I have italicised the word "all" in that prayer to emphasise the fact that mercy, succour, comfort, and pardon are here asked for _all_, and not for a few. I now ask the reader of this book, with those words of broad charity and sweet kindliness still fresh in mind, to remember the unmerited miseries, the ill-requited labour, the gnawing penury, and the loveless and unhonoured lives to which an evil system dooms millions of British men and women. I ask the reader to discover for himself how much pity we bestow upon our "prisoners and captives," how much provision we make for the "fatherless children and widows," what nature and amount of "succour, help, and comfort" we vouchsafe to "all who are in danger, necessity, and tribulation." I ask him to consider, with regard to those "kindly fruits of the earth," who produces, and who enjoys them; and I beg him next to proceed in a judicial spirit, by means of candour and right reason, to examine fairly and weigh justly the means proposed by Socialists for abolishing poverty and oppression, and for conferring prosperity, knowledge, and freedom upon _all_ men. BRITAIN FOR THE BRITISH: that is our motto. We ask for a fair and open trial. We solicit an impartial hearing of the case for _Socialism_. Listen patiently to our statements; consider our arguments; accord to us a fair field and no favour; and may the truth prevail. THE METHOD OF THIS BOOK As to the method of this book, I shall begin by calling attention to some of the evils of the present industrial, social, and political system. I shall next try to show the sources of those evils, the causes from which they arise. I shall go on to explain what _Socialism_ is, and what _Socialism_ is not. I shall answer the principal objections commonly urged against _Socialism_. And I shall, in conclusion, point out the chief ways in which I think the reader of this book may help the cause of _Socialism_ if he believes that cause to be just and wise. FOREWORDS Years ago, before _Socialism_ had gained a footing in this country, some of us democrats used often to wonder how any working man could be a Tory. To-day we Socialists are still more puzzled by the fact that the majority of our working men are not Socialists. How is it that middle class and even wealthy people often accept _Socialism_ more readily than do the workers? Perhaps it is because the men and women of the middle and upper classes are more in the habit of reading and thinking for themselves, whereas the workers take most of their opinions at second-hand from priests, parsons, journalists, employers, and members of Parliament, whose little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and whose interests lie in bolstering up class privilege by darkening counsel with a multitude of words.