We have come to a point now where professorial socialism and Christian socialism meet. Professors of political economy, finding themselves forced to abandon every hope of reconciling adverse interests of society without a moral and religious regeneration of the various social classes, turn to Christianity, and appeal to it for co-operation in their endeavors to bring about an era of peace and harmony. Professorial socialism terminates in Christianity. Christian socialism seeks in it a starting-point.

De Lamennais, who was born in 1782, was one of the earliest representatives of Christian socialism. He was for a time a French Catholic priest and an ardent defender of the faith. He sought to bring about an alliance between the masses and the Church, in opposition to kings, whom he regarded as oppressors of the people. The Church was to become an organizing power, and was to gather the individuals, the atoms, of industrial society, into a compact and harmonious whole. She was to become the soul, the animating spirit, of the economic as well as the religious world. He hoped to see her found a grand co-operative association of laborers, which should free them from the yoke of capitalist and the tyranny of landlord. The democratic views entertained by Lamennais, and his opposition to the monarchs of Europe, did not give satisfaction among the Church authorities. He went to Rome to plead his cause before Leo XII., and was received with open arms. But afterwards the motto of his journal L’Avenir, “SÉparez vous des rois, tendez la main au peuple”—“separate yourselves from the kings, extend your hand to the people”—displeased Gregory XVI., and Lamennais, unable to win over the Pope to his views, finally left the Church in despair. “Catholicism was my own life,” said he, “because it is the life of humanity. I wished to defend it and draw it from the abyss into which it sinks more and more daily. Nothing was easier. The bishops have found that it would not suit them. Thus Rome lagged behind. I went there and saw the most abominable cloaque which ever offended human eyesight.... No other God rules there but egotism. For a piece of land, for a few piasters, they would bargain away the nations, the whole human race, even the blessed Trinity.”[205]

He wrote, after his return, “Les Paroles d’un Croyant”—“The Words of a Believer”—published in 1833, and perhaps his most celebrated work. It is a strange, weird, fascinating book. In prose, yet with all the fervor, imagery, and beauty of poetry, he describes the wrongs and sufferings inflicted on the laborer by rulers and capitalists. How is it, one might ask, that he, so far above the masses, can depict their sorrows as vividly as if he had felt them? It is precisely because he is not far above the toiling many; he has in sympathy drawn near to them; he feels with and for them; what they have experienced, that has he also lived. Their pain is his pain; their anguish is his anguish, and has penetrated perhaps more deeply into his soul than into theirs.

In the following passage from “Les Paroles d’un Croyant” he shows how much worse are modern employers who oppress their laborers than were the earlier slave-owners. The story he tells is this:

“Now, there was a wicked and accursed man. And this man was strong and hated toil, so that he said to himself: ‘What shall I do? If I work not I shall die, and labor is to me intolerable.’

“Then there entered into his heart a thought born in hell. He went in the night and seized certain of his brethren while they slept, and bound them with chains.

“‘For,’ said he, ‘I will force them with whips and scourges to toil for me, and I will eat the fruit of their labor.’

“And he did that which he had resolved; and others, seeing it, did likewise, and the men of the earth were no longer brothers, but only masters and slaves.

“This was a day of sadness and mourning over all the face of the earth.

“A long time afterwards there arose another man, whose cruelty and wickedness exceeded the cruelty and wickedness of the first man.

“Seeing that men multiplied everywhere, and that the multitude of them was innumerable, he said to himself:

“‘I could indeed enchain some of these, and force them to work for me; but it would then be necessary to feed and otherwise maintain them, and that would diminish my gains. I will do better: I will let them work for nothing; they will die, in truth, but their number is great; I will amass a fortune before their number is largely diminished, and there will always remain enough of them.’

“‘Now all this multitude of men might live on what they received in exchange for their labor.’

“Having thus spoken, he addressed himself separately to some of them, and said: ‘You work six hours, and you receive a piece of money for your labor; work twelve hours and you will receive two pieces of money, and you and your wives and your little ones will live better.’

“And they believed him.

“Then he said to them, ‘You work only half the days of the year; work every day in the year and your gains will be doubled.’

“And they believed him still.

“Now it happened that the quantity of labor having been doubled without any increase in the demand therefor, the half of those who previously lived by their labor could find no one to employ them.

“Then the wicked man whom they had believed said to them: ‘I will give labor to all, under condition that you will labor the same length of time, and that I shall pay you only half so much as I have been in the habit of doing; because I indeed desire to render you a service, but I do not wish to ruin myself.’

“And as they, their wives, and little ones were suffering the pangs of hunger, they accepted the proposal of the wicked man, and they blessed him; for, said they, ‘He gives us our life.’

“And, continuing to deceive them in the same manner, the wicked man ever increased their labor and ever diminished their wages.

“And they died for lack of the necessaries of life, and others pressed forward to take their places; for poverty had become so terrible in the land, that entire families sold themselves for a morsel of bread.

“And the wicked, cruel man, who had lied to his brothers, amassed a larger fortune than the wicked man who had enslaved them.

“The name of the latter is tyrant; but the former has no name save in hell itself.”[206]

The Christian socialism of England has peculiarities which render it exceedingly interesting in connection with an account of French and German Christian socialism, furnishing, as it does, opportunities for instructive comparisons.

It arose about thirty years ago. Its founders were men like Charles Kingsley, Frederick Maurice, and Thomas Hughes. They were filled with horror at the wrongs and hardships of the lower classes, and rejected with lofty moral indignation the theory of the Manchester men that state and society were to do nothing about it. They refused to believe that the action of self-interest led to the most perfect social harmony, or that government should do nothing to alleviate suffering and elevate the masses. Some of their expressions might have satisfied even a social democrat. Kingsley expressed his opinion of economic liberalism by describing the Cobden and Bright scheme of the universe as the worst of all narrow, hypocritical, anarchic, and atheistic social philosophies; while he predicted the coming of good times to the poor, and the overthrow of mammonism, in these words: “Not by wrath and haste, but by patience made perfect through suffering, canst thou proclaim this good news to the groaning masses, and deliver them, as thy Master did before thee, by the cross and not the sword. Divine paradox! Folly to the rich and mighty—the watchword to the weak, in whose weakness is God’s strength made perfect. ‘In your patience possess ye your souls, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.’ Yes, he came then, and the Babel-tyranny of Rome fell, even as the more fearful, the more subtle, and more diabolic tyranny of mammon shall fall ere long—suicidal, even now crumbling by its innate decay. Yes; Babylon the Great—the commercial world of selfish competition, drunken with the blood of God’s people, whose merchandise is the bodies and souls of men—her doom is gone forth. And then—then—when they, the tyrants of the earth, who lived delicately with her, rejoicing in her sins, the plutocrats and bureaucrats, the money-changers and devourers of labor, are crying to the rocks to hide them, and to the hills to cover them, from the wrath of him that sitteth on the throne; then labor shall be free at last, and the poor shall eat and be satisfied, with things that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, but which God has prepared for those who love him.”[207]

Kingsley and his confrÈres held that modern competition was only one kind of warfare, and consequently sinful. They sought to replace it by co-operation, in which they found a practical carrying-out of Christian principles. Mr. Ludlow, Maurice, and others talked the matter over, and finally formed a society in London to promote co-operative undertakings and the education of the lower classes. They assisted laborers to found productive co-operative associations. They established also a newspaper, the Christian Socialist, in which they made propaganda for their faith. They thought they had discovered the panacea for all social evils: “I certainly thought,” said Mr. Hughes afterwards—“and, for that matter, have never altered my opinion to this day—that here we had found the solution of the great labor question; but I was also convinced that we had nothing to do but just to announce it, and found an association or two, in order to convert all England, and usher in the millennium at once, so plain did the whole thing seem to me. I will not undertake to answer for the rest of the council, but I doubt whether I was at all more sanguine than the majority.”[208]

The Christian socialists established seventeen co-operative societies in London and twenty-four in other parts of England, but chiefly, if not wholly, in the south, before their organ ceased to appear. These, however, all failed. But about this time there began to spring up in the north of England distributive co-operative societies, not designed to produce commodities, but, as their name implies, to distribute them by establishing stores. These associations, which have prospered greatly, furnished an opportunity for some of the Christian socialists to exert themselves in behalf of the laborer. So far as there is to-day any active Christian socialism in England, it is to be found in the Co-operative Union. Indeed, Mr. Thomas Hughes seems to identify the two movements in a letter,[209] which he was kind enough to write me about Christian socialism. As it is interesting, and Americans are always glad to hear what the author of “Tom Brown at Rugby” has to say, I will take the liberty of quoting such parts of his letter as bear on our subject:

