,a ,,modern ,,symposium   ,,by  ,g4     
,,lowes ,,dickinson       ,,life ,,like 
,a ,,dome ,,of ,,many-,,coloured ,,glass
   ,,stains ,,the ,,white ,,radiance    
,,of ,,eternity    ,,london  ,,george   
,,allen  ,,unwin ,,ltd  ,,museum        
,,street       ,,first ,,published ,,in 
#aije   ,,reprinted #aicj   ,,reprinted 
#aicd      ,,printed ,,in ,,great       
,,britain ,,by   ,,unwin ,,brothers     
,,ltd41 ,,woking       ,,fratrum        
,,societati   ,,fratrum ,,minimus       
,,the ,,speakers     ,,lord ,,cantilupe 
,a ,,tory    ,,alfred ,,remenham   ,a   
,,liberal    ,,reuben ,,mendoza   ,a    
,,conservative    ,,george ,,allison    
,a ,,socialist    ,,angus ,,maccarthy   
,,an ,,anarchist    ,,henry ,,martin    
,a ,,professor    ,,charles ,,wilson    
,a ,,man ,,of ,,science    ,,arthur     
,,ellis   ,a ,,journalist    ,,philip   
,,audubon   ,a ,,man ,,of ,,business    
,,aubrey ,,coryat   ,a ,,poet    ,,sir  
,,john ,,harington   ,a ,,gentleman ,,of
 ,,leisure    ,,william ,,woodman   ,a  

,,member ,,of ,,the ,,society ,,of      
,,friends    ,,geoffry ,,vivian   ,a    
,,man ,,of ,,letters     ,a ,,modern    
,,symposium  ,,some of my readers may   
have heard of a club known as the       
,seekers4  ,it is now extinct2 but in   
its day it was famous1 and included a   
number of men prominent in politics or  
in the professions4  ,we used to meet   
once a fortnight on the ,saturday night1
 in ,london during the winter1 but in   
the summer usually at the country house 
of one or other of the members1 where we
 would spend the week-end together4     
,the member in whose house the meeting  
was held was chairman for the evening2  
and after the paper had been read it was
 his duty to call upon the members to   
speak in what order he thought best4    
,on the occasion of the discussion which
 ,i am to record1 the meeting was held  
in my own house1 where ,i now write1 on 
the ,north ,downs4  ,the company was an 
interesting one4  ,there was ,remenham1 
then ,prime ,minister1 and his great    

antagonist ,mendoza1 both of whom were  
members of our society4  ,for we aimed  
at combining the most opposite elements1
 and were usually able1 by a happy      
tradition inherited from our founder1 to
 hold them suspended in a temporary     
harmony4  ,then there was ,cantilupe1   
who had recently retired from public    
life1 and whose name1 perhaps1 is       
already beginning to be forgotten4  ,of 
younger men we had ,allison1 who1 though
 still engaged in business1 was already 
active in his socialist propaganda4     
,angus ,mac,carthy1 too1 was there1 a   
man whose tragic end at ,saint          
,petersburg is still fresh in our minds4
  ,and there were others of less note2  
,wilson1 the biologist1 ,professor      
,martin1 ,coryat1 the poet1 and one or  
two more who will be mentioned in their 
place4  ,after dinner1 the time of year 
being ,june1 and the weather unusually  
warm1 we adjourned to the terrace for   
our coffee and cigars4  ,the air was so 
pleasant and the prospect so beautiful1 

the whole weald of ,sussex lying before 
us in the evening light1 that it was    
suggested we should hold our meeting    
there rather than indoors4  ,this was   
agreed4 ,but it then transpired that    
,cantilupe1 who was to have read the    
paper1 had brought nothing to read4  ,he
 had forgotten1 or he had been too busy4
  ,at this discovery there was a general
 cry of protest4 ,cantilupe's           
proposition that we should forgo our    
discussion was indignantly scouted2 and 
he was pressed to improvise something on
 the lines of what he had intended to   
write4  ,this1 however1 he steadily     
declined to attempt2 and it seemed as   
though the debate would fall through1   
until it occurred to me to intervene in 
my capacity as chairman4  ,cantilupe1 ,i
 said1 certainly ought to be somehow    
penalized4  ,and since he declines to   
improvise a paper1 ,i propose that he   
improvise a speech4  ,he is accustomed  
to doing that2 and since he has now     
retired from public life1 this may be   

his last opportunity4  ,let him employ  
it1 then1 in doing penance4  ,and the   
penance ,i impose is1 that he should    
make a personal confession4  ,that he   
should tell us why he has been a        
politician1 why he has been1 and is1 a  
,tory1 and why he is now retiring in the
 prime of life4  ,i propose1 in a word1 
that he should give us his point of     
view4  ,that will certainly provoke     
,remenham1 on whom ,i shall call next4  
,he will provoke someone else4  ,and so 
we shall all find ourselves giving our  
points of view1 and we ought to have a  
very interesting evening4  ,this        
suggestion was greeted1 if not with     
enthusiasm1 at least with acquiescence4 
,cantilupe at first objected strongly1  
but yielded to pressure1 and on my      
calling formally upon him rose          
reluctantly from his seat4  ,for a      
minute or two he stood silent1 humping  
his shoulders and smiling through his   
thick beard4  ,then1 in his slow1       
deliberate way1 he began as follows3    

,why ,i went into politics8  ,why did   
,i8  ,i'm sure ,i don't know4 ,certainly
 ,i wasn't intended for it4  ,i was     
intended for a country gentleman1 and ,i
 hope for the rest of my life to be one2
 which1 perhaps1 if ,i were candid1 is  
the real reason of my retirement4  ,but 
,i was pushed into politics when ,i was 
young1 as a kind of family duty2 and    
once in it's very hard to get out again4
  ,i'm coming out now because1 among    
other things1 there's no longer any     
place for me4 ,toryism is dead4  ,and   
,i1 as you justly describe me1 am a     
,tory4  ,but you want to know why8      
,well1 ,i don't know that ,i can tell   
you4  ,perhaps ,i ought to be able to4  
,remenham1 ,i know1 can and will give   
you the clearest possible account of why
 he is a ,liberal4  ,but then ,remenham 
has principles2 and ,i have only        
prejudices4  ,i am a ,tory because ,i   
was born one1 just as another man is a  
,radical because he was born one4 ,but  
,remenham1 ,i really believe1 is a      

,liberal1 because he has convinced      
himself that he ought to be one4  ,i    
admire him for it1 but ,i am quite      
unable to understand him4  ,and1 for my 
own part1 if ,i am to defend1 or rather 
to explain myself1 ,i can only do so by 
explaining my prejudices4 ,and really ,i
 am glad to have the opportunity of     
doing so1 if only because it is a       
satisfaction occasionally to say what   
one thinks2 a thing which has become    
impossible in public life4  ,the first  
of my prejudices is that ,i believe in  
inequality4  ,i'm not at all sure that  
that is a prejudice confined to         
myself--most people seem to act upon it 
in practice1 even in ,america4  ,but ,i 
not only recognize the fact1 ,i approve 
the ideal of inequality4  ,i don't want1
 myself1 to be the equal of ,darwin or  
of the ,german ,emperor2 and ,i don't   
see why anybody should want to be my    
equal4  ,i like a society properly      
ordered in ranks and classes4  ,i like  
my butcher or my gardener to take off   

his hat to me1 and ,i like1 myself1 to  
stand bareheaded in the presence of the 
,queen4  ,i don't know that ,i'm better 
or worse than the village carpenter2 but
 ,i'm different2 and ,i like him to     
recognize that fact1 and to recognize it
 myself4  ,in ,america1 ,i am told1     
everyone is always informing you1 in    
everything they do and say1 directly or 
indirectly1 that they are as good as you
 are4  ,that isn't true1 and if it were1
 it isn't good manners to keep saying   
it4  ,i prefer a society where people   
have places and know them4  ,they always
 do have places in any possible society2
 only1 in a democratic society1 they    
refuse to recognize them2 and1          
consequently1 social relations are much 
ruder1 more unpleasant and less humane  
than they are1 or used to be1 in        
,england4  ,that is my first prejudice2 
and it follows1 of course1 that ,i hate 
the whole democratic movement4  ,i see  
no sense in pretending to make people   
equal politically when they're unequal  

in every other respect4  ,do what you   
may1 it will always be a few people that
 will govern4  ,and the only real result
 of the extension of the franchise has  
been to transfer political power from   
the landlords to the trading classes and
 the wire-pullers4  ,well1 ,i don't     
think the change is a good one4  ,and   
that brings me to my second prejudice1 a
 prejudice against trade4  ,i don't     
mean1 of course1 that we can do without 
it4  ,a country must have wealth1 though
 ,i think we were a much better country 
when we had less than we have now4  ,nor
 do ,i dispute that there are to be     
found excellent1 honourable1 and capable
 men of business4  ,but ,i believe that 
the pursuit of wealth tends to unfit men
 for the service of the state4 ,and ,i  
sympathize with the somewhat extreme    
view of the ancient world that those who
 are engaged in trade ought to be       
excluded from public functions4  ,i     
believe in government by gentlemen2 and 
the word gentleman ,i understand in the 

proper1 old-fashioned ,english sense1 as
 a man of independent means1 brought up 
from his boyhood in the atmosphere of   
public life1 and destined either for the
 army1 the navy1 the ,church1 or        
,parliament4  ,it was that kind of man  
that made ,rome great1 and that made    
,england great in the past2 and ,i don't
 believe that a country will ever be    
great which is governed by merchants and
 shopkeepers and artisans4  ,not because
 they are not1 or may not be1 estimable 
people2 but because their occupations   
and manner of life unfit them for public
 service4  ,well1 that is the kind of   
feeling--,i won't call it a             
principle--which determined my conduct  
in public life4  ,and you will remember 
that it seemed to be far more possible  
to give expression to it when first ,i  
entered politics than it is now4  ,even 
after the first ,reform ,act--which1 in 
my opinion was conceived upon the wrong 
lines--the landed gentry still governed 
,england2 and if ,i could have had my   

way they would have continued to do so4 
,it wasn't really parliamentary reform  
that was wanted2 it was better and more 
intelligent government4 ,and such       
government the then ruling class was    
capable of supplying1 as is shown by the
 series of measures passed in the       
thirties and forties1 the new ,poor ,law
 and the ,public ,health ,acts and the  
rest4  ,even the repeal of the ,corn    
,laws shows at least how capable they   
were of sacrificing their own interests 
to the nation2 though otherwise ,i      
consider that measure the greatest of   
their blunders4  ,i don't profess to be 
a political economist1 and ,i am ready  
to take it from those whose business it 
is to know that our wealth has been     
increased by ,free ,trade4  ,but no one 
has ever convinced me1 though many      
people have tried1 that the increase of 
wealth ought to be the sole object of a 
nation's policy4  ,and it is surely as  
clear as day that the policy of ,free   
,trade has dislocated the whole         

structure of our society4  ,it has      
substituted a miserable city-proletariat
 for healthy labourers on the soil2 it  
has transferred the great bulk of wealth
 from the country-gentleman to the      
traders2 and in so doing it has more and
 more transferred power from those who  
had the tradition of using it to those  
who have no tradition at all except that
 of accumulation4  ,the very thing which
 ,i should have thought must be the main
 business of a statesman--the           
determination of the proper relations of
 classes to one another--we have handed 
over to the chances of competition4  ,we
 have abandoned the problem in despair1 
instead of attempting to solve it2 with 
the result1 that our population--so it  
seems to me--is daily degenerating      
before our eyes1 in physique1 in morals1
 in taste1 in everything that matters2  
while we console ourselves with the     
increasing aggregate of our wealth4     
,free ,trade1 in my opinion1 was the    
first great betrayal by the governing   

class of the country and themselves1 and
 the second was the extension of the    
franchise4  ,i do not say that ,i would 
not have made any change at all in the  
parliamentary system that had been      
handed down to us4  ,but ,i would never 
have admitted1 even implicitly1 that    
every man has a right to vote1 still    
less that all have an equal right4  ,for
 society1 say what we may1 is not       
composed of individuals but of classes2 
and by classes it ought to be           
represented4 ,i would have enfranchised 
peasants1 artisans1 merchants1          
manufacturers1 as such1 taking as my    
unit the interest1 not the individual1  
and assigning to each so much weight as 
would enable its influence to be felt1  
while preserving to the landed gentry   
their preponderance4  ,that would have  
been difficult1 no doubt1 but it would  
have been worth doing2 whereas it was1  
to my mind1 as foolish as it was easy   
simply to add new batches of electors1  
till we shall arrive1 ,i do not doubt1  

at what1 in effect1 is universal        
suffrage1 without having ever admitted  
to ourselves that we wanted to have it4 
,but what has been done is final and    
irremediable4  ,henceforth1 numbers1 or 
rather those who control numbers1 will  
dominate ,england2 and they will not be 
the men under whom hitherto she has     
grown great4 ,for people like myself    
there is no longer a place in politics4 
,and really1 so far as ,i am personally 
concerned1 ,i am rather glad to know it4
  ,those who have got us into the mess  
must get us out of it4 ,probably they   
will do so1 in their own way2 but they  
will make1 in the process1 a very       
different ,england from the one ,i have 
known and understood and loved4  ,we    
shall have a population of city people1 
better fed and housed1 ,i hope1 than    
they are now1 clever and quick and      
smart1 living entirely by their heads1  
ready to turn out in a moment for use   
everything they know1 but knowing really
 very little1 and not knowing it very   

well4  ,there will be fewer of the kind 
of people in whom ,i take pleasure1 whom
 ,i like to regard as peculiarly        
,english1 and who are the products of   
the countryside2 fellows who grow like  
vegetables1 and1 without knowing how1   
put on sense as they put on flesh by an 
unconscious process of assimilation2 who
 will stand for an hour at a time       
watching a horse or a pig1 with stolid  
moon-faces as motionless as a pond2 the 
sort of men that visitors from town     
imagine to be stupid because they take  
five minutes to answer a question1 and  
then probably answer by asking another2 
but who have stored up in them a wealth 
of experience far too extensive and     
complicated for them ever to have taken 
account of it4  ,they live by their     
instincts not their brains2 but their   
instincts are the slow deposit of long  
years of practical dealings with nature4
  ,that is the kind of man ,i like4     
,and ,i like to live among them in the  
way ,i do--in a traditional relation    

which it never occurs to them to resent1
 any more than it does to me to abuse   
it4  ,that sort of relation you can't   
create2 it has to grow1 and to be handed
 down from father to son4  ,the new men 
who come on to the land never manage to 
establish it4  ,they bring with them the
 isolation which is the product of      
cities4  ,they have no idea of any tie  
except that of wages2 the notion of     
neighbourliness they do not understand4 
,and that reminds me of a curious thing4
  ,people go to town for society2 but ,i
 have always found that there is no real
 society except in the country4  ,we may
 be stupid there1 but we belong to a    
scheme of things which embodies the     
wisdom of generations4  ,we meet not in 
drawing-rooms1 but in the hunting-field1
 on the county-bench1 at dinners of     
tenants or farmers' associations4  ,our 
private business is intermixed with our 
public4  ,our occupation does not       
involve competition2 and the daily      
performance of its duties we feel to be 

itself a kind of national service4      
,that is an order of things which ,i    
understand and admire1 as my fathers    
understood and admired it before me4    
,and that is why ,i am a ,tory2 not     
because of any opinions ,i hold1 but    
because that is my character4  ,i stood 
for ,toryism while it meant something2  
and now that it means nothing1 though ,i
 stand for it no longer1 still ,i can't 
help being it4  ,the ,england that is   
will last my time2 the ,england that is 
to be does not interest me2 and it is as
 well that ,i should have nothing to do 
with directing it4  ,i don't know       
whether that is a sufficient account of 
the question ,i was told to answer2 but 
it's the best ,i can make1 and ,i think 
it ought to be sufficient4  ,i always   
imagine myself saying to ,god1 if ,he   
asks me to give an account of myself3   
',here ,i am1 as you made me4  ,you can 
take me or leave me4  ,if ,i had to live
 again ,i would live just so4  ,and if  
you want me to live differently1 you    

must make me different4'  ,i have       
championed a losing cause1 and ,i am    
sorry it has lost4  ,but ,i do not break
 my heart about it4  ,i can still live  
for the rest of my days the life ,i     
respect and enjoy4  ,and ,i am content  
to leave the nation in the hands of     
,remenham1 who1 as ,i see1 is all       
impatience to reply to my heresies4     
,,remenham in fact was fidgeting in his 
chair as though he found it hard to keep
 his seat2 and ,i should have felt bound
 in pity to call upon him next1 even if 
,i had not already determined to do so4 
,he rose with alacrity2 and it was      
impossible not to be struck by the      
contrast he presented to ,cantilupe4    
,his elastic upright figure1 his firm   
chin1 the exuberance of his gestures1   
the clear ring of his voice1 expressed  
admirably the intellectual and nervous  
force which he possessed in a higher    
degree than any man ,i have ever come   
across4  ,he began without hesitation1  
and spoke throughout with the trained   

and facile eloquence of which he was    
master4  ,i shall1 ,i am sure1 be       
believed1 he said1 when ,i emphatically 
assert that nothing could be more       
distressing to me than the notion--if ,i
 should be driven to accept it--that the
 liberal measures on which1 in my       
opinion1 the prosperity and the true    
welfare of the country depends should   
have1 as one of their incidental        
concomitants1 the withdrawal from public
 life of such men as our friend who has 
just sat down4  ,we need all the        
intellectual and moral resources of the 
country2 and among them ,i count as not 
the least valuable and fruitful the     
stock of our ancient country gentlemen4 
,i regretted the retirement of ,lord    
,cantilupe on public as well as on      
personal grounds2 and my regret is only 
tempered1 not altogether removed1 when  
,i see how well1 how honourably and how 
happily he is employing his             
well-deserved leisure4  ,but ,i am glad 
to know that we have still1 and to      

believe that we shall continue to have1 
in the great ,council of the nation1 men
 of his distinguished type and tradition
 to form one1 and that not the least    
important1 of the balances and          
counter-checks in the great and         
complicated engine of state4  ,when1    
however1 he claims--or perhaps ,i should
 rather say desires--for the            
distinguished order of which he is a    
member1 an actual and permanent         
preponderance in the state1 there1 ,i   
confess1 ,i must part company with him4 
,nay1 ,i cannot even accept the theory1 
to which he gave expression1 of a fixed 
and stable representation of interests4 
,it is indeed true that society1 by the 
mysterious dispensation of the ,divine  
,being1 is wonderfully compounded of the
 most diverse elements and classes1     
corresponding to the various needs and  
requirements of human life4  ,and it is 
an ancient theory1 supported by the     
authority of great names1 by ,plato1 my 
revered master1 the poet-philosopher1 by

 ,aristotle1 the founder of political   
science1 that the problem of a statesman
 is so to adjust these otherwise        
discordant elements as to form once for 
all in the body-politic a perfect1 a    
final and immutable harmony4  ,there is1
 according to this view1 one simple     
chord and one only1 which the great     
organ of society is adapted to play2 and
 the business of the legislator is      
merely to tune the instrument so that it
 shall play it correctly4  ,thus1 if    
,plato could have had his way1 his great
 common chord1 his harmony of producers1
 soldiers and philosophers1 would still 
have been droning monotonously down the 
ages1 wherever men were assembled to    
dwell together4  ,doubtless the concord 
he conceived was beautiful4  ,but the   
dissonances he would have silenced1 but 
which1 with ever-augmenting force1 peal 
and crash1 from his day to ours1 through
 the echoing vault of time1 embody1 as  
,i am apt to think1 a harmony more      
august than any which even he was able  

to imagine1 and in their intricate      
succession weave the plan of a          
world-symphony too high to be           
apprehended save in part by our grosser 
sense1 but perceived with delight by the
 pure intelligence of immortal spirits4 
,it is indeed the fundamental defect of 
all imaginary polities--and how much    
more of such as fossilize1 without even 
idealizing1 the actual6--that even      
though they be perfect1 their perfection
 is relative only to a single set of    
conditions2 and that could they         
perpetuate themselves they would also   
perpetuate these1 which should have been
 but brief and transitory phases in the 
history of the race4  ,had it been      
possible for ,plato to establish over   
the habitable globe his golden chain of 
philosophic cities1 he would have       
riveted upon the world for ever the     
institutions of slavery and caste1 would
 have sealed at the source the springs  
of science and invention1 and imprisoned
 in perennial impotence that mighty     

genius of empire which alone has been   
able to co-ordinate to a common and     
beneficent end the stubborn and         
rebellious members of this growing      
creature ,man4  ,and if the imagination 
of a ,plato1 permitted to work its will1
 would thus have sterilized the germs of
 progress1 what shall we say of such men
 as ourselves imposing on the fecundity 
of nature the limits and rules of our   
imperfect mensuration6  ,rather should  
we1 in humility1 submit ourselves to her
 guidance1 and so adapt our institutions
 that they shall hamper as little as may
 be the movements and forces operating  
within them4  ,for it is by conflict1 as
 we have now learnt1 that the higher    
emerges from the lower1 and nature      
herself1 it would almost seem1 does not 
direct but looks on1 as her world       
emerges in painful toil from chaos4  ,we
 do not find her with precipitate zeal  
intervening to arrest at a given point  
the ferment of creation2 stretching her 
hand when she sees the gleam of the     

halcyon or the rose to bid the process  
cease that would destroy them2 and      
sacrificing to the completeness of those
 lower forms the nobler imperfection of 
man and of what may lie beyond him4     
,she looks always to the end2 and so in 
our statesmanship should we1 striving to
 express1 not to limit1 by our          
institutions the forces with which we   
have to deal4  ,our polity should grow1 
like a skin1 upon the living tissue of  
society4  ,for who are we that we should
 say to this man or that1 go plough1    
keep shop1 or govern the state8 ,that we
 should say to the merchant1 'thus much 
power shall be yours1' and to the       
farmer1 'thus much yours8'  ,no6 rather 
let us say to each and to all1 ,take the
 place you can1 enjoy the authority you 
can win6 ,let our constitution express  
the balance of forces in our society1   
and as they change let the disposition  
of power change with them6  ,that is the
 creed of liberalism1 supported by      
nature herself1 and sanctioned1 ,i would

 add with reverence1 by the ,almighty   
,power1 in the disposition and order of 
,his stupendous creation4  ,but it is   
not a creed that levels1 nor one that   
destroys4  ,none can have more regard   
than ,i--not ,cantilupe himself--for our
 ancient crown1 our hereditary          
aristocracy4  ,these1 while they deserve
 it--and long may they do so6--will     
retain their honoured place in the      
hearts and affections of the people4    
,only1 alongside of them1 ,i would make 
room for all elements and interests that
 may come into being in the natural     
course of the play of social forces4    
,but these will be far too numerous1 far
 too inextricably interwoven1 too       
rapidly changing in relative weight and 
importance1 for the intelligence of man 
to attempt1 by any artificial scheme1 to
 balance and adjust their conflicting   
claims4  ,open to all men equally1      
within the limits of prudence1 the      
avenue to political influence1 and let  
them use1 as they can and will1 in      

combined or isolated action1 the        
opportunities thus liberally bestowed4  
,that is the key-note of the policy     
which ,i have consistently adopted from 
my entrance into public life1 and which 
,i am prepared to prosecute to the end1 
though that end should be the universal 
suffrage so dreaded by the last speaker4
  ,he tells me it is a policy of        
reckless abandonment4  ,but abandonment 
to what8  ,abandonment to the people6   
,and the question is1 ,do we trust the  
people8  ,i do2 he does not6  ,there1 ,i
 venture to think1 is the real          
difference between us4  ,yes1 ,i am not 
ashamed to say it1 ,i trust the ,people6
  ,what should ,i trust1 if ,i could not
 trust them8  ,what else is a nation but
 an assemblage of the talents1 the      
capacities1 the virtues of the citizens 
of whom it is composed8  ,to utilize    
those talents1 to evoke those           
capacities1 to offer scope and          
opportunity to those virtues1 must be   
the end and purpose of every great and  

