,,bygones ,,worth ,,remembering  ,by    
,george ,jacob ,holyoake  ,look backward
 only to correct an error of conduct for
 the next attempt        ,george        
,meredith  ,volume ,,ii     ,,chapter   
,,xxiv4 ,,conversations ,,with ,,mr4    
,,gladstone  ,were ,i to edit a new     
journal again ,i should call it ,open   
,thought4 ,i know no characteristic of  
man so wise1 so useful1 so full of      
promise of progress as this4 ,the great 
volume of ,nature1 of ,man and of       
,society opens a new page every day1 and
 ,mr4 ,gladstone read it4 ,it was this  
which gave him that richness of         
information in which he excited the     
admiration of all who conversed with    
him4  ,were ,plutarch at hand to write  
,historical ,parallels of famous men of 
our time1 he might compare ,voltaire and
 ,gladstone4 ,dissimilar as they were in
 nature1 their points of resemblance    
were notable4 ,voltaire was the most    
conspicuous man in ,europe in the       
eighteenth century1 as ,mr4 ,gladstone  

became in the nineteenth4 ,both were men
 of wide knowledge beyond all their     
contemporaries4 ,each wrote more letters
 than any other man was ever known to   
write4 ,every ,court in ,europe was     
concerned about the movements of each1  
in his day4 ,both were deliverers of the
 oppressed1 where no one else moved on  
their behalf4 ,both attained great age1 
and were ceaselessly active to the last 
,in decision of conviction they were    
also alike4 ,voltaire was as            
determinedly ,theistic as ,mr4          
,gladstone was ,christian4 ,they were   
alike also in the risks they undertook  
in defence of the right4 ,voltaire      
risked his life and ,gladstone his      
reputation to save others4 ,mr4 ,morley 
relates of the ,philosopher of ,ferney1 
that when he made his triumphal journey 
through ,paris1 some one asked a woman  
in the street why do so many people     
follow this man8 ,don't you know8 was   
the reply4 ,he was the deliverer of the 
,calas4 ,no applause went to ,voltaire's

 heart like that ,mr4 ,gladstone had    
also golden memories of deliverance no  
one else moved hand or foot to effect1  
and multitudes1 even nations1 followed  
him because of that4  ,on the first     
occasion of my going to breakfast with  
him he was living in ,harley ,street1 in
 the house in which ,sir ,charles ,lyell
 died4 ,as ,mr4 ,gladstone entered the  
room1 he apologised for not greeting me 
earlier1 as his servant had indistinctly
 given him my name4 ,he asked me to sit 
next to him at breakfast4 ,there were   
seven or eight guests4 ,the only one ,i 
knew was ,mr4 ,walter4 ,h4 ,james1      
,m4,p41 since ,lord                     
,northbourne--probably present from     
consideration for me4 ,one was the      
editor of the ,jewish ,world a journal  
opposed to ,mr4 ,gladstone's            
anti-,turkish policy4 ,others were      
military officers and travellers of     
contemporary renown4 ,it was a breakfast
 to remember--,mr4 ,gladstone displayed 
such a bright1 unembarrassed vivacity4  

,he told amusing anecdotes of the       
experiences of the wife of the          
,lord-,lieutenant of ,ireland1 whose    
charm he said he could only describe by 
the use of the ,english rural term      
buxom4 ,on making a time-bargain with a 
cabman1 he observed to her ladyship that
 he wished the engagement was for life4 
,mr4 ,gladstone thought no ,english     
cabman would have said that4 ,another   
pleasantry was of one of ,lord          
,lyttelton's sons1 who was very tall and
 lank4 ,he being in ,birmingham and     
wishful to know the distance to a place 
he sought1 asked a boy in the street who
 was passing1 how far it was4 ,oh1 not  
far1 was the assuring but indefinite    
answer4 ,but can you not give me some   
better idea of the distance8 ,mr4       
,lyttelton inquired4 ,well1 sir1 said   
the lad1 looking up at the obelisk-like 
interrogator before him1 if you was to  
fall down1 you would be half way there4 
,these incidents were not new to me1 but
 ,i was glad to hear what was probably  

the origin of them4 ,from ,mr4          
,gladstone's lips they had a sort of    
historic reality which was interesting  
to me4  ,afterwards he spoke of the     
singular beauty of the ,dream of        
,gerontius by ,cardinal ,newman1 and    
turning to me asked if ,i knew of it1 as
 though he thought it unlikely my       
reading lay in that direction4 ,he was  
very much surprised when ,i said ,i had 
read it with great admiration4 ,he said 
it was strange1 as he had mentioned the 
poem at three or four breakfast tables1 
without finding any one who knew it4    
,as ,i left1 ,mr4 ,gladstone accompanied
 me downstairs4 ,on the way ,i took     
occasion to thank him for a paper that  
had appeared in the ,contemporary       
containing definitions of heretical     
forms of thought1 so fair and accurate  
and actual1 that ,shakespeare or        
,bunyan1 who had the power of possessing
 himself of the minds of those whose    
thoughts he expressed1 might have       
produced4 ,there had been nothing to    

compare with it in my time4 ,theological
 writers described heterodox tenets from
 their inferences of what they must     
be--never inquiring what they actually  
stood for in the minds of those who held
 them--whereas he had written with      
unimputative knowledge4 ,stopping on the
 first platform of the stairway we      
reached1 he paused1 and 7holding the    
lapel of his coat with his hand1 as ,i  
had seen him do in the ,house of        
,commons7 he said he was glad ,i was    
able to think so1 for that is the       
quality in which you yourself excel4    
,this amazed me1 as ,i never imagined   
that he had ever taken notice of        
speeches or writings of mine1 or formed 
any opinion upon them4 ,nor was he the  
man to say what ,i cite from mere       
courtesy4  ,the second time ,i          
breakfasted in ,harley ,street was in   
the days of the ,eastern question4 ,mr4 
,john ,morley was one of the party4 ,mr4
 ,gladstone had again the same          
disengaged manner4 ,before his guests   

broke up he entered the room1 bearing on
 his arm a pile of letters and          
telegrams1 and apologised for leaving us
 as he had to attend to them4 ,that     
morning ,mr4 ,bright came in1 and seeing
 me1 said1 ,poor ,acland is dead4 ,of   
course there was nothing in the house1  
and a few of us had to subscribe to bury
 him4 ,james ,acland was the rider on a 
white horse who preceded ,cobden and    
,bright the day before their arrival to 
address the farmers on the anti-,corn   
,law tour in the counties4 ,mr4         
,gladstone's grand-daughter was to have 
arrived at ,harley ,street that morning1
 but her nurse missed the train4 ,when  
she appeared1 ,bright1 who had suggested
 dolorous adventures to account for her 
non-appearance1 proposed1 when the child
 was announced to be upstairs1 that a   
charge of sixpence should be made for   
each person going to see her4  ,that    
morning one of the guests1 who was an   
actor1 maintained that it was not       
necessary that an actor should feel his 

part4 ,mr4 ,gladstone1 to whom          
conviction was his inspiration--who     
never spoke without believing what he   
said--dissented from the actor's theory1
 as ,i had done4  ,towards the end of   
his life1 ,i saw ,mr4 ,gladstone twice  
at the ,lion ,mansion in ,brighton4 ,on 
one occasion he said1 after speaking of 
,cardinal ,newman and his brother       
,francis1 ,i remember ,dr4 ,martineau   
telling me that there was a third       
brother1 a man also of remarkable power1
 but he was touched somewhere here1     
putting his finger to his forehead4 ,do 
you know whether it was so8 ,it is so   
long since ,dr4 ,martineau named it to  
me1 and my impression may be wrong4 ,i  
answered1 ,it was true4 ,at one time ,i 
had correspondence with ,charles        
,newman4 ,he would say at times1 ',my   
mind is going from me for a time4 ,do   
not expect to hear from me until my mind
 returns4' ,in power of reasoning1 he   
was1 when he did reason1 distinguished  
for boldness and vigour4 ,mr4 ,gladstone

 said1 ,when you write again to his     
brother ,francis1 convey to him for me  
the assurance of my esteem4 ,i am glad  
you believe that the cessation in his   
correspondence was not occasioned by    
anything on my part or any change of    
feeling on his4 ,i must have been       
mistaken if ,i ever described ,mr4      
,francis ,newman as 'a man of           
considerable talent4' ,he was much more 
than that4 ,his powers of mind may be   
said to amount to genius4  ,mr4         
,gladstone asked what ,i would advise as
 a rule of policy as to the ,anarchists 
who threw the bombs in the ,french      
,chambers4 ,i answered1 ,there were     
serious men who came to have ,anarchical
 views from despair of the improvement  
of society4 ,there were also foolish    
,anarchists who think they can put the  
world to rights1 had they a clear field 
before them4 ,there are also a class who
 are quite persuaded that by killing    
people who have nothing to do with the  
evils they complain of1 they will       

intimidate those who have4 ,they take   
destruction to be a mode of progress4   
,these persons are as mad as they are   
made1 and you cannot legislate against  
insanity4  ,i mentioned the case of a   
,nonconformist minister1 who was so     
incensed by the injustice done to ,mr4  
,bradlaugh that he took a revolver1     
loaded1 to ,palace ,yard1 intending to  
shoot the policemen who maltreated him4 
,but the member for ,northampton was    
altogether against such proceedings4    
,the determined rectifier of wrong in   
question had a project of throwing a    
bomb from the gallery on to the floor of
 the ,house4 ,i had great difficulty in 
dissuading him from this frightful act4 
,he was no coward1 and was quite        
prepared to sacrifice his own life4 ,to 
those ebullitions of vengeance society  
in every age has been subject1 and its  
best protection lies in intrepid disdain
 and cool precaution4 ,the affair of    
,phoenix ,park showed that the ,english 
nation did not go mad in the face of    

desperate outrage4 ,however1 ,mr4       
,gladstone himself gave the best answer 
to his inquiry4 ,he said1 ,the ,spanish 
,government had solicited him to join in
 a federation against ,anarchists4 ,but 
how could we do that8 ,we cannot tell   
what other ,governments may do1 and we  
should be held responsible for their    
acts which we might deplore4  ,he added1
 ,it fills me with surprise1 not to say 
disgust1 to see it said at times in     
,liberal papers that the ,tories of     
to-day are superior to their class      
formerly4 ,sir ,robert ,peel was a man  
of high honour1 patriotism1 and         
self-respect ,he would never have joined
 in nor countenanced the treatment to   
which ,mr4 ,bradlaugh was subjected4 ,i 
never knew the ,tories do a meaner      
thing4 ,nothing could have induced ,sir 
,robert ,peel to consent to that4  ,on  
one occasion1 after reference to        
out-of-the-way persons of whom ,i       
happened to have some knowledge1 ,mr4   
,gladstone said1 ,i have known many     

remarkable men4 ,my position has brought
 me in contact with numbers of persons4 
,indeed1 it seemed when talking to him  
that you were talking to mankind1 so    
diversified and plentiful were the      
persons living in his memory1 and who1  
as it were1 stepped out in his          
conversation before you4 ,the           
individuality1 the environment of       
persons1 all came into light4 ,his      
conversation was like an oration in     
miniature4 ,its exactness1 its          
modulation1 its force of expression1 its
 foreseeingness of all the issues of    
ideas1 came at will4 ,i never listened  
to conversation so easy1 so natural1 so 
precise1 so full of colour and truth1   
spoken with such spontaneity and force4 
,mr4 ,morley1 in his ,life of           
,gladstone1 cites a letter he sent to me
 in #ahge3 ,differing from you1 ,i do   
not believe that secular motives are    
adequate either to propel or restrain   
the children of our race1 but ,i        
earnestly desire to hear the other side1

 and ,i appreciate the advantage of     
having it stated by sincere and         
high-minded men4 ,this shows his brave  
open-mindedness4  ,a few years later it 
came into my mind that my expressions of
 respect for persons whose ,christian   
belief arose from honest conviction1 and
 was associated with efforts for the    
improvement of the material condition of
 the people1 might lead him to suppose  
that ,i myself inclined to belief in    
,christian tenets of faith4 ,i therefore
 sent him my new book on ,the ,origin   
and ,nature of ,secularism3 ,showing    
that where ,free ,thought commonly ends 
,secularism begins--saying that as ,i   
had the honour of his correspondence1 ,i
 ought not to leave him unaware of the  
nature of my own opinions4 ,he answered 
that he thought my motive a right one in
 sending the book to him1 and that he   
had read a considerable part with       
general concurrence1 though1 in other   
parts1 the views expressed were painful 
to him4 ,but this made no difference in 

his friendship1 which continued to the  
end of his days4  ,an unknown aphorist  
of #agej1 whom ,mr4 ,bertram ,dobell    
quotes1 exclaims3 ,freethinker6 ,what a 
term of honour2 or1 if you will1        
dishonour2 but where is he who can claim
 it8 ,mr4 ,gladstone might claim it     
beyond any other eminent ,christian ,i  
have known4 ,it was he who1 at the      
opening of the ,liverpool ,college some 
years ago1 warned the clergy that they  
could no longer defend their tenets by  
railing or reticence--a shaft that went 
through the soul of that policy of      
silence and defamation pursued by them  
for half a century4 ,mr4 ,gladstone was 
the first to see it must be abandoned4  
,it is ,diderot who relates that one who
 was searching for a path through a dark
 forest by the light of a taper1 met a  
man who said to him1 ,friend1 if thou   
wouldst find thy way here1 blow out thy 
light4 ,the taper was ,reason1 and the  
man who said blow it out was a priest   
,mr4 ,gladstone would have said1 ,take  

care of that taper1 friend2 and if you  
can convert it into a torch do so1 for  
you will need it to see your way through
 the darkness of human life4  ,at our   
last interview he said1 ,you and ,i are 
growing old4 ,the day is nearing when we
 shall enter---- ,here he paused1 as    
though he was going to say another life1
 but not wishing to say what ,i might   
not concur in1 in his sense1 he--before 
his pause was well noticeable--added1   
enter a changed state4 ,what my views   
were he knew1 as ,i had told him in a   
letter3 ,i hope there is a future life1 
and1 if so1 my not being sure of it will
 not prevent it1 and ,i know of no      
better way of deserving it than by      
conscious service of humanity4 ,the     
universe never filled me with such      
wonder and awe as when ,i knew ,i could 
not account for it4 ,i admit ignorance  
is a privation4 ,but to submit not to   
know1 where knowledge is withheld1 seems
 but one of the sacrifices that         
reverence for truth imposes on us4  ,i  

had reason to acknowledge his noble     
personal courtesy1 notwithstanding      
convictions of mine he must think       
seriously erroneous1 upon which1 as ,i  
told him1 ,i did not keep silence4  ,he 
had the fine spirit of the ,abbe        
,lamennais1 who1 writing of a book of   
mark depicting the passive ,christian1  
said3 ,the active ,christian who is     
ceaselessly fighting the enemies of     
humanity1 without omitting to pardon and
 love them--of this type of ,christian  
,i find no trace whatever4 ,mr4         
,gladstone was of that type4 ,it was his
 distinction that he applied this       
affectionate tolerance not only to the  
enemies of humanity1 but to the         
dissentients from the faith he loved so 
well4  ,at our last meeting in ,brighton
 he asked my address1 and said he would 
call upon me4 ,he wished me to know     
,lord ,acton1 whom he would ask to see  
me4 ,an official engagement compelled   
,lord ,acton to defer his visit1 of     
which ,mr4 ,gladstone sent me notice4   

,it was a great loss not to converse    
with one who knew so much as ,lord      
,acton did4  ,mr4 ,gladstone knew early 
what many do not know yet1 that courtesy
 and even honour to adversaries do not  
imply coincidence in opinion4 ,as ,i was
 for the right of free thought1 ,i      
regarded all manifestations of it with  
interest1 whether coinciding with or    
opposing views ,i hold4 ,shortly before 
his death ,i wrote to him1 when ,miss   
,helen ,gladstone sent me word1 ,to-day 
,i read to my father your letter1 by    
which he was much touched and pleased1  
and he desired me to send you his best  
thanks4 ,i shall always be proud to     
think that any words of mine gave even  
momentary pleasure to one who has given 
delight to millions1 and will be an     
inspiration to millions more4  ,in      
former times1 when an eminent woman     
contributed to the distinction of her   
consort1 he alone received the applause4
 ,in these more discriminating days1    
when the noble companionship of a wife  

has made her husband's eminence         
possible1 honour is due to her also4    
,therefore1 on drawing the resolution of
 condolence to ,mrs4 ,gladstone1 adopted
 at the ,peterborough ,co-operative     
,congress1 we made the acknowledgment   
how much was due to the wife as well as 
the husband4 ,i believe no resolution   
sent to her1 but ours1 did this4        
,sympathy is not enough where honour is 
due4 ,in the splendid winter of ,mr4    
,gladstone's days there was no ice in   
his heart ,like the light that ever     
glowed in the temple of ,montezuma the  
generous fire of his enthusiasm never   
went out4 ,the nation mourned his loss  
with a pomp of sorrow more deep and     
universal than ever exalted the memory  
of a king4     ,,chapter ,,xxv4         
,,herbert ,,spencer1 ,,the ,,thinker  ,a
 star of the first magnitude went out of
 the firmament of original thought by   
the death of ,herbert ,spencer4 ,his was
 the most distinctive personality that  
remained with us after the death of ,mr4

 ,gladstone4 ,spencer was as great in   
the kingdom of science as ,mr4          
,gladstone was in that of politics and  
ecclesiasticism4 ,men have to go back to
 ,aristotle to find ,spencer's compeer  
in range of thought1 and to ,gibbon for 
a parallel to his protracted persistence
 in accomplishing his great design of   
creating a philosophy of evolution4 ,mr4
 ,spencer's distinction was that he laid
 down new landmarks of evolutionary     
guidance in all the dominions of human  
knowledge4 ,gibbon lived to relinquish  
his pen in triumph at the end of years  
of devotion to his ,history of the      
,decline and ,fall of the ,roman ,empire
 --,mr4 ,spencer planned the history of 
the rise and growth of a mightier1 a    
more magnificent1 and more beneficent   
,empire--that of ,universal ,law--and   
for forty years he pursued his mighty   
story in every vicissitude of strength  
with unfaltering purpose1 and lived to  
complete it amid the applause of the    
world and the gratitude of all who have 

the grand passion to understand ,nature1
 and advance the lofty destiny of       
humanity4  ,herbert ,spencer was born   
,april #bg1 #ahbj1 in the town of       
,derby1 and died in his eighty-fourth   
year1 ,december #h1 #aijc1 at #e1       
,percival ,terrace1 ,brighton1 next door
 to his friend1 ,sir ,james ,knowles1   
the editor of the ,nineteenth ,century4 
,at the time of his birth1 ,derby was   
emerging from the sleepy1 dreamy1       
stagnant1 obfuscated condition in which 
it had lain since the days of the       
,romans4  ,it is difficult to write of  
,spencer without wondering how a thinker
 of his quality should have been born in
 ,derby--a town which had a determined  
objection to individuality in ideas4 ,it
 has a ,charter--its first act of       
enterprise in a thousand years--obtained
 by the solicitations of the inhabitants
 from ,richard ,i41 which gave them the 
power of expelling every ,jew who       
resided in the town1 or ever after      
should approach it4 ,centuries later1 in

 the reigns of ,queen ,anne and ,george 
,i41 not a ,roman ,catholic1 an         
,independent1 a ,baptist1 an ,israelite1
 nor even an un-molesting ,quaker could 
be found in ,derby4  ,there still       
remains one lineal descendant of the    
stagnant race which procured the        
,charter of ,darkness from ,richard     
,i4--,mr4 ,alderman ,w4 ,winter1 who    
opposed in the ,town ,council a         
resolution of honour in memory of       
,spencer1 who had given ,derby its great
 distinction1 because his views         
contradicted the antediluvian           
,scriptural account of the ,creation1   
when there was no man present to observe
 what took place1 and no man of science 
existed capable of verifying the ,mosaic
 tradition4 ,the only recorded instance 
of independency of opinion was that of a
 humble ,derby girl1 who was born blind1
 yet could see1 like others1 into the   
nature of things4 ,she doubted the ,real
 ,presence4 ,what could it matter what  
the poor1 helpless thing thought of     

that8 ,but the town burned her alive4   
,the brave1 unchanging girl1 whose      
convictions were torment-proof1 was only
 twenty-two years old4  ,the only ,derby
 man of free thought who preceded       
,herbert ,spencer was ,william ,hutton1 
a silk weaver1 who became the historian 
of ,derby and ,birmingham4 ,in sagacity1
 boldness and veracity he excelled4 ,the
 wisdom of his opinions was a century in
 advance of his time 7#aggj-ahcj74      
,there were no photographs in the time  
of ,mr4 ,spencer's parents1 and their   
lineaments are little known4 ,mr4       
,spencer's uncle ,i knew1 the ,rev4     
,thomas ,spencer1 a clergyman of middle 
stature1 slender1 with a paternal       
,evangelical expression4 ,but his       
sympathies were with ,social ,reform1 in
 which field he was an insurgent worker 
for projects then unregarded or derided4
  ,when ,i first knew ,mr4 ,herbert     
,spencer1 he was one of the writers on  
the ,leader newspaper4 ,we dined at     
times at the ,whittington ,club1 then   

recently founded by ,douglas ,jerrold4  
,at this period ,mr4 ,spencer had a     
half-rustic look4 ,he was ruddy1 and    
gave the impression of being a young    
country gentleman of the sporting farmer
 type1 looking as unlike a philosopher  
as ,thomas ,henry ,buckle looked like a 
historian1 as he appeared to me on my   
first interview with him4 ,mr4 ,spencer 
at that time would take part in         
discussions in a determined tone1 and   
was persistent in definite statement ,in
 that he resembled ,william ,chambers1  
with whom ,i was present at a deputation
 to ,lord ,derby on the question of the 
,paper ,duty4 ,lord ,derby could not bow
 him out1 nor bow him into silence1     
until he had stated his case4  ,in those
 days ,mr4 ,spencer spoke with          
misgivings of his health4 ,mr4 ,edward  
,pigott1 chief proprietor of the ,leader
 7afterwards ,public ,examiner of       
,plays7 asked me to try to disabuse ,mr4
 ,spencer of his apprehensiveness1 which
 was constitutional and never left his  

mind all his life1 and ,i learned never 
to greet him in terms which implied that
 he was1 or could be well4 ,coleridge   
complained of ailments of which no      
physical sign was apparent1 and he was  
thought1 like ,mr4 ,spencer1 to be an   
imaginary invalid4 ,but after his death 
,coleridge was found to have a real     
cause of suffering1 and the wonder was  
that he did not complain more4  ,there  
must be a distinct susceptibility of the
 nerves--which ,sir ,michael ,foster    
could explain--peculiar to some persons4
 ,i have had two or three friends of    
some literary distinction1 whom ,i made 
it a rule never to accost1 or even to   
know when ,i met them1 until they had   
recovered from the inevitable shock of  
meeting some unexpected person1 when    
they would spontaneously become genial4 
,mr4 ,spencer's high spirit was shown in
 this4 ,though he often had to abandon  
his thinking1 he resumed it on his      
recovery4 ,the continuity of his thought
 never ceased4 ,one form of trouble was 

recurring depression1 so difficult to   
sustain1 which ,james ,thompson1 who oft
 experienced it1 described--when a man  
has to endure--       ,the same old     
solid hills and leas2      ,the same old
 stupid1 patient trees2      ,the same  
old ocean1 blue and green2      ,the    
same sky1 cloudy or serene2      ,the   
old two dozen hours to run      ,between
 the settings of the sun4  ,mr4 ,spencer
 was first known to ,london thinkers by 
being found the associate of economists 
like ,bagot2 philosophers with a turn   
for enterprise in the kingdom of        
speculation--as ,george ,henry ,lewes1  
,darwin1 ,huxley1 ,tyndall2 and of great
 novelists like ,george ,eliot4 ,in     
those days the house of ,john ,chapman1 
the publisher1 was the meeting ground of
 ,french1 ,italian1 ,german and other   
,continental thinkers4 ,there1 also1    
congregated illustrious ,americans like 
,ralph ,waldo ,emerson1 and other       
unlicensed explorers in the new world of
 thought4 ,there ,mr4 ,spencer became   

known to men of mark in ,america1 who   
made his fame before his countrymen     
recognised him4 ,if it was ,england who 
raised ,mr4 ,spencer1 it was ,america   
that discovered him4 ,mr4 ,george lies1 
a distinguished ,american friend of ,mr4
 ,spencer1 sends me information of the  
validity of ,american admiration of him1
 on the authority of the ,daily         
,witness3 ,mr4 ,spencer's income is     
mainly drawn from the sale of his books 
in ,america1 his copyrights there having
 yielded him #d1gcj dollars in the last 
six months4 ,a firm of publishers have  
paid in the last six months royalties   
amounting nearly to ten thousand dollars
 to ,mr4 ,herbert ,spencer and the heirs
 or executors of ,darwin1 ,huxley and   
,tyndall4 ,the sales of ,spencer's and  
,darwin's books lead those of ,huxley   
and ,tyndall4  ,during the earlier      
publication of his famous volumes1 his  
expenditure in printing and in employing
 assistants in gathering facts for his  
arguments1 exhausted all his means4     

,lord ,stanley1 of that day1 was        
understood to have offered him an       
appointment1 which included leisure for 
his investigations4 ,but he declined the
 thoughtful offer1 deeming the office to
 be of the nature of a sinecure4        
,wordsworth accepted such an            
appointment1 and repaid the ,state in   
song1 as ,spencer would have repaid it  
in philosophy4  ,i had the honour to be 
,mr4 ,spencer's outdoor friend4 ,he     
asked me to make known the publication  
of his work to persons whom ,i knew to  
be friendly to enterprise in thought4   
,for years ,i assiduously sought to be  
of service in this way4  ,one day in    
#ahhe1 being the guest1 in ,preston1 of 
the ,rev4 ,william ,sharman1 he showed  
me a passage in one of ,mr4 ,spencer's  
volumes1 published in #ahgd1 which ,i   
had not seen1 and which surprised me    
much1 in which it appeared ,secularists 
were below ,christians in their sense of
 fiduciary integrity4 ,mr4 ,sharman     
said1 ,defective as we are supposed to  

be1 you will see that ,secularists are  
one degree lower in morality than the   
clergy4 ,mr4 ,spencer had given         
instances which1 in his opinion1 showed 
that the cultivation of the intellect   
does not advance morality4 ,if that were
 so1 it would follow that it was better 
to remain ignorant--if ignorance better 
develops the ethical sense4 ,the        
instance ,mr4 ,spencer gives occurs in  
the ,study of ,sociology 7pp4 #dah-ai71 
,written to show how little operative on
 conduct is mere teaching4 ,let me give1
 says ,mr4 ,spencer1 a striking fact    
falling under my observation3  ,some    
twelve years ago was commenced a serial 
publication1 limited in its circulation 
to the well educated4 ,it was issued to 
subscribers1 from each of whom was due a
 small sum for every four numbers4 ,the 
notification periodically made of       
another subscription due received from  
some prompt attention1 from others an   
attention less tardy than before1 and   
from others no attention at all4 ,after 

a lapse of ten years1 a digest was made 
of the original list1 when it was found 
that those who finally declined paying  
for what they had year after year       
received1 constituted1 among others1 the
 following percentages3  ,christian     
defaulters4444444444444 #ca per cent4   
,secularist defaulters444444444444 #cb  
per cent4  ,i wrote to ,mr4 ,spencer as 
follows3  ,eastern ,lodge1 ,brighton1   
,december #a1 #ahhe4  ,my dear ,mr4     
,spencer1--,i am like the sailor who    
knocked down the ,jew1 and when he was  
remonstrated with said1 ',he did it     
because he had crucified his ,lord and  
,saviour4' ,when told that that occurred
 #b1jjj years ago he answered1 ',but ,i 
only heard of it last night4'  ,it was  
but a few days ago that your notice of  
,secularist fraudulency1 made in #ahgd1 
became known to me4  ,from so           
dispassionate and analytic an authority 
as yourself1 your reflection on the     
ethical insensibility of ,secularists   
justifies me in asking your attention to

 certain facts4 ,by what test did you   
know that #cb per cent of defaulters    
were ,secularists8 ,the names ,i gave   
you were of persons likely to take in   
your work if prospectuses were sent to  
them4 ,but many of them were not        
,secularists4 ,some of them were        
ministers of religion1 others           
,churchmen1 but having individually a   
taste for philosophical inquiry4 ,you do
 not say that these persons sent in     
their names as subscribers4 ,yet unless 
they did1 they cannot be justly         
described 'as regardless of an equitable
 claim4' ,had you informed me of any    
whose names ,i gave you1 who had not    
paid for the work1 after undertaking to 
do so1 ,i could have procured you the   
payment1 for all whose names ,i gave ,i 
believe to be men of good faith4--,with 
real regard1  ,george ,jacob ,holyoake4 
,mr4 ,spencer sent me the following     
reply3  #ch1 ,queen's ,gardens1         
,bayswater1 ,london1 ,w41  ,november    
#af1 #ahhe4  ,dear ,mr4 ,holyoake1--,you

 ask how ,i happen to know of certain   
defaulters that they were ,secularists4 
,i know them as such simply because     
their names came to me through you2 for1
 as you may remember1 you obtained for  
me1 when the prospectus of the ',system 
of ,philosophy' was issued1 sundry      
subscribers4  ,but for my own part1 ,i  
would rather you did not refer to the   
matter4 ,at any rate1 if you do1 do not 
do so by name4 ,you will observe1 if you
 turn to the ',study of ,sociology1'    
where the matter is referred to1 that ,i
 have spoken of the thing impersonally1 
and not in reference to myself4 ,though 
those who knew something of the matter  
might suspect it referred to my own     
case1 yet there is no proof that it did 
so2 and ,i should be sorry to see myself
 identified by name with the            
matter4--,truly yours1  ,herbert        
,spencer4   ,but ,mr4 ,spencer had      
identified ,secularists as lacking      
ethical scrupulousness1 and as ,i was   
the reputed founder of that form of     

,freethought known as ,secularism1 some 
notice became incumbent on my part4 ,the
 brief article on ,intellectual         
,morality in the ,present ,day1 which ,i
 was editing in #ahhe1 was my           
answer--the same as appears in my letter
 to ,mr4 ,spencer1 above quoted4  ,in   
#ahgi the great recluse meditated going 
to ,america4 ,as ,i was about to do the 
same myself1 ,i volunteered to take a   
berth in the same vessel if ,i could be 
of any service to him on the voyage4 ,he
 thought1 however1 that our sailing in  
the same ship might cause the           
constructive interviewers out there to  
confuse together the opinions we        
represented4 ,yet my friends would not  
know his1 nor would his friends know    
mine4 ,but ,i respected his scruples1   
lest his views should become colourably 
identified with my own4 ,i had myself a 
preference for keeping distinct things  
separate1 and ,i sailed in another ship 
and never called at his hotel but once1 
when he was residing at the ,falls of   

,niagara1 which ,i thought was a curious
 spot 7the noisiest in ,canada7 to      
choose for one whose need was quietude4 
,he would take an entire flat in a hotel
 that he might be undisturbed at night4 
,in ,montreal1 ,mr4 ,george ,iles gave  
me the same splendid1 spacious1 secluded
 bedroom which he had assigned to ,mr4  
,spencer when he was his host there4    
,professor von ,denslow1 who told me    
that he was the champion non-sleeper of 
the ,united ,states1 asked me to give a 
communication from him to ,mr4 ,spencer4
 ,that was the reason of my single visit
 to him in ,canada4 ,at the farewell    
banquet given to ,mr4 ,spencer in ,new  
,york1 famous speakers took part2 but   
,henry ,ward ,beecher1 in a speech      
shorter than any1 excelled them all4    
,after his return to ,england1 ,i had   
several communications from him on the  
subject of ,co-operation4 ,like ,mr4    
,gladstone1 he usually made searching   
inquiries into the details of every     
question on which he wrote4 ,one of his 

letters was as follows3--  #b1 ,lewes   
,crescent1  ,brighton1  ,january #f1    
#ahig4  ,dear ,mr4 ,holyoake1--,i should
 have called upon you before now had ,i 
not been so unwell4 ,i have been kept   
indoors now for about three weeks4 ,i   
write partly to say this and partly to  
enclose you something of interest as    
bearing upon my suggestion concerning   
piecework in co-operative combinations4 
,the experience described by ,miss      
,davenport-,hill bears indirectly1 if   
not directly1 upon them1 showing as it  
does the harmonising effect of          
piecework4--,truly yours1  ,herbert     
,spencer4   ,busied as he was with the  
recondite application of great          
principles1 he had practical discernment
 of the possibilities of ,co-operation1 
unthought of by those of us engaged in  
promoting co-partnership in the         
workshop4 ,trades unions were mostly    
against piecework as giving more active 
workers an advantage over the others4   
,mr4 ,spencer pointed out that in a     

co-partnership workshop the fruitfulness
 of piece work was an advantage to all4 
,the piece-workers increase the output  
and profits of the society4 ,the        
profits1 being equally divided upon     
wages1 the least bright and active      
members receive benefit from the        
piece-workers' industry4  ,occasionally 
,mr4 ,spencer would come to my door and 
invite me to drive with him4 ,another   
time when he had visitors--,mrs4 ,sidney
 ,webb and ,prof4 ,masson1 whom ,i      
wished to meet again--he would1 if in   
the winter season1 send me a card from  
#b1 ,lewes ,crescent1 ,jan4 #bd1        
#ahig4--;,i will send the carriage for  
you to-morrow 7,sunday7 at #ab4dj4 ,with
 the hood up and the leather curtain    
down you will be quite warm4--,h4,s4 ,he
 would occasionally send me grouse or   
pheasant for luncheon4 ,very pleasant   
were the amenities of philosophy4  ,the 
first work of ,mr4 ,spencer's which     
attracted public attention was ,social  
,statics4 ,like ,mr4 ,lewes' ,biography 

of ,philosophy1 it had a pristine charm 
which fascinated young thinkers4 ,both  
authors restated their works1 but left  
behind their charm4 ,mr4 ,gladstone's   
first address to the electors of ,newark
 contains the germs of his whole and    
entire career4 ,social ,statics contains
 the element of that philosophy which   
gave ,spencer the first place among     
thinkers of all times4 ,bishop ,colenso 
found the book in the library of the    
builder of his ,mission ,houses in      
,south ,africa4 ,mr4 ,ryder1 of         
,bradford1 ,yorkshire1 procured it      
through me and took it out with him4 ,it
 was a book of inspiration to him4  ,ten
 years before ,social ,statics appeared 
,i was concerned with others in         
publishing1 in the ,oracle of ,reason1 a
 theory of ,regular ,gradation4 ,our    
motto1 from ,boitard1 was an explicit   
statement of ,evolution4 ,five out of   
seven of us were soon in prison1 which  
shows that we did not succeed in making 
,evolution attractive4 ,intellectual    

photography was then in an infantine    
state4 ,our negatives lacked definition 
and our best impressions were           
indistinct4 ,it was not until ,darwin   
and ,spencer arose that the art of      
developing the ,evolutionary plates came
 to be understood4  ,before the days of 
,spencer the world of scientific thought
 was mostly without form and void4 ,the 
orthodox voyagers who set out to sea    
steered by a compass which always veered
 to a ,jewish pole1 and none who sailed 
with them knew where they were4 ,rival  
theologians constructed dogmatic charts1
 increasing the confusion and peril4    
,guided by the pole star of ,evolution1 
,spencer sailed out alone on the ocean  
of ,speculation and discovered a new    
empire of ,law--founded without blood1  
or the suppression of liberty1 or the   
waste of wealth--where any man may dwell
 without fear or shame4  ,the           
fascination of ,mr4 ,spencer's pages to 
the pulpit-wearied inquirer was1 that   
they took him straight to ,nature4 ,mr4 

,spencer seemed to write with a         
magnifying pen which revealed objects   
unnoticed by other observers4 ,his      
vision1 like a telescope1 descried sails
 at sea invisible to those on shore4    
,his pages1 if not poems1 gleamed with  
the poetry of facts4 ,his facts were the
 handmaids always at hand which         
explained his principle4 ,his           
repetitions do not tire1 but are fresh  
assurances to the reader that he is     
following a continuous argument4 ,a     
pedestrian passing down a long street is
 glad to meet the recurrence of its     
name1 that he may know he is still upon 
the same road4 ,in ,spencer's reasonings
 there are no byways left open1 down    
which the sojourner may wander and lose 
himself4 ,when cross-roads come in      
sight1 fingerposts are set up telling   
him where they lead to1 and directing   
him which to take4 ,mr4 ,spencer pursues
 a new thought1 never loses sight of it1
 and takes care the reader does not4 ,no
 statement goes before without the proof

 following closely after4  ,when the    
reception was given to me at ,south     
,place ,institute1 ,london1 in ,april1  
#aijc1 on my eighty-sixth birthday1 he  
had been confined to his house from the 
previous ,august1 yet he took trouble to
 write some words of personal regard to 
myself beyond all my expectation4 ,to   
the end of his days--save when the      
weather was inclement--,i used to walk  
up the hill to his door to inquire as to
 his health1 and when ,i could not do   
so1 ,mr4 ,troughton would write me word4
 ,mr4 ,spencer's last letter to me was  
in answer to one ,i had sent him on his 
birthday4 ,it was so characteristic as  
to deserve quoting3  ,thanks for your   
congratulations2 but ,i should have     
liked better your condolences on my     
longevity4  ,he wanted no twilight in   
his life4 ,like the sun in ,america1 his
 wish was to disappear at once below the
 horizon--having amply given his share  
of light in his day4  ,like ,huxley1    
,mr4 ,spencer would not have slept well 

in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,he needed no   
consolation in death2 and if he had1    
there was no one who knew enough to give
 it to him4 ,his conscience was his     
consolation4 ,his one choice was that   
his friend ,mr4 ,john ,morley--than whom
 none were fitter--should speak at his  
death the last words over him4 ,mr4     
,morley being in ,sicily1 this could not
 be4 ,the next in friendship and power  
of estimate--the ,right ,hon4 ,leonard  
,courtney--spoke in his stead1 at the   
,hampstead ,crematorium4 ,mr4 ,spencer  
had a radium mind which gave forth1 of  
its own spontaneity1 light and heat4    
,none who have died could more          
appropriately repeat the proud lines of 
,sir ,edward ,dyer3--       ,my mind to 
me a kingdom is2      ,such perfect joy 
therein ,i find      ,as far exceeds all
 earthly bliss      ,that ,god or       
,nature hath assign'd4     ,,chapter    
,,xxvi4 ,,singular ,,career ,,of ,,mr4  
,,disraeli  ,i prefer the picturesque   
name of ,disraeli which he contrived out

 of the tribal designation of           
,d',israeli4 ,had it been possible he   
would have transmuted ,benjamin into a  
,gentile name4 ,disraeli is far         
preferable to the sickly title of       
,beaconsfield1 by which association he  
sought to be taken as the ,burke of the 
,tories1 for which his genius was too   
thin4  ,disraeli is a fossilised bygone 
to this generation2 though in the       
political arena he was the most         
glittering performer of his day4 ,men   
admired him as the ,blondin of          
,parliament1 who could keep his feet on 
a tight-rope at any elevation4 ,others  
looked upon him as a music-hall ,sandow 
who could snap into two a thicker bar of
 bovine ignorance than any other athlete
 of the country party4 ,he was capable  
of serving any party1 but preferred the 
party who could best serve him4 ,he was 
an example how a man1 conscious of power
 and unhampered by scruples1 could      
advance himself by strenuous devices of 
making himself necessary to those he    

served4  ,the showy waistcoat and       
dazzling jewellery in which he first    
presented himself to the ,house of      
,commons1 betrayed the primitive taste  
of a ,jew of the ,minories1 and         
foreshadowed that trinket statesmanship 
which captivated his party1 who thought 
sober1 honest principles dull and       
unentertaining4  ,germany and ,england  
contemporaneously produced the two      
greatest adventurers of the             
century--,ferdinand ,lassalle and       
,benjamin ,disraeli4 ,both were ,jews4  
,both had dark locks and faith in       
jewellery4 ,both were ,sybarites in     
their pleasures2 and personal ambition  
was the master passion of each4 ,both   
were consummate speakers4 ,both sought  
distinction in literature as a prelude  
to influence4 ,both professed devotion  
to the interests of the people by       
promulgating doctrines which would      
consolidate the power of the governing  
classes4 ,lassalle counselled war       
against ,liberalism1 ,disraeli against  

the ,whigs4 ,lassalle adjusted his views
 to ,bismarck1 as ,disraeli did to ,lord
 ,derby4 ,both owed their fortunes to   
rich ladies of maturity4 ,both          
challenged adversaries to a duel1 but   
,disraeli had the prudence to challenge 
,daniel ,o',connell1 who1 he knew1 was  
under a vow not to fight one1 while     
,lassalle challenged ,count ,racowitza1 
and was killed4  ,it was a triumph      
without parallel to bring to pass that  
the proud aristocracy of ,england should
 accept a ,jew for its master4 ,not     
approaching erect1 like a human thing1  
,disraeli stealthily crept1 lizard-like1
 through the crevices of ,parliament1 to
 the front of the nation1 and with the  
sting that nature had given him he kept 
his enemies at bay4 ,no estimate of him 
can explain him1 which does not take    
into account his race4 ,an alien in the 
nation1 he believed himself to belong to
 the sole race that ,god has recognised4
 ,the ,jew has an industrial daintiness 
which is an affront to mankind4 ,he1 as 

a rule1 stands by while the ,gentile    
puts his hand to labour4 ,isolated by   
,christian ostracism1 the ,jew tills no 
ground2 he follows no handicraft--a     
,spinoza here and there excepted4 ,the  
,jew1 as a rule1 lives by wit and       
thrift4 ,he is of every nation1 but of  
no nationality1 save his own4 ,he takes 
no perilous initiation2 he leads no     
forlorn hope2 he neither conspires for  
freedom1 nor fights for it4 ,he profits 
by it1 and acquiesces in it2 but        
generally gives you the impression that 
he will aid either despotism or liberty1
 as a matter of business--as many do who
 are not ,jews4 ,there are1             
nevertheless1 men of noble qualities    
among them1 and as a class they are as  
good or better than ,christians would be
 had they been treated for nineteen     
centuries as badly as ,jews have been4  
,derision and persecution inspire a     
strong spirit with retaliation1 and     
absolve him from scrupulous methods of  
compassing it4 ,two things the ,jew     

pursues with an unappeasable            
passion--distinction and authority among
 believers1 before whom his race has    
been compelled to cringe4 ,an ancient   
people which subsists by subtlety and   
courage1 has the heroic sense of high   
tradition1 still looks forward to       
efface1 not the indignity of days1 but  
of centuries--which imparts to the ,jew 
a lofty implacableness of aim1 which    
never pauses in its purpose4 ,how else  
came ,mr4 ,disraeli by that form of     
assegai sentences1 of which one thrust  
needed no repetition1 and by that art   
which enabled him to climb on phrases to
 power8  ,a critic1 who had taken pains 
to inform himself1 brought charges      
against ,d',israeli the ,elder to the   
effect that he had taken passages of    
mark from the books of ,continental     
sceptics and had incorporated them as   
his own4 ,at the same time he denounced 
the authors1 so as to disincline the    
reader to look into their pages for the 
,d',israelian plagiaries4 ,in the novels

 of ,d',israeli the ,younger ,i have    
come upon passages which ,i have met    
with elsewhere in another form4 ,as the 
reader knows1 ,disraeli delivered in    
,parliament1 as his own1 a fine passage 
from ,thiers4 ,so that when ,daniel     
,o',connell described ,disraeli as the  
heir-at-law of the impenitent thief who 
died on the cross1 he was nearer the    
truth than he knew1 for there was petty 
larceny in the ,disraelian family4      
,when ,sir ,james ,stansfeld entered    
,parliament he had that moral distrust  
of ,disraeli1 which ,lord ,salisbury1 in
 his ,cranborne days1 published a       
,review to warn his party against4 ,sir 
,james 7then ,mr4 ,stansfeld7 expressed 
a similar sentiment of distrust4        
,disraeli said to a friend in the lobby 
immediately after1 ,i will do for that  
educated mechanic ,the vitriolic spite  
in the phrase was worthy of ,vivian     
,grey4 ,he kept his word1 and caused    
,mr4 ,stansfeld's retirement from the   
,ministry4 ,it was the nature of        

