many of the students. The Germans and Russians were the ablest men of the party in the Convictorium, and evinced an extended knowledge of the writers on political science. One characteristic of these student socialists which may surprise the reader, is their hatred of violence as a means in attaining their ends. They deplored unanimously the assassination of the Czar as an event which would weaken the cause. Their purpose was a thorough economical education of the laboring classes in order that they might use the ballot intelligently to secure those great reforms so sadly needed. The majority of the students were ardent followers of Carl Marx, and possessed the greatest confidence in the power of the people to establish that form of society which would bring the greatest prosperity and happiness to the human race. The influence of so large a number of resolute, able men, well educated, and fitted in every way to be the leaders of a great popular movement, must be regarded as a powerful and significant factor in the tremendous problems of social life, and the opinions and character of these students can not fail to be of great interest to all who sympathize with the oppressed and down-trodden of the earth.