generous policy2 and to that end1 up to 
the measure of my powers1 ,i have       
striven to minister1 not rashly1 ,i     
hope1 nor with impatience1 but in the   
spirit of a sober and assured faith4    
,such is my conception of liberalism4   
,but if liberalism has its mission at   
home1 not less important are its        
principles in the region of             
international relations4  ,i will not   
now embark on the troubled sea of       
foreign policy4  ,but on one point ,i   
will touch1 since it was raised by the  
last speaker1 and that is the question  
of our foreign trade4  ,in no department
 of human activity1 ,i will venture to  
say1 are the intentions of the ,almighty
 more plainly indicated1 than in this of
 the interchange of the products of     
labour4  ,to each part of the habitable 
globe have been assigned its special    
gifts for the use and delectation of    
,man2 to every nation its peculiar      
skill1 its appropriate opportunities4   
,as the world was created for labour1 so

 it was created for exchange4  ,across  
the ocean1 bridged at last by the       
indomitable pertinacity of art1 the     
granaries of the new world call1 in     
their inexhaustible fecundity for the   
iron and steel1 the implements and      
engines of the old4  ,the shepherd-kings
 of the limitless plains of ,australia1 
the ,indian ryot1 the now happily       
emancipated negro of ,georgia and       
,carolina1 feed and are fed by the      
factories and looms of ,manchester and  
,bradford4  ,pall ,mall is made glad    
with the produce of the vineyards of    
,france and ,spain2 and the ,italian    
peasant goes clad in the labours of the 
,leicester artisan4 ,the golden chain   
revolves1 the silver buckets rise and   
fall2 and one to the other passes on1 as
 it fills and overflows1 the stream that
 pours from ,nature's cornucopia6  ,such
 is the law ordained by the ,power that 
presides over the destinies of the      
world2 and not all the interferences of 
man with ,his beneficent purposes can   

avail altogether to check and frustrate 
their happy operation4  ,yet have the   
blind cupidity1 the ignorant            
apprehensions of national zeal          
dislocated1 so far as was possible1 the 
wheels and cogs of the great machine1   
hampered its working and limited its    
uses4  ,and if there be anything of     
which this great nation may justly      
boast1 it is that she has been the first
 to tear down the barriers and dams of a
 perverted ingenuity1 and to admit in   
unrestricted plenitude to every channel 
of her verdant meadows the limpid and   
fertilizing stream of trade4  ,verily   
she has had her reward6  ,search the    
records of history1 and you will seek in
 vain for a prosperity so immense1 so   
continuous1 so progressive1 as that     
which has blessed this country in the   
last half-century of her annals4  ,this 
access of wealth was admitted indeed by 
the speaker who preceded me4  ,but he   
complained that we had taken no account 
of the changes which the new system was 

introducing into the character and      
occupations of the people4  ,it is true2
 and he would be a rash man who should  
venture to forecast and to determine the
 remoter results of such a policy2 or   
should shrink from the consequences of  
liberty on the ground that he cannot    
anticipate their character4  ,which of  
us would have the courage1 even if he   
had the power1 to impose upon a nation  
for all time the form of its economic   
life1 the type of its character1 the    
direction of its enterprise8  ,the      
possibilities that lie in the womb of   
,nature are greater than we can gauge2  
we can but facilitate their birth1 we   
may not prescribe their anatomy4  ,the  
evils of the day call for the remedies  
of the day2 but none can anticipate with
 advantage the necessities of the       
future4  ,and meantime what cause is    
there for misgiving8  ,i confess that ,i
 see none4  ,the policy of freedom has  
been justified1 ,i contend1 by its      
results4  ,and so confident am ,i of    

this1 that the time1 ,i believe1 is not 
far distant1 when other countries will  
awake at last to their own true         
interests and emulate1 not more to their
 advantage than to ours1 our fiscal     
legislation4  ,i see the time           
approaching when the nations of the     
world1 laying aside their political     
animosities1 will be knitted together in
 the peaceful rivalry of trade2 when    
those barriers of nationality which     
belong to the infancy of the race will  
melt and dissolve in the sunshine of    
science and art2 when the roar of the   
cannon will yield to the softer murmur  
of the loom1 and the apron of the       
artisan1 the blouse of the peasant be   
more honourable than the scarlet of the 
soldier2 when the cosmopolitan armies of
 trade will replace the militia of      
death2 when that which ,god has joined  
together will no longer be sundered by  
the ignorance1 the folly1 the wickedness
 of man2 when the labour and the        
invention of one will become the        

heritage of all2 and the peoples of the 
earth meet no longer on the field of    
battle1 but by their chosen delegates1  
as in the vision of our greatest poet1  
in the ',parliament of ,man1 the        
,federation of the ,world4'  ,,with this
 peroration ,remenham resumed his seat4 
,he had spoken1 as indeed was his habit1
 rather as if he were addressing a      
public meeting than a company of        
friends4  ,but at least he had set the  
ball rolling4 ,to many of those present1
 as ,i well knew1 his speech and his    
manner must have been eminently         
provocative2 and naturally to none more 
than to ,mendoza4  ,i had1 therefore1 no
 hesitation in signalling out the       
,conservative chief to give us the      
opposite point of view4  ,he responded  
with deliberation1 lifting from his     
chest his sinister ,jewish face1 and    
slowly unfolding his long body1 while a 
malicious smile played about his mouth4 
,one1 he began1 who has not the         
privilege of immediate access to the    

counsels of the ,divine ,being cannot   
but feel himself at a disadvantage in   
following a man so favoured as my       
distinguished friend4  ,the             
disadvantage1 however1 is one to which  
,i have had1 perforce1 to grow          
accustomed during long years of         
parliamentary strife1 ,i have resigned  
myself to creeping where he soars1 to   
guessing where he prophesies4 ,but there
 is compensation everywhere4  ,and1     
perhaps1 there are certain points which 
may be revealed to babes and sucklings1 
while they are concealed from beings    
more august4  ,the worm1 ,i suppose1    
must be aware of excrescences and       
roughnesses of the soil which escape the
 more comprehensive vision of the eagle2
 and to the worm1 at least1 these are of
 more importance than mountain ranges   
and oceans which he will never reach4   
,it is from that humble point of view   
that ,i shall offer a few remarks       
supplementary to1 perhaps even critical 
of1 the eloquent apostrophe we have been

 permitted to enjoy4  ,the key-note of  
my friend's address was liberty4  ,there
 is no ,british heart which does not    
beat higher at the sound of that word4  
,but while ,i listened to his           
impassioned plea1 ,i could not help     
wondering why he did not propose to     
dispense to us in even larger and more  
liberal measure the supreme and precious
 gift of freedom4  ,true1 he has done   
much to remove the barriers that        
separated nation from nation1 and man   
from man4  ,but how much remains to be  
accomplished before we can be truly said
 to have brought ourselves into line    
with ,nature6  ,consider1 for example1  
the policeman6  ,has my friend ever     
reflected on all that is implied in that
 solemn figure2 on all that it          
symbolizes of interference with the     
purposes of a beneficent ,creator8  ,the
 policeman is a permanent public        
defiance of ,nature4  ,through him the  
weak rule the strong1 the few the many1 
the intelligent the fools4  ,through him

 survive those whom the struggle for    
existence should have eliminated4 ,he   
substitutes the unfit for the fit4  ,he 
dislocates the economy of the universe4 
,under his shelter take root and thrive 
all monstrous and parasitic growths4    
,marriage clings to his skirts1 property
 nestles in his bosom4  ,and while these
 flourish1 where is liberty8  ,the law  
of ,nature we all know3    ,the good old
 rule1 the ancient plan   ,that he      
should take who has the power1   ,and he
 should keep who can6   ,but this1 by   
the witchcraft of property1 we have set 
aside4  ,our walls of brick and stone we
 have manned with invisible guards4  ,we
 have thronged with fiery faces and arms
 the fences of our gardens and parks4   
,the plate-glass of our windows we have 
made more impenetrable than adamant4    
,to our very infants we have given the  
strength of giants4 ,babies surfeit1    
while strong men starve2 and the foetus 
in the womb stretches out unformed hands
 to annex a principality4  ,is this     

liberty8 ,is this ,nature8  ,no6  ,it is
 a ,merlin's prison6  ,yet1 monstrous1  
it subsists6  ,has our friend1 then1 no 
power to dissolve the charm8  ,or1 can  
it be that he has not the will8  ,again1
 can we be said to be free1 can we be   
said to be in harmony with ,nature1     
while we endure the bonds of matrimony8 
,while we fetter the happy promiscuity  
of instinct1 and subject our roving     
fancy to the dominion of 'one unchanging
 wife8'  ,here1 indeed1 ,i frankly      
admit1 ,nature has her revenges2 and an 
actual polygamy flourishes even under   
the aegis of our law4  ,but the law     
exists2 it is the warp on which1 by the 
woof of property1 we fashion that       
,nessus-shirt1 the ,family1 in which1 we
 have swathed the giant energies of     
mankind4  ,but while that shirt clings  
close to every limb1 what avails it1 in 
the name of liberty1 to snap1 here and  
there1 a button or a lace8  ,a more     
heroic work is required of the great    
protagonist1 if1 indeed1 he will follow 

his mistress to the end4  ,he shakes his
 head4  ,what6  ,is his service1 then1  
but half-hearted after all8  ,or1 can it
 be1 that behind the mask of the goddess
 he begins to divine the teeth and claws
 of the brute8 ,but if nature be no     
goddess1 how can we accept her as       
sponsor for liberty8  ,and if liberty be
 taken on its own merits1 how is it to  
be distinguished from anarchy8  ,how1   
but by the due admixture of coercion8   
,and1 that admitted1 must we not descend
 from the mountain-top of prophecy to   
the dreary plains of political          
compromise8  ,up to this point ,mendoza 
had preserved that tone of elaborate    
irony which1 it will be remembered1 was 
so disconcerting to ,english audiences1 
and stood so much in the way of his     
popularity4  ,but now his manner        
changed4  ,becoming more serious1 and ,i
 fear ,i must add1 more dull than ,i had
 ever heard him before1 he gave us what 
,i suppose to be the most intimate      
exposition he had ever permitted himself

 to offer of the ,conservative point of 
view as he understood it4  ,these1 he   
resumed1 are questions which ,i must    
leave my friend to answer for himself4  
,the ground is too high for me4  ,i have
 no skill in the flights of speculation4
  ,i take no pleasure in the enunciation
 of principles4  ,to my restricted      
vision1 placed as ,i am upon the earth1 
isolated facts obtrude themselves with a
 capricious particularity which defies  
my powers of generalization4  ,and that1
 perhaps1 is the reason why ,i attached 
myself to the party to which ,i have the
 honour to belong4  ,for it is1 ,i      
think1 the party which sees things as   
they are2 as they are1 that is1 to mere 
human vision4  ,remenham1 in his haste1 
has called us the party of reaction4  ,i
 would rather say1 we are the party of  
realism4  ,we have in view1 not ,man1   
but ,englishmen2 not ideal polities1 but
 the ,british ,constitution2 not        
,political ,economy1 but the actual     
course of our trade4  ,through this     

great forest of fact1 this tangle of old
 and new1 these secular oaks1 sturdy    
shrubs1 beautiful parasitic creepers1 we
 move with a prudent diffidence1        
following the old tracks1 endeavouring  
to keep them open1 but hesitating to cut
 new routes till we are clear as to the 
goal for which we are asked to sacrifice
 our finest timber4  ,fundamental       
changes we regard as exceptional and    
pathological4  ,yet1 being bound by no  
theories1 when we are convinced of their
 necessity1 we inaugurate them boldly   
and carry them through to the end4  ,and
 thus it is that having decided that the
 time had come to call the people to the
 councils of the nation1 we struck      
boldly and once for all by a measure    
which ,i will never admit--and here ,i  
regret that ,cantilupe is not with      
me--which ,i will never admit to be at  
variance with the best1 and soundest    
traditions of conservatism4  ,but such  
measures are exceptional1 and we hope   
they will be final4  ,we take no delight

 in tinkering the constitution4  ,the   
mechanism of government we recognize to 
be only a means2 the test of the        
statesman is his power to govern4  ,and 
remaining1 as we do1 inaccessible to    
that gospel of liberty of which our     
opponents have had a special revelation1
 we find in the existing state of       
,england much that appears to us to need
 control4  ,we are unable to share the  
optimism which animates ,remenham and   
his friends as to the direction and     
effects of the new forces of industry4  
,above the whirr of the spindle and the 
shaft we hear the cry of the poor4      
,behind our flourishing warehouses and  
shops we see the hovels of the artisan4 
,we watch along our highroads the long  
procession of labourers deserting their 
ancestral villages for the cities2 we   
trace them to the slum and the sweater's
 den2 we follow them to the poorhouse   
and the prison2 we see them disappear   
engulfed in the abyss1 while others     
press at their heels to take their place

 and share their destiny4  ,and in face 
of all this we do not think it to be our
 duty to fold our arms and invoke the   
principle of liberty4  ,we feel that we 
owe it to the nation to preserve intact 
its human heritage1 the only source of  
its greatness and its wealth2 and we are
 prepared1 with such wisdom as we have1 
to legislate to that end1 undeterred by 
the fear of incurring the charge of     
socialism4  ,but while we thus concern  
ourselves with the condition of these   
islands1 we have not forgotten that we  
have relations to the world outside4    
,if1 indeed1 we could share the views to
 which ,remenham has given such eloquent
 expression1 this is a matter which     
would give us little anxiety4  ,he      
beholds1 as in a vision1 the era of     
peace and good-will ushered in by the   
genius of commerce4  ,by a mysterious   
dispensation of ,providence he sees     
cupidity and competition furthering the 
ends of charity and peace4  ,but here   
once more ,i am unable to follow his    

audacious flight4  ,confined to the     
sphere of observation1 ,i cannot but    
note that in the long and sanguinary    
course of history there has been no     
cause so fruitful of war as the         
rivalries of trade4  ,our own annals at 
every point are eloquent of this truth2 
nor do ,i see anything in the conditions
 of the modern world that should limit  
its application4  ,we have been told    
that all nations will adopt our fiscal  
policy4  ,why should they1 unless it is 
to their interest8  ,we adopted it      
because we thought it was to ours2 and  
we shall abandon it if we ever change   
our opinion4  ,and when ,i say          
'interest' ,i would not be understood to
 mean economic interest in the narrower 
sense4  ,a nation1 like an individual1  
,i conceive1 has a personality to       
maintain4  ,it must be its object not to
 accumulate wealth at all costs1 but to 
develop and maintain capacity1 to be    
powerful1 energetic1 many-sided1 and    
above all independent4  ,whether the    

policy we have adopted will continue to 
guarantee this result1 ,i am not prophet
 enough to venture to affirm4 ,but if it
 does not1 ,i cannot doubt that we shall
 be driven to revise it4  ,nor can ,i   
believe that other nations1 not even our
 own colonies1 will follow us in our    
present policy1 if to do so would be to 
jeopardy their rising industries and    
unduly to narrow the scope of their     
economic energies4  ,i do not1 then1 ,i 
confess1 look forward with enthusiasm or
 with hope to the ,crystal ,palace      
millennium that inspired the eloquence  
of ,remenham4  ,i see the future        
pregnant with wars and rumours of wars4 
,and in particular ,i see this nation1  
by virtue of its wealth1 its power1 its 
unparalleled success1 the target for the
 envy1 the hatred1 the cupidity of all  
the peoples of ,europe4  ,i see them    
looking abroad for outlets for their    
expanding population1 only to find every
 corner of the habitable globe          
preoccupied by the ,english race and    

overshadowed by the ,english flag4  ,but
 from this1 which is our main danger1 ,i
 conjure my main hope for the future4   
,england is more than ,england4  ,she   
has grown in her sleep4  ,she has       
stretched over every continent huge     
embryo limbs which wait only for the    
beat of her heart1 the motion of her    
spirit1 to assume their form and        
function as members of one great body of
 empire4  ,the spirit1 ,i think1 begins 
to stir1 the blood to circulate4  ,our  
colonies1 ,i believe1 are not destined  
to drop from us like ripe fruit2 our    
dependencies will not fall to other     
masters4  ,the nation sooner or later   
will wake to its imperial mission4 ,the 
hearts of ,englishmen beyond the seas   
will beat in unison with ours4 ,and the 
federation ,i foresee is not the        
federation of ,mankind1 but that of the 
,british race throughout the world4  ,he
 paused1 and in the stillness that      
followed we became aware of the         
gathering dusk4  ,the first stars were  

appearing1 and the young moon was low in
 the west4  ,from the shadow below we   
heard the murmur of a fountain1 and the 
call of a nightingale sounded in the    
wood4  ,something in the time and the   
place must have worked on ,mendoza's    
mood2 for when he resumed it was in a   
different key4  ,such1 he began1 is my  
vision1 if ,i permit myself to dream4   
,but who shall say whether it is more   
than a dream8  ,there is something in   
the air to-night which compels candour4 
,and if ,i am to tell my inmost thought1
 ,i must confess on what a flood of     
nescience we1 who seem to direct the    
affairs of nations1 are borne along     
together with those whom we appear to   
control4  ,we are permitted1 like       
children1 to lay our hands upon the     
reins2 but it is a dark and unknown     
genius who drives4 ,we are his          
creatures2 and it is his ends1 not ours1
 that are furthered by our contests1 our
 efforts1 our ideals4  ,in the arena    
,remenham and ,i must play our part1    

combat bravely1 and be ready to die when
 the crowd turn down their thumbs4  ,but
 here in a moment of withdrawal1 ,i at  
least cannot fail to recognize behind   
the issues that divide us the tie of a  
common destiny4  ,we shall pass and a   
new generation will succeed us2 a       
generation to whom our ideals will be   
irrelevant1 our catch-words empty1 our  
controversies unintelligible4    ,hi    
motus animorum atque haec certamina     
tanta     ,pulveris exigui jactu        
compressa quiescunt4   ,the dust of     
oblivion will bury our debates4         
,something we shall have achieved1 but  
not what we intended4  ,my dream may1   
perhaps1 be furthered by ,remenham1 and 
his by me1 or1 it may be1 neither his   
nor mine by either4  ,the ,providence   
whose purposes he so readily divines is 
dark to me4  ,and perhaps1 for that     
reason1 ,i am able to regard him with   
more charity than he has always been    
willing1 ,i suspect1 to extend to me4   
,this1 at any rate1 is the moment of    

truce4  ,the great arena is empty1 the  
silent benches vanish into the night4   
,under the glimmer of the moon figures  
more than mortal haunt the scene of our 
ephemeral contests4  ,it is they which  
stand behind us and deal the blows which
 seem to be ours4  ,when we are laid in 
the dust they will animate other        
combatants2 when our names are forgotten
 they will blazon others in perishable  
gold4  ,why1 then1 should we strive and 
cry1 even now in the twilight hour8     
,the same sky encompasses us1 the same  
stars are above us4  ,what are my       
opinions1 what are ,remenham's8  ,froth 
on the surface6 ,the current bears all  
alike along to the destined end4  ,for a
 moment let us meet and feel its silent1
 irresistible force2 and in this moment 
reach across the table the hand of      
peace4  ,with that he stretched his hand
 to ,remenham1 with a kind of pathos of 
appeal that the other1 though ,i think  
he did not altogether like it1 could    
hardly refuse to entertain4  ,it was    

theatrical1 it was un-,english1 but     
somehow1 it was successful4  ,and the   
whole episode1 the closing words and the
 incomparable gesture1 left me with a   
sense as though a curtain had been drawn
 upon a phase of our history4  ,mendoza1
 somehow1 had shut out ,remenham1 even  
more than himself1 from the field on    
which the issues of the future were to  
be fought4  ,and it was this feeling    
that led me1 really a little against my 
inclination1 to select as the next      
speaker the man who of all who1 made up 
our company1 in opinions was the most   
opposed to ,remenham1 and in temperament
 to ,mendoza4  ,my choice was ,allison1 
more famous now than he was then1 but   
known even at that time as an unsparing 
critic of both parties4  ,he responded  
readily enough2 and as he began a spell 
seemed to snap4  ,the night and the hour
 were forgotten1 and we were back on the
 dusty field of controversy4  ,,this is 
all very touching1 he began1 but        
,mendoza is shaking hands with the wrong

 person4  ,he's much nearer to me than  
he is to ,remenham1 and ,i don't at all 
despair of converting him4  ,for he does
 at least understand that the character 
of every society depends upon its law of
 property2 and he even seems to have a  
suspicion that the law1 as we have it1  
is not what you would call absolute     
perfection4  ,it's true that he shows no
 particular inclination to alter it4    
,but that may come2 and ,i'm not without
 hope of seeing1 before ,i die1 a       
,tory-,socialist party4  ,remenham's is 
a different case1 and ,i fear there's   
nothing to be made of him4  ,he does1 ,i
 believe1 really think that in some     
extraordinary way the law of property1  
like the ,anglican ,church1 is one of   
the dispensations of ,providence2 and   
that if he removes all other            
restrictions1 leaving that1 he will have
 what he calls a natural society4  ,but 
,nature1 as ,mendoza has pointed out1 is
 anarchy4  ,civilization means          
restriction2 and so does socialism4  ,so

 far from being anarchy1 it is the very 
antithesis of it4  ,anarchy is the goal 
of liberalism1 if liberalism could ever 
be persuaded to be logical4  ,so the    
scarecrow of anarchy1 at least1 need not
 frighten away any would-be convert to  
socialism4  ,there remains1 it is true1 
the other scarecrow1 revolution2 and    
that1 ,i admit1 has more life in it4    
,socialism is revolutionary2 but so is  
liberalism1 or was1 while it was        
anything4  ,revolution does not imply   
violence4  ,on the contrary1 violence is
 the abortion of revolution4  ,do ,i1   
for instance1 look like a ,marat or a   
,danton8  ,i ask you1 candidly6  ,he    
certainly did not4  ,on the contrary1   
with his short squat figure1 pointed    
beard and spectacles1 he presented a    
curious blend of the middle-class       
,englishman and the ,german savant4     
,there was a burst of laughter at his   
question1 in which he joined himself4   
,but when he resumed it was in a more   
serious tone and somewhat in the manner 

of a lecturer4  ,it was indeed1 at that 
time1 very largely by lectures that he  
carried on his propaganda4  ,no1 he     
said1 socialism may roar2 but1 in       
,england at any rate1 it roars as gently
 as any sucking-dove4  ,revolution ,i   
admit is the goal2 but the process is   
substitution4  ,we propose to transform 
society almost without anyone knowing   
it2 to work from the foundation upwards 
without unduly disturbing the           
superstructure4  ,by a mere adjustment  
of rates and taxes we shall redistribute
 property2 by an extension of the powers
 of local bodies we shall nationalize   
industry4  ,but in all this there need  
be no shock1 no abrupt transition4  ,on 
the contrary1 it is essential to our    
scheme that there should not be4  ,we   
are men of science and we realize that  
the whole structure of society rests    
upon habit4  ,with the new organization 
must therefore grow the new habit that  
is to support it4  ,to precipitate      
organic change is merely to court       

reaction4  ,that is the lesson of all   
revolution2 and it is one which ,english
 socialists1 at any rate1 have learnt4  
,we think1 moreover1 that capitalist    
society is1 by its own momentum1        
travelling towards the goal which we    
desire4  ,every consolidation of        
business upon a grand scale implies the 
development of precisely those talents  
of organization without which the       
socialistic state could not come into   
being or maintain itself2 while at the  
same time the substitution of monopoly  
for competition removes the only check  
upon the power of capital to exploit    
society1 and brings home to every       
citizen in his tenderest point--his     
pocket--the necessity for that public   
control from which he might otherwise be
 inclined to shrink4  ,capitalist       
society is thus preparing its own       
euthanasia2 and we socialists ought to  
be regarded not as assassins of the old 
order1 but as midwives to deliver it of 
the child with which it is in travail4  