,disraeli to destroy any one who        
withstood him4 ,at the same time he     
could be courteous and even kind to     
literary ,chartists who1 like ,thomas   
,cooper and ,ernest ,jones1 helped to   
frustrate the ,whigs at the poll1 which 
served the purpose of ,tory ascendency1 
which was ,disraeli's chance4  ,in      
,easter1 #ahgb1 ,i was in ,manchester   
when ,disraeli had the greatest         
pantomime day of his life--when he      
played the ,oriental ,potentate in the  
,pomona ,gardens4 ,all the real and     
imaginary ,tory societies that could be 
got together from surrounding counties  
were paraded in procession before him4  
,to each he made audacious little       
speeches1 which astonished them and1    
when made known1 caused jubilancy in the
 city4  ,the deputation from ,chorley   
reminded him of ,mr4 ,charley1 member   
for ,salford4 ,he exclaimed1 ,chorley   
and ,charley are good names6 ,when a    
,tory sick and burial society came up he
 said he hoped they were doing a good   

business1 and that their future would be
 prosperous6 ,when the night came for   
his speech1 the ,free ,trade ,hall was  
crowded4 ,it was said that #b1jjj       
persons paid a guinea each for their    
seats4  ,mr4 ,callander1 his host1 had  
taken1 at ,mr4 ,disraeli's request1 some
 brandy to the meeting4 ,it was he who  
poured some into a glass of water4 ,mr4 
,disraeli1 on tasting it1 turned to him 
and said in an undertone1 ,there's      
nothing in it4 ,this wounded the pride  
of his host1 who took it as an          
imputation of stinginess on his part1   
and he filled the next glass            
plentifully4 ,this was the beginning of 
the orator's trouble4 ,for the first    
fifteen minutes he spoke in his         
customary resonant voice4 ,then husky1  
sibilant and explosive sentences were   
unmistakable4 ,apprehensive reporters1  
sitting below him1 moved aside lest the 
orator should fall upon them4           
,suspicious gestures set in4 ,an        
umbrella was laid near the edge of the  

platform1 that the speaker might keep   
within the umbrella range4 ,for this    
there was a good reason1 as the         
speaker's habit of raising himself on   
his toes endangered his balance4 ,all   
the meeting understood the case4 ,the   
orator soon lost all sense of time4 ,he1
 who knew so well how to suit           
performance to occasion1 was incapable  
of stopping himself4 ,the audience had  
come from distant parts4 ,at nine       
o'clock they could hear the railway     
bell1 calling some to the trains4 ,ten  
o'clock came1 when a larger portion of  
the audience was again perturbed by     
railway warnings4 ,disraeli was still   
speaking4 ,eleven o'clock came2 the     
audience had further decreased then1 but
 ,disraeli was still declaiming hoarse  
sentences4 ,it was a quarter-past eleven
 before his peroration came to an end2  
and many1 who wished to have their      
guinea's worth of ,parliamentary        
oratory1 had to sleep in ,manchester    
that night ,everybody knew the speaker  

would have ceased two hours earlier if  
he could4 ,his host in the chair was    
much disquieted4 ,his house was some    
distance from the city1 and he had      
invited a large party of gentlemen to   
meet the great ,conservative leader at  
supper1 which had long been ready4      
,besides1 he was afraid his guest would 
be unable to appear at it4 ,arriving at 
the house ,disraeli asked his host to   
give him champagne--a bottle of fizz was
 the phrase he used--which he drank with
 zest1 when1 to the astonishment of his 
host1 he joined the party and was at his
 best4 ,he delighted every one with his 
sallies and his satire4  ,the next      
morning the city ,conservatives were    
unwilling to speak of the protracted    
disappointment of the evening before4   
,the ,manchester papers gave good       
reports of the long speech1 which       
contained some passages worthy of the   
speaker at any time--as when he compared
 the occupants of the front bench of the
 ,government in the ,house of ,commons  

to so many extinct volcanoes4 ,as some  
members of ,her ,majesty's ,government  
were known friends of ,mazzini and      
,garibaldi1 the aptitude of the simile  
lives in political memory to this day4  
,when the ,times report arrived it was  
found that a considerable portion of the
 speech was devoted to the laudation of 
certain county families1 which were not 
mentioned in the ,manchester reports1   
and it was said that ,disraeli had      
dictated his speech to ,mr4 ,delane     
before he came down4 ,but though he lost
 his voice and his memory1 he never lost
 his wit1 for he praised another set of 
families that came into his head4  ,only
 in two instances has ,mr4 ,disraeli    
been publicly charged with errors of    
vintage4 ,in his time ,i heard members  
manifestly inebriated1 address the      
,house of ,commons4 ,on a memorable     
night ,mr4 ,gladstone said ,disraeli had
 access to sources of inspiration not   
open to ,her ,majesty's ,ministers4  ,in
 the ,morning ,star there appeared next 

day a passage from ,disraeli's speech1  
reported in vinous forms of sibilant    
expression4 ,on that occasion ,lord     
,john ,manners carried to him1 from time
 to time during his oration1 five       
glasses of brandy and water4 ,i saw them
 brought in4 ,there was the great table 
between the two front benches1 which    
,mr4 ,disraeli said was fortunate1 as he
 feared ,mr4 ,gladstone might spring    
upon him4 ,all the while it was not     
protection ,mr4 ,disraeli wanted from   
the table1 but support1 for he clutched 
it as he spoke4 ,sir ,john ,macdonald1  
,premier of ,canada1 whom ,i had the    
honour to visit at ,ottawa1 not only    
resembled ,disraeli in features1 in the 
curl of his hair1 but in his wit4 ,one  
night ,sir ,john made an extraordinary  
after-dinner speech1 which had the      
flavour of a whole vintage in it4 ,when 
,sir ,john found he had astonished the  
whole ,dominion1 he sent for the        
reporter1 who appeared1 trembling with  
apprehension4 ,young man1 said ,sir     

,john1 with your talent for reporting   
you have a great future before you4 ,but
 take my advice--never report a speech  
in future when you are drunk4           
,connoisseurs in art who went to the    
sale of his effects at ,disraelis       
,mayfair house were astonished at the   
,houndsditch quality of what they found 
there4 ,not a ray of taste was to be    
seen1 not an article worth buying4 ,the 
glamour of the ,oriental had lain in    
phrases1 not in art4  ,it was the       
,liberals who were the champions of the 
,jews1 and who were the cause of their  
admission to ,parliament4 ,mr4 ,disraeli
 must have had some generous memory of  
this4 ,mr4 ,bright would cross the floor
 of the ,house sometimes to confer with 
,disraeli4 ,there must have been        
elements in his character in which ,mr4 
,bright had confidence4 ,it was believed
 to be owing to his respect for ,mr4    
,blight's judgment that he took no part 
against ,america1 when his party did all
 they could to destroy the cause of the 

,union in the great ,anti-,slavery ,war4
 ,it ought to be remembered to          
,disraeli's credit1 that he made what   
,john ,stuart ,mill called a splendid   
concession of household suffrage1       
although he took it back the next night1
 by the pernicious creation of the      
compound householder4 ,still1 ,liberals 
owe it to him that household suffrage   
came to prevail when it did4            
,disraeli's attacks upon ,peel were     
dictated by the policy of               
self-advancement4 ,he was capable of    
admiring ,peel1 but he admired himself  
more4 ,standing outside ,english        
questions and interests1 he was able to 
treat them with an airiness which was a 
political relief4 ,yet he could see that
 our ,colonies might become millstones  
round the neck of the ,empire if we gave
 them too much of ,downing ,street1 or  
maybe of ,highbury4  ,to say ,disraeli  
had no conscience would be to say more  
than any man has knowledge enough to say
 of another2 but he certainly never gave

 the public the impression that he had  
one4 ,he devised the scheme of giving   
the ,queen the title of ,empress4 ,mr4  
,gladstone opposed it as dangerous to   
the dynasty1 lowering its dignity to the
 level of ,continental ,emperorship1 and
 taking from the ,crown the master jewel
 of law1 which has been more or less its
 security and glory for a thousand      
years4  ,disraeli seemed to care for the
 ,queen's favour--nothing for the       
integrity of the ,crown4 ,he declared   
himself a ,christian1 and said in the   
presence of the ,bishop of ,oxford1 with
 ,voltairean mockery1 that he was on the
 side of the angels1 and elsewhere      
described ,judas as an accessory to the 
crucifixion before the act1 and to that 
ignoble treachery all ,christians were  
indebted for their salvation--an idea   
which could never have entered a        
,gentile mind4 ,this was pure           
,voltairean scorn4  ,in his last illness
 he was reported to have had three      
different kinds of physicians--allopath1

 hydropath1 homoeopath2 and had he      
chosen the spiritual ministration of the
 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 the ,chief 
,rabbi1 and ,mr4 ,spurgeon1 no one would
 have been surprised at his sardonic    
prudence4  ,i had admiration1 though not
 respect1 for his career4 ,yet ,i was   
for justice being done to him4 ,when it 
was thought the ,tories would prevent   
his accession to the ,premiership1 which
 was his right by service1 ,i was one of
 those who cheered him in the lobby of  
the ,house of ,commons1 to show that    
adversaries of his politics were against
 his being defrauded of the dignity he  
had won4  ,how was it that ,disraeli's  
standing at ,court was never affected by
 what would be deemed seditious         
defamation of the ,crown in any other   
person8 ,when ,i mentioned in ,america  
the revolutionary license of his tongue 
in declaring the ,queen to be physically
 and morally incapable of governing1 the
 statement was received with            
incredulity4 ,the reporters who took    

down his ,aylesbury speech containing   
the astounding words hesitated to       
transcribe them1 and one asked          
permission to read the passage to ,mr4  
,disraeli1 who assented to its          
correctness1 and the words appeared in  
the ,standard and ,telegraph of         
,september #bg1 #ahga4 ,the ,times and  
,daily ,news omitted the word morally1  
deeming it incredible4 ,but it was said4
 ,his words were3 ,we cannot conceal    
from ourselves that ,her ,majesty is    
physically and morally incapacitated    
from performing her duties4 ,this meant 
that ,her ,majesty was imbecile--a      
brutal thing to suggest1 considering    
family traditions4  ,at a ,lord ,mayor's
 banquet ,mr4 ,disraeli gave an         
insulting and defamatory account of the 
,russian ,royal ,family and ,government1
 and boasted1 like an inebriate ,jingo1 
of ,england's capacity to sustain three 
campaigns against that ,power4 ,as the  
,queen had a daughter-in-law a member of
 the ,royal ,house of ,russia1 this     

wanton act of international             
offensiveness must have produced a      
sensation of shame and pain in the      
,english ,royal ,family4 ,i well        
remember the consternation and          
disapproval with which both speeches    
were regarded by the people4 ,whatever  
even ,republicans may think of the      
theory of the ,crown1 they are against  
any personal outrage upon it4 ,yet ,mr4 
,gladstone1 who was always forward to   
sustain1 by graceful and discerning     
praise1 the interest of the ,royal      
,family1 and procure them national      
grants1 to which ,mr4 ,disraeli could   
never have reconciled the nation1 was   
simply endured by ,her ,majesty1 while  
to ,mr4 ,disraeli ostentatious          
preference was shown4 ,it was said in   
explanation that ,mr4 ,gladstone had no 
small talk with which ,mr4 ,disraeli    
entertained his eminent hostess4 ,it was
 not small talk1 it was ,tory talk1     
which the ,queen rewarded4  ,i am of    
,lord ,actons opinion1 that ,mr4        

,disraeli was morally insupportable1    
though otherwise astonishing4 ,the      
pitiless resentment of ,vivian ,grey    
towards whoever stood in his way was the
 prevailing characteristic of the       
triumphant ,jew4 ,like other men of     
professional ambition1 he had the charm 
of engaging amity to those who were for 
the time being no longer impediment to  
him4 ,when showing distress at a few    
drops of rain falling1 news was brought 
,her ,majesty that ,mr4 ,gladstone had  
returned from a voyage and addressed a  
crowd on the beach4 ,disraeli exclaimed 
with pleasant gaiety1 ,what a wonderful 
man that ,gladstone is4 ,had ,i returned
 from a voyage ,i should be glad to go  
to bed4 ,mr4 ,gladstone leaps on shore  
and makes a speech4  ,the moral of this 
singular career worth remembering1 is   
that genius and versatility1 animated by
 ambition without scruple1 may attain   
distinction without principle4 ,it can  
win national admiration1 but not public 
affection4 ,all it can accomplish is to 

leave behind a name of sinister renown4 
,if we knew all1 no doubt ,lord         
,beaconsfield had1 apart from the       
exigencies of ambition1 personal        
qualities commanding esteem4            
,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,,characteristics    
,,of ,,joseph ,,cowen  ,i  ,political   
readers will long remember the name of  
,joseph ,cowen1 who won in a single     
night the reputation of a national      
orator4 ,all at once he achieved that   
distinction in an assembly where few    
attain it4 ,after a time he retired to  
his tent and never more emerged from it4
 ,the occasion of his first speech in   
,parliament was the introduction of the 
,bill for converting the ,queen into an 
,empress4 ,queen was a wholesome        
monarchical name1 which implied in      
,england supremacy under the law2 while 
,empress1 alien to the genius of the    
political constitution1 is a military   
title of sinister reputation1 and       
implies a rank outside and above the    
law4 ,like ,imperialism1 it connotes    

military government1 which1 in the      
opinion of the free and prudent1 is the 
most odious1 dangerous1 and costly of   
all governments4  ,mr4 ,cowen           
entertained a strong repugnance to the  
word ,empress1 which might become a     
prelude to ,imperialism--as it has done4
  ,mr4 ,cowen's father1 who preceded him
 in the ,house of ,commons1 was         
scrupulous in apparel1 never affecting  
fashion1 but keeping within its pale4   
,his son was not only careless of       
fashion--he despised it4 ,he employed   
local tailors1 from neighbourliness1 and
 was quite content with their           
craftsmanship4 ,he never wore what is   
called a top hat1 but a felt one1 a     
better shape than what is known now as a
 clerical hat ,it was thought he would  
abandon it when he entered ,parliament1 
but he did not ,he commonly left it in  
the cloak-room4 ,he had no wish to be   
singular4 ,his attire was as natural to 
him as his skin is to an ,ethiopian4    
,his headgear imperilled his            

candidature1 when that came about4  ,he 
had been two years in ,parliament before
 he addressed it4 ,when he rose many    
members were standing impatient for     
division and crying ,divide6 ,divide66  
,mr4 ,cowen1 being a small man1 was not 
at once perceived1 but his melodious1   
honest1 and eager voice arrested        
attention1 though his ,northumbrian     
accent was unfamiliar to the ,house4 ,it
 was as difficult to see the new orator 
as to see ,curran in an ,irish ,court1  
or ,thiers in the ,french ,chamber4     
,disraeli glanced at him through his    
eyeglass1 as though ,mr4 ,cowen was one 
of ,dean ,swift's ,lilliputians1 and of 
one near him he asked contemptuously1 as
 a ,northern burr broke upon his ear1   
,what language is the fellow talking8   
,the speech had all the characteristics 
of an oration1 historical1 compact1 and 
complete--though brief4 ,in it he said  
three things never heard in ,parliament 
before4 ,one was that the ,divine right 
of kings perished on the scaffold with  

,charles ,i4 ,another was that the      
superstition of royalty had never taken 
any deep hold of the ,english people4   
,the third was to describe our august   
ally1 the ,emperor ,napoleon ,,iii41 as 
an usurper4 ,the impression the speech  
made upon the country was great4 ,it so 
accorded with the popular sentiment that
 some persons paid for its appearance as
 an advertisement in the ,daily ,news   
and other papers of the day1 and the    
speaker acquired the reputation of an   
orator by a single speech4 ,mr4         
,disraeli's contemptuous reception of it
 did not prevent him1 at a later date1  
from going up to ,mr4 ,cowen1 when he   
was standing alone by a fire1 and paying
 him some compliment which made a       
lasting impression upon him4 ,mr4       
,disraeli had discernment to recognise  
genius when he saw it1 and generosity   
enough to respect it when not directed  
against himself4 ,if it were1 he was    
implacable4  ,for years1 as ,i well     
knew1 ,mr4 ,cowen spent more money for  

the advancement and vindication of      
,liberalism than any other ,english     
gentleman4 ,he was the most generous    
friend of forlorn hopes ,england has    
known4 ,how many combatants has he      
aided2 how many has he succoured2 how   
many has he saved6 ,if the other world  
be human like this1 what crowds of      
grateful spirits of divers climes must  
have rushed to the threshold of heaven  
to welcome him as he entered4           
,penniless1 and his crew foodless1      
,garibaldi steered his vessel up the    
,tyne4 ,mr4 ,cowen was the only man in  
,england ,garibaldi then sought or      
confided in4 ,before he left the ,tyne1 
,mr4 ,cowen1 on behalf of subscribers   
7of whom many were pitmen71 presented   
,garibaldi with a sword which cost      
,l#adf4 ,goldwin ,smith says1 in his    
picturesque way1 ,henry ,,iii4 had a    
waxen heart4 ,mr4 ,cowen had an iron    
heart1 steeled by noble purpose4 ,he    
knew no fear1 physical or mental4 ,not  
like my friend1 ,george ,henry ,lewes1  

whose sense of intellectual right was so
 strong that he never saw consequences4 
,cowen did see them1 and disregarded    
them2 he nothing knew to fear1 and      
nothing feared to know--neither ideas   
nor persons4 ,how many men1 not afraid  
of ideas1 are much afraid of knowing    
those who have them8 ,unyielding to the 
high1 how tender he was to the low6     
,riding home with him one night1 after a
 stormy meeting in ,newcastle1 when we  
were near to ,stella ,house 7he had not 
gone to reside in the ,hall then7 the   
horse suddenly stopped4 ,mr4 ,cowen got 
out to see what the obstruction was1 and
 he found it was one of his own workmen 
lying drunk across the road4 ,his master
 roused him and said3 ,tom1 what a fool 
thou art6 ,had not the horse been the   
more sensible beast1 thou hadst been    
killed4 ,he would use these ,scriptural 
pronouns in speaking to his men4 ,the   
man could not stand1 and ,mr4 ,cowen and
 the coachman carried him to the door of
 another workman1 called him up1 and    

bade him let ,tom lie in his house till 
morning4 ,then we drove on4  ,another   
time a workman came to ,mr4 ,cowen for  
an advance of thirty shillings4 ,being  
asked what he wanted the money for1 the 
man answered3 ,to get drunk1 sir2 ,i    
have not been drunk for six weeks4 ,thou
 knowest1 said ,mr4 ,cowen1 ,i never    
take any drink1 because ,i think the    
example good for thee4 ,thou will go to 
,gateshead ,fair1 get locked up1 and ,i 
shall have to bail thee out4 ,there is  
the money2 but take my advice1 get drunk
 at home1 and thy wife will take care of
 thee4 ,how many employers possess      
workmen having that confidence in them  
to put such a question as this workman  
did1 without fear of losing their       
situation8 ,no workman lied1 or had need
 to lie1 to ,mr4 ,cowen4 ,he had the    
tolerance and tenderness of a god4      
,when ,i was ill in his house in ,essex 
,street1 ,strand1 he would come up at   
night and tell me of his affairs1 as he 
did in his youth4 ,he had for some time 

been giving his support to the          
,conservative side4 ,i said to him1     
,disraeli is dead4 ,do you not see that 
you may take his place if you will8 ,it 
is open4 ,his party has no successor    
among them4 ,he had race1 religion1 and 
want of fortune against him4 ,you have  
none of these disadvantages against you4
 ,you are rich1 and you can speak as    
,disraeli never could4 ,he had neither  
the tone nor the fire of conscience--you
 have both4 ,you have the ear of the    
,house1 and the personal confidence of  
the country1 as he never had4 ,in his   
place you would fill the ear of the     
world4 ,he thought for a time on what ,i
 said to him2 then his answer was3      
,there is one difficulty--,i am not a   
,tory4  ,i saw he was leaving the side  
of ,liberalism and that he would        
inevitably do ,conservative work1 and ,i
 was wishful that he should have the    
credit of it4 ,he was under a master    
passion which carried him he knew not   
whither4  ,it was my knowledge of ,mr4  

,cowen1 long before that night1 that    
made me oft say that a ,tyneside man had
 more humility and more pride than ,god 
had vouchsafed to any other people of   
the ,english race4 ,until middle life   
,mr4 ,cowen was as his father1 immovable
 in principle2 afterwards he was as his 
mother in implacableness4 ,that is the  
explanation of his career4  ,the passion
 referred to--never avowed and never    
obtruded1 but which neither slumbered   
nor slept--was ambition4 ,it might be   
called ,paramountcy--that dangerous     
war-engendering word of                 
,imperialism--which only the arrogant   
pronounce1 and only the subjugated      
submit to4  ,the ,cowen family had no   
past but that of industry1 and in ,mr4  
,cowen's youth the slings and arrows of 
outrageous ,toryism1 shafts of          
arrogance1 insolence1 and contempt1 flew
 about him4 ,he inherited from his      
mother a proud and indomitable spirit1  
and resolved to create a ,liberal force 
which should withstand all that--and he 

did4 ,then1 when he came to be1 as he   
thought1 flouted by those whom he had   
served 7the common experience of the    
noblest men71 he at length resented and 
turned against himself4 ,he had reached 
the heights where he had been awarded an
 imperishable place1 and then descended 
in resentment to mingle and be lost in  
the ignominious faction whom he had     
defeated and despised4 ,those who had   
enraged him were not1 as we shall see1  
worth his resentment  ,it was not for a 
handful of silver he left us--for he had
 plenty--nor for a ribbon to stick in   
his coat1 for he would not wear one if  
offered a basketful4 ,it was just       
indignation1 stronger than self-respect4
  ,not all at once did the desire of    
control assume this form4 ,by his       
natural nobility of nature he inclined  
to the view that all the supremacy      
inherent in man is that of superior     
capacity1 to which all men yield        
spontaneous allegiance4  ,some time     
elapsed before the bent of his mind     

became apparent4 ,possibly it was not   
known to himself4  ,when a young man1 he
 promoted and maintained two or three   
journals1 in which he also wrote        
himself1 without suggesting to others   
the passion for journalism by which he  
was possessed4 ,some years later1 when  
proofs of one of his speeches which a   
reporter had taken down1 and ,mr4 ,cowen
 had himself corrected1 passed through  
my hands1 ,i was struck with the        
dexterity with which he put a word of   
fire into a tame sentence1 infused      
colour into a pale-faced expression1 and
 established a pulse in an anaemic one4 
,it was clear that he had the genius of 
speech in him and was ambitious of      
distinction in it4  ,mr4 ,cowen's father
 was a tall1 handsome man of the ,saxon 
type1 which goes steadily forward and   
never turns back4 ,he always described  
himself as a follower of ,lord ,durham1 
and was out on the ,newcastle ,town     
,moor in #ahai1 at great meetings in    
support of the ,durham principles4 ,his 

mother was quite different in person1   
both in stature and appearance2 somewhat
 of the ,spanish type--dark1 and        
mentally capable of impassable          
resolution4 ,her son1 ,joseph1 with whom
 we are here concerned1 had dark1       
luminous eyes which were the admiration 
of ,london drawing-rooms--when he could 
be got to enter them4 ,his eldest       
sister1 ,mrs4 ,mary ,carr1 was as tall  
as her father1 with the complexion of   
her mother4 ,i used to compare her to   
,judith1 the splendid ,jewess who slew  
,holofernes4 ,she used to say her       
brother ,joseph had her mother's spirit1
 and that a ,cowen never changed4 ,her  
brother never changed in his purpose of 
ascendency1 but when inspired by        
resentment he could change his party to 
attain his end--as ,i have seen done in 
the ,house of ,commons many times in my 
day4 ,this is why ,i have said that in  
the early part of ,mr4 ,cowen's life he 
was his father---placid but purposeful4 
,in the second half he was his          

mother--resentful and implacable when   
affronted by non-compliance where he    
expected and desired concurrence4 ,but  
,i have known many excellent men who did
 not take dissent from their opinions in
 good part4  ,how fearless ,mr4 ,cowen  
was1 was shown in his conduct when a    
dangerous outbreak of cholera occurred  
in ,newcastle4 ,people were dying in    
every street and lane1 but he went out  
from ,blaydon every morning at the usual
 time1 and walked through the infected  
streets and passages into ,newcastle1 to
 his offices on the quay1 being met on  
his way by persons in distress1 from    
death in their houses1 who knew they    
were sure of sympathy and assistance    
from him4 ,the courage of his unfailing 
appearance in his ordinary way saved    
many from depression which might have   
proved fatal to them4 ,when a wandering 
guest fell ill at his home1 ,stella     
,house1 ,blaydon1 he was sure of        
continued hospitality until his         
recovery4 ,mr4 ,cowen's voice of        

sympathy and condolence was the         
tenderest ,i ever heard from human lips4
  ,a poor man1 who lived a good deal    
upon the moors1 was charged with        
shooting a doctor1 and would have been  
hanged but for ,mr4 ,cowen defending him
 by legal aid4 ,he thought the police   
had apprehended him because he was the  
most likely1 in their opinion1 to be    
guilty4 ,he was poor1 friendless1 and   
often houseless4 ,the man did not seem  
quite right in his mind4 ,after his     
acquittal1 ,mr4 ,cowen took him into his
 employ1 and made him his gardener4 ,the
 garden was remote and solitary4 ,i     
often passed my mornings in it1 not     
without some personal misgiving4 ,mr4   
,cowen eventually enabled the man to    
emigrate to ,america1 where a little    
eccentricity of demeanour does not      
count4  ,in the political estrangements 
of ,mr4 ,cowen1 it must be owned he had 
provocations4 ,a party of social        
propagandists came to ,newcastle1 whom  
he entertained1 as they had never been  

entertained before1 at a cost of        
hundreds of pounds1 and was at great    
expense to give publicity to their      
objects4 ,they left him to defray some  
bills they had the means of paying4     
,years later1 when they came again into 
the district1 he did no more for them in
 the former way4 ,he had conceived a    
distrust of them4 ,another time he was  
asked by persons whom he was willing to 
aid1 to buy some premises for them1 as  
they would be prejudiced at the auction 
if they appeared in person4 ,mr4 ,cowen 
bought the property for ,l#e1jjj4 ,they 
changed their minds when it was bought1 
and left ,mr4 ,cowen1 who did not want  
it1 with it upon his hands4 ,he did not 
resent it1 as he might have done1 but it
 was an act of meanness which would have
 revolted the heart of an archangel of  
human susceptibility4  ,when the        
,british ,association first came to     
,newcastle1 ,mr4 ,cowen spent more than 
,l#ejj in giving publicity to their     
proceedings4 ,he brought a railway      

carriage full of writers and reporters  
from ,london1 that the proceedings of   
every section should be made known to   
the public ,he had personal notices     
written of all the principal men of     
science who came there1 and when he     
asked for admission of his reporters1 he
 was charged ,l#ai for their tickets4   
,as ,i was one of those engaged in the  
arrangements1 ,i shared his indignation 
at this scientific greed and            
ingratitude4 ,in all the history of the 
,british ,association1 before and since1
 it never met with the enthusiasm1 the  
liberality and publicity the ,newcastle 
,chronicle accorded it4  ,in the days of
 the great ,italian struggle1 little    
shoals of exiles found their way to     
,england4 ,learning where the great     
friend of ,garibaldi dwelt1 they found  
their way to ,newcastle1 and many were  
directed there from different parts of  
,england4 ,many times he was sent for to
 the railway station1 where a number of 
destitute exiles had arrived4 ,he       

relieved their immediate wants and had  
them provided for at various lodgings1  
until they were able to get some        
situation elsewhere4 ,i think ,mr4      
,cowen began to tire of this1 as he     
thought exiles were sometimes sent to   
him by persons who ought to have taken  
part of the responsibility themselves1  
but who seemed to consider that his was 
the purse of the ,continent4  ,once when
 ,mr4 ,cowen attended a political       
conference in ,leeds1 he received as he 
entered the room marked attention1 as he
 was known to be the leader of the      
,liberal forces of ,durham and          
,northumberland4 ,but ,mr4 ,w4 ,e4      
,forster1 who was present1 took no      
notice of him1 though ,mr4 ,cowen had   
rendered him great political service4   
,when ,mr4 ,bright saw ,mr4 ,cowen he   
cordially greeted him4 ,immediately ,mr4
 ,forster1 seeing this1 stepped up also 
and offered him compliments1 which ,mr4 
,cowen received very coldly without     
returning them1 and passed away to his  

seat4 ,mr4 ,cowen's impression was that 
as ,mr4 ,forster had suffered him to    
pass by without recognition1 he did not 
want to know him before that assembly2  
but when ,mr4 ,forster saw ,mr4         
,bright's welcome of his friend1 he was 
willing to know him4 ,mr4 ,forster1 as  
,i had reason to know afterwards1 was   
capable of such an action1 where        
recognition stood in the way of his     
interests199 but it was not so on this  
occasion4 ,mr4 ,forster was             
short-sighted1 and simply did not see   
,mr4 ,cowen when he first passed him4   
,but it happened that he did see him    
when ,mr4 ,bright stepped forward to    
speak to him1 and there was no slight of
 ,mr4 ,cowen intended4 ,yet from that   
hour ,mr4 ,cowen entertained a contempt 
for ,mr4 ,forster1 and would neither    
meet him nor speak to him4 ,one day ,mr4
 ,cowen and ,i were at a railway        
station1 where ,mr4 ,forster appeared in
 his volunteer uniform4 ,we had to wait 
some time for the train4 ,mr4 ,cowen    

asked me to walk with him as far as we  
could from where ,mr4 ,forster stood1   
that we should not pass near him4 ,some 
years later1 at the ,house of ,commons1 
,mr4 ,forster asked ,mr4 ,cowen to walk 
with him in the ,green ,park1 as he     
wished to speak with him4 ,after two    
hours ,mr4 ,cowen returned reconciled4  
,he never told me the cause of it1 which
 he should have done1 as ,i had taken   
his part in the long years of resentment
 ,i relate the incident as showing how  
personal misconception produces         
political estrangement in persons and   
parties alike4       99 ,but only where 
ambition was stronger than his habitual 
sense of honour4    ,see chapter lxxix1 
,sixty ,years4     ,,chapter ,,xxviii4  
,,characteristics ,,of ,,joseph ,,cowen 
,,ii  ,but the act which most wounded   
him occurred at the ,elswick works of   
,lord ,armstrong4 ,mr4 ,cowen was       
returning one day in his carriage at a  
time of political excitement4 ,some of  
the crowd threw mud upon his coach1 and1

 if ,i remember rightly1 broke the      
windows4 ,just before1 when the workmen 
were on strike1 they went to ,mr4       
,cowen--as all workmen in difficulties  
did4 ,he found they did not know their  
own case1 nor how to put it ,he employed
 legal aid to look into the whole matter
 and make a statement of it4 ,mr4 ,cowen
 became their negotiator1 and obtained a
 decision in their favour4 ,the whole   
expense he incurred on their behalf was 
,l#aej4 ,services of this kind1 which   
had been oft rendered1 should have saved
 him from public contumely at their     
hands4  ,at that time ,mr4 ,cowen was   
giving the support of his paper against 
,liberalism1 which he had so long       
defended and commended1 which was an    
incentive to the outrage4 ,still1 the   
sense of gratitude for the known        
services rendered to workers1 which he  
continued irrespective of his change of 
opinion1 should have saved him from all 
personal disrespect4  ,the subjection of
 the ,liberals in ,newcastle in the days

 of his early career1 and the arrogant  
defamation with which it was assailed1  
were what determined him to create a    
defiant power in its self-defence4  ,he 
bought the ,newcastle ,chronicle1 an old
 ,whig paper4 ,he published it in ,grey 
,street1 afterwards in ,st4 ,nicholas'  
,buildings1 and then in ,stephenson     
,place1 on premises now known as the    
,chronicle ,buildings4 ,the printing    
machines at first cost ,l#bej each1 then
 ,l#dej4 ,the ,chronicle ,buildings were
 purchased for ,l#f1jjj1 and a similar  
sum was expended in adapting them for   
their new purposes4 ,the site is the    
finest in ,newcastle4 ,the printing     
machines now cost ,l#f1jjj to ,l#g1jjj4 
,each machine is provided in duplicate1 
so that if one side of the press-room   
broke down1 the other side could be     
instantly set in motion4 ,once ,i made a
 short speech in the town1 which was    
reported1 set up1 cast1 and an edition  
of the paper containing the speech was  
on sale within little more than twenty  

minutes4 ,the office above the great    
press-room1 in which the public transact
 business with the paper1 is the        
costliest1 handsomest1 ,grecian interior
 ,i know of connected with any newspaper
 buildings4 ,what perseverance and      
confidence must have animated ,mr4      
,cowen in the enterprise1 is shown in   
the fact that he had sunk ,l#dj1jjj in  
it before it began to pay499 ,he made   
the ,chronicle1 as he intended to make  
it1 the leading political power in      
,durham and ,northumberland4 ,the       
leaders he wrote in its columns after he
 left ,parliament were unequalled in all
 the press of ,england for vividness1   
eloquence1 and variety of thought4      
,there could be no greater proof of the 
dominancy of ,mr4 ,cowen's mind1 than   
his establishment and devotion to the   
,chronicle4  ,i had been a party several
 years to negotiating with candidates to
 stand for ,newcastle1 whose public     
expenses ,mr4 ,cowen paid4 ,i obtained  
the consent of the ,liberals of ,york1  

that ,mr4 ,layard1 whom they considered 
pledged to them1 should become a        
candidate at ,newcastle4 ,why should    
you8 ,i said one day to ,mr4 ,cowen1    
incur these repeated costs for the      
candidature of others1 when you can     
command a seat in your own family for   
three generations4 ,if you will not be a
 candidate1 why should not your father8 
,the conversation ended by his agreeing 
that ,i might persuade his father to go 
to ,parliament if ,i could4       99    
,unwilling that his father or banker    
should surmise how      much he was     
exhausting his personal resources1 he   
directed      me at one time to borrow  
,l#ejj or ,l#a1jjj in ,london4 ,it was  
advanced by a personal friend4  ,it was 
in vain that ,i assured him that the    
seat was open to him1 but he did not    
believe1 nor wish to believe it4 ,i     
several times saw his father at ,stella 
,hall4 ,he thought himself too old4 ,i  
told him there were fifty gentlemen in  
the ,house of ,commons1 willing to      

become ,prime ,minister1 and some of    
them waiting for the appointment1 who   
were fifteen years older than he1 and   
would be disappointed did not the chance
 come to them4 ,he found this true when 
he at length entered the ,house4 ,his   
objection was that he could not ask his 
neighbours1 among whom he had lived all 
his days1 to elect him4 ,suppose they   
signed an undertaking to vote for you in
 case you came forward8 ,that he        
consented to consider4 ,a requisition   
signed by #b1agh electors was sent to   
him4 ,then another difficulty arose4    
,his son said3 ,i cannot support my     
father in the ,chronicle499 ,then ,i    
said1 ,let me edit it during the        
election1 and no line shall appear      
commending your father to the electors4 
,but whatever pretensions his           
adversaries put forth1 we will examine4 
,my proposal was agreed to4 ,it was     
alleged by the rival candidate1 that the
 requisition was signed out of courtesy 
to a popular townsman1 and did not mean 

that those who signed it had pledged    
their votes4 ,to this ,i answered that  
when ,chambers appeared on the ,thames1 
bookmakers said1 ,chambers is a         
,newcastle man1 who never sells the     
honour of his town1 but will win if he  
can4 ,is it to be true that a ,newcastle
 elector would not only give his        
promise1 but write it1 without intending
 to keep it8 ,will he be true on the    
,thames and false on the ,tyne8 ,all the
 requisitionists save a few1 whom       
sickness or misadventure kept from the  
poll1 voted for ,joseph ,cowen1 senior1 
who was elected by a large majority4    
99 ,this diffidence of appearing as the 
advocate of his father      was carried 
to excess4 ,when a local paper made     
remarks upon      his father's          
knighthood1 which ought to have been    
resented1      ,i set out late one night
 to ,darlington1 arriving a little      
before midnight1 and wrote a vindicatory
 notice1 which1 by      the friendship  
of ,mr4 ,h4 ,k4 ,spark1 was inserted in 

the      ,darlington ,times that night4 
,it was quoted afterwards in      the   
,newcastle ,chronicle4  ,the great      
services to the town of the new member  
by his arduous chairmanship of the ,tyne
 ,commission1 would have insured his    
election1 but his majority was no doubt 
increased by the popularity of his son4 
,this did not escape the comment of     
local politicians1 and ,mr4 ,lowthian   
,bell said1 ,how is it1 ,mr4 ,cowen1    
that everybody votes for your father for
 your sake8 ,i suppose it is1 was the   
answer1 that while you have been sitting
 on winter nights with your feet on the 
rug by the fireside1 ,i have been       
addressing pitmen's meetings in colliery
 villages1 and finding my way home late 
at night in rain and blast2 and it      
happens that they are grateful for it4  
,this was the only time ,i knew ,mr4    
,cowen to make a self-assertive reply4  
,when ,mr4 ,cowen's father was in the   
field1 and ,mr4 ,beaumont began his     
canvass1 in one street he met with      

forty-nine refusals to vote for him4    
,why will you not vote for me8 he asked4
 ,we are going to vote for ,mr4 ,coon1  
now1 as his name was pronounced at the  
,tyneside4 ,but you have two votes1 ,mr4
 ,beaumont said2 you can give me one4   
,no6 if we had twenty votes we should   
give them all to ,mr4 ,coon4 ,when      
,chambers and ,clasper make a ,l#ajj    
match for the honour of the ,tyne1 and  
we cannot make up the money1 ,mr4 ,coon 
always makes it up for us1 and when we  
win and go to repay him1 he gives it to 
us4 ,this was not a patriotic reason to 
give for voting for ,mr4 ,coon1 but it  
showed gratitude1 as well as ,mr4       
,cowen's influence1 and what a hold his 
kindness to the people had given him    
upon their affection4 ,thus they voted  
for the father from regard for the son4 
,for in those days the son had no idea  
of ,parliament himself1 and votes were  
not in his thoughts4  ,nothing could be 
more open or gentlemanly than ,mr4      
,cowen in the contests to which he was a

 party4 ,mr4 ,somerset ,beaumont was    
member for ,newcastle1 and he impressed 
,mr4 ,gladstone with a high sense of his
 capacity in ,parliament4 ,one morning1 
as ,mr4 ,beaumont and ,mr4 ,cowen came  
into ,newcastle in the same train1 ,mr4 
,cowen said to him1 ,you know1 ,mr4     
,beaumont1 we all like you personally1  
but you do not go far enough for us4 ,we
 want a more ,radical representative for
 ,newcastle4 ,we shall prevent your     
election next time if we can1 but only  
if we have a more advanced candidate4   
,otherwise we will countenance no       
opposition to you4  ,who could foresee  
the day would come when--save ,mr4      
,cowen--the noblest candidate ,newcastle
 ever had 7,mr4 ,john ,morley7 would be 
opposed by ,mr4 ,cowen in the interests 
of ,toryism8 ,or that1 after            
withstanding at the hustings when he    
became a candidate1 and defeating       
furious collusions between ,tories1     
,conservatives1 ,moderates1 publicans1  
and all who had vicious interests to    

serve or spite to gratify1 ,mr4 ,cowen  
himself would one day be found aiding or
 abetting the same parties by taking    
their side against ,liberalism4  ,when  
in ,parliament1 his father had          
misgivings touching ,mr4 ,gladstone1    
who1 he thought1 passed him at times    
without recognition4 ,he had conducted  
,mr4 ,gladstone down the ,tyne in       
triumph1 and his son had assembled      
#bjj1jjj persons on the ,moor1 who were 
addressed from twenty platforms in      
support of ,mr4 ,gladstone1 and provided
 reporters and published all the        
speeches4 ,the cost of this was one of a
 hundred contributions he made in the   
interest of ,liberalism4 ,i used to     
explain that ,mr4 ,gladstone1 intent    
upon great questions 7he was always     
intent upon something7 he had to explain
 to the ,house--he1 self-absorbed1 would
 pass by his friends without seeing     
them1 expecting1 as he had a right to   
expect1 that devotion to the great trust
 of the ,state would be taken to        

palliate his seeming inattention to     
friends4  ,but ,mr4 ,gladstone was not  
unmindful of the service rendered to him
 at ,newcastle1 and when1 some time     
later--no one else thinking of it--,i   
made representations1 through ,mr4      
7afterwards ,sir7 ,james                
,stansfeld--without knowledge of ,mr4   
,cowen or his son--,i was instructed to 
inform ,mr4 ,cowen1 sen41 that a        
baronetcy would be placed at his        
acceptance4 ,mr4 ,cowen1 jun41 objected 
entirely on his own part4 ,his father   
therefore only accepted a knighthood1   
which ,her ,majesty1 from consideration 
of his years1 kindly ordered to be      
gazetted1 obviating his attendance at   
,court4 ,all the same1 it was ,mr4      
,gladstone's intention to recognise the 
services of the son as well as the      
father4  ,honours were not much         
accessible in those days1 especially in 
uncourtly quarters4 ,my representation1 
in suggesting what ,i did1 was1 that as 
personal distinction was conferred upon 

persons who had made ,l#ajj1jjj1        
something was due to one who may be said
 to have given that sum to the public499
 ,his chairmanship of the ,tyne         
,commission extended over a period of   
twenty-four years1 during which the     
,tyne was converted from a creek into a 
navigable river4       99 ,sir ,joseph  
,cowen was appointed by ,act of         
,parliament1 #ahej1      chairman for   
life of the ,tyne ,improvement          
,commission1 an      unpaid office4     
,there was then only six feet of water  
on the      bar at low water spring     
tides1 and twenty-one at high water4    
,in #ahgj there was a depth of twenty   
feet at low water1 and      thirty-five 
at high water2 the deepening extending  
nine      miles from the bar4 ,in twenty
 years ending #ahgj there had      been 
raised thirty-eight million tons4 ,in   
#ahgj the tonnage      of the ,tyne had 
risen from two and a half millions to   
more      than four and a half millions1
 exceeding by one million that      of  

the ,thames4 ,in #ahfe there entered the
 ,tyne port for      refuge #acc        
vessels4 ,in #ahgj #eeh vessels fled    
there from the      storms of the ,north
 ,sea4  ,the time and assiduity thus    
devoted to the service of navigation and
 trade would have added ,l#ajj1jjj to   
his fortune4 ,that his knighthood might 
be justified in the eyes of his         
neighbours and his own1 ,i supplied the 
facts which authorised it to ,mr4       
,walker1 who was then editor of the     
,daily ,news1 and which appeared in his 
leader columns4 ,my reason for taking   
the step ,i did was a sense of duty to  
the public1 who should see as far as    
possible that those who rendered service
 should find acknowledgment of it ,i was
 of ,coleridge's opinion3--       ,it   
seems a message from the world of       
spirits1      ,when any man obtains that
 which he merits1      ,or any merit    
that which he obtains4  ,on the death of
 the father1 his son1 ,mr4 ,joseph      
,cowen1 was elected in his place1 as a  

member for ,newcastle2 and ,parliament  
being dissolved shortly after1 he was   
again elected by a triumphant majority4 
,mr4 ,cowen had made more speeches at   
the ,tyneside than any other resident   
ever did4 ,but the town was unconscious 
of their merit4 ,they were addressed    
mostly to working men1 and to persons   
whom it was not thought necessary to    
report or take into account the speaker4
 ,when he became a candidate all classes
 of persons were among the auditors4    
,the town was astonished at the         
relevance and fire of his orations4 ,i  
mention this circumstance to show how a 
man can be famous in one half of the    
town and not known in the other4  ,after
 his retirement from ,parliament and    
platform he occasionally delivered      
orations on persons1 at inaugurations1  
which surpassed all ,i have ever read of
 the kind1 for aptness of phrase1       
variety of thought and vivid            
portraiture1 which ought to be added to 
the record of ,english oratory4  ,it was

 not reasonable in him1 after the change
 in his political views1 to expect that 
his townsmen should adopt the new       
opinions he had begun to countenance1   
and which he had himself taught them to 
distrust4 ,but this is what strong      
leaders do who suffer the pride of power
 to become imperious4 ,a just ambition1 
which is patient1 and will work for     
results1 can as a rule succeed4 ,it is  
ambition which is impetuous1 and will   
not wait longer1 which lapses into      
reaction from disappointment4 ,with all 
his virtues1 ,mr4 ,cowen was impetuous4 
,to desert a party because of the folly 
or excesses of portions of its members1 
would oblige a man to change his        
profession in politics and his creed in 
religion every twelve months4  ,in his  
earlier career it may be imagined that  
,mr4 ,cowen derived his principles from 
generous prejudices1 in later days from 
indignant impulses4  ,many persons hold 
by inheritance right principles into    
whose foundation they have never        

inquired4 ,investigation1 if they       
entered upon it1 would confirm their    
convictions1 but not resting on         
examination1 their nobler prepossessions
 may be displaced by passion4 ,we all   
know in religion how vehemently         
adherents will vindicate questions of   
which they know only one side1 and hold 
it to be sinful to inquire into the     
other4 ,such persons1 when right1 are   
unstable and liable to variableness     
under the glamour of unknown ideas4 ,mr4
 ,cowen was well informed on ,liberal   
principles and never took to            
,conservative views1 and1 save in       
antagonism1 did not assist them4  ,the  
bent of his mind to paramountcy in ideas
 was shown in the extraordinary         
requirements he made1 that ,mr4 ,morley 
should disown the political friends who 
had invited him to ,newcastle1 and      
become the candidate of the ,chronicle4 
,mr4 ,morley answered1 ,i will not do   
it1 and that is flat ,then ,mr4 ,cowen  
resolved that this refusal should cost  

him his seat1 and ultimately he effected
 it1 not from ,conservative resentment1 
but from pride4 ,had ,mr4 ,morley       
consented to this condition he would    
have remained member for ,newcastle1    
supported with all the force of ,mr4    
,cowen's splendid advocacy4 ,mr4 ,cowen 
always remained true to ,home ,rule for 
,ireland4 ,but1 as we have seen done in 
the case of others in ,parliament1 he   
assailed every one who held it not under
 his inspiration4  ,mr4 ,cowen was      
naturally noble1 and resentment never   
made him mean1 but like any one to whom 
compliance with his essential           
convictions is a necessity of his mind1 
he was apt to regard non-concurring     
persons as better out of the way4 ,he   
would not destroy them1 but they were no
 longer objects of his solicitude4      
,everybody who did not take this into   
account failed to understand ,mr4       
,cowen's career4 ,he sought nothing for 
himself--he refused everything offered  
to him1 office included1 and accepted no

 overture made to him4 ,whatever opinion
 he held1 to whatever party he allied   
himself1 he might1 if he wished1 have   
remained member for ,newcastle all his  
life4 ,he wanted no place in            
,parliament2 all he wanted was his own  
way--compliance with his own opinions4  
,he had no ambition in the ordinary     
sense--he had no sinister end to serve1 
and it was always his preference to     
promote liberty and progress1 generosity
 and good faith in public affairs4      
,conforming to no conventionality1 never
 entering society1 nor accepting any    
invitation to do it1 in his attention to
 his collieries1 his ships1 his         
firebrick works1 manufactory1 newspaper 
and public meetings1 he was occupied    
from early morning until late at night1 
without rest and without hurry4 ,he was 
never exhausted and was never still4    
,one evening he lay down on his sofa1   
fell asleep1 and none around him knew   
that he was dead4  ,it would astonish   
the reader--were they all narrated--the 

considerable undertakings which he      
conducted and carried through at the    
same time4 ,he was a great man of       
business1 and had the management of     
heaven been consigned to him as a       
pleasure resort1 he would have made it  
pay eventually4 ,he was an apostle1 not 
an apostate1 but his apostleship was of 
his own ideas4 ,he was no apostate of   
his party4 ,had he been in the celestial
 world when ,lucifer revolted1 ,mr4     
,cowen might have aided ,satan1 from    
motives of resentment at being denied1  
by certain dissentient cherubim1        
ascendency himself4 ,but he would never 
have joined the fallen angels1 nor1 as  
we have seen other politicians do1      
officially engage in their work1 or     
identify himself with them4             
,,chapter ,,xxix4 ,,the ,,peril ,,of    
,,scruples  ,an outlaw is seldom        
considered a pleasant person1 and       
naturally occupies a dubious place in   
public estimation4 ,his position is     
worse than that of an exile1 who1 if    

once allowed to return1 is reinstated in
 society1 but the outlaw of opinion is  
never pardoned4 ,where justice turns    
upon the hinge of the oath1 there is no 
redress for him who has scruples as to  
taking it4 ,he who has scruples exposes 
himself to unpleasant comments4 ,he is  
counted a sort of fastidious crank4 ,all
 the while it is known that a man       
without scruples is a knave1 who        
respects nothing save his own interests1
 and will do anything likely to promote 
them--even to the commission of robbery 
or murder--as police-courts disclose4   
,to be scrupulous is to be solicitous as
 to the rightfulness of a thing proposed
 to be done4 ,it is plainly the interest
 of society to encourage those who act  
upon honest scruples4 ,scruples may be  
trivial or unfounded--they may be open  
to objection on that account4           
,nevertheless1 the habit of being       
scrupulous is to be tolerated as        
conducive to integrity1 without which   
society would be insufferable4 ,it is   

therefore not desirable that perils     
should accompany scrupulousness1 as ,i  
have often seen them do4  ,the          
obligatory oath has always been         
detrimental to public morality4 ,when   
one oath was imposed on all persons1 it 
was repugnant to their individual sense 
of truth in many cases1 and men1 to     
protect their interests1 began to tamper
 with veracity1 and invent new meanings 
of the terms of the oath4 ,thus the     
fortunate fastidiousness of truth is    
broken down4  ,the ,christian oath is an
 ecclesiastical device1 framed in the   
interest of the ,church1 to enforce1    
under penalty1 the recognition and      
perpetuation of its tenets4 ,he who     
takes the oath professes to believe that
 if he breaks it ,god will blast his    
soul in hell for ever4 ,this is the old 
brutal1 terrifying form in which the    
consequence was expressed4 ,it is       
softened now1 to suit the secular       
humanity of the age1 to a statement that
 ,god will hold the oath-taker          

responsible for its fulfilment4 ,but    
,god's method of holding any one        
responsible1 is by sentencing him to    
outer darkness1 where there will be     
wailing and gnashing of teeth4 ,a very  
unpleasant region to dwell in4 ,there is
 no good ground to suppose that such a  
sentence for such an offence would be   
passed1 but the intimidation is         
retained4 ,mr4 ,cluer1 a ,london        
magistrate1 said lately that if the fate
 of ,ananias befel all who swore falsely
 in his court1 the floor would be strewn
 with dead bodies4 ,but the courts fall 
back upon the pristine meaning of the   
oath4 ,the magistrate asks a little     
child1 tendered as a witness1 whether   
she knows1 if she does not tell the     
truth1 where she will go to8 and whether
 she has never heard of a place called  
hell or of its keeper1 the devil8 ,if   
not1 he publicly deplores the neglect of
 the child's education1 and declares her
 to be incapable of telling the truth4  
,every one who took the oath1 whether   

rich or poor1 a philosopher or a fool1  
each professed to believe that the      
,great ,god of all the worlds1          
notwithstanding the infinite business   
,he has on hand1 was personally present 
in any dingy court when the oath-taker  
calls upon ,him to witness that he      
speaks the truth1 and if not1 ,god1 who 
never forgets1 burdens ,his celestial   
memory with that fact1 with a view to   
eternal retaliation1 in case the oath is
 false4 ,he who takes the oath and does 
not believe this1 lies to begin with1   
whatever may be the character of his    
testimony4  ,to take the oath in any    
other sense than that in which it is    
administered to you1 is to deceive the  
court4       ,he who imposes the oath1  
makes it4      ,not he1 who for         
convenience takes it4  ,the reliance on 
the part of those who impose the oath1  
is that he who takes it believes the    
terms of it4 ,if the taker takes it in a
 private sense of his own1 the virtue   
has gone out of the oath1 and the court 

is deceived4 ,if the ,unitarian takes   
the oath1 not believing in an avenging  
,god1 he creates a new oath for himself1
 in which the compelling power of an    
eternal terror is absent4 ,he1          
therefore1 does not take the oath of the
 court1 but another of his own          
invention2 and if he made known to the  
court what he was doing1 the court would
 not receive his testimony4             
,philosophers1 who have less belief than
 ,unitarians1 take the oath4 ,but in the
 eye of morality it is not less         
discreditable--perhaps more so1 for the 
philosopher stands for absolute truth1  
while the ,unitarian stands only for    
theological truth4  ,the trouble was    
that he who refuses to take the oath of 
the court1 in the sense of the court1   
became an outlaw1 and that was a serious
 thing4 ,i was myself an outlaw1 until  
,i was fifty-two years of age1 without  
the power of obtaining redress where ,i 
was wronged1 or of punishing fraud or   
theft from which ,i suffered1 or of     

protecting the life and property of     
others1 where my evidence was required4 
,my ambition was to be a barrister1 but 
legal friends assured me that the law   
turned upon the hinge of oath-taking1   
and that the path of the ,bar would to  
me be a path of lying4 ,it happens that 
,i have never taken an oath4 ,when ,i   
found that my belief did not coincide   
with that implied by the oath1 ,i felt  
precluded from taking it4  ,this        
reluctance brought me peril4 ,when the  
question of a ,parliamentary oath in    
,lord ,randolph ,churchill's days raged1
 a new doctrine was set up among some   
partisans of ,freethought--that an      
,atheist might take the oath4 ,that     
meant there was no longer any           
distinction in terms1 or any meaning in 
principle4 ,if an ,atheist may1 for the 
sake of some advantage before him1 make 
a ,christian profession1 there is no    
reason why a ,christian should not make 
an ,atheistical profession if it        
answered his purpose4 ,the apostles made

 quite a mistake by incurring martyrdom 
for conscience sake4 ,bruno1 ,servitus1 
and ,tyndale need not have gone to the  
stake1 had they only understood that the
 way to advance the truth was to abandon
 it1 instead of standing to it4 ,if a   
man is not to stand by the truth when   
the consequences are against him1 there 
is an end of truth as a principle4 ,it  
is no longer a duty to suffer for it and
 maintain it4  ,it seemed to me that the
 friends of reason1 who rejected        
theological tenets1 should be as        
scrupulous as to the truth as partisans 
of superstition have often proved       
themselves to be1 and that the ,atheist 
should have as clear a sense of         
intellectual honour as the ,quaker1 the 
,catholic1 or the ,jew1 who all suffered
 rather than take an oath contrary to   
their sense of truth4 ,this was regarded
 as a reflection upon some excellent    
colleagues of mine1 who thought it      
fatuity to allow an oath to stand in    
their way1 and frustrate their career4  

