Ernest
Belfort Bax,
the son of Daniel Bax, a successful businessman, was born in Leamington,
Warwickshire on 23rd July, 1854. His parents were strict Nonconformists
who came from families that had suffered religious persecution. The
family moved to Brighton soon after Ernest
was born. Ernest was educated at home by private tutors and as a young
man been encouraged to read John Stuart Mill
and Herbert Spencer.
In 1875 Bax went to Stuttgart, Germany, to study music. While in Germany,
he developed an interest in German philosophy. His read Hegel
and later was introduced
to the work of Karl Marx. Bax became a journalist
and after moving to Berlin became a foreign correspondent for the
Evening
Standard.
After he returned to England in 1882, Bax became a freelance journalist,
specializing in history and philosophy. Bax had been converted to
socialism by reading Karl Marx and had two
articles on the subject published in the journal,
Modern Thought.
In 1882 Bax joined the Social Democratic Federation
(SDF). Bax was impressed by William Morris
and supported him in his disputes with the party leader, H.
H. Hyndman.
In December 1884, Bax joined Morris, Eleanor Marx
and Edward Aveling in leaving the SDF
and forming the Socialist League. Bax and
Morris jointly wrote the Socialist
League Manifesto,
where they declared that the organisation would seek to "educate
and organize public opinion for the transformation of
Britain into a truly socialized society". Bax co-edited the party
journal, Commonweal, with Morris.
Articles written by Bax and Morris for Commonweal
later appeared in the book he two men also jointly wrote the book
Socialism,
Its Growth and Outcome.
In his books The
Religion of Socialism
(1887) and Ethics
of Socialism
(1889), Bax argued that Christian ethics was gradually being replaced
by the Utilitarian idea that ethical change
was produced by the needs of society rather than from a supernatural
level. Bax believed that this would develop into a "new ethic"
called socialism. The highest expression of this new ethic was "self-sacrifice
for the cause of true social change and human consciousness".
By 1888 the anarchists had gained control of the Socialist
League so Bax returned to the Social Democratic
Federation. Although Bax still had trouble working with H.
H. Hyndman, he believed the SDF was the best Marxist party in
Britain. Bax was elected to the party executive and became the editor
of Justice, the party's weekly newspaper.
After 1894 Bax
tended to concentrate on his career as a barrister. He continued to
contribute articles on politics and music for The
Star and for a while edited the socialist journals, Time
and Today.
Following the publication of Reminiscences
in 1918, Bax wrote very little. Ernest
Belfort Bax died in a London nursing home
on 26th November,
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