,that child will be a society not of    
liberty but of regulation4  ,it is here 
that we join issue not only with        
doctrinaire liberals1 but with that     
large body of ordinary common-sense     
,englishmen who feel a general and      
instinctive distrust of all state       
interference4  ,that distrust1 ,i would 
point out1 is really an anachronism4    
,it dates from a time when the state was
 at once incompetent and unpopular1 from
 the days of monarchic or aristocratic  
government carried on frankly in the    
interests of particular classes or      
persons4  ,but the democratic revolution
 and the introduction of bureaucracy has
 swept all that away2 and governments in
 every civilized country are now moving 
towards the ideal of an expert          
administration controlled by an alert   
and intelligent public opinion4  ,much1 
it is true1 has yet to be done before   
that ideal will be realized4  ,in some  
countries1 notably in the ,united       
,states1 the necessity of the expert has

 hardly made itself felt4 ,in others1   
such as ,germany1 popular control is    
very inadequately provided for4  ,but   
the tendency is clear2 and nowhere      
clearer than in this country4  ,here at 
any rate we may hopefully look forward  
to a continual extension both of the    
activity and of the intelligence of     
public officials2 while at the same     
time1 by an appropriate development of  
the representative machinery1 we may    
guard ourselves against the danger of an
 irresponsible bureaucracy4  ,the       
problem of reconciling administrative   
efficiency with popular control is no   
doubt a difficult one2 but ,i feel      
confident that it can be solved4  ,this 
perhaps is hardly the place to develop  
my favourite idea of the professional   
representative2 but ,i may be permitted 
to refer to it in passing4  ,by a       
professional representative ,i mean one 
trained in a scientific and systematic  
way to elicit the real opinion of his   
constituents1 and to embody it in       

practicable proposals4  ,he will have to
 study what they really want1 not what  
they think they want1 and to discover   
for himself in what way it can be       
obtained4  ,such men need not be        
elected2 indeed ,i am inclined to think 
that the plan of popular election has   
had its day4 ,the essential is that they
 should be selected by some test of     
efficiency1 such as examination or      
previous record1 and that they should   
keep themselves in constant touch with  
their constituents4  ,but ,i must not   
dwell upon details4  ,my main object is 
to show that when government is in the  
hands of expert administrators1         
controlled by expert representatives1   
there need be no anxiety felt in        
extending indefinitely the sphere of the
 state4  ,this extension will of course 
be primarily economic1 for1 as is now   
generally recognized1 the whole         
character of a society depends upon its 
economic organization4  ,revolution1 if 
it is to be profound1 must begin with   

the organization of industry2 but it    
does not follow that it will end there4 
,it is a libel on the socialist ideal to
 call it materialistic1 to say that it  
is indifferent or hostile to the higher 
activities4  ,no one1 to begin with1 is 
more conscious than a true socialist of 
the importance of science4  ,not only is
 the sociology on which his position is 
based a branch of science2 but it is a  
fundamental part of his creed that the  
progress of man depends upon his mastery
 of ,nature1 and that for acquiring that
 mastery science is his only weapon4    
,again1 it is absurd to accuse us of    
indifference to ethics4  ,our standards1
 indeed1 may not be the same as those of
 bourgeois society2 if they were1 that  
would be their condemnation2 for a new  
economic rgime necessarily postulates a 
new ethic4  ,but every rgime requires   
and produces its appropriate standards2 
and the socialist rgime will be no      
exception4  ,our feeling upon that      
subject is simply that we need not      

trouble about the ethic because it will 
follow of itself upon the economic      
revolution4  ,for1 as we read history1  
the economic factor determines all the  
others4  ',man ist was er isst1' as the 
,german said2 and morals1 art1 religion1
 all the so-called 'ideal activities1'  
are just allotropic forms of bread and  
meat4  ,they will come by themselves if 
they are wanted2 and in the socialist   
state they will be better not worse     
provided for than under the present     
competitive system4  ,for here again the
 principle of the expert will come in4  
,it will be the business of the state1  
if it determines that such activities   
ought to be encouraged1 to devise a     
machinery for selecting and educating   
men of genius1 in proportion to the     
demand1 and assigning to them their     
appropriate sphere of activity and their
 sufficient wage4  ,this will apply1 ,i 
conceive1 equally to the ministers of   
religion as to the professors of the    
various branches of art4  ,nor would ,i 

suggest that the socialist community    
should establish any one form of        
religion1 seeing that we are not in a   
position to determine scientifically    
which1 or whether any1 are true4  ,i    
would give encouragement to all and     
several1 of course under the necessary  
restrictions1 in the hope that1 in      
course of time1 by a process of natural 
selection1 that one will survive which  
is the best adapted to the new          
environment4  ,but meantime the         
advantage of the new over the old       
organization is apparent4  ,we shall    
hear no more of genius starving in a    
garret2 of ill-paid or over-paid        
ministers of the gospel2 of privileged  
and unprivileged sects4  ,all will be   
orderly1 regular1 and secure1 as it     
should be in a civilized state2 and for 
the first time in history society will  
be in a position to extract the maximum 
of good from those strange and irregular
 human organizations whose subsistence  
hitherto has been so precarious and     

whose output so capricious and          
uncertain4  ,a socialist state1 if ,i   
may say so1 will pigeon-hole religion1  
literature and art2 and if these are    
really normal and fruitful functions    
they cannot fail1 like other functions1 
to profit by such treatment4  ,i have   
thus indicated in outline the main      
features of the socialist scheme--an    
economic revolution accomplished by a   
gradual and peaceful transition and     
issuing in a system of collectivism so  
complete as to include all the human    
activities that are really valuable4    
,but what ,i should find it hard to     
convey1 except to an audience prepared  
by years of study1 is the enthusiasm or 
rather the grounds for the enthusiasm1  
that animates us4  ,whereas all other   
political parties are groping in the    
dark1 relying upon partial and outworn  
formulae1 in which even they themselves 
have ceased to believe1 we alone advance
 in the broad daylight1 along a road    
whose course we clearly trace backward  

and forward1 towards a goal distinctly  
seen on the horizon4  ,history and      
analysis are our guides2 history for the
 first time comprehended1 analysis for  
the first time scientifically applied4  
,unlike all the revolutionists of the   
past1 we derive our inspiration not from
 our own intuitions or ideals1 but from 
the ascertained course of the world4    
,we co-operate with the universe2 and   
hence at once our confidence and our    
patience4  ,we can afford to wait       
because the force of events is bearing  
us on of its own accord to the end we   
desire4  ,even if we rest on our oars1  
none the less we are drifting onwards2  
or if we are checked for a moment the   
eddy in which we are caught is merely   
local4  ,alone among all politicians we 
have faith2 but our faith is built upon 
science1 and it is therefore a faith    
which will endure4  ,,with that ,allison
 concluded2 and almost before he had    
done ,mac,carthy1 without waiting my    
summons1 had leapt to his feet and burst

 into an impassioned harangue4  ,with   
flashing eyes and passionate gestures he
 delivered himself as follows1 his      
,irish accent contrasting pleasantly    
with that of the last speaker4  ,may    
,god forgive me1 he cried1 that ever ,i 
have called myself a socialist1 if this 
is what socialism means6  ,but it does  
not6  ,i will rescue the word6  ,i will 
reclaim it for its ancient nobler       
sense--socialism the dream of the world1
 the light of the grail on the marsh1   
the mystic city of ,sarras1 the vale of 
,avalon6  ,socialism the soul of        
liberty1 the bond of brotherhood1 the   
seal of equality6  ,who is he that with 
sacrilegious hands would seize our      
,ariel and prison him in that tree of   
iniquity the ,state8  ,day is not       
farther from night1 nor ,good from      
,evil1 than the socialism of the        
,revolution from this of the desk and   
the stool1 from this enemy wearing our  
uniform and flaunting our coat of arms4 
,for nigh upon a century we have fought 

for liberty2 and now they would make us 
gaolers to bind our own souls4  #aghi1  
#ahcj1 #ahdh--;are these dates branded  
upon our hearts1 only to stamp us as    
patient sheep in the flock of           
bureaucracy8  ,no6  ,they are the       
symbols of the spirit2 and those whom   
they set apart1 outcasts from the       
kingdoms of this world and citizens of  
the kingdom of ,god1 wherever they      
wander are living flames to consume     
institutions and laws1 and to light in  
the hearts of men the fires of pity and 
wrath and love4  ,our city is not built 
with ,blue books1 nor cemented with     
office dust2 nor is it bonds of red-tape
 that make and keep it one4  ,no6 it is 
the attraction1 uncompelled1 of spirits 
made free2 the shadowing into outward   
form of the eternal joy of the soul6    
,he paused and seemed to collect        
himself2 and then in a quieter tone3    
,socialism1 he proceeded1 is one with   
anarchy6  ,i know the terrors of that   
word2 but they are the terrors of an    

evil conscience2 for it is only an order
 founded on iniquity that dreads        
disorder4  ,why do you fear for your    
property and lives1 you who fear        
anarchy8  ,it is because you have stolen
 the one and misdevoted the other2      
because you have created by your laws   
the man you call the criminal2 because  
you have bred hunger1 and hunger has    
bred rage4  ,for this ,i do not blame   
you1 any more than ,i blame myself4     
,you are yourselves victims of the      
system you maintain1 and your enemy1 no 
less than mine1 if you knew it1 is      
government4  ,for government means      
compulsion1 exclusion1 distinction1     
separation2 while anarchy is freedom1   
union and love4  ,government is based on
 egotism and fear1 anarchy on           
fraternity4  ,it is because we divide   
ourselves into nations that we endure   
the oppression of armaments2 because we 
isolate ourselves as individuals that we
 invoke the protection of laws4  ,if ,i 
did not take what my brother needs ,i   

should not fear that he would take it   
from me2 if ,i did not shut myself off  
from his want1 ,i should not deem it    
less urgent than my own4  ,all governing
 persons are persons set apart4  ,and   
therefore it is that whether they will  
or no they are oppressors1 or1 at best1 
obstructors4 ,shut off from the breath  
of popular instinct1 which is the breath
 of life1 they cannot feel1 and         
therefore cannot think1 rightly4  ,and1 
in any case1 how could they understand1 
even with the best will in the world1   
the multifarious interests they are     
expected to control8  ,a man knows      
nothing but what he practises2 and in   
every branch of work only those are     
fitted to direct who are themselves the 
workers4 ,intellectually1 as well as    
morally1 government is eternally        
bankrupt2 and what is called            
representative government is no better  
than any other1 for the governors are   
equally removed in sympathy and         
knowledge from the governed4  ,nay1     

experience shows1 if we would but admit 
it1 that under no system have the rulers
 been more incompetent and corrupt than 
under this which we call democratic4    
,is not the very word 'politician'      
everywhere a term of reproach8  ,is not 
a government office everywhere          
synonymous with incapacity and sloth8   
,what a miserable position is that of a 
,member of ,parliament1 compelled to    
give his vote on innumerable questions  
of which he does not understand the     
rudiments1 and giving it at the         
dictation of party chiefs who themselves
 are controlled by the blind and        
brainless mechanism of the caucus6  ,the
 people are the slaves of their         
representatives1 the representatives of 
their chiefs1 and the chiefs of a       
conscienceless machine6  ,and that is   
the last word of governmental science6  
,oh1 divine spirit of man1 in what      
chains have you bound yourself1 and call
 it liberty1 and clap your hands6  ,and 
then comes one and says1 'because you   

are free1 tie yourself tighter and      
tighter in your own bonds6'  ,are these 
hands not yours that fasten the knots8  
,why then do you fear8  ,here is a limb 
free2 fasten it quick6  ,your head still
 turns2 come1 fix it in a vice6  ,now   
you are fast6  ,now you cannot move6    
,how beautiful1 how orderly1 how secure6
 ,and this1 and this is socialism6  ,and
 it was to accomplish this that ,france 
opened the sluices that have deluged the
 earth with blood6 ,what6 we have broken
 the bonds of iron to bind ourselves in 
tape6  ,we have discrowned ,napoleon to 
crown 444 to crown4444  ,he looked      
across at ,allison1 and suddenly pulled 
himself up4  ,then1 attempting the tone 
of exposition1 ,there is only one way   
out of it1 he resumed1 the extension of 
free co-operation in every department of
 activity1 including those which at     
present are regulated by the ,state4    
,you will say that this is              
impracticable2 but why8  ,already1 in   
all that you most care about1 that is   

the method you actually adopt4  ,the    
activities of men that are freest in the
 society in which we live are those of  
art and science and amusement4  ,and all
 these are1 ,i will not say regulated   
by1 but expressed in1 voluntary         
organizations1 clubs1 academies1        
societies1 what you will4  ,the ,royal  
,society and the ,british ,association  
are types of the right way of           
organizing2 and it is a way that should 
and must be applied throughout the whole
 structure4  ,every trade and business  
should be conducted by a society        
voluntarily formed of all those who     
choose to engage in it1 electing and    
removing their own officials1           
determining their own policy1 and       
co-operating by free arrangement with   
other similar bodies4  ,a complex       
interweaving of such associations1 with 
order everywhere1 compulsion nowhere1 is
 the form of society to which ,i look   
forward1 and which ,i see already       
growing up within the hard skin of the  

older organisms4  ,rules there will be  
but not laws1 rules gladly obeyed       
because they will have been freely      
adopted1 and because there will be no   
compulsion upon anyone to remain within 
the brotherhood that approves and       
maintains them4  ,anarchy is not the    
absence of order1 it is absence of      
force2 it is the free outflowing of the 
spirit into the forms in which it       
delights2 and in such forms alone1 as   
they grow and change1 can it find an    
expression which is not also a bondage4 
,you will say this is chimerical4  ,but 
look at history6  ,consider the great   
achievements of the ,middle ,age6 ,were 
they not the result of just such a      
movement as ,i describe8  ,it was men   
voluntarily associating in communes and 
grouping themselves in guilds that built
 the towers and churches and adorned    
them with the glories of art that       
dazzles us still in ,italy and ,france4 
,the history of the growth of the state1
 of public authority and compulsion1 is 

the history of the decline from         
,florence and ,nuremberg to ,london and 
,new ,york4  ,as the power of the state 
grows the energy of the spirit dwindles2
 and if ever ,allison's ideal should be 
realized1 if ever the activity of the   
state should extend through and through 
to every department of life1 the        
universal ease and comfort which may    
thus be disseminated throughout society 
will have been purchased dearly at the  
price of the soul4  ,the denizens of    
that city will be fed1 housed and       
clothed to perfection2 only--and it is a
 serious drawback--only they will be    
dead4  ,oh6 he broke out1 if ,i could   
but get you to see that this whole order
 under which you live is artificial and 
unnecessary6  ,but we are befogged by   
the systems we impose upon our          
imagination and call science4  ,we have 
been taught to regard history as a      
necessary process1 until we come to     
think it must also be a good one2 that  
all that has ever happened ought to have

 happened just so and no otherwise4     
,and thus we justify everything past and
 present1 however palpably in           
contradiction with our own intuitions4  
,but these are mere figments of the     
brain4  ,history1 for the most part1    
believe me1 is one gigantic error and   
crime4  ,it ought to have been other    
than it was2 and we ought to be other   
than we are4  ,there is no natural and  
inevitable evolution towards good2 no   
co-operating with the universe1 other   
than by connivance at its crimes4  ,that
 little house the brain builds to       
shelter its own weakness must be torn   
down if we would face the truth and     
pursue the good4  ,then we shall see    
amid what blinding storms of wind and   
rain1 what darkness of elements hostile 
or indifferent1 our road lies across the
 mountains towards the city of our      
desire4  ,then and then only shall we   
understand the spirit of revolution4    
,that there are things so bad that they 
can only be burnt up by fire2 that there

 are obstructions so immense that they  
can only be exploded by dynamite2 that  
the work of destruction is a necessary  
preliminary to the work of creation1 for
 it is the destruction of the prison    
walls wherein the spirit is confined2   
and that in that work the spirit itself 
is the only agent1 unhelped by powers of
 nature or powers of a world            
beyond--that is the creed--no1 ,i will  
not say the creed1 that is the insight  
and vision by which we of the           
,revolution live4  ,by that ,i believe  
we shall triumph4  ,but whether we      
triumph or no1 our life itself is a     
victory1 for it is a life lived in the  
spirit4  ,to shatter material bonds that
 we may bind closer the bonds of the    
soul1 to slough dead husks that we may  
liberate living forms1 to abolish       
institutions that we may evoke energies1
 to put off the material and put on the 
spiritual body1 that1 whether we fight  
with the tongue or the sword1 is the    
inspiration of our movement1 that1 and  

that only1 is the true and inner meaning
 of anarchy4  ,anarchy is identified    
with violence2 and ,i will not be so    
hypocritical and base as to deny that   
violence must be one of our means of    
action4 ,force is the midwife of        
society2 and never has radical change   
been accomplished without it4  ,what    
came by the sword by the sword must be  
destroyed3 and only through violence can
 violence come to an end4  ,nay1 ,i will
 go further and confess1 since here if  
anywhere we are candid1 that it is the  
way of violence to which ,i feel called 
myself1 and that ,i shall die as ,i have
 lived1 an active revolutionary4  ,but  
because force is a way1 is a necessary  
way1 is my way1 ,i do not imagine that  
there is no other4  ,were it not idle to
 wish1 ,i could rather wish that ,i were
 a poet or a saint1 to serve the same   
,lord by the gentler weapons of the     
spirit4  ,there are anarchists who never
 made a speech and never carried a      
rifle1 whom we know as our brothers1    

though perhaps they know not us4  ,two  
,i will name who live for ever1         
,shelley1 the first of poets1 were it   
not that there is one greater than he1  
the mystic ,william ,blake4  ,we are    
thought of as men of blood2 we are      
hounded over the face of the globe4     
,and who of our persecutors would       
believe that the song we bear in our    
hearts1 some of us1 ,i may speak at     
least for one1 is the most inspired1 the
 most spiritual challenge ever flung to 
your obtuse1 flatulent1 stertorous      
,england3    ,bring me my bow of burning
 gold1   ,bring me my arrows of desire1 
,bring me my spear2 ,o clouds unfold6   
,bring me my chariot of fire6    ,i will
 not cease from mental fight1   ,nor    
shall my sword sleep in my hand1   ,till
 ,i have built ,jerusalem   ,in         
,england's green and pleasant land4     
,england6  ,no1 not ,england1 but       
,europe1 ,america1 the world6  ,where is
 ,man1 the new ,man1 there is our       
country4  ,but the new ,man is buried in

 the old2 and wherever he struggles in  
his tomb1 wherever he knocks we are     
there to help to deliver him4  ,when the
 guards sleep1 in the silence of the    
dawn1 rises the crucified ,christ4  ,and
 the angel that sits at the grave is the
 angel of ,anarchy4  ,,thus abruptly he 
brought to a close his extraordinary    
peroration1 to which ,i fear the written
 word has done but poor justice4  ,a    
long silence followed2 in it there was  
borne to us from below the murmur of the
 hidden fountain1 the wail of the       
nightingale4  ,it was night now2 the    
moon had set1 and the sky was thick with
 stars4  ,among them one planet was     
blazing red1 just opposite where ,i sat2
 and ,i saw the eyes of my neighbour1   
,henry ,martin1 fixed upon it4  ,he was 
so lost in thought that he did not hear 
me at first when ,i asked him whether he
 would care to follow on4  ,but he      
assented willingly enough as soon as he 
understood4  ,and as he rose ,i could   
not help admiring1 as ,i had often done 

before1 the singular beauty of his      
countenance4  ,his books1 ,i think1 do  
him injustice2 they are cold and        
academic4  ,but there was nothing of    
that in the man himself2 never was      
spirit so alert2 and that alertness was 
reflected in his person and bearing1 his
 erect figure1 his brilliant eyes1 and  
the tumultuous sweep of his now         
whitening beard4  ,he stood for a moment
 silent1 with his eyes still fixed on   
the red star2 then began to speak as    
follows3  ,if1 he said1 it be true1 as  
certain mystics maintain1 that the world
 is an effect of the antagonisms of     
spiritual beings1 having their stations 
in opposite quarters of the heavens1    
then1 ,i think1 ,mac,carthy and myself  
must represent such a pair of           
contraries1 and move in an antithetic   
balance through the cycle of experience4
  ,i1 perhaps1 am the ,urthona of his   
prophet ,blake1 and he the ,urizen1 or  
vice versa1 it may be1 ,i cannot tell4  
,but our opposition involves1 on my part

 at least1 no hostility2 and looking    
across to his quarter of the sky ,i can 
readily conceive how proud a fate it    
must be to burn there1 so red1 so       
sumptuous1 and so superb4  ,my own light
 is pale by comparison1 a mere green and
 blue2 yet it is equally essential2 and 
without it there might be a danger that 
he would consume the world4  ,i speak in
 metaphors1 that ,i may effect as gently
 as possible the necessary transition1  
so cold and abrupt1 from the prophet to 
the critic4  ,but you1 sir1 in calling  
upon me1 knew what you were doing4  ,you
 knew well that you were inviting       
,aquarius to empty his watering-pot on  
,mars4  ,and ,mars1 ,i am sure1 will    
pardon me if ,i obey4  ,unlike all the  
previous speakers1 ,i am1 by vocation1 a
 sceptic2 and the vocation ,i hold to be
 a noble one4 ,there are people who     
think1 perhaps1 indeed1 there is almost 
nobody who does not think1 that action  
is the sole end of life4  ,criticism1   
they hold1 is a kind of disease to which

 some people are subject1 and which1 in 
extreme cases1 may easily be fatal4     
,the healthy state1 on the other hand1  
they think1 is that of the enthusiast2  
of the man who believes and never       
doubts4  ,now1 that such a state is     
happy ,i am very ready to admit2 but ,i 
cannot hold that it is healthy4  ,how   
could it be1 unless it were based upon a
 sound1 intellectual foundation8  ,but  
no such foundation has been or will be  
reached except through criticism2 and   
all criticism implies and engenders     
doubt4  ,a man who has never            
experienced1 nay1 ,i will say who is not
 constantly reiterating1 the process of 
criticism1 is a man who has no right to 
his enthusiasm4  ,for he has won it at  
the cost of drugging his mind with      
passion2 and that ,i maintain is a bad  
and wrong thing4  ,i maintain it to be  
bad and wrong in itself1 and quite apart
 from any consequences it may produce2  
for it is a primary duty to seek what is
 true and eschew what is false4  ,but   

even from the secondary point of view of
 consequences1 ,i have the gravest      
doubts as to the common assumption that 
the effects of enthusiasm are always    
preponderantly if not wholly good4      
,when ,i consider1 for example1 the     
history of religion1 ,i find no warrant 
for affirming that its services have    
outweighed its disservices4  ,jesus     
,christ1 the greatest and1 ,i think1 the
 sanest of enthusiasts1 lit the fires of
 the ,inquisition and set up the ,pope  
at ,rome4  ,mahomet deluged the earth   
with blood1 and planted the ,turk on the
 ,bosphorus4  ,saint ,frances created a 
horde of sturdy beggars4  ,luther       
declared the ,thirty ,years ,war4       
,criticism would have arrested the      
course of these men2 but would the world
 have been the worse8  ,i doubt it4     
,there would have been less heat2 but   
there might have been more light4  ,and1
 for my part1 ,i believe in light4  ,it 
may1 indeed1 be true that intellect     
without passion is barren2 but it is    

certain that passion without intellect  
is mischievous4  ,and since these       
powers1 which should be united1 are1 in 
fact1 at war in the great duel which    
runs through history1 ,i take my stand  
with the intellect4  ,if ,i must choose1
 ,i would rather be barren than         
mischievous4  ,but it is my aim to be   
fruitful and to be fruitful through     
criticism4  ,that means1 ,i fear1 that  
,i am bound to make myself unpleasant to
 everybody4  ,but ,i do it1 not of      
malice prepense1 but as in duty bound4  
,you will say1 perhaps1 that that only  
makes the matter worse4  ,well1 so be   
it6  ,i will apologize no more1 but     
proceed at once to my disagreeable task4
  ,let me say then first1 that in       
listening to the speakers who have      
preceded me1 while admiring the beauty  
and ingenuity of the superstructures    
they have raised1 ,i have been busy1    
according to my practice1 in questioning
 the foundations4  ,and this is the kind
 of result ,i have arrived at4  ,all    

political convictions vary between the  
two extremes which ,i will call         
,collectivism and ,anarchy4  ,each of   
these pursues at all costs a certain    
end--,collectivism1 order1 and ,anarchy1
 liberty4  ,each is held as a faith and 
propagated as a religion4  ,and between 
them lie those various compromises      
between faith and experience1 idea and  
fact1 which are represented by          
liberalism1 conservatism1 and the like4 
,now1 the degree of enthusiasm which    
accompanies a belief1 is commonly in    
direct proportion to its freedom from   
empirical elements4  ,simplicity and    
immediacy are the characteristics of all
 passionate conviction4  ,but a critic  
like myself cannot believe that in      
politics1 or anywhere in the field of   
practical action1 any such simple and   
immediate beliefs are really and wholly 
true4  ,thus1 in the case before us1 ,i 
would point out that neither liberty nor
 order are sufficient ends in           
themselves1 though each1 ,i think1 is   

part of the end4  ,the liberty that is  
desirable is that of good people        
pursuing ,good in order2 and the order  
that is desirable is that of good people
 pursuing ,good in liberty4  ,this is a 
correction which1 perhaps1 both         
collectivist and anarchist would accept4
  ,what they want1 they would say1 is   
that kind of liberty and that kind of   
order which ,i have described4  ,but as 
liberty and order1 so conceived1 imply  
one another1 the difference between the 
two positions ceases to be one of ends  
and becomes one of means4  ,but every   
problem of means is one of extreme      
complexity which can only be solved1 in 
the most tentative way1 by observation  
and experiment4  ,and opinions based    
upon such a process1 though they may be 
strongly held1 cannot be held with the  
simplicity and force of a religious or  
ethical intuition4  ,we might1          
conceivably1 on this basis adopt the    
position either of the collectivist or  
of the anarchist2 but we should do so   

not as enthusiasts1 but as critics1 with
 a full consciousness that we are       
resting not upon an absolute principle1 
but upon a balance of probabilities4    
,this1 then1 is the first point ,i      
wished to make1 that the whole question 
is one to be attacked by criticism1 not 
by intuition4  ,but now1 tested by      
criticism1 both the extreme positions   
suggest the gravest possible            
difficulties and doubts4  ,in the case  
of anarchy1 especially1 these force     
themselves upon the most superficial    
view4  ,the anarchist maintains1 in     
effect1 that to bring about his ideal of
 ordered liberty all you have to do is  
to abolish government4  ,but he can     
point to no experience that will justify
 such a belief4  ,it is based upon a    
theory of human nature which is         
contradicted by all the facts known to  
us4  ,for if men1 were it not for       
government1 might be living in the      
garden of ,eden1 how comes it that they 
ever emerged from that paradise8  ,no1  

it is not government that is the root of
 our troubles1 it is the niggardliness  
of ,nature and the greed of man4  ,and  
both these are primitive facts which    
would be strengthened1 not destroyed1 by
 anarchy4  ,can it be believed that the 
result would be satisfactory8  ,the     
anarchist may indeed reply that anything
 would be better than what exists4  ,and
 ,i can well understand how some        
generous and sensitive souls1 or some   
victims of intolerable oppression1 may  
be driven into such counsels4  ,but they
 are surely counsels of despair4 ,or is 
it possible really to hold--as          
,mac,carthy apparently does--that on the
 eve of a bloody revolution1 whereby all
 owners of property will be summarily   
deprived of all they have1 the friendly 
and co-operative instincts of human     
nature will immediately come into play  
without friction2 that the infinitely   
complex problems of production and      
distribution will solve themselves1 as  
it were1 of their own accord2 that there

 will be a place ready for everybody to 
do exactly the work he wants2 that      
everybody will want to work at          
something1 and will be contented with   
the wage assigned him1 that there will  
be no shortage1 no lack of adaptation of
 demand to supply2 and all this         
achieved1 not by virtue of any new      
knowledge or new capacity1 but simply by
 a rearrangement of existing elements8  
,does anyone1 does ,mac,carthy really1  
in a calm moment1 believe all this8     
,and is he prepared to stake society    
upon his faith8  ,if he be1 he is indeed
 beyond the reach of my watering-pot4   
,i leave him1 therefore1 burning luridly
 and unsubdued1 and pass on to ,allison4
  ,allison's flame is gentler2 and ,i   
would not wish1 even if ,i could1       
altogether to extinguish it4  ,but ,i am
 anxious1 ,i confess1 to temper it2 for 
in colour1 to my taste1 it is a little  
ghastly2 and ,i fear that if it         
increased in intensity1 it might even   
become too hot1 though ,i do not suggest

 that that is a present danger4  ,to    
drop the metaphor1 my objections to     
collectivism are not as fundamental as  
my objections to anarchy1 nor are they  
based upon any lack of appreciation of  
the advantages of that more equitable   
distribution of the opportunities of    
life which ,i take to be at the bottom  
of the collectivist ideal4  ,i do not   
share--no man surely who has reflected  
could share--the common prejudice that  
there is something fundamental1 natural1
 and inevitable about the existing      
organization of property4  ,on the      
contrary1 it is clear to me that it is  
inequitable2 and that the substitution  
of the system advocated by collectivists
 would be an immense improvement1 if it 
could be successfully carried out1 and  
if it did not endanger other ,goods1    
which may be even more important than   
equality of opportunity4 ,nor do ,i hold
 that in a collectivist state there need
 be any dangerous relaxation of that    
motive of self-interest which every     

reasonable man must admit to be1 up to a
 point1 the most potent source of all   
practical energy4  ,i do not see why the
 state should not pay its servants      
according to merit just as private      
companies do1 and make the rewards of   
ambition depend on efficiency4  ,in this
 purely economic region there is not1 so
 it seems to me1 anything absurd or     
chimerical in the socialist ideal4  ,my 
difficulty here is of a different kind4 
,i do not see how1 by the democratic    
machinery contemplated1 it will be      
possible to secure officials            
sufficiently competent and disinterested
 to be entrusted with functions so      
important and so difficult as those     
which would be demanded of them under   
the socialist rgime4  ,in a democracy   
the government can hardly rise above--in
 practice1 ,i think1 it tends to fall   
below--the average level of honesty and 
intelligence4 ,in the ,united ,states1  
for example1 it is notorious that the   
whole machinery of government1 and      

especially of local government1 where   
the economic functions are important1 is
 exploited by the more unscrupulous     
members of the community2 and this      
tendency must be immensely accentuated  
in every society in proportion as the   
functions of government become          
important4  ,a socialist state badly    
administered would1 ,i believe1 be worse
 than the state under which we live1 to 
the same degree in which1 when well     
administered1 it would be better4  ,and 
,i do not1 ,i confess1 see what         
guarantees socialists can offer that the
 administration will be good4  ,i have  
far less confidence than ,allison in    
mere machinery2 and ,i am sure that no  
machinery will produce good results in a
 society where a large proportion of the
 citizens have no other idea than to    
exploit the powers of government in     
their own interest4  ,but such1 ,i      
believe1 is the case in existing        
societies2 and ,i do not see by what    
miracle they are going to be            

transformed4  ,such is my first         
difficulty with regard to collectivism4 
,and though it would not prevent me from
 supporting1 as in fact ,i do support1  
cautious and tentative experiments in   
the direction of practical socialism1 it
 does prevent me from looking to a      
collectivist future with anything like  
the breezy confidence which animates    
,allison4  ,and ,i will go further3 ,i  
will say that no man who possesses an   
adequate intelligence1 and does not     
deliberately stifle it1 has a right to  
any such confidence4  ,setting aside1   
however1 for the sake of argument1 this 
difficulty1 and admitting the           
possibility of an honest and efficient  
collectivist state1 ,i am confronted    
with a further and even graver cause of 
hesitation4  ,for while ,i consider that
 the distribution of the opportunities  
of life is1 under the existing system1  
in the highest degree capricious and    
inequitable1 yet ,i would prefer such   
inequity to the most equitable          

arrangement in the world if it afforded 
a better guarantee for the realization  
of certain higher goods than would be   
afforded by the improved system4  ,and  
,i am not clear in my own mind1 and ,i  
do not see how anyone can be clear1 that
 collectivism gives as good a security  
as the present system for the           
realization of these higher goods4  ,and
 this brings me back to the question of 
liberty4  ,on this point there is1 ,i am
 well aware1 a great deal of cant       
talked1 and ,i have no wish to add to   
it4  ,under our present arrangements1 ,i
 admit1 for the great mass of people1   
there is no liberty worth the name2     
seeing that they are bound and tied all 
their lives to the meanest necessities4 
,and yet we see that out of the midst of
 all this chaos of wrong1 there have    
emerged and do emerge artists1 poets1   
men of science1 saints4  ,and the       
appearance of such men seems to me to   
depend on the fact that a considerable  
minority have the power to choose1 for  

good or for evil1 their own life1 to    
follow their bent1 even in the face of  
tremendous difficulties1 and perhaps    
because of those difficulties1 in the   
more fortunate cases1 to realize1 at    
whatever cost of suffering1 great works 
and great lives4  ,but under the system 
sketched by ,allison ,i have the gravest
 doubts whether any man of genius would 
ever emerge4 ,the very fact that        
everybody's career will be regulated for
 him1 and his difficulties smoothed     
away1 that1 in a word1 the open road    
will imply the beaten track1 will1 ,i   
fear1 diminish1 if not destroy1 the     
enterprise1 the innate spirit of        
adventure1 in the spiritual as in the   
physical world1 on which depends all    
that we call1 or ought to call1         
progress4  ,a collectivist state1 it is 
true1 might establish and endow         
academies2 but would it ever produce a  
,shakespeare or a ,michelangelo8 ,it    
might engender and foster religious     
orthodoxy2 but would it have a place for

 the reformer or the saint8  ,should we 
not have to pay for the general level of
 comfort and intelligence1 by           
suppressing the only thing good in      
itself1 the manifestation of genius8  ,i
 do not say dogmatically that it would  
be so3 ,i do not even say dogmatically  
that1 even if it were1 the argument     
would be conclusive against the         
collectivist state4  ,but the issue is  
so tremendous that it necessarily makes 
me pause1 as it must1 ,i contend1 any   
candid man1 who is not prejudiced by a  
preconceived ideal4  ,now1 it is not for
 the sake of recommending any opinion of
 my own that ,i have dwelt on these     
considerations4  ,it is1 rather1 to     
illustrate and drive home the point with
 which ,i began1 that the intellect has 
its rights1 that it enters into every   
creed1 and that it undermines1 in every 
creed1 all elements of mere irrational  
or anti-rational faith2 that this fact  
can only be disguised by a conscious or 
unconscious predetermination1 not to let

 the intellect have its say2 and that   
such predetermination is a very serious 
error and vice4  ,it is without shame   
and without regret1 on the contrary it  
is with satisfaction and self-approval1 
that ,i find in my own case1 my         
intelligence daily more and more        
undermining my instinctive beliefs4     
,if1 as some have held1 it were         
necessary to choose between reason and  
passion1 ,i would choose reason4  ,but  
,i find no such necessity2 for reason to
 me herself is a passion4  ,men think   
the life of reason cold4  ,how little do
 they know what it is to be responsive  
to every call1 solicited by every       
impulse1 yet still1 like the magnet1    
vibrate ever to the north1 never so     
tense1 never so aware of the stress and 
strain of force as when most irremovably
 fixed upon that goal4  ,the intensity  
of life is not to be measured by the    
degree of oscillation4  ,it is at the   
stillest point that the most tremendous 
energies meet2 and such a point is the  

intelligence open to infinity4  ,for    
such stillness ,i feel myself to be     
destined1 if ever ,i could attain it4   
,but others1 ,i suppose1 like           
,mac,carthy1 have a different fate4  ,in
 the celestial world of souls1 the      
hierarchy of spirits1 there is need of  
the planet no less than of its sun4     
,the station and gravity of the one     
determines the orbit of the other1 and  
the antagonism that keeps them apart    
also knits them together4  ,there is no 
motion of ,mac,carthy's but ,i vibrate  
to it2 and about my immobility he       
revolves4  ,but both of us1 as ,i am    
inclined to think1 are included in a    
larger system and move together on a    
remoter centre4  ,and the very law of   
our contention1 as perhaps one day we   
may come to see1 is that of a love that 
by discord achieves harmony4  ,,the     
conclusion of ,martin's speech left me  
somewhat in doubt how to proceed4  ,all 
of the company who were primarily       
interested in politics had now spoken2  

and ,i was afraid there might be a      
complete break in the subject of our    
discourse4  ,casting about1 ,i could    
think of nothing better than to call    
upon ,wilson1 the biologist4  ,for      
though he was a specialist1 he regarded 
everything as a branch of his specialty2
 and would1 ,i knew1 be as ready to     
discourse on society as on anything     
else4 ,although1 therefore1 ,i disliked 
a certain arrogance he was wont to      
display1 ,i felt that1 since he was to  
speak1 this was the proper place to     
introduce him4  ,i asked him accordingly
 to take up the thread of the debate2   
and without pause his aggressive voice  
began to assail our ears4  ,i don't     
quite know1 he began1 why a mere man of 
science should be invited to intervene  
in a debate on these high subjects4     
,politics1 ,i have always understood1 is
 a kind of mystery1 only to be grasped  
by a favoured few1 and then not by any  
processes of thought1 but by some kind  
of intuition4  ,but of late years       

something seems to have happened4 ,the  
intuition theory was all very well when 
the intuitions did not conflict1 or     
when1 at least1 those who were possessed
 by one1 never came into real           
intellectual contact with those who were
 possessed by another4  ,but here1      
to-night1 have we met together upon this
 terrace1 been confronted with the most 
opposite principles jostling in the     
roughest way1 and1 as it seems to the   
outsider1 simply annihilating one       
another4  ,whence ,martin's plea for    
criticism2 a plea with which ,i most    
heartily sympathize1 only that he gave  
no indication of the basis on which     
criticism itself is to rest4  ,and      
perhaps that is where and why ,i come   
in4  ,i have been watching to-night with
 curiosity1 and ,i must confess with a  
little amusement1 one building after    
another laboriously raised by each      
speaker in turn1 only to collapse       
ignominiously at the first touch        
administered by his successor4  ,and    

why8  ,for the ancient reason1 that the 
structures were built upon the sand4    
,well1 ,i have raised no building myself
 to speak of4  ,but ,i am one of an     
obscure group of people who are working 
at solid foundations2 which is only     
another way of saying that ,i am a man  
of science4  ,only a biologist1 it is   
true2 heaven forfend that ,i should call
 myself a sociologist6  ,but biology is 
one of the disciplines that are building
 up that general view of ,nature and the
 world which is gradually               
revolutionizing all our social          
conceptions4  ,the politicians1 ,i am   
afraid1 are hardly aware of this4  ,and 
that is why--if ,i may say so without   
offence--their utterances are coming to 
seem more and more a kind of irrelevant 
prattle4  ,the forces that really move  
the world have passed out of their      
control4  ,and it is only where the     
forces are at work that the living ideas
 move upon the waters4  ,politicians    
don't study science2 that is the        

extraordinary fact4  ,and yet every day 
it becomes clearer that politics is     
either an applied science or a          
charlatanism4  ,only1 unfortunately1 as 
the most important things are precisely 
the last to be known about1 and it is   
exactly where it is most imperative to  
act that our ignorance is most complete1
 the science of politics has hardly yet 
even begun to be studied4  ,hence our   
forlorn paralysis of doubt whenever we  
pause to reflect2 and hence the kind of 
blind desperation with which earnest    
people are impelled to rush             
incontinently into practice4  ,the      
position of ,mac,carthy is very         
intelligible1 however much it be1 to my 
mind--what shall ,i say8--regrettable4  
,there is1 in fact1 hardly a question   
that has been raised to-night that is at
 present capable of scientific          
determination4  ,and with that word ,i  
ought perhaps1 in my capacity of man of 
science1 to sit down4  ,and so ,i would1
 if it were not that there is something 

else1 besides positive conclusions1 that
 results from a long devotion to        
science4 ,there is a certain attitude   
towards life1 a certain sense of what is
 important and what is not1 a view of   
what one may call the commonplaces of   
existence1 that distinguishes1 ,i think1
 all competent people who have been     
trained in that discipline4  ,for we do 
think about politics1 or rather about   
society1 even we specialists4  ,and     
between us we are gradually developing a
 sort of body of first principles which 
will be at the basis of any future      
sociology4  ,it is these that ,i feel   
tempted to try to indicate4  ,and the   
more so1 because they are so foreign to 
much that has been spoken here to-night4
  ,i have had a kind of feeling1 to tell
 the truth1 throughout this whole       
discussion1 of dwelling among the tombs 
and listening to the voices of the dead4
  ,and ,i feel a kind of need to speak  
for the living1 for the new generation  
with which ,i believe ,i am in touch4   

,i want to say how the problems you have
 raised look to us1 who live in the dry 
light of physical science4  ,let me say1
 then1 to begin with1 that for us the   
nineteenth century marks a breach with  
the whole past of the world to which    
there is nothing comparable in human    
annals4  ,we have developed wholly new  
powers2 and1 coincidentally and         
correspondingly1 a wholly new attitude  
to life4  ,of the powers ,i do not      
intend to speak2 the wonders of steam   
and electricity are the hackneyed theme 
of every halfpenny paper4  ,but the     
attitude to life1 which is even more    
important1 is something that has hardly 
yet been formulated4  ,and ,i shall     
endeavour to give some first rough      
expression to it4  ,the first           
constituent1 then1 of the new view is   
that of continuity4 ,we of the new      
generation realize that the present is a
 mere transition from the past into the 
future2 that no event and no moment is  
isolated2 that all things1 successive as

 well as coincident1 are bound in a     
single system4  ,of this system the     
general formula is causation4  ,but1 in 
human society1 the specifically         
important case of it is the nexus of    
successive generations4  ,we do not now1
 we who reflect1 regard man as an       
individual1 nor even as one of a body of
 contemporaries2 we regard him as       
primarily a son and a father4  ,in other
 words1 what we have in mind is always  
the race3 whereas hitherto the central  
point has been the individual or the    
citizen4  ,but this shifting in the     
point of view implies a revolution in   
ethics and politics4  ,with the         
ancients1 the maintenance of the        
existing generation was the main        
consideration1 and patriotism its       
formula4  ,to ,marcus ,aurelius1 to the 
,stoics1 as later to the ,christians1   
the subject of all moral duties was the 
individual soul1 and personal salvation 
became for centuries the corner-stone of
 the ethical structure4  ,well1 all the 

speculation1 all the doctrine1 all the  
literature based upon that conception   
has become irrelevant and meaningless in
 the light of the new ideal4  ,we no    
longer conceive the individual save as  
one in a chain of births4  ,fatherless1 
he is inconceivable2 sonless1 he is     
abortive4  ,his soul1 if he have one1 is
 inseparable from its derivation from   
the past and its tradition to the       
future4  ,his duty1 his happiness1 his  
value1 are all bound up with the fact of
 paternity2 and the same1 mutatis       
mutandis1 is true of women4 ,the new    
generation in a word has a totally new  
code of ethics2 and that code is        
directed to the end of the perfection of
 the race4  ,for1 and this is the second
 constituent of the modern view1 the    
series of births is also the vehicle of 
progress4  ,it is this discovery that   
gives to our outlook on life its        
exhilaration and zest4  ,the ancients   
conceived the ,golden ,age as lying in  
the past2 the men of the ,middle ,ages  

removed it to an imaginary heaven4      
,both in effect despaired of this world2
 and consequently their characteristic  
philosophy is that of the tub or the    
hermitage4  ,so soon as the first flush 
of youth was past1 pessimism clouded the
 civilization of ,greece and of ,rome2  
and from this ,christianity escaped only
 to take refuge in an imaginary bliss   
beyond the grave4  ,but we1 by means of 
science1 have established progress4  ,we
 look to a future1 a future assured1 and
 a future in this world4  ,our eyes are 
on the coming generations2 in them      
centres our hope and our duty4  ,to feed
 them1 to clothe them1 to educate them1 
to make them better than ourselves1 to  
do for them all that has hitherto been  
so scandalously neglected1 and in doing 
it to find our own life and our own     
satisfaction--that is our task and our  
privilege1 ours of the new generation4  
,and this brings me to the third point  
in our scheme of life4  ,we believe in  
progress2 but we do not believe that    

progress is fated4  ,and here1 too1 our 
outlook is essentially new4  ,hitherto1 
the conceptions of ,fate and ,providence
 have divided the empire of the world4  
,we of the new generation accept        
neither4  ,we believe neither in a good 
,god directing the course of events2 nor
 in a blind power that controls them    
independently and in despite of human   
will4  ,we know that what we do or fail 
to do matters4  ,we know that we have   
will2 that will may be directed by      
reason2 and that the end to which reason
 points is the progress of the race4    
,this much we hold to be established2   
more than this we do not need4  ,and it 
is the acceptance of just this that cuts
 us off from the past1 that makes its   
literature1 its ethics1 its politics1   
meaningless and unintelligible to us1   
that makes us1 in a word1 what we are1  
the first of the new generation4  ,well1
 now1 assuming this standpoint let us go
 on to see how some of the questions    
look which have been touched upon       

to-night4  ,those questions have been   
connected mainly with government and    
property4  ,and upon these two factors1 
it would seem1 in the opinion of        
previous speakers1 all the interests of 
society turn4  ,but from the point where
 we now stand we see clearly that there 
is a third factor to which these are    
altogether subordinate--,i mean the     
family4  ,for the family is the         
immediate agent in the production and   
rearing of children2 and this1 as we    
have seen1 is the end of society4  ,with
 the family therefore social            
reconstruction should start4  ,and we   
may lay down as the fundamental ethical 
and social axiom that everybody not     
physically disqualified ought to marry1 
and to produce at least four children4  
,the only question here is whether the  
state should intervene and endeavour so 
to regulate marriages as to bring       
together those whose union is most      
likely to result in good offspring4     
,this is a point on which the ancients1 