,it was brought against me that there   
were circumstances under which ,i should
 be as little scrupulous as other       
people4 ,major ,bell1 who had incurred  
great peril in ,india for the sake of   
honour1 put a question to me in the     
,daily ,news purporting that1 ,had ,i   
married before #ahcg ,i should not have 
hesitated at twice invoking the ,trinity
 as the ,church service required8 ,and  
if ,i had done so1 should ,i not have   
perpetrated a piece of hypocrisy8 ,there
 is an immoral maxim that ,all things   
are fair in love and war1 and it is     
probable that ,i should not have        
hesitated to perpetrate that piece of   
hypocrisy1 as it would have been the    
lesser of two evils1 but it would not1  
therefore1 cease to be an evil4 ,if     
under any compulsion of love or war ,i  
was induced to perpetrate apiece of     
hypocrisy1 it would never occur to me to
 go about saying it was not hypocrisy4  
,i dislike law1 custom1 or persons who  
force me to do what ,i know to be wrong1

 but no person could do his worst       
against me1 until he prevailed upon me  
to go about saying it was right4  ,dr4  
,moncure ,conway asked whether1 if his  
life was in danger in ,china1 and ,i    
could save it by the ,chinese oath of   
breaking a saucer1 ,i would not do it8  
,certainly ,i would1 to save ,dr4       
,conway1 if the ,confucians would permit
 me1 but ,i should not the less deceive 
them by pretending to have sworn before 
them in the ,chinese sense4 ,but ,i     
should regret the necessity1 since in no
 country would ,i willingly treat truth 
as a superstition4 ,by taking the saucer
 oath1 ,i should obtain in ,chinese eyes
 a validity for my word not really      
belonging to it4 ,however ,i might      
excuse the act1 it would still be       
deceit1 nor ought it to be called by any
 other name4 ,there is no virtuous      
vagueness in unveracity1 and he who in  
peril uses it would not be justified in 
carrying it into common life1 where     
,lord ,bacon has warned us1 ,truth is so

 useful1 that we should make public note
 of any departure from that excellent   
habit4 ,major ,evans ,bell further      
argued that because the ,prince of      
,wales may sign himself my obedient1    
humble servant1 while not feeling       
himself bound to act so1 the terms of   
the oath may be likewise regarded as a  
form of words merely4 ,yet all forms    
which are unreal are unwise and hurtful4
 ,but the superscription of the ,prince 
is known to be but a false form1 and    
accepted as such1 while the oath is a   
profession of faith4 ,if the ,prince    
went into a public court and swore in   
the name of ,god that he really was my  
obedient1 humble servant1 ,i should     
think him a very shabby ,prince if the  
solemnity went for nothing4 ,as ,i have 
known ,major ,bell expose himself to    
what his friends believed to be fatal   
peril1 from a noble sense of            
self-imposed duty1 to which neither     
oath1 nor contract1 nor any conventional
 superscription called him1 ,i no more  

imagine him than ,i did ,dr4 ,conway1 to
 really mean what their arguments seemed
 to imply4  ,some are for the spirit    
more than the form4 ,i was for both1 and
 ,i regard all legislation as immoral   
which divorces them4 ,referring to these
 letters1 the ,daily ,news 7,december   
#bc1 #ahha7 regarded them as marked by  
rectitude of moral judgment1 which is   
recognised by those who most deplore    
what they think is theological          
aberration4 ,some such testimony as he  
gives was almost needed to efface the   
impression which recent events in and   
out of the ,house of ,commons have made1
 that moral indifferentism is of        
necessity associated with religious     
negation4 ,i was glad of those words at 
a time when ,i was fiercely assailed for
 saying what ,i did1 in the midst of the
 ,parliamentary contest which then      
occupied the attention of the country4  
,my object was to assist the right in   
the contest1 and to defend the ,free    
,thought cause4 ,had ,i not spoken then1

 it would have been in vain to speak    
afterward4 ,to be silent about principle
 in the hour of its application would   
have been fatal to its influence and    
repute1 so far as it might be           
represented by me4  ,as far as in my    
power lay1 ,i left no uncertainty in the
 mind of ,parliament as to what was     
wanted1 in lieu of the oath4 ,it was    
simply a promise of honour1 to declare  
the truth in matters of testimony1 and  
observe good faith in contracts4 ,one of
 my petitions to the ,house of ,commons 
ran thus3--  ,your petitioner is a      
person who never took an oath1 as it    
implied theological convictions he did  
not hold4 ,he1 however1 has seen persons
 of far greater knowledge than he       
possesses1 of high social position and  
authority1 and whose example men look up
 to1 take the oath1 though it was known 
to all that they held no belief         
corresponding thereunto--the opprobrium 
and outlawry attending the refusal of   
the oath being more than they would     

incur4 ,this has led to a practice of   
public prevarication1 that of persons   
saying a thing and not meaning it1 or   
meaning something else4 ,nowhere is this
 example more disastrous than in your   
,high ,assembly1 where anything said is 
conspicuous and its example influential 
on the conduct of others4  ,another     
petition so interested ,professor ,j4   
,e4 ,thorold ,rogers1 ,m4,p4 7who had   
held holy orders71 that he had copies   
made of it1 and sent one with a letter  
to each morning paper1 saying he        
regarded it as expressing the           
quintessence of political morality4 ,the
 petition set forth3--  ,that it is at  
all times important that public         
declarations should be so expressed that
 any one making them shall be able to   
say what he means1 and mean what he     
says4 ,in these days1 when popular      
instruction is being advanced by        
national schools1 it is yet more        
desirable that no public declaration    
should be exacted1 the terms of which   

are unmeaning or untrue to those who    
make it1 inasmuch as such declaration   
deteriorates the wholesome habit of     
national veracity1 and is of the nature 
of a fraud upon the public              
understanding1 which becomes more       
repugnant as general intelligence       
increases4  ,your petitioner            
respectfully submits that the present   
,parliamentary oath is open to these    
objections so long as it is obligatory  
upon all members1 irrespective of       
whatever personal and private beliefs   
they may hold4  ,your petitioner1       
therefore1 prays1 in the interests of   
public good faith1 that a form of       
affirmation may be adopted1 optional to 
all members of ,parliament1 instead of  
the present ecclesiastical oath4        
,francis ,place once explained to me    
that in the ,benthamite view1 it was not
 warrantable to incur martyrdom unless  
it was clear that the public would be   
gainers by the martyr's loss4 ,in a     
letter1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,s4 ,mill1 in answer to

 questions ,i put to him with regard to 
taking an oath1 wrote3--  ,i conceive   
that when a bad law has made the oath a 
condition to the performance of a public
 duty1 it may be taken without          
dishonesty by a person who acknowledges 
no binding force in the religious part  
of the formality4 ,unless 7as in your   
own case7 he has made it the special and
 particular work of his life to testify 
against such formalities1 and against   
the belief with which they are          
connected4  ,i could not concur with    
this view4 ,personal candour is         
far-reaching in its effects1 and should 
be cherished where we can1 and as far as
 we can4 ,truth is to the life of the   
mind what air is to the life of the     
body4 ,when the mind ceases to breathe  
truth1 the mind is impaired or dies4    
,it is necessary to add the grounds     
which actuated me in endeavours to put  
an end to the outlawry of opinion4 ,many
 beside myself helped to obtain a law of
 affirmation1 but ,i was the only person

 among them all who had never taken an  
oath4 ,sir ,george ,cornewall ,lewis    
demanded in ,parliament how the oath    
could be a vital grievance to ,atheists1
 whose throats were furrowed with       
swallowing it4 ,when summoned on the    
grand jury at ,clerkenwell ,i refused to
 take the oath in the sense the court   
attached to it1 and ,i was fined twelve 
guineas for not taking it4 ,i drew up a 
paper showing the privileges given by   
the law to those who were honestly      
unable to swear4 ,they were exempted    
from the militia1 from the duty of      
acting as special constable1 they could 
procure the acquittal of any thief1     
fraudulent person1 or murderer1 where   
their evidence was necessary to         
conviction4 ,in some cases the thief has
 escaped1 and the person robbed has been
 imprisoned instead1 for his contumacy  
in not lying4 ,it became known among    
thieves that where they could find out a
 witness against them1 who disbelieved  
in an avenging ,god1 the counsel        

defending the thief had only to call the
 attention of the court to the fact for 
the witness to be ordered to stand down1
 and the thief would leave the court    
without a stain on his character4 ,mr4  
,francis1 in his ,history of the ,bank  
of ,england1 relates how ,turner1 whose 
fraud amounted to ,l#aj1jjj1 escaped1   
because the only witness who could swear
 decidedly to his handwriting1 was a    
disbeliever in the ,new ,testament4 ,the
 jury returned a verdict of ,not guilty4
  ,sir ,john ,trelawny told me that the 
fly-leaves ,i published on the          
,privileges of ,sceptics and the        
,immunity of ,thieves made more         
impression upon members of ,parliament  
than any petition sent to the ,house4   
,these and similar services1 with my    
lifelong refusal to take the oath1      
caused ,john ,stuart ,mill to write to  
me1 saying3 ,it is a great triumph of   
freedom of opinion that the ,evidence   
,bill should have passed both ,houses   
without being seriously impaired4 ,you  

may justly take to yourself a good share
 of the credit of having brought things 
up to that pass499  ,these instances    
will no doubt satisfy the reader as to  
the peril of entertaining scruples in   
the face of power4 ,the earliest        
instance which concerned me was a case  
in ,birmingham in which several thousand
 pounds were left for the establishment 
of a secular school which ,i was to     
conduct4 ,not being willing to take the 
oath1 ,i could not prosecute my claim4  
,when a son of mine was killed by the   
recklessness of a driver1 ,i could not  
give evidence on the inquest because ,i 
could not be sworn4 ,my private house   
was thrice robbed by servants who became
 aware of my inability to prosecute4    
,when in business in ,fleet ,street1 my 
property could be carted away1 for which
 ,i had no remedy save lying in wait and
 knocking down the depredators1 which   
would at the ,mansion ,house have led to
 a public scandal and injured the       
business4 ,money was left to me which ,i

 could not claim1 being an outlaw4      
99  ,blackheath ,park1 ,kent1 ,august   
#h1 #ahfi4  ,it would tire the reader to
 tell him all the instances of the      
perils attending scruples4 ,mr4 ,roebuck
 put the case in the ,house of ,commons 
against ,sir ,george ,cornewall ,lewis4 
,pointing his finger at ,sir ,george1 he
 asked1 ,what is the right honourable   
gentleman going to do8 ,two men go into 
court4 ,one disbelieves in the oath1 but
 he takes it4 ,the other takes the peril
 of outlawry rather than profess a faith
 which he does not hold4 ,you believe   
the liar1 whom you know to be a liar1   
and you reject the evidence of the man  
who speaks the truth at his peril4 ,i   
had asked ,mr4 ,roebuck to speak when   
the question of affirmation was before  
the ,house4 ,there were then only he1   
,sir ,john ,trelawny1 or ,mr4 ,conyngham
 to whom such a question could be put   
,it was upon ,mr4 ,roebuck that ,i      
mostly relied4 ,after his speech ,i     
thanked him for doing what no one else  

could do so well4 ,he disclaimed any    
desert of thanks1 saying1 ,i have only  
done what ,jeremy ,bentham taught me4   
,,chapter ,,xxx4 ,,taking ,,sides       
,every one of manly mind1 every person  
of thought and determination1 takes     
sides upon important questions4 ,those  
who say they are indifferent which side 
prevails1 are indifferent whether good  
or evil comes uppermost4 ,those who are 
afraid to choose a side1 command only   
the cold respect accorded to cowardice4 
,those who sit upon a fence to see which
 side is likely to prevail before they  
jump down1 are not seeking the success  
of a principle1 but their own interests4
 ,in most questions--as in              
business--there is a side of honesty and
 a side of fraud4 ,some do not take     
either separately1 thinking they can    
better take both at discretion4 ,if they
 profit by their dexterous duplicity1   
they command no regard4 ,some persons   
have no fervour for the right1 and would
 rather see the wrong prevail than take 

the trouble to prevent it4 ,they would  
be on the side of truth altogether if it
 gave them no discomfort1 and caused    
them no outlay4 ,they belong to the     
large ,laodicean lukewarm class1 of whom
 he who sought their allegiance said he 
would spue them out of his mouth4 ,not a
 pleasant simile1 but it is not mine4   
,it shows that no one is enthusiastic   
about those who are undecided where     
decision interferes with advancement4   
,if the selfish1 or the politic1 or the 
supine do not care to take sides with   
right1 they have no cause to complain if
 the triumph of wrong involves them in  
discredit or disaster4 ,but whatever be 
their fate1 ,i am not concerned with    
them4 ,what ,i am concerned with is the 
omission of all information of what may 
follow to him who shall take the right  
side4 ,these consequences ought never to
 be out of sight4  ,it is too often     
forgotten that in this world virtue has 
its price as well as vice1 and neither  
can be bought cheap4 ,vice can be bought

 on the hire system1 by which a person  
gets into debt pleasantly--which        
introduces shiftlessness into life4     
,wrong is a money-lender1 whose         
concealed charges and heavy interest    
have to be paid one day at the peril of 
ruin4 ,right doing may be said to pay as
 it goes along1 which implies           
conscience1 effort1 and often sacrifice 
of some immediate pleasure4 ,but        
independence lies that way1 and no      
other4 ,right principle incurs no       
deferred obligation4 ,debt is a chain by
 which the debtor binds himself to      
someone else4 ,the connection may be    
disregarded1 but the chain can never be 
broken1 except by restitution4 ,many    
persons are beguiled into doing right   
under the impression that it is as      
pleasant as doing wrong4 ,this is not   
so1 and the concealment of the fact has 
injurious consequences4 ,when a person  
who has been1 as it were1 betrayed into 
virtue1 without being instructed as to  
the inconvenience which may attend it1  

when he encounters them1 he suspects he 
has been imposed upon1 and thinks he had
 better give vice a turn4 ,it was this  
that made ,huxley declare that the      
hardest as well as the most useful      
lesson a man could learn1 was to do that
 which he ought to do1 whether he liked 
it or not4 ,character1 which can be     
trusted1 comes that way1 and that way   
alone4 ,he who enters on that path reaps
 reward daily in the pleasure and       
strength which duty imparts1 while      
sooner or later follow advantage and    
honour4 ,the most useful character      
,george ,eliot drew was that of ,tito1  
who was wrecked because he had no sense 
that there was strength and safety in   
truth4 ,the only strength he trusted to 
lay in his ingenuity and dissimulation4 
,the world is pretty full of ,titos1 who
 all come to one end1 and nobody mourns 
them4  ,a few instances may be          
relevantly given in which rightness has 
been attended by disadvantages1 when    
wrongness appeared to have none--yet    

wrongness was found to bring great      
unpleasantness in the end4  ,when there 
were petitions before the ,house of     
,commons to change the oath which       
excluded ,jews1 and petitions to permit 
persons to make affirmations who had    
conscientious objections to taking an   
oath1 it was represented to me that if  
both claims were kept before ,parliament
 at the same time both would be         
rejected4 ,the ,jewish claim was the    
older1 and concerned the enfranchisement
 of a race4 ,i therefore caused the     
omission for several years of any       
petition for affirmation--though my     
disability of being unable to take the  
oath excluded me from justice and       
rendered me an outlaw4  ,when the ,jews 
had obtained their relief1 ,sir ,julian 
,goldsmid1 a ,jew1 became a candidate at
 ,brighton4 ,mr4 ,matthews1 a political 
friend of mine in the town1 went to ,sir
 ,julian and asked whether1 as ,mr4     
,holyoake and those of his way of       
thinking had deferred their claim for   

affirmation that the ,jews might become 
eligible for ,parliament1 would he vote 
for the ,affirmation ,bill8 ,he said1   
,no6 he would not ,mr4 ,matthews then   
wrote to ask me whether he and others   
who were in favour of ,affirmation      
should vote for ,sir ,julian4 ,i        
answered1 ,certainly1 if he in other    
respects was the best candidate before  
the constituency4 ,however strongly we  
might be persuaded our own claim was    
just1 we had no right to prefer it to   
the general interest of the ,state4     
,speaking one night with ,mr4 ,john     
,morley when we both happened to be     
guests of ,mr4 ,chamberlain at          
,highbury1 ,birmingham1 ,i remarked that
 ,cobden and ,bright1 without intending 
it1 had introduced more immorality into 
politics than any other politicians in  
my time4 ,mr4 ,morley naturally demanded
 to be informed when1 and in what way4  
,i answered1 ,when they advised electors
 to vote for any candidate1 irrespective
 of their political opinion1 who would  

vote against the ,corn ,laws4 ,this     
incited every party to vote for its own 
hand--the priest for the church1 the    
brewers for the barrel1 and the         
teetotalers for the teapot1 the         
anti-vaccinators for those who were     
against the lancet4 ,even women proposed
 to vote for any candidate who would    
give them the suffrage1 regardless      
whether they put out a ,ministry of     
,progress and put in a ,ministry of     
,reaction4 ,this was ignoring the       
general good in favour of a personal    
measure4 ,the error of the great        
,anti-,corn ,law advocates lay in their 
not making it plain to the country that 
when the population were deteriorating  
and dying from want of sufficient food1 
politics must give way to the claims of 
existence4 ,that was the justification  
of ,cobden and ,bright1 and had it been 
stated1 smaller politicians with        
narrower aims could never then have     
pleaded their example for crowding the  
poll with rival claims in which the     

larger interests of the ,state are      
forgotten4 ,like ,bacon's maxim that    
'speaking the truth was so excellent a  
habit1 that any departure from that     
wholesome rule should be noted4' ,the   
,anti-,corn ,law ,league election policy
 needed noting4  ,however many instances
 may be given of the kind before the    
reader1 the moral will be the same4     
,taking sides involves some penalty     
which enthusiasts are apt to overlook1  
and when it arrives ruddy eagerness is  
apt to turn pale and change into ignoble
 prudence4 ,taking the side of honesty  
or fraud1 unpleasantness may come4 ,but 
on the side of right the consciousness  
of integrity mitigates regret and       
commands respect2 while the penalties of
 deceit are intensified by shame and    
scorn4 ,many think there is safety in a 
judicious mixture of good faith and bad1
 but when the bad is discerned1 distrust
 and contempt are the unevadable        
consequences4 ,besides1 it takes more   
trouble to conceal a sinister life than 

to act uprightly4 ,it is true1 an evil  
policy often succeeds1 but the interest 
of society is to take care that he who  
does evil shall be overtaken by evil4   
,as this sentiment grows1 the chances of
 illicit success continually decrease4  
,rascality--refined or coarse--would    
have fewer adherents if society took as 
much trouble to secure that the         
rightdoer shall prosper1 as it takes to 
render the career of the knave          
precarious4  ,the point of importance1  
,i repeat1 is--that persons should      
remember1 or be taught to remember1 that
 the course of right1 like the course of
 wrong1 is attended by consequences4    
,many who are honourably attracted by   
the right are disappointed at finding   
that it has its duties as well as its   
pleasures--which1 had they known at     
first1 they would have made up their    
minds to do them2 but not being apprised
 of them1 when they first encounter     
inconvenience1 they think they have been
 deceived1 falter1 and sometimes turn   

from a noble course upon which they had 
entered4  ,any one would think there was
 no great peril to be encountered by    
taking sides with veracity4 ,let him    
avoid the sin of pretension1 and see    
what will happen4  ,the sin ,i referred 
to is not the common one of declaring   
that to be true which you know to be    
untrue--that has long been known by an  
appropriate name1 and does not require  
any new epithet to denote its           
scandalousness4 ,the sin of pretension  
in question consists in assuming1 or    
declaring that to be true1 which one    
does not know to be true4 ,years ago    
this was a very common sin1 and         
everybody committed it4 ,you heard it in
 the pulpit more frequently than on the 
stage4 ,nobody complained of it1 or     
rebuked it1 or resented it4 ,it was not 
until the middle of the last century    
that public attention was drawn to it4  
,it was ,huxley who first raised the    
question of intellectual veracity1 and  
he devised the term ,agnostic 7which    

merely means limitation7 to express it4 
,limitationism does not mean disbelief1 
but the limitation of assertion to      
actual knowledge4 ,the theist used to   
declare--without misgiving--the absolute
 certainty of the existence of an       
independent1 active ,entity1 to whom    
,nature is second-hand1 and not much at 
that4 ,the anti-theist--also without    
misgiving--denied that there was such   
separate ,potentiality4 ,the            
,limitationist1 more modest in averment1
 not having sufficient information to be
 positive1 simply says he does not know4
 ,he does not say that others may not   
have sufficient knowledge of a primal   
cause of things2 but lacking it himself1
 he concludes that veracity in statement
 may be a virtue where omniscience is   
denied4 ,there may be belief founded on 
inference4 ,but inference is not        
knowledge4 ,the ,limitationist withholds
 assertion from lack of satisfying      
evidence4 ,he is neutral--not because he
 wishes not to believe1 or desires to   

deny1 but because serious language      
should be measured by the standard of   
proof and conviction4  ,so strange did  
this precaution in speech seem in my    
time1 that it was believed that         
reticence was not honest precaution1 but
 prudent concealment of actual          
conviction1 intended to evade orthodox  
anger4 ,on problems relating to infinite
 existence and an unknown future1 it    
requires infinite knowledge to give an  
affirmative answer4 ,no one said he had 
infinite information1 but everybody     
declaimed as though he had4 ,it appeared
 not to have occurred to many that there
 was a state of the understanding in    
which lack of conviction was owing to   
lack of evidence4 ,where the desire to  
believe is hereditary1 it is difficult  
to realise that there are questions upon
 which certainty may1 to many minds1 be 
unattainable1 and that an honest man who
 felt this was bound to say so4 ,an     
,american journal1 which needed         
forbearance from its readers for its own

 heresy1 published the opinion that     
,huxley was a dodger in philosophy4     
,whereas ,huxley was for integrity in   
thought and speech4 ,he was for         
scientific accuracy as far as           
attainable4 ,his own outspokenness was  
the glory of philosophy and science in  
his day4 ,he never denied his           
convictions2 he never apologised for    
them2 he never explained them away4 ,is 
it over his noble tomb that we are to   
write1 ,here lies a ,dodger1 because he 
invented an honest term to denote the   
measured knowledge of honest thinkers8  
,dogmatism is not demonstration1 but    
when ,i was young nobody seemed to      
suspect it4 ,it used to be said that    
,darwin1 ,huxley1 and ,spencer were not 
really in a state of unknowingness      
concerning the great problem of the     
universe--which meant that these eminent
 thinkers1 upon whose lives no shadow of
 unveracity ever rested1 described      
themselves as ,limitationists when they 
were not so4 ,they were not to be       

believed upon their word4 ,the term was 
a mask4 ,such are the social penalties  
for taking sides with veracity4  ,the   
public has begun to discover that       
veracity of speech is not a mask1 but a 
duty4 ,none can calculate the calamities
 which arise in society from the        
perpetual misdirections disseminated by 
those who make assertions resting merely
 upon their inherited belief or         
prepossessions1 with no personal        
knowledge upon which they are founded4  
,this is the sin of pretension1 which   
recedes before the integrity of science 
and reason1 just as wild beasts recede  
before the march of civilisation4  ,few 
would be prepared to believe that1 in my
 polemical days1 the desire to avoid    
committing the sin of pretension was    
supposed to indicate desperation of     
character1 of which suicide would be the
 natural end4 ,this was a favourite     
argument1 for a heterodox principle was 
held to be for ever confuted1 if he who 
held it hanged himself4 ,the best       

proclaimed champion of orthodox tenets1 
whom ,i met on many platforms1 went     
about declaring that ,i intended        
suicide1 and it was generally believed  
that ,i had committed it4 ,the certainty
 of it1 sooner or later1 was little     
doubted1 whereas it was not at all in my
 way4  ,the suicide of ,eugene ,aram1 to
 escape the ignominy of an inevitable   
execution1 is intelligible4 ,if ,blanco 
,white1 whose dying and hopeless        
sufferings excited the sympathy even of 
,cardinal ,newman1 had done the same    
thing1 it would have been condonable4   
,suicide proceeding from disease of the 
mind is always pitiable4 ,when ,italian 
prisoners were given belladonna by their
 ,austrian gaolers1 to cause them to    
betray1 unconsciously1 their comrades1  
some committed suicide to prevent this1 
which was honourable though deplorable4 
,when a murderer1 knowing his desert1   
becomes his own executioner1 he is not  
censurable though still infamous1 since 
it saves society the expense of         

terminating his dangerous career4 ,but  
in other cases1 self-slaughter1 to avoid
 trouble or the performance of          
inconvenient duty1 is cowardly and      
detestable4  ,in my controversial days  
7which ,i hope are not yet ended7 the   
clergy did not hesitate to say that if a
 man began to think for himself1 he     
would end by killing himself4  ,when ,i 
thought the doctrine had died out1 an   
instance recurred which led me to       
address the following letter to the     
,rev4 ,r4 ,p4 ,downes1 ,,lld4 7,may #ah1
 #ahii71 who thought the doctrine       
valid3--  ,dear ,dr4 ,downes1--,it has  
been reported to me that in ,wesley     
,place ,chapel1 ,tunstall 7,march #bj1  
#ahii71 you1 when preaching on the      
',roots of ,unbelief1' illustrated that 
troublesome subject by saying that 'when
 ,mr4 ,holyoake was imprisoned at       
,birmingham1 he attempted suicide4'     
,this is not true1 nor was it in        
,birmingham1 but in ,gloucester where   
the imprisonment occurred4 ,i never     

attempted suicide--it was never in my   
mind to do it4 ,i had no motive that    
way4 ,i experienced no moment of        
despair4 ,better men than ,i had been   
imprisoned before1 for being so         
imprudent as to protest against         
intolerance and error4 ,besides1 ,i     
never liked suicide4 ,i was always      
against it ,blowing out your brains     
makes an ill-conditioned splatter4      
,cutting your throat is a detestable    
want of consideration for those who have
 to efface the stains4 ,drowning is     
disagreeable1 as the water is cold and  
not clean4 ,hanging is mean and         
ignominious1 and ,i have always heard   
unpleasant ,the ,french charcoal plan   
makes you sick4 ,indeed1 every form of  
suicide shows want of taste2 and worse  
than that1 it is a cowardly thing to    
flee from evils you ought to combat1 and
 leave others1 whom you may be bound to 
cherish and protect1 to struggle        
unaided4 ,so you see what you allege    
against me is not only irrelevant--it   

implies defect of taste1 which is       
serious in the eyes of society1 which   
will condone crime more readily than    
vulgarity4  ,i am against your discourse
 because of its bad taste4 ,suicide is  
no argument against the truth of belief4
 ,christians are continually committing 
it1 and clergymen also4 ,the ,society   
for the ,propagation of ,christian      
,knowledge used to bring this argument  
from suicide forward in their tracts    
against heresy4 ,but being educated     
gentlemen they abandoned it long ago1   
and it is now only used by the lower    
class of preachers4 ,i do not mean to   
suggest that you belong to that         
class--only that you have condescended  
to use an argument peculiar to          
uncultivated reasoners4  ,personally1 ,i
 have great respect for several eminent 
preachers of ,wesleyan persuasion1 but  
they think it necessary to inquire into 
the truth of an accusation before they  
make it ,you must have borrowed yours   
from the ,rev4 ,brewin ,grant1 with whom

 in his last illness ,i had friendly    
communications1 and he had long ceased  
to repeat what he said in days when it  
was not thought necessary to be exact in
 imputations against adversaries4  ,i do
 not remember to have written before in 
refutation of the statement you made4   
,no one who knows me would believe it   
for a moment2 but as you are a          
responsible1 and ,i understand a        
well-regarded1 preacher1 ,i inform you  
of the error1 especially as it gives me 
the opportunity of putting on record not
 only my disinclination1 but my dislike 
and contempt for suicide1 and for those 
who1 not being hopelessly diseased or   
insane1 commit it4   ,dr4 ,downes sent  
me a gentlemanly and candid letter1     
owning that the ,rev4 ,brewin ,grant1   
,b4,a41 was the authority on which he   
spoke1 whose representations he would   
not repeat1 and ,i have reason to       
believe he has not4  ,such are the      
vicissitudes of taking sides4 ,he has to
 pay who takes the right1 but he has    

honour in the end4 ,but he pays more who
 takes the wrong side consciously1 and  
with it comes infamy4     ,,chapter     
,,xxxi4 ,,things ,,which ,,went ,,as    
,,they ,,would  ,i commence with ,judge 
,hughes' first candidature4 ,there are  
cases in which gratitude is submerged by
 prejudice1 even among the cultivated   
classes4 ,there was ,thomas ,hughes1    
whose statue has been deservedly erected
 in ,rugby4 ,three years before he      
became a member of ,parliament ,i told  
him he might enter the ,house were he so
 minded4 ,and when opportunity arose ,i 
was able to confirm my assurance4  ,one 
,friday afternoon in #ahfe some ,lambeth
 politicians of the middle and working  
classes1 whom ,bernal ,osborne had      
disappointed of being their candidate 7a
 vacancy having attracted him           
elsewhere71 came to me at the ,house of 
,commons to inquire if ,i could suggest 
one to them4 ,i named ,mr4 ,hughes as a 
good fighting candidate1 who had        
sympathy with working people1 and who1  

being honest1 could be trusted in what  
he promised1 and being an athlete1      
could1 like ,feargus ,o',connor1 be     
depended upon on a turbulent platform4  
,i was to see ,mr4 ,hughes at once1     
which ,i did1 and after much argument   
satisfied him that if he took the       
occasion by the hand he might succeed4  
,he said1 he must first consult         
,sally--meaning ,mrs4 ,hughes4 ,i had   
heard him sing ,sally in our ,alley1 and
 took his remark as a playful allusion  
to his wife as the heroine of the song4 
,that he might be under no illusion1 ,i 
suggested that he should not enter upon 
the contest unless he was prepared to   
lose ,l#a1jjj4  ,the next morning he    
consented4 ,i took him to my friends of 
the ,electoral ,committee1 by whom he   
was accepted4 ,when he entered the      
vestibule of the hall of meeting ,i left
 him1 lest my known opinions on other   
subjects should compromise him in the   
minds of some electors4 ,this was on the
 ,saturday afternoon4 ,i saw that by    

issuing an address in the ,monday       
morning papers he would be first in the 
field4 ,on ,sunday morning1 therefore1  
,i waited for him at the ,vere ,street  
,church door1 where the ,rev4 ,f4 ,d4   
,maurice preached1 to ask him to write  
at once his address to the electors4 ,he
 thought more of his soul than of his   
success1 and reluctantly complied with  
my request4 ,his candidature might      
prevent a ,tory member being elected1   
and the labours of the ,liberal electors
 for years being rendered futile1       
education put back1 the ,liberal        
,association discouraged1 taxation of   
the people increased1 and the moral and 
political deterioration of the borough  
ensue4 ,to avert all such evils the     
candidate was loath to peril his        
salvation for an hour4 ,yet would it not
 have been a work of human holiness to  
do it1 which would make his soul better 
worth saving8 ,that day ,i had lunch at 
his table in ,park ,lane1 while he      
thought the matter over4 ,that was the  

first and last time ,i was asked to his 
house4 ,that afternoon he brought the   
address to my home1 then known as       
,dymoke ,lodge1 ,oval ,road1 ,regent's  
,park1 and had tea with my family4 ,i   
had collected several persons in another
 room ready to make copies of the       
address4  ,i wrote letters to various   
editors1 took a cab1 and left a copy of 
the address myself1 before ten o'clock1 
at the offices of all the chief         
newspapers published on ,monday morning4
 ,the editor of the ,daily ,news and one
 or two others ,i saw personally4 ,all  
printed the address as news1 free of    
expense4 ,next morning the ,liberal     
electors were amazed to see their       
candidate first in the field before any 
other had time to appear4 ,all the while
 ,i knew ,mr4 ,hughes would vote against
 three things which ,i valued1 and in   
favour of which ,i had written and      
spoken4 ,he would vote against the      
ballot1 against opening picture         
galleries and museums on ,sunday1 and   

against the separation of the ,church   
from the ,state4 ,but on the whole he   
was calculated to promote the interests 
of the country1 and therefore ,i did    
what ,i could to promote his election4  
,i wrote for the election two or three  
bills4 ,the following is one3--         
,,hughes  ,,for  ,,lambeth4       ,vote 
for ,tom ,brown4       ,vote   for a    
,gentleman who is a friend of  the      
,people4       ,vote  for a  ,churchman 
who will   do justice   to              
,dissenters4       ,vote for a tried    
,politician who will support just       
measures      and can give sensible     
reasons for them4       ,vote for   a   
distinguished writer   and   raise   the
      character of metropolitan         
constituencies4       ,vote for a       
candidate who can defend your cause in  
the ,press      as well as in           
,parliament       ,vote for a man known 
to be honest and who has long worked    
for the industrious classes4            
,electors of ,lambeth1       ,vote for  

,thomas ,hughes4   ,mr4 ,hughes would   
have had no address out but for me4 ,had
 he spent ,l#ajj in advertisements a day
 or two later he could not have         
purchased the advantage this promptitude
 gave him4 ,i worked very hard all that 
,sunday1 a son and daughter helping--but
 our souls did not count ,two weeks went
 by--during which ,i ceaselessly        
promulgated his candidature--and ,i     
heard nothing from the candidate4 ,as ,i
 had paid the emergency expenses of the 
,sunday copyists1 found them            
refreshments while they wrote1 and paid 
for the cab on its round to the offices1
 ,i found myself ,l#b out of pocket1 as 
lawyers put it1 and ,i sent a note to   
,mr4 ,hughes to say that amount would   
cover costs incurred4 ,he replied in a  
curt note saying ,i should find a cheque
 for ,l#b within--giving me the         
impression that he regarded it as an    
extortion1 which he thought it better to
 submit to than resent4 ,he never       
thanked me1 then or at any time1 for    

what ,i did4 ,never in all his life did 
he refer to the service ,i had rendered 
him4  ,a number of friends were invited 
to ,great ,ormond ,street ,college to   
celebrate his election1 but ,i was not  
one4 ,this was not handsome treatment1  
but ,i thought little of it4 ,it was not
 ,mr4 ,hughes's natural1 but his        
ecclesiastical self4 ,i withstood him   
and his friends1 the ,christian         
,socialists1 who sought to colour       
,co-operation with ,church tenets1 which
 would put distraction into it4         
,association with me was at that time   
repugnant to ,mr4 ,hughes4              
,nevertheless1 ,i continued to serve him
 whenever ,i could4 ,he was a friend of 
,co-operation1 to his cost1 and was true
 to the ,liberal interests of the       
people4 ,my daughter1 ,mrs4 ,praill1 and
 her husband gave their house as a      
committee-room when ,mr4 ,hughes was    
subsequently a candidate in ,marylebone1
 and she canvassed for him so           
assiduously that he paid her a special  

visit of acknowledgment4  ,the          
,christian ,socialist propaganda is     
another instance of the wilfulness of   
things which went as you did not want   
them to go4 ,in those days not only did 
,i fail to find favour in the eyes of   
,mr4 ,hughes--even ,mr4 ,vansittart     
,neale1 the most liberal of ,christian  
,socialists1 thought me1 for some years1
 an unengaging colleague4 ,general      
,maurice1 in the ,life of his eminent   
father 7,professor ,denison ,maurice71  
relates that ,mr4 ,maurice regarded me  
as an antagonist4 ,this was never so4 ,i
 had always respect for ,professor      
,maurice because of his theological     
liberality4 ,he believed that perdition 
was limited to aeons4 ,the duration of  
an aeon he was not clear upon2 but      
whatever its length1 it was then an     
unusual and merciful limitation of      
eternal torture4 ,this cost him his     
,professorship at ,king's ,college1     
through the enmity1 it was said1 of     
,professor ,jelf4 ,i endeavoured to     

avenge ,professor ,maurice by dedicating
 to ,dr4 ,jelf my ,limits of ,atheism4  
,elsewhere ,i assailed him because ,i   
had honour for ,professor ,maurice1 for 
his powerful friendship to              
,co-operation4 ,when the news of his    
death came to the ,bolton ,congress it  
was ,i who drew up and proposed the     
resolution of honour and sorrow which we
 passed4  ,it was always the complaint  
against the early ,socialists--as the   
,co-operators were then called--that    
they mixed up polemical controversy with
 social advocacy4 ,the ,christian       
,socialists strenuously made this       
objection1 yet all the while they were  
seeking to do the same thing4 ,what they
 rightly objected to was that the chief 
,co-operators gave irrelevant prominence
 to the alien question of theology1 and 
repelled all persons who differed from  
them4  ,all the while1 what they        
objected to was not theology1 but to a  
kind of theology not their own1 and this
 kind1 as soon as they acquired         

authority1 they proceeded to introduce4 
,they proceeded to compile a handbook   
intended to pledge the ,co-operators to 
the ,church of ,england1 and ,i received
 proofs1 which ,i still have1 in which  
,mr4 ,hughes made an attack on all      
persons of ,freethinking views4 ,i      
objected to this as violating the       
principle on which we had long agreed1  
namely1 of ,co-operative neutrality in  
religion99 and politics1 as their       
introduction was the signal of          
disputation which diverted the attention
 of members from the advancement of     
,co-operation in life1 trade1 and       
labour4 ,at the ,leeds ,congress ,i     
maintained that the congress was like   
,parliament1 where1 as ,canning said1 no
 question is introduced which cannot be 
discussed4 ,if ,church views were       
imported into the societies1 ,heretics  
and ,nonconformists1 who were the       
originators of the movement1 would have 
the right of introducing4 ,personally1  
,i preferred controversy outside        

,co-operation4 ,their tenets4 ,mr4      
,hughes was so indignant at my protest  
that he1 being in the chair1 refused to 
call upon me to move a resolution       
officially assigned to me upon another  
subject4 ,at the meeting of the ,united 
,board for revising motions to be       
brought before ,congress1 ,i gave notice
 that if the ,church question should be 
raised ,i should object to it1 as it    
would then be in order 7should the      
introduction of theology be sanctioned7 
for an ,atheist 7,agnostic was not a    
current word then7 to propose the       
adoption of his views1 and an ,atheist1 
as such1 might be a president4          
,whereupon ,mr4 ,vansittart ,neale1 our 
general secretary1 declared with        
impassioned vehemence that he hoped the 
day would never come when an ,atheist   
would be elected president4 ,yet when1  
some years later1 ,i was appointed      
president of the ,carlisle ,congress    
7#ahhg7--though ,i was still considered 
entirely deficient in proper theological

 convictions--,mr4 ,hughes and ,mr4     
,neale1 who were both present1 were most
 genial1 and with their concurrence     
#ajj1jjj copies of my address were      
printed--a distinction which befel no   
other president4  ,in another instance  
,i had to withstand ,church ascendancy4 
,i was the earliest and foremost        
advocate of the neutrality of pious     
opinion in ,co-operation2 when others   
who knew its value were silent--afraid  
or unwilling to give pain to the        
,christian ,socialists1 whom we all     
respected1 and to whom we were all      
indebted for legal and friendly         
assistance4  ,but integrity of principle
 is higher than friendship4 ,some       
,northumbrian societies1 whose members  
were largely ,nonconformists1 were      
greatly indignant at the attempt to give
 ascendancy to ,church opinions1 and    
volunteered to support my protest       
against it ,but when the day of protest 
came at the ,leeds ,congress they all   
deserted me--not one raised a voice on  

my side2 though they saw me browbeaten  
in their interest ,my argument was1 that
 if we assented to become a ,church     
party we might come to have our         
proceedings opened with a collect1 or by
 prayer1 to which it would be hypocrisy 
in many to pretend to assent4 ,at the   
following ,derby ,congress this came to 
pass3 ,bishop ,southwell1 who opened the
 ,industrial ,exhibition1 made a prayer 
and members of the ,united ,board knelt 
round him4 ,i was the only one who stood
 up1 it being the only seemly form of   
protest there4 ,this scene was never    
afterwards repeated4 ,bishop ,southwell 
was a devout1 kindly1 and intellectually
 liberal prelate1 but he did not know1  
or did not respect1 as other ,bishops   
did1 the neutrality of ,congress4  ,for 
myself1 ,i was always in favour of the  
individuality of the religious          
conscience in its proper place4 ,i love 
the picturesqueness of personal         
conviction4 ,it was ,i who first        
proposed that we should accept offers of

 sermons on ,congress ,sunday by        
ministers of every denomination4        
,co-operators included members of all   
religious persuasions1 and ,i was for   
their opportunity of hearing favourite  
preachers apart from ,co-operative      
proceedings4  ,it is only necessary for 
the moral of these instances to pursue  
them4 ,there is education in them and   
public suggestiveness which may justify 
the continuance of the subject4  ,when  
the ,co-operative ,news was begun in    
,manchester 7#ahga71 ,i wrote its early 
leaders1 and as its prospects were not  
hopeful1 it was agreed that the ,social 
,economist1 which ,i and ,mr4 ,e4 ,o4   
,greening had established in ,london in 
#ahfh1 should cease in favour of the    
,co-operative ,news1 as we wished to see
 one paper1 one interest1 and one party4
 ,as the ,manchester office was too poor
 to purchase our journal1 we agreed that
 it should be paid for when the         
,manchester paper succeeded1 and the    
price should be what the cessation of   

the ,social ,economist should be thought
 to be worth to the new paper4 ,it was  
sixteen years before the fulfilment of  
their side of the bargain4 ,the award1  
if ,i remember rightly1 was ,l#ae1 but  
,i know the period was as long and the  
amount as small4 ,the ,co-operative     
,news had then been established many    
years4 ,it was worth much more than     
,l#ajj to the ,manchester paper to have 
a ,london rival out of the way4 ,it was 
not an encouraging transaction1 and but 
for ,mr4 ,neale1 ,abraham ,greenwood and
 ,mr4 ,crabtree it would not have ended 
as it did4 ,but the committee were      
workmen without knowledge of literary   
matters4 ,so ,i made no complaint1 and  
worked with them and for their paper all
 the same4 ,it was a mistake to         
discontinue the ,social ,economist1     
which had some powerful friends4        
,co-operation was soon narrowed in      
,manchester4 ,co-operative workshops    
were excluded from participation in     
profit4 ,we should have kept            

