The emergence of Mrs. Sidney Webb--The Poor Law Commission--The Minority Report--Unemployment--The National Committee for the Prevention of Destitution--"Vote against the House of Lords"--Bernard Shaw retires--Death of Hubert Bland--Opposition to the National Insurance Bill--The Fabian Reform Committee--The "New Statesman"--The Research Department--"The Rural Problem"--"The Control of Industry"--Syndicalism--The Guildsmen--Final Statistics--The War Chapter XII The Lessons of Thirty Years Breaking the spell of Marxism--A French verdict--Origin of Revisionism in Germany--The British School of Socialism--Mr. Ernest Barker's summary--Mill _versus_ Marx--The Fabian Method--Making Socialists or making Socialism--The life of propagandist societies--The prospects of Socialist Unity--The future of Fabian ideas--The test of Fabian success Appendix I A. On the History of Fabian Economics. By Bernard Shaw B. On Guild Socialism. By Bernard Shaw Appendix II The Basis of the Fabian Society Appendix III List of the names and the years of office of the ninety-six members of the Executive Committee, 1884-1915 Appendix IV Complete List of Fabian publications, 1884-1915, with names of authors Index Illustrations _Frontispiece, from a drawing by Miss Bertha Newcombe in 1895_ The Seven Essayists Mrs. Annie Besant, _From a photograph_ Hubert Bland, _From a photograph_ William Clarke _From a photograph_ (Sir) Sydney Olivier, _From a photograph_ G. Bernard Shaw, _From a photograph_ Graham Wallas, _From a photograph_ Sidney Webb, _From a drawing_ * * * * * Edward R. Pease, _From a photograph_ Frank Podmore, _From a photograph_ Mrs. Sidney Webb, _From a photograph_ H.G. Wells, _From a photograph_ The History of the Fabian Society Chapter I The Sources of Fabian Socialism The ideas of the early eighties--The epoch of Evolution--Sources of Fabian ideas--Positivism--Henry George--John Stuart Mill--Robert Owen--Karl Marx--The Democratic Federation--"The Christian Socialist"--Thomas Davidson. "Britain as a whole never was more tranquil and happy," said the "Spectator," then the organ of sedate Liberalism and enlightened Progress, in the summer of 1882. "No class is at war with society or the government: there is no disaffection anywhere, the Treasury is fairly full, the accumulations of capital are vast"; and then the writer goes on to compare Great Britain with Ireland, at that time under the iron heel of coercion, with Parnell and hundreds of his followers in jail, whilst outrages and murders, like those of Maamtrasma, were almost everyday occurrences.