BAKUNIN  THE  APOSTLE  OF  NIHILISM.  235
garrison  allowed  itself  to  be  disarmed,  and  the  barracks  ^sre
set  on  fire.  Meanwhile  newly  installed  republicans  governed
the  Spanish  Republic.  Castelar,  Sunar,  Pi  y  Margall,  and
Salmerón  were  in  power,  but  they  were  denounced  as  traitors.
On  the  7th  of  July  there  was  a  general  strike  in  the  industrial
town  of  Alcoy.  They  came  to  blows.  The  Alcade  and  some
gendarmes  defended  themselves  for  some  days  in  the  buildings
of  the  municipality.  The  insurgents  took  as  hostages  some
priests  and  some  manufacturers.  The  Alcade  and  the  gendarmes ­
  were  made  prisoners  and  then  put  to  death  by  the
crowd,  and  six  public  edifices  were  burnt  to  the  ground.
On  the  12th  of  July  the  great  insurrection  of  Carthagena
broke  out.  The  sailors  and  marines  fraternized  with  the
Socialists,  and  the  ironclads  fell  into  their  hands.  General
Contreras  put  himself  at  their  head  and  bombarded  the  town
of  Almeria.  He  would  probably  have  got  possession  of  the
other  seaports,  had  it  not  been  for  the  intervention  of  the
foreign  fleets.  By  the  20th  of  July,  the  Cantonalists,  with  whom
the  gendarmerie  and  the  troops  had  fraternized,  were  masters
of  the  province  of  Castellón.  A  committee  of  public  safety
ruled  at  Seville.  The  duration  of  the  working  day  was  limited
to  eight  hours.  The  relations  between  masters  and  workmen
were  to  be  regulated  on  the  principle  of  “absolute  liberty.
In  order  to  prepare  for  the  “social  liquidation,"  all  rents  were
reduced  by  one-half,  the  property  of  the  churches  was  confiscated, ­
  and  all  pensions  were  abolished.  All  closed  factories
and  workshops,  as  well  as  all  uncultivated  lands,  were  assigned
to  those  who  could  turn  them  to  account.  At  Granada  the
Cantonalists  resolved  that  the  churches  should  be  sold,  that
the  bells  should  be  melted  and  the  metal  made  into  coins,  and
that  an  overwhelming  tax  should  be  levied  on  the  rich.  At
Carmona  there  was  a  battle  in  the  streets  which  lasted  the
entire  day.  Cadiz,  Murcia,  San  Fernando,  Valencia,  and
Salamanca  also  joined  the  Cantonalist  movement  It  seemed
on  the  point  of  being  everywhere  triumphant;  but  these
revolutionists,  who  proclaimed  anarchy,  through  anarchy  were
destined  to  fall.  Amid  the  general  disorganization,  the  orders
of  the  leaders  were  not  obeyed.  The  insurgents  had  no  real