[15] The decay of religion among the working classes was the subject of a conference of working-men, held in London in 1867. Mr. J. M. Ludlow, one of their friends and counsellors, writes as follows in the “Progress of the Laboring Classes from 1832 to 1867,” concerning their reasons for forsaking religious services: “At the bottom of those reasons there may be felt, not dislike or indifference to the Gospel itself, but, on the contrary, a deep yearning for some mighty manifestation of it. The complaint is not that Christianity is given, but that ‘priests and parsons’ have given of it ‘short weight and short measure;’ not that it is practised by its professors, but that their practice falls so far short of their professions; not that clergymen and minister intermeddle with the working-men, but that they do not come among them and show practical sympathy with them in their undertakings. Surely a temper like this, even when speaking out through hard and scornful words, instead of discouraging Christian ministers, should brace and quicken them to their work—ay, though that work should consist partly in the shaking off of their most cherished traditions and habits of religious thought” (p. 279). [16] Schäffle’s “Socialism as Expounded by Kaufmann” (London, 1874, p. 103). [17] _Vide_ his manly article on the Dangerous Classes in the _North-American Review_ for April, 1883. [18] The words socialist and socialism were introduced into economic discussion by L. Reybaud, in 1840, in his “Études sur les Réformateurs ou Socialistes Modernes.” [19] It does not fall within the province of this work to describe English communism. Its best representative is Robert Owen, about whose life and teachings information is to be found in “The Life of Robert Owen, Written by Himself,” and in A. J. Booth’s “Robert Owen, the Founder of Socialism in England.” Both of the works are interesting and valuable. [20] 1762 is also given as the year of his birth. [21] For the details of the conspiracy, consult Von Sybel, “Geschichte der Revolutionszeit,” Bd. iv. Buch i. Capitel 4, and Buonarroti’s “Histoire de la Conspiration pour l’Égalite, dite de Babœuf” (2 vols., Brussels, 1828). A fourth edition in one volume appeared in Paris in 1850. An English translation by Bronterre appeared in London in 1836. [22] The best authority on the economic movements of this period is L. Blanc’s “Histoire de dix ans 1830-40” (12th ed. 1870). [23] _Vide_ the Manifesto of the Equals. This, as well as a number of their most important papers, may be found in Reybaud’s “Études sur les Réformateurs” (vol. ii. pp. 423-453, 7th ed., Paris, 1864). [24] _Vide_ the “Manifesto of the Equals.” [25] “Histoire Populaire de la Révolution Française de 1789 à 1830” (5 vols., 2d ed., Paris, 1845-47). [26] “Voyage en Icarie” (2d ed., Paris, 1842, 1 vol. 8vo, pp. 566). [27] Ibid. p. 3. [28] Page 335. [29] Mr. Albert Shaw, late graduate student in the Johns Hopkins University.