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| author | www-data <www-data@mail.pglaf.org> | 2026-03-04 21:51:54 -0800 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/78117-0.txt b/78117-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef4f92b --- /dev/null +++ b/78117-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5550 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78117 *** + + + + + DEMOCRACY-- + FALSE OR TRUE? + + A Prologue + and Dream + + BY + SIR WILLIAM BLAKE RICHMOND + K.C.B., R.A. + + London - - - Cecil Palmer + Oakley House Bloomsbury Street WC1 + + + + + Printed at + The Morland Press Ltd + 190 Ebury Street + London + SW1 + + + + + Dedicated to the honest working classes of + England, rich and poor, by one of + themselves + + + + + FIRST + EDITION + 1920 + COPY + RIGHT + + + + + DEMOCRACY + + + § 1 + +It is a dangerous, but agreeable, game to play the prophet, perhaps +unwise; but while admitting that, I am going to do so, not because +I feel sure, but because I want to sift my own thoughts. I may be +told “why not do so in private?” I’ve done that already. Probably it +does not matter what an old man says, “He is a weather beaten block +waiting for axe or fire.” Whatever Ideals are mine, there are few +which are in agreement with the fashion of to-day. Still I am capable +of looking forward. I’ve looked back a great deal in my life, and +been a humble student of “Cause and Effect.” Young enough to believe, +even though it lies distant from hence, in Utopia, and I make bold +to say so. I still believe in the human race. I still believe in a +capacity for repentance and change of direction from bad to a better +state of things. It is likely that the desirable, according to my +philosophy, would be the undesirable to many, perhaps, just now, most +people! Nevertheless I mean to state it. + +William Morris made a delightful story, “News from Nowhere”; he +thought that Socialism would realise his Ideal, perhaps it might; +anyway Socialism is a pleasanter word than Individualism, it suggests +“_Thou_,” the other cries “_I_.” _Thou_ has not been in the air of +late. _I_ has been so, and prominently; of this, more presently! + +Some great and wise men have spent considerable energies in building +Utopia. Jesus Christ, Moses, Hamurrabbi, and Mohammed, Plato, Sir +Thomas More, and, when I come to think of it, all leaders of thought +have played with the bricks of that entertaining place. I imagine +that the folk, who think at all, form a picture of their preference, +which includes the future with the present. Seemingly, the future +has a habit of taking care of itself; that is possibly a fatalistic +fallacy! What _will_ be done in the future is in the making of the +present. The flower is forming out of sight. We have no reason for +knowing what kind of being the man of the future, even of the near +future, is to be. One thing, however, is pretty certain; he will be +as good or evil, ignorant or learned, as he chooses. We might reason +together for a year as to the meaning of _Good_ and _Evil_. To clear +the way I will state now that I am a firm believer in Free Will, in +as far as conduct is concerned. We have to die; that is a physical +law as that we live is; but we can retard even the supreme victor, +death, by effort of Will. To wish ardently is half way to obtaining. + +If we wish wickedly we are on the road to wickedness. For those who +thus wish I have no words but these, “It is a bad habit, reverse it.” +The foundation of good is to wish _Well_ and nobly, and Will strongly +by action. Belief in Free Will is an incentive to industry, courage +and stability. It includes _Hope_, the sister of Faith and Charity +and courage to proceed through the thorny way of Life; Industry to +make life happy; and Stability to maintain effort however adverse +circumstances may be to it, and Hope to make us cling to the dream +and to realise it in Vision if not yet in fact, which urged us at the +outset. Did “Free Will,” in the abstract, exist before we came hither +and will it continue after we go hence? I suggest that Free Will +is eternal, that God is All Free Will; when He breathed His spirit +into man’s body He imparted it to him. Plato’s sublime allegory of +the soul driving her chariot, directing her horses antagonistic Eros +and Himeros, proclaims the potentiality and immortality of the Soul. +If matter does not die but is converted into other matter, can the +Soul, created before matter, die? What the conversion of matter and +Soul is, is beyond our thinking. But what does concern us is how we +use the soul during its pilgrimage within the body! Its temporary +home must be split up to effect an escape for the eternal organism. +Perhaps death is really Life! Is it reasonable to believe that a live +thing contains a dead one? If it is not so the soul was alive before +it was environed by matter, and continues to live after its temporary +shell is broken up and its particles are driven by Time hither and +thither in dust. + +The brain is matter, it is as wax, impressionable. From the +first instant of its creation to its last effort it is receiving +impressions. It dies as all matter dies. But do the impressions die? +Instinct and reason say Nay. As far as they have exercised authority +for good or evil upon the individual they do so reflectively upon a +generation and progressively to succeeding generations. Philosophy +tells us there is no waste in nature. If there is none as regards +matter, is there likely to be as regards the soul which has been +pre-existing and will be post-existing? If that is so and Free +Will accepts and acts, brain impressions are immortal! Did the +soul enter the body unasked? Does it leave unasked? A child under +reprimand said, pathetically “I did not ask to be born,” that child +was obviously alluding to her inclination. The child inadvertently +spoke as a fatalist; it was a way of saying “I