Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth CenturyDonnelly, Ignatius
Science
Cæsar's Column: A Story of the Twentieth Century
Donnelly, Ignatius
Dystopias -- Fiction; New York (N.Y.) -- Fiction; Science fiction; Social problems -- Fiction; Twentieth century -- Fiction
Valley, which you all remember, and a white man, of gigantic stature,
appeared as their leader, a man of great daring and enterprise. When
that rebellion had been suppressed, after many battles, the white man
disappeared; and it is now claimed that he is in this city at the
head of this terrible Brotherhood of Destruction; and that he is the
same Cæsar Lomellini who was once a peaceful farmer in the State of
Jefferson."
The spy paused. The Prince said:
"Well, who are the others?"
"It is reported that the second in command, but really 'the brains of
the organization,' as he is called by the men, is a Russian Jew. His
name I could not learn; very few have seen him or know anything about
him. He is said to be a cripple, and to have a crooked neck. It is
reported he was driven out of his synagogue in Russia, years ago, for
some crimes he had committed. He is believed to be the man who
organized the Brotherhood in Europe, and he has come here to make the
two great branches act together. If what is told of him be true, he
must be a man of great ability, power and cunning."
"Who is the third?" asked the Prince.
"There seems to be more obscurity about him than either of the
others," replied the spy. "I heard once that he was an American, a
young man of great wealth and ability, and that he had furnished much
of the money needed to carry on the Brotherhood. But this again is
denied by others. Jenkins, who was one of our party, and who was
killed some months since, told me, in our last interview, that he had
penetrated far enough to find out who the third man was; and he told
me this curious story, which may or may not be true. He said that
several years ago there lived in this city a man of large fortune, a
lawyer by education, but not engaged in the practice of his
profession, by the name of Arthur Phillips. He was a benevolent man,
of scholarly tastes, and something of a dreamer. He had made a study
of the works of all the great socialist writers, and had become a
convert to their theories, and very much interested in the cause of
the working people. He established a monthly journal for the
dissemination of his views. He spoke at the meetings of the workmen,
and was very much beloved and respected by them. Of course, so
Jenkins said, all this was very distasteful to the ruling class (I am
only repeating the story as it was told to me, your lordships will
please remember), and they began to persecute him. First he was
ostracised from his caste. But this did not trouble him much. He had
no family but his wife and one son who was away at the university. He
redoubled his exertions to benefit the working classes. At this time
he had a lawsuit about some property with a wealthy and influential
man, a member of the government. In the course of the trial Phillips
produced a writing, which purported to be signed by two men, and
witnessed by two others; and Phillips swore he saw all of them sign
it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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