,co-operation on a higher level in      
,london4  ,the ,rochdale ,jubilee is the
 last instance ,i shall cite4 ,in #ahib 
was celebrated the jubilee of the       
,rochdale ,society4 ,i received no      
invitation and no official notice4 ,the 
handbook published by the society1 in   
commemoration of its fifty years'       
success1 made no reference to me nor to 
the services ,i had rendered the        
society4 ,i had written its history1    
which had been printed in ,america1 and 
translated into the chief languages of  
,europe--in ,spain1 in ,hungary1 several
 times in ,france and ,italy4 ,i had put
 the name of the ,pioneers into the     
mouth of the world1 yet my name was     
never mentioned by any one4 ,speaking on
 the part of the ,rochdale              
,co-operators1 the ,president of        
,jubilee ,congress1 who knew the facts  
of my devotion to the reputation of     
,rochdale1 was silent4 ,archdeacon      
,wilson was the only one who showed me  
public regard4 ,the local press said    

some gracious things1 but they were not 
,co-operators4 ,i had spoken at the     
graves of the men who had made the      
fortunes of the store1 and had written  
words of honour of all the political    
leaders of the town1 and of those best  
remembered in connection with the famous
 society1 which ,i had vindicated1      
without ceasing1 during half a century4 
,in the earlier struggles of the        
,pioneers ,i had looked forward to the  
day of their jubilee1 when ,i should    
stand in their regard as ,i had done in 
their day of need4 ,of course1 this gave
 me a little concern to find myself     
treated as one unknown to them4 ,but in 
truth they had not forgotten me1 though 
they ignored me4 ,the new generation of 
,co-operators had abandoned1 to ,mr4    
,bright's regret1 participation of      
profit with ,labour1 the noblest        
aspiration of the ,pioneers4 ,i had     
addressed them in remonstrance1 in the  
language of ,lord ,byron1 who was ,lord 
of the ,manor of ,rochdale3--       ,you

 have the ,rochdale store as yet1       
,where has the ,rochdale workshop gone8 
,of two such lessons why forget         
,the nobler and the manlier one8        
,saying this cost me their cordiality   
and their gratitude2 but ,i cared for   
the principle and for the future1 and   
was consoled4  ,in every party1 the men 
who made it great die1 and leave no     
immediate successors4 ,but in time their
 example recreates them4 ,but at the    
,jubilee of #ahib1 they had not         
re-appeared1 and those who had memories 
and gratitude were dead4 ,i spoke over  
the grave of ,cooper1 of ,smithies1 of  
,thomas ,livesey--,john ,bright's       
schoolfellow--the great friend of the   
dead ,pioneers saying3--       ,they are
 gone1 the holy ones1      ,who trod    
with me this lovely vale2      ,my old  
star-bright companions      ,are silent1
 low and pale499  ,the question arises1 
does this kind of experience justify a  
person in deserting his party8  ,the    
last incident and others preceding it   

are given as instances of outrage or    
neglect1 which in public life explain   
ignominious desertion of principle4 ,i  
have known men change sides in          
,parliament because the ,premier1 who   
had defect of sight1 passed them by in  
the lobby without recognition4 ,i have  
seen others desert a party1 which they  
had brilliantly served1 because their   
personal ambition had not been          
recognised4 ,because of this ,i have    
seen a man turn heels over head in the  
presence of ,parliament1 and land       
himself in the laps of adversaries who  
had been kicking him all his life4  ,if 
,i did not do so1 it was because ,i     
remembered that parties are like        
persons1 who at one time do mean things1
 but at other times generous things4    
99 ,history of ,rochdale ,pioneers1     
#ahdd-ahib 7,sonnenschein74  ,besides1 a
 democratic party is continually        
changing in its component members1 and  
many come to act in the name of the     
movement who are ignorant of its earlier

 history and of the obligation it may be
 under to those who have served it in   
its struggling days4 ,but whether       
affronts are consciously given or not1  
they do not count where allegiance to a 
cause is concerned4 ,ingratitude does   
not invalidate a true principle4 ,when  
contrary winds blow1 a fair-weather     
partisan tacks about1 and will even sail
 into a different sea where the breezes 
are more complacent4 ,i remained the    
friend of the cause alike in summer and 
winter1 not because ,i was insensible to
 vicissitudes1 but because it was a     
simple duty to remain true to a         
principle whose integrity was not and   
could not be affected by the caprice1   
the meanness1 the obliviousness1 or the 
malignity of its followers4  ,such are  
some of the incidents--of which others  
of more public interest may be given--of
 the nature of bygones which have       
instruction in them4 ,they are not      
peculiar to any party4 ,they occur      
continually in ,parliament and in the   

,church4 ,i have seen persons who had   
rendered costly service of long duration
 who1 by some act of ingratitude on the 
part of the few1 have turned against the
 whole class1 which shows that1         
consciously or unconsciously1 it was    
self-recognition they sought1 or most   
cared for1 rather than the service of   
the principle they had espoused4  ,there
 is no security for the permanence of   
public effort1 save in the clear        
conviction of its intrinsic rightfulness
 and conduciveness to the public good4  
,the rest must be left to time and      
posterity4 ,true1 the debt is sometimes 
paid after the creditor is dead4 ,but if
 reparation never comes to the living1  
unknown persons whose condition needs   
betterment receive it1 and that is the  
proud and consoling thought of those    
who--unrequited--effected it4 ,the      
wholesome policy of persistence is      
expressed in the noble maxim of         
,helvetius to which ,john ,morley has   
given new currency3 ,love men1 but do   

not expect too much from them4  ,fewer  
persons would fall into despair if their
 anticipations were1 like a commercial  
company1 limited4 ,many men expect in   
others perfection1 who make no          
conspicuous contribution themselves to  
the sum of that excellent attribute4    
,giving too little and asking too much  
,is not alone a fault of the ,dutch4  ,i
 do not disguise that standing by       
,rightness is an onerous duty4 ,it is as
 much a merit as it is a distinction to 
have been1 at any time1 in the employ of
 ,truth4 ,but ,truth1 though an         
illustrious1 is an exacting mistress1   
and that is why so many people who enter
 her service soon give notice to leave4 
,with respect to this chapter1 ,mr4     
,ludlow wrote supplying      some       
particulars regarding the ,christian    
,socialists1 to      which it is due to 
him that equal publicity be given4 ,he  
states that the first ,council of       
,promoters included two      members1   
neither of whom professed to be a       

,christian2 that      the first         
secretary of the ,society for ,promoting
 ,working      ,men's ,associations was 
not one1 during the whole of his        
faithful service 7he became one twenty  
years later71 and      that his         
successors were1 at the time we took    
them on1 one      an ,agnostic1 the     
other a strong ,congregationalist4 ,this
 is      the first time these facts have
 been made known4 ,but none of      the 
persons thus described had anything to  
do with the      production of the      
,handbook referred to and discussed at  
the      ,leeds ,congress of #ahha4     
,quite apart from the theological       
tendencies of the ,christian            
,socialists1 the ,co-operative          
movement has been indebted to them for  
organisation and      invaluable        
counsel1 as ,i have never ceased to say4
 ,they were      all for the            
participation of profits in workshops1  
which is      the essential part of     
higher ,co-operation4 ,there was always 

light in their speeches1 and it was the 
light of principle4      ,in this       
respect ,mr4 ,ludlow was the first1 as  
he is the last      to display it1 as he
 alone survives that distinguished band4
      ,of ,mr4 ,edward ,vansittart      
,neale ,i have unmeasured admiration    
and regard4 ,to use the fine saying of  
,abd-el-,kader1      ,benefits          
conferred   are   golden fetters which  
bind men      of noble mind to the      
giver4 ,this is the lasting sentiment   
of the most experienced ,co-operators   
towards the ,christian      ,socialists4
     ,,chapter ,,xxxii4 ,,story ,,of    
,,the ,,lambeth ,,palace ,,grounds      
,seed sown upon the waters1 we are told1
 may bring forth fruit after many days4 
,this chapter tells the story of seed   
sown on very stony soil1 which brought  
forth fruit twenty-five years later4    
,in #ahgh1 ,mr4 ,george ,anderson1 an   
eminent consulting gas engineer1 in whom
 business had not abated human sympathy1
 passed every morning on his way to his 

chambers in ,westminster1 by the        
,lambeth ,palace grounds4 ,he was struck
 by the contrast of the spacious and    
idle acres adjoining the ,palace and the
 narrow1 dismal streets where poor      
children peered in corners and alleys4  
,the sheep in the ,palace grounds were  
fat and florid1 and the children in the 
street were lean and pallid4 ,the smoke 
from works around dyed dark the fleece  
of the sheep4  ,mr4 ,anderson thought   
how much happier a sight it would be to 
see the children take the place of the  
sheep1 and asked me if something could  
not be done4  ,the difficulty of        
rescuing or of alienating nine acres of 
land from the ,church1 so skilled in    
holding1 did not seem a hopeful         
undertaking1 while the resentment of    
good vicars and expectant curates might 
surely be counted upon4 ,nevertheless   
the attempt was worth making4  ,before  
long ,i spent portions of some days in  
exploring the ,palace grounds1 and      
interviewing persons who had evidence to

 give1 or interest to use1 on behalf of 
a change which seemed so desirable4     
,eventually ,i brought the matter before
 a meeting ,i knew to be interested in  
ethical improvement1 and read to them   
the draft of a memorial that ,i thought 
ought to be sent to the ,archbishop at  
,lambeth ,palace4 ,persons in stations  
low and high alike1 often suffer wrong  
to exist which they might arrest1       
because they have not seen it to be     
wrong or have not been told that it is  
so4 ,blame of any one could not be      
justly expressed who had not personal   
knowledge of an evil complained of4     
,therefore ,i urged that we should give 
the ,archbishop information which we    
thought justified his action1 and ,i was
 authorised to send to him the memorial 
,i had read4  ,i wrote myself to his    
,grace1 stating that ,i could testify as
 to the social facts detailed in the    
memorial ,i enclosed1 which was as      
follows3--  ,may it please your         
,grace1--,we1 the evening congregation  

assembled in ,south ,place ,chapel1     
,finsbury--some assenting and some      
dissenting from the tenets represented  
by your ,grace--represented as worthily 
as by any one who has occupied your high
 station1 and with greater fairness to  
those who stand outside the ,church than
 is shown by many prelates--we pray your
 ,grace to give heed to a secular plea  
on behalf of certain little neighbours  
of yours whom1 amid the pressure of     
spiritual duties1 your ,grace may have  
overlooked4  ,crouching under the very  
walls of ,lambeth ,palace1 where your   
,grace has the pleasant responsibility  
of illustrating the opulence and        
paternal sympathy of the legal ,church  
of the land1 lie streets as dismal1     
cheerless1 and discreditable as any that
 ,god in ,his wrath ever permitted to   
remain unconsumed4 ,in the houses are   
polluted air1 squalor1 dirt and         
pale-faced children4 ,the only green    
thing upon which their feverish eyes    
could look is enclosed in your ,grace's 

,palace ,park1 and shut out from their  
sight by dead walls4 ,what we pray is   
that your ,grace1 in mercy and humanity1
 will substitute for those penal walls  
some pervious palisades through which   
children may behold the refreshing      
paradise of ,nature1 though they may    
never enter therein4 ,in this           
ever-crowding metropolis1 where field   
and tree belong to the extinct sights of
 a happier age1 children are born and   
die without ever knowing their soothing 
charm1 and hunger and thirst for a green
 thing to look upon--as sojourners in a 
desert do for the sight of shrub or     
water4 ,no prayer your ,grace could     
offer to heaven would be so welcome in  
its kindly courts1 as the prayer of     
gladness and gratitude which would go up
 with the screams of change and joy from
 the pallid little ones1 breathing the  
fresh air from the green meadows1 which 
only a few more fortunate sheep now     
enjoy4  ,might we pray that the gates   
should be open1 and that the children   

themselves should be free to enter the  
meadows8 ,even the ,temple ,gardens of  
the ,city are open to little friendless 
people4 ,they who give this gracious    
permission are hard-souled lawyers1     
usually regarded as representing the    
rigid1 exacting1 and unsympathetic side 
of human life--yet they show such noble 
tenderness to the little miserables who 
crawl round the ,temple pavement1 that  
they grant entrance to their splendid   
gardens2 and half-clad cellar urchins   
from the purlieus of ,drury ,lane and   
,clare ,market romp with their ragged   
sisters on the glorious grass1 in the   
sight and scent of beauteous flowers4   
,if lawyers do this1 may we not ask it  
of one who is appointed to represent    
what we are told is the kindliness and  
tenderness of ,christianity1 and whose  
,master said1 ',suffer little children  
to come unto ,me1 and forbid them not1  
for of such is the kingdom of heaven'8  
,we ask not that they should personally 
approach your ,grace1 but that the      

children of your desolate neighbourhood 
should be allowed to disport in the     
vacant meadows of the ,palace--that     
their souls may acquire some scent of   
,nature which their lives may never     
know4  ,let your ,grace take a walk down
 ',royal ,street1' which flanks your    
,palace grounds1 and see whether houses 
so pestilential ever stood in a street  
of so dainty a name8 ,go into the houses
 7as the writer of this memorial has7   
and see how a blank wall has been kept  
up so that no occupant of the rooms may 
look on grass or tree1 and the window   
which admits light and air has been     
turned1 by order of a former archbishop1
 the opposite way upon an outlook as    
wretched as the lot of the inhabitants4 
,for forty years many inmates have lived
 and slept by the side of your ,grace's 
park1 without ever being allowed a      
glimpse of it4 ,you may have no power to
 cancel such social outrage--but your   
,grace may4 condone it by kindly and    
considerately according the use of the  

meadows to the poor children--doomed to 
burrow in these close1 unwholesome      
tenements at your doors4  ,no one       
accuses your ,grace of being wanting in 
personal kindliness4 ,it must be that no
 one has called your attention to the   
unregarded misery under the shadow of   
your ,palace4 ,should your ,grace visit 
the forlorn streets and sickly homes    
around you1 and hear the despairing     
words of the mothers when asked 'whether
 they would not be grateful could their 
children have a daily run in the great  
,archbishop's meadows8' there would not 
be wanting a plea from the gentle heart 
of the ,lady of the ,palace on behalf of
 these hapless children of these poor   
mothers4  ,disregard not our appeal1 we 
pray1 because ours are unlicensed       
voices4 ,humanity is of every creed1 and
 it will not detract from the glory of  
the ,church that gratitude and praise   
should proceed from unaccustomed        
tongues4  ,signed on behalf of the      
,assembly1 with deference and respect4  

,george ,jacob ,holyoake4  ,newcastle   
,chambers1 ,temple ,bar1  ,november #ba1
 #ahgh4   ,within two days ,i had the   
pleasure to receive a reply from the    
,archbishop4  ,philpstoun ,house1       
,november #bc1 #ahgh4  ,sir1--,you may  
feel confident that the subject of the  
memorial which you have forwarded to me 
with your letter of the #bast will      
receive my attentive consideration4 ,the
 condition of the inhabitants of the    
poor streets in ,lambeth has often given
 me anxiety4 ,my daughters and ,mrs4    
,tait are well acquainted with many of  
the houses which you describe1 and1 so  
far as my other duties have allowed1 ,i 
have taken opportunities of visiting    
some of the inmates of such houses      
personally4 ,i should esteem it a great 
privilege if ,i were able to assist in  
maturing any scheme for improving the   
dwellings of the poor families to which 
your memorial alludes4 ,respecting the  
use of the open ground which surrounds  
,lambeth ,palace1 ,i have1 in common    

with my predecessors1 had the subject   
often under consideration4 ,the plan    
which has been adopted and which has    
appeared on the whole the best for the  
interests of the neighbourhood1 has been
 that now pursued for many years4 ,the  
ground is freely given for cricket and  
football to as many schools and clubs as
 it is capable of containing1 and1 on   
application1 liberty of entrance is     
accorded to children and others4 ,many  
school treats are also held in the      
grounds1 and they are from time to time 
used for volunteer corps to exercise in4
 ,we have always been afraid that a more
 public opening of the grounds would    
interfere with the useful purposes to   
which they are at present turned for the
 benefit of the neighbourhood1 and that1
 considering the somewhat limited extent
 of the space1 no advantage could be    
secured by throwing it entirely open1   
which would at all compensate for the   
loss of the advantages at present       
enjoyed4 ,i shall give the matter       

serious consideration1 consulting with  
those best qualified from local         
experience to judge what is best for the
 neighbourhood1 but my present          
impression is that more good is1 on the 
whole1 done by the arrangements now     
adopted1 than by any other which ,i     
could devise4  ,i have the honour to be1
 ,sir1  ,your obedient humble servant1  
,a4 ,c4 ,cantuar4  ,to ,mr4 ,george     
,jacob ,holyoake4   ,this correspondence
 ,i sent to the ,daily ,news1 always    
open to questions of interest to the    
people1 and it received notice in       
various papers4 ,the ,liverpool ,daily  
,mail gave an effective summary of the  
memorial1 saying3--  ,of all strange    
people in the world1 ,mr4 ,g4 ,j4       
,holyoake and the ,archbishop of        
,canterbury have been in                
correspondence--and not in unfriendly   
correspondence either4 ,mr4 ,holyoake1  
on behalf of himself and some friends   
like-minded1 ventured to draw the       
,archbishop's attention to the fact that

 just opposite ,lambeth ,palace was a   
nest of very poor and squalid dwellings1
 in which many families were crowded    
together1 without any regard for either 
decency or sanitary law4 ,the only      
chance of looking upon anything green   
that the children of these poor people  
could have would be in the grounds that 
surround the ,primate's dwelling1 and   
these were absolutely shut off from     
their view by a high dead wall4 ,in some
 cases a former ,archbishop had actually
 ordered the windows of these miserable 
houses to be blocked up1 and opened in  
another direction1 in order1 we suppose1
 that the ,archiepiscopal eyes might not
 be offended by the sight of such       
unpleasant neighbours4 ,the writer ended
 by expressing the hope that if the     
,archbishop could not open the grounds  
he might substitute pervious palisades  
for the stone walls impervious to the   
curious and wistful eyes of children4   
,for reasons which will appear1 the     
subject slumbered for four years1 when  

,i addressed the following letter to the
 editors of the ,telegraph and the      
,times1 which appeared ,december #bj1   
#ahhb3--  ,sir1--,on returning to       
,england ,i read an announcement that   
the ,lambeth ,vestry had resolved to    
send a memorial to the ,queen praying   
that the nine acres of field1 now       
devoted to sheep1 adjoining the         
,archbishop of ,canterbury's ,palace    
garden1 may be appropriated to public   
recreation in that crowded and          
verdureless parish4 ,four years ago ,i  
sent a memorial upon this subject to the
 late ,archbishop4 ,it set forth that   
the parish was so densely populated that
 it would be an act of mercy to throw   
open the sheep fields to the poor       
children of the neighbourhood4 ,it      
expressed the hope that ,mrs4 ,tait1    
whose compassionate nature was known to 
the people1 would plead for these little
 ones1 who lived and died at her very   
door1 as it were1 seeing no green thing 
during all their wretched days4 ,i      

visited poor women in the street next to
 the fields who brought fever-stricken  
children to the door wrapped in shawls4 
,their mothers told me how glad they    
should be were the gates open1 that the 
little ones1 whose only recreation      
ground was the gutter1 could enter at   
will4 ,the memorial--if ,i remember     
accurately1 for ,i cannot refer to it as
 ,i write--stated that the houses which1
 as built1 overlooked the fields1 had   
had the windows bricked in by order of a
 former ,archbishop1 because they       
overlooked the garden4 ,i was taken to  
the rooms and found that the view was   
closed up4 ,the trees of the garden have
 well grown now1 and a telescope could  
not reveal walkers therein4 ,the late   
,archbishop sent me a kindly reply1 but 
it did not answer my question1 which was
 that1 if his ,grace could not consent  
to open the gates to his humble friends1
 we prayed that he1 whose ,master 7in   
words of tenderness which had moved the 
hearts of men during nineteen centuries7

 had said1 ',suffer little children to  
come unto ,me1' would at least          
substitute palisades for the dead walls 
which hid the green fields so that no   
little eyes could see the daisies in the
 spring4 ,his ,grace's reply was in     
substance the same as ,dr4 ,randall     
,davidson's1 which appeared in the      
,times on ,monday1 who tells the public 
that rifle corps and cricketers are     
admitted to the fields and that         
'arrangements are made for treats for   
infant and other schools' 7whether of   
all denominations is not stated74 ,how  
can poor mothers and sickly children get
 within these 'arrangements'8           
,cricketers are not helpless1 rifle     
corps do not die for want of            
drill-grounds1 as children in fever-dens
 do for want of the refreshment of      
verdure and pure air4 ,to open the gates
 is the only generous and fitting thing 
to do1 as the lawyers have who admit the
 outcasts of ,drury and the adjacent    
lanes to the flowers of the ,temple     

,gardens4 ,dr4 ,davidson says that the  
advice of those 'best qualified from    
local experience to judge' is that 'no  
gain could be secured by throwing the   
fields entirely open4' ,let the opinion 
be asked of workmen in the ,lambeth     
factories and that of their wives4      
,these are the 'best qualified local    
judges1' whose verdict would be         
instructive4 ,mrs4 ,tait's illness and  
death followed soon after the memorial  
in question was sent in1 and ,i thought 
it not the time to press his ,grace     
further when stricken with that         
calamity4 ,all honour to the ,lambeth   
,vestry1 which proposes to pray ,her    
,majesty to cause1 if in her power1     
these vacant fields to be consigned to  
the ,board of ,works1 who will give some
 gleam of a green paradise to the poor  
little ones of ,lambeth4 ,the vestry    
does well to appeal to the ,queen1 from 
whose kindly heart a thousand acts of   
sympathy have emanated4 ,she has opened 
many portals1 but none through which    

happier or more grateful groups will    
pass than through the garden gates of   
,lambeth ,palace4  ,immediately a letter
 appeared in the ,times from the ,rev4  
,t4 ,b4 ,robertson1 expressed as        
follows3--  ,sir1--,mr4 ,holyoake may be
 glad to hear that ',lambeth ,green' is 
open to schools of all denominations to 
hold their festivals in4 ,i should think
 that no school was ever refused the use
 unless the field was previously        
engaged4 ,the present method of         
utilising the field--viz41 opening it to
 a large but limited number of persons  
7by ticket7 seems about the best that   
could be devised4 ,mr4 ,holyoake asks   
how poor mothers and sickly children are
 to gain entrance4 ,it is well known in 
the neighbourhood that tickets of       
admission are issued annually4 ,the days
 for distribution are advertised on the 
gates some time previous1 when those    
desirous of using the grounds can       
attend1 and the tickets are issued till 
exhausted4 ,no sick person has any      

difficulty in getting admission4 ,i do  
not know the number of tickets issued1  
but ,i have seen when cricket clubs were
 unable to find a place to pitch their  
stumps4 ,if the grounds are open to the 
public without limitation1 it seems that
 the only way it could be done would be 
by laying it out in gardens and         
gravelled walks1 with the usual park    
seats2 but there is hardly occasion for 
such a place since the formation of the 
,thames ,embankment1 a long strip of    
which runs immediately in front of the  
,palace well provided with seats4 ,it is
 evident that if the grounds were open  
to the public in general1 the space     
being small--about seven acres--the     
cricketers and other clubs would have to
 give up their sports1 and ,lambeth     
schools and societies would be deprived 
of their only meeting-place for summer  
gatherings4  ,yours obediently1  ,t4 ,b4
 ,robertson1  ,curate of ,st4 ,mary1    
,lambeth4  ,december #bb4   ,the comment
 of the ,times upon this letter made it 

necessary to address a further          
communication to the editor4 ,this      
comment occurred in a leader which1     
referring to a letter of the ,lambeth   
,curate1 says3 ,mr4 ,holyoake1 in a     
letter which we published on ,wednesday1
 asked with some vehemence1 what was the
 value of permission accorded to        
cricketers and schools1 to the poor     
children of ,lambeth2 but ,mr4          
,robertson1 the ,curate of ,st4 ,mary's1
 ,lambeth1 answers this morning1 that no
 poor or sick person has any difficulty 
in obtaining admission for purposes of  
recreation and health1 and shows that   
',lambeth ,green1' as it is called1 is  
in fact available to a large class of   
the neighbouring inhabitants4 ,there is 
certainly force in ,mr4 ,robertson's    
argument1 that an unlimited use would   
defeat its own object1 which is         
presumably to preserve the grounds as a 
playground4 ,the large surrounding      
population would soon destroy the sylvan
 and park-like character of the place1  

and necessitate its laying out in the   
style of an ornamental pleasure garden1 
with formal walks1 and turf only to be  
kept green by fencing4  ,this is the old
 defence of exclusive enjoyment of parks
 and pleasure grounds1 as the people1 if
 admitted to them1 would destroy        
them--which they do not4 ,why should    
they destroy what they value8  ,my reply
 to the ,times appeared ,december #bh1  
#ahhb3--  ,sir1--,it is the weight that 
you attach to the letter of the ,curate 
of ,st ,mary1 ,lambeth1 which appeared  
in the ,times of ,saturday1 which makes 
it important4 ,when ,i have viewed the  
,lambeth ,palace from the railway which 
overlooks it and seen how completely the
 sheep fields are separate and apart    
from the ,archbishop's garden1 it has   
seemed a pity that the poor little      
children of ,lambeth should not have the
 freedom and privilege of those sheep4  
,no humane person could look into the   
houses of the crowded and cheerless     
streets which lie near the ,palace walls

 without wishing to take the children by
 the hand into the ,palace fields at    
once4 ,does the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,robertson   
not understand the difference between a 
ticket gate and an open gate8 ,how are  
poor1 busy women to watch the gates to  
find out when the annual tickets of     
admission are given8 ,and what is the   
chance of those families who arrive     
after 'the number issued is exhausted'8 
,if all the persons who need admissions 
can have them1 the gates might as well  
be thrown open4 ,of course1 the nine    
acres would not hold all the parish2 but
 all the parish would not go at once4   
,no statement has been made which shows 
that the grounds have been occupied by  
tickets of admission more than forty    
days in the year1 whereas there are #cfe
 days when little people might go in4   
,to them one hour in that green paradise
 would be more than a week jostled by   
passengers on the ,embankment watching a
 stone wall1 for the little people could
 not well overlook it4 ,but if they     

could1 can the ,curate of ,st4 ,mary    
really think this limited recreation a  
sufficient substitute for quiet fields  
and flowers8 ,the ,board of ,works1 if  
the grounds come into their hands1 may  
be trusted to give school treats a      
chance as well as local little children4
  ,no one who has seen the crowds of    
ragged1 dreary1 pale-faced boys and     
girls rushing to the fields and flowers 
at ,temple ,gardens when the lawyers    
graciously open the gates to them and   
watched them pour out at evening through
 the ,temple ,gates into ,fleet ,street1
 leaping1 laughing1 and refreshed1 could
 help thinking that it would be a       
gladsome sight to see such groups issue 
from the ,lambeth ,palace gates4 ,i     
never thought when sending the memorial 
to the ,archbishop that the fields      
should be divested from the see or sold 
away from it4 ,i believed that the late 
,archbishop would1 as the new           
,archbishop may1 by an act of grace     
accord his little neighbours free       

admission1 or at least exchange the dead
 walls for palisades1 so that children  
playing around may vary the stones of   
the ,embankment for a sight of sheep and
 grass through the bars4 ,the late      
,canon ,kingsley asked me to visit him  
when he came into residence at          
,westminster4 ,my intention was to ask  
him and the late ,dean1 whom ,i had the 
honour to know1 to judge themselves     
whether the matter now in question was  
not practicable1 and then to speak to   
the ,archbishop about it4 ,but death    
carried them both away one after the    
other before this opportunity could     
occur4 ,my belief remains unchanged that
 the late ,archbishop would have done   
what is now asked had time and the state
 of his health permitted him to attend  
to the matter himself4 ,it would have   
been but an extension of the unselfish  
and kindly uses to which he had long    
permitted the grounds to be put4  ,from 
several letters ,i received at the time1
 ,i quote one dated ,christmas ,eve1    

#ahhb3--  ,honour and thanks to you1    
,mr4 ,holyoake1 for your recent and     
former letters respecting ,lambeth      
,palace field4 ,very much more good     
could be got out of it than as a place  
for cricketing on half-holidays and     
occasional school-treats1 and for       
desolation at other times except as     
regards an approved few4  ,there is no  
recreation ground in ,london that ,i    
look upon with so much satisfaction as a
 triangular inclosure of plain grass by 
,kennington ,church1 enjoyed commonly by
 the dirtiest and poorest children4     
,but a letter of a very different       
character appeared in the ,standard1    
,december #bj1 #ahhb1 entitled1 ,the    
,lambeth ,palace ,garden 3--  ,sir1--,no
 right-minded person can fail to be     
deeply impressed by ,mr4 ,holyoake's    
touching letter in your impression of   
to-day4 ,its sentiments are so very     
beautiful and its principles so exactly 
popular1 and in such perfect accordance 
with the blessed ,liberal maxim--',what 

is yours is mine and what is mine is my 
own1' that ,i myself am overcome with   
delight at their enunciation4 ,the      
pleasure of being perfectly free and    
easy with other people's property1      
evidently becoming so sincere and       
abounding1 and the simple manner in     
which such liberality can be now readily
 practised without any personal         
self-denial or inconvenience1 makes the 
principle in action perfectly           
commendable1 and one to be duly applied 
and most carefully expanded4  ,with the 
latter view1 ,i venture to point out    
that there is a very excellent library  
of books at ,lambeth ,palace1 which1    
comparatively speaking1 very few people 
take down or read4 ,do not1 however1    
think me selfishly covetous or hankering
 after my neighbour's property if ,i    
venture to point out that there exist   
more than twenty clergymen in ,lambeth1 
to whom a share or division of these    
scarcely used volumes would be a great  
boon4 ,if the pictures1 furniture1 and  

cellars of wine could1 at the same time1
 be benevolently divided1 ,i should have
 no objection to receiving a share of   
the same under such philanthropic       
're-arrangement'--,i am1 sir1 your      
obedient servant1  ,a ,lambeth ,parson4 
,lambeth1 ,december #bj4   ,my reply to 
this letter appeared in the ,standard1  
,december #bb1 #ahhb3--  ,sir1--,this   
morning ,i received a letter from a     
clergyman1 who gives his name and       
address1 and who knows ,lambeth well1   
thanking me for the letter which ,i had 
addressed to you1 as he takes great     
interest in the welfare of the little   
ones in the crowded homes around the    
,palace4 ,lest1 however1 ,i should be   
elated by such an unexpected1 though    
welcome1 concurrence of opinion1 the    
same post brought me a letter to the    
same purport of that signed ',a ,lambeth
 ,parson1' which appeared in the        
,standard yesterday4 ,the letter which  
you printed assumes that the sheep      
fields of the ,palace are private       

property1 and that ,i propose to steal  
them in the name of humanity4 ,permit me
 to say that ,i have as much detestation
 as the ,lambeth ,parson can have for   
that sympathy for the people which has  
plunder for its motive4  ,the memorial  
,i sent to his ,grace the late          
,archbishop asked him to give his       
permission for little ones to enter his 
grounds4 ,we never proposed to take     
permission1 nor assumed any right to    
pass the gates4 ,there never was a doubt
 in my mind1 that had his ,grace        
opportunity of looking into the matter  
for himself1 he would have granted the  
request1 for his kindness of heart we   
all knew4 ,that he gave the use of the  
fields to what he thought equally useful
 purposes showed how unselfishly he used
 the grounds4 ,if the question is raised
 as to private property1 ,i would do    
what ,i could to promote the purchase of
 it 7if it can rightly be sold7 by a    
penny subscription from the parents of  
the poor children and others who would  

chiefly benefit by it4 ,it would be an  
evil day if working people could consent
 that their little ones should have     
enjoyment at the price of theft4--,i am1
 sir1 your obedient servant1  ,george   
,jacob ,holyoake4  #bb1 ,essex ,street1 
,w4,c41 ,december #ba4   ,meanwhile an  
important public body had taken up the  
question4 ,the ,metropolitan ,public    
,garden1 ,boulevard1 and ,playground    
,association had1 through its officers1 
,lord ,brabazon1 ,mr4 ,ernest ,hart1    
,mr4 ,j4 ,tennant1 and the ,rev4 ,sidney
 ,vatcher1 addressed the following      
letter to the ,prime ,minister3--       
,sir1--,the undersigned 'members of the 
,metropolitan ,public ,garden1          
,boulevard1 and ,playground             
,association' desire to draw your       
attention to an article enclosed which  
recently appeared in a ,london daily    
paper1 and to request that you will     
bring the needs of ,lambeth district1 as
 regards open spaces1 to the notice of  
the future ,primate1 in the hope that   

his ,grace may take into consideration  
the suggestions contained in the        
article1 and with the co-operation of   
the ,ecclesiastical ,commissioners and  
the ,metropolitan ,board of ,works1 take
 such steps as may seem to him most     
advisable for the purpose of securing in
 perpetuity to the poor and crowded     
population of ,lambeth the use and      
enjoyment of the open space around      
,lambeth ,palace4--,we have the honour  
to be1 sir1 your most obedient and      
humble servants1  ,brabazon1 ,chairman4 
,mr4 ,gladstone willingly gave attention
 to the subject1 and sent the following 
reply3--  #aj1 ,downing ,street1        
,whitehall1  ,december #ba1 #ahhb4  ,my 
,lord1--,i am directed by ,mr4          
,gladstone to acknowledge the receipt of
 the letter which was signed by your    
lordship and other members of the       
,metropolitan ,public ,garden1 etc41    
,association in favour of securing for  
the use of the population of the        
neighbourhood the grounds at present    

attached to ,lambeth ,palace4 ,i have to
 inform your lordship that ,mr4         
,gladstone has already been in          
communication with the vestry of        
,lambeth on this subject1 and as it     
appears to be one of metropolitan       
improvement it is not a matter in which 
,mr4 ,gladstone can take the initiative4
 ,he will1 however1 make known your     
views to the prelate designated to      
succeed to the ,archbishopric1 and      
should the ,metropolitan ,board of      
,works intervene ,mr4 ,gladstone will be
 happy to consider the matter           
further4--,i am1 my ,lord1 your obedient
 servant1  ,horace ,seymour4  ,the ,lord
 ,brabazon4   ,next ,colonel ,sir ,j4   
,m',garel ,hogg1 ,m4,p41 ,chairman of   
the ,metropolitan ,board of ,works1 had 
the matter before him4 ,it was stated   
that the use of the nine acres of ground
 7of which a plan was presented7        
depended upon the permission of the     
,archbishop4 ,the ,lambeth ,vestry had  
sent a memorial to the ,queen and the   

,government saying that the pasture and 
recreation acres might be severed from  
the ,archbishop's residence4  ,the      
following is the reply received from    
,mr4 ,gladstone3--  #aj1 ,downing       
,street1 ,whitehall1  ,december #ahhb1  
,sir1--,mr4 ,gladstone has had the      
honour to receive the communication     
which you have made to him on behalf of 
the vestry of the parish of ,lambeth on 
the subject of acquiring the grounds of 
,lambeth ,palace as a place of public   
recreation4 ,in reply ,i am directed to 
say that as far as he is able to        
understand this important matter it     
seems to be a case of metropolitan      
improvement1 and if1 as he supposes1    
that is the case1 the proper course for 
the vestry to take would be to bring the
 case before the ,metropolitan ,board of
 ,works for their consideration4 ,in    
this view ,mr4 ,gladstone is not aware  
that ,her ,majesty's ,government could  
undertake to interfere1 but he will make
 known this correspondence to the person

 who may be designated to succeed the   
,archbishop of ,canterbury1 and he will 
further consider the matter should the  
,metropolitan ,board intervene4 ,mr4    
,gladstone would have been glad if the  
vestry had supplied him with the        
particulars of the case1 in regard to   
which he has only a very general        
knowledge4--,i am1 sir1 your obedient   
servant1  ,e4 ,w4 ,hamilton4  ,the      
,vestry ,clerk of ,lambeth4   ,mr4 ,hill
 gave notice of the following motion3-- 
,that an instruction be given to the    
,prime ,minister that if the proper     
authorities are willing to hand over the
 ,lambeth ,palace grounds for the free  
use of the public1 this ,board will     
accept the charge and preserve the      
grounds as a portion of the open spaces4
  ,then came a hopeless and defensive   
letter1 before referred to1 addressed   
both to the ,standard1 ,telegraph1 and  
the ,times3--  ,sir1--,some of the      
statements 7including a correspondence  
with the ,prime ,minister7 which have1  

during the last few days1 appeared in   
the newspapers with reference to        
,lambeth ,palace grounds1 would1 ,i     
think1 lead those who are unacquainted  
with the circumstances to suppose that  
these grounds have been hitherto        
altogether closed to the public1 and    
reserved for the sole use of the        
,archbishop and his household4 ,will    
you1 therefore1 to prevent              
misapprehension1 kindly allow me to     
state the facts of the case8  ,for many 
years past the ,archbishop of           
,canterbury endeavoured1 in what seemed 
to him the best way1 to make the grounds
 in question available1 under certain   
restrictions1 to the general public4    
,during the summer months twenty-eight  
cricket clubs1 some from the ,lambeth   
parishes and some from other parts of   
,london1 have received permission to    
play cricket in the field1 and similar  
arrangements have been made for football
 in the winter1 though necessarily upon 
a smaller scale4 ,the whole available   

ground has been carefully allotted for  
the different hours of each day4 ,on    
certain fixed occasions the field is    
used for rifle corps' drill and         
exercises1 and throughout the summer1   
arrangements are constantly made for    
'treats' for infant and other schools   
unable to go out of ,london4 ,tickets   
giving admission to the field at all    
hours have been issued for some years   
past1 in very large numbers1 to the     
sick1 aged1 and poor of the surrounding 
streets2 and the whole grounds1         
including the private garden1 have been 
opened without restriction to the nurses
 and others of ,st4 ,thomas's ,hospital4
  ,his ,grace frequently consulted those
 best qualified from local experience to
 judge what is for the advantage of the 
neighbourhood1 and invariably found     
their opinion to coincide with his      
own--namely1 that a more public opening 
of the ground would interfere with the  
useful purposes to which it is at       
present turned for the benefit of the   

neighbourhood1 and that1 considering the
 limited space1 no gain could be secured
 by throwing it entirely open which     
would at all compensate for the         
inevitable loss of the advantages at    
present enjoyed4--,i am1 sir1 your      
obedient servant1  ,randall ,t4         
,davidson4  ,lambeth ,palace1 ,december 
#af4   ,on ,january #f1 #ahhc1 ,i wrote 
to the ,daily ,news1 saying3--          
,sir1--,your columns have recorded the  
steps taken by the ,lambeth ,vestry and 
by ,lord ,brabazon 7on the part of the  
,open ,space ,society1 for which he     
acts7 with respect to the use of the    
pasture acres connected with the ,palace
 grounds of ,lambeth4 ,i have been asked
 by a clergyman1 for whose judgment ,i  
have great respect1 to write some letter
 which shall make it plain to the public
 that it is not the gardens of the      
,palace for the use of which any one has
 asked1 but for the nine acres of fields
 outside the gardens1 as a small        
recreation ground which shall be open to

 the children of ,lambeth1 who are      
numerous there1 and much in need of some
 pleasant change of that scarce and     
pleasant kind4 ,no one has dined at the 
,lambeth ,palace1 or been otherwise a   
visitor there1 without valuing the      
gardens which surround it and which are 
necessary to an episcopal residence in  
,london4 ,no one wishes to interfere    
with or curtail the garden grounds4 ,i  
thought the public understood this4 ,i  
shall therefore be obliged if you can   
insert this explanation in your columns4
 ,much better than anything ,i could say
 upon the subject are the words which   
occur in the ,family ,churchman of      
,december #bgth1 which gives the        
portraits of the new ,archbishop1 ,dr4  
,benson1 and the late ,bishop of        
,llandaff4 ,the editor says that 'every 
one knows the ,archbishops of           
,canterbury have a splendid country seat
 at ,addington1 within easy driving     
distance of ,london4 ,within the same   
distance there are few parks so         

beautiful as ,addington ,palace1 whilst1
 unlike some parks in other parts of the
 country1 it is jealously closed against
 the public4 ,the ,palace park is       
remarkable for its romantic dells1      
filled with noble trees and an          
undergrowth of rhododendrons4 ,there    
are1 moreover1 within the park1 heights 
which command fine views of the         
surrounding country4 ,it is thought1    
perhaps not unjustly1 that the new      
,archbishop might well be content with  
this country place1 and1 whilst         
retaining the gardens at ,lambeth       
,palace1 might with graceful content see
 conceded to the poor1 whose houses     
throng the neighbourhood1 the nine acres
 of pasture land4' ,this is very        
distinct and even generous testimony on 
the part of the ,family ,churchman to   
the seemliness and legitimacy of the    
plea put forward on the part of the     
little people of ,lambeth4--,very       
faithfully yours1  ,george ,jacob       
,holyoake4  #bb1 ,essex ,street ,w4,c4  

,news of the ,palace grounds agitation  
reached as far as ,mentone1 and ,mr4 ,r4
 ,french ,blake1 who was residing at the
 ,hotel ,splendide1 sent an interesting 
letter to the ,times--historical1       
defensive1 and suggestive4 ,he wrote on 
,january #c1 #ahhc1 saying3--           
,sir1--,attention having recently been  
drawn to the ,lambeth ,palace grounds   
and the use which the late ,primate made
 of them for the recreation of the      
masses1 it may be interesting1          
especially at this juncture1 to place on
 record what were his views with regard 
to those historic parts of the buildings
 of the ,palace itself which are not    
actually used as the residence of the   
,archbishops4 ,these chiefly consist of 
what is known as the ,lollards' ,tower1 
and the noble ,gate ,tower1 called after
 its founder1 ,archbishop ,moreton4 ,the
 former of these has recently been put  
into repair1 and rooms in it were       
granted to the late ,bishop of          
,lichfield and his brother1 by virtue of

 their connection with the ,palace      
library4  ,mr4 ,blake then adverts to   
the affair of the grounds4 ,he says3--  
,nor can ,i suppose that any            
well-informed member of the vestry could
 imagine that it is in the lawful power 
of a ,prime ,minister1 or even of       
,parliament1 to alienate1 without       
consent1 any portion of the ,church's   
inheritance4 ,it may be a somewhat high 
standard of right1 which is referred to 
in the sacred writings1 to 'pay for the 
things which we never took1' but in no  
standard of right whatsoever can the    
motto find place to 'take the things for
 which we never pay4' ,although the     
,archbishop may have deemed that he     
turned to the very best account the     
ground in question1 for the purposes of 
enjoyment and health to the surrounding 
population1 he was far too wise and too 
charitable to disregard1 so far as he   
deemed he had the power1 any petition or
 request which might1 if granted1 add to
 the pleasure and happiness of others1  

and if it had been made clear to him as 
his duty1 and an offer to that effect   
had been made to him by the             
,metropolitan ,board of ,works or       
others1 ,i am satisfied he would have   
consented1 not to the alienation of     
,church property1 but to the sale of the
 field for a people's park1 and the     
application of the value of the ground  
to mission purposes for ,south ,london1 
and such a scheme ,i happen to know was 
at one time discussed by some of those  
most intimately connected with him4     
,afterwards1 ,january #ac1 #ahhc1 the   
,pall ,mall ,gazette remarked that it is
 not a happy omen that the consent of   
the ,ecclesiastical ,commissioners is   
required before the well-fed donkey who 
disports himself in the ,palace grounds 
can be joined by the ill-fed1 ragged    
urchins who now have no playground but  
the streets4 ,the ,daily ,news rendered 
further aid in a leader4 ,then a report 
was made that the condition of the      
streets1 to which1 in his correspondence

 with the ,archbishop of ,canterbury1   
,mr4 ,holyoake had called attention1 had
 been illustrated by the fall of several
 miserable tenements1 in which a woman  
and several children were fatally buried
 in the ruins4 ,the writer says there is
 no hope that the unkindly exclusiveness
 of ',cantuar' will be broken down4  ,so
 the matter rested for nearly twenty    
years before the happy news came that   
the ,london ,county ,council had come   
into possession of the ecclesiastical   
fields1 and converted them into a holy  
park1 where pale-faced mothers and      
sickly children may stroll or disport   
themselves at will evermore4 ,all honour
 to the later agents of this merciful   
change4 ,there is an open gleam of      
,nature now in the doleful district4    
,sir ,hudibras exclaims3       ,what    
perils do environ      ,him who meddles 
with cold iron4  ,not less so if the    
meddlement be with ecclesiastical iron  
and the contest lasts a longer time4    
,,chapter ,,xxxiii4 ,,social ,,wonders  

,,across ,,the ,,water  ,being several  
times in ,france1 twice in ,america and 
,canada1 thrice in ,italy and as many   
times in ,holland1 under circumstances  
which brought me into relation with     
representative people1 enabled me to    
become acquainted with the ways of      
persons of other countries than my own4 
,there ,i met great orators1 poets1     
statesmen1 philosophers1 and great      
preachers of whom ,i had read--but whom 
to know was a greater inspiration4 ,thus
 ,i learned the art of not being        
surprised1 and of regarding strangeness 
as a curiosity1 not an offence awakening
 resentment as something unpardonable1  
or at least1 an impropriety the         
traveller is bound to reprehend1 as     
,mrs4 ,trollope and her successors have 
done on ,american peculiarities4 ,on the
 ,continent ,i found incidents to wonder
 at1 but ,i confine myself in this      
chapter to ,america and ,canada1        
countries we are accustomed to designate
 as ,across the ,water1 as the ,united  

