It is hardly necessary further to dwell on the theories of Rodbertus. The general outlines of his teaching are clear enough, and the details could be properly treated only in a work specially devoted to him. In some leading features his economic position is the same as that of Marx and Lassalle. The chief difference lies in the application of their principles. We have seen that he expects the Prussian or German State to adopt his theories, but the interest we can have in the very remote realisation of them in this way naturally cannot be very great. It was unreasonable to believe that the people of Germany would make no use of their newly acquired political rights to promote their social claims; and it is needless to say that a socialistic evolution slowly carried out under an army of officials is not a very inviting prospect. On the recent political economy of Germany, especially as represented by Adolf Wagner, Rodbertus has exercised a great influence. For many he is the founder of a truly scientific socialism. His criticism of the leading principles of economics has led them to make important changes in the statement and treatment of their science.[1] ----- [1] The following are the most important works of Rodbertus: _Zur Erkenntniss unserer staatswirthschaftlichen Zustände_ (1842); _Sociale Briefe an von Kirchmann_ (1850); _Creditnoth des Grundbesitzes_ (2nd ed., 1876); ‘Der Normal-arbeitstag,’ in _Tüb. Zeitschrift_ (1878); Letters to A. Wagner, etc., _Tüb. Zeitschrift_ (1878-79); Letters to Rudolf Meyer (1882). See also Adolf Wagner (_Tüb. Zeitschrift_) (1878); Kozak’s work on Rodbertus (1882); an excellent monograph by G. Adler (Leipsic, 1884); and Prof. Gonner’s _Social Philosophy of Rodbertus_ (London, 1899). CHAPTER VII _KARL MARX_ The greatest and most influential name in the history of socialism is unquestionably Karl Marx. He and his like-minded companion Engels are the acknowledged heads of the ‘scientific and revolutionary’ school of socialism, which has its representatives in almost every country of the civilised world, and is generally recognised as the most serious and formidable form of the new teaching. Like Ferdinand Lassalle, Karl Marx was of Jewish extraction. It is said that from the time of his father, back to the sixteenth century, his ancestors had been rabbis.[1] Marx was born at Treves in 1818, where his father belonged to the legal profession. Both parents were highly cultured and raised above the traditions and prejudices of their race. In 1824, when Marx was six years of age, the family passed over from Judaism to the profession of the Christian faith.