,i am aware1 in their light-hearted     
sciolism laid great stress4  ,only1     
characteristically enough1 they ignored 
the fundamental difficulty1 that nothing
 is known--nothing even now1 and how    
much less then6--of the conditions      
necessary to produce the desired result4
  ,if ever the conditions should come to
 be understood--and the problem is      
pre-eminently one for science2 and if   
ever--what is even more difficult--we   
should come to know clearly and exactly 
for what points we ought to breed2 then1
 no doubt1 it may be desirable for      
government to undertake the complete    
regulation of marriage4  ,meantime1 we  
must confine our efforts to the simpler 
and more manageable task of securing for
 the children when they are born the    
best possible environment1 physical1    
intellectual and moral4  ,but this may  
be done1 even without a radical         
reconstruction of the law of property   
simply by proceeding further on the     
lines on which we are already embarked1 

by insisting on a certain standard1 and 
that a high one1 of house-room1         
sanitation1 food1 and the like4  ,we    
could thus ensure from the beginning for
 every child at least a sound physical  
development2 and that without           
undermining the responsibility of       
parents4  ,what else the state can do it
 must do by education2 a thing which1 at
 present1 ,i do not hesitate to say1    
does not exist among us4  ,we have an   
elementary system of cram and drill     
directed by the soulless automata it has
 itself produced2 a secondary system of 
athletics and dead languages presided   
over by gentlemanly amateurs2 and a     
university system which--well1 of which 
,i cannot trust myself to speak4  ,i    
wish only to indicate that1 in the eyes 
of the new generation1 breeding and     
education are the two cardinal pillars  
of society4  ,all other questions1 even 
those of property and government1 are   
subordinate2 and only as subordinate can
 they be fruitfully approached4  ,take1 

for example1 property4  ,on this point  
we have no prejudices1 either           
socialistic or anti-socialistic4        
,property1 as we view it1 is simply a   
tool for producing and perfecting men4  
,whether it will serve that purpose best
 if controlled by individuals or by the 
state1 or partly by the one and partly  
by the other1 we regard as an open      
question1 to be settled by experiment4  
,we see no principle one way or the     
other4  ,property is not a right1 nor a 
duty1 nor a privilege1 either of        
individuals or of the community4  ,it is
 simply and solely1 like everything     
else1 a function of the chain of births4
 ,whoever owns it1 however it is        
administered1 it has only one object1 to
 ensure for every child that is born a  
sufficiency of physical goods1 and for  
the better-endowed all that they require
 in the way of training to enable them  
to perform efficiently the higher duties
 of society4  ,and as property is merely
 a means1 so is government4  ,to us of  

the new generation nothing is more      
surprising and more repugnant1 than the 
importance attached by politicians to   
formulae which have long since lost     
whatever significance they may once have
 possessed4  ,democracy1 representation1
 trust in the people and the rest1 all  
this to us is the idlest verbiage4  ,it 
is notorious1 even to those who make    
most play with these phrases1 that the  
people do not govern themselves1 that   
they cannot do so1 and that they would  
make a great mess of it if they could4  
,the truth is1 that we are living       
politically on a tradition which arose  
when by government was meant government 
by a class1 when one man or a few       
exploited the rest in the name of the   
state1 and when therefore it was of     
imperative importance to bring to bear  
upon those who were in power the brute  
and unintelligent weight of the mass4   
,the whole democratic movement1 though  
it assumed a positive intellectual form1
 was in fact negative in its aim and    

scope4  ,it meant simply1 we will not be
 exploited4  ,but that end has now been 
attained4  ,there is no fear now that   
government will be oppressive2 and the  
only problem of the future is1 how to   
make it efficient4  ,but efficiency1 it 
is certain1 can never be secured by     
democratic machinery4  ,we must1 as     
,allison rightly maintains1 have trained
 and skilled persons4  ,how these are to
 be secured is a matter of detail1      
though no doubt of important detail2 and
 it is one that the new generation will 
have to solve4  ,what they will want1 in
 any case1 is government4  ,mac,carthy's
 idea of anarchy is--well1 if he will   
pardon my saying so1 it is hardly worthy
 of his intelligence4  ,you cannot      
regulate society1 any more than you can 
spin cotton1 by the light of nature and 
a good heart4  ,mac,carthy mistakes the 
character of government altogether1 when
 he imagines its essence to be          
compulsion4  ,its essence is direction2 
and direction1 whatever the form of     

society1 is1 or should be1 reserved for 
the wise4 ,it is for wise direction that
 the coming generations cry2 and it is  
our business to see that they get it4   
,i have thus indicated briefly the view 
of social and political questions which 
,i believe will be that of the future4  
,and my reason for thinking so is1 that 
that view is based upon science4  ,it is
 this that distinguishes the new        
generation from all others4  ,hitherto  
the affairs of the world have been      
conducted by passion1 interest1         
sentiment1 religion1 anything but       
reasoned knowledge4  ,the end of that   
rgime1 which has dominated all history1 
is at hand4  ,the old influences1 it is 
true1 still survive1 and even appear to 
be supreme4 ,we have had ample evidence 
to-night of their apparent vitality4    
,but underneath them is growing up the  
sturdy plant of science4  ,already it   
has dislodged their roots2 and though   
they still seem to bear flower1 the     
flower is withering before our eyes4    

,in its place1 before long1 will appear 
the new and splendid blossom whose      
appearance ends and begins an epoch of  
evolution4  ,that is a consummation     
nothing can delay4  ,we need not fret or
 hurry4  ,we have only to work on       
silently at the foundations4  ,the city1
 it is true1 seems to be rising apart   
from our labours4  ,there1 in the       
distance1 are the stately buildings1    
there is the noise of the masons1 the   
carpenters1 the engineers4  ,but see6   
the whole structure shakes and trembles 
as it grows4  ,houses fall as fast as   
they are erected2 foundations sink1     
towers settle1 domes and pinnacles      
collapse4  ,all history is the building 
of a dream-city1 fantastic as that      
ancient one of the birds1 changeful as  
the sunset clouds4  ,and no wonder2 for 
it is building on the sand4  ,there is  
only one foundation of rock1 and that is
 being laid by science4  ,only wait6 ,to
 us will come sooner or later1 the      
people and the architects4  ,to us they 

will submit the great plans they have   
striven so vainly to realize4  ,we shall
 pronounce on their possibility1 their  
suitability1 even their beauty4  ,caesar
 and ,napoleon will give place to ,comte
 and ,herbert ,spencer2 and ,newton and 
,darwin sit in judgment on ,plato and   
,aquinas4  ,,with that he concluded4    
,and as he sat down a note was passed   
along to me from ,ellis1 asking         
permission to speak next4  ,i assented  
willingly2 for ,ellis1 though some of us
 thought him frivolous1 was1 at any     
rate1 never dull4  ,his sunburnt        
complexion1 his fair curly hair1 and the
 light in his blue eyes made a pleasant 
impression1 as he rose and looked down  
upon us from his six feet4  ,this1 he   
began1 is really an extraordinary       
discovery ,wilson has made1 that fathers
 have children1 and children fathers6   
,one wonders how the world has got on   
all these centuries in ignorance of it4 
,it seems so obvious1 once it has been  
stated4  ,but that1 of course1 is the   

nature of great truths2 as soon as they 
are announced they seem to have been    
always familiar4  ,it is possible1 for  
that very reason1 that many people may  
under-estimate the importance of        
,wilson's pronouncement1 forgetting that
 it is the privilege of genius to       
formulate for the first time what       
everyone has been dimly feeling4  ,we   
ought not to be ungrateful2 but perhaps 
it is our duty to be cautious4  ,for    
great ideas naturally suggest practical 
applications1 and it is here that ,i    
foresee difficulties4  ,what ,wilson's  
proposition in fact amounts to1 if ,i   
understand him rightly1 is that we ought
 to open as wide as possible the gates  
of life1 and make those who enter as    
comfortable as we can4 ,now1 ,i think we
 ought to be very careful about doing   
anything of the kind4  ,we know1 of     
course1 very little about the conditions
 of the unborn4  ,but ,i think it highly
 probable that1 like labour1 as         
described by the political economists1  

they form throughout the universe a     
single mobile body1 with a tendency to  
gravitate wherever the access is freest 
and the conditions most favourable4     
,and ,i should be very much afraid of   
attracting what we may call1 perhaps1   
the unemployed of the universe in undue 
proportions to this planet1 by offering 
them artificially better terms than are 
to be obtained elsewhere4  ,for that1 as
 you know1 would defeat our own object4 
,we should merely cause an exodus1 as it
 were1 from the outlying and rural      
districts4  ,mars1 or the moon1 or      
whatever the place may be2 and the      
amount of distress and difficulty on the
 earth would be greater than ever4  ,at 
any rate1 ,i should insist1 and ,i dare 
say ,wilson agrees with me there1 on    
some adequate test4  ,and ,i would not  
advertise too widely what we are doing4 
,after all1 other planets must be       
responsible for their own unborn2 and ,i
 don't see why we should become a kind  
of dumping-ground of the universe for   

everyone who may imagine he can better  
himself by migrating to the earth4  ,for
 that reason1 among others1 ,i would not
 open the gate too wide4  ,and1 perhaps1
 in view of this consideration1 we might
 still permit some people not to marry4 
,at any rate1 ,i wouldn't go further1 ,i
 think1 than a fine for recalcitrant    
bachelors4  ,wilson1 ,i dare say1 would 
prefer imprisonment for a second        
offence1 and in case of contumacy1 even 
capital punishment4  ,on such a point ,i
 am not1 ,i confess1 an altogether      
impartial judge1 as ,i should certainly 
incur the greater penalty4 ,still1 as ,i
 have said1 in the general interests of 
society1 and in view of the conditions  
of the universal market1 ,i would urge  
caution and deliberation4  ,and that is 
all ,i have to say at present on this   
very interesting subject4  ,the other   
point that interested me in ,wilson's   
remarks was not1 indeed1 so novel as the
 discovery about fathers having         
children1 but it was1 in its way1       

equally important4  ,i mean1 the        
announcement made with authority that   
the human race really does1 as has been 
so often conjectured1 progress4  ,we may
 take it now1 ,i suppose1 that that is  
established1 or ,wilson would not have  
proclaimed it4  ,and we are1 therefore1 
in a position roughly to determine in   
what progress consists4  ,this is a task
 which1 ,i believe1 ,i am more competent
 to attempt perhaps even than ,wilson   
himself1 because ,i have had unusual    
opportunities of travel1 and have       
endeavoured to utilize them to clear my 
mind of prejudices4  ,i flatter myself  
that ,i can regard with perfect         
impartiality the ideals of different    
countries1 and in particular those of   
the new world which1 ,i presume1 are to 
dominate the future4  ,in attempting to 
estimate what progress means1 one could 
not do better1 ,i suppose1 than describe
 the civilization of the ,united        
,states4  ,for in describing that1 one  
will be describing the whole            

civilization of the future1 seeing that 
what ,america is our colonies are1 or   
will become1 and what our colonies are  
we1 too1 may hope to attain1 if we make 
the proper sacrifices to preserve the   
unity of the empire4  ,let us see1 then1
 what1 from an objective point of view1 
really is the future of this progressing
 world of ours4  ,perhaps1 however1     
before proceeding to analyse the        
spiritual ideals of the ,american       
people1 ,i had better give some account 
of their country4 ,for environment1 as  
we all know now1 has an incalculable    
effect upon character4  ,consider1 then1
 the ,american continent6  ,how simple  
it is6 ,how broad6  ,how large6  ,how   
grand in design6  ,a strip of coast1 a  
range of mountains1 a plain1 a second   
range1 a second strip of coast6  ,that  
is all6  ,contrast the complexity of    
,europe1 its lack of symmetry1 its      
variety1 irregularity1 disorder and     
caprice6  ,the geography of the two     
continents already foreshadows the      

differences in their civilizations4 ,on 
the one hand simplicity and size2 on the
 other a hole-and-corner variety2 there 
immense rivers1 endless forests1        
interminable plains1 indefinite         
repetition of a few broad ideas2 here   
distracting transitions1 novelties1     
surprises1 shocks1 distinctions in a    
word1 already suggesting ,distinction4  
,even in its physical features ,america 
is the land of quantity1 while ,europe  
is that of quality4  ,and as with the   
land1 so with its products4  ,how large 
are the ,american fruits6 ,how tall the 
trees6  ,how immense the oysters6  ,what
 has ,europe by comparison6  ,mere      
flavour and form1 mere beauty1 delicacy 
and grace6 ,america1 one would say1 is  
the latest work of the great artist--we 
are told1 indeed1 by geologists1 that it
 is the youngest of the                 
continents--conceived at an age when he 
had begun to repeat himself1 broad1     
summary1 impressionist1 audacious in    
empty space2 whereas ,europe would seem 

to represent his pre-,raphaelite period1
 in its wealth of detail1 its variety of
 figure1 costume1 architecture1         
landscape1 its crudely contrasted       
colours and minute precision of         
individual form4  ,and as with the      
countries1 so with their civilizations4 
,europe is the home of class1 ,america  
of democracy4  ,by democracy ,i do not  
mean a mere form of government--in that 
respect1 of course1 ,america is less    
democratic than ,england3 ,i mean the   
mental attitude that implies and        
engenders ,indistinction4               
,indistinction1 ,i say1 rather than     
equality1 for the word equality is      
misleading1 and might seem to imply1 for
 example1 a social and economic parity  
of conditions1 which no more exists in  
,america than it does in ,europe4       
,politically1 as well as socially1      
,america is a plutocracy2 her democracy 
is spiritual and intellectual2 and its  
essence is1 the denial of all           
superiorities save that of wealth4      

,such superiorities1 in fact1 hardly    
exist across the ,atlantic4  ,all men   
there are intelligent1 all efficient1   
all energetic2 and as these are the only
 qualities they possess1 so they are the
 only ones they feel called upon to     
admire4  ,how different is the case with
 ,europe6  ,how innumerable and how     
confusing the gradations6  ,for         
diversities of language and race1       
indeed1 we may not be altogether        
responsible2 but we have superadded to  
these1 distinctions of manner1 of       
feeling1 of perception1 of intellectual 
grasp and spiritual insight1 unknown to 
the simpler and vaster consciousness of 
the ,west4  ,in addition1 in short1 to  
the obvious and fundamentally natural   
standard of wealth1 we have invented    
others impalpable and artificial in     
their character2 and however rapidly    
these may be destined to disappear as   
the race progresses1 and the influence  
of the ,west begins to dominate the     
,east1 they do1 nevertheless1 still     

persist1 and give to our effete         
civilization the character of           
,aristocracy1 that is of ,caste4  ,in   
all this we see1 as ,i have suggested1  
the influence of environment4  ,the     
old-world stock1 transplanted across the
 ocean1 imitates the characteristics of 
its new home4  ,sloughing off artificial
 distinctions1 it manifests itself in   
bold simplicity1 broad as the plains1   
turbulent as the rivers1 formless as the
 mountains1 crude as the fruits of its  
adopted country4  ,yet while thus       
forming themselves into the image of the
 new world1 the ,americans have not     
disdained to make use of such           
acquisitions of the ,past as might be   
useful to them in the task that lay     
before them4  ,they have rejected our   
ideals and our standards2 but they have 
borrowed our capital and our inventions4
  ,they have thus been able--a thing    
unknown before in the history of the    
world--to start the battle against      
,nature with weapons ready forged4  ,on 

the material results they have thus been
 able to achieve it is the less         
necessary for me to dilate1 that they   
keep us so fully informed of them       
themselves4  ,but it may be interesting 
to note an important consequence in     
their spiritual life1 which has commonly
 escaped the notice of observers4       
,thanks to ,europe1 ,america has never  
been powerless in the face of ,nature2  
therefore has never felt ,fear2         
therefore never known ,reverence2 and   
therefore never experienced ,religion4  
,it may seem paradoxical to make such an
 assertion about the descendants of the 
,puritan ,fathers2 nor do ,i forget the 
notorious fact that ,america is the home
 of the sects1 from the followers of    
,joseph ,smith to those of ,mrs4 ,eddy4 
,but these are the phenomena that       
illustrate my point4  ,a nation which   
knew what religion was1 in the ,european
 sense2 whose roots were struck in the  
soil of spiritual conflict1 of          
temptations and visions in haunted      

forests or desert sands by the ,nile1 of
 midnight risings1 scourgings of the    
flesh1 dirges in vast cathedrals1 and   
the miracle of the ,host solemnly veiled
 in a glory of painted light--such a    
nation would never have accepted        
,christian ,science as a religion4  ,no6
  ,religion in ,america is a parasite   
without roots4  ,the questions that have
 occupied ,europe from the dawn of her  
history1 for which she has fought more  
fiercely than for empire or liberty1 for
 which she has fasted in deserts1       
agonized in cells1 suffered on the      
cross1 and at the stake1 for which she  
has sacrificed wealth1 health1 ease1    
intelligence1 life1 these questions of  
the meaning of the world1 the origin and
 destiny of the soul1 the life after    
death1 the existence of ,god1 and ,his  
relation to the universe1 for the       
,american people simply do not exist4   
,they are as inaccessible1 as impossible
 to them1 as the ,sphere to the dwellers
 in ,flatland4  ,that whole dimension is

 unknown to them4  ,their healthy and   
robust intelligence confines itself to  
the things of this world4  ,their       
religion1 if they have one1 is what ,i  
believe they call 'healthy-mindedness4' 
,it consists in ignoring everything that
 might suggest a doubt as to the worth  
of existence1 and so conceivably        
paralyse activity4  ',let us eat and    
drink1' they say1 with a hearty and     
robust good faith2 omitting as          
irrelevant and morbid the discouraging  
appendix1 'for to-morrow we die4'       
,indeed6  ,what has death to do with    
buildings twenty-four stories high1 with
 the fastest trains1 the noisiest       
cities1 the busiest crowds in the world1
 and generally the largest1 the finest1 
the most accelerated of everything that 
exists8 ,america has sloughed off       
religion2 and as1 in the history of     
,europe1 religion has underlain every   
other activity1 she has sloughed off1   
along with it1 the whole ,european      
system of spiritual life4 ,literature1  

for instance1 and ,art1 do not exist    
across the ,atlantic4  ,i am aware1 of  
course1 that ,americans write books and 
paint pictures4 ,but their books are not
 ,literature1 nor their pictures ,art1  
except in so far as they represent a    
faint adumbration of the ,european      
tradition4 ,the true spirit of ,america 
has no use for such activities4  ,and   
even if1 as must occasionally happen in 
a population of eighty millions1 there  
is born among them a man of artistic    
instincts1 he is immediately and        
inevitably repelled to ,europe1 whence  
he derives his training and his         
inspiration1 and where alone he can     
live1 observe and create4  ,that this   
must be so from the nature of the case  
is obvious when we reflect that the     
spirit of ,art is disinterested         
contemplation1 while that of ,america is
 cupidous acquisition4  ,americans1 ,i  
am aware1 believe that they will produce
 ,literature and ,art1 as they produce  
coal and steel and oil1 by the judicious

 application of intelligence and        
capital2 but here they do themselves    
injustice4  ,the qualities that are     
making them masters of the world1 unfit 
them for slighter and less serious      
pursuits4  ,the ,future is for them1 the
 kingdom of elevators1 of telephones1 of
 motor-cars1 of flying-machines4  ,let  
them not idly hark back1 misled by      
effete traditions1 to the old ,european 
dream of the kingdom of heaven4         
',excudent alii1' let them say1 'for    
,europe1 ,letters and ,art2 tu regere   
argento populos1 ,morgane1 memento1 let 
,america rule the world by ,syndicates  
and ,trusts6'  ,for such is her true    
destiny2 and that she conceives it to be
 such1 is evidenced by the determination
 with which she has suppressed all      
irrelevant activities4 ,every kind of   
disinterested intellectual operation she
 has severely repudiated4  ,in ,europe  
we take delight in the operations of the
 mind as such1 we let it play about a   
subject1 merely for the fun of the      

thing2 we approve knowledge for its own 
sake2 we appreciate irony and wit4 ,but 
all this is unknown in ,america4  ,the  
most intelligent people in the world1   
they severely limit their intelligence  
to the adaptation of means to ends4     
,about the ends themselves they never   
permit themselves to speculate2 and for 
this reason1 though they calculate1 they
 never think1 though they invent1 they  
never discover1 and though they talk1   
they never converse4  ,for thought      
implies speculation2 discovery1         
reflection2 conversation1 leisure2 and  
all alike imply a disinterestedness     
which has no place in the ,american     
system4  ,for the same reason they do   
not play2 they have converted games into
 battles2 and battles in which every    
weapon is legitimate so long as it is   
victorious4  ,an ,american football     
match exhibits in a type the ,american  
spirit1 short1 sharp1 scientific1       
intense1 no loitering by the road1 no   
enjoyment of the process1 no favour1 no 

quarter1 but a fight to the death with  
victory as the end1 and anything and    
everything as the means4  ,a nation so  
severely practical could hardly be      
expected to attach the same importance  
to the emotions as has been attributed  
to them by ,europeans4  ,feeling1 like  
,intellect1 is not regarded1 in the     
,west1 as an end in itself4  ,and it is 
not uninteresting to note that the      
,americans are the only great nation    
that have not produced a single lyric of
 love worth recording4  ,physically1 as 
well as spiritually1 they are a people  
of cold temperament4  ,their women1 so  
much and1 ,i do not doubt1 so           
legitimately admired1 are as hard as    
they are brilliant2 their glitter is the
 glitter of ice4  ,thus happily         
constituted1 ,americans are able to     
avoid the immense waste of time and     
energy involved in the formation and    
maintenance of subtle personal          
relations4 ,they marry1 of course1 they 
produce children1 they propagate the    

race2 but1 ,i would venture to say1 they
 do not love1 as ,europeans have loved2 
they do not exploit the emotion1 analyse
 and enjoy it1 still less express it in 
manners1 in gesture1 in epigram1 in     
verse4  ,and hence the kind of shudder  
produced in a cultivated ,european by   
the treatment of emotion in ,american   
fiction4  ,the authors are trying to    
express something they have never       
experienced1 and to graft the ,european 
tradition on to a civilization which has
 none of the elements necessary to      
nourish and support it4  ,from this     
brief analysis of the attitude of       
,americans towards life1 the point with 
which ,i started will1 ,i hope1 have    
become clear1 that it is idle to apply  
to them any of the tests which we apply 
to a ,european civilization4  ,for they 
have rejected1 whether they know it or  
not1 our whole scheme of values4  ,what1
 then1 is their own8  ,what do they     
recognize as an end8  ,this is an       
interesting point on which ,i have      

reflected much in the course of my      
travels4  ,sometimes ,i have thought it 
was wealth1 sometimes power1 sometimes  
activity4  ,but a poem1 or at least a   
production in metre1 which ,i came      
across in the ,states1 gave me a new    
idea upon the subject4  ,on such a point
 ,i speak with great diffidence2 but ,i 
am inclined to think that my author was 
right2 that the real end which          
,americans set before themselves is     
,acceleration4  ,to be always moving1   
and always moving faster1 that they     
think is the beatific life2 and with    
their happy detachment from philosophy  
and speculation1 they are not troubled  
by the question1 ,whither8  ,if they are
 asked by ,europeans1 as they sometimes 
are1 what is the point of going so fast8
 their only feeling is one of genuine   
astonishment4  ,why1 they reply1 you go 
fast6  ,and what more can be said8      
,hence1 their contempt for the leisure  
so much valued by ,europeans4  ,leisure 
they feel1 to be a kind of standing     

still1 the unpardonable sin4  ,hence1   
also1 their aversion to play1 to        
conversation1 to everything that is not 
work4  ,i once asked an ,american who   
had been describing to me the scheme of 
his laborious life1 where it was that   
the fun came in8  ,he replied1 without  
hesitation and without regret1 that it  
came in nowhere4  ,how should it8  ,it  
could only act as a brake2 and a brake  
upon ,acceleration is the last thing    
tolerable to the ,american genius4  ,the
 ,american genius1 ,i say3 but after    
all1 and this is the real point of my   
remarks1 what ,america is1 ,europe is   
becoming4  ,we1 who sit here1 with the  
exception1 of course1 of ,wilson1       
represent the ,past1 not the ,future4   
,politicians1 professors1 lawyers1      
doctors1 no matter what our calling1 our
 judgments are determined by the old    
scale of values4 ,intellect1 ,beauty1   
,emotion1 these are the things we count 
precious2 to wealth and to progress we  
are indifferent1 save as conducing to   