could not help what I +did.” Before the soul enters the body is it an individual or only an +atmosphere? Had it experience or not? Where has it been before? Has +the soul a memory? These questions we all know have received answers +from metaphysical and philosophic minds. + +From the dawn of man’s intelligence, whenever that was, until to-day, +mankind has yearned for an answer. A great philosopher and friend +of mine, the Bishop of Durham, Dr. Westcott, said to me “Now-a-days +there is nothing more difficult than to say bravely I _do not_ +know.” Yes, I accept that modest statement from a great man but I +cannot help casting about for an answer! The Truth is somewhere, +perhaps in Utopia, even at the bottom of a well. There is something +on a different plane than sophistry, poetical rhapsody. There is a +great deal to be said for emotion, it is our strongest instinct. +Reading Indian, Egyptian, Greek and Christian philosophy are we not +drawn into the atmosphere of Rhapsody and Fancy? Even into a land +of dreams if so we please to call Ideals. However they may urge +Reason against Emotion, none of the great philosophers succeed in +doing it themselves. If they did they would fall quite flat, because +we who read are creatures of emotional instincts. All the great +philosophers, though they wrote in prose, were poets, not by choice +but necessity. Absolutely materialistic philosophy is, happily, rare. +It may lay hold of certain minds for a time, but being contrary to +our higher instincts its grip is only partial, unsatisfying and +ephemeral. The great philosophers live in a land of Dreams or Ideals, +a land from which mankind is always as substance. We want the dreams +to come True as children do after hearing a fairy story. Plato, +Confucius, Buddha, Aristotle, Paul, Kant, Hegel, Spinoza, even Comte +were idealists, builders of Utopia. They tried their minds in a +furnace of difficulties, their chief effort was to reconcile emotion +and reason. + +They tried to account for _Feeling_ by Reason. However far Reason may +travel, there is a point where it is arrested; speculation starts +afresh. It is the poetry in all mythology, not its probability, which +is neither here nor there, which touches the human heart; it is that +which detains us and holds us fast. It is the poetry of Love that +underlies the exquisite verse of Apulius. The story of the Soul of +Love it is. French novels, marvellously clever, tell us the other +side. I back Apulius’ story of Cupid and Psyche to outlive most of +them. It is the abstract poetry of the wanderings of Osiris, not the +philosophy built upon it, that engrosses us. The myth of the Delphic +oracle, an inspired pastoral, clings when the Delphic oracle is no +more. Goats and sheep skipping in rhapsody, their shepherd afterwards +giving way to the _mania_ of prophecy, enchanted by the voice of +Apollo from a bubbling stream, have more to say for us than the +oracle said to the Greeks afterwards in a stately temple. There is +something instinctively true in the first emotion, something untrue +in the political use made of it by priests and politicians. It is +not the political use made of Nature myths which we admire, but the +imagination of a highly endowed temperament from which they sprang in +the golden age of emotional invention, unrestrained by reason, yet +having at the root a _True Ideal_. Psyche personated the soul! The +poets have answered our question more simply than the philosophers, +who have ploughed over the ground already sown with beautiful +flowers, and not seldom have sown weeds on it. + +The Churches have added nothing to the beauty of the Christian +story. In their efforts to codify it and convert its simplicity +into dogmatic and puzzling creeds, upon acceptance of which or not +depends the salvation or damnation of the human race, they have not +improved or better interpreted the amazing mystery which threads its +way in and out among a tapestry of exquisite design. In their effort +to materialise the spiritual or Ethos of the story they have often +played havoc with it. As a wondrous story full of humanity it has +passed through the fire of sophism, politics and Churchcraft, and +remains as it was--a product of simple poetical mystical inspiration, +and as such it will always touch the world. Whoever wrote the first +chapter of Genesis was a great poet who has inspired multitudes, not +by his science, which was _nil_, but by a poetic truth incomparably +delightful and mythically _true_, It inspired M. Angelo, Raphael, +and a host of great artists. Milton expanded and retold it in his +immortal verse. It has supplied inspiration to musicians, and +scientific men have done battle among themselves and over a Poem. +Thus have they done it honour. If in details what is related breaks +down under the cold light of science, what does that matter? The soul +survives. The allegory is complete, the parable is untouched. If +the mighty scenes portrayed with simple dignity and unapproachable +reserve do not accord with the teachings of science, does that +matter? Not one whit! The story is the same, as Homer’s tale of the +Siege of Troy is the same, whoever wrote it or when it was written. +Whether the “Iliad” was put together by travelling minstrels’ stories +edited by Homer or his invention has nothing to do with its value as +a poem. The history of the Jews, as related in the Bible, is full of +strange and direct dealings with miraculous events which no science +or sense can accept. What does it matter that the historian made a +blunder in astronomy? It was not his business. We all know that the +sun did not stand still for Joshua. The historian wrote for patriots, +not for astronomers. To him the earth was stationary and flat, the +sun rising and setting each day. Even now, with all our science, we +talk of the setting and rising of the sun because it looks like that. +To the people of that time the