Mr. Neale has been good enough to write me a fuller account of the connection between co-operation and Christian socialism, which he regards as two distinct movements—in their origin, at least. I will quote what he has to say about them:

The Englishman, like the American, is eminently practical. He must find some concrete form in which to embody his ideas. If he cannot now obtain all he desires, he will take what he can get and wait for an opportune moment to gain possession of what remains. He does not cease to think, plan, and even dream, but he spends more time in action than in talk. Thus have the Christian socialists of England, without changing their views, contented themselves for the present with distributive co-operation. They have, however, done far more than to establish co-operative associations. They called attention to the duties and responsibilities of wealth as well as its rights. They induced men to stop and consider whether it might not, after all, be possible to do something to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate and to improve the poor and degraded. The results have been seen in generous, philanthropic, and, to a large extent, successful endeavors to elevate those low down to a higher plane of life and thought. Legislation has followed, limiting the length of a day’s work, restricting the employment of young children, regulating the labor of women, protecting operatives in factories, and otherwise benefiting the laboring classes. This has counteracted the effects of discontent and dangerous agitation so far as to prevent the violent attempts at revolution, once feared. The humane and enlightened views, which to-day obtain to such an extent in England, are due, far more than is generally supposed, to the warm-hearted zeal of those noble Englishmen who were called Christian socialists.

In Germany, there are two branches of the Christian Socialists, the Protestants and the Roman Catholics.

The Protestant Christian Socialists are not numerous, nor are they sufficiently important to justify much more than the mention of their existence. Their two leaders are Dr. Todt, a pastor, and Dr. StÖcker, court-chaplain, who is known on account of his leadership in the Anti-Semitic agitation in Germany. His part in this latter movement shows how little nobility there is in his nature. I attended one meeting of the Christian Socialists in Berlin. Instead of proposals to ameliorate the condition of laborers, I heard little save abuse of the Jews. When any member of the audience was invited to reply, a bright-appearing young man of twenty or thereabouts came forward and began to talk in a sensible sort of way concerning the position of the Hebrews, but his arguments were soon drowned by the hooting of the rabble. Court-pastor StÖcker bowed him off the stage with mock ceremoniousness. I thought the young man showed to far better advantage than the leader of those whom he was addressing.

The ideas of the Protestant Christian Socialists are rather vague and indefinite. They favor, however, legislation in behalf of the laboring classes similar to that which is now in force in England, and desire a strong monarch to take the lead in measures designed to elevate the toiling masses. They wish also to bring the people back to the Church, that they may enjoy the consolations of religion. Dr. Todt appears to hope for a peaceful introduction of communism, or some form of socialism approaching thereto, in a far-distant future.

Catholic Christian Socialism in Germany is a far more important, a far nobler, movement. Its leading light was the late Bishop of Mainz or Mayence, Baron von Ketteler.

Wilhelm Emanuel Baron von Ketteler was born in 1811, in MÜnster. He came of an old and honorable family. He studied law, and began his career in the German courts, before he decided to devote himself to the Church. He was ordained as priest in 1844 and was made bishop in 1850.

Von Ketteler was keen, eager, eloquent—a valiant champion of the Church, who fought for her emancipation from state control, and obtained important concessions. His activity was remarkable, and displayed itself prominently in the foundation of numerous institutions, as monasteries, unions, schools, orphan-asylums, and houses of refuge. He understood how to make use of the press in forwarding his designs, which included plans intended to promote the welfare of the masses. After the formation of the German empire Von Ketteler took a leading position in the party of the Ultramontanes, and was ever ready with tongue and pen in all matters concerning the relations of state to Church and school.

He opposed the proclamation of the doctrine of papal infallibility as inopportune, but, after it had been proclaimed, he became its ardent supporter.

