ABSTRACT
Robert Owen’s speech at the City of London Tavern, which he gave in August 1817, is usually considered his “millennialist moment”. It was the opportunity for him to reveal his comprehensive reform programme of general harmony. This entailed the rejection of what he identified as the three main sources of social division – unchecked capitalism, established religions and private property. Given on a highly symbolic date, the speech marked the opening of the Institute for the Formation of Character, New Lanark’s educational and cultural centre. With its nursery, primary and evening schools, assembly room, library and non-denominational chapel, it aimed to improve the conditions of the factory village inhabitants through life-long instruction and the promotion of harmonious community feeling – a programme which had been at the core of Owen’s New View of Society. But the 1816 inaugural address also revealed a set of new purposes.