stars were as lamps slung from the +blue vault of heaven, not at all a bad figure of the truth, they look +so to us, and to-day Arabs speak of them as “lamps.” + + + § 2 + +A new star, the story of the birth of Christ tells, guided the kings +to the manger, where lay a girl-mother and her newborn child. She, +one “of the people,” her reverent custodian a carpenter. That was +what they went to see, and the new star was their guide. We need +not take that literally; it is far more beautiful symbolically, +figuratively, poetically: a new light was dawning upon a worn out +faith, a new symbol of the Spirit of God arose, and not out of a +palace or as a child of kings, but from a manger, from a straw bed, +from a girl of the people and a craftsman. Not only did the three +kings come thither guided by light in their hearts, but simple +mountain shepherds too from their sheepfolds came. An angel of the +heavenly host, three Oriental kings, a few shepherds, a maid, a +carpenter, and a little child were the first actors in a great drama +that has moved the world for two thousand years. + +A shepherd, a flock of goats, a bubbling fountain form the _dramatis +personæ_ of the myth of Apollo’s oracle at Delphi. From that sprang +the Pithea and the thousands of votive statues for which Delphi +became famous. Its temples and universities, its priests and +politicians degraded the myth to a level of lies and deceit. “God set +a bow in the sky for a sign.” How does it affect the promise that we +know how the bow came there? We remember the promise in the poem. We +are not concerned with the structure of the bow. Even now in these +materialist days wherever we see the rainbow we recall God’s promise +which, made or not made to mankind _in fact_, is so told in the poem. + +Plato’s allegory in the “Phædrus” of the chariot of the soul, the +antagonistic steeds Love and Desire, Eros and Himeros, struggling for +supremacy, taken literally or judged from a scientific aspect, is +nonsense; as a parable it is one of the truest, as a poem one of the +most beautiful in Greek literature. + +Apollo came over the mountains. The singer, minstrel, and healer +came, bringing music from Olympus. We picture the Sun God lighting up +the dense forests as he journeyed through them on the crests and edge +of a mountain range. We can hear in our spiritual ears sweet music +from his golden lyre, see the rivers as the Sun God passes over them, +sparkling with amethyst diamond and silver as the light from him, +the giver of light, kisses their surface. This is the figure of the +Dorian invasion that the poets, not the scientists, present! + +We still think of Apollo as the primitive author and forerunner of +all that Greece became. When the Persians were on their way to invade +Greece, Datis, the admiral of the great fleet, steered clear of the +island of Delos, the birthplace of Apollo, for fear of vengeance +from the God of Light, whom they worshipped. Even to-day Delos is a +_sacred island_ where once a year Christian Mass is said by Roman +and Greek priests upon an ancient altar to Apollo that I myself have +seen. The myth of Apollo is still alive in poetry if it is dead in +prose! The imagination still responds to it if reason does not accept +it as a literal truth. + +It surely was not the reverberation of the trumpets’ blasts from the +hosts of Joshua which overthrew the walls of Jericho. Taken literally +it is a ridiculous statement; figuratively, a very impressive one. +The power of martial music is great; it stimulates courage, quickens +the pulse, and inspires mad valour, which it urges until every +obstacle in the way of a triumphant army is overthrown: an impressive +metaphor so taken, but taken as a literal fact it is silly. + +The power of music as an influence to calm a people maddened by lust +of war is told by the poet. It is related by a Greek historian that +one hundred harpists were sent to Sparta from Ionia to make gentle, +seductive, sedative music to a wild people who knew it not, knowing +only war. It prevailed! Their war instincts slept under the calming +influence of Apollo’s art. + +Strictly speaking, the event related may never have happened. As +a poetical presentation of the power of music it is true! Was not +the madness of Saul temporarily abated by the harpist David? The +foregoing illustrations illustrate the range of art as a direct +influence upon men in diametrically opposite directions. + +That the Divine Spirit is very near, is even in our midst, is related +in Genesis. “God walked in the garden in the cool of the day,” +so sang the poet. The idea of God as subject to heat or cold is +almost comical. The poet has anthropomorphised a mystery. To God he +gives the feelings of the thing he has created, that is the way he +presents God--God as very near to man and sharing his comforts and +discomforts. The primitive poet made nonsense poetic sense. + +The nearness of the spiritual world has been well said by a +spiritual poet, “Heaven is only a foot above our heads.” How near, +after all, is the Ideal to the Real, if we could only see; and yet we +can feel it in our subconscious state to be so. + +Now let us see for a moment how closely in touch Divinity is with +agricultural life, how much it was in favour of it, how the gods were +close to it, becoming even a part of it, not only by the benediction +of it, but unison with it. Obviously, the gods thought well of labour +and the labourer both loved and feared the gods. + +As, to the Hebrew poet, God walked in the garden in the cool of the +day, so to the Greek, “Speak low in the noontide, for then the gods +sleep.” The mythical instances presented are only a few of many which +occur in classical mythology. And be it remembered that we inherit +Greek mythology. It is far nearer than we are apt to think to what +are still primitive instincts, and specially so to those who till +and sow the land, follow the plough, