he
first beginnings of the orderly universe in nebulous matter, and
showing that from that time on to the discovery of the latest
design in tin kettles everything that happened simply went to
prove his new theory.

Duehring presented a long suffering world with three volumes
that were at least large enough to fill the supposed aching
void. These were: "A Course of Philosophy," "A Course of
Political and Social Science" and "A Critical History of
Political Economy and Socialism."

These large volumes gave Duehring quite a standing among
ill-informed Socialists, who took long words for learning, and
obscurity for profundity. His followers became so numerous that
a new division of the ranks threatened and it became clear that
Duehring's large literary output must be answered.

There was a man in the Socialist movement at that time who was
pre-eminently fitted for that task, who for over thirty years
had proven himself a master of discussion and an accomplished
scholar--Frederick Engels.

Engels' friends urged him to rid the movement of this new
intellectual incubus. Engels pleaded he was already over busy
with those tasks, which show him to have been so patient and
prolific a worker. Finally, realizing the importance of the
case, he yielded.

Duehring had wandered all over the universe to establish his
philosophy, and in his reply Engels would have to follow him. So
far from this deterring Engels, it was just this which made his
task attractive. He says in his preface of 1892:

"I had to treat of all and every possible subject, from the
concepts of time and space to Bimetalism; from the eternity of
matter and motion to the perishable nature of moral ideas; from
Darwin's natural selection to the education of youth in a future
society. Anyhow, the systematic comprehensiveness of my opponent
gave me the opportunity of developing, in opposition to him, and
in a more connected form than had previously been done, the
views held by Marx and myself of this great variety of subjects.
And that was the principal reason which made me undertake this
otherwise ungrateful task."

Dealing with the same point, in his biographical essay on
Engels, Kautsky says:

"Duehring was a many-sided man. He wrote on Mathematics and
Mechanics, as well as on Philosophy and Politic