48 THE UTOPIAN COMMUNIST
specifically called the readers' attention to such publications as
Louis Hessberg's "Versöhnung der Welt mit Gott" ("God's
reconciliation with the world"), and Scherzer's articles on "Er¬
mahnungen zur Nächstenliebe, An die deutsche Jugend" ("Ex
hortations to brotherly love addressed to the German Youth"),
and "Tagwache zum Ausbruch des Reiches Gottes auf Erden.
Eine Hirtenstimme aus den Alpen" ("The vigil for the dawn of
God's kingdom on earth; the voice of a shepherd from the Alps").
Scherzer had been a member of the League of the Just in Paris.
In addition to serving as a vehicle for the editor's propaganda,
Weitling's journals contained a variety of other material, such as
articles on the Peasants' War of Luther's time; the nuisance of
passports and travel restrictions; the English factory system, with
references to the "honored and beloved" Robert Owen; the
Rappist colony of Harmonie, near Pittsburgh; extracts from phi
losophers; sarcastic observations on what was being perpetrated
in Germany in the hallowed name of science and philosophy;
translations from Proudhon, Socrates, Rousseau, Fourier, Cha
teaubriand, and Saint-Simon; references to Roger Bacon; articles
on the progress of invention and science; an attack on Malthusian¬
ism; poems by Herwegh, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, and lesser
poets from the ranks of labor; articles on astronomy; occasional
book reviews; a fantastic description of Paris in the year 2000 A.D.;
and violent diatribes against the soldiery, who in exchange for
food surrender "all reason, understanding, conscience and free
will." Most of these articles were unsigned. Almost all of their
authors agreed that society was rotten at the core, though they
could not always unite on the cure. The degree of tolerance mani
fested by the editor toward opinions at variance with his own was
quite remarkable for a radical journal of this sort.
Weitling's magnum opus appeared in December, 1842, under
the title Garantieen der Harmonie und Freiheit. It was issued
secretly and was intended to provide the exposition of Weitling's
complete "system." As a matter of fact, his theories, as will be
demonstrated later, had changed little after 1838. Fourier had