,states and the ,dominion which have    
imperishable interest to all of the     
,british race4  ,notwithstanding the    
thousands of persons who now make sea   
journeys for the first time1 ,i found1  
when it came to my turn1 there was no   
book--nor is there now--on the art of   
being a sea passenger4 ,i could find no 
teaching ,handbook of the ,ocean--what  
to expect under entirely new conditions1
 and what to do when they come1 so as to
 extract out of a voyage the pleasure in
 it and increase the discomforts which  
occur in wave-life4 ,one of the         
pleasures is--there is no dust at sea4  
,on my visit to ,america in #ahgi1 ,i1  
at the request of ,mr4 ,hodgson ,pratt1 
undertook to inquire what were the      
prospects of emigrants to that country  
and ,canada1 which cost me labour and   
expense4 ,what ,i found wanting1 and did
 not exist1 and which does not exist    
still1 was an emigrant guide book       
informing him of the conditions of      
industry in different ,states1 the rules

 of health necessary to be observed in  
different climates1 and the vicissitudes
 to which health is liable4 ,the book   
wanted is one on an epitome plan of the 
,people's ,blue ,books1 issued by ,lord 
,clarendon on my suggestion1 as he      
stated in them4  ,when ,i was at        
,washington1 ,mr4 ,evarts1 the          
,secretary of ,state1 gave me a book1   
published by local authorities at       
,washington1 with maps of every         
department of the city1 marking the     
portion where special diseases          
prevailed4 ,london has no such book yet4
 ,similar information concerning every  
,state and territory in ,america existed
 in official reports4 ,but ,i found that
 neither the ,government of ,washington 
nor ,ottawa would take the              
responsibility of giving emigrants this 
information in a public and portable    
form1 as land agents would be in revolt 
at the preferential choice emigrants    
would then have before them4 ,it was    
continually denied that such information

 existed4 ,senators in their turn said  
so4 ,possibly they did not know1 but    
,mr4 ,henry ,villard1 a son-in-law of   
,lloyd ,garrison1 told me that when he  
was secretary of the ,social ,science   
,association he began the kind of book  
,i sought1 and that its' issue was      
discouraged4  ,on my second visit to    
,america in #ahhb1 ,i had introductions 
to the ,president of the ,united ,states
 and to ,lord ,lome1 the ,governor of   
,canada1 from his father1 the ,duke of  
,argyll1 with a view of obtaining the   
publication of a protecting guide book  
such as ,i have described1 under its    
authority4 ,when ,i first mentioned this
 in ,new ,york 7#ahgi7 the editor of the
 ,star 7an ,irishman7 wrote friendly and
 applauding leaders upon my project4 ,on
 my second visit1 in #ahhb1 this        
friendly editor 7having seen in the     
papers that ,mr4 ,gladstone approved of 
my quest7 wrote furious leaders against 
it4 ,on asking him the reason of the    
change of view1 he said1 ,mr4 ,holyoake1

 were ,mr4 ,gladstone and his ,cabinet  
in this room1 and ,i could open a       
trap-door under their feet and let them 
all fall into hell1 ,i would do it1     
using words still more venomous4 ,then  
,i realised the fatuity of the          
anti-,irish policy which drives the     
ablest ,irishmen into exile and         
maintains a body of unappeasable enemies
 of ,england wherever they go4 ,then ,i 
saw what crazy statesmanship it was in  
the ,english to deny self-government to 
the ,irish people1 and spend ten        
millions a year to prevent them taking  
care of themselves4  ,the ,irish learned
 to think better of ,mr4 ,gladstone some
 years later4 ,one night when he was    
sitting alone in the ,house of ,commons 
writing his usual letter to the ,queen1 
after debates were over1 he was startled
 by a ringing cheer that filled the     
chamber1 when looking up he found the   
,irish members1 who had returned to     
express their gratitude to him4 ,surely 
no nation ever proclaimed its obligation

 in so romantic a way4 ,the tenderest   
prayer put up in my time was that of ,w4
 ,d4 ,sullivan3--       ,god be good to 
,gladdy1      ,says ,sandy1 ,john and   
,paddy1      ,for he is a noble laddy1  
,a grand old chiel is he4  ,i take pride
 in the thought that ,i was the first   
person who lectured upon ,english       
,co-operation in ,montreal and ,boston4 
,it was with pride ,i spoke in ,stacey  
,hall in ,boston1 from the desk at which
 ,lloyd ,garrison was once speaking1    
when he was seized by a slave-owning mob
 with intent to hang him4 ,as ,i spoke  
,i could look into the stairway on my   
right1 down which he was dragged4  ,the 
interviewers1 the terror of most        
strangers1 were welcome to me4 ,the     
engraving in ,frank ,leslie's paper     
reproduced in ,among the ,americans1    
representing the interview with me in   
the ,hoffman ,house1 was probably the   
first picture of that process published 
in ,england 7#ahha74 ,i advocated the   
cultivation of the art in ,great        

,britain1 which1 though prevalent in    
,america1 was still in a crude state    
there4 ,the questions put to me were    
poor1 abrupt1 containing no adequate    
suggestion of the information sought    
,the interviewer should have some       
conception of the knowledge of the      
person questioned1 and skill in         
reporting his answers4 ,some whom ,i met
 put down the very opposite of what was 
said to them4 ,the only protection      
against such perverters1 when they came 
again1 was to say the contrary to what  
,i meant1 when their rendering would be 
what ,i wished it to be4 ,some          
interviewers put into your mouth what   
they desired you to say4 ,against them  
there is no remedy save avoidance4 ,on  
the whole1 ,i found interviewers a great
 advantage4 ,i had certain ideas to make
 known and information to ask for1 and  
the skilful interviewer1 in his alluring
 way1 sends everything all over the     
land4 ,wise questioning is the fine art 
of daily life4 ,it is misunderstanding1 

says the ,dutch proverb1 which brings   
lies to town4 ,everybody knows that     
misunderstandings create divisions in   
families and alienations in             
friendships--in parties as well as in   
persons--which timely inquiries would   
dissipate4 ,intelligent questioning     
elicits hidden facts--it increases      
knowledge without ostentation--it clears
 away obscurity1 and renders information
 definite--it supersedes assumptions--it
 tests suspicions and throws light upon 
conjecture--it undermines error1 without
 incensing those who hold it--it leads  
misconception to confute itself without 
the affront of direct refutation--it    
warns inquirers not to give absolute    
assent to anything uncorroborated1 or   
which cannot be interrogated4 ,relevant 
questioning is the handmaid of accuracy1
 and makes straight the pathway of      
,truth4  ,the privations of ,protection1
 which a quick and independent-minded   
people endured1 was one of the wonders  
,i saw4 ,in ,montreal1 for a writing pad

 to use on my voyage home1 ,i had to pay
 seven shillings and sixpence1 which ,i 
could have bought in ,london for        
eighteen-pence4 ,i took to ,america a   
noble1 full-length portrait of ,john    
,bright1 just as he stood when          
addressing the ,house of ,commons1 more 
than half life-size--the greatest of    
,mayall's triumphs4 ,though it was not  
for sale1 but a present to my friend1   
,james ,charlton1 of ,chicago1 the      
well-known railway agent1 the ,custom   
,house demanded a payment of #cj dols4  
7,l#f7 import duty4 ,it was only after  
much negotiations in high quarters1 and 
in consideration that it was a portrait 
of ,mr4 ,bright1 brought as a gift to an
 ,american citizen1 that the import duty
 was reduced to #f dollars4  ,the       
disadvantage of ,protection is that no  
one can make a gift to ,america or to   
its citizens without being heavily taxed
 to discourage international generosity4
  ,the ,mayor of ,brighton1 ,mr4        
,alderman ,hallet1 had entrusted to me  

some #bjj volumes1 of considerable      
value1 on ,city ,sanitation1 greatly    
needed in ,america4 ,they lay in the    
,custom ,house three months1 before ,i  
discovered that the ,smithsonian        
,institute could claim them under its   
charter4 ,otherwise ,i must have paid a 
return freight to ,brighton1 as ,america
 is protected from accepting offerings  
of civil or sanitary service4 ,there    
often come to us1 from that country1    
emissaries of ,evangelism1 to improve us
 in piety1 but at home they levy #be per
 cent1 upon the importation of the ,holy
 ,scriptures--thus taxing the very means
 of ,salvation4  ,for a time ,i sent    
presents of books to working-class      
friends in ,america whom ,i wished to   
serve or to interest1 who wrote to me to
 say that they were unable to redeem    
them from the post-office1 the import   
tax being more than they could pay1 and 
they reminded me that having been in    
,america1 ,i ought to know that working 
people could not afford to have imported

 presents made to them4 ,indeed1 ,i had 
often noticed how destitute their homes 
were in matters of table service and all
 bright decoration1 plentiful even in   
the houses of our miners and mechanics  
in ,england4 ,american workmen would    
tell me that a present of cutlery or    
porcelain1 if ,i could bring that about1
 would interest them greatly4  ,on      
leaving ,new ,york a friend of mine1 a  
,custom ,house officer1 told me he      
needed a coast coat1 suitable to the    
service he was engaged in1 and that he  
would be much obliged if ,i would have  
one made for him in ,england4 ,he would 
leave it to me to contrive how it could 
reach him4 ,the coat he wanted1 he said1
 would cost him ,l#i in ,new ,york4 ,i  
had it made in ,london1 entirely to his 
satisfaction1 for ,l#d #aes41 but how to
 get it to him free of ,custom duties   
was a problem4 ,i had to wait until a   
friend of mine--a property owner in     
,montreal--was returning there4 ,he went
 out in the vessel in which ,princess   

,louise sailed4 ,he wore it occasionally
 on deck to qualify it being regarded as
 a personal garment4 ,so it arrived duty
 free at ,montreal4 ,after looking about
 for two or three months for a friend   
who would wear it across the frontier1  
it arrived1 after six months' travelling
 diplomacy1 at the house of my friend in
 ,new ,york4  ,i did not find in        
,america or ,canada anything more       
wonderful1 beggarly and humiliating than
 the policy of ,protection4 ,but we are 
not without counterparts in folly of    
another kind4  ,visitors to ,england no 
doubt wonder to find us1 a commercial   
nation1 fining the merchant of          
enterprise a shilling 7the workman was  
so fined until late years7 for every    
pound he expends on journeys of         
business--keeping a travelling tax to   
discourage trade4 ,but ,john ,bull does 
not profess to be over-bright1 while    
,uncle ,sam thinks himself the smartest 
man in creation4 ,we retain in #aijd a  
tax ,peel condemned in #ahdd4 ,but then 

we live under a monarchy1 from which    
,uncle ,sam is free4  ,france used to be
 the one land which was hospitable to   
new ideas1 and for that it is still     
pre-eminent in ,europe4 ,but ,america   
excels ,europe now in this respect4     
,canada has not emerged from its        
,colonialism1 and has no national       
aspiration4 ,voltaire found when he was 
in ,london1 that ,england had fifty     
religions and only one sauce4 ,america  
has no distinction in sauces1 but it has
 more than #bjj religions1 and having no
 ,state ,church there is no poison of   
,social ,ascendency in piety1 but       
equality in worship and prophesying4 ,i 
found that a man might be of any        
religion he pleased--though as a matter 
of civility he was expected to be of    
some--and if he said he was of none1 he 
was thought to be phenomenally          
fastidious1 if not one of theirs would  
suit him1 since ,america provided a     
greater variety for the visitor to      
choose from than any other country in   

the world4  ,though naturally           
disappointed at being unable to suit the
 stranger's taste1 they were not        
intolerant4 ,he was at liberty to import
 or invent a religion of his own4 ,let  
not the reader imagine that because     
people are free to believe as they      
please1 there is no religion in         
,america4  ,nearing ,santa ,fe in ,new  
,mexico1 ,i passed by the adobe temple  
of ,montezuma4 ,adobe is pronounced in  
three syllables--a-do-be--and is the    
,mexican name for a mud-built house1    
which is usually one story high2 so that
 ,santa ,fe has been compared to a town 
blown down4 ,when the ,emperor          
,montezuma perished he told his         
followers to keep the fire burning in   
the ,temple1 as he would come again from
 the east1 and they should see his face 
bright and fair4 ,in warfare and        
pestilence and decimation of their race1
 these faithful worshippers kept the    
fire burning night and day for three    
centuries1 and it has not long been     

extinguished4 ,europe can show no faith 
so patient1 enduring1 and pathetic as   
this4  ,the pleasantest hours of        
exploration ,i spent in ,santa ,fe were 
in the old church of ,san ,miguel4      
,though the oldest church in ,america1  
there are those who would remove rather 
than restore it4 ,a book lay upon an    
altar in which all who would subscribe  
to save it had inserted their names1 and
 ,i added mine for five shillings4      
,when an ,englishman goes abroad1 he    
takes with him a greater load of        
prejudices than any man of any other    
nation could bear1 and1 as a rule1 he   
expresses pretty freely his opinion of  
things which do not conform to his      
notions1 as though the inhabitants ought
 to have consulted his preferences1     
forgetting that in his own country he   
seldom shows that consideration to      
others4 ,on fit occasion ,i did not     
withhold my opinion of things which     
seemed to me capable of improvement2 but
 before giving my impressions ,i thought

 over what equivalent absurdity existed 
in ,england1 and by comparing ,british  
instances with those before me1 no one  
took offence--some were instructed or   
amused at finding that hardly any nation
 enjoyed a monopoly of stupidity4 ,there
 is all the difference in the world     
between saying to an international host1
 ,how badly you do things in your       
country1 and saying1 ,we are as         
unsuccessful as you in 'striking twelve 
all at once4'  ,we all know the maxim3  
',before finding fault with another1    
think of your own4 ,but ,charles        
,dickens1 with all his brightness1      
forgot this when he wrote of ,america4  
,few nations have as yet attained       
perfection in all things--not even      
,england4  ,when in ,boston1 ,america1  
#ahgi1 ,i went to the best ,bible store 
,i could find or be directed to1 to     
purchase a copy of the apocryphal books 
of the ,old ,testament4 ,in a church    
where ,i had to make a discourse1 ,i    
wanted to read the dialogue between the 

prophet ,esdras and the angel ,uriel4   
,the only copy ,i could obtain was on   
poor1 thin paper2 of small1 almost      
invisible print1 and meanly bound4 ,the 
price was #ds4 #b;d4 ,how is it1 ,i     
inquired1 that you ask so much in the   
,hub of the ,universe for even this     
indifferent portion of                  
,scripture--seeing that at the house of 
the ,society for the ,promotion of      
,christian ,knowledge1 in               
,northumberland ,avenue1 ,london1 a     
house ten times handsomer than yours1 in
 a much more costly situation--,i can   
buy the same book on good1 strong paper1
 in large type1 in a bright1 substantial
 cover for exactly #cs4 less than you   
ask me4 ,you see1 sir1 said the manager 
of the store1 we have duty to pay4      
,duty6 ,i exclaimed4 ,do you mean me to 
understand that in this land of ,puritan
 ,christians1 you tax the means of      
salvation8 ,he did not like to admit    
that1 and could not deny it1 so after a 
confused moment he answered3 ,all books 

imported have to pay twenty-five per    
cent1 duty4 ,all ,i could say was that  
it seemed to me that their protective   
duties protected sin2 and1 being        
interested in the welfare of emigrants1 
,i must make a note counselling all who 
wish to be converted1 to get that done  
before coming out2 for if they arrive in
 ,america in an unconverted state they  
could not afford to be converted here4  
,until then ,i was unaware that         
,protection protected the ,devil1 and   
that he had a personal interest in its  
enactment4  ,my article in the          
,nineteenth ,century entitled1 ,a       
,stranger in ,america1 written in the   
uncarping spirit as to defects and      
ungrudgingly recognising the            
circumstances which frustrated or       
retarded other excellences in their     
power1 was acknowledged by the press of 
that country1 and was said by ,g4 ,w4   
,smalley--the greatest ,american critic 
in this country then--to be one of those
 articles which create international    

goodwill4 ,approval worth having could  
no further go4 ,it was surprising to me 
that mere two-sided travelling fairness 
should meet with such assent1 whereas ,i
 expected it would be regarded as tame  
and uninteresting4     ,,chapter        
,,xxxiv4 ,,the ,,established ,,church   
,,at ,,sea  ,the voyage out to ,america 
described in the last chapter included  
an instance of the extraordinary        
behaviour of the ,established ,church at
 sea1 which deserves special mention as 
it is still repeated4  ,there is an     
offensive rule on board ships that the  
service on ,sunday shall be that of the 
,church of ,england1 and that the       
preacher selected shall be of that      
persuasion4  ,several of the twelve     
ministers of religion among the         
passengers of the ,bothnia in #ahgi were
 distinguished preachers1 whereas the   
clergyman selected to preach to us was  
not at all distinguished1 and made a    
sermon which ,i1 as an ,englishman1 was 
ashamed to hear delivered before an     

audience of intelligent ,americans4 ,the
 preacher told a woful story of loss of 
trade and distress in ,england1 which   
gave the audience the idea that ,john   
,bull was up a tree4 ,were he up ever so
 high ,i would not have told it to an   
alien audience4  ,the preacher said that
 these losses were owing to our         
sins--that is the sins of ,englishmen4  
,the devotion of the ,american hearers  
was varied with a smile at this         
announcement4 ,it was their surpassing  
ingenuity and rivalry in trade which had
 affected our exports for a time4 ,our  
chief sins were uninventiveness and     
commercial incapacity1 and the greater  
wit and ingenuity of the audience were  
the actual punishment the preacher was  
pleading against1 and praying them to be
 contrite on account of their own       
success4 ,the minister described bad    
trade as a punishment from ,god1 as     
though ,god had made the rascally       
merchants who took out shoddy calico and
 ruined the markets4 ,it was not ,god   

that had driven the best ,french and    
,german artists and workmen into        
,america1 where they have enriched its  
manufacturers with their skill and      
industry1 and enabled that country to   
compete with ours4  ,the preacher's text
 was as wide of any mark as his sermon4 
,it asked the question1 ,how can we sing
 in a strange land8 ,when we should     
arrive there1 there would hardly be a   
dozen of us in the vessel who would be  
in a strange land2 the great majority   
were going home--mostly commercial      
reapers of an ,english harvest who were 
returning home rejoicing--bearing their 
golden sheaves with them4 ,neither the  
sea nor the land were strange to them4  
,many of them were as familiar with the 
,atlantic as with the prairie4 ,i sat at
 table by a ,toronto dealer who had     
crossed the ocean twenty-nine times4    
,the congregation at sea formed a very  
poor opinion of the discernment of the  
,established ,church4  ,on the return   
voyage in the ,gallia we had another    

burning but not a shining light of the  
,church of ,england to discourse4 ,he   
was a young man1 and it required some   
assurance on his part to look into the  
eyes of the intelligent ,christians     
around him1 who had three times his     
years1 experience1 and knowledge1 and   
lecture them upon matters of which he   
was absolutely ignorant4  ,this         
clergyman enforced the old doctrine of  
severity in parental discipline of the  
young1 and on the wisdom of compelling  
children to unquestioning obedience1 and
 argued that submission to a higher will
 was good for men during life4 ,at least
 two-thirds of the congregation were    
,american1 who regard parental severity 
as cruelty to the young1 and utterly    
uninstructive2 and unquestioning        
obedience they hold to be calamitous and
 demoralising education4 ,they expect   
reasonable obedience1 and seek to obtain
 it by reason4 ,submission to a higher  
will as applied to man1 is submission to
 arbitrary authority against which the  

whole polity of ,american life is a     
magnificent protest4 ,the only higher   
will they recognise in worldly affairs  
is the will of the people1 intelligently
 formed1 impartially gathered1 and      
constitutionally recorded--facts of     
which the speaker had not the remotest  
idea4  ,who can read this narrative of  
the ignorance and effrontery1 nurtured  
by the ,established ,church and obtruded
 on passengers at sea1 without a sense  
of patriotic humiliation that it is     
continued every ,sunday in every ship8  
,it is thought dangerous to be wrecked  
and not to have taken part in this      
pitiable exhibition4     ,,chapter      
,,xxxv4 ,,adventures ,,in ,,the         
,,streets  ,were ,i persuaded1 as many  
are1 that each person is a subject of   
,providential care1 ,i might count      
myself as one of the well-favoured4 ,i  
should do so1 did it not demand unseemly
 egotism to believe the ,supreme ,master
 of all the worlds of the ,universe gave
 a portion of ,his eternal time to      

personally guide my unimportant         
footsteps1 or snatch me from harm1 which
 might befall me on doing my duty1 or   
when ,i inadvertently1 negligently1 or  
ignorantly put myself in the way of     
disaster4 ,whatever may be the          
explanation1 ,i have oft been saved in  
jeopardy4  ,the first specific          
deliverance occurred when ,i was a young
 man1 in the ,baskeville ,mill1         
,birmingham4 ,working at a button lathe1
 the kerchief round my neck was caught  
by the chock1 and ,i saw myself drawn   
swiftly to it4 ,to avert being          
strangled1 ,i held back my neck with    
what force ,i could4 ,all would have    
been in vain had not a friendly         
,irishman1 who was grinding spectacle   
glasses in an adjoining room1 come to my
 assistance1 by which ,i escaped        
decapitation without benefit of the     
clergy1 or the merciful swiftness of the
 guillotine4  ,in days when the cheap   
train ran very early in the morning1 ,i 
set out before daylight from ,exeter1   

where ,i had been lecturing4 ,at the    
station at which the train stopped for  
an hour or two1 as was the custom in    
days before the repeal of the tax on    
third-class passengers1 we were in what 
,omar ,khayyam called the false dawn of 
morning4 ,the train did not properly    
draw up to the platform1 and when ,i    
stepped out ,i had a considerable fall1 
which sprained my ankle and went near   
breaking my neck4  ,on my arrival in    
,boston1 #ahgi1 ,i was invited by a     
newspaper friend1 whom ,i had brought   
with me into the city1 to join a party  
of pressmen who were to assemble next   
morning at ,parker ,house1 to report    
upon the test ascent of a new elevator4 
,it happened that ,mr4 ,wendell         
,phillips visited me early at ,adam's   
,house1 before ,i was up4 ,he sat       
familiarly on the bedrail1 and proposed 
to drive me round the city and show me  
the historic glories of ,boston1 which  
being proud to accept1 ,i sent an       
apology for my absence to the elevator  

party at ,parker ,house4 ,that morning  
the elevator broke down1 and out of five
 pressmen who went into it only four    
were rescued--more or less in a state of
 pulp4 ,one was killed4 ,but for ,mr4   
,phillips's fortunate visit ,i should   
have been among them4  ,in ,kansas      
,city1 in the same year 7#ahgi71 ,i was 
taken by my transatlantic friend1 ,mr4  
,james ,charlton1 to see a sugar bakery1
 concerning which ,i was curious4 ,the  
day was hot enough to singe the beard of
 ,satan1 and ,i was glad to retreat into
 the bakery1 which1 however1 ,i found   
still hotter1 and ,i left1 intending to 
return at a cooler hour next morning4   
,at the time ,i was to arrive ,i heard  
that the whole building had fallen in4  
,some were killed and many injured4     
,this was the ,city of ,kansas1 of which
 the mayor once said3 ,he wished the    
people would let some one die a natural 
death1 that a stranger might know how   
healthy the city was4 ,accidents1 duels1
 and shootings prevented cases of       

longevity occurring4  ,another occasion 
when misadventure took place1 when      
we--my daughter1 ,mrs4 ,marsh1 and      
,i--were crossing the ,tesuque ,valley1 
below ,santa ,fe1 the party occupied    
three carriages2 road1 there was none1  
and the horses knew it1 and when they   
came to a difficulty--either a ravine or
 hill--the driver would give the horses 
the rein1 when they spread themselves   
out with good sagacity1 and descended or
 ascended with success4 ,one pair of    
horses broke the spring of their        
carriage1 making matters unpleasant to  
the occupants2 another pair broke the   
shaft1 which1 cutting them1 made them   
mad1 and they ran away4 ,the carriage in
 which ,i was remained sound1 and ,i had
 the pleasure for once of watching the  
misfortunes of my friends4  ,the river  
was low1 the sand was soft1 and the     
distance through the ,tesuque ,river was
 considerable1 and we calculated that no
 horses were mad enough to continue     
their efforts to run through it1 and we 

were rewarded by seeing them alter their
 minds in the midst of it1 and continue 
their journey in a sensible manner4     
,returning from ,guelph1 which lies     
below ,hamilton1 in the ,niagara corner 
of ,canada1 where we had been to see the
 famous ,agricultural ,college1 we were 
one night on the railway in what the    
,scotch call the gloaming4 ,my daughter 
remarked that the scenery outside the   
carriage was more fixed than she had    
before observed it1 and upon inquiry it 
appeared that we were fixed too--for the
 train had parted in the middle1 and the
 movable portion had gone peacefully on 
its way to ,hamilton4 ,we were left     
forming an excellent obstruction to any 
other train which might come down the   
line4 ,fortunately1 the guard could see 
the last station we had left1 two miles 
from us1 and see also the train         
following us arrive there4 ,we hoped    
that the stationmaster would have some  
knowledge of our being upon the line1   
and stop the advancing train2 but when  

we saw it leave the station on its way  
to us we were all ordered to leave the  
carriages1 which was no easy thing1 as  
the banks right and left of us were     
steep1 and the ditch at the base was    
deep4 ,however1 our friends1 ,mr4       
,littlehales and ,mr4 ,smith1 being     
strong of arm and active on a hill1 very
 soon drew us up to a point where we    
could observe a collision with more     
satisfaction than when in the carriages4
 ,fortunately1 the man who bore the only
 lamp left us1 and who was sent on to   
intercept the train1 succeeded in doing 
it4 ,ultimately we arrived at ,hamilton 
only two hours late4 ,when we were all  
safely at home1 one lady1 who           
accompanied us1 fainted--which showed   
admirable judgment to postpone that     
necessary operation until it was no     
longer an inconvenience4 ,one lady      
fainted in the midst of the trouble1    
which only increased it4 ,the excitement
 made fainting sooner or later          
justifiable1 although an impediment1 but

 ,i was glad to observe my daughter did 
not think it necessary to faint at any  
time4  ,as we were leaving the sleepy   
,falls of ,montmorency in the carriage1 
we looked out to see whether the        
,frenchman had got sight of us1 fully   
expecting he would take a chaise and    
come after us to collect some other     
impost which we had evaded paying4 ,the 
sun was in great force1 and ,i was      
reposing in its delicious rays1 thinking
 how delightful it was to ride into     
,quebec on such a day1 when in an       
instant of time we were all dispersed   
about the road4 ,in a field hard by1    
where a great load of lumber as high as 
a house was piled1 a boy who was        
extracting a log set the upper logs     
rolling4 ,this frightened the horses4   
,they were two black steeds of high     
spirit1 and therefore very mad when     
alarmed4 ,had they run on in their      
uncontrollable state1 they would1 if    
they escaped vehicles on the way1 have  
arrived at a narrow bridge where unknown

 mischief must have occurred4 ,the      
driver1 who was a strongly built        
,irishman1 about sixty1 with good       
judgment and intrepidity1 instantly     
threw the horses on to the fence1 which 
they broke1 got into the ditch1 and     
seriously cut their knees4 ,i leaped out
 into the ditch with a view to help my  
daughter out of the carriage2 but she1  
nimbler than ,i1 intending to render me 
the same service1 arrived at the ditch1 
and assisted me out1 merely asking      
whether four quietly disposed persons   
being distributed over the ,dominion at 
a minute's notice was a mode of         
travelling in ,canada8 ,mrs4 ,hall1 who 
was riding with us1 also escaped unhurt 
,her husband deliberately remained some 
time to see what the horses were going  
to do1 but finding them frantic1 he also
 abandoned the carriage4  ,later1 in    
,england1 being ,ashton way1 ,i paid a  
visit to my friend the ,rev4 ,joseph    
,rayner ,stephens1 whose voice1 in early
 ,chartist times1 was the most eloquent 

in the two counties of ,lancashire and  
,yorkshire4 ,he fought the ,new ,poor   
,law and the ,long ,timers in the ,ten  
,hours' agitation4 ,his views were      
changed in many respects1 but that did  
not alter my regard for his ,chartist   
services--and there remained his varied 
affluence of language1 his fitly chosen 
terms1 his humorous statement1 his      
exactness of expression and strong      
coherence1 in which the sequence of his 
reasoning never disappeared through the 
crevice of a sentence4 ,all this made   
his conversation always charming and    
instructive4  ,after lecturing in the   
,temperance ,hall and the evening was   
far spent1 a cab was procured to take me
 to ,mr4 ,stephens's at the ,hollins4 ,a
 friend1 ,mr4 ,scott1 in perfect wanton 
courtesy1 having no presentiment in his 
mind1 would accompany me4 ,when we      
arrived at ,stalybridge 7where there is 
a real bridge71 the cabman1 instead of  
driving over it1 drove against it4 ,i   
thought1 perhaps1 this was the way with 

,ashton cabmen2 but my friend came to a 
different conclusion4 ,he said the      
cabman had not taken the pledge that    
afternoon4 ,i was told ,ashton cabmen   
needed to take it often4 ,the driver1   
resenting our remonstrance1 drove wildly
 down a narrow1 ugly1 deserted street1  
which he found at hand4 ,it was all the 
same to me1 who did not know one street 
from the other4 ,my friend1 who knew    
there was no outlet save into the river1
 called out violently to cabby to stop4 
,the only effect was that he drove more 
furiously4 ,mr4 ,scott leaped out and   
seized the horse1 and prevented my being
 overthrown4 ,before us were the remains
 of an old building1 with the cellars   
all open1 in one of which we should soon
 have descended4 ,cabby would have      
killed his horse1 and probably himself1 
which no doubt would have been an       
advantage to ,ashton4  ,as the place was
 deserted ,i should have been found next
 morning curled up and inarticulate4 ,we
 paid our dangerous driver his full fare

 to that spot1 and advised him to put   
himself in communication with a         
temperance society4 ,he abused us as not
 being gentlemen for stopping his cab in
 that unhandsome way4  ,the next morning
 ,i went to the scene of the previous   
night's adventure4 ,had ,mr4 ,henley1   
the loud1 coarse-tongued member for     
,oxfordshire at that time1 seen the     
place1 he would have said we were making
 an ugly rush for the river4 ,not that  
we should ever have reached the river1  
for we should certainly have broken our 
necks in the brick vaults our driver was
 whipping his horse into4  ,as ,i needed
 another cab on my arrival at ,euston1  
,i selected a quiet-looking white horse1
 and a ,good ,templar-looking cabman1   
first asking the superintendent what he 
thought of him4 ,o1 he's all right1 was 
the answer1 and things went pleasantly  
until we arrived at a narrow1 winding   
street4 ,i was thinking of my friend1   
,mr4 ,stephens1 and of the concert which
 at that hour he had daily in his       

bedroom1 when ,i was suddenly jerked off
 my seat and found the white horse on   
the foot-pavement4 ,i stepped out and   
adjured the cabman1 ,by the carpet-bag  
of ,st ,peter 7no more suitable         
adjuration presented itself on the      
occasion71 to tell me what he was at4 ,i
 said1  ,are you from ,ashton8 ,nothing 
the matter1 sir4 ,all right ,jump in4   
,only my horse shied at the             
costermonger's carrot-cart there4 ,she's
 a capital horse1 only she's apt to shy4
 ,i answered1 ,yes2 and unless ,i change
 my mode of travelling by cabs1 ,i shall
 become shy myself4  ,late one night1   
after the close of the ,festive         
,co-operative ,meeting in ,huddersfield1
 a cab was fetched for me from the      
fair--it being fair time4 ,the messenger
 knew it was a bad night for the whip1  
as he might be touched in the head by   
the festivities1 so he said to cabby3   
,now1 though it is fair night1 you must 
do the fair thing by this fare4 ,he does
 not mind spreading principles1 but he  

objects to being spread himself4 ,cabby 
came with alacrity4 ,he thought he had  
to take some boozing cuss about the     
fair1 with an occasional pull up at the 
,spread ,eagle4 ,when he found me       
issuing from a temperance hotel1 bound  
for ,fernbrook1 he did not conceal his  
disappointment by tongue or whip1 and   
jerked his horse like a ,bashi-,bazouk  
when a ,montenegrin is after him4 ,i    
cared nothing1 as ,i had made up my mind
 not to say another word about cabs if  
they broke my neck4 ,i knew we had a    
stout hill before us1 which would bring 
things quiet ,the next day the hotel    
people1 who saw the cabman's rage1 said 
they thought there was mischief in store
 for me4 ,they knew nothing of ,ashton  
ways1 and their apprehensions were      
original4  ,after a pleasant sojourn in 
,brighton1 where the ,november sun is   
bright1 and the fogs are thin1 grey and 
graceful1 softening the glare of the    
white coast1 tempering it to the        
sensitive sight1 ,i returned to ,london 

one cold1 frosty day1 when snow and ice 
made the streets slippery4 ,i had chosen
 a cabman whose solid1 honest face was  
assuring1 and being lumpy and large     
himself ,i thought he would keep his    
four-wheeler steady by his own weight4  
,being himself lame and rheumatic1 he   
appeared one who would prefer quiet     
driving for his own sake4 ,we went on   
steadily until we reached ,pall ,mall1  
when he turned sharply up ,suffolk      
,street4 ,looking out1 ,i called to my  
friend on the box1 saying1 ,this is not 
,essex ,street ,beg your pardon1 sir1 ,i
 thought you said ,suffolk ,street1 and 
began to turn his horse round4 ,in that 
street the ground rises1 and the        
carriage-way is convex and narrow1 it   
required skill to turn the cab1 and the 
cabman was wanting therein4 ,he said his
 rein had caught1 and when he thought he
 was pulling the horse round1 the horse 
had taken a different view of his       
intention1 and imagined he was backing  
him1 and1 giving me the benefit of the  

doubt1 did back1 and overturned the cab1
 and me too4 ,not liking collisions of  
late1 ,i had1 on leaving ,brighton1     
wrapped myself in a railway cloak1 that 
it might act as a sort of buffer in case
 of bumping--yet not expecting ,i should
 require it so soon4  ,seeing what the  
horse was at1 and taking what survey ,i 
could of the situation1 ,i found ,i was 
being driven against the window of the  
house in which ,cobden died4 ,i have my 
own taste as to the mode in which ,i    
should like to be killed4 ,to be run    
over by a butcher's cart1 or smashed by 
a coal train or brewer's van is not my  
choice2 but being killed in ,pall ,mall 
is more eligible1 yet not satisfactory4 
,as ,i had long lived in ,pall ,mall1 ,i
 knew the habits of the place4 ,there is
 a gradation of killing in the streets  
of ,london1 well-known to ,west-end     
cabmen4 ,as they enter ,trafalgar       
,square1 they run over the passenger    
without ceremony4 ,at ,waterloo ,place1 
where gentlemen wander about1 they      

merely knock you down1 but as they enter
 ,club-land1 which begins at ,pall ,mall
 ,west1 where ,judges and ,cabinet      
,ministers and members of ,parliament   
abound1 they merely run at you2 so ,i   
knew ,i was on the spot where death is  
never inflicted4 ,therefore ,i took hold
 of the strap on the opposite side of   
the cab to that on which ,i saw ,i      
should fall4 ,for better being able to  
look after my portmanteau1 ,i had it    
with me1 and1 fortunately had placed it 
on the side on which ,i fell4 ,placing  
myself against it when the crash came1  
and the glass broke1 ,i was saved from  
my face being cut by it4 ,my hat was    
crushed1 and head bruised4 ,it was      
impossible to open the door1 which was  
then above me1 and had the horse taken  
to kicking1 as is the manner of these   
animals when in doubt1 it would have    
fared ill with me4 ,possibly the horse  
was a member of the ,peace ,society1 and
 showed no belligerent tendency2 more   
likely he was tired1 and glad of the    

opportunity of resting himself4 ,the    
street1 which seemed empty1 was quickly 
filled1 as though people sprang out of  
the ground4 ,two ,micawbers who were    
looking out for anything which turned   
up1 or turned over1 came and forced open
 the cab-door at the top1 and dragged me
 up1 somewhat dazed1 my hat off1 my grey
 hair dishevelled1 my blue spectacles   
rather awry on my face--,i was sensible 
of a newly-contrived1 music-hall        
appearance as my shoulders peered above 
the cab4 ,a spirit merchant near kindly 
invited me into his house1 where some   
cold brandy and water given to me seemed
 more agreeable and refreshing than it  
ever did before or since4 ,the cab had  
been pulled together somehow4 ,my       
rheumatic friend on the box had been    
picked up not much the worse--possibly  
the fall had done his rheumatism good4  
,i thought it a pity the poor fellow    
should lose his fare as well as his     
windows1 and so continued my journey    
with him4  ,on one occasion1 after an   

enchanted evening in the suburbs of     
,kensington1 a fog came on4 ,the driver 
of the voiture drove into an enclosure  
of stables1 and went round and round4   
,noticing there was a recurring recess1 
,i kept the door open until we arrived  
at it again1 and leapt into it as we    
passed again4 ,when the driver1 who was 
bewildered1 came round a third time1 ,i 
surprised him by shouts1 and advised him
 to let his horse take us out by the way
 he came in4 ,there was no house1 or    
light1 or person to be seen1 and there  
was the prospect of a night in the cold1
 tempered by contingent accident4       
,having engaged to be surety for the son
 of a ,hindoo judge1 who was about to   
enter as a student in the ,inns of      
,court1 a new adventure befel me4 ,i had
 accepted from his father the           
appointment of guardian of his son4 ,my 
ward was a young man of many virtues1   
save that of punctuality4 ,as he did not
 appear by appointment1 ,i set out in   
search of him4 ,crossing ,trafalgar     

,square ,i found myself suddenly        
confronted by two horses' heads4 ,an    
omnibus had come down upon me4 ,it      
flashed through my mind that1 as ,i had 
often said1 ,i was in more danger of    
being killed in the streets of ,london  
than in any foreign city or on the sea2 
and ,i concluded the occasion had come4 
,i knew no more until ,i found myself   
lying on my back in the mud after rain1 
but1 seeing an aperture between the two 
wheels1 ,i made an attempt to crawl     
through4 ,a crowd of spectators had     
gathered round and voices shouted to me 
to remain where ,i was until the wheels 
were drawn from me4 ,lying down in the  
mud again was new to me4 ,there was     
nothing over me but the omnibus1 and as 
,i had never seen the bottom of one     
before1 ,i examined it4  ,it happened   
that a surgeon of the ,humane ,society  
was among the spectators1 who assisted  
in raising me up1 and took me to the    
society's rooms close by1 where ,i was  
bathed and vaseline applied to my       

bruises4 ,my overcoat was torn and      
spoiled1 but ,i was not much hurt4 ,the 
hoof of one horse had made black part of
 one arm4 ,it appears ,i had fallen     
between them1 and had it not been for   
their intelligent discrimination ,i     
might have been killed4 ,i sent two bags
 of the fattest feeding cake the        
,co-operative ,agricultural ,association
 could supply1 as a present to those two
 horses4 ,i had no other means of       
showing my gratitude to them4 ,i was not
 so grateful to the ,humane ,society's  
surgeon1 who sent me in a bill for two  
guineas for attendance upon me1 and     
threatened me with legal proceedings if 
,i did not pay it4 ,as he accompanied me
 to the ,national ,liberal ,club1 whence
 ,i had set out1 ,i sent him one guinea 
for that courtesy1 and heard no more of 
him1 and did not want to4  ,one evening1
 after leaving a ,co-operative ,board   
,meeting in ,leman ,street1             
,whitechapel1 ,i incautiously stepped   
into the roadway to hail a cab1 when a  

lurry came round a corner behind me and 
knocked me into the mud1 which was very 
prevalent that day4 ,some bystanders    
picked me up1 and one1 good-naturedly1  
lent me a handkerchief with which to    
clear my face and head1 both being      
blackened and bleeding4 ,the policeman  
who took charge of me asked me where ,i 
wanted to be taken4 ,i answered that ,i 
was on my way to ,fleet ,street to an   
assembly of the ,institute of           
,journalists to meet ,m4 ,zola1 then on 
a visit to us4 ,i think1 sir1 said the  
reflective policeman1 we had better take
 you to the ,london ,hospital1 and      
another policeman accompanied me in a   
passing tram1 which went by the hospital
 door4 ,after some dreary waiting in the
 accident ward it was found that ,i had 
no rib or bone broken1 but my nose and  
forehead were bound up with grim-looking
 plasters1 and when ,i arrived at the   
hotel1 four miles away1 where ,i was    
residing1 and entered the commercial    
room1 ,i had the appearance of a        

prize-fighter1 who had had a bad time of
 it in the ring4 ,knowing the second day
 of an accident was usually the worst1  
,i took an early train home while ,i    
could move4 ,my ribs1 though not broken1
 were all painful1 and ,i remember      
squealing for a fortnight on being taken
 out of bed4 ,after my last adventure   
the ,accident ,insurance ,company       
7though ,i had never troubled them but  
once7 refused to accept any further     
premium from me1 which ,i had paid      
twenty or thirty years1 and left me to  
deal with further providential escapes  
from my own resources4  ,thinking ,i was
 safe in ,brighton near my own home1 ,i 
was walking up the ,marine ,parade1 one 
quiet ,sunday morning1 when a gentleman 
on a bicycle rushed down a bye street   
and knocked me down with a bound4       
,seeing two ladies crossing the street  
,i concluded matters were safe4 ,the    
rider told me that he had seen the      
ladies and had arranged to clear them1  
but as ,i stepped forward he could not  

clear me1 so gave me the preference4 ,as
 ,i had always been in favour of the    
rights of women1 ,i said he did rightly1
 though the result was not to my mind4  
,he had the courtesy to accompany me to 
my door1 apologising for what he had    
done1 but left me to pay the bill of the
 physician1 who was called in to examine
 me4 ,when ,i recovered my proper senses
 ,i found he had not left his card4     
,though ,i advertised for him1 he made  
no reappearance4  ,another serene       
,sunday morning ,i was crossing the ,old
 ,steine with a son-in-law2 nothing was 
to be seen in motion save a small       
dog-cart1 which had passed before we    
stepped into the road4 ,soon we found   
ourselves both thrown to the ground with
 violence4 ,a huge dog1 as large as the 
,hound of the ,baskervilles described by
 ,conan ,doyle1 had loitered behind and 
suddenly discovered his master had      
driven ahead1 and he1 like a ,leming    
rat1 made straight for his master1 quite
 regardless of our being in his way4    

,in these and other adventures or       
mis-adventures1 ,i need not say ,i was  
never killed1 though the escapes were   
narrow4 ,to say they were providential  
escapes would be to come under the      
rebuke of ,archbishop ,whately1 who1    
when a curate reported himself as       
providentially saved from the terrible  
wreck of the ,amazon1 asked3 ,i to      
understand that all less fortunate      
passengers were providentially drowned8 
,the belief that the ,deity is          
capricious or partial in ,his mercies is
 a form of holy egotism which better    
deserves indictment than many errors of 
speech which have been so visited4 ,i   
have no theory of my many exemptions    
from fatal consequences4 ,all ,i can say
 is that1 had ,i been a saint1 ,i could 
not have been more fortunate4           
,,chapter ,,xxxvi4 ,,limping ,,thrift   
,thrift is so excellent a thing--is so  
much praised by moralists1 so much      
commended by advisers of the people1 and
 is of so much value to the poor who    

practise it--that it is strange to see  
it retarded by the caprices of those who
 take credit and receive it1 for        
promoting the necessary virtues4        
,insurance societies continue to        
recommend themselves by praising        
prudence and forethought which provides 
for the future4 ,everybody knows that   
those who do not live within their      
income live upon others who trust them4 
,those who spend all their income forget
 that if others did as they do1 there   
would be universal indigence4 ,insurance
 companies are supposed to provide      
inducements to thrift1 whereas they put 
wanton obstacles in its way4  ,he who   
takes out a policy on his life finds it 
a condition that if he commits suicide  
his policy will be forfeited--the       
assumption of insurance offices being   
that if a man insures his life he       
intends to cut his throat4 ,can this be 
true8 ,what warrant of experience is    
there for this expectation8 ,is not the 
natural1 the instinctive1 the universal 

love of life security sufficient against
 self-slaughter8 ,if life be threatened1
 do not the most thoughtless persons    
make desperate effort to preserve it8   
,is it necessary for insurance societies
 to come forward to supplement          
incentives of nature8 ,is not the fact  
that a man is provident-minded enough to
 think of insuring his life1 proof      
enough that his object is to live8      
,answers to a series of questions are   
demanded from an insurer1 which average 
persons do not possess the knowledge to 
answer with exactitude2 yet failure in  
any fact or detail renders the policy   
void1 although a person has paid        
premiums upon it for thirty or forty    
years4  ,elaborate legal statements     
which few can understand are attached to
 a policy which intimidates those who   
see them1 from wishing to incur such    
unfathomable obligation4 ,a few plain   
words in plain type would be sufficient 
for the guidance of the insured and the 
protection of the company4 ,the         

uncertainty comes from permitting       
questions of popular interest to be     
stated by a member of the legal         
profession4 ,if the terms of eternal    
salvation had been drawn up by a lawyer1
 not a single soul would be saveable1   
and the judgment day would be involved  
in everlasting litigation4  ,an office  
known to me had judges among its        
directors1 from which it was inferred by
 the insured that the office was        
straight4 ,the holder of a policy in it1
 making a will1 his solicitor on inquiry
 found that the office did not admit his
 birth4 ,they had received premiums for 
forty years1 still reserving this point 
for possible dispute after the          
policy-holder was dead1 never informing 
him of it4 ,when the insurance was      
effected1 they saw the holder of it and 
could judge his age to a year4 ,they saw
 the certificate of his birth1 but gave 
him no assurance that they admitted it  
and it had to be presented again4  ,in  
another case within my knowledge1 the   

owner of a policy obtained a loan upon  
it1 from a well-known lawyer in the     
,city of ,london1 who gave the office1  
as is usual1 notice of it4 ,when the    
loan was repaid he again wrote to the   
office saying he had executed a deed of 
release of his claim on the policy4     
,that the office was not satisfied with 
this assurance was never communicated to
 the policyholder1 and when many years  
later1 the lawyer who advanced the loan 
was dead1 and his son who succeeded him 
was dead1 it transpired that the office 
did not believe the assurances they had 
received4 ,they admitted having received
 the letter by the loan maker1 but      
required to see the deeds relating to   
the advance and release and repayment of
 the loan2 and they gave the            
policyholder to understand that he had  
better keep those deeds1 as his         
executors might be required to produce  
them at his death4 ,it was a miracle    
they were not destroyed4 ,as the office 
had been legally notified that the claim

 on the policy had ceased1 it was never 
imagined that deeds which did not relate
 to the office could be required by it4 
,under this intimidation the deeds have 
now been kept4 ,they are fifty years    
old4 ,this ,scotland ,yard practice of  
treating an insurer as a thief1 detracts
 from the fascination of thrift4        
,another instance was that of a         
policy-holder who applied to the office 
for a loan1 for which #a per cent1 more 
interest was demanded than his banker   
asked1 and a rise of #a per cent1 in    
case of delay in paying the interest1   
and a charge was to be made for the     
office lawyer investigating the validity
 of their own policy1 upon which the    
office had received premiums for        
forty-seven years4  ,directors1 like the
 ,doge of ,venice1 should have a lion's 
mouth open1 of which they have the key1 
when they might hear of things done in  
their name1 not conducive to the        
extension of thrift4  ,no wonder thrift 
goes limping along1 from walking in the 

jagged pathway which leads to some      
insurance office4  ,there are1 as ,i    
know1 offices straightforward and       
courteous1 who foster thrift by making  
it pleasant4 ,yet1 as one who has often 
advocated thrift1 ,i think it useful to 
record my astonishment at the official  
impediments to its popularity1 which ,i 
have encountered4 ,this is one reason   
why ,thrift1 the most self-respecting of
 all the goddesses that should be       
swift-footed1 goes limping along4       
,,chapter ,,xxxvii4 ,,mistrust ,,of     
,,moderation  ,temperance is restraint  
in use4 ,abstinence is entire avoidance1
 which is the wise policy of those who  
lack the strength of temperance4  ,how  
necessary entire abstinence is to many1 
,i well know4 ,when the drink passion   
sets in1 it leads to an open grave4 ,the
 drinker sees it1 and knows it1 and1    
with open eyes walks into it4 ,he who   
realises the danger1 would1 as ,charles 
,lamb said--       ,clench his teeth and
 ne'er undo them1      ,to let the deep 

damnation trickle through them4  ,for   
such there is no salvation save entire  
abstinence4 ,thousands might have been  
saved but for the fanaticism of         
abstinence advocates who opposed in     
,parliament every legal mitigation of   
the evil1 thinking the spectacle of it  
would force the legislature into        
prohibition4 ,in discussions1 lectures1 
articles1 ,i advocated the policy of    
mitigation1 and supported measures in   
,parliament calculated to that end1     
encountering thereby the strong dissent 
of temperance writers who1 not intending
 it1 connived at drunkenness as a       
temperance policy4  ,is it true that    
moderation is dead8 ,have teetotalers   
extinguished it as a rule of daily life8
 ,bishop ,hall1 in his fine way1 said1  
,moderation was the silken string       
running through the pearl chain of all  
our virtues4 ,was this a mistake of the 
illustrious prelate8 ,is not temperance 
a wider virtue than total abstinence8   
,is there no possibility of establishing

 temperance in betting8 ,can no         
limitation be imposed on betting8 ,the  
public know denunciatory preaching does 
not arrest it4 ,innumerable articles are
 written against it4 ,letters about it  
are not lacking in the editor's         
post-bag4 ,yet not a mitigation nor     
remedy is suggested1 save that of       
prohibition1 which is as yet impossible4
  ,betting is a kind of instinct1       
difficult to eradicate1 but possible to 
regulate4 ,games of hazard1 as          
card-playing or dice1 are naturally     
seductive in their way4 ,they are useful
 as diversions and recreation4 ,they    
exercise the qualities of judgment1     
calculation1 and presence of mind1 as   
well as furnish entertainment4 ,it is   
only when serious stakes are played for 
that mischief and ruin begin4  ,but the 
seduction of card gambling--once widely 
irresistible--is now largely limited by 
the growing custom of playing only for  
small stakes4 ,family playing or club   
playing1 professedly for money1 is held 

to be disreputable4 ,formerly1 drinking 
which proceeded to the verge of         
intoxication1 or went beyond it1 was    
thought manly4 ,now1 where the effects  
are seen in the face1 or in business1 it
 is counted ruinous to social or        
professional reputation4 ,drinking is   
far more difficult of mitigation than   
betting1 because the temptations to it  
occur much oftener4 ,the capricious     
habit of going in search of luck can be 
restrained by common sense4 ,temperance 
in betting would be easier to effect    
were it not for the intemperate doctrine
 of total abstainers4 ,by defaming      
moderation they rob the holy name of    
temperance of its charm1 its strength   
and its trust4 ,by teaching that        
moderation is an inclined plane1        
polished as marble1 and slippery as     
glass1 on which whoever sets his foot1  
slips down into perdition1 they destroy 
moderation by making it a terror4 ,it   
brings it into contempt and distrust1   
and undermines self-confidence and      

self-respect4 ,yet it is by moderation  
that we live4 ,moderation in eating is  
an absolute condition of health--as the 
,indian proverb puts it3 ,disease enters
 by the mouth4 ,a man who disregards    
moderation in work1 or in pleasure1 or  
diet1 seldom lives out half his days4   
,he who has no moderation in judgment1  
in belief1 in opinion1 in politics1 or  
piety1 is futile in counsel1 and        
dangerous in his example4 ,if the       
disparagement of self-control has not   
destroyed the capacity and confidence of
 moderation in the public heart1        
temperance in betting is surely         
possible4  ,occasionally a minister of  
religion will ask me what ,i have to say
 about betting4 ,i answer1 ,it is       
difficult to extinguish it1 but possible
 to mitigate it4 ,i give an instance    
from my own experience4  ,years ago when
 ,i was editing the ,reasoner1 ,dr4     
,shorthouse contributed a series of     
instructive papers on the physiology of 
racing horses4 ,out of courtesy to him  

,i took a ticket in a sweepstake in     
which he was concerned1 but in which ,i 
felt no interest4 ,months after1 ,i saw 
that the owner of the prize was unknown4
 ,my brother1 knowing ,i had a ticket1  
found it among my papers1 and ,i        
received ,l#ej4 ,i invested the amount1 
intending to use the interest in some   
future speculation1 if ,i made any1     
which was not in my way4 ,to that ,l#ej 
there is added now more than ,l#ej of   
accumulated interest1 with which ,i     
might operate if so inclined4 ,were ,i  
in the crusade against betting ,i should
 say1 ,form societies for ,temperance in
 ,betting1 of which the rules shall be--
  '#a4--,no member may make any bet     
unless he is able1 having regard to his 
social obligations1 to lose the sum he  
risks1 and is willing to lose it1 if he 
fails to win4  '#b4--,when he does win  
anything1 he shall invest it1 and bet   
with the interest1 and every time he    
wins1 shall add the amount to the       
original investment1 which would give   

him a larger sum for future recreation  
in that way4'  ,there is a ,church of   
,england ,temperance ,society which has 
the courage to believe in moderation1   
and which makes it a rule of honour to  
keep clear of all excess4 ,thousands in 
every walk of life have been saved to   
society under this sensible             
encouragement1 and where an occasional  
act of excess would have been counted   
venial1 it is regarded as revolting as  
an act of indecency4  ,i have known men 
in the betting ring who made up their   
mind that when they acquired a certain  
sum they would retire1 nor step again in
 the treacherous paths of hazard--and   
they kept their resolution4 ,but very   
few are able to do this1 having no      
trained will4  ,i am against extremes in
 social conduct1 save where reason shows
 it to be a necessity4 ,if ,betting     
,limited was approved by the public1    
betting at hazard would become as       
socially infamous as petty larceny4 ,in 
the dearth of suggestions for the       

mitigation of an evil as serious as that
 of drunkenness1 ,i pray forgiveness for
 that ,i have made4  ,previous to #ahfh1
 ,i assisted in establishing the        
,scottish ,advertiser conducted by      
,walter ,parlane4 ,it bore the following
 motto1 which ,i wrote for it3          
,whatever trade ,parliament licenses1 it
 recognises--and so long as such trade  
is a source of public revenue1 it is    
entitled to public protection4  ,i still
 agree with the sentiment expressed4    
,all ,i meant was a reasonable          
protection of the interest which the law
 had conceded to the trade4 ,the        
predatory impudence of the monopoly     
privileges the trade has since extorted 
against the public interests was in no  
man's mind then4 ,no one intended that  
the concession of just protection should
 be construed into extortion4 ,as       
respects compensation1 the temperate    
party refused it4 ,i was not of their   
opinion4 ,i agreed with them that the   
publicans had no logical claim for      

compensation1 but ,i would have conceded
 it as the lesser of two evils1 just as 
it was better to free the ,west ,indian 
slaves by purchase than to continue     
their lawful subjection4 ,if to maintain
 in full force the legalised machinery  
of drunkenness be only half as dreadful 
in its consequences as temperance       
advocates truly represent1 it would be  
cheaper as well as more humane to limit 
it by graduated compensation4           
,,chapter ,,xxxviii4 ,,penal            
,,christianity  ,predatory ,christianity
 would not be far from the mark4        
,christianity is of the nature of a     
penal settlement where                  
independent-minded persons are made to  
expiate the sin of thinking for         
themselves4 ,there can be no real       
goodwill in any one who is not for      
justice and equality4 ,no cause can     
command respect1 or can claim a hearing 
from others which is not based on       
absolute fairness4 ,many well-meaning   
,christians never inquire whether the   

great cause they have at heart fulfils  
this condition4 ,in the past this       
omission has been a lasting cause of    
alienation from their views4  ,between  
#ahej and #ahfj there sat in ,st4       
,bride's ,vestry1 ,london1 a group of   
,christian churchwardens who twice a    
year sent agents to seize property from 
my house in ,fleet ,street1 because ,i  
refused to pay tithes4 ,yet there are   
people who tell us without tiring1 of   
the depravity of the ,french            
revolutionists and atheists who laid1 or
 proposed to lay hands upon ,church     
property4 ,yet these ,christian         
officers1 acting under the eye of an    
opulent rector in the wealthiest capital
 in the world1 seized clocks and bales  
of paper on the premises of heretics1 in
 the name of the ,church6 ,did not this 
disqualify the ,church as ministers of  
consolation8 ,the greatest consolation  
is justice4 ,is it not spiritual        
effrontery to despoil a man1 then invite
 him to the communion table8 ,in our day

 by predatory acts1 they confiscate     
,nonconformist property to maintain     
,church schools4 ,can it be that heaven 
recognised agents engaged in petty      
larceny8 ,are they intrusted with the   
keys of heaven8 ,may the priest be a    
thief8 ,can a man expect to be admitted 
at the ,golden ,gate with a burglar's   
passport in his hand8 ,there exist penal
 laws against all who do not stand on   
the side of faith1 which ,nonconformists
 as well as ,churchmen connive at1      
profit by1 and maintain4 ,is not this   
destructive of their spiritual          
pretensions8 ,can they preach of        
holiness and truth without a blush8 ,no 
higher criticism can condemn            
,christianity1 as it is self condemned  
by resting on predatoriness4 ,no person 
who does not stand on the ,christian    
side can leave property for promoting   
his views1 as a ,christian can for      
promoting his4 ,no ,christian conscience
 is touched at this disadvantage imposed
 upon the independent thinker4 ,no      

sermon is preached against it4 ,no      
,christian petition is ever set up      
against it4 ,neither the ,church        
conscience nor the ,nonconformist       
conscience is stirred by the existence  
of this injustice4 ,it would cease if   
they objected to it4 ,but they do not   
object to it4  ,there are prelates1     
priests1 clergymen1 and ,nonconformist  
ministers personally to be respected1   
who in human things ,i trust4 ,but for  
their spiritual vocation1 is it possible
 to have respect or trust8 ,to tender   
consolation with one hand while they    
keep the other in my pocket is an act   
never absent from my mind4 ,i belong to 
a ,secular party who seek improvement by
 material means2 but were there any body
 of ,christians upon whom that party    
imposed legal disadvantages in its own  
interest1 and kept them there by silence
 or connivance1 ,parliament would hear  
from me pretty frequently until the     
insulting privileges were annulled4 ,any
 pretension to having principles worthy 

of acceptance1 or regard1 or even       
respect1 would be impertinence in us so 
long as we were unfair to others4  ,i   
caused to be brought into ,parliament a 
,bill in which ,sir ,philip ,manfield   
took the leading interest1 entitled3--  
,civil and ,religious ,liberty          
,extension4  ,a ,,bill  ,to secure the  
,extension of ,civil and ,religious     
,liberty4  7,prepared and brought in by 
,mr4 ,manfield1 ,sir ,henry ,boscoe1    
,sir ,geo4 ,b4 ,sitwell1 ,mr4 ,picton1  
,mr4 ,illingworth1 ,mr4 ,w4 ,mc,laren1  
,mr4 ,h4 ,p4 ,cobb1 ,mr4 ,howell1  ,mr4 
,chas4 ,feiiwick1 ,mr4 ,benn1  ,mr4     
,storey1 and ,mr4 ,hunter47  ,ordered1  
by ,the ,house of ,commons1 to be       
,printed1 #g ,november #ahic4  ,,printed
 ,,by ,,eyre ,,and ,,spottiswoode1      
,,printers ,,to ,,the ,,queen',s ,,most 
,,excellent ,,majesty4  ,and to be      
purchased1 either directly or through   
any ,bookseller1 from ,eyre             
,spottiswood1 ,east ,harding ,street1   
,fleet ,street1 ,b4,c41 and #cb1        

,abingdon ,street1 ,westminster1 #h4,w42
 or ,john ,menzies  ,co41 #ai1 ,hanover 
,street1 ,edinburgh1 and #ij1 ,west     
,nile ,street1 ,glasgow2 or ,hodges1    
,ptoois #f ,co41 ,limited1 #ajd1        
,grafton ,street1 ,dublin4  ,price #a;d4
  ,bill #dfd4   ,memorandum4  ,this     
,bill comprises but a small extension of
 religious equality4 ,its object is to  
enable a man to do what he likes with   
his own for admittedly lawful purposes4 
,it is affirmed by legal decisions that 
any man may believe what he pleases1    
speak what he pleases1 publish his      
honest conviction1 provided he does it  
in a temperate and considerate manner2  
and he may1 while living1 give money to 
maintain his views4 ,all this ,bill     
seeks is that he may1 at his death1     
bequeath money for such purpose4 ,this  
,bill merely proposes to extend a right 
which ,christians of every denomination 
enjoy1 but which hitherto has been      
denied to those who may conscientiously 
object to prevailing opinions4   ,,bill 

,,to  ,secure the ,extension of ,civil  
and ,religions ,liberty4  ,,whereas  #a 
it is expedient to remove the           
,disabilities under which persons suffer
 desirous of endowing1 creating1 and    
maintaining charitable and other ,trusts
 for religious and ethical inquiry1 so  
as to further extend civil and religious
 liberty3  #b ,nothing contained in this
 ,act shall affect or be deemed to      
repeal or contravene in any way such    
parts of the ,act #i ,george ,,ii41 cap4
 #cf1 relating to ,mortmain as remain   
unrepealed1 or any other ,act amending  
or altering such ,act2 and the          
provisions of all such ,acts now in     
force shall apply to all ,trusts created
 under this ,act4  #c ,after the passing
 of this ,act1 notwithstanding any ,act1
 ,rule of ,common ,law1 ,rule of        
,equity1 or ,rule of ,practice of any   
,court of ,justice now in force to the  
contrary1 it shall be lawful for any    
person to create and endow1 or create or
 endow1 any ,trust for inquiry into the 

foundations and tendency of religious   
and ethical beliefs which from time to  
time prevail1 or for the maintenance and
 propagation of the results of such     
inquiry4 ,and the method of application 
of ,bequests made for the purposes      
aforesaid shall be1 on the part of those
 responsible for their administration1  
subject to revision at intervals of     
thirty years4  #d ,such ,trust1 whether 
created by ,deed or ,will1 or by other  
instrument1 shall be deemed a charitable
 ,trust1 and shall be administered and  
given effect to in all respects in as   
full and complete a manner as in the    
case of religious and charitable ,trusts
 now recognised by ,law2 and the        
doctrine of ,cy-pres shall be applied to
 it when circumstances shall arise      
requiring the application of such       
doctrine4   ,this ,bill was not         
proceeded with4 ,it required a member   
like ,samuel ,morley1 of known          
,christianity and a conscience1 to carry
 it through the ,house4  ,a theory has  

been started that by registering an     
association1 under the ,friendly        
,societies ,act1 it would legalise its  
proceedings and virtually repeal all the
 laws confiscating bequests4 ,no case of
 this kind has come before the higher   
courts4 ,to do the ,government justice1 
,i know no case in which the ,crown has 
interfered to confiscate a bequest on   
the ground of heresy in its use4        
,members of families1 legally entitled  
to the property of a testator1 may claim
 the money and get it4 ,if the family   
enters no claim the bequest takes       
effect4 ,in the meantime the state of   
the law prevents testators leaving      
property for the maintenance of their   
opinions1 and ,christians bring charges 
against philosophical thinkers for lack 
of generosity in building halls as      
,christians do chapels4 ,the ,christian 
reproaches the philosopher for not      
giving1 when he has confiscated the     
bequest of the philosopher and the power
 of giving4  ,priests often mourn at the

 disinclination to listen to the tenets 
they proclaim1 and advertise in the     
newspapers the melancholy fact that only
 one person in five is found on ,sunday 
in a place of worship1 and do not       
remember how many persons remain away1  
not so much from dislike of the tenets  
preached1 as from dislike of the        
injustice which they would have to share
 if they belonged to any ,christian     
communion4     ,,chapter ,,xxxix4 ,,two 
,,sundays  ,none of our ,sunday         
,societies or ,sunday ,leagues seem ever
 to have thought of the advantages of   
advocating as ,i have long done--two    
,sundays--a ,devotional ,sunday and a   
,secular ,sunday4  ,the advocacy of two 
,sundays would put an end to the fear or
 pretence that anybody wants to destroy 
the one we have4  ,the ,policy of a     
,second ,sunday is a necessity4  ,it    
would put an end to the belief that the 
working classes are mad1 and not content
 with working six days want to work on  
the seventh4  ,it would preserve the    

present ,sunday as a day of real rest   
and devotion4 ,the one ,sunday we now   
have is neither one thing nor the other4
 ,its insufficiency for rest prevents it
 being an honest day of devotion4       
,proper recreation is out of the        
question4 ,there is too little time for 
excursions out of town on the ,saturday 
half-day holiday4 ,imprisonment in town 
irritates rather than refreshes--mere   
rest is not recreation4       ,a want of
 occupation gives no rest      ,a mind  
quite vacant is a mind distressed4      
,those who would provide recreation in  
the country find it not worth while for 
the precarious chance of half-day       
visitors4 ,on a ,secular ,sunday        
recreation would be organised and be    
more self-respecting than it now can be4
  #a4 ,it would conduce to the public   
health4 ,the manufacturing towns of     
,england are mostly pandemoniums of     
smoke or blast-furnace fumes4 ,the winds
 of heaven cannot clear them away in one
 day--less than forty-eight hours of    

cessation of fire and fume would not    
render the air breathable4  #b4 ,with   
two ,sundays one would be left          
undisturbed1 devoted to repose1 to      
piety1 contemplation and improvement of 
the mind4  #c4 ,it would give the       
preacher intelligent1 fresh-minded and  
fruitful-minded hearers1 instead of the 
listless1 wearied1 barren-headed        
auditors1 who lower the standard of his 
own mind by forcing upon him the        
endeavour to speak to the level of      
theirs4  #d4 ,a second ,sunday would    
give the people real rest when nobody   
would frown upon them1 nor preach       
against them1 nor pray against them4    
#e4 ,it would be cheaper to millowners  
to stop their works two clear days than 
run them on short days2 and there need  
not be fears of claims of further       
reduction of forty-eight hours a week on
 the part of workpeople1 who would have 
a real sense of freedom from unending   
toil with two days' rest and peace4     
,manufacturing towns would no longer be1

 as now1 penal settlements of industry4 
,holiness would no longer be felt to be 
wearisomeness4  ,but for ,moses1 the    
changes here sought would have existed  
long ago4 ,one day's rest in the week   
was enough for ,jews who were doing     
nothing when one ,sunday was prescribed 
to them4 ,had ,moses foreseen the       
manufacturing system1 instead of saying 
six days1 he would have said1 ,five days
 shalt thou labour4  ,if he deserves    
well of mankind who makes two blades of 
wheat grow where only one grew before2  
he deserves better who causes two       
,sundays to exist where only one existed
 before--for corn merely feeds the body1
 whereas reasonable leisure feeds the   
mind4     ,,chapter ,,xl4 ,,byways ,,of 
,,liberty  ,it is worth while recording 
the curious1 not to say ignominious1    
ways from which justice to new thought  
has emerged4 ,in the #e and #f          
,victoriae1 cap4 #ch1 #ahdb1 the trial  
of eighteen offences were removed from  
the jurisdiction of ,justices of the    

,peace in ,quarter ,sessions and        
transferred to the ,assize ,court4      
,persons accused were often subject to  
magisterial intolerance1 ignorance and  
offensiveness4  ,among the transferred  
offences were forgery1 bigamy1          
abductions of women4 ,blasphemy and     
offences against religion1 often of     
doubtful and delicate interpretation1   
were two of the subjects taken out of   
magisterial hands and placed under the  
decision of better-informed and more    
responsible judges4 ,blasphemy was the  
general title under which atheism1      
heresy1 and other troubles of the       
questioning intellect were designated4  
,composing1 printing or publishing      
blasphemous libels1 were included in the
 list of subjects to be dealt with in   
higher courts4 ,thus better chances of  
justice were secured to thinkers and    
disseminators of forbidden ideas4 ,this 
new charter of thought1 which conceded  
legal fairness to propagandism1 was not 
the subject of a special statute1 but   

was interpolated in a list1 which read  
like an auctioneer's catalogue1 eluded  
,parliamentary prejudice1 which might   
have been fatal1 had it been formally   
submitted to its notice4  ,in the same  
manner the ,affirmation ,act1 which     
changed the status of the disbeliever in
 theology from that of an outlaw to that
 of a citizen1 crept into the ,statute  
,book through a criminal avenue4 ,a     
,bill to admit atheists1 agnostics1 or  
other conscientious objectors to the    
ecclesiastic oath1 to make a responsible
 affirmation instead1 was twice or      
thrice thrown out of the windows of     
,parliament4 ,sir ,john ,trelawny used  
to say ,mr4 ,gathorne ,hardy 7afterwards
 ,lord ,cranbrook7 would rise up1 as ,i 
have seen him1 with a face as furiously 
red as one of his own blast furnaces at 
,lowmoor1 and move its rejection4 ,it   
was passed at last by the friendly      
device of ,g4 ,w4 ,hastings1 ,m4,p41 the
 founder of the ,social ,science        
,association1 in a ,bill innocently     

purporting to better promote the        
discovery of truth by enabling persons  
charged with adultery to give evidence  
on their own behalf4  ,then and there a 
clause was introduced which had no      
relation to the extension of the right  
to give evidence1 but upon the exemption
 of an entirely different class of      
persons from the obligation of making   
oath4 ,adulterers appear always to be   
,christians1 since no case is recorded  
in which any party in an adultery action
 professed any scruple at taking the    
oath4 ,yet the ,bill set forth that any 
person in a civil or criminal proceeding
 who shall object to make an oath1 shall
 make a declaration instead4 ,when the  
,bill became an ,act secular affirmation
 became legalised4 ,thus by a clause    
treading upon the heels of adultery1 the
 witness having heretical and           
unecclesiastical convictions was enabled
 to be honest without peril4  ,in #ahdb1
 as ,i witnessed at the ,gloucester     
,assizes1 no barrister would defend any 

one accused of dissent from             
,christianity1 but apologised for him   
and proclaimed his contrition for his   
sin of thinking for himself4 ,slave     
thought of the mind1 chained to custom1 
could be defended1 but not ,free        
,thought1 which is independent of       
everything save the truth4 ,by the ,act 
of #ahfi99 atheists ceased to be        
outlaws1 and were henceforth enabled to 
give evidence in their own defence4     
,wide-awake and vigilant as a rule1     
bigotry was asleep that day4 ,thus by   
circuitous and furtive paths the right  
of free thought has made its way to the 
front of the ,state4       99 #cb  #cc  
chap4 #fh1 ,evidence ,amendment ,act    
,,chapter ,,xli4 ,,lawyers' ,,licence   
,the extraordinary legal licence of     
disordered and offensive imputation has 
been limited since #ahdb4 ,in those     
days1 officers of the law1 who always   
professed high regard for morality and  
truth1 had no sense of either1 when they
 were drawing up theological            

indictments4 ,in the affair at          
,cheltenham ,i delivered a lecture on   
,home ,colonies 7a proposal similar to  
the ,garden ,cities of to-day71 to which
 nobody objects now4 ,as ,i always held 
that discussion was the right of the    
audience1 as self-defensive against the 
errors of lecturer or preacher1 an      
auditor1 availing himself of this       
concession1 arose in the meeting and    
asked3 ,since ,i had spoken of duty to  
man1 why ,i had said nothing of duty to 
,god8 ,my proper answer was1 that having
 announced one subject1 the audience    
would have a right to complain that ,i  
had trepanned them into hearing another1
 which they would not hear willingly4   
,such a reply would have been received  
with outcries1 and the ,christian       
auditor would have said1 ,i dare not    
answer the question--that ,i held       
opinions ,i was afraid to disclose4 ,all
 the while the questioner knew that an  
honest answer might have penal          
consequences1 which he intended to      

invoke4 ,christians in those days lacked
 winning ways4 ,i gave a defiant answer1
 which caused my imprisonment4 ,there   
was no imputation in my reply1 which    
merely produced merriment4  ,yet my     
indictment said ,i was a wicked1        
malicious1 evil-disposed person1 and    
that ,i wickedly did compose1 speak and 
utter1 pronounce and publish with a loud
 voice1 of and concerning the ,holy     
,scriptures1 to the high displeasure of 
,almighty ,god1 and against the peace of
 our ,lady the ,queen4 ,every sentence  
was an outrage1 and nearly every word   
untrue4 ,i was not wicked1 nor          
malicious1 nor evil-disposed4 ,i did not
 compose the speech--it was purely      
spontaneous4 ,i never had a loud voice4 
,i never referred to the ,holy          
,scriptures1 and ,i only disturbed the  
peace of our ,lady the ,queen by a      
ripple of laughter4  ,i carried no arms4
 ,i was known as belonging to the ,moral
 ,force ,party in politics1 and was     
entirely unprepared to attack any       

person1 let alone one ,omnipotent with  
force of arms4 ,the imputations in the  
indictment were not only untrue1 but    
contained more blasphemy than was in the
 mind of any one to utter4 ,i called the
 ,judge's attention to the atrocity of  
the language of the indictment ,he did  
not say there was anything objectionable
 in it1 which showed that the morality  
of the ,bench was not higher at that    
time than the morality of the           
magistrates4 ,in the ,cheltenham        
,chronicle1 known in the town as the    
,rev4 ,francis ,close's 7afterwards     
,dean of ,chichester7 paper1 ,i was     
described as a miscreant for the answer 
,i had given to my auditor4 ,mr4        
,justice ,erskine had no word of reproof
 for the infamous term applied to me4   
,as ,i have elsewhere said1 ,i spoke in 
my defence upwards of nine hours4 ,the  
length was owing to the declaration of  
one of the magistrates 7,mr4 ,bransby   
,cooper7 that the ,court would not hear 
me defend myself4 ,why ,i defended      

myself at all1 was from a very different
 reason4  ,no barrister in those days   
would defend any one charged with       
dissenting from the ,christian religion4
 ,the counsel always apologised to the  
jury for the opinions of his client1    
which admitted his guilt4 ,this was done
 at that very assizes at which ,i was   
tried4 ,a ,mr4 ,thompson1 a barrister in
 ,court1 who we mistook for a son of    
,general ,perronet ,thompson1 also at   
the ,bar1 was engaged to defend ,george 
,adams1 charged with an act of heresy4  
,the false ,thompson expressed          
contrition for ,adams1 without knowing  
or inquiring whether it was true that he
 felt it4 ,neither counsel nor          
magistrate nor judge seemed to think it 
necessary that what they said should be 
true4  ,thus my justification of the    
seeming presumption of defending myself 
was the fact that no counsel would      
defend us without compromising us4 ,i   
had no taste for martyrdom4 ,i did not  
want martyrdom2 ,i did not like         

martyrdom4 ,martyrdom is not a thing to 
be sought1 but a thing to be submitted  
to when it comes4  ,this narrative shows
 that1 in one respect1 legal taste and  
truth have improved in my time4         
,,chapter ,,xlii4 ,,christian ,,days    
,many religious thinkers1 ecclesiastical
 and ,nonconformist1 whose friendship ,i
 value1 will expect from me in these    
autobiographic papers some account of   
the origin of opinions in which they    
have been interested4 ,sermons1         
speeches1 pamphlets1 even books have    
been devoted to criticism of my         
heresies4 ,it is due to those who have  
taken so much trouble about me that ,i  
should explain1 not what the opinions   
were--that would be irrelevant here--but
 how ,i came by them4 ,that may be worth
 recounting1 and to some serious people 
perhaps worth remembering4  ,confessions
 are not in my way4 ,they imply that    
something it was prudent to conceal has 
to be owned up4 ,of that kind ,i have no
 story to tell4 ,an apologia is still   

less to my taste4 ,i make no apology for
 my opinions4 ,i do not find that       
persons who dissent from me1 ever so    
strenuously1 think of apologising to me 
for doing so4 ,they do right in standing
 by their convictions without asking my 
leave4 ,i hope they will take it in good
 part if ,i stand by mine without asking
 theirs4  ,my mother did not go to the  
,established ,church1 to which her      
father belonged4 ,she had natural piety 
of heart1 and thought she found more    
personal religion among the             
,nonconformists than in the ,church4    
,she attended ,carr's ,lane ,chapel1    
where the ,rev4 ,john ,angell ,james    
preached--who had a great reputation in 
,birmingham for eloquence and for his   
evangelical writings4 ,he was notorious 
in his day for denouncing players and   
ambitious preachers seeking to excel in 
the arts of this world2 which caused the
 town people to say that he was dramatic
 against the drama and eloquent against 
eloquence4 ,his name1 ,angell ,james1   

begat a belief that it was descriptive  
of himself1 and that his doctrines were 
necessarily angelic4 ,it seems absurd1  
but ,i shared this belief1 and should   
not have been surprised to hear that he 
had some elementary development of wings
 out of sight ,at the same time1 ,mr4   
,james gave me the impression of        
severity in piety1 and my feeling       
towards him was one of awe1 dreading a  
near approach4  ,some years after1 ,i   
held a discussion of several nights with
 the ,rev4 ,w4 ,j4 ,winks1 of           
,leicester1 who wrote to ,mr4 ,james to 
make inquiries concerning me4 ,in #ahha1
 some thirty-five years after the       
discussion1 ,mr4 ,winks' son showed me a
 letter which ,mr4 ,james wrote in reply
 saying3 ,holyoake was a boy in my      
,sunday ,school five years4 ,he then    
went1 through the persuasion of a       
companion1 to ,mr4 ,cheadle's for a     
short time1 then to the ,unitarian      
school 7,i believe entered a debating   
society71 and became an unbeliever4 ,he 

is a good son and kind to his mother1   
who is a member of one of our ,baptist  
churches4  ,the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,cheadle1 of 
whom ,mr4 ,james speaks1 was a ,baptist 
minister4 ,it is true ,i went to his    
church--my sister ,matilda became a     
member of it--but ,i never joined it    
,the ceremony of baptism there was by   
immersion4 ,it seemed poetical to me    
when ,i read the account of baptism in  
the ,jordan2 but ,i could not make up my
 mind to be baptised in a tank4 ,the    
reason1 however1 that ,i gave at the    
time was the stronger and the true      
one--that ,i did not feel good enough to
 make a solemn public profession of     
faith4 ,mr4 ,james was misinformed2 ,i  
never belonged to a debating society4   
,it was very good of him to write of me 
so1 when he must have been very much    
pained at the opinions he believed me   
then to hold4 ,a man may speak          
generously privately1 but he means it   
when he says the same thing publicly2   
and ,mr4 ,james did this4 ,he wrote to a

 similar effect in the ,british ,banner 
at the time when the ,rev4 ,brewin      
,grant was painting portraits of me in  
pandemonium colours4  ,a small ,sunday  
,school ,magazine came into my hands    
when ,i was quite a youth4 ,it was      
edited by the ,rev4 ,w4 ,j4 ,winks4 ,as 
communications were invited from        
readers1 ,i sent some evangelical verses
 to him4 ,the first time of my seeing my
 initials in print was in ,mr4 ,winks's 
magazine4  ,after a time1 partly because
 the place of worship was nearer home1  
my mother joined a little church in     
,thorpe ,street1 and later one in ,inge 
,street4 ,they were melancholy little   
meeting-houses1 and1 as ,i always       
accompanied my mother1 ,i had time to   
acquire that impression of them4 ,a love
 of art was in some measure natural to  
me1 and ,i thought that the ,temple of  
,god should be bright1 beautiful and    
costly4 ,as ,i was taught to believe    
that ,he was always present there1 it   
seemed to me that ,he should not be     

invited 7and all our prayers did invite 
,him7 into a mean-looking place4 ,it was
 seeing how earnestly my mother prayed  
at home for the welfare of her family1  
how beautiful and patient was her trust 
in heaven1 and how trouble and misery   
increased in the household              
notwithstanding1 that unconsciously     
turned my heart to methods of secular   
deliverance4 ,she had lost children4 ,i 
remember the consternation with which   
she told us one ,sunday night that her  
pastor1 the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,james1 had      
stated in his sermon his fearsome belief
 that there were children in hell not a 
span long4 ,that ,mr4 ,james believed it
 seemed to us the same as its being in  
the ,bible4 ,another time he preached   
about the sin against the ,holy ,ghost1 
which could never be forgiven1 either in
 this world or the world to come4 ,my   
mother's distress at the thought made a 
great impression upon me4 ,a silent     
terror of ,christianity crept into my   
mind4 ,that one so pure and devout as my

 mother1 who was incapable of committing
 sin knowingly1 should be liable to     
commit this1 and none of us know what it
 was1 nor how or when consequences so   
awful were incurred1 seemed to me very  
dreadful4  ,the first death at home of  
which ,i was conscious1 occurred at a   
time when ,church rates and ,easter dues
 were enforced and augmented by a       
summons4 ,none of us were old enough to 
take the money to the public office1 and
 a little sister being ill1 my mother1  
with reluctance1 had to go4 ,a small    
crowd of householders being there on the
 same errand1 she was away some hours4  
,when she returned1 my sister was dead2 
and the thought that the money extorted 
by the ,church might have succoured1 if 
not saved the poor child1 made the      
distress greater4 ,my mother1 always    
resigned1 made no religious complaint1  
but ,i remember that1 in our blind1     
helpless way1 the ,church became to us a
 thing of ill-omen4 ,it was not         
disbelief1 it was dislike1 that was     

taking possession of our minds4  ,a man 
in my father's employ1 who was          
superintendent of a ,congregational     
,chapel ,school at ,harborne1 a village 
some three or four miles from           
,birmingham1 asked me to assist as      
monitor in one of his classes4 ,i was so
 young that ,john ,collins1 who preached
 at times in the chapel1 took me by the 
hand1 and ,i walked by his side4 ,the   
distance was too far for my little feet1
 and in winter the snow found its way   
through my shoes4 ,collins afterwards   
became known as a ,chartist advocate1   
and was imprisoned in ,warwick ,gaol    
with ,william ,lovett1 on the ground of 
political speeches4 ,they jointly wrote 
the most intelligent scheme of ,chartist
 advocacy made in their day4 ,elsewhere 
,i have recounted incarcerations which  
befel many of my friends1 proving that1 
within the memory of living men1 the    
path of political and other pilgrims lay
 by the castles of giants who seized    
them by the way4  ,in the ,carr's ,lane 

,sunday ,school ,i was considered an    
attentive1 devout-minded boy4 ,all the  
hymns we sang ,i knew by heart1 as well 
as most parts of the ,bible4 ,the only  
classic of a semi-secular nature my     
mother had in her house was ,milton's   
,paradise ,lost2 we had besides a few   
works of ponderous ,nonconformist       
divines1 of which ,boston's ,fourfold   
,state was one1 to which ,i added       
,baxter's ,saints' ,everlasting ,rest4  
,i devoured whatever came in my way that
 was religious4 ,being thought by this  
time capable of teaching the little that
 was deemed necessary in an ,evangelical
 ,sunday school1 ,i came to act as a    
small teacher at the ,inge ,street      
,chapel4 ,these people were known as    
,paedo-,baptists--what that meant not a 
single worshipper knew4 ,the point of   
doctrine which they did understand was  
that children should not be baptised    
when their small souls were in the      
jelly-fish state and knew nothing4 ,when
 their little minds had grown and had   

some backbone of sense in them1 and some
 understanding of religious things1 the 
congregation thought that sprinkling    
them into spiritual fellowship might do 
them good4  ,though my mother admitted  
that adult baptism was more reasonable1 
she never listened to the doctrine of   
baptism by immersion4 ,she disliked     
innovation in piety4 ,she had great     
tenacity in quiet belief1 and thought   
public immersion a demonstration--very  
bad bathing of its kind--and might give 
you a cold4  ,few young believers showed
 more religious zeal than ,i did in     
those days4 ,on ,sunday morning there   
was a prayer on rising1 and one before  
leaving home4 ,at half-past seven the   
teachers were invited to meet at chapel 
to pray for a blessing on the work of   
the day4 ,when school commenced at nine 
o'clock the superintendent opened it    
with prayer1 and closed it at eleven    
with another prayer4 ,then came the     
morning service of the chapel1 at which 
,i was present with my class4 ,that     

included three prayers4 ,at two o'clock 
school began again1 opening and ending  
with prayers by the superintendent1 or  
by some teacher who was asked to engage 
in it1 in his stead4 ,at the close of   
the school1 another prayer-meeting of   
teachers was held1 for a blessing on the
 work done that day4 ,at half-past six  
evening service took place1 which       
included three more prayers4            
,afterwards1 devout members of the      
congregation held a prayer-meeting on   
behalf of the work of the church4 ,at   
all these meetings ,i was present1 so   
that1 together with graces before and   
after meals three times a day1 and      
evening prayers at time of rest1 heaven 
heard from me pretty frequently on      
,sundays4 ,many times since ,i have     
wondered at the great patience of ,god  
towards my unconscious presumption in   
calling attention so often to my        
insignificant proceedings4 ,atonement   
ought to include the sin of prayers4    
,nor was this all4 ,at chapels in       

,birmingham 7#ahcd71 when anniversary   
sermons had been preached on ,sunday by 
some ministers of mark1 there would     
commonly be a public meeting on ,monday 
at which they would speak1 and to which 
,i would go4 ,on ,tuesday evening ,i    
went to the ,cherry ,street ,chapel1    
where the best ,wesleyan preachers in   
the town were to be heard4 ,on          
,wednesday ,i often attended the ,carr's
 ,lane sermon4 ,thursday would find me  
at the ,bradford ,street chapel1 where  
there usually sat before me a beautiful 
youth1 whose sensuous grace of motion   
gave me as much pleasure as the sermon4 
,i remember it because it was there ,i  
first became conscious of the charm of  
human strength and proportion4 ,i had   
the ,greek love of beauty in boys--not  
in the ,greek sense1 of which ,i knew   
nothing4  ,on ,friday ,i generally went 
to the public prayer-meeting in ,cherry 
,street1 because ,wesleyans were bolder 
and more original in their prayers than 
other ,christians4 ,in frequenting      

,wesleyan chapels ,i could not help     
noticing that their great preachers were
 also men of great build1 of good width 
in the lower part of the face4          
,afterwards ,i found that their         
societies elsewhere were mostly composed
 of persons of sensuous make4 ,their    
preachers having strong voices1 and     
drawing inspiration mainly from feeling1
 they had boldness of speech2 and those 
who had imagination had a picturesque   
expression4 ,independents and ,baptists 
often tried to solve doubts1 which      
showed that their convictions were      
tempered by thought to some extent2 but 
the ,wesleyan knew nothing of           
thought--he put doubt away4 ,he did not 
recognise that the ,questioning ,spirit 
came from the ,angel of ,truth4 ,to the 
,wesleyans1 inquiry is but the          
fair-seeming disguise of the devil1 and 
to entertain it is of the nature of sin4
 ,these preachers1 therefore1 knowing   
nothing of the other side1 were under   
none of the restrictions imposed by     

intelligence1 and they denounced the    
sceptics with a force which seemed holy 
from its fervour1 and with a ferocity   
which only ignorance could inspire4 ,so 
long as ,i knew less than they1 their   
influence over me continued4 ,yet it was
 not vigorous denunciation which first  
allured me to them1 though it long      
detained me among them--it was the      
information ,i had received1 that they  
believed in universal salvation1 which  
had fascination for me4 ,there was      
something generous in that idea beyond  
anything taught me1 and my heart cleaved
 to the people who thought it true4     
,this doctrine came to me with the force
 of a new idea1 always enchanting to the
 young4 ,had ,i been reared among ,roman
 ,catholics1 ,i should have worshipped  
at the church of ,all ,souls instead of 
the church of ,one ,soul4 ,any ,church  
whose name seemed least to exclude my   
neighbours would have most attracted me4
  ,all the fertility of attendance at   
chapels recounted did not1 as the reader

 will suppose1 produce any weariness in 
me1 or make me tired of ,christianity4  
,the incessant ,bible reading1 hymns1   
prayer1 and evangelical sermons of      
,carr's ,lane1 ,thorpe ,street1 and     
,inge ,street did tire me4 ,there was no
 human instruction in their spiritual   
monotony4 ,my mind aches now when ,i    
think of those days4 ,when ,i took      
courage to visit various chapels1 the   
variety of thought gave me ideas4 ,the  
deacons of the ,inge ,street ,chapel    
bade me beware that the rolling stone   
gathered no moss499 ,yet ,i did gather  
moss4       99 ,thomas ,tusser1 of the  
sixteenth century1 to whom the          
phrase is ascribed1 said3 ,the stone    
that is rolling can      gather no moss4
  ,though ,i was then hardly fifteen1   
the other teachers would gently ask me  
if ,i would engage in prayer in their   
meetings1 which meant praying aloud     
among them4 ,the idea made me tremble4  
,i was very shy1 and the sound of my own
 voice was as a thing apart from me1 for

 which ,i was responsible1 and which ,i 
could not control4 ,then1 what should ,i
 say8 ,to say what others said1 to utter
 a few familiar scriptural phrases1     
diluted by ignorant earnestness1 seemed 
to me1 even at that time1 an insipid    
offering of praise4 ,then it occurred to
 me to notice any newness of thought and
 expression ,i heard in week-day        
discourses1 and with them ,i composed   
small prayers1 which brought me some    
credit when ,i spoke them1 as they were 
unlike any one else's4 ,but only        
once--at a ,friday night's church       
meeting--did ,i pray with natural       
freedom4 ,afterwards ,i avoided requests
 to pray1 as ,i thought it unreal to be 
thinking more of the terms of the prayer
 than the simple spirit of it1 and ,i   
hoped that one day fitting language     
would become natural to me4  ,it is     
proof that my mind was as free from     
scientific inspiration as any saint's1  
since ,i had no misgiving as to the     
effect of prayer4 ,if ,christianity were

 preached for the first time now to     
well-to-do people1 able to help         
themselves1 it would be treated like    
,mormonism in ,america2 but to the poor 
who have neither money nor reflection1  
,christianity1 as a praying power1 is a 
very real thing4 ,people who have no    
idea that help will1 or can1 come in any
 other way1 are glad to think that it   
may come from heaven4 ,it had never been
 explained to me that low wages were    
caused by there being too many labourers
 in the market1 or that ill-health is   
caused by poor food and hard condition4 
,it was my daily habit to pray for      
things most necessary and always        
deficient1 not for myself alone1 but for
 others to whom in their need ,i would  
give1 at any cost to myself--to whom1 if
 disinterested prayers were answered1   
any ,god of sympathy would give4 ,yet1  
though no prayer was answered1 it did   
not strike me that that method of help  
failed4 ,prayer was no remedy1 yet ,i   
did not see its futility4 ,had ,i spent 

a single hour only in dropping a bucket 
into an empty well1 never drawing any   
water up1 ,i should not have continued  
the operation without further inquiry4  
,it never struck me that1 if preachers  
could obtain material aid by prayer1 or 
knew any form of supplication by which  
it could be obtained1 they might grow   
rich in a day by selling copies of that 
priceless formula4 ,no ,church would be 
needy1 no believer would be poor4  ,in  
those days ,christianity was a very real
 thing to me4 ,what was part of my      
conviction was also part of my life4 ,so
 far as ,i had knowledge1 ,i was like   
the parson of ,chaucer1 who--           
,christ's love and his ,apostles twelve 
,taught1 and first he followed it       
himselve4  ,this ,i did with a zeal of  
spirit which neither knew nor sought any
 evasion of the letter4  ,at this time  
there came to ,birmingham one ,rev4     
,tully ,cribbace1 a middle-aged man with
 copious dark hair1 pale1 thin face1 and
 earnest1 unceasing speech4 ,the zealous

 members of many congregations went to  
hear him4 ,he interested me greatly4 ,he
 rebuked our ,churches1 as is the way   
with new1 wandering preachers--without  
appointments--for their want of faith in
 the promise of ,christ1 who had said   
that ,whatsoever ye shall ask in ,my    
name1 that will ,i do4 ,i had the       
belief1 ,i had asked in ,his name2 but  
nothing came of it4 ,with insufficient  
clothing ,i had gone out in inclement   
weather to worship1 or to teach1        
trusting in that promise that ,i should 
be protected if no gifts of clothing    
came from heaven4 ,no gifts did come1   
but illness from exposure often did4 ,in
 a very anxious spirit ,i went to ,mr4  
,cribbace's lodgings in ,newhall        
,street1 where he had said inquirers    
might call upon him4 ,when he asked me  
what ,i wished to say1 ,i at once1 not  
without emotion1 replied1 ,do you really
 believe1 sir1 what you said8 ,is it    
true that what we ask in faith we shall 
receive8 ,i have great need to know     

that4  ,my seemingly abrupt and         
distrustful question was not a          
reflection upon his veracity of speech4 
,mr4 ,cribbace quite understood that    
from my tone of inquiry4 ,it never      
struck me that his threadbare dress1 his
 half-famished look1 and necessity of   
taking up a collection the previous     
night to pay expenses1 showed that faith
 was not a source of income to him4 ,yet
 he had told us that faith would be all 
that to us1 and with a sincerity which  
never seemed to me more real on any     
human lips4 ,he did not mistake the     
earnestness or purport of my question4  
,he parried with his answer with many   
words1 and at length said that the      
promise was to be taken with the        
provision that what we asked for would  
be given1 if ,god thought it for our    
good4 ,christ did not think this2 ,he   
did not say it2 ,he did not suggest it4 
,knowing how many generations of men to 
the end of the world would imperil their
 lives on the truth of ,his words1 ,he  

could not suffer treacherous ambiguity  
to creep into ,his meaning by omission4 
,his words were3 ,if it were not so1 ,i 
would have told you4 ,there was no      
double meaning in ,christ1 no reticence1
 no half-statement1 leaving the hearer  
to find out the half-concealed words    
which contradicted the half-revealed4   
,all this ,i believed of him1 and       
therefore ,i trusted ,christ's sayings4 
,st4 ,chrysostom1 in the prayer of the  
,church ,litany1 does not stop1 but     
keeps open the gap through which this   
evasion crawls4 ,almighty ,god1 he says1
 who dost promise that when two or three
 are gathered together in ,thy name1    
,thou wilt grant their requests4 ,fulfil
 now1 ,o ,lord1 the desires and         
petitions of ,thy servants1 as may be   
most expedient for them4 ,christ was no 
juggler like ,st4 ,chrysostom4 ,a prayer
 is a deposit--the money of despair paid
 into a bank2 but no one would pay money
 into a bank if they were told they     
would get back only as much as was good 