Von Ketteler’s eventful life ended in 1875, and his body now rests in the cathedral at Mainz.

Von Ketteler accepts the doctrine of the iron, cruel law of wages, and assents to many of the teachings of the social democrats, in so far as they are directed against our present social organization. He seeks salvation, however, in the Catholic Church.

He holds that God or the Church is the supreme owner of all property, and that human rights are only secondary. Men have only the right of administering what has been committed to them. The Church has always held, says he, that if a starving man took a loaf of bread to satisfy hunger which he could still in no other way, it was no theft. In that case human proprietary rights yield to the divine right of self-preservation.

The good-will of the Church is also shown in the large property which she has accumulated to alleviate the sufferings of the poor. It was not her fault that she was deprived of a great part of this by the secularization of her possessions, which took place after the Reformation. It increased the distress of the unfortunate, and the worldly powers were obliged to enact poor-laws to relieve those who had thereby been reduced to helplessness.

The misery of the present time is due to materialism and liberal politics. The state and the Church should exercise greater control over human conduct in such matters, e.g., as marriage.

“We will not deny,” says Von Ketteler, “that in various regions the contraction of marriage is made too difficult; but, on the other hand, a certain limitation is justifiable—is founded in reason as well as in Christianity—and the abolition of all limitations cannot fail to promote thoughtlessness in the contraction of marriage, and thus injure the family. Of such a character is the general effort and tendency to regard marriage as a simple civil institution, to introduce the Civilehe—i.e., marriage by civil authorities alone—and to separate it entirely from the Church. The stability of the family is based on the religious and Christian doctrine of marriage. Especially is the view of the Catholic Church that marriage is a sacrament, and can be dissolved only by death, the immovable foundation of this stability.”[210]

Von Ketteler regards the dissolution of the organic bonds, or ties of society, as one cause of our present troubles. He is, consequently, in favor of trade corporations, and has a friendly feeling for the guilds of the Middle Ages. He combats vehemently the atomism of modern liberalism. There is, in my opinion, a great deal of truth in what he says about the necessity of religion to cure the ills of modern society. He declares that “Christ is the Saviour of the world, not only because he has redeemed our souls, but also because he brought salvation for all human institutions and relations—civil, political, and social. Especially is he the Saviour of the laboring classes.... He has elevated the labor-class from servitude to its present condition;[211] without him all humanitarian tendencies of the so-called friends of the laboring man will not prevent his sinking again into a state of slavery.”

Von Ketteler mentions five remedies which the Church has to offer the laborer.

1. She founds and manages institutions for the benefit of the laborer unable to work. These are managed by those who have a tender interest in his welfare. Love to Christ will enable the Catholic nurses to perform disagreeable and repulsive services in a mild and gentle manner.

2. She offers him the institution of the Christian family.

3. She presents to him the truths and doctrines of the Church, which are the true education of the laborer. The doctrine of the liberals, that education for the laborers is to be found in self-help and in their unions for instructing working-men is only a simulacrum and deceit.

4. She offers him the social power of the Church. This unites men, and may be used to assist in founding unions and societies of laborers. Such unions are Christian in nature.[212]

5. This social power of the Church might be used in establishing productive co-operative associations on a Christian basis. Nothing could be more pleasing to God and beneficial to man than gifts of the wealthy for this purpose.

For our part, we rejoice that men of all shades of opinion are turning to Christianity for help in the solution of social problems, and trust that the poor and needy, where they are now estranged from the Church, may ere long be led to recognize in her their best friend. All Christian men, and particularly the authorities of the Church, should see to it that no opportunity is lost to win to her the toiling masses. We fully agree with a celebrated Belgian professor[213] of Political Economy when he writes: “The proletarians have been detached from and will return to Christianity when they begin to understand that it brings to them freedom and equal rights, whereas atheistic materialism consecrates their slavery and sacrifices them to pretended natural laws. By a complete misapplication of its ideas, the religion of Christ, transformed into a temporal and sacerdotal institution, has been called in as the ally of caste, despotism, and the ancient rÉgime to sanction all social inequalities. The Gospel, on the contrary, is the good news to the poor—the announcement of the advent of that kingdom when the humble shall be lifted up and the disinherited shall possess the earth.”[214]