EVANGELICAL  SOCIALISTS.

103

private  purse  in  making  Socialistic  experiments.  It  is  also  the
long-cherished  dream  of  Prince  Bismarck,  who,  it  is  said,  is
preparing  to  realize  it  soon  (December,  1882).
It  must,  moreover,  be  added  that  Prussia  is  a  soil  admirably
prepared  for  the  growth  of  State  Socialism.  No  modern  nation
reproduces  more  completely  the  type  of  the  Greek  cities,  in
which  the  welfare  of  the  individual  is  subordinate  to  that  of  the
civic  State.  Under  the  energetic  rule  of  Frederick  II.,  the
Prussian  State  has  become  a  vast  political  machine  which  4kes
possession  of  its  subjects  from  childhood,  at  first  in  the  schools,
and  then  in  the  army,  in  order  to  mould  them  according  to  its
wants.  The  Prussian  civil  code  already  sanctions  some  of  the
articles  of  the  programme  of  the  Christian  Socialists.  The
following  clauses  are  found  in  the  Preussische  Allgemeine
Landrecht  (Tit.  xix.,  2nd  part)  :—
§  I.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to  see  to  the  food  and  maintenance ­

  of  those  citizens  who  cannot  provide  it  for  themselves,
nor  obtain  it  from  those  who  are  legally  bound  to  provide  it!
§  2.  To  those  who  cannot  find  employment,  work  shall  be
assigned  suitable  to  their  strength  and  ability.  §  3.  Those
who  from  indolence  or  taste  for  idleness,  or  from  any  other
VICIOUS  disposition,  neglect  to  provide  themselves  with  the
means  of  subsistence,  shall  be  obliged  to  execute  useful  works
under  surveyance.  §  6.  The  State  has  the  right  and  is
obliged  to  create  institutions  for  restraining  at  once  both  paup^^ngmdrm^lig^k^
  §7-  E^^^migth^c^k^ed^
efiRxzt  o  inducing  Idleness,  espechdly  in  the  lower  classes,  or
that  IS  likely  to  divert  people  from  labour,  is  absolutely  forbidden. ­
  §  10.  Communal  authorities  are  bound  to  maintain
their  poor  §  n  It  is  their  duty  to  inquire  into  the  causes
of  destitution,  and  to  notify  them  to  the  higher  authorities,  in
order  that  a  remedy  may  be  applied.»  Might  not  all  this  be
mistaken  for  the  text  of  the  law  of  a  “Christian  Salentum»?
he  precept  of  St  I^iul,  "  If  any  vdll  not  wcirlq  neither  shall
he  ea^  hiliere  transfornued  into
r  r"  ^  misdemeanour.  The
ght  to  relief,  as  in  the  law  of  Elizabeth,  and  the  right  of
abour,  as  in  1848,  are  equally  recognized,  and  the  tutelary