or expedient for them4  ,my heart sank  
within me as ,mr4 ,cribbace spoke the   
words of evasion4 ,there was nothing to 
be depended upon in prayer4 ,the        
doctrine was a juggle of preachers4     
,they might not mean it or think it     
straight out1 but this is what it came  
to4 ,christ a second time repeated the  
words3 ,if ye shall ask anything in ,my 
name1 ,i will do it4 ,however it might  
be true in apostolic days1 it was not   
true in ours1 and the preachers knew it1
 and did not say so4 ,christ might as   
well be dead if the promise had passed  
away4 ,christianity had no material     
advantage to offer to the believer1     
whatever else it may have had4  ,mr4    
,cribbace spoke the truth now2 ,i could 
see that4 ,never did that morning pass  
from my mind4 ,that answer did not make 
me disbelieve1 but ,i was never again   
the same ,christian ,i had been before4 
,the foundation on which every forlorn1 
helpless1 uninformed1 trusting believer 
rests had slipped--slipped away from    

under my feet4 ,whatever ,christianity  
might be1 it was no dependence in human 
need4 ,the hard1 material world was not 
touched by prayer4 ,how else it could be
 moved ,i then knew not4  ,for myself1  
,i did not think about the terms of the 
,bible1 but believed them4 ,if there was
 an exception1 it related to the saying 
of ,christ that every idle word men     
should speak should be recorded against 
them4 ,if idle words were to go down1   
then angry or wicked words would also be
 recorded4 ,at night1 as ,i made my last
 prayer1 ,i tried to think over what ,i 
had said or done which might have been  
added to that serious catalogue1 and    
thus ,i suffered more than my fair share
 of alarm4 ,i did not know then that the
 rich have a much smaller account       
against them above than the poor1 and   
that they fare better than the indigent 
in heaven1 as they do on earth4 ,a      
gentleman has his house and grounds1 no 
one he dislikes can enter his home4 ,his
 neighbour cannot much annoy him2 he is 

at a distance from him4 ,if he has a    
feud with his annoyer1 he does not meet 
him above once a year1 perhaps at a     
county ball1 and there he can cut him2  
while a poor man lives in a house where 
he has several fellow-lodgers1 who have 
done him a shabby turn1 and whom he     
meets four or five times a day on the   
stairs4 ,evil thoughts come into his    
heart1 evil words escape his lips1 and  
he himself employs a recording angel all
 his time in taking down his offences1  
while the rich man has1 peradventure1   
only a single note made against his name
 once a week4  ,it was after ,i had been
 some time at the ,mechanics'           
,institution--which was quite a new     
world of thought to me--that ,i was     
asked if ,i would conduct a class at the
 ,new ,meeting ,unitarian ,sunday       
school4 ,the rooms in which the         
,mechanics' ,institution was held were  
those of the ,sunday school of the ,old 
,meeting-house1 no other being          
obtainable4 ,since anything ,i knew had 

been taught me by these generous        
believers1 it seemed to me natural that 
they should invite me to assist in one  
of their schools1 and that ,i should    
comply4 ,my consenting was not because  
,i shared their tenets4 ,the ,rev4 ,mr4 
,crompton1 whose sister subsequently    
became ,mrs4 ,george ,dawson1 asked me  
after a time what my view was as to the 
unity of ,deity4 ,my answer was that ,i 
believed in three ,deities4 ,i had never
 thought of the possibility of all this 
great world being managed by one ,being4
 ,my preference for the acquaintance of 
,unitarians was that there was so much  
more to be learned among them than among
 any other religious body ,i had known4 
,my invitation to their school was to   
teach ,euclid to one class1 and the     
simpler elements of logic to another4   
,these were subjects never thought of in
 the ,evangelical ,sunday schools to    
which ,i had belonged4 ,the need of     
human knowledge had become very clear to
 me4 ,i could see that young men of my  

age trained in ,unitarian schools were  
very superior to ,evangelical youths1   
who had merely spiritual information4   
,devoutness ,i knew to be goodness2 but 
,i could see it was not power4 ,my      
personal piety did not conceal from me  
my inferiority to those better informed4
 ,this made me grateful to the          
,unitarians1 who cared on ,sundays for  
human as well as spiritual things2 and  
,i thought it a duty to help them1 as   
far as my humble attainments might      
enable me4  ,as soon as this was known  
in the ,inge ,street church1 to which ,i
 was considered to belong1 the elders   
spake unto me thereupon4 ,i was invited 
to a prayer-meeting1 which ,i readily   
consented to attend1 when ,i found that 
all the prayers were directed against   
me--were mere solicitations to heaven to
 divert my heart from continuing to     
attend the ,unitarian schools4 ,it would
 be wronging my sincere and well-meaning
 friends of that time1 to recount the   
deterrents they used and the fears they 

expressed4 ,religion refined by human   
intelligence was regarded then as a form
 of sin4 ,at the end ,i did not dissent 
from their view1 but ,i made no promise 
to do what they wished4 ,it seemed to me
 a sin that any youths should be as     
ignorant as ,i had been1 and ,i refuse  
to give them such knowledge as ,i had   
acquired4 ,in this matter of teaching ,i
 said it was right to do as the         
,unitarians did1 but wrong to believe as
 they believed4 ,this opinion ,i held   
all the while ,i was a teacher in their 
,sunday school4  ,had these prayerful   
friends of mine succeeded in their      
object of persuading me from association
 with these larger believers1 they would
 have shut the door of freedom1 effort  
and improvement for me4 ,my lot would   
have been to spend my days inviting     
others1 with much earnestness1 to       
cherish like incapacity4 ,yet ,i have no
 word of disrespect for their           
honest-hearted endeavour to advise me1  
as they thought1 for the best4 ,it was  

the desire of knowledge which saved me  
from their dangerous temptation4  ,the  
,meeting-house to whose ,sunday school  
,i went1 was the one where ,dr4         
,priestley formerly preached4 ,it was my
 duty on a ,sunday to accompany my class
 into chapel during the morning service4
 ,the scholars' seats were near the     
gallery stairs4 ,the other teachers sat 
at the end of the forms1 farthest from  
the stairs4 ,i always chose the end     
nearest the stairs4 ,when invited to sit
 elsewhere ,i never explained the reason
 why ,i did not4 ,my reason was my      
belief that the wickedness of the       
preacher1 in addressing only one ,deity1
 would one day be resented by heaven1   
and that the roof would fall in upon the
 congregation4 ,as ,i did not share     
their faith1 ,i thought ,i ought not to 
partake of their fate2 and ,i thought   
that by being near the stairs ,i could  
escape--if ,i saw anything uncomfortable
 in the behaviour of the ceiling1 which 
,i frequently watched4 ,being the person

 who would first understand what was    
about to happen1 ,i concluded that my   
descent would be unimpeded by the flying
 and unsuspecting congregation4 ,it     
seems to me only yesterday that ,i sat  
calculating my chance of escape as ,mr4 
,kentish's sonorous and instructive     
sermon was proceeding4     ,,chapter    
,,xliii4 ,,new ,,convictions ,,which    
,,came ,,unsought  ,these singular      
instances of bygone experience of a     
religious student1 of which few similar 
have ever been given1 must be           
suggestive--perhaps instructive--to     
religious teachers in church and chapel1
 engaged in inculcating their views4    
,how much happier had been my life had  
there then existed that tolerance of    
social effort1 that regard of social    
needs1 that consideration of individual 
aspiration1 which happily now prevail4  
,this chapter will conclude what        
,herbert ,spencer would call the natural
 history of a mind1 or1 as ,lord        
,westbury would say1 what ,i am pleased 

to call my mind4  ,one evening1 at the  
,mechanics' ,institution1 ,birmingham1  
,i was told that ,robert ,owen1 who had 
unexpectedly arrived in town1 was likely
 to speak in ,well ,lane1 ,allison      
,street1 and was asked would ,i go8     
,mistaking the name for ,robert ,hall1  
,i said ,i would4 ,of ,robert ,owen ,i  
had scarcely heard2 of the ,rev4 ,robert
 ,hall 7who had denounced all deflectors
 from the ,baptist standard with        
brilliant bitterness7 ,i had heard1     
admired 7and do still71 and much desired
 to see4 ,great was my disappointment   
when ,i discovered the mistake4 ,as ,mr4
 ,owen passed me on entering the room1  
,i--a mere youth--looked at the aged    
philosopher 7who had been working for   
human welfare long before ,i was born7  
with an impertinent pity4 ,i felt also  
some real terror for his future1 as ,i  
thought what a wicked old man he must   
be4 ,i had been assured by ,robert ,hall
 that morality without faith was of no  
avail in the eye of ,god4  ,eventually  

it became known at the works where ,i   
was employed that ,i had been to hear   
,robert ,owen1 and remarks were made4   
,in those days 7#ahcg-h7 advocates of   
social reform were called ,socialists4  
,some of the remarks made against them  
were unjust ,some ,socialists were      
fellow-students at the ,mechanics'      
,institution4 ,these commentators made  
the usual mistake of concluding that the
 social thinkers in question must hold  
the opinions it was inferred that they  
held4 ,at that time ,i did not          
understand this way of reasoning1 though
 no doubt ,i used it myself1 as those   
among whom ,i was reared knew no better4
 ,everybody was sure that an opponent   
must mean what you inferred he meant1   
and charged against him the inference as
 a fact--never thinking of inquiring    
whether it was so4 ,if ,i was not misled
 by those confident arguments1 it was   
because ,i knew that the persons accused
 were leal and kind in daily life4 ,out 
of mere love of fairness ,i defended    

them to my working associates1 as far as
 my knowledge went4 ,being told that ,i 
did not know what their principles were 
caused me to read their pamphlets and to
 hear some lectures4 ,for a year or more
 ,i used the knowledge thus gained      
against the uninformed impressions of   
their aspersers around me4  ,well do ,i 
remember that one day1 as ,i passed two 
workmen in the mill-yard1 one said to   
the other1 ,that is young ,holyoake the 
sceptic4 ,they did not know that sceptic
 merely meant a doubter in search of    
evidence4 ,they used the word in the    
brutal sense of one who disbelieved the 
truth1 knowing it to be the truth4 ,the 
term startled me1 as ,i neither believed
 nor assumed to believe what ,i had     
reported as the opinions of my friends4 
,for myself1 ,i had no thought of       
holding their opinions4 ,the heresy     
supposed to be included in them was1    
indeed1 my aversion4 ,then ,i made the  
resolution to examine their principles1 
with a view to show what arguments ,i   

could myself bring against them4 ,great 
was my dismay when1 after months of     
thought1 ,i found that the questioned   
tenets seemed1 on the whole1 to be true4
 ,these tenets were that wise material  
circumstances were likely to have a     
better influence on men than bad ones2  
and that1 men having general qualities  
which they have inherited1 the treatment
 of the worst should be tempered by     
compassion for their ill-fortune4 ,then 
it concerned me no more what any one    
said of me4 ,it was as though ,i had    
passed into a new country1 leaving      
behind me the barren land of            
supplication for a land of self-effort  
and improvement2 and entered into the   
fruitful kingdom of material endeavour1 
where help and hope dwelt4 ,heretofore  
doubt and perturbation as to whether ,i 
was of the elect had oft agitated me4   
,now1 ,i had no bonds in the death of my
 disproved opinions--no struggle1 no    
misgivings4 ,without wish or effort of  
mine1 ,i was delivered by reason alone  

from the prison-house in which ,i had   
dwelt with its many terrors4 ,not all at
 once did the terrors go4 ,they long    
hovered about the mind like evil spirits
 tempting me to distrust the truth      
written in the ,book of ,nature1 of     
which ,i believed ,god to be the author4
  ,some time before this change in my   
opinion occurred ,i had taken in1 out of
 my slender savings1 the beautiful      
,diamond edition of the ,rev4 ,mr4      
,stebbing's ,bible in parts4 ,the type  
was very fine1 the outline illustrations
 seemed to me very beautiful2 they      
affect me with admiration still4 ,it was
 the first book with marks of art about 
it that ,i had possessed4 ,i had it     
bound in morocco1 with silver clasps4   
,it was quite a wonder in the workshop  
when ,i took it there4 ,to possess many 
things ,i never cared1 but if ,i had    
only one1 and it had some beauty and    
finish in it1 it was to me as though ,i 
had a light in my room at night1 and the
 thought of it made me glad in the dark4

 ,a fellow-workman of sincere piety1    
whom ,i respected very much1 coveted    
this ,bible1 and induced me to sell it  
to him1 which ,i did1 as ,i had it in my
 mind to get another bound in a yet     
daintier way4  ,simple and natural as   
was this transaction1 it was            
misconstrued4 ,it was said ,i had sold  
my ,bible1 as though it was my act      
instead of being the act of another4    
,next it was reported that ,i had burnt 
it4 ,thus ,i became a founder of myths  
without knowing it4 ,nevertheless1 it   
gave me pain--for nothing was more alien
 to my mind1 my taste and reverence1    
than the act imputed to me4 ,but what   
made a greater impression upon me1 it   
being inconceivable1 and unforeseen1 was
 that he who induced me to part with my 
valued volume never came forward to say 
so4 ,the inspiration of ,christianism ,i
 had taken to be personal truth which   
could be trusted4 ,in the noblest minds 
it is so still4 ,but for the first time 
,i found a ,christian could be mean4    

,it was about this period that a poor   
woman ,i knew drew near to death from   
consumption4 ,at times ,i visited and   
read the ,scriptures to her4 ,one night 
,i asked her if she would like some one 
to pray with her4 ,as she wished it1 ,i 
induced one with whom ,i had been a     
,sunday school teacher to come with me  
one evening and pray by her side4  ,the 
consolation was very precious to her1   
and that is why ,i sought it for her4   
,at no time did it seem to me that      
everybody should be of one opinion1     
since honesty of life consists in living
 and dying in that opinion of the truth 
of which you are convinced4 ,this man   
whom ,i took with me was a workman1     
poor1 mean1 and utterly uninformed4 ,in 
religious sympathy he inclined to the   
,ranters1 who are not at all melodious  
,christians4 ,yet heaven might respect  
his prayer as much as a bishop's1 for he
 had given up his night1 after a hard   
day's labour1 to afford what humble     
consolation he could to this poor woman4

  ,one sentiment that had always        
possessed me was a pleasure in          
vengeance4 ,i had quite a distinct      
passion of hatred where ,i was wronged1 
and had no means of resistance or       
redress4 ,a man in my father's employ   
did something very unfair to me when ,i 
was quite a youth1 and during nine years
 that ,i worked by his side ,i did not  
forget it or forgive it4 ,the ,lord's   
prayer taught me that ,i should forgive 
those who trespassed against me1 and at 
times ,i thought ,i had forgiven him1   
but ,i never had4 ,christian as ,i was1 
the revengeful lines of ,byron long     
influenced me3--       ,if we do but    
watch the hour1      ,there never yet   
was human power1      ,that could evade1
 if unforgiven1      ,the patient search
 and vigil long      ,of him who        
treasures up a wrong4  ,no sermon1 no   
prayer1 no belief1 no ,divine command1  
rendered me neutral towards those ,i    
disliked4 ,neither authority nor precept
 had force which gave no reason for     

amity4 ,but when ,i came to understand  
,coleridge's saying that human affairs  
are a process1 ,i could see that        
patience and wise adaptation of         
condition was the true method of        
improvement1 since the tendency to      
nobleness or baseness was alike an      
inheritance nurtured by environment4 ,if
 tempest of the human kind came1        
precaution and not anger--which means   
ignorance taken by surprise--was the    
remedy4 ,pity takes the place of        
resentment4 ,clearly1 vengeance did but 
add to the misfortune of destiny4  ,i   
oft pondered ,hooker's saying1 that     
anger is the sinew of the soul1 and he  
that lacketh it hath a maimed mind4     
,nevertheless1 ,i am content to be      
without that sinew4 ,anger is rather the
 epilepsy of the understanding than the 
dictate of reason4 ,i had come to see   
that there are no bad weeds in          
,nature--but much bad gardening4 ,the   
reasons of amity had become clear to me1
 and that ,helvetius was right4 ,we     

should go on loving men1 but not        
expecting too much from them4 ,even     
,hooker could not win me back to the    
profitless pursuits of anger and        
retaliation4  ,these bygone days left   
their instruction with me evermore4 ,in 
them ,i learned consideration for       
others4 ,whatever my convictions1 ,i was
 always the same to my mother4 ,the wish
 to change her views never entered my   
mind4 ,she had chosen her own4 ,i       
respected her choice1 and she respected 
mine4 ,in after years1 when ,i visited  
,birmingham1 ,i would read the ,bible to
 her4 ,she liked to hear my voice again 
as she had heard it in earlier days4    
,when her eyes became dim by time ,i    
would send her large type editions of   
the ,new ,testament1 and of religious   
works which dwelt upon the human        
tenderness of ,christ4 ,the piety of    
parents should be sacred in the eyes of 
children4 ,convictions are the food of  
the soul1 which perisheth on any other  
diet than that which can be assimilated 

by the conscience4  ,one of the bygones 
which had popularity in my day was      
silence1 where explicitness was needed4 
,nothing is more grateful to the young  
understanding than clear1 definite      
outlines4 ,the ,spectator 7,july #bc1   
#ahia7 said that ,dean ,stanley could   
not at any time have exactly defined    
what his own theology really was4       
,george ,dawson1 who charmed so many    
audiences and was under no official     
restraint1 never attempted it4 ,emerson1
 who criticised everybody who had an    
opinion1 never disclosed his4 ,carlyle1 
who filled the air with adjurations to  
sincerity of conviction1 carefully      
concealed his own4 ,they who take credit
 for advising the public what to believe
 should avow their own belief4 ,otway1  
crossing the street to ,dryden's house1 
wrote upon his door3 ,here lives        
,dryden1 a poet and a wit4 ,seeing these
 words as he came out1 ,dryden wrote    
under them3 ,written by ,otway opposite1
 which might mean3 ,this is but a       

partial and friendly estimate written by
 my neighbour who lives over the way1   
opposite to me2 or1 it might mean that  
,it is written by ,otway--the very      
'opposite' of 'a poet and a wit4' ,janus
 sentences are the very grace of satire1
 because they offer a mitigating or a   
complimentary construction2 but in      
questions of conscience1 ethics1 or     
politics1 uncertainty is an evil--an    
evil worth remembering where it can be  
avoided4  ,socialists were liable to    
indictment who officiated in a place not
 licensed as a place of worship4 ,such a
 license could be obtained on making a  
declaration on oath that their          
discourses were founded on belief in the
 cardinal tenets of the ,church4 ,two   
social speakers were summoned to swear  
this4 ,one was the father of the late   
,robert ,buchanan4 ,he and his colleague
 did so swear to avoid penalties1 though
 they swore the contrary of the truth4  
,i joined with other colleagues in      
protesting against this humiliation and 

ignominy4 ,and in another way           
imprisonment came to all of us4 ,silence
 or the oath was the alternative from   
which there was no escape4 ,the question
 then arose1 ,was the existence of      
,deity so certainly known to men that   
inability to affirm it justified        
exclusion from citizenship8 ,thus it was
 of the first moment to inquire whether 
it was so or not1 and what was regarded 
as an atheistical investigation became a
 political necessity in self-defence4   
,was there such conclusive knowledge of 
the ,unknowable as to warrant the law in
 making the possession of it a condition
 of justice and civil equality8 ,thus   
the refutation of ,theism became a form 
of self-defence1 and without foreseeing 
it1 or intending it1 or wishing it1 ,i  
was1 without any act of my own1 engaged 
in it4  ,this narrative concerns those  
who deplore the rise and popularity of  
independent thinkers1 alien to received 
doctrine4 ,few persons are aware how or 
why agnostic advocacy was welcomed and  

extended4 ,surely this is worth         
remembering4 ,the tenet bore statute    
fruit1 for the ,affirmation ,act came   
out of it4  ,it will be a satisfaction  
to students of spiritual progress to    
know that the extension and legalisation
 of the rights of conscience1 brought no
 irreverence with it4 ,the sense that   
the nature of ,deity was beyond the     
capacity of dogmatism to define1 created
 a feeling of profound humility in the  
mind2 the incapacity which disabled me  
from asserting the infinite premises of 
,theism rendered denial an equal        
temerity4 ,what tongue can speak1 what  
eye can see1 what imagination can       
conceive the marvels of the             
,inscrutable8 ,i think of ,deity as ,i  
think of ,time1 which is with us daily4 
,who can explain to us that mystery8    
,time--noiseless1 impalpable1 yet       
absolute--marshals the everlasting      
procession of nature4 ,it touches us in 
the present with the hand of ,eternity1 
and we know it only by finding that we  

were changed as it passed by us4        
,,chapter ,,xliv4 ,,difficulty ,,of     
,,knowing ,,men  ,events of the mind as 
well as of travel may be worth          
remembering4 ,columbus1 high on a peak  
of ,darien1 saw an unexpected           
sight--never to be forgotten4 ,of       
another kind1 as far as surprise was    
concerned1 though infinitely less       
important in other respects1 was my     
first reading of a passage of ,pascal1  
which more than any other revealed to me
 a new world of human life4 ,the passage
 was the well-known exclamation3--      
,what an enigma is man8 ,what a strange1
 chaotic and contradictory being8 ,judge
 of all things1 feeble earth-worm1      
depository of the ,truth1 mass of       
uncertainty1 glory and butt of the      
universe1 incomprehensible monster6 ,in 
truth1 what is man in the midst of      
,nature8 ,a cypher in respect to the    
infinite2 all1 in comparison with       
nonentity3 a mean betwixt nothing and   
all4  ,everybody knows that not only in 

different nations1 but in the same      
nation1 mankind present a strange       
variety of qualities and passions4 ,the 
,english are outspoken1 the ,scotch     
reticent1 the ,irish uncertain1 the     
,american alert1 the ,french ceremonial4
 ,even our ,english counties have their 
special ways of action4 ,london is      
confident1 ,birmingham dogged1          
,manchester resolute1                   
,new-castle-on-,tyne has greater modesty
 and greater pride than any other place4
 ,yes2 every one agrees with ,pascal    
that man is a bewildering creature4 ,he 
is proud and abject1 generous and mean1 
defiant and craven1 standing up for     
inflexible truth1 and lying in his daily
 life4 ,as ,byron says1 ,man is half    
dust1 half deity4 ,if we go far enough  
in our search we find people of all     
qualities4 ,everybody sees these        
characteristics of countries and        
classes4 ,everybody recognises these    
conflicting elements of character in a  
race2 but what amazed me was to perceive

 that they are to be found in each      
person in varying proportion and        
force--they are all there4 ,the         
varieties of the race are to be found in
 the same individual4 ,no man who       
understands this ever looks upon society
 as he did before4 ,not knowing this    
fact1 not calculating upon it1 error1   
distrust1 disappointment1 estrangement1 
grow up needlessly4  ,twice within the  
public recollection1 two political      
parties in ,england have been formed1   
and made furious by a common ignorance4 
,during the great ,slave ,war in        
,america1 the ,southern planter was held
 up as a gentleman of polished manners1 
of cultivated tastes1 a paternal master 
and courteous host ,by others he was    
described as selfish1 sensual1          
tyrannical1 with whom any guest who     
betrayed sympathy with slaves had an    
unpleasant time4 ,both accounts were    
true4 ,the same model gentleman who     
showered upon you courtly attentions    
would tar and feather you if he found   

you display emotion when you heard the  
shriek of the slave under the whip4     
,later1 ,parliament1 the press1 and the 
,church were divided upon the character 
of the ,turk4 ,one party said he was    
tolerant1 picturesque1 abounding in     
concessions and hospitality4 ,the other 
party described him as subtle1 evasive1 
treacherous1 vicious1 and cruel4 ,no one
 seemed to recognise that all the while 
he was both these things4 ,he was an    
adept in personal deference1 generous in
 professions1 evasive and               
treacherous--in short1 ,abdul the       
,damned4 ,to those from whom the ,sultan
 had anything to hope1 his graciousness 
was superb--to those at his mercy he was
 rapacious and murderous4  ,the         
,circassians will offer their daughters 
to the ,turk--they send their virgin    
beauty into the market of lust1 and then
 fight for the purchasers4 ,the ,hindoos
 seem a gentle1 unresisting1 rice-minded
 people2 yet have such capacity of      
heroic and vigilant reticence1 that     

though we have been masters of ,india   
for one hundred and fifty years1 it is  
said by experienced officials1 we do not
 know the real mind of a single man4    
,the ,zulus have savage instincts and   
habits2 but they are honest1 speak the  
truth1 and despise a man who is angry or
 excited4  ,thiers1 the great ,french   
statesman1 had trust in individuals1 but
 despised the masses4 ,yet the masses   
pulled down the ,bastile1 where only    
gentlemen were imprisoned and not       
themselves4 ,the masses were moved by a 
generous dislike of oppression as       
strongly as ,thiers himself4  ,president
 ,washington1 looking only at the       
corruption of classes he came in contact
 with1 predicted evil to the future of  
,american society4 ,yet1 one hundred    
years after1 a latent nobleness of      
sentiment appeared1 which gave a million
 of lives in order that black men with  
large feet1 as was scornfully said1     
should be free4  ,because oppression had
 made1 for years1 assassination frequent

 in ,italy1 many thought every man      
carried a stiletto1 and did not know    
that ,italians are more patient and     
cooler-headed on great occasions than   
,englishmen or ,frenchmen4  ,the ,irish 
do not conceal that they are our        
enemies1 and ruin every ,english        
movement in which they mingle1 yet who  
have such brightness1 drollery of       
imagination as they8 ,or who will stand 
by a friend of their country at the     
peril of their lives without hesitation 
as they do8  ,the ,scotch display in    
contest a sort of divine ferocity1 such 
as we read of in the ,old ,testament4   
,their battle song at ,flodden ran      
thus3--       ,burn their women1 lean   
and ugly1      ,burn their children1    
great and small1      ,in the hut and in
 the palace1      ,prince and           
peasant--burn them all4       ,plunge   
them in the swelling torrents      ,with
 their gear and with their goods2       
,spare--while breath remains--no ,saxon1
      ,drown them in the roaring floods4

  ,the ,irish could not excel this rage 
of hell4 ,yet the same race gave us     
,burns and ,sir ,walter ,scott1 which no
 seer would have predicted or any would 
believe4 ,the ,scotch have deliberate   
generosity4 ,though narrow in piety they
 are broad in politics and have veracity
 in their bones4  ,it concerns us to    
notice that in every individual there is
 the same variety of qualities which    
exist in the race4 ,not to understand   
this is to misunderstand everybody with 
whom we come in contact4 ,take the case 
of a man in whom personal ambition      
predominates4 ,that implies the         
existence of other qualities which may  
be even estimable1 though subordinated  
to ends of power4 ,william1 the ,norman 
,conqueror1 had a gracious manner to any
 who lent themselves to further his     
ends2 but1 as ,tennyson tells us1 he was
 stark as ,death to those who crossed   
him4 ,the first ,napoleon gave thrones  
to generals who would occupy them in his
 interest1 or as his instruments4 ,the  

third ,napoleon was very courteous even 
to workmen1 so long as he believed they 
would be on his side in the streets2 but
 their throats were not safe in the     
corridor outside his audience chamber1  
if he distrusted them4  ,this unexpected
 blandishment confused the strong brain 
of ,john ,arthur ,roebuck1 who1 under   
the influence of ,bonapartean courtesy1 
forgot that he had become ,emperor by   
perjury and murder4 ,a man caring above 
all things for power will give anything 
to acquire it or hold it4 ,if any one   
will help him even to plunder others1 he
 will share the plunder with a liberal  
hand among his confederates1 who        
proclaim him as a most amiable1         
generous1 and disinterested gentleman4  
,to them he is so4 ,the political world 
and private life also abounds in men    
who1 like ,byron's captain1 was the     
best-mannered gentleman who ever        
scuttled a ship or cut a throat4  ,there
 are very few who say as ,byron         
elsewhere wrote3--       ,i wish men to 

be free1      ,from ,kings or mobs--from
 you or me4  ,the point of importance is
 that in judging a man we should        
accustom ourselves to see all about him1
 and1 while we hate the evil1 not shut  
our eyes to what there may be of good in
 the same person4  ,for objects of      
popularity men will encounter peril in  
promoting measures of public utility1   
and though they care more for themselves
 than for the public1 the public profit 
by their ambition4 ,provided it is      
understood that these advocates are not 
to be depended upon any longer than it  
answers their purpose1 nobody is        
discouraged when they take up with      
something else1 which better serves     
their ends4  ,men like ,mr4 ,gladstone  
have a passion for conscience in        
politics2 or1 like ,mr4 ,bright1 have a 
passion for justice in public affairs2  
or1 like ,mr4 ,mill1 have a passion for 
truth2 or1 like ,mr4 ,cobden1 who had a 
passion for national prosperity founded 
on freedom and peace--will encounter    

labour and obloquy with courage1 and    
regard applause only as a happy         
accident1 caring mainly for the         
consciousness of duty done4 ,however1   
this class of men are not numerous1 but 
command honour when known4  ,men of the 
average sort very much resemble fishes1 
except that they are less quiet and not 
so graceful in their movements4 ,there  
is the ,pholas ,dactylus1 which         
resembles a small1 animated sausage with
 a pudding head4 ,his plan of life is to
 bore a perfectly tubular passage in the
 soft sand rock on the sea-side1 and lie
 there with his cunning head at the     
mouth of his dwelling and snap up the   
smaller creatures who wander heedlessly 
by4 ,sometimes a near relative has made 
a dwelling-place at right angles to the 
direction in which he has elected to    
make his residence4 ,he does not consult
 the rights or convenience of any one1  
but bores straight through his father or
 his mother-in-law4 ,there are many     
persons who do the same thing4 ,there is

 the subtle and picturesque devil fish1 
who hides himself in the sedge and opens
 his mouth like a railway tunnel4 ,with 
the fishing-rod which ,nature attaches  
to his nose1 the end of which is        
contrived like a bait1 he switches the  
bright water until fish run forward1    
when he draws it cleverly up1 and the   
foolish1 impetuous1 and unobservant     
creatures rush down his cavernous and   
treacherous throat ,he offers a bait1   
not to feed them1 but to feed himself4  
,if people had only eyes to see1 there  
are devil fish about in the sedges of   
daily life--political1 clerical1 and    
social4 ,there is the octopus1 with its 
long1 aimless arms1 as silent and       
lifeless as seaweed4 ,it lies about as  
idle1 as soft1 as flexible1 and as easy 
as error1 or intemperance1 or           
dishonesty4 ,but let any edible thing   
approach it1 and every limb starts into 
energy1 every fibre is alive1 every     
muscle contracts1 and the thing seized  
dies in its inextricable and iron arms4 

,people abound of the octopus species1  
and it is prudent to avoid them4        
,however1 the bad are not so many as are
 supposed4 ,yet1 when we consider that1 
upon a moderate calculation1 a fool a   
day is born--and doubtless a knave a day
 to keep him company--there must be some
 dubious people about4  ,a common       
mistake is that of taking offence at    
some unpleasant quality1 and never      
looking to see whether there be not     
others for which we may tolerate and    
even respect a man4 ,a person is often  
judged by a single quality1 and         
sometimes by a single word4 ,persons who
 have lived long years in amity take    
offence at one expression4 ,it may be   
uttered in passion2 it may be spoken in 
mere lightness of heart1 with no        
intention and no idea of offending--yet 
it enters into the foolish blood of     
those who hear it1 and poisons the mind 
evermore4 ,nevertheless every man who   
reflects knows that those are fortunate 
and even miraculously skilful people1   

who can always say exactly what they    
intend to say1 and no more4 ,what       
resource of language--what insight of   
the minds of others--what mastery of    
phrases--what subtlety of               
discrimination--what perspicuity of     
statement must he possess who can       
express his every idea with such        
unerring accuracy that no word shall be 
redundant1 or deficient1 or ambiguous2  
and that another shall understand the   
speaker precisely as he understands     
himself6 ,yet by a chance phrase what   
friendships have been severed--what     
enmity has arisen--what estrangements1  
even in households1 have occurred from  
these small and incidental causes8 ,all 
memory of the tenderness1 the kindness1 
the patient and generous service of     
years is often obliterated by a single  
word6 ,the error people make is--that   
everything said is intended4 ,yet out of
 the many qualities every man has1 and  
by which any man may be moved1 a single 
passion may go mad in a mind unwatchful4

 ,not only hatred or anger1 but love    
will go mad and commit murder1 which is 
often but the insanity of a minute4 ,yet
 nobody remembers that all are liable to
 insanity of speech4  ,what a wonderful 
thing is perfection6 ,it must be very   
rare4 ,yet some people are always       
looking for it in others who never offer
 any example of it in themselves4 ,it is
 not1 however1 to be had anywhere4 ,all 
we are entitled to look for is that the 
good in any individual shall in some    
general way predominate over the bad4   
,we have need to be thankful if we find 
this4 ,the late ,george ,peabody was not
 a mean man1 though he would stand in   
the rain at ,charing ,cross1 waiting for
 a cheap omnibus to the ,city4 ,there   
was a threepenny one waiting1 but one   
with a twopenny fare would come up      
soon--,mr4 ,peabody would wait for it   
,making money was the habit of his mind1
 and he made it in the street as well as
 the office1 and having made it1 gave it
 away with a more than royal hand4  ,one

 ,sunday ,i rode in a ,miles ,platting  
tram car1 amid decorous1 well-dressed   
chapel-going people--several of them    
young and active4 ,a child fell out of  
the tram1 whose mother was too feeble to
 follow it4 ,no one moved1 save a woman 
of repulsive expression1 with whom any  
one might suppose her neighbours had a  
bad time4 ,she seemed the least         
desirable person to know of all the     
passengers2 yet this woman1 on seeing   
the child lying in the road1 at once    
leapt out of the tram1 brought the child
 back and put it tenderly into its      
mother's arms4 ,intrepid humanity may   
dwell in a very rough exterior4  ,there 
goes a man with a hard1 forbidding face1
 and a headachy ,evangelical complexion4
 ,like the man mentioned in the last    
paper1 he is not an alluring person to  
know--those at his fireside have a      
dreary time of it4 ,his children have   
joyless ,sundays4 ,he is a street       
preacher4 ,his voice is harsh and       
painful4 ,he howls glad tidings at the  

street corner4 ,he is wanting in the    
first elements of reverence--those of   
modesty and taste4 ,yet this same man   
has kindness and generosity in his heart
 ,after his hard day's work is done he  
will give the evening1 which others     
spend in pleasure1 to try and save some 
casual soul in the street4  ,though we  
continually forget it1 we know that men 
are full of mixed qualities and unequal 
passions4 ,ignorance of this renders one
 of the noblest passages of ,shakespeare
 dangerous if misapplied3       ,to     
thine own self be true1      ,and it    
must follow as the night the day1       
,thou canst not then be false to any    
man4  ,but what is a man's own self8 ,it
 all lies there4 ,tell the liar1 the    
thief1 the forger1 or the ruffian to be 
true to himself1 and any one knows what 
will follow4 ,polonius knew the heart of
 ,laertes1 and to him he could say1 to  
thine own self be true4 ,we must be sure
 of the nature of him whom we advise to 
follow himself499       99 ,cicero      

appears to have thought of this when he 
said3      ,every roan ought carefully  
to follow out his peculiar              
character1 provided it is only peculiar1
 and not vicious1  ,what is or what can 
be the object of education but to       
strengthen by precept1 habit and        
environment the better qualities of     
human nature2 and to divert1 repress1 or
 subordinate where we cannot extinguish 
hereditary1 unethical tendencies8       
,though we deny--or do not steadily     
see--that nations as well as individuals
 have capacities for good as well as    
evil1 we admit it when we attempt to    
create international influences1 which  
shall promote civilisation4  ,if any    
would avoid the disappointment of       
ignorance and the alarms of the foolish1
 let him learn to look with unamazed    
expectancy at what will appear on the   
ocean of ,society4 ,do not look in men  
for the qualities you want to find1 or  
for qualities you imagine they ought to 
have1 but look with unexpectant eyes for

 what you can find4 ,do not expect      
perfection1 but a few good points only1 
and be glad if you find them1 and be    
tolerant of what is absent4 ,of him of  
this way of thinking it may be said1 as 
was said of ,charles ,lamb3 ,he did not 
merely love his friends in spite of     
their errors1 he loved them errors and  
all4 ,whoever remains under the delusion
 that nations and men possess only      
special qualities1 and not all qualities
 in different stages of development1    
will hate them foolishly1 praise them   
without reason1 and will never know men4
 ,but whoever understands the trend of  
things in this ever-changing1           
uncontrollable world1 where       ,our  
fate comes to us from afar1      ,where 
others made us what we are1  will utter 
the prayer of ,sadi1 the ,persian poet3 
,o ,god6 have pity on the wicked1 for   
,thou hast done everything for the good 
in having made them good4 ,a prayer     
worth remembering4     ,,chapter ,,xlv4 
,,ideas ,,for ,,the ,,young  ,there are 

people who live many years and never    
grow old4 ,we call them young           
patriarchs4 ,limit not the golden dreams
 of youth1 which1 however1 would be none
 the worse for a touch of the patriarch 
in them4 ,there is sense in youth1 and  
it will assimilate the experience of age
 if displayed before rather than thrust 
upon it4 ,youth should be incited to    
think for itself1 and to select from the
 wisdom it finds in the world4 ,then the
 question comes--what is safe to take8  
,that is the time for words of          
suggestion4 ,every one has read of the  
fox1 who seeing a crow with a piece of  
cheese in her bill1 told her she had a  
splendid voice1 and did herself an      
injustice by not singing4 ,the credulous
 crow began a note1 dropped the piece of
 cheese1 with which the fox ran away4   
,this trick is always being played4     
,among young persons there are a great  
number of crows4 ,a youth is given a    
situation where advancement goes with   
assiduity4 ,a fox-headed comrade or     

clerk below him tells him his work is   
beneath his talents1 and he ought to get
 something better4 ,discontent breeds   
negligence4 ,he loses his place1 when   
the treacherous prompter1 whom he took  
to be his friend1 slips into his        
situation1 and finds it quite           
satisfactory4  ,in public affairs1 in   
which youth seldom takes part1 many are 
confused by pretences which they        
understand when too late4 ,a person puts
 forward an excellent project1 and finds
 it assailed and disparaged by some one 
he thought would support it4            
,discouraged by opposition1 he comes to 
doubt the validity of the enterprise he 
had in hand4 ,when he has abandoned it  
he finds it taken up by the very person 
who denounced it1 and who claims credit 
for what he has opposed4 ,all the while 
he has thought highly of the scheme1 but
 wanted to have the credit of it        
himself1 and therefore defamed it until 
he could get it into his own hands4     
,this sort of thing is done in          

,parliament as well as in business4 ,it 
is only by listening to the experience  
of others that youth can acquire        
wariness and guard against serious      
mistakes4  ,the young on entering life  
are often dismayed by dolorous speeches 
by persons who have never comprehended  
the nature of the world in which they   
find themselves4 ,people are told a     
great crisis in public affairs is at    
hand4 ,there never was a time in the    
history of the world when a crisis was  
not at hand4 ,nature works by crises4   
,progress is made up of crises through  
which mankind has passed4 ,again there  
breaks forth upon the ears of           
inexperienced youth the alarming        
information that society is in a        
transition state4 ,every critic1 every  
preacher1 every politician1 is always   
saying this4 ,yet there never was a time
 when society was not in a transition   
state4 ,according to the ,genesian      
legend1 ,adam discovered this in his    
day1 when1 a few weeks after his advent1

 he found himself outside the gates of  
,paradise1 and all the world and all the
 creatures in it thrown into a state of 
unending perturbation and discomfort    
which has not ceased to this day4 ,the  
eternal condition of human life is      
change1 and he who is wise learns early 
to adapt himself to it4 ,as ,dr4 ,arnold
 said1 there is nothing so dangerous as 
standing still when all the world is    
moving4  ,the young are bewildered by   
being left under the impression that    
they should learn everything4 ,whereas  
all they need is to know thoroughly what
 their line of duty in life requires    
them to know4 ,no man can read all the  
books in the ,british ,museum1 were     
arrangements made for his sleeping      
there4 ,no one is expected to eat all he
 finds in the market1 but only so much  
as makes a reasonable meal4 ,lord       
,sherbrooke translated from the ,greek  
guiding lines of ,homer who said of a   
learner of his day3--       ,he could   
not reap1 he could not sow1      ,nor   

was he wise at all3      ,for very many 
arts he knew1      ,but badly knew them 
all4  ,the conditions of personal       
advancement can only be learned by      
observing the steps of those who have   
succeeded4 ,disraeli1 whose success was 
the wonder of his time1 owed it to      
following the shrewd maxim that he who  
wants to advance must make himself      
necessary to those whom he has the      
opportunity of serving4 ,this can be    
done in any station in life by skill1   
assiduity and trustworthiness4          
,practical thoroughness is an essential 
quality which gives great advantage in  
life4 ,spurgeon had a great appreciation
 of it ,a servant girl applied to him   
for a situation on the ground that she  
had got religion4 ,yes1 said the great  
pulpit orator1 that is a very good thing
 if it takes a useful turn2 but do you  
sweep under the mats8 he asked1         
cleanliness being a sign of godliness in
 the eyes of the sensible preacher4     
,cleanliness is possible to the very    

poorest--walls which have no paper might
 have whitewash4 ,children should never 
see dirt anywhere4 ,they should never   
come upon it lying out of sight4 ,fever 
and death lurk in neglected corners4    
,children may be in rags1 but if they   
are clean rags and the children are     
clean1 they are1 however poor1          
respectable4 ,when ,i first went to     
speak in ,glasgow1 it was in a solemn   
old hall1 up a wynd4 ,the place was in  
the ,candleriggs4 ,everybody knows what 
a dark1 clammy1 pasty1 muddy1 depressing
 thoroughfare is the ,candleriggs in    
wintry weather4  ,the passage leading to
 the lecture hall and the steps which   
had to be ascended were all murky and   
dirty2 as in those days the passage     
leading to the publishing house of the  
,chambers ,brothers was1 as ,i have seen
 it1 an incentive to sickness4 ,my      
payment for lecturing was not much1 but 
out of it ,i gave half a crown to an    
active woman ,i found in the wynd to    
wash down the stairs and the passage    

leading to the ,candleriggs1 and the    
space as wide as the passage along the  
causeway to the curb-stone4 ,people     
passing along might see signs of        
cleanliness leading to the hall4  ,i    
never forget what the woman said to some
 of the assembly as they passed by her3 
,i don't know what this man 7or mon7 is1
 who you have to lecture to you to-day1 
but at least he has clean principles4   
,that was precisely the impression ,i   
wanted to create4 ,my tenets might be   
poor1 my arguments badly clothed1 but to
 present them in a clean state was in my
 power4  ,do not readily be deterred    
from a good cause because you will be   
told it is unprofitable1 but take sides 
with it if need be4 ,you will find      
persons born with a passion of putting  
the world to rights4 ,a very good       
passion for the world1 but now and then 
a very bad thing for him who is moved by
 it ,they have no engagement to         
undertake that work1 no salary is       
allotted for it1 nor even any income    

coming in to pay expenses out of pocket1
 as the prudent1 open-eyed lawyer puts  
it4 ,nevertheless1 it may be well to    
follow the ,jewish rule of giving a     
tithe of your time to the public        
service4 ,there are a large amount of   
tithes contributed in other ways which  
are not half so beneficial to mankind4  
,many whose names now are luminous in   
history1 whose fame is on every tongue1 
have been personally known to the old4  
,the magical notes of great singers the 
living can never know1 the triumphs of  
the great masters of speech in          
,parliament and on the platform1 whom it
 was an education to hear--only the old 
can recount4 ,what they looked like1 and
 how they played their memorable parts1 
are the enchanting secrets of the old1  
who tell to the young what passed in a  
world unknown to them1 and which has    
made them what they are4 ,the purport of
 this chapter is to stimulate           
individuality and self-reliance4        
,disraeli's maxim of self-advancement   

was to make himself necessary by service
 in the sphere in which he found        
himself4 ,in public affairs committees  
are not1 as a rule1 suggestive2 they can
 amend what is submitted to them2 they  
originate nothing1 and generally take   
the soul out of any proposal brought    
before then4 ,if they advance business  
it is when some individual provides a   
plan to which their consent may be of   
importance4 ,individual ideas have been 
the immemorial source of progress4 ,a   
committee of one will often effect more 
than a committee of ten2 but the        
committee of ten will multiply the force
 of the one1 and lend to it influence   
and authority4 ,seeing that ideas come  
from individuals1 a young person cannot 
do better in life than by considering   
himself a committee of one1 and ponder  
himself on every matter of importance4  
,this gives a habit of resourceful      
thought--renders him cautious in action1
 and educates him in responsibility4 ,in
 daily life a man has continually to    

decide things for himself without the   
aid of a committee4 ,it is thus that    
self-trust becomes his strength4  ,if   
youth could see but a little with the   
eyes of their seniors1 some pleasures   
would seem less alluring1 and they would
 avoid doing some things which they will
 regret all their lives4 ,now and then  
some young eye will glance at a page of 
bygone lore and see a gleam of          
inspiration1 like a torch in a forest1  
which reveals a bear in a bush which he 
had chosen for a picnic1 or discovers a 
bog which he had taken to be solid      
ground4 ,proverbs come around the young 
observer1 so fair seeming he trusts them
 on sight1 and does not know they are   
only in part guiding and in part        
elusive1 and have limitations which may 
betray him into confident and futile    
extremes4 ,even professors will beguile 
him with statements which he doubts not 
are true1 and finds1 all too late1 that 
they are false4  ,he will hear          
forebodings which fill him with alarm at

 some new undertaking1 not knowing that 
they are but the sounds of the footfalls
 of ,progress1 which every generation   
has heard1 the ignorant with terror1 and
 the wise with gladness4 ,only the      
relation of bygone experiences can save 
the young from perilous illusions4 ,of  
course1 youth is always asked to look at
 things with the eyes of age1 but they  
never do4 ,they never can do it1 because
 the eyes of the old look at things with
 the light of experience which1 in the  
nature of things1 youth is without4     
,nevertheless1 the experience of others 
may be good reading for them4  ,if in   
the generous eagerness of youth the     
heart inclines to a forlorn hope1 take  
it up notwithstanding its difficulties1 
for if youth does not1 older people are 
not likely to attempt it4 ,the older are
 mostly too prudent to do any good in   
the way of new enterprise4 ,this is     
where youth has its uses and its        
priceless advantage4 ,however1 it is    
well not to let enthusiasm1 noble as it 

may be1 blind the devotee4 ,take care   
that the cause espoused is sound4 ,take 
heed of the ,japanese maxim1       ,the 
lid1 if the pot be broken1      ,it is  
no use mending4     ,,chapter ,,xlvi4   
,,experiences ,,on ,,the ,,warpath  ,the
 late ,archbishop of ,canterbury spoke  
derisively of agitators4 ,the ,rev4     
,stewart ,headlam asked whether ,paul1  
and even our ,lord ,himself1 were not   
agitators4 ,mr4 ,headlam might have     
asked1 where would the ,archbishop be   
but for that superb1 irrepressible      
agitator ,luther8 ,the agitator is a    
public advocate who speaks when others  
are silent4 ,mr4 ,c4 ,d4 ,collet1 of    
whom ,i here write1 was an agitator who 
understood his business4  ,agitation for
 the public welfare is a feature of     
civilisation4 ,in a despotic land it    
works by what means it can4 ,in a free  
country it seeks its ends by agencies   
within the limits of law4 ,the mastery  
of the means left open for procuring    
needful change1 the right use1 and the  

full use of these facilities1 constitute
 the business of an agitator4  ,for more
 than fifty years ,i was associated with
 ,mr4 ,collet in public affairs1 and ,i 
never knew any one more discerning than 
he in choosing a public cause1 or on    
promoting it with greater plenitude of  
resource4 ,many a time he has come to my
 house at midnight to discuss some new  
point he thought important4 ,a good     
secretary is the inspirer of the        
movement he represents4 ,mr4 ,collet    
habitually sought the opinion of those  
for whom he acted4 ,every letter and    
every document was laid before them4 ,on
 points of policy or terms of expression
 he deferred to the views of others1 not
 only with acquiescence1 but            
willingness4 ,during the more than      
twenty-four years in which ,i was       
chairman of the ,travelling ,tax        
,abolition ,committee and he was        
secretary1 ,i remember no instance to   
the contrary of his ready deference4    
,his fertility of suggestion was a      

constant advantage4 ,mr4 ,bright and    
,mr4 ,cobden 7who had an instinct of    
fitness7 would select the most suitable 
for the purpose in hand4 ,in early life 
,mr4 ,collet had studied for the law1   
and retained a passion for it which     
proved very useful where ,acts of       
,parliament were the barricades which   
had to be stormed4  ,mr4 ,collet was    
educated at ,bruce ,castle ,school1     
conducted by the father of ,sir ,rowland
 ,hill4 ,collet's political convictions 
were shown by his becoming secretary for
 the ,people's ,charter ,union1 intended
 to restore the ,chartist movement 7then
 mainly under ,irish influence7 to      
,english hands4 ,in #ahdh1 he and ,w4   
,j4 ,linton were sent as deputies to    
,paris1 as bearers of ,english          
congratulations on the establishment of 
the ,republic4 ,afterwards he fell      
himself under the fascination of an     
,oriental-minded diplomat1 ,david       
,urquhart1 and became a romantic ,privy 
,council loyalist4 ,mr4 ,urquhart was   

