After alluding airily to the
Vehmgericht, aqua tofana, Carbonari, the Marchioness de Brinvilliers, the Darwinian theory, the principles of Malthus, and the Ratcliff Highway murders, the article concluded by admonishing the Government and advocating a closer watch over foreigners in England.
(78) Anyone attempting to renege on such agreements would incur the wrath of the artel and might be, in Kennan's words, "condemned to death by this merciless Siberian
Vehmgericht." Even those who escaped immediate punishment might subsequently be hunted down and found with their throats slit in some remote village or waystation.