standard works, upon what
seemed to be good authority--that of his youngest daughter and his
intimate friend, the late Wilhelm Liebknecht. It is now known with
certainty that the father of Karl Marx embraced Christianity of his own
free choice, and not in obedience to an official edict.

These and some other minor changes having to be made, I took the time to
rewrite large parts of the volume, making such substantial changes in
it as to constitute practically a new book. The chapter on Robert Owen
has been recast and greater emphasis placed upon his American career and
its influence; in Chapter IV the sketch of the Materialistic Conception
of History has been enlarged somewhat, special attention being given to
the bearing of the theory upon religion. All the rest of the book has
been changed, partly to meet the requirements of many students and
others who have written to me in reference to various points of
difficulty, and partly also to state some of my own ideas more
successfully. I venture to hope that the brief chapter on "Means of
Realization," which has been added to the book by way of postscript,
will, in spite of its brevity, and the fact that it was not written for
inclusion in this volume, prove helpful to some who read the book.

The thanks of the writer are due to all those friends--Socialists and
others--whose kindly efforts made the earlier edition of the book a
success.

YONKERS, N.Y.,
December, 1908.

CONTENTS

PAGE
PREFACE vii

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Changed attitude of the public mind toward Socialism--Growth of
the movement responsible for the change--Unanimity of friends and
foes concerning the future triumph of Socialism--Herbert Spencer's
pessimistic belief--Study of Socialism a civic duty--Nobility of
the word "Socialism"--Its first use--Confusion arising from its
indiscriminate use--"Socialism" and "Communism" in the _Communist
Manifesto_--Unfair tactics of opponents--Engels on the
significance of the word in 1847--Its present significance 1

CHAPTER II

ROBERT OWEN AND THE UTOPIAN SPIRIT

Utopian Socialism and Robert Owen--Estimates of Owen by Liebknecht
and Engels--His early life--Becomes a manufacturer--The industrial
revolution in England--Introduction of machinery--"Luddite" riots
against machinery--Early riots against m