,irish1 eloquent1 dogmatic1 and         
infallible--at least1 he put down with  
ostentatious insolence any one who      
ventured to demur to anything he said4  
,if the astounded questioner pleaded    
that he was ignorant of the facts       
adduced1 he was told his ignorance was a
 crime4 ,mr4 ,urquhart believed that all
 wisdom lay in treaties and ,blue       
,books1 and that the first duty of every
 politician was to insist on beheading  
,lord ,palmerston1 who had betrayed     
,england to ,russia4 ,how ,mr4          
,collet--a lover of freedom and         
inquiry--could be subjugated by         
doctrines which1 if not conceived in    
madness1 were commanded by arts akin to 
madness1 is the greatest mystery of     
conversion ,i have known4 ,i have seen  
,mr4 ,bright come out of the ,house of  
,commons1 and observing ,mr4 ,collet1   
would advance and offer his hand1 when  
,mr4 ,collet would put his hands behind 
him1 saying he could not take the hand  
of a man who knew ,lord ,palmerston was 

an impostor and ought to know he was a  
traitor1 and still maintained political 
relations with him4 ,yet ,mr4 ,collet   
had great and well-founded regard for   
,mr4 ,bright4  ,it was an intrepid      
undertaking to attempt a repeal of taxes
 which for #adc years had fettered1 as  
they were designed to do1 knowledge from
 reaching the people4 ,the history of   
this achievement was given in the       
,weekly ,times and ,echo1 ,while these  
taxes were in force1 neither cheap      
newspapers nor cheap books could exist4 
,since their repeal great newspapers and
 great publishing houses have arisen4   
,while these ,acts were in force every  
newspaper proprietor was treated as a   
blasphemer and a writer of sedition1 and
 compelled to give securities of ,l#cjj 
against the exercise of his infamous    
tendencies2 every paper-maker was       
regarded as a thief1 and the officers of
 the ,excise dogged every step of his   
business with hampering1 exacting1 and  
humiliating suspicion4 ,every reader    

found with an unstamped paper in his    
possession was liable to a fine of      
,l#bj4 ,the policy of our agitation was 
to observe scrupulous fairness to every 
,government with which we came in       
contact1 and to heads of departments    
with whom unceasing war was waged4      
,their personal honour was never        
confused with the mischievous ,acts they
 were compelled to enforce4 ,our rule   
was steadfastness in fairness and       
courtesy4 ,the cardinal principle of    
agitation ,collet maintained was that   
the most effectual way to obtain the    
repeal of a bad law was to insist upon  
it being carried out1 when its effect   
would soon be resented by those who     
maintain its application to others4     
,charles ,dickens' ,household ,narrative
 of ,current ,events1 published weekly1 
was a violation of the ,act which       
required news to be a month old when    
published on unstamped paper4 ,dickens  
was not selected from malice1 for he was
 friendly to the freedom of the press1  

but from policy1 as an ,act carried out 
which would ruin a popular favourite    
like ,dickens1 would excite indignation 
against it4 ,a clamour was raised by    
friends in ,parliament against the      
supineness of the ,inland ,revenue      
,board1 for tolerating a wealthy        
metropolitan offender1 while it         
prosecuted and relentlessly ruined small
 men in the provinces for doing the same
 thing4 ,bright called attention in the 
,house to the ,electric ,telegraph      
,company1 who were advertising every    
night in the lobbies news1 not an hour  
old1 on unstamped paper1 in violation of
 the law4  ,it took thirty years of     
supplication to get art galleries open  
on ,sunday1 when the application of the 
law to the privilege of the rich would  
have opened them in ten years4 ,the rich
 are allowed to violate the law against 
working on ,sundays1 for which the poor 
man is fined and imprisoned4 ,an        
intelligent committee on the            
,balfour-,chamberlain principle of      

,retaliation would soon put an end to   
the laws which hamper the progress4     
,professor ,alexander ,bain1 remarkable 
for his fruitfulness in philosophic     
device1 asked my opinion on a project of
 constructing a barometer of personal   
character1 which varies by time and     
event4 ,everybody is aware of somebody  
who has changed1 but few notice that    
every one is changing daily1 for better 
or for worse4 ,what ,bain wanted was to 
contrive some instrument by which these 
variations could be denoted4  ,no doubt 
men must be judged on the balance of    
their ascertained merits4 ,bishop       
,butler's maxim that ,probability is the
 guide of life1 implies proportion1 and 
is the rule whereby character is to be  
judged4 ,for years ,i conceived a strong
 dislike of ,sir ,robert ,peel1 because1
 as ,secretary of ,state1 he refused the
 petition of ,mrs4 ,carlile to be       
allowed to leave the prison 7where she  
ought never to have been sent7 before   
the time of her accouchement ,peel's    

refusal was unfeeling and brutal4 ,yet  
in after life it was seen that ,sir     
,robert possessed great qualities1 and  
made great sacrifices in promoting the  
public good2 and ,i learned to hold in  
honour one whom ,i had hated for half a 
century4  ,for many years ,i entertained
 an indifferent estimate of ,sir        
,william ,harcourt4 ,it began when my   
friend ,mr4 ,e4 ,j4 ,h4 ,craufurd1      
,m4,p41 challenged him to a duel1 which 
he declined--justifiably it might be1 as
 he was a larger man than his           
antagonist1 and offered a wider surface 
for bullets4 ,declining was meritorious 
in my eyes1 as duels had then a         
political prestige1 and there was       
courage in refusing4 ,the cause of the  
challenge ,i thought well founded4 ,in  
the earlier years of ,sir ,william's    
,parliamentary life ,i had many         
opportunities of observing him1 and     
thought he appeared as more contented   
with himself than any man is entitled to
 be on this side of the ,millennium4    

,when member for ,oxford as a ,liberal1 
he declared against payment of members  
of ,parliament on the ground of expense4
 ,the expense would have been one       
halfpenny a year to each elector4 ,this 
seemed to me so insincere that ,i ceased
 to count him as a ,liberal who could be
 trusted4 ,yet all the while he had     
great qualities as a combatant of the   
highest order1 in the battles of        
,liberalism1 who sacrificed himself1    
lost all prospect of higher distinction1
 and incurred the undying rage of the   
rich 7who have ,canning's ignorant      
impatience of taxation7 by instituting  
death duties1 services which entitled   
him to honour and regard4  ,i heard     
,lord ,salisbury's acrid1 sneering1     
insulting1 contemptuous speeches in the 
,house of ,commons against working men  
seeking the franchise4 ,what gave this  
man the right to speak with bitterness  
and scorn of the people whose industry  
kept him in the opulence he so little   
deserved8 ,some friends of mine1 who had

 personal intercourse with him1         
described him as a fair-spoken          
gentleman4 ,all the while1 and to the   
end of his days1 he had the cantankerous
 tongue in diplomacy which brought      
contempt and distrust upon ,englishmen  
abroad1 while his jests at ,irish       
members of ,parliament1 whom his        
,government had subjected to humiliation
 in prison1 denoted1 thought many1 the  
innate savagery of his order1 when      
secure from public retribution--which   
people should remember who continue its 
impunity4 ,difference of opinion is to  
be respected1 but it is difficult even  
for philosophy to condone scorn4 ,if    
recklessness in language be the mark of 
inferiority in workmen1 what is it in   
those of high position who compromise a 
nation by their ungoverned tongues8     
,among things bygone are certain ideas  
of popular influence which have had     
their day--some too long a day1 judging 
from their effects4 ,the general        
misconceptions in them still linger in  

some minds1 and it may be useful to     
recall a prominent one4  ,the madness of
 thoroughness are two words ,i have     
never seen brought together1 yet they   
are allied oftener than most persons    
suppose4 ,thoroughness1 in things which 
concern others1 has limits4 ,justness is
 greater than thoroughness4 ,there is   
great fascination in being thorough4 ,a 
man should be thorough as far as he can4
 ,this implies that he must have regard 
to the rights and reasonable convenience
 of others1 which is the natural limit  
of all the virtues4 ,sometimes a        
politician will adopt the word thorough 
as his motto1 forgetful that it was the 
motto of ,strafford1 who was a despot on
 principle1 and who perished through the
 terror which his success inspired4     
,cromwell was thorough in merciless     
massacres1 which have made his name     
hateful in ,irish memory for three      
centuries1 perpetuating the distrust of 
,english rule4 ,vigour is a notable     
attribute1 but unless it stops short of 

rigour1 it jeopardises itself4          
,thorough means the entire carrying out 
of a principle to its end4 ,this can    
rarely be done in human affairs4 ,when a
 person finds he cannot do all he would1
 he commonly does nothing1 whereas his  
duty is to do what he can--to continue  
to assert and maintain the principle he 
thinks right1 and persist in its        
application to the extent of his power4 
,to suspend endeavour at the point where
 persistence would imperil the just     
right of others1 is the true compromise 
in which there is no shame1 as ,mr4     
,john ,morley1 in his wise book on      
,compromise1 has shown4 ,temperance--a  
word of infinite wholesomeness in every 
department of life1 because it means use
 and restraint--has been retarded and   
rendered repellent to thousands by the  
thorough partisans who have put         
prohibition into it ,can absolute       
prohibition be enforced universally     
where conviction is opposed1 without    
omnipresent tyranny1 which makes it     

hateful instead of welcome8 ,even truth 
itself1 the golden element of trust and 
progress1 has to be limited by          
relevance1 timeliness and utility4 ,he  
who would speak everything he knows or  
believes to be true1 to all persons1 at 
all times1 in every place1 would soon   
become the most intolerable person in   
every society1 and make lying itself a  
relief4 ,a man should stand by the truth
 and act upon it1 wherever he can1 and  
he should be known by his fidelity to it
 ,but that is a very different thing    
from obtruding it in unseemly ways1 in  
season and out of season1 which has     
ruined many a noble cause4 ,the law     
limits its exaction of truth to evidence
 necessary for justice4 ,there are      
cases1 such as occurred during the      
,civil ,war of emancipation in ,america1
 where slave-hunters would demand of the
 man1 who had seen a fugitive slave1    
pass by1 which way he had run4 ,the     
humane bystander questioned1 would point
 in the opposite direction4 ,had he     

pointed truly1 it would have cost the   
slave his life4 ,this was lying for     
humanity1 and it would be lying to call 
it by any other name1 for it was lying4 
,thoroughness would have murdered the   
fugitive4  ,the thoroughness of the     
,puritans brought upon the ,english     
nation the calamities of the            
,restoration4 ,richelieu1 in ,france1   
was thorough in his policy of           
centralisation4 ,he was a butcher on    
principle1 and his name became a symbol 
of murder4 ,he circumvented everything1 
and pursued every one with implacable   
ferocity1 who was likely to withstand   
him4 ,he put to death persons high and  
low1 he destroyed municipalism in       
,france1 and changed the character of   
political society for the worse4 ,the   
,french ,revolutionists did but tread in
 the footsteps of the political priest4 
,they were all thorough1 and as a       
consequence they died by each other's   
hands1 and ruined liberty in ,france and
 in ,europe4 ,the gospel of thoroughness

 was preached by ,carlyle and           
demoralised ,continental ,liberals4 ,in 
the revolution of #ahdh they spared     
lives all round4 ,they even abolished   
the punishment of death4  ,but when     
,louis ,napoleon applied the doctrine of
 thorough to the greatest citizens of   
,paris1 and shot1 imprisoned1 or exiled 
statesmen1 philosophers and poets1      
,madame ,pulzsky said to me1 the        
,republicans thought their leniency a   
mistake1 and if they had power again    
they would cut everybody's throat who   
stood in the way of liberty4 ,as usual1 
thoroughness had begotten ferocity4     
,carlyle's eminent disciples of         
thoroughness justified the massacre and 
torture of the blacks in ,jamaica1 for  
which ,tennyson1 ,kingsley1 and others  
defended ,governor ,eyre4 ,lord         
,cardwell1 in the ,house of ,commons1   
admitted in my hearing that there had   
been unnecessary executions4            
,unnecessary executions are murders--but
 in thoroughness unnecessary executions 

are not counted4 ,wherever we have heard
 of pitilessness in military policy1 or 
in speeches in our ,parliament1 we see  
exemplifications of the gospel of       
,thoroughness1 which is madness if not  
limited by justice and forbearance4     
,conventional thoroughness dwells in    
extremes4 ,if political economy was     
thoroughly carried out1 there might be  
great wealth1 but no happiness4         
,enjoyment is waste1 since it involves  
expenditure4 ,the ,inquisition1 which   
made religion a name of terror1 was but 
thoroughness in piety4 ,pope1 himself a 
,catholic1 warned us that--       ,for  
virtue's self may too much zeal be had4 
,the worst of madness is a saint run    
mad4  ,fanatics forget 7they would not  
be fanatics if they remembered7 that in 
public affairs1 true thoroughness is    
limited by the rights of others4 ,there 
is no permanent progress without this   
consideration4 ,the best of eggs will   
harden if boiled too much4 ,the mariner 
who takes no account of the rocks1      

wrecks his ship--which it is not        
profitable to forget4  ,it is natural   
that those who crave practical knowledge
 of the unseen world should look about  
the universe for some chink1 through    
which they can see what goes on there1  
and believe they have met with truants  
who have made disclosures to them4 ,i   
have no commerce of that kind to relate4
 ,it is hard to think that when ,jupiter
 is silent--when the ,head of the ,gods 
speaketh not--that ,he allows angels    
with traitor tongues to betray to men   
the mysteries of the world ,he has      
,himself concealed4 ,can it be that ,he 
permits wayward ghosts to creep over the
 boundary of another world and babble   
,his secrets at will8 ,this would imply 
great lack of discipline at the outposts
 of paradise4 ,there is great           
fascination in clandestine communication
 with the kingdom of the dead4 ,i own   
that noises of the night1 not heard in  
the day1 seem supernatural4 ,the wind   
sounds like the rush of the             

disembodied--hinges creak with human    
emotion--winds moan against window panes
 like persons in pain4 ,creatures of the
 air and earth flit or leap in pursuit  
of prey1 like the shadows of ghosts or  
the furtive steps of murdered souls4    
,are they more than       ,the sounds   
sent down at night      ,by birds of    
passage in their flight8  ,for believing
 less where others believe more1 for    
expressing decision of opinion which the
 reader may resent1 ,i do but follow in 
the footsteps of ,confucius1 who1 as    
stated by ,allen ,upward1 declared that 
a principle of belief or even a rule of 
morality binding on himself need not    
bind a disciple whose own conscience did
 not enjoin it on him4 ,confucius1 says 
his expositor1 thus reached a height to 
which mankind have hardly yet lifted    
their eyes1 and announced a freedom     
compared with which ours is an empty    
name4     ,,chapter ,,xlvii4 ,,looking  
,,backwards  ,it seems to me that ,i    
cannot more appropriately conclude these

 chapters of bygone events within my own
 experience1 than by a summary of those 
of the past condition of industry which 
suggest a tone of manly cheerfulness and
 confidence in the future1 not yet      
common among the people4 ,changes of    
condition are not estimated as they     
pass1 and when they have passed1 many   
never look back to calculate their      
magnificence or insignificance4 ,this   
chapter is an attempt to show the change
 of the environment of a great class of 
a character to decrease apprehension and
 augment hope4 ,the question answered   
herein is3 ,did things go better before 
our time8  ,when this question is put to
 me ,i answer ,no4 ,things did not go   
better before my time--nor that of the  
working class who were contemporaries of
 my earlier years4 ,my answer is given  
from the working class point of view1   
founded on a personal experience        
extending as far back as #ahbd1 when ,i 
first became familiar with workshops4   
,many are still under the impression    

that things are as bad as they well can 
be1 whereas they have been much worse   
than they are now4 ,when ,i first took  
an interest in public affairs1 agitators
 among the people were as despondent as 
frogs who were supposed to croak because
 they were neglected4  ,they spoke in   
weeping tones4 ,there were tears even in
 the songs of ,ebenezer ,elliot1 the    
,corn-,law ,rhymer199 and not without   
cause1 for the angels would have been   
pessimists1 had they been in the        
condition of the people in those days4  
,i myself worked among men who had      
,unitarian masters--who were above the  
average of employers--even they were as 
sheep-dogs who kept the wolf away1 but  
bit the sheep if they turned aside4 ,but
 ,trades ,unions have changed this now1 
and sometimes bite their masters        
7employers they are called now71 which  
is not more commendable4 ,still1        
multitudes of working people1 who ought 
to be in the front ranks as claimants   
for redress still needed1 yet hang back 

with handkerchief to their eyes1        
oppressed with a feeling of             
hopelessness1 because they are unaware  
of what has been won for them1 of what  
has been conceded to them1 and what the 
trend of progress is bringing nearer to 
them4       99 ,thomas ,cooper--himself 
a ,chartist poet--published 7#ahda7     
in ,elliot's days a hymn by ,william    
,jones--a ,leicester poet--      of     
which the first verse began thus3       
,come my fellow-slaves of ,britain4     
,rest1 awhile1 the weary limb2          
,pour your plaints1 ye bosom-smitten1   
,in a sad and solemn hymn4  ,of course  
if there has been no betterment in the  
condition of the people1 despair is     
excusable--but if there has1 despair is 
as unseemly as unnecessary4 ,every age  
has its needs and its improvements to   
make1 but a knowledge of what has been  
accomplished should take despair out of 
workmen's minds4 ,to this end ,i write  
of changes which have taken place in my 
time4  ,i was born in tinder-box days4  

,i remember having to strike a light in 
my grandfather's garden for his early   
pipe1 when we arrived there at five     
o'clock in the morning4 ,at times my    
fingers bled as ,i missed the steel with
 the jagged flint4 ,then the timber     
proved damp where the futile spark fell1
 and when ignition came a brimstone     
match filled the air with satanic fumes4
 ,he would have been thought as much a  
visionary as ,joanna ,southcott1 who    
said the time would come when small1    
quick-lighting lucifers would be as     
plentiful and as cheap as blades of     
grass4 ,how tardy was change in olden   
time6 ,flint and steel had been in use  
four hundred years4 ,philip the ,good   
put it into the collar of the ,golden   
,fleece 7#adbi74 ,it was not till #ahcc 
that phosphorus matches were introduced4
 ,the safety match of the present day   
did not appear until #ahde4 ,the        
consumption of matches is now about     
eight per day for each person4 ,to      
produce eight lights1 by a tinder-box1  

would take a quarter of an hour ,with   
the lucifer match eight lights can be   
had in two minutes1 occupying only      
twelve hours a year1 while the tinder   
box process consumes ninety hours4 ,thus
 the lucifer saves nearly eighty hours  
annually1 which1 to the workman1 would  
mean an addition of nearly eight working
 days to the year4  ,in tinder-box days 
the nimble night burglar heard the flint
 and steel going1 and had time to pack  
up his booty and reach the next parish1 
before the owner descended the stairs   
with his flickering candle4 ,does any   
one now fully appreciate the morality of
 light8 ,extinguish the gas in the      
streets of ,london and a thousand extra 
policemen would do less to prevent      
outrage and robbery than the            
ever-burning1 order-keeping street      
light4 ,light is a police force--neither
 ghosts nor burglars like it4 ,thieves  
flee before it as errors flee the mind  
when the light of truth bursts on the   
understanding of the ignorant4  ,seventy

 years ago the evenings were wasted in a
 million houses of the poor4 ,after     
sundown the household lived in gloom4   
,children who could read1 read1 as ,i   
did1 by the flickering light of the     
fire1 which often limited for life the  
power of seeing4 ,now the pauper reads  
by a better light than the squire did in
 days when squires were county gods4    
,now old men see years after the period 
when their forefathers were blind4      
,then a social tyranny prevailed1       
unpleasant to the rich and costly to the
 poor1 which regarded the beard as an   
outrage4 ,i remember when only four men 
in ,birmingham had courage to wear      
beards4 ,they were followers of ,joanna 
,southcott4 ,they did it in imitation of
 the apostles1 and were jeered at in the
 streets by ignorant ,christians4       
,george ,frederick ,muntz1 one of the   
two first members elected in            
,birmingham1 was the first member who   
ventured to wear a beard in the ,house  
of ,commons2 and he would have been     

insulted had not he been a powerful man 
and carried a heavy ,malacca cane1 which
 he was known to apply to any one who   
offered him a personal affront4 ,only   
military officers were allowed to wear a
 moustache2 among them--no one1 not even
 ,wellington1 was hero enough to wear a 
beard4 ,the ,rev4 ,edmund ,r4 ,larken1  
of ,burton ,rectory1 near ,lincoln1 was 
the first clergyman 7that was as late as
 #aheb7 who appeared in the pulpit with 
a beard1 but he shaved the upper lip as 
an apology for the audacity of his chin2
 ,george ,dawson was the first          
,nonconformist preacher who delivered a 
sermon in a full-blown moustache and    
beard1 which was taken in both cases as 
an unmistakable sign of                 
latitudinarianism in doctrine4 ,in the  
bank clerk or the workman it was worse4 
,it was flat insubordination not to     
shave4 ,the penalty was prompt          
dismissal4 ,as though there were not    
fetters about hard to bear1 people made 
fetters for themselves4 ,such was the   

daintiness of ignorance that a man could
 not eat1 dress1 nor even think as he   
pleased4 ,he was even compelled to shave
 by public opinion4  ,when ,mr4 ,joseph 
,cowen was first a candidate for        
,parliament1 he wore1 as was his custom1
 a felt hat 7then called a wide-awake74 
,he was believed to be an ,italian      
conspirator1 and suspected of holding   
opinions lacking in orthodox            
requirements4 ,yet all his reputed      
heresies of acts and tenets put together
 did not cost him so many votes as the  
form and texture of his hat4 ,he was    
elected--but his headgear would have    
ruined utterly a less brilliant         
candidate than he ,this social          
intolerance now shows its silly and     
shameless head no more4 ,a wise         
,tolerance is the ,angel1 which stands  
at the portal of ,progress1 and opens   
the door of the ,temple4  ,dr4 ,church1 
of ,birmingham1 was the first person    
who1 in my youth1 contrived a bicycle1  
and rode upon it in the town1 which     

excited more consternation than a       
,southcottean with his beard4 ,he was an
 able physician1 but his harmless       
innovation cost him his practice4       
,patients refused to be cured by a      
doctor who rode a horse which had no    
head1 and ate no oats4 ,now a parson may
 ride to church on a bicycle and people 
think none the worse of his sermon2 and1
 scandal of scandals1 women are         
permitted to cycle1 although it involves
 a new convenience of dress formerly    
sharply resented4  ,in these days of    
public wash-houses1 public laundries1   
and water supply1 few know the          
discomfort of a washing day in a        
workman's home1 or of the feuds of a    
party pump4 ,one pump in a yard had to  
serve several families4 ,quarrels arose 
as to who should first have the use of  
it4 ,sir ,edwin ,chadwick told me that  
more dissensions arose over party pumps 
in a day than a dozen preachers could   
reconcile in a week4 ,now the poorest   
house has a water tap1 which might be   

called moral1 seeing the ill-feeling it 
prevents4 ,so long as washing had to be 
done at home1 it took place in the      
kitchen1 which was also the dining-room 
of a poor family4 ,when the husband came
 home to his meals1 damp clothes were   
hanging on lines over his head1 and     
dripping on to his plate4 ,the children 
were in the way1 and sometimes the wrong
 child had its ears boxed because1 in   
the steam1 the mother could not see     
which was which4 ,this would give rise  
to further expressions which kept the   
,recording ,angel1 of whom ,sterne tells
 us1 very busy1 whom the public         
wash-houses set free for other1 though  
scarcely less repugnant duty4  ,in that 
day sleeping rooms led to deplorable    
additions to the register of idle words4
 ,the introduction of iron bedsteads    
began a new era of midnight morality4   
,as a wandering speaker ,i dreaded the  
wooden bedstead of cottage1             
lodging-house or inn4 ,fleas ,i did not 
much care for1 and had no ill-will      

towards them4 ,they were too little to  
be responsible for what they did2 while 
the malodorous bug is big enough to know
 better4 ,once in ,windsor ,i selected  
an inn with a white portico1 having an  
air of pastoral cleanliness4 ,the       
four-poster in my room1 with its white  
curtains1 was a further assurance of    
repose4 ,the ,boers were not more       
skilful in attack and retreat than the  
enemies ,i found in the field4 ,lighted 
candles did not drive them from the     
kopje pillow where they fought4 ,in     
,sheffield1 in #ahdj1 ,i asked the      
landlady for an uninhabited room4 ,a    
cleaner looking1 white-washed chamber   
never greeted my eyes4 ,but ,i soon     
found that a whole battalion of         
red-coated cannibals were stationed     
there1 on active service4 ,wooden       
bedsteads in the houses of the poor were
 the fortresses of the enemy1 which then
 possessed the land4 ,iron bedsteads    
have ended this1 and given to the       
workman two hours more sleep at night   

than was possible before that merciful  
invention4 ,a gain of two hours for     
seven nights amounted to a day's holiday
 a week4 ,besides1 these nocturnal      
irritations were a fruitful source of   
tenemental sin1 from which iron         
bedsteads have saved residents and      
wayfarers4  ,of all the benefits that   
have come to the working class in my    
time1 those of travel are among the     
greatest4 ,transit by steam has changed 
the character of man1 and the facilities
 of the world4 ,nothing brings          
toleration into the mind like seeing new
 lands1 new people1 new usages4 ,they   
who travel soon discover that other     
people have genius1 manners1 and taste4 
,the traveller loses on his way         
prejudices of which none could divest   
him at home1 and he brings back in his  
luggage new ideas never contained in it 
before4 ,think what the sea-terror of   
the emigrant used to be1 as he thought  
of the dreadful voyage over the         
tempestuous billows4 ,the first         

emigrants to ,america were six months in
 the ,mayflower4 ,now a workman can go  
from ,manchester into the heart of      
,america or ,canada in a fortnight4 ,the
 deadly depression which weighed on the 
heart of home-sick emigrants occurs no  
more1 since he can return almost at     
will4 ,a mechanic can now travel farther
 than a king could a century ago4 ,when 
,i first went to ,brighton1 third-class 
passengers travelled in an open cattle  
truck1 exposed to wind and rain4 ,for   
years the ,london and ,north-,western   
,railway shunted the third-class        
passengers at ,blisworth for two hours1 
while the gentlemen's trains went by4   
,now workmen travel in better carriages 
than gentlemen did half a century ago4  
,in ,newcastle-on-,tyne ,i have entered 
a third-class carriage at a quarter to  
five in the morning4 ,it was like       
,noah's ,ark4 ,the windows were openings
 which in storm were closed by wooden   
shutters to keep out wind and rain1 when
 all was darkness4 ,it did not arrive in

 ,london till nine o'clock in the       
evening1 being sixteen hours on the     
journey4 ,now the workman can leave     
,new-castle at ten o'clock in the       
morning1 and be in ,london in the       
afternoon4  ,does any one think what    
advantage has come to the poor by the   
extension of dentistry8 ,teeth are      
life-givers4 ,they increase comeliness1 
comfort1 health and length of           
years--advantages now shared more or    
less by the poorer classes--once        
confined to the wealthy alone4 ,formerly
 the sight of dental instruments struck 
terror in the heart of the patient ,now1
 fear arises when few instruments are   
seen1 as the more numerous they are and 
the more skilfully they are made1 the   
assurance of less pain is given4 ,the   
simple instruments which formerly       
alarmed give confidence now1 which means
 that the patient is wiser than of yore4
  ,within the days of this generation   
what shrieks were heard in the hospital1
 which have been silenced for ever by a 

discovery of pain-arresting chloroform6 
,no prayer could still the agony of the 
knife4 ,the wise surgeon is greater than
 the priest4 ,if any one would know what
 pain was in our time1 let him read ,dr4
 ,john ,brown's ,rab and his ,friends1  
which sent a pang of dangerous horror   
into the heart of every woman who read  
it4 ,now the meanest hospital gives the 
poorest patient who enters it a better  
chance of life than the wealthy could   
once command4  ,it was said formerly3-- 
,the world is a market full of streets1 
,and ,death is a merchant whom every one
 meets1      ,if life were a thing which
 money could buy--      ,the poor could 
not live1 and the rich would not die4   
,now the poor man can deal with death1  
and buy life on very reasonable terms1  
if he has commonsense enough to observe 
half the precepts given him by generous 
physicians on temperance and prudence4  
,not long since no man was tolerated who
 sought to cure an ailment1 or prolong  
human life in any new way4 ,even persons

 so eminent as ,harriet ,martineau1 ,dr4
 ,elliotson1 and ,sir ,bulwer ,lytton   
were subjected to public ridicule and   
resentment because they suffered        
themselves to be restored to health by  
mesmerism or hydropathy4 ,but in these  
libertine and happier days any one who  
pleases may follow ,mesmer1 ,pressnitz1 
or even ,hahnemann1 and attain health by
 any means open to him1 and is no longer
 expected to die according to the       
direction of antediluvian doctors4      
,until late years the poor man's stomach
 was regarded as the waste-paper basket 
of the ,state1 into which anything might
 be thrown that did not agree with      
well-to-do digestion4 ,now1 the ,indian 
proverb is taken to be worth            
heeding--that ,disease enters by the    
mouth1 and the health of the people is  
counted as part of the wealth of the    
nation4 ,pestilence is subjected to     
conditions4 ,diseases are checked at    
will1 which formerly had an inscrutable 
power of defiance4 ,the sanitation of   

towns is now a public care4 ,true1      
officers of health have mostly only     
official noses1 but they can be made    
sensible of nuisances by intelligent    
occupiers4 ,economists1 less regarded   
than they ought to be1 have proved that 
it is cheaper to prevent pestilence than
 bury the dead4 ,besides1 disease1 which
 has no manners1 is apt to attack       
respectable people4  ,what are workshops
 now to what they once were8 ,any hole  
or stifling room was thought good enough
 for a man to work in4 ,they1 indeed1   
abound still1 but are now regarded as   
discreditable4 ,many mills and factories
 are palaces now compared with what they
 were4 ,considering how many millions of
 men and women are compelled to pass    
half their lives in some den of industry
 or other1 it is of no mean importance  
that improvement has set in in          
workshops4  ,co-operative factories have
 arisen1 light1 spacious and clean1     
supplied with cool air in summer and    
warm air in winter4 ,in my youth men    

were paid late on ,saturday night2 poor 
nailers trudged miles into ,birmingham1 
with their week's work in bags on their 
backs1 who were to be seen hanging about
 merchants' doors up to ten and eleven  
o'clock to get payment for their goods4 
,the markets were closing or closed when
 the poor workers reached them4 ,it was 
midnight1 or ,sunday morning1 before    
they arrived at home4 ,twelve or more   
hours a day was the ordinary working    
period4 ,wages1 piece-work and day-work1
 were cut down at will4 ,i did not know 
then that these were the good old times 
of which1 in after years1 ,i should hear
 so much4  ,the great toil of other days
 in many trades is but exercise now1 as 
exhaustion is limited by mechanical     
contrivances4 ,a pressman in my employ  
has worked at a hand-press twenty-four  
hours continuously1 before publishing   
day4 ,now a gas engine does all the     
labour4 ,machinery is the deliverer     
which never tires and never grows pale4 
,the humiliation of the farm labourer is

 over4 ,he used to sing3       ,mr      
,smith is a very good man1      ,he lets
 us ride in his harvest van1      ,he   
gives us food and he gives us ale1      
,we pray his heart may never fail4      
,there is nothing to be said against    
,mr4 ,smith1 who was evidently a kindly 
farmer of his time4 ,yet to what        
incredible humiliation his pastors and  
masters had brought poor ,hodge1 who    
could sing these lines1 as though he had
 reached the ,diamond ,jubilee of his   
life when he rode in somebody else's    
cart1 and had cheese and beer4 ,now the 
farm workers of a co-operative way of   
thinking have learned how to ride in    
their own vans1 to possess the crop with
 which they are loaded1 and to provide  
themselves with a harvest supper4  ,in  
my time the mechanic had no personal    
credit for his work1 whatever might be  
his skill4 ,now in industrial           
exhibitions the name of the artificer is
 attached to his work1 and he is part of
 the character of the firm which employs

 him4 ,he has1 also1 now--if            
co-operation prevails--a prospect of    
participating in the profits of his own 
industry4 ,half a century ago employers 
were proud of showing their machinery to
 a visitor--never their men4 ,now they  
show their work-people as well--whose   
condition and contentment is the first  
pride of great firms4  ,above all       
knowledge is a supreme improvement1     
which has come to workmen4 ,they never  
asked for it1 the ignorant never do ask 
for knowledge1 and do not like those who
 propose it to them4 ,brougham first    
turned aside their repugnance by telling
 them what ,bacon knew1 that knowledge  
is power4 ,now they realise the other   
half of the great saying1 ,dr4          
,creighton1 the late ,bishop of ,london1
 supplied1 that ignorance is impotence4 
,they can see that the instructed son of
 the gentleman has power1 brightness1   
confidence1 and alertness2 while the    
poor man's child1 untrained1 incapable1 
dull in comparison1 often abject1 is    

unconscious of his own powers which lie 
latent within him4 ,if an educated and  
an ignorant child were sold by weight1  
the intelligent child would fetch more  
per pound avoirdupois than the ignorant 
one4 ,now education can be largely had  
for working men's children for nothing4 
,even scholarships and degrees are open 
to the clever sort4 ,moreover1 how      
smooth science has made the early days  
of instruction1 formerly made jagged    
with the rod4  ,sir ,edwin ,chadwick    
showed that the child mind could not    
profitably be kept learning more than an
 hour at a time1 and recreation must    
intervene before a second hour can be   
usefully spent4 ,what a mercy and       
advantage to thousands of poor children 
this has been6 ,even the dreary         
schoolroom of the last generation is    
disappearing4 ,a schoolroom should be   
spacious and bright1 and board schools  
are beginning to be made so now4 ,i have
 seen a board school in a dismal court  
in ,whitechapel which looked like an    

alley of hell4 ,all thoughts for        
pleasant impressions in the child mind1 
which make learning alluring1 were      
formerly uncared for4 ,happier now is   
the lot of poor children than any former
 generation knew4  ,within my time no   
knowledge of public affairs was possible
 to the people1 save in a second-hand   
way from sixpenny newspapers a month    
old4 ,now a workman can read in the     
morning telegrams from all parts of the 
world in a halfpenny paper1 hours before
 his employer is out of bed4 ,if a      
pestilence broke out in the next street 
to the man's dwelling1 the law compelled
 him to wait a month for the penny      
paper1 the only one he could afford to  
buy1 before he became aware of his      
danger1 and it often happened that some 
of his family never lived to read of    
their risk4  ,the sons of working people
 are now welcomed in the army1 and their
 record there has commanded the         
admiration of the onlooking world4 ,but 
they are not flogged as they once were1 

at the will of any arrogant dandy who   
had bought his mastership over them4    
,intelligence has awakened manliness and
 self-respect in common men1 and the    
recruiting-sergeant has to go about     
without the lash under his coat4 ,the   
working man further knows now that there
 is a better future for his sons in the 
public service1 in army or navy1 than   
ever existed before our time4 ,even the 
emigrant ship has regulations for the   
comfort of steerage passengers1 unknown 
until recent years4 ,people always      
professed great regard for ,poor ,jack1 
but until ,mr4 ,plimsoll arose1 they    
left him to drown4  ,until a few years  
ago millions of home-born ,englishmen   
were kept without votes1 like the       
,uitlanders of ,south ,africa1 and no   
one sent an army into the country to put
 down the corrupt oligarchy1 as ,mr4    
,chamberlain called those who withheld  
redress4 ,but it has come1 though in a  
limping1 limited way4 ,carlylean        
depredators of ,parliament decried the  

value of workmen possessing a hundred   
thousandth part in the national         
palavers4 ,but we no longer hear workmen
 at election times referred to as the   
swinish multitude who can now send      
representatives of their own order into 
the ,house of ,commons4 ,if the claims  
of labour are not much considered1 they 
are no longer contemned4 ,it is always  
easier for the rider than the horse4    
,the people are always being ridden1 but
 it is much easier for the horse now    
than it ever was before4  ,sir ,michael 
,foster1 in a recent ,presidential      
,address to the ,british ,association1  
said that1 the appliances of science    
have1 as it were1 covered with a soft   
cushion the rough places of life1 and   
that not for the rich only but also for 
the poor4 ,it is not1 however1 every    
kind of progress1 everywhere1 in every  
department of human knowledge1 in which 
the reader is here concerned1 but merely
 with such things as ,esdras says1 which
 have passed by us in daily life1 and   

which every ordinary ,englishman has    
observed or knows4  ,if the question be 
asked whether the condition of the      
working class has improved in proportion
 to that of the middle and upper class  
of our time1 the answer must be it has  
not4 ,but that is not the question      
considered here4 ,the question is1 ,are 
the working class to-day better off than
 their fathers were8 ,the answer already
 given is ,yes4 ,let the reader think   
what1 in a general way1 the new         
advantages are4 ,the press is free1 and 
articulate with a million               
voices--formerly dumb4 ,now a poor man  
can buy a better library for a few      
shillings than ,solomon with all his    
gold and glory could in his day2 or than
 the middle class man possessed fifty   
years ago4 ,toleration--not only of     
ideas but of action1 is enlarged1 and   
that means much--social freedom is      
greater1 and that means more4 ,the days 
of children are happier1 schoolrooms are
 more cheerful1 and one day they will be

 educated so as to fit them for         
self-dependence and the duties of daily 
life4 ,another change is that the pride 
in ignorance1 which makes for impotence1
 is decreasing1 is no longer much       
thought of among those whose ignorance  
was their only attainment4  ,not less   
have the material conditions of life    
improved4 ,food is purer--health is     
surer--life itself is safer and lasts   
longer4 ,comfort has crept into a       
million houses where it never found its 
way before4 ,security can be better     
depended upon4 ,the emigrant terror has 
gone4 ,instead of sailing out on hearsay
 to an unknown land and finding himself 
in the wrong one1 or in the wrong part  
of the right country1 as has happened to
 thousands1 the emigrant can now obtain 
official information1 which may guide   
him rightly4 ,towns are brighter1 there 
are more public buildings which do the  
human eye good to look upon4 ,means of  
recreation are continually being        
multiplied4 ,opportunity of change from 

town to country1 or coast1 fall now to  
the poorest ,not in cattle trucks any   
more4 ,life is better worth living4     
,pain none could escape is evadable now4
 ,parks are multiplied and given as     
possessions to the people4 ,paintings   
and sculpture are now to be seen on the 
,sunday by workmen1 which their         
forefathers never saw1 being barred from
 them on the only day when they could   
see them4  ,by a device within the      
memory of most1 house owning has become 
possible to those whose fathers never   
thought it possible4 ,temperance1 once a
 melancholy word1 is now a popular      
resource of health and economy4 ,the    
fortune of industry is higher in many   
ways4 ,into how many firesides does it  
bring gladness to know that in barrack1 
or camp1 or ship1 the son is better     
treated than heretofore4  ,can any of   
the middle-aged doubt that some things  
are better now than before their time8  
,now two hundred workshops exist on the 
labour co-partnership principle4 ,forty 

years ago those commenced1              
failed--failed through lack of          
intelligence on the part of workers4    
,the quality of workmen to be found     
everywhere in our day did not exist     
then4 ,sixteen years ago there were     
found more than a dozen workshops owned 
and conducted by working men4 ,there are
 more than a hundred now2 and hundreds  
in which the workers receive an addition
 to their wages1 undreamt of in the last
 generation4 ,in this1 and in other     
respects1 things go better than they    
did4 ,though there is still need of     
enlargement1 the means of self-defence  
are not altogether wanting4             
,co-operation has arisen--a new force   
for the self-extrication of the lowest4 
,without charity1 or patronage1 or      
asking anything from the ,state1 it puts
 into each man's hand the means to      
cancel his captivity4  ,the rich man may
 vote twenty times where the poor man   
can vote only once4 ,still1 the one     
voter counts for something where the    

unfranchised counted for nothing4       
,political as well as civil freedom has 
come in a measure to those who dwell in 
cottages and lodgings4 ,for one minute  
every seven years the workman is free4  
,he can choose his political masters at 
the poll1 and neither his neighbour1 his
 employer1 nor his priest1 has the      
knowledge to harm him on that account4  
,one minute of liberty in seven years is
 not much1 but there is no free country 
in the world where that minute is so    
well secured as in ,england4 ,if any one
 would measure the present by the past1 
let him recall the lines3--             
,allah6 ,allah6 cried the stranger1     
,wondrous sights the traveller sees1    
,but the latest is the greatest1        
,where the drones control the bees4     
,they do it still1 but not to the extent
 they did4 ,the control of wisdom1 when 
the drones have it1 is all very well1   
but it is the other sort of control     
which is now happily to some extent     
controllable by the bees4 ,the manners  

of the rich are better4 ,their sympathy 
with the people has increased4 ,their   
power of doing ill is no longer         
absolute4 ,employers think more of the  
condition of those who labour for them4 
,the better sort still throw crumbs to  
,lazarus4 ,but now ,dives is expected to
 explain why it is that ,lazarus cannot 
get crumbs himself4  ,in ways still     
untold the labour class is gradually    
attaining to social equality with the   
idle class and to that independence     
hitherto the privilege of those who do  
nothing4 ,the workman's power of        
self-defence grows--his influence       
extends--his rights enlarge4 ,injury    
suffered in industry is beginning to be 
compensated2 even old-age pensions are  
in the air1 though not as yet anywhere  
else4 ,notwithstanding1 ,john ,brown's  
soul goes marching on4 ,but it must be  
owned its shoes are a little down at the
 heels4 ,nevertheless1 though there is  
yet much to be done--more liberty to    
win1 more improvements to attain1 and   

more than all1 if it be possible1       
permanences of prosperity to secure--,i 
agree with ,sydney ,smith--       ,for  
olden times let others prate1      ,i   
deem it lucky ,i was born so late4      
,there is a foolish praise of the past  
and a foolish depreciation of the       
present ,the past had its evils1 the    
present has fewer4 ,the past had its    
promise1 the present great realisations4
 ,it is not assumed in what has been    
said that all the advantages recounted  
were originated and acquired by working 
men alone4 ,many came by the concessions
 of those who had the power of          
withholding them4 ,more concessions will
 not lack acknowledgment ,just gifts to 
men who have honour in their hearts1    
bind the recipients to the giver for    
ever4  ,the ,chinese put the feet of    
children in a boot and the foot never   
grows larger4 ,there are boots of the   
mind as well as of the feet1 that are   
worn by the young of all nations1 which 
have no expansion in them1 and which    

cramp the understanding of those grown  
up4 ,this prevents many from            
comprehending the changes by which they 
benefit or realising the facts of their 
daily life4 ,considering what the men of
 labour have done for themselves and    
what has been won for them by their     
advocates1 and conceded to them from    
time to time by others1 despair and the 
counsels of outrage which spring from   
it1 are unseemly1 unnecessary1 and      
ungrateful4 ,this is the moral of this  
story4  ,a doleful publicist should be  
superannuated4 ,he is already obsolete4 
,whoever despairs of a cause in whose   
success he once exulted1 should fall out
 of the ranks1 where some ambulance     
waits to carry away the sick or         
dispirited4 ,he has no business to utter
 his discouraging wail in the ears of   
the constant and confident1 marching to 
the front1 where the battle of progress 
is being fought4  ,since so much has    
been accomplished in half a century1    
when there were few advantages to begin 

with--what may not be gained in the next
 fifty years with the larger means now  
at command and the confidence great     
successes of the past should inspire6   
,if working people adhere to the policy 
of advancing their own honest interests 
without destroying others as rightfully 
engaged in seeking theirs1 the workers  
may make their own future what they     
will4 ,they may then acquire power      
sufficient1 as the ,times once said3 ,to
 turn a reform mill which would grind   
down an abuse a day4    ,,note4  ,the   
last chapter is reprinted from the      
,fortnightly ,review by courtesy of the 
,editor1 and a similar acknowledgment is
 due to the ,editor of the ,weekly      
,times and ,echo1 in whose pages several
 of the preceding chapters appeared4