72 THE UTOPIAN COMMUNIST
ment. Weitling belongs in this same tradition of chiliastic sec
tarianism.^1
The result of his long reflection on communism and religion
and their proper relationship was a new book, entitled Das
Evangelium des armen Sunders ("The Gospel of the Poor Sin
ner"). Weitling started working on it while he was still in
Lausanne. In May, 1843, he had appealed for advance subscrip
tions and in a table of contents and prospectus had explained his
purpose: to prove that the religion of Jesus, the prophet of love
and freedom, need not be condemned or destroyed by the social
reformers, but could be used to great advantage for the emanci
pation of mankind.
Weitling had taken up residence in Zurich, in defiance of the
advice of some of his best friends. The prospectus of the new book,
in which the author readily admitted he had not worshiped in a
church for years, was enough to convince the Church Council of
the city of its blasphemous character, and the police commissioner
of Bregenz reported to Vienna that the new work would prove
far more destructive and dangerous than the Garantieen.^2 Fröbel
probably declined to take the manuscript for his own press; Follen
refused a plea for financial aid; and Ruge angrily turned down
Moses Hess's request for twenty francs. After considerable diffi
culty, Weitling came to terms with a printer in Neumünster near
Zurich, but when the latter discovered the real contents of the
Evangelium he refused to proceed with the printing unless he
were guaranteed against liability and prosecution. After a sharp
quarrel, the author carried home that part of the manuscript which
already had been printed and decided to find a new publisher.
Apparently, Weitling had resolved to move to the canton of
Aargau to avoid a crisis. But before he could carry out his decision
he was arrested by the Zurich police, at 3 A.M., June 9, 1843, while
returning from a meeting of the Hoffnung, a society which met
(^1) Karl Kautzky, Vorläufer des neueren Sozialismus (Stuttgart, 1909), I, 35-55.
(^2) Brügel, Österreichische Sozialdemokratie, I, 31-33.