The Utopian Communist: A Biography of Wilhelm Weitling

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WEITLING'S "SYSTEM" 69
pia. It is a fact also that there were several purges in the Arbeiter¬
bund which Weitling created in the United States in the early
1850's. Finally, it is not without significance that as time went on,
Weitling's utterances revealed an increasing concern with a "new
Messiah," "greater than the first," who would come to lead man­
kind out of its misery. No one who has read his major works can
doubt who that Messiah would be. Nevertheless, Weitling be­
lieved that in the end, when the transition period was over and the
social revolution was complete, its prophet and leader would sur­
render his authority to the people and dwell thenceforth among
them as the humblest of them all.

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