these4 ,and thus1 like the speakers who 
preceded me1 we venture to criticize and
 doubt1 where the modern man1 ,american 
or ,european1 simply and wholeheartedly 
accepts4  ,for this it would be idle for
 us to blame ourselves1 idle even to    
regret2 we should simply and objectively
 note that we are out of court4  ,all   
that we say may be true1 but it is      
irrelevant4  ',true1' says the man of   
the ,future1 'we have no religion1      
literature1 or art2 we don't know whence
 we come1 nor whither we go2 but1 what  
is more important1 we don't care4  ,what
 we do know is1 that we are moving      
faster than any one ever moved before2  
and that there is every chance of our   
moving faster and faster4  ,to inquire  
whither is the one thing that we        
recognize as blasphemous4  ,the         
principle of the ,universe is           
,acceleration1 and we are its exponents2
 what is not accelerated will be        
extinguished2 and if we cannot answer   
ultimate questions1 that is the less to 

be regretted in that1 a few centuries   
hence1 there will be nobody left to ask 
them4'  ,such is the attitude which ,i  
believe to be that of the ,future1 both 
in the ,west and in the ,east4  ,i do   
not pretend to sympathize with it2 but  
my perception of it gives a peculiar    
piquancy to my own position4  ,i rejoice
 that ,i was born at the end of an      
epoch2 that ,i stand as it were at the  
summit1 just before the plunge into the 
valley below2 and looking back1 survey  
and summarize in a glance the ages that 
are past4 ,i rejoice that my friends are
 ,socrates and ,plato1 ,dante1          
,michelangelo1 ,goethe instead of ,mr4  
,carnegie and ,mr4 ,pierpont ,morgan4   
,i rejoice that ,i belong to an effete  
country2 and that ,i sit at table with  
almost the last representatives of the  
culture1 the learning and the ideals of 
centuries of civilization4  ,i prefer   
the tradition of the ,past to that of   
the ,future2 ,i value it the more for   
its contrast with that which is to come2

 and ,i am the more at ease inasmuch as 
,i feel myself divested of all          
responsibility towards generations whose
 ideals and standards ,i am unable to   
appreciate4  ,all this shows1 of course1
 merely that ,i am not one of the people
 so aptly described by ,wilson as the   
'new generation4'  ,but ,i flatter      
myself that my intellectual apprehension
 is not coloured by the circumstances of
 my own case1 and that ,i have given you
 a clear and objective picture of what  
it is that really constitutes progress4 
,and with that proud consciousness in my
 mind1 ,i resume my seat4  ,,the        
conclusion of this speech was greeted   
with a hubbub of laughter1 approval1 and
 protest confusedly mixed2 in the midst 
of which it occurred to me that ,i would
 select ,audubon as the next speaker4   
,my reason was that ,ellis1 as ,i       
thought1 under cover of an extravagant  
fit of spleen1 had made rather a        
formidable attack on the doctrine of    
progress as commonly understood by      

social reformers4  ,he had given us1 as 
it were1 the first notes of the         
,negative4  ,but ,audubon1 ,i knew1     
would play the tune through to the end2 
and ,i thought we might as well have it 
all1 and have it before it should be too
 late for the possible correctives of   
other speakers4  ,audubon was engaged in
 some occupation in the city1 and how he
 came to be a member of our society ,i  
cannot tell2 for he professed an        
uncompromising aversion to all          
speculation4 ,he was1 however1 a regular
 attendant and spoke well1 though always
 in the sense that there was nothing    
worth speaking about4  ,on this occasion
 he displayed1 as usual1 some reluctance
 to get on to his feet2 and even when he
 was overruled began1                   
characteristically1 with a protest4  ,i 
don't see why it should be a rule that  
everybody must speak4  ,i believe ,i    
have said something of the kind         
before--but here he was interrupted by a
 general exclamation that he had said it

 much too often2 whereupon he dropped   
the subject1 but maintained his tone of 
protest4  ,you don't understand1 he went
 on1 what a difficult position ,i am in1
 especially in a discussion of this     
kind4  ,my standpoint is radically      
different from that of the rest of you2 
and anything ,i say is bound to be out  
of key4  ,you're all playing what you   
think to be the game of life1 and       
playing it willingly4  ,but ,i play only
 under compulsion2 if you call it       
playing1 when one is hounded out to     
field in all weathers without ever      
having a chance of an innings4 ,or1     
rather1 the game's more like tennis than
 cricket1 and we're the little boys who 
pick up the balls--and that1 in my      
opinion1 is a damned humiliating        
occupation4  ,and surely you must all   
really think so too6 ,of course1 you    
don't like to admit it4  ,nobody does4  
,in the pulpit1 in the press1 in        
conversation1 even1 there's a conspiracy
 of silence and bluff4  ,it's only in   

rare moments1 when a few men get        
together in the smoking-room1 that the  
truth comes out4  ,but when it does come
 out it's always the same refrain1 'cui 
bono1 cui bono8'  ,i don't take much    
account of myself2 but1 if there is one 
thing of which ,i am proud1 it is that  
,i have never let myself be duped4      
,from the earliest days ,i can remember 
,i realized what the nature of this     
world really is4  ,and all experience   
has confirmed that first intuition4     
,that other people don't seem to have   
it1 too1 is a source of constant        
amazement to me4  ,but really1 and      
without wishing to be arrogant1 ,i      
believe the reason is that they choose  
to be duped and ,i don't4  ,they intend1
 at all costs1 to be happy1 or          
interested1 or whatever it is that they 
prefer to call it4  ,and ,i don't say   
they are not wise in their generation4  
,but ,i'm not made like that2 ,i just   
see things as they are2 and ,i see that 
they're very bad--a point in which ,i   

differ from the ,creator4  ,well1 now1  
to come to to-night's discussion1 and my
 attitude towards it4  ,you have assumed
 throughout1 as1 of course1 you were    
bound to do1 that things are worth      
while4  ,but if they aren't1 what       
becomes of all your aims1 all your      
views1 all your problems and disputes8  
,the basis on which you are all agreed1 
however much you may differ in detail1  
is that things can be made better1 and  
that it's worth while to make them so4  
,but if one denies both propositions1   
what happens to the superstructure8     
,and ,i do deny them2 and not only that1
 but ,i can't conceive how anyone ever  
came to accept them4  ,surely1 if one   
didn't approach the question with an    
irrational bias towards optimism1 one   
would never imagine that there is such a
 thing as progress in anything that     
really matters4  ,or are even we here   
impressed by such silly and irrelevant  
facts as telephones and motor-cars8     
,ellis1 ,i should think1 has said enough

 to dispel that kind of illusion2 and ,i
 don't want to labour a tedious point4  
,if we are to look for progress at all  
we must look for it1 ,i suppose1 in men4
  ,and ,i have never seen any evidence  
that men are generally better than they 
used to be2 on the contrary1 ,i think   
there is evidence that they are worse4  
,but anyhow1 even granting that we could
 make things a bit better1 what would be
 the use of doing it in a world like    
this8  ,if the whole structure of the   
universe is bad1 what's the good of     
fiddling with the details8  ,you might  
as well waste your time in decorating   
the saloon of a sinking ship4  ,granting
 that you can improve the distribution  
of property1 and raise the standard of  
health and intelligence and all the rest
 of it1 granting you could to-morrow    
introduce your socialist state1 or your 
liberal state1 or your anarchical       
co-operation1 or whatever the plan may  
be--how would you be better off in      
anything that matters8  ,the main       

governing facts would be unaltered4     
,men1 for example1 would still be born1 
without being asked whether they want it
 or no4  ,and that alone1 to my mind1 is
 enough to condemn the whole business4  
,i can't think how it is that people    
don't resent more than they do the mere 
insult to their self-respect involved in
 such a situation4  ,nothing can cure   
it1 nothing can improve it4  ,it's a    
fundamental condition of life4  ,if that
 were all it would be bad enough4  ,but 
that's only the beginning4  ,for the    
world into which we are thus            
ignominiously flung turns out to be     
incalculable and irrational4  ,there    
are1 of course1 ,i know1 what are called
 the laws of nature4  ,but ,i--to tell  
the honest truth--,i don't believe in   
them4  ,i mean1 ,i see no reason to     
suppose that the sun will rise          
to-morrow1 or that the seasons will     
continue to observe their course1 or    
that any of our most certain            
expectations will be fulfilled in the   

future as they have been in the past4   
,we import into the universe our own    
prejudice in favour of order2 and the   
universe1 ,i admit1 up to a point       
appears to conform to it4  ,but ,i don't
 trust the conformity4  ,too many       
evidences abound of frivolous and       
incalculable caprice4  ,why should not  
the appearance of order be but one      
caprice the more1 or even a crowning    
device of calculated malice8 ,and       
anyhow1 the things that most concern us1
 tempests1 epidemics1 accidents1 from   
the catastrophe of birth to the         
deliverance of death1 we have no power  
to foresee or to forestall4  ,yet1 in   
face of all this1 borne home to us every
 hour of every day1 we cling to the     
creed of universal law2 and on the flux 
of chaos write our 'credo quia          
impossibile4'  ,well1 that is a heresy  
of mine ,i have never found anyone to   
share4 ,but no matter4  ,my case is so  
strong ,i can afford to give it away    
point by point4  ,granting then1 that   

there were order in the universe1 how   
does that make it any better8  ,does it 
not rather make it worse1 if the order  
is such as to produce evil8  ,and how   
great that evil is ,i need not insist4  
,for it has been presupposed in         
everything that has been said to-night4 
,if it were a satisfactory world you    
wouldn't all be wanting to alter it4    
,still1 you may say--people always      
do--'if there is evil there is also     
good4'  ,but it is just the things      
people call good1 even more than those  
they admit to be evil1 that make me     
despair of the world4  ,how anyone with 
self-respect can accept1 and accept     
thankfully1 the sort of things people do
 accept is to me a standing mystery4    
,it is surely the greatest triumph      
achieved by the ,power that made the    
universe that every week there gather   
into the churches congregations of      
victims to recite their gratitude for   
'their creation1 preservation1 and all  
the blessings of this life4'  ,the      

blessings6 ,what are they8  ,money8     
,success8  ,reputation8  ,i don't       
profess1 myself1 to be anything better  
than a man of the world2 but that those 
things should be valued as they are by  
men of the world is a thing that passes 
my understanding4  ',well1 but1' says   
the moralist1 'there's always duty and  
work4'  ,but what is the value of work  
if there's nothing worth working for8   
',ah1 but1' says the poet1 'there's     
beauty and love4'  ,but the beauty and  
love he seeks is something he never     
finds4  ,what he grasps is the shadow1  
not the thing4  ,and even the shadow    
flits past and eludes him on the stream 
of time4  ,and just there is the final  
demonstration of the malignity of the   
scheme of things4  ,time itself works   
against us4  ,the moments that are evil 
it eternalizes2 the moments that might  
be good it hurries to annihilation4     
,all that is most precious is most      
precarious4  ,vainly do we cry to the   
moment3 ',verweile doch1 du bist so     

schn6'  ,only the heavy hours are       
heavy-footed4  ,the winged ,psyche1 even
 at the moment of birth1 is sick with   
the pangs of dissolution4  ,these1      
surely1 are facts1 not imaginations4    
,why1 then1 is it that men refuse to    
look them in the face8  ,or1 if they do1
 turn at once away to construct some    
other kind of world8  ,for that is the  
most extraordinary thing of all1 that   
men invent systems1 and that those      
systems are optimistic4  ,it is as      
though they said3 ',things must be good4
  ,but as they obviously are not good1  
they must really be other than they     
are4' ,and hence these extraordinary    
doctrines1 so pitiful1 so pathetic1 so  
absurd1 of the eternal good ,god who    
made this bad world1 of the ,absolute   
whose only manifestation is the         
,relative1 of the ,real which has so    
much less reality than the ,phenomenal4 
,or1 if all that be rejected1 we        
transfer our heaven from eternity to    
time1 and project into the future the   

perfection we miss in the present or in 
the past4 ',true1' we say1 'a bad world6
 but then how good it will be6'  ,and   
with that illusion generation after     
generation take up their burden and     
march1 because beyond the wilderness    
there must be a ,promised ,land into    
which some day some creatures unknown   
will enter4  ,as though the evil of the 
past could be redeemed by any           
achievement of the future1 or the       
perfection of one make up for the       
irremediable failure of another6  ,such 
ideas have only to be stated for their  
absurdity to be palpable4 ,yet none the 
less they hold men4  ,why8  ,i cannot   
tell4  ,i only know that they do not and
 cannot hold me2 that ,i look like a    
stranger from another world upon the    
business of this one2 that ,i am among  
you1 but not of you2 that your motives  
and aims to me are utterly              
unintelligible2 that you can give no    
account of them to which ,i can attach  
any sense2 that ,i have no clue to the  

enigma you seem so lightly to solve by  
your religion1 your philosophy1 your    
science2 that your hopes are not mine1  
your ambitions not mine1 your principles
 not mine2 that ,i am shipwrecked1 and  
see around me none but are shipwrecked  
too2 yet1 that these1 as they cling to  
their spars1 call them good ships and   
true1 speak bravely of the harbour to   
which they are prosperously sailing1 and
 even as they are engulfed1 with their  
last breath1 cry1 'lo1 we are arrived1  
and our friends are waiting on the      
quay6'  ,who1 under these circumstances 
is mad8  ,is it ,i8  ,is it you8  ,i can
 only drift and wait4  ,it may be that  
beyond these waters there is a harbour  
and a shore4  ,but ,i cannot steer for  
it1 for ,i have no rudder1 no compass1  
no chart4  ,you say you have4  ,go on1  
then1 but do not call to me4  ,i must   
sink or swim alone4  ,and the best for  
which ,i can hope is speedily to be lost
 in the silent gulf of oblivion4        
,,often as ,i had heard ,audubon express

 these sentiments before1 ,i had never  
known him to reveal so freely and so    
passionately the innermost bitterness of
 his soul4  ,there was1 no doubt1       
something in the circumstances of the   
time and place that prompted him to this
 personal note4  ,for it was now the    
darkest and stillest hour of the night2 
and we sat in the dim starlight1 hardly 
seeing one another1 so that it seemed   
possible to say1 as behind a veil1      
things that otherwise it would have been
 natural to suppress4  ,a long silence  
followed ,audubon's last words4  ,they  
went home1 ,i dare say to many of us    
more than we should have cared to       
confess4  ,and ,i felt some difficulty  
whom to choose of the few who had not   
yet spoken1 so as to avoid1 as far as   
possible1 a tone that would jar upon our
 mood4  ,finally1 ,i selected ,coryat1  
the poet1 knowing he was incapable of a 
false note1 and hoping he might perhaps 
begin to pull us1 as it were1 up out of 
the pit into which we had slipped4  ,he 

responded from the darkness1 with the   
hesitation and incoherence which1 in    
him1 ,i have always found so charming4  
,i don't know1 he began1 of             
course--well1 yes1 it may be all very   
bad--at least for some people4  ,but ,i 
don't believe it is4  ,and ,i doubt     
whether ,audubon really--well1 ,i       
oughtn't to say that1 ,i suppose4  ,but 
anyhow1 ,i'm sure most people don't     
agree with him4  ,at any rate1 for my   
part1 ,i find life extraordinarily good1
 just as it is1 not mine only1 ,i mean1 
but everybody's2 well1 except           
,audubon's1 ,i suppose ,i ought to say1 
and even he1 perhaps finds it rather    
good to be able to find it so bad4  ,but
 ,i'm not going to argue with him1      
because ,i know it's no use4 ,its all   
the other people ,i want to quarrel     
with--except ,ellis1 who has ,i believe 
some idea of the things that really     
count4  ,but ,i don't think ,allison    
has1 or ,wilson1 or most of the people  
who talk about progress4 ,because1 if   

you project1 so to speak1 all your goods
 into the future1 that shows that you   
don't appreciate those that belong to   
life just as it is and wherever it is4  
,and there must1 ,i am sure1 be         
something wrong about a view that makes 
the past and the present merely a means 
to the future4  ,it's as though one were
 to take a bottle and turn it upside    
down1 emptying the wine out without     
noticing it2 and then plan how          
tremendously one will improve the shape 
of the bottle4  ,well1 ,i'm not         
interested in the shape of bottles4     
,and ,i am interested in wine4          
,and--which is the point--,i know that  
the wine is always there4  ,it was there
 in the past1 it's here in the present1 
and it will be there in the future2 yes1
 in spite of you all6  ,he flung this   
out with a kind of defiance that made us
 laugh4  ,whereupon he paused1 as if he 
had done something indiscreet1 and then 
after looking in vain for a bridge to   
take him across to his next             

starting-place1 decided1 as it seemed1  
to jump1 and went on as follows3        
,there's ,wilson1 for instance1 tells us
 that the new generation have no use    
for--,i don't know that he used that    
dreadful phrase1 but that's what he     
meant--that they have 'no use for' the  
,greeks1 or the ,romans1 or the ,middle 
,ages1 or the eighteenth century1 or    
anything but themselves4  ,well1 ,i can 
only say ,i'm very sorry for them1 and  
very glad ,i'm not one of them4  ,why1  
just think of the extraordinary         
obliquity1 or rather blindness of it6   
,because you don't agree with ,plato1 or
 ,marcus ,aurelius1 or ,saint ,francis1 
you think they're only fit for the      
ash-heap4  ,you might as well say you   
wouldn't drink any wine except what was 
made to-day6  ,the literature and art of
 the past can never be dead4  ,it's the 
flask where the geni of life is         
imprisoned2 you've only to open it and  
the life is yours4  ,and what life6     
,that it's different from ours is just  

its merit4  ,i don't mean that it's     
necessarily better2 but it preserves for
 us the things we have dropped out4     
,because we1 no more than the men of the
 past1 exhaust all the possibilities4   
,the whole wonderful drama of life is   
unfolded in time1 and we of this century
 are only one scene of it2 not the most 
passionate either or the most absorbing4
  ,as actors1 of course1 we're concerned
 only with this scene4  ,but the curious
 thing is1 we're spectators1 too1 or can
 be if we like4  ,and from the          
spectator's point of view1 many of the  
episodes in the past are much more      
interesting1 if not more important1 than
 those of the present4  ,i mean1 it     
seems to me so stupid--,i oughtn't to   
say stupid1 ,i suppose1 because of      
course you aren't exactly----  ,whereat 
we laughed again1 and he pulled himself 
up4  ,what ,i mean is1 that to take the 
philosophy or the religion of the past  
and put it into your laboratory and test
 it for truth1 and throw it away if it  

doesn't answer the test1 is to          
misconceive the whole value and meaning 
of it4  ,the real question is1 ,what    
extraordinary1 fascinating1 tragic or   
comic life went to produce this precious
 specimen8  ,what new revelation does it
 give of the possibilities of the world8
  ,that's how you look at it1 if you    
have the sense of life4  ,you feel after
 life everywhere4  ,you love it when you
 touch it4  ,you ask it no questions    
about being good or bad4  ,it just is1  
and you are akin to it4  ,fancy1 for    
instance1 a man being able to walk      
through the ,british ,museum and pass   
the frieze of the ,parthenon1 and say he
 has no use for it6  ,and why8          
,because1 ,i suppose1 we don't dress    
like that now1 and can't ride horses    
bareback4  ,well1 so much the worse for 
us6  ,but just think4  ,there shrieking 
from the wall--no1 ,i ought to say      
singing with the voice of angels--is the
 spirit of life in its loveliest1       
strongest1 divinest incarnation1 saying 

'love me1 understand me1 be like me6'   
,and the new generation passes by with  
its nose in the air sniffing1 ',no6     
,you're played out6  ,you didn't know   
science4  ,and you didn't produce four  
children a-piece1 as we mean to4 ,and   
your education was rhetorical1 and your 
philosophy absurd1 and your vices--oh1  
unmentionable6  ,no1 no1 young men6     
,not for us1 thank you6' ,and so they   
stalk on1 don't you see them1 with their
 rational costume1 and their rational   
minds1 and their hard little hearts1 and
 the empty place where their imagination
 ought to be6  ,dreadful1 dreadful6  ,or
 perhaps they go1 say1 to ,assisi1 and  
,saint ,francis comes to talk to them4  
,and ',look1' he says1 'what a beautiful
 world1 if you'd only get rid of your   
encumbrances6  ,money1 houses1 clothes1 
food1 it's all so much obstruction6     
,come and see the real thing2 come and  
live with the life of the soul2 burn    
like a flame1 blossom like a flower1    
flow like a mountain stream6'  ',my dear

 sir1' they reply1 'you're unclean1     
impudent and ignorant6  ,moreover you're
 encouraging mendicancy and             
superstition4 ,not to-day1 thank you6'  
,and off they go to the ,charity        
,organisation ,committee4               
,it's--it's----  ,he pulled himself up  
again1 and then went on more quietly4   
,well1 one oughtn't to get angry1 and ,i
 dare say ,i'm misrepresenting          
everybody4  ,besides1 ,i haven't said   
exactly what ,i wanted to say4  ,i      
wanted to say--what was it8  ,oh1 yes6  
that this kind of attitude is bound up  
with the idea of progress4  ,it comes of
 taking all the value out of the past   
and present1 in order to put it into the
 future4  ,and then you don't put it    
there6  ,you can't6  ,it evaporates     
somehow1 in the process4  ,where is it  
then8  ,well1 ,i believe it's always    
there1 in life1 and in every kind of    
life4  ,it's there all the time1 in all 
the things you condemn4  ,of course the 
things really are bad that you say are  

bad4  ,but they're so good as well6  ,i 
mean--well1 the other day ,i read one of
 those dreadful articles--at least1 of  
course they're very useful ,i           
suppose--about the condition of the     
agricultural labourer4  ,well1 then ,i  
took a ride in the country1 and saw it  
all in its setting and complete1 with   
everything the article had left out2 and
 it wasn't so bad after all4  ,i don't  
mean to say it was all good either1 but 
it was just wonderful4  ,there were     
great horses with shaggy fetlocks       
resting in green fields1 and cattle     
wading in shallow fords1 and streams    
fringed with willows1 and little        
cheeping birds among the reeds1 and     
larks and cuckoos and thrushes4  ,and   
there were orchards white with blossom1 
and little gardens in the sun1 and      
shadows of clouds brushing over the     
plain4  ,and the much-discussed labourer
 was in the midst of all this4  ,and he 
really wasn't an incarnate grievance6   
,he was thinking about his horses1 or   

his bread and cheese1 or his children   
squalling in the road1 or his pig and   
his cocks and hens4  ,of course ,i don't
 suppose he knew how beautiful          
everything was2 but ,i'm sure he had a  
sort of comfortable feeling of being a  
part of it all1 of being somehow all    
right4  ,and he wasn't worrying about   
his condition1 as you all worry for him4
  ,i don't mean you aren't right to     
worry1 in a way2 except that no one     
ought to worry4 ,but you oughtn't to    
suppose it's all a dreadful and         
intolerable thing1 just because you can 
imagine something better4  ,that1 of    
course1 is only one case2 but ,i believe
 it's the same everywhere2 yes1 even in 
the big cities1 which1 to my taste1 look
 from outside much more repulsive and   
terrible4  ,there's a quality in the    
inevitable facts of life1 in making     
one's living1 and marrying and producing
 children1 in the ending of one and the 
beginning of another day1 in the        
uncertainties and fears and hopes1 in   

the tragedies as well as the comedies1  
something that arrests and interests and
 absorbs1 even if it doesn't delight4   
,i'm not saying people are happy2       
sometimes they are and sometimes they   
aren't4 ,but anyhow they are interested4
  ,and life itself is the interest4     
,and that interest is perennial1 and of 
all ages and all classes4  ,and if you  
leave it out you leave out the only     
thing that counts4  ,that's why ideals  
are so empty2 just because1 ,i mean1    
they don't exist4  ,and ,i assure       
you--now ,i'm going to confess--that    
often1 when ,i come away from some      
meeting or from reading some dreadful   
article on social reform1 ,i feel as if 
,i could embrace everything and everyone
 ,i come across1 simply for being so    
good as to exist--the 'bus-drivers1 the 
cabmen1 the shop-keepers1 the           
slum-landlords1 the slum-victims1 the   
prostitutes1 the thieves4  ,there they  
are1 anyhow1 in their extraordinary     
setting1 floating on the great river of 

life1 that was and is and will be1      
itself its own justification1 through   
whatever country it may flow4 ,and if   
you don't realize that--if you have a   
whole community that doesn't realize    
it--then1 however happy and comfortable 
and equitable and all the rest of it you
 make your society1 you haven't really  
done much for them4  ,their last state  
may even be worse than the first1       
because they will have lost the natural 
instinctive acceptance of life1 without 
learning how to accept it on the higher 
plane4  ,and that is why--now comes what
 ,i really do care about1 and what ,i've
 been wanting to say--that is why there 
is nothing so important for the future  
or the present of the world as poetry4  
,allison1 for instance1 and ,wilson     
would be different men if only they     
would read my works6 ,i'm not sure even 
if ,i may say so1 that ,remenham himself
 wouldn't be the better4  ,remenham1    
however1 smilingly indicated that he had
 read them4  ,whereat ,coryat rather    

comically remarked1 ,oh1 well6  ,yes6   
,perhaps then my poetry isn't quite good
 enough4  ,but there's ,shakespeare1 and
 ,milton1 and--,i don't care who it is1 
so long as it has the essential of all  
great poetry1 and that is to make you   
feel the worth of things4  ,i don't mean
 by that the happiness1 but just the    
extraordinary value1 of which all these 
unsolved questions about ,good and ,evil
 are themselves part4  ,no one1 ,i am   
sure1 ever laid down a great            
tragedy--take the most terrible of all1 
take ',lear'--without an overwhelming   
sense of the value of life2 life as it  
is1 life at its most pitiless and cruel1
 with all its iniquities1 suffering1    
perplexity2 without feeling he would far
 rather have lived and had all that than
 not have lived at all4  ,but tragedy is
 an extreme case4  ,in every simpler and
 more common case the poet does the same
 thing for us4 ,he shows us that the    
lives he touches have worth1 worth of   
pleasure1 of humour1 of patience1 of    

wisdom painfully acquired1 of endurance1
 of hope1 even ,i will say of failure   
and despair4  ,he doesn't blink         
anything1 he looks straight at it all1  
but he sees it in the true perspective1 
under a white light1 and seeing all the 
,evil says nevertheless with ,god1      
',behold1 it is very good4'  ,you see1  
he added1 with his charming smile1      
turning to ,audubon1 ,i agree with ,god1
 not with you4  ,and perhaps if you were
 to read poetry 444 but1 you know1 you  
must not only read it2 you've got to    
feel it4  ,ah1 said ,audubon1 but that  
,i'm afraid is the difficulty4  ,i      
suppose it is4  ,well--,i don't know    
that ,i can say any more4  ,and without 
further ado he dropped back into his    
seat4  ,,sitting next to ,coryat was a  
man who had not for a long time been    
present at our meetings4  ,his name was 
,harington4  ,he was a wealthy man1 the 
head of a very ancient family2 and at   
one time had taken a prominent part in  
politics4  ,but1 of late1 he had resided

 mainly in ,italy devoting himself to   
study and to the collection of works of 
art4 ,i did not know what his opinions  
were1 for it so happened that ,i had    
never heard him speak or had any talk   
with him4  ,i had no idea1 therefore1   
when ,i called upon him1 what he would  
be likely to say1 and ,i waited with a  
good deal of curiosity as he stood a few
 moments silent4  ,it was now beginning 
to get light1 and ,i could see his face1
 which was unusually handsome and       
distinguished4  ,he had indeed the air  
of a seventeenth-century nobleman1 and  
might1 except for the costume1 have     
stepped out of a canvas of ,van ,dyck4  
,presently he spoke in a rich mellow    
voice and with a gravity that harmonized
 with his bearing4  ,let me begin with a
 confession1 perhaps ,i ought even to   
say an apology4  ,to be among you again 
after so many years is a privilege2 but 
it is one which brings with it elements 
of embarrassment4  ,i have lived so long
 in a foreign land that ,i feel myself  

an alien here4  ,i hear voices familiar 
of old1 but ,i have forgotten their     
language2 ,i see forms once well known1 
but the atmosphere in which they move   
seems strange4  ,i am fresh from ,italy2
 and ,england comes upon me with a      
shock4  ,even her physical aspect ,i see
 as ,i never saw it before4  ,i find it 
lovely1 with a loveliness peculiar and  
unique4  ,but ,i miss something to which
 ,i have become accustomed in the south2
 ,i miss light1 form1 greatness1 and    
breadth4  ,instead1 there is grey or    
golden haze1 blurred outlines1 tender   
skies1 lush luxurious greenery4  ,italy 
rings like metal2 ,england is a muffled 
drum4  ,the one has the ardour of       
,beauty2 the other the charm of the     
,picturesque4  ,i dwell upon this       
because ,i seem to see--perhaps ,i am   
fanciful--a kindred distinction between 
the north and the south in quality of   
mind4  ,the ,greek intelligence1 and the
 ,italian1 is pitiless1 searching1 white
 as the ,mediterranean sunshine2 the    

,english and ,german is kindly1         
discreet1 amiably and tenderly confused4
  ,the one blazes naked in a brazen sky2
 the other is tempered by vapours of    
sentiment4  ,the ,english1 in           
particular1 ,i think1 seldom make a     
serious attempt to face the truth4      
,their prejudices and ideals shut them  
in1 like their green hedges2 and they   
live1 even intellectually1 in a country 
of little fields4  ,i do not deny that  
this is soothing and restful2 but ,i    
feel it--shall ,i confess--intolerably  
cooping4  ,i long for the searching     
light1 the wide prospect2 for the vision
 of things as they really are4  ,i have 
consorted too long with ,aristotle and  
,machiavelli to find myself at home in  
the country of the ,anglican ,church and
 of ,herbert ,spencer4 ,here he paused1 
and seemed to hesitate1 while we        
wondered what he could be leading up to4
  ,then1 resuming1 ,this may seem1 he   
went on1 a long introduction2 but it is 
not irrelevant2 though ,i feel some     

hesitation in applying it4  ,but1 if the
 last speaker will permit me to take my 
text from him1 ,i would ask him1 is it  
not a curiously indiscriminate procedure
 to affirm indifferently value in all   
life8  ,a poet surely--and ,coryat's    
practice1 if he will allow me to say so1
 is sounder than his theory--a poet     
seeks to render1 wherever he can find   
it1 the exquisite1 the choice1 the      
distinguished and the rare4  ,not life1 
but beauty is his quest4  ,he does not  
reproduce ,nature1 he imposes upon her a
 standard4  ,and so it is with every    
art1 including the art of life itself4  
,life as such is neither good nor bad1  
and1 ,audubon's undistinguishing censure
 is surely as much out of place as      
,coryat's undistinguishing approval4    
,life is raw material for the artist1   
whether he be the private man carrying  
out his own destiny1 or the statesman   
shaping that of a nation4  ,the end of  
the artist in either case is the good   
life2 and on his own conception of that 

will depend the value of his work4  ,i  
recall to your minds these obvious      
facts1 at the risk of being tedious1    
because to-night1 seeing the turn that  
our discussion has taken1 we must regard
 ourselves as statesmen1 or as would-be 
statesmen4 ,and ,i1 in that capacity1   
finding myself in disagreement with     
everybody1 except perhaps ,cantilupe1   
and asking myself the reason why1 can   
only conclude that ,i have a different  
notion of the end to be pursued1 and of 
the means whereby it can be attained4   
,all of you1 ,i think1 except           
,cantilupe1 have assumed that the good  
life1 whatever it may be1 can be        
attained by everybody2 and that society 
should be arranged so as to secure that 
result4  ,that is1 in fact1 the         
democratic postulate1 which is now so   
generally accepted not only in this     
company but in the world at large4  ,but
 it is that postulate that ,i dispute4  
,i hold that the good life must either  
be the privilege of a few1 or not exist 

at all4 ,the good life in my view1 is   
the life of a gentleman4  ,that word1 ,i
 know1 has been degraded2 and there is  
no more ominous sign of the degradation 
of the ,english people4  ,but ,i use it 
in its true and noble sense4  ,i mean by
 a gentleman a man of responsibility2   
one who because he enjoys privileges    
recognizes duties2 a landed proprietor  
who is also1 and therefore1 a soldier   
and a statesman2 a man with a natural   
capacity and a hereditary tradition to  
rule2 a member1 in a word1 of a         
governing aristocracy4  ,not that the   
good life consists in governing2 but    
only a governing class and those who    
centre round them are capable of the    
good life4  ,nobility is a privilege of 
the nobleman1 and nobility is essential 
to goodness4  ,we are told indeed1 that 
,good is to be found in virtue1 in      
knowledge1 in art1 in love4  ,i will not
 dispute it2 but we must add that only a
 noble man can be virtuous greatly1 know
 wisely1 perceive and feel finely4  ,and

 virtue that is mean1 knowledge that is 
pedantic1 art that is base1 love that is
 sensual are not ,goods at all4  ,a     
noble man of necessity feels and        
expresses himself nobly4 ,his speech is 
literature1 his gesture art1 his action 
drama1 his affections music4  ,about him
 centres all that is great in           
literature1 science1 art4  ,magnificent 
buildings1 exquisite pictures1 statues1 
poems1 songs1 crowd about his habitation
 and attend him from the cradle to the  
grave4  ,his fine intelligence draws to 
itself those of like disposition4  ,he  
seeks genius1 but he shuns pedantry2 for
 his knowledge is part of his life4     
,all that is great he instinctively     
apprehends1 because it is akin to       
himself4  ,and only so can anything be  
truly apprehended4  ,for every man and  
every class can only understand and     
practise the virtues appropriate to     
their occupations4  ,a professor will   
never be a hero1 however much he reads  
the classics4  ,a shop-walker will never

 be a poet1 however much he reads       
poetry4  ,if you want virtue1 in the    
ancient sense1 the sense of honour1 of  
courage1 of self-reliance1 of the       
instinct to command1 you must have a    
class of gentlemen4  ,otherwise virtue  
will be at best a mere conception in the
 head1 a figment of the brain1 not a    
character and a force4  ,why is the     
teaching of the classics now discredited
 among you8  ,not because it is not as  
valuable as ever it was1 but because    
there is no one left to understand its  
value4  ,the tradesmen who govern you   
feel instinctively that it is not for   
them1 and they are right4  ,it is above 
and beyond them4  ,but it was the       
natural food of gentlemen4  ,and the    
example may serve to illustrate the     
general truth1 that you cannot          
revolutionize classes and their         
relations without revolutionizing       
culture4  ,it is idle to suppose you can
 communicate to a democracy the heritage
 of an aristocracy4  ,you may give them 

books1 show them pictures1 offer them   
examples4  ,in vain6  ,the seed cannot  
grow in the new soil4  ,the masses will 
never be educated in the sense that the 
classes were4  ,you may rejoice in the  
fact1 or you may regret it2 but at least
 it should be recognized4  ,for my own  
part ,i regret it1 and ,i regret it     
because ,i conceive that the good life  
is the life of the gentleman4  ,from    
this it follows that my ideal of a      
polity is aristocratic4  ,for a class of
 gentlemen presupposes classes of       
workers to support it4  ,and these1 from
 the ideal point of view1 must be       
regarded as mere means4  ,i do not say  
that that is just2 ,i do not say it is  
what we should choose2 but ,i am sure it
 is the law of the world in which we    
live4  ,through the whole realm of      
nature every kind exists only to be the 
means of supporting life in another4    
,everywhere the higher preys upon the   
lower2 everywhere the ,good is parasitic
 on the ,bad4  ,and as in nature1 so in 

human society4  ,read history with an   
impartial mind1 read it in the white    
light1 and you will see that there has  
never been a great civilization that was
 not based upon iniquity4  ,those who   
have eyes to see have always admitted1  
and always will1 that the greatest      
civilization of ,europe was that of     
,greece4  ,and of that civilization not 
merely an accompaniment but the         
essential condition was slavery4 ,take  
away that and you take away ,pericles1  
,phidias1 ,sophocles1 ,plato4 ,dismiss  
,greece1 if you like4  ,where then will 
you turn8  ,to the ,middle ,ages8  ,you 
encounter feudalism and serfdom4  ,to   
the modern world8  ,you run against     
wage-labour4  ,ah1 but1 you say1 we look
 to the future4  ,we shall abolish      
wage-labour1 as we have abolished       
slavery4  ,we shall have an equitable   
society in which everybody will do      
productive work1 and nobody will live at
 the cost of others4  ,i do not know    
whether you can do this2 it is possible 

you may2 but ,i ask you to count the    
cost4  ,and first let me call your      
attention to what you have actually done
 during the course of the past century4 
,you have deposed your aristocracy and  
set up in their place men who work for  
their living1 instead of for the public 
good1 merchants1 bankers1 shop-keepers1 
railway directors1 brewers1             
company-promoters4  ,whether you are    
better and more justly governed ,i do   
not pause to enquire4  ,you appear to be
 satisfied that you are4  ,but what ,i  
see1 returning to ,england only at rare 
intervals1 and what you perhaps cannot  
so easily see1 is that you are ruining  
all your standards4  ,dignity1 manners1 
nobility1 nay1 common honesty itself1 is
 rapidly disappearing from among you4   
,every time ,i return ,i find you more  
sordid1 more petty1 more insular1 more  
ugly and unperceptive4  ,for the higher 
things1 the real goods1 were supported  
and sustained among you by your class of
 gentlemen1 while they deserved the     

name4  ,but by depriving them of power  
you have deprived them of               
responsibility1 which is the salt of    
privilege2 and they are rotting before  
your eyes1 crumbling away and dropping  
into the ruck4  ,whether the general    
level of your civilization is rising ,i 
do not pronounce4  ,i do not even think 
the question of importance2 for any rise
 must be almost imperceptible4  ,the    
salient fact is that the pinnacles are  
disappearing2 that soon there will be   
nothing left that seeks the stars4      
,your middle classes have no doubt many 
virtues2 they are1 ,i will presume1     
sensible1 capable1 industrious1 and     
respectable4  ,but they have no notion  
of greatness1 nay1 they have an         
instinctive hatred of it4  ,whatever    
else they may have done1 they have      
destroyed all nobility4  ,in art1 in    
literature1 in drama1 in the building of
 palaces or villas1 nihil tetigerunt    
quod non faedaverunt4  ,such is the     
result of entrusting power to men who   

make their own living1 instead of to a  
class set apart by hereditary privilege 
to govern and to realize the good life4 
,but1 you may still urge1 this is only a
 temporary stage4 ,we still have a      
parasitic class1 the class of           
capitalists4  ,it is only when we have  
got rid of them1 that the real equality 
will begin1 and with it will come all   
other excellence4  ,well1 ,i think it   
possible that you might establish1 ,i   
will not say absolute equality1 but an  
equality far greater than the world has 
ever seen2 that you might exact from    
everybody some kind of productive work1 
in return for the guarantee of a        
comfortable livelihood4  ,but there is  
no presumption that in that way you will
 produce the nobility of character which
 ,i hold to be the only thing really    
good4  ,for such nobility1 as all       
history and experience clearly shows1 if
 we will interrogate it honestly1 is the
 product of a class-consciousness4      
,personal initiative1 personal force1 a 

freedom from sordid cares1 a sense of   
hereditary obligation based on          
hereditary privilege1 the consciousness 
of being set apart for high purposes1 of
 being one's own master and the master  
of others1 all that and much more goes  
to the building up of the gentleman2 and
 all that is impossible in a socialistic
 state4  ,in the eternal order of this  
inexorable world it is prescribed that  
greatness cannot grow except in the soil
 of iniquity1 and that justice can      
produce nothing but mediocrity4  ,that  
the masses should choose justice at the 
cost of greatness is intelligible1 nay  
it is inevitable2 and that choice is the
 inner meaning of democracy4  ,but      
gentlemen should have had the insight to
 see1 and the courage to affirm1 that   
the price was too great to pay4 ,they   
did not2 and the penalty is that they   
are ceasing to exist4  ,they have       
sacrificed themselves to the attempt to 
establish equity4  ,but in that attempt 
,i can take no interest4  ,the society  

in which ,i believe is an aristocratic  
one4  ,i hold1 with ,plato and          
,aristotle1 that the masses ought to be 
treated as means1 treated kindly1       
treated justly1 so far as the polity    
permits1 but treated as subordinate     
always to a higher end4 ,but your feet  
are set on the other track4  ,you are   
determined to abolish classes2 to level 
down in order to level up2 to destroy   
superiorities in order to raise the     
average4  ,i do not say you will not    
succeed4  ,but if you do1 you will      
realize comfort at the expense of       
greatness1 and your society will be one 
not of men but of ants and bees4  ,for  
,democracy--note it well--destroys      
greatness in every kind1 of intellect1  
of perception1 as well as of character4 
,and especially it destroys art1 that   
reflection of life without which we     
cannot be said to live4  ,for the artist
 is the rarest1 the most choice of men4 
,his senses1 his perception1 his        
intelligence have a natural and inborn  

fineness and distinction4  ,he belongs  
to a class1 a very small1 a very        
exclusive one4  ,and he needs a class to
 appreciate and support him4  ,no       
democracy has ever produced or          
understood art4  ,the case of ,athens is
 wrongly adduced2 for ,athens was an    
aristocracy under the influence of an   
aristocrat at the time the ,parthenon   
was built4  ,at all times ,art has been 
fostered by patrons1 never by the       
people4  ,how should they foster it8    
,instinctively they hate it1 as they    
hate all superiorities4 ,it was not     
,florence but the ,medici and the ,pope 
that employed ,michelangelo2 not ,milan 
but ,ludovic the ,moor that valued      
,leonardo4  ,it was the ,english nobles 
that patronized ,reynolds and           
,gainsborough2 the darlings of our      
middle class are ,herkomer and ,collier4
  ,there have been poets1 it is true1   
who have been born of the people and    
loved of them2 and ,i do not despise    
poetry of that kind4  ,but it is not the

 great thing4  ,the great thing is      
,sophocles and ,virgil1 a fine culture  
wedded to a rich nature4  ,and such a   
marriage is not accomplished in the     
fields or the market-place4  ,the       
literature loved by democracy is a      
literature like themselves2 not         
literature at all1 but journalism1      
gross1 shrieking1 sensational1 base4    
,so with the drama1 so with             
architecture1 so with every art4        
,substitute the mass for the patron1 and
 you eliminate taste4  ,the artist      
perishes2 the charlatan survives and    
flourishes4  ,only in science have you  
still an aristocracy4  ,for the crowd   
sees that there is profit in science1   
and lets it go its way4 ,because of the 
accident that it can be applied1 it may 
be disinterestedly pursued4  ,and       
democracy hitherto1 though impatiently1 
endures an ideal aim in the hope of     
degrading its achievement to its own    
uses4  ,such being my view of democratic
 society ,i look naturally for elements 

that promise not to foster1 but to      
counteract it4  ,i look for the germs of
 a new aristocracy4  ,they are hard to  
discover1 and perhaps my desires        
override my judgment4  ,but ,i fancy    
that it will be the very land that has  
suffered most acutely from the disease  
that will be the first to discover the  
remedy4  ,i endorse ,ellis's view of    
,american civilization2 but ,i allow    
myself to hope that the reaction is     
already beginning4  ,i have met in      
,italy young ,americans with a finer    
sense of beauty1 distinction1 and form1 
than ,i have been able to find among    
,englishmen1 still less among ,italians4
  ,and once there is cast into that     
fresh and unencumbered soil the seed of 
the ideal that made ,greece great1 who  
can prophecy into what forms of beauty  
and thought it may not flower8  ,the    
,plutocracy of the ,west may yet be     
transformed into an ,aristocracy2 and   
,europe re-discover from ,america the   
secret of its past greatness4  ,such1 at

 least1 appears to me to be the best    
hope of the world2 and to the           
realization of that hope ,i would have  
all men of culture all the world over   
unite their efforts4  ,for the kingdom  
of this earth1 like that of heaven1 is  
taken by violence4  ,we must work not   
with1 but against tendencies1 if we     
would realize anything great2 and the   
men who are fit to rule must have the   
courage to assume power1 if ever there  
is to be once more a civilization4      
,therefore it is that ,i1 the last of an
 old aristocracy1 look across the       
,atlantic for the first of the new4     
,and beyond socialism1 beyond anarchy1  
across that weltering sea1 ,i strain my 
eyes to see1 pearl-grey against the     
dawn1 the new and stately citadel of    
,power4  ,for ,power is the centre of   
crystallization for all good2 given     
that1 you have morals1 art1 religion2   
without it1 you have nothing but        
appetites and passions4 ,power then is  
the condition of life1 even of the life 

of the mass1 in any sense in which it is
 worth having4  ,and in the interest of 
,democracy itself every good ,democrat  
ought to pray for the advent of         
,aristocracy4  ,,all of our company had 
now spoken except two4  ,one was the    
author1 ,vivian1 and him ,i had decided 
to leave till the last4  ,the other was 
,john ,woodman1 a member of the ,society
 of ,friends1 and one who was commonly  
regarded as a crank1 because he lived on
 a farm in the country1 worked with his 
hands1 and refused to pay taxes on the  
ground that they went to maintain the   
army and navy4  ,if ,harington was      
handsome1 ,woodman was beautiful1 but   
with beauty of expression rather than of
 features1 ,i had always thought of him 
as a perfect example of that rare type1 
the genuine ,christian4  ,and since     
,harington had just revealed himself as 
a typical ,pagan1 ,i felt glad of the   
chance which brought the two men into   
such close juxtaposition4  ,my only     
doubt was1 whether ,woodman would       

consent to speak4  ,for on previous     
occasions ,i had known him to refuse2   
and he was the only one of us who had   
always been able to sustain his refusal1
 without unpleasantness1 but without    
yielding4  ,to-night1 however1 he rose  
in response to my appeal1 and spoke as  
follows3  ,all the evening ,i have been 
wondering when the lot would fall on me1
 and whether1 when it did1 ,i should    
feel1 as we ,friends say1 'free' to     
answer the call4  ,now that it has come1
 ,i am1 ,i think1 free2 but not1 if you 
will pardon me1 for a long or eloquent  
speech4  ,what ,i have to say ,i shall  
say as simply and as briefly as ,i can2 
and you1 ,i know1 will listen with your 
accustomed tolerance1 though ,i shall   
differ even more1 if possible1 from all 
the other speakers1 than they have      
differed from one another4  ,for you    
have all spoken from the point of view  
of the world4  ,you have put forward    
proposals for changing society and      
making it better4  ,but you have relied1

 for the most part1 on external means to
 accomplish such changes4  ,you have    
spoken of extending or limiting the     
powers of government1 of socialism1 of  
anarchy1 of education1 of selective     
breeding4  ,but you have not spoken of  
the ,spirit and the ,life1 or not in the
 sense in which ,i would wish to speak  
of them4  ,mac,carthy1 indeed1 ,i       
remember1 used the words 'the life of   
the spirit4'  ,but ,i could not well    
understand what he meant1 except that he
 hoped to attain it by violence2 and in 
that way what ,i would seek and value   
cannot be furthered4  ,coryat1 again1   
and ,harington spoke of the good life4  
,but ,coryat seemed to think that any   
and all life is good4  ,the line of     
division which ,i see everywhere he did 
not see at all1 the line between the    
children of ,god and the children of    
this world4  ,i could not say with him  
that there is a natural goodness in life
 as such2 only that any honest          
occupation will be good if it be        

practised by a good man4  ,it is not    
wealth that is needed1 nor talents1 nor 
intellect4  ,these things are gifts that
 may be given or withheld4 ,but the one 
thing needful is the spirit of ,god1    
which is given freely to the poor and   
the ignorant who seek it4  ,believing   
this1 ,i cannot but disagree1 also1 with
 ,harington4  ,for the life of which he 
spoke is the life of this world4  ,he   
praises power1 and wisdom1 and beauty1  
and the excellence of the body and the  
mind4  ,in these things1 he says1 the   
good life consists4  ,and since they are
 so rare and difficult to attain1 and   
need for their fostering1 natural       
aptitudes1 and leisure and wealth and   
great position1 he concludes that the   
good life is possible only for the few2 
and that to them the many should be     
ministers4  ,and if the goods he speaks 
of be really such1 he is right2 for in  
the things of the world1 what one takes1
 another must resign4 ,if there are     
rulers there must be subjects2 if there 

are rich1 there must be poor2 if there  
are idle men there must be drudges4     
,but the real ,good is not thus         
exclusive4  ,it is open to all2 and the 
more a man has of it the more he gives  
to others4  ,that ,good is the love of  
,god1 and through the love of ,god the  
love of man4  ,these are old phrases1   
but their sense is not old2 rather it is
 always new1 for it is eternal4 ,now1 as
 of old1 in the midst of science1 of    
business1 of invention1 of the          
multifarious confusion and din and hurry
 of the world1 ,god may be directly     
perceived and known4  ,but to know ,him 
is to love ,him1 and to love ,him is to 
love ,his creatures1 and most all of our
 fellow-men1 to whom we are nearest and 
most akin1 and with and by whom we needs
 must live4  ,and if that love were     
really spread abroad among us1 the      
questions that have been discussed      
to-night would resolve themselves4 ,for 
there would be a rule of life generally 
observed and followed2 and under it the 

conditions that make the problems would 
disappear4  ,of such a rule1 all men1   
dimly and at moments1 are aware4  ,by it
 they were warned that slavery was      
wrong4  ,and had they but read it more  
truly1 and followed it more faithfully1 
they would never have made war to       
abolish what they would never have      
wished to maintain4  ,and the same rule 
it is that is warning us now that it is 
wrong to fight1 wrong to heap up riches1
 wrong to live by the labour of others4 
,as we come to heed the warning we shall
 cease to do these things4  ,but to     
change institutions without changing    
hearts is idle4  ,for it is but to      
change the subjects into the rulers1 the
 poor into the rich1 the drudges into   
the idle men4  ,and1 as a result1 we    
should only have idle men more          
frivolous1 rich men more hard1 rulers   
more incompetent4  ,it is not by        
violence or compulsion1 open or         
disguised1 that the kingdom of heaven   
comes4  ,it is by simple service on the 

part of those that know the law1 by     
their following the right in their own  
lives1 and preaching rather by their    
conduct than by their words4  ,this     
would be a hard saying if we had to rely
 on ourselves4  ,but we have ,god to    
rely on1 who gives ,his help not        
according to the measure of our powers4 
,a man cannot by taking thought add a   
cubit to his stature2 he cannot increase
 the scope of his mind or the range of  
his senses2 he cannot1 by willing1 make 
himself a philosopher1 or a leader of   
men4 ,but drawing on the source that is 
open to the poorest and the weakest he  
can become a good man2 and then1        
whatever his powers1 he will be using   
them for ,god and man4  ,if men do that1
 each man for himself1 by the help of   
,god1 all else will follow4  ,so true is
 it that if ye seek first the kingdom of
 heaven all these things shall be added 
unto you4 ,yes1 that is true4  ,it is   
eternal truth4  ,it does not change with
 the doctrines of ,churches nor depend  

upon them4  ,i would say even it does   
not depend on ,christianity4  ,for the  
words would be true1 though there had   
never been a ,christ to speak them4     
,and the proof that they are true is    
simply the direct witness of            
consciousness4  ,we perceive such truths
 as we perceive the sun4  ,they carry   
with them their own certainty2 and on   
that rests the certainty of ,god4       
,therein is the essence of all religion4
  ,i say it because ,i know4  ,and the  
rest of you1 so it seems to me1 are     
guessing4  ,nor is it1 as it might seem 
at first1 a truth irrelevant to your    
discussion4  ,for it teaches that all   
change must proceed from within outward4
  ,there is not1 there never has been1 a
 just polity1 for there has never been  
one based on the love of ,god and man4  
,all that you condemn--poverty1 and     
wealth1 idleness and excessive labour1  
squalor1 disease1 barren marriages1     
aggression and war1 will continue in    
spite of all changes in form1 until men 

will to get rid of them4  ,and that they
 will not do till they have learnt to   
love ,god and man4  ,revolution will be 
vain1 evolution will be vain1 all uneasy
 turnings from side to side will be     
vain1 until that change of heart be     
accomplished4  ,and accomplished it will
 be in its own time4 ,everywhere ,i see 
it at work1 in many ways1 in the guise  
of many different opinions4  ,i see it  
at work here to-night among those with  
whom ,i most disagree4  ,i see it in the
 hope of ,allison and ,wilson1 in the   
defiance of ,mac,carthy1 in the doubt of
 ,martin1 and most of all in the despair
 of ,audubon4  ,for he is right to      
despair of the only life he knows1 the  
life of the world whose fruits are dust 
and ashes4  ,he drifts on a midnight    
ocean1 unlighted by stars1 and tossed by
 the winds of disappointment1 sorrow1   
sickness1 irreparable loss4  ,ah1 but   
above him1 if he but knew1 as now in our
 eyes and ears1 rises into a crystal sky
 the first lark of dawn4  ,and the      

cuckoo sings1 and the blackbird1 do you 
not hear them8  ,and the fountain rises 
ever in showers of silver sparks1 up to 
the heaven it will not reach till fire  
has made it vapour4  ,and so the whole  
creation aspires1 out of the night of   
despair1 into the cool freshness of dawn
 and on to the sun of noon4 ,let us be  
patient and follow each his path1       
waiting on the word of ,god till ,he be 
pleased to reveal it4  ,for ,his way is 
not hard1 it is joy and peace           
unutterable4  ,and those who wait in    
faith ,he will bless with the knowledge 
of ,himself4  ,as he finished it was    
light1 though the sun had not yet risen4
  ,the first birds were singing in the  
wood1 and the fountain glistened and    
sang1 and the plain lay before us like a
 bride waiting for the bridegroom4  ,we 
were silent under the spell2 and ,i     
scarcely know how long had passed before
 ,i had heart to call upon ,vivian to   
conclude4  ,i have heard ,vivian called 
a philosopher1 but the term is          

misleading4 ,those who know his         
writings--and they are too few--know    
that he concerned himself1 directly or  
indirectly1 with philosophic problems4  
,but he never wrote philosophy2 his     
methods were not those of logic2 and his
 sympathies were with science and the   
arts4  ,in the early age of ,greece he  
might have been ,empedocles or          
,heraclitus2 he could never have been   
,spinoza or ,kant4  ,he sought to       
interpret life1 but not merely in terms 
of the intellect4  ,he needed to see and
 feel in order to think4 ,and he        
expressed himself in a style too        
intellectual for lovers of poetry1 too  
metaphorical for lovers of philosophy4  
,his ,public1 therefore1 though devoted1
 was limited2 but we1 in our society1   
always listened to him with an interest 
that was rather enhanced than diminished
 by an element of perplexity4  ,i have  
found it hard to reproduce his manner1  
in which it was clear that he took a    
conscious and artistic pleasure4  ,still

 less can ,i give the impression of his 
lean and fine-cut face1 and the         
distinction of his whole personality4   
,he stood up straight and tall against  
the whitening sky1 and delivered himself
 as follows3  ,man is in the making2 but
 henceforth he must make himself4  ,to  
that point ,nature has led him1 out of  
the primeval slime4  ,she has given him 
limbs1 she has given him brain1 she has 
given him the rudiment of a soul4  ,now 
it is for him to make or mar that       
splendid torso4  ,let him look no more  
to her for aid2 for it is her will to   
create one who has the power to create  
himself4  ,if he fail1 she fails2 back  
goes the metal to the pot2 and the great
 process begins anew4  ,if he succeeds1 
he succeeds alone4  ,his fate is in his 
own hands4  ,of that fate1 did he but   
know it1 brain is the lord1 to fashion a
 palace fit for the soul to inhabit4    
,yet still1 after centuries of          
stumbling1 reason is no more than the   
furtive accomplice of habit and force4  

,force creates1 habit perpetuates1      
reason the sycophant sanctions4  ,and so
 he drifts1 not up but down1 and ,nature
 watches in anguish1 self-forbidden to  
intervene1 unless it be to annihilate4  
,if he is to drive1 and drive straight1 
reason must seize the reins2 and the art
 of her driving is the art of ,politics4
  ,of that art1 the aim is perfection1  
the method selection4  ,science is its  
minister1 ethics its lord4  ,it spares  
no prejudice1 respects no habit1 honours
 no tradition4 ,institutions are stubble
 in the fire it kindles4  ,the present  
and the past it throws without remorse  
into the jaws of the future4  ,it is the
 angel with the flaming sword swift to  
dispossess the crone that sits on her   
money-bags at ,westminster4  ,or1 shall 
,i say1 it is ,hercules with the ,augean
 stable to cleanse1 of which every city 
is a stall1 heaped with the dung of a   
century2 with the ,hydra to slay1 whose 
hundred writhing heads of false belief1 
from old truth rotted into lies1 spring 

inexhaustibly fecund in creeds1         
interests1 institutions4  ,of which the 
chief is ,property1 most cruel and blind
 of all1 who devours us1 ere we know it1
 in the guise of ,security and ,peace1  
killing the bodies of some1 the souls of
 most1 and growing ever fresh from the  
root1 in forms that but seem to be new1 
until the root itself be cut away by the
 sword of the spirit4  ,what that sword 
shall be called1 socialism1 anarchy1    
what you will1 is small matter1 so but  
the hand that wields it be strong1 the  
brain clear1 the soul illumined1        
passionate and profound4  ,but where    
shall the champion be found fit to wield
 that weapon8  ,he will not be found2 he
 must be made4  ,by ,man ,man must be   
sown4  ,once he might trust to ,nature1 
while he was laid at her breast4  ,but  
she has weaned him2 and the promptings  
she no longer guides1 he may not blindly
 trust for their issue4  ,while she     
weeded1 it was hers to plant2 but she   
weeds no more4  ,he of his own will     

uproots or spares2 and of his own will  
he must sow1 if he would not have his   
garden a wilderness4  ,even now precious
 plants perish before his eyes1 even now
 weeds grow rank1 while he watches in   
idle awe1 and prates of his own         
impotence4  ,he has given the reins to  
,desire1 and she drives him back to the 
abyss4  ,but harness her to the car1    
with reason for charioteer1 and she will
 grow wings to waft him to his goal4    
,that in him that he calls ,love is but 
the dragon of the slime4  ,let him bury 
it in the grave of ,self1 and it will   
rise a ,psyche1 with wings too wide to  
shelter only the home4  ,the ,man that  
is to be comes at the call of the ,man  
that is4  ,let him call then1 soberly1  
not from the fumes of lust4  ,for as is 
the call1 so will be the answer4  ,but  
for what should he call8  ,for ,pagan8  
,for ,christian8  ,for neither1 and for 
both4  ,paganism speaks for the men in  
,man1 ,christianity for the ,man in men4
  ,the fruit that was eaten in          

,paradise1 sown in the soul of man1 bore
 in ,hellas its first and fairest       
harvest4  ,there rose upon the world of 
mind the triple sun of the ,ideal4      
,aphrodite1 born of the foam1 flowered  
on the azure main1 ,tritons in her train
 and ,nereids1 under the flush of dawn4 
,apollo1 radiant in hoary dew1 leapt    
from the eastern wave1 flamed through   
the heaven1 and cooled his hissing      
wheels in the vaporous west4  ,athene1  
sprung from the brain of ,god1 armed    
with the spear of truth1 moved grey-eyed
 over the earth probing the minds of    
men4  ,love1 ,beauty1 ,wisdom1 behold   
the ,pagan ,trinity6  ,through whose    
grace only men are men1 and fit to      
become ,man4  ,therefore1 the gods are  
eternal2 not they die1 but we1 when we  
think them dead4  ,and no man who does  
not know them1 and knowing1 worship and 
love1 is able to be a member of the body
 of ,man4  ,thus it is that the sign of 
a step forward is a look backward2 and  
,greece stands eternally at the         

threshold of the new life4  ,forget her1
 and you sink back1 if not to the brute1
 to the insect4  ,consider the ant1 and 
beware of her6  ,she is there for a     
warning4  ,in universal ,anthood there  
are no ants4  ,from that fate may men   
save ,man6  ,but the ,pagan gods were   
pitiless2 they preyed upon the weak4    
,their wisdom was rooted in folly1 their
 beauty in squalor1 their love in       
oppression4  ,so fostered1 those flowers
 decayed4  ,and out of the rotting soil 
rose the strange new blossoms we call   
,faith1 and ,hope1 and ,charity4  ,for  
,folly cried1 ',i know not1 but ,i      
believe'2 ,squalor1 ',i am vile1 but ,i 
hope'2 and the oppressed1 ',i am        
despised1 but ,i love4' ,that was the   
,christian ,trinity1 the echo of man's  
frustration1 as the other was the echo  
of his accomplishment4  ,yet both he    
needs4  ,for because he grows1 he is    
dogged by imperfection4  ,his weakness  
is mocked by those shining forms on the 
mountain-top4  ,but ,faith1 and ,hope1  

and ,charity walk beside him in the     
mire1 to kindle1 to comfort and to help4
 ,and of them justice is born1 the plea 
of the ,many against the ,few1 of the   
nation against the class1 of mankind    
against the nation1 of the future       
against the present4  ,in ,christianity 
men were born into ,man4 ,yet in ,him   
let not men die6  ,for what profits     
justice unless it be the step to the    
throne of ,olympus8  ,what profit ,faith
 and ,hope without a goal8  ,charity    
without an object8  ,vain is the love of
 emmets1 or of bees and coral-insects4  
,for the worth of love is as the worth  
of the lover4  ,it is only in the soil  
of ,paganism that ,christianity can come
 to maturity4  ,and ,faith1 ,hope1      
,charity1 are but seeds of themselves   
till they fall into the womb of ,wisdom1
 ,beauty1 and ,love4  ,olympus lies     
before us1 the snow-capped mountain4    
,let us climb it1 together1 if you will1
 not some on the corpses of the rest2   
but climb at least1 not fester and swarm

 on rich meadows of equality4  ,we are  
not for the valley1 nor for the forests 
or the pastures4  ,if we be brothers1   
yet we are brothers in a quest1 needing 
our foremost to lead4  ,aphrodite1      
,apollo1 ,athene1 are before us1 not    
behind4  ,majestic forms1 they gleam    
among the snows4  ,march1 then1 men in  
,man6  ,but is it men who attain8  ,or  
,man8  ,or not even he1 but ,god8  ,we  
do not know4  ,we know only the impulse 
and the call4  ,the gleam on the snow1  
the upward path1 the urgent stress      
within1 that is our certainty1 the rest 
is doubt4  ,but doubt is a horizon1 and 
on it hangs the star of hope4  ,by that 
we live2 and the science blinds1 the    
renunciation maims1 that would shut us  
off from those silver rays4  ,our eyes  
must open1 as we march1 to every signal 
from the height4  ,and since the soul   
has indeed 'immortal longings in her' we
 may believe them prophetic of their    
fruition4  ,for her claims are august as
 those of man1 and appeal to the same   

witness4  ,the witness of either is a   
dream2 but such dreams come from the    
gate of horn4  ,they are principles of  
life1 and about them crystallizes the   
universe4  ,for will is more than       
knowledge1 since will creates what      
knowledge records4  ,science hangs in a 
void of nescience1 a planet turning in  
the dark4  ,but across that void ,faith 
builds the road that leads to ,olympus  
and the eternal gods4  ,by the time he  
had finished speaking the sun had risen1
 and the glamour of dawn was passing    
into the light of common day4  ,the     
birds sang loud1 the fountain sparkled1 
and the trees rustled softly in the     
early breeze4  ,our party broke up      
quietly4  ,some went away to bed2 others
 strolled down the gardens2 and ,audubon
 went off by appointment to bathe with  
my young nephew1 as gay and happy1 it   
would seem1 as man could be4 ,i was left
 to pace the terrace alone1 watching the
 day grow brighter1 and wondering at the
 divers fates of men4  ,an early bell   

rang in the little church at the        
park-gate2 a motor-car hooted along the 
highway4 ,and ,i thought of ,cantilupe  
and ,harington1 of ,allison and ,wilson1
 and beyond them of the vision of the   
dawn and the daybreak1 of ,woodman1 the 
soul1 and ,vivian1 the spirit4  ,i      
paused for a last look down the line of 
bright statues that bordered the long   
walk below me4  ,i fancied them         
stretching away to the foot of ,olympus2
 and without elation or excitement1 but 
with the calm of an assured hope1 ,i    
prepared to begin the new day4          
,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author     ,,after  
,,two ,,thousand ,,years   ,,plato ,,and
 ,,his ,,dialogues   ,,the ,,meaning    
,,of ,,good   ,,justice ,,and ,,liberty 
,a ,,political ,,dialogue   ,,religion  
,,and ,,immortality   ,,religion3 ,a    
,,criticism ,,and ,a ,,forecast   ,,the 
,,greek ,,view ,,of ,,life   ,,letters  
,,from ,,john ,,chinaman                
,,appearances3 ,,being ,,notes ,,on     
,,travel   ,,an ,,essay ,,on ,,the      

,,civilizations ,,of ,,india1 ,,china   
,,and ,,japan   ,,contribution ,,of     
,,ancient ,,greece ,,to ,,modern ,,life 
,,the ,,international ,,anarchy1        
#aijd-aiad   ,,evolution ,,in           
,,re-,,action ,,in ,,modern ,,france    
#aghi-ahga   ,,the ,,european ,,anarchy 
,,war3 ,,its ,,nature1 ,,cause ,,and    
,,cube   ,,causes ,,of ,,international  
,,war   ,,the ,,choice ,,before ,,us    
,,documents ,,and ,,statements          
,,relating ,,to ,,peace   ,,proposals   
,,and ,,war ,,aims1 ,,december          
#aiaf-aiah    ,,etc4     ,,other ,,books
 ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author  ,plato and 
,his ,dialogues  ,la4 ,cr4 #hvo4  #fs4  
,a lifetime of friendship with the      
,greek poet-philosopher inspires this   
handbook to the dialogues1 a handbook   
free from dryness or the vices of the   
text-book4--,new ,statesman   ,after    
,two ,thousand ,years  ,a ,dialogue     
,between ,plato and a ,modern ,young    
,man  ,cr4 #hvo4  ,second ,impression   
#fs4  ,packed with ideas of immediate   

and topical significance4--,daily       
,telegraph   ,the ,international        
,anarchy1 #aijd-aiad  ,demy #hvo4  #ags4
 #f;d4  ,it is very much the best       
analysis of the international events    
leading to the ,great ,war which has so 
far appeared4--,the ,nation   ,the      
,european ,anarchy  ,cr4 #hvo4  ,third  
,impression  #cs4 #f;d4  ,this is one of
 the shrewdest books on the causes of   
war that we have read4--,the ,economist 
,documents and ,statements ,relating to 
,peace ,proposals and ,war ,aims1       
,december #aiaf-aiah  ,demy #hvo4  #hs4 
#f;d4  ,a quite indispensable companion 
to the history of war4--,the ,challenge 
,war3 ,its ,nature1 ,cause and ,cure    
,cr4 #hvo4  ,third ,impression ,cloth   
#cs4 #f;d41 paper #bs4 #f;d4  ,mr4      
,lowes ,dickinson's book1 with its      
nervous provocative style1 its clear and
 vivid presentation of facts1 is a      
contribution for which we owe him       
gratitude4--,the ,spectator   ,causes of
 ,international ,war  ,swarthmore       

,international ,handbook  ,cr4 #hvo4    
,second ,edition  ,paper #bs4 #f;d4  ,an
 admirable study of the fundamental     
causes of war4--,daily ,herald   ,the   
,choice ,before ,us  ,demy #hvo4        
,third ,impression   #gs4 #f;d4  ,a     
noble book which everyone should        
read4--,daily ,news   ,the ,meaning of  
,good3 ,a ,dialogue  ,cr4 #hvo4  ,sixth 
,edition  ,a brilliant discussion which1
 apart from its great dialectical       
interest1 cannot fail to clarify the    
thoughts of every reader upon his       
conception of the nature of ,good4      
,justice and ,liberty  ,a ,political    
,dialogue  ,cr4 #hvo4  ,new ,impression 
#fs4  ,the following are among the      
chapter headings of this remarkable     
work3 ,forms of ,society1 ,the          
,institution of ,marriage1 ,the         
,institution of ,property1 ,government1 
,the ,importance of ,political ,ideals  
as ,guides to ,practice1 ,the ,relation 
of ,ideals to ,facts4   ,religion and   
,immortality  ,fcap4 #hvo4  #as4 #f;d4  

,four essays of which the titles are    
,faith and ,knowledge1 ,optimism and    
,immortality1 ,is ,immortality          
,desirable1 ,euthanasia4   ,religion  ,a
 ,criticism and a ,forecast  ,fcap4     
#hvo4  ,fifth ,impression  #as4 #f;d4   
,mr4 ,lowes ,dickinson's main object is 
to raise the question of the relation of
 ,religion to ,knowledge4  ,believing   
that all ,knowledge must be attained by 
the method of science1 he shows that a  
broad agnosticism is not of necessity   
inconsistent with the religious         
attitude1 which may prove of definite   
help in the conduct of life4   ,the     
,magic ,flute  ,a ,fantasia in ,prose   
and ,verse based on ,mozart's ,opera    
,cr4 #hjj4  ,third ,impression          
,quarter ,canvas1 #ds4 #f;d4  ,his      
fantasia1 half prose as it is1 is       
beautiful 444 all through there is the  
spirit of the ,magic ,flute and at times
 almost the music4--,the ,times         
,letters from ,john ,chinaman  ,fcap4   
#hvo4  ,ninth ,impression  #as4 #f;d4   

,in the form of letters the author      
explains ,china to the ,european4  ,no  
less important1 however1 is the         
presentation of our own civilization as 
viewed by an outsider whose standards   
are not those which1 from birth1 we have
 been accustomed to take for granted4   
,appearances  ,being ,notes of ,travel  
,cr4 #hvo4  #fs4  ,a series of articles 
recording impressions of travel in      
,america and ,asia4  ,in a concluding   
essay the author suggests that the      
civilization of ,india implies an       
outlook fundamentally different from    
that of the ,west1 and that1            
essentially1 the other countries of the 
,far ,east are nearer to the ,west than 
to ,india4   ,an ,essay on the          
,civilizations of ,india1 ,china and    
,japan  ,fcap4 #hvo4  ,third ,edition   
#bs4  ,the report of the author's       
travels as a ,fellow of the ,albert     
,kahn ,travelling ,fellowship4  ,he     
shows the general spirit and character  
of the civilizations of ,india1 ,china  

and ,japan and suggests the probable    
effects of their contact with the       
civilization of the ,west4   ,revolution
 and ,reaction in ,modern ,france1      
#aghi-ahga  ,cr4 #hvo4   ,new ,edition  
#gs4 #f;d4  ,mr4 ,lowes ,dickinson's    
brilliant sketch has stood the test of  
time4444 ,a masterly summary4--,the     
,observer   ,the ,contribution of       
,ancient ,greece to ,modern ,life  ,cr4 
#hvo4  ,paper #as41 ,cloth #bs4  ,the   
author's last work1 published just after
 his death4  ,a piece of singularly     
limpid1 undecorated1 musical            
prose4--,sunday ,times4   ,all prices   
are net  ,,london3 ,,george ,,allen     
,,unwin ,,ltd