arrested upon his arrival in Serbia. He was already known in Eastern Europe by his book, Serbia in the East, which had been published recently (1872). The new Prime Minister, Jovan Ristić, immediately released him. Ristić owed his position to the whim of Prince Milan, and as a result, was opposed by both the liberals and the conservatives. Ristić hoped that releasing Marković would keep the socialists off his back. On 8 November 1873, a new newspaper, Javnost ("The Public") began publication in Kragujevac with Marković as editor. Marković was initially quite gentle on the new conservative government that had come to power only a few weeks before Javnost began publication. Javnost'''s criticism quickly became more strident. The government lost patience and on 8 January 1874, Marković was arrested, even though he had handed over editorship by then. In the meanwhile, his supporters were running another newspaper, Glas Javnosti, which was started in anticipation of Javnost being banned. Trial Marković had been in ill health for some time and being kept in a damp, poorly heated cell in a Požarevac gaol made matters worse. His trial for "press crimes" began on 19 February 1874. Defending himself against the charges that he had "insulted" the National Assembly by dismissing it as a mere debating society, Marković answered that he had written the truth. He then launched into a defense of the freedom of the press. On the charge that he had defended the right of the people "to overthrow a prince who does them evil and replace him with a good one", he denied that this was a call for revolution. He had been talking in the abstract. 16 years before the Marković trial, the Serbian people and the National Assembly exercised this right and in 1858 deposed Prince Alexander Karađorđević and recalled the reigning prince's father, Miloš Obrenović to the throne. The trial attracted a large audience, including many of the local peasants. As a result of the trial Marković became a symbol of the growing discontent against the government. Marković's conviction was a foregone conclusion but the sentence, 18 months in prison, was relatively light. However, by now his general health problems had developed into full blown tuberculosis. The sentence was further reduced to nine months; it was far from certain that he would survive his term in prison. He was released on 16 November 1874, and went to