en regle.”  If it was thought that he did not deserve this, he had a “conduite de Grenoble.”  Each Compagnon had a surname, and among such surnames we find The Prudence of Draguignan, The Flower of Bagnolet and The Liberty of Chateauneuf.  The unfortunate part was that among the different societies, instead of the union that ought to have reigned, there were rivalries, quarrels, fights, and sometimes all this led to serious skirmishes; Agricol Perdiguier undertook to preach to the different societies peace and tolerance.  He went about travelling through France with this object in view.  His second expedition was-at George Sand’s expense.

A fresh edition of his book contained the letters of approval addressed to him by those who approved his campaign.  Among these signatures are the following:  Nantais-Pret-a-bien-faire, Bourgignonla-Felicite, Decide-le-Briard.  All this is a curious history of the syndicates of the nineteenth century.  Agricol Perdiguier may have seen the Confederation du Travail dawning in the horizon.

In the Compagnon du Tour de France, Pierre Huguenin, a carpenter, travels about among all these different societies of the Compagnonnage, and lets us see something of their competition, rivalries, battles, etc.  He is then sent for to the Villepreux Chateau, to do some work.  The noble Yseult falls in love with this fine-talking carpenter, and at once begs him to make her happy by marrying her.

In the Meunier d’Angibault it is a working locksmith, Henri Lemor, who falls in love with Marcelle de Blanchemont.  Born to wealth, she regrets that she is not the daughter or the mother of workingmen.  Finally, however, she loses her fortune, and rejoices in this event.  The personage who stands out in relief in this novel is the miller, Grand Louis.  He is always gay and contented, with a smile on his lips, singing lively songs and giving advice to every one.

In the Peche de M. Antoine, the role of Grand Louis falls to Jean the carpenter.  In this story all the people are communists, with the exception of the owner of the factory, who, in consequence, is treated with contempt.  His son Emile marries the daughter of Monsieur Antoine.  Her name is Gilberte, and a silly old man, the Marquis de Boisguilbaut, leaves her all his money, on condition that the young couple found a colony of agriculturists in which there shall be absolute communism.  All these stories, full of eloquence and dissertations on the misfortune of being rich and the corrupting influence of wealth, would be insufferable, if it were not for the fact that the Angibault mill were in the Black Valley, and the crumbling chateau, belonging to Monsieur Antoine, on the banks of the Creuse.