Source: The Oxford Times, 14 November 1885, page 5
Note: This lecture was advertised as The Rise of a New Epoch, which is also the title reported in this article. However, the actual text records a delivery of the lecture Socialism
Transcription: by Graham Seaman for MIA, October 2022
On Tuesday evening, Mr. William Morris gave a lecture in connection with the Socialistic League, in the Music Room, Holywell on the "Rise of a New Epoch." Mr. C.J. Faulkner, University College, presided, and there was a large attendance including several ladies.
The lecturer, in the course of his address, said there were two classes, a useful and a useless class. The useless class was called the upper, the useful the lower class, the one class, having the monopoly of all the means of production except the power of labour, could and did compel the other to work for its advantage, so that no man of the workers received more than a portion, the lesser portion too, of the wealth he created; nor would the upper class allow the lower to work on any other terms. He must add, as a necessary consequence, the rich class having great superfluity of riches, withdrew many of the workmen from the production of wealth, and forced them to minister to its idleness, luxury, or folly, and so by waste made the lot of the labourers harder yet. In sober earnest, he said that no man was good enough to be master over others; whatever the result to them, it at least ruined him; equality of friendship was necessary for developing the innate good and restraining the innate evil, which existed in everyone. But indeed he hoped for the rise of a new religion, nay with all earnestness he preached it to them then, for it was called Socialism. Instead of that system now existing, which exacted a tribute from one class in order that another might be freed from the necessity of labour, it asserted that each should pay his tribute of labour to nature, and each in turn receive his share of the wealth, which each had done his best to create, so only it said should they avoid the waste of the few and the want of the many-(applause)—so only could they rise above that perpetual condition of want, in which indeed the beasts live not unhappily, since their memory was so limited that they were not conscious of abiding fear, of anxiety, or aspirations, whereas with us anxiety and hope deferred, and all the self-inflicted miseries of our civilisation, formed a terrible burden, the sense of which was deeply impressed on the art, the literature, and the religion of mankind. Combination of livelihood, therefore, and the assurance of equal chance for every one were what the Socialists wanted to bring about, and probably most of those present would agree in thinking such an aim was good, but he supposed the thing was impossible—(hear, hear)—a little knot of people preaching Utopian doctrines could not bring about such a stupendous revolution as this. Well, no set of people knew that better than Socialists; at no time could a part of a society existing change the basis of that society unhelped by those of past ages, but the Socialists claimed that the progress of mankind, had really been steadily increasing in this direction, and that all they had to do was to help in developing the obvious and conscious outcome of this progress—(applause). The aim of Socialism was to make the best by man's efforts of the chances of happiness which the life of man upon the earth offered them, using the word happiness in its widest and deepest sense, and to assure to everyone born into the world his full share of that chance, and this could only be assured to him be men combining together for this benefit. They wanted to make people leave off saying "This is mine," and "That is thine," and to say "This is ours"—(applause). He believed that if the intelligent of the working classes, and the honourable and generous of the employing class, could learn to see the system under which they lived as it really was, all the dangers of change would seem nothing to them, and our capitalistic society would not be worth six months' purchase. It was in this belief that he was there that evening preaching to them the new and good tidings of Socialism—(applause).
A long discussion followed, and the meeting did not separate until shortly before eleven o'clock.