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12 masses who has intelligently read or studied the works of his idol. Nothing is more repulsive and disgusting than just this unqualified Marx-deification: a deification which like all idolatry finds its source in the ignorance of the masses, and a deification which is everything but a tribute to Marx and his teachings. To combat just these godlike conceptions of Marx and to familiarize the workers with the social significance of this truly great individual, is one of the cardinal objects of these lectures.

I fully appreciate the largeness of this task, also the impossibility to present to you even a fair pen-picture of the man, or an adequate synopsis of his theoretical system in the limited time at my disposal. These lectures, therefore, do not lay claim to exhaustiveness, neither are they to be considered a condensed compendium or handbook of Marxism made easy. Socialist literature is already plentifully supplied with works of this kind, many of which are excellent, and still more that would have performed a great service to Socialist clarity had they remained unwritten.

My aim in presenting these lectures is to bring the man and social creature Marx nearer to you. I would like to interest many of my comrades and fellow men in the teachings of this master of Socialist letters. To do this successfully, that is correctly, we must examine the historic conditions and the more immediate social atmosphere out of or in which Marx came to be and developed. By becoming familiar with the life of Marx and the distinct material conditions of which this life was but a product, much of the sanctimonious hero-worship will sink into oblivion, and make room for an intelligent appreciation based upon a sound perception. If I succeed in arousing and stimulating the interest of my auditors to the extent that they will make an effort to study and familiarize themselves with the works of Marx, then I believe the purpose of these lectures has been accomplished.

With these few preliminary remarks as a compass before us,