Excerpt from The Ethic of Freethought: And Other Addresses and Essays I have allowed the original preface to this work, as well as one or two essays, to be again reprinted with but slight revision, not because they express exactly what I think to-day, but because read together they may explain to some readers the circumstances, partly historical and partly personal, under which these lectures and essays were written. During the years 1880 and 1881 comparatively few lectures on Socialism were to be heard at working men's clubs, and I well remember what curious questions would then be put as to the teaching of Lassalle and Marx. The last twenty years have changed this entirely-one of the chief features being the excellent educational work of the Fabian Society. Twenty years ago the discussion of sex-problems was equally unusual. N ow a considerable literature on the subject has sprung into exist ence. Occasionally we come across a morbid outgrowth, but on the whole what has been written is thoughtful, whole some, and sane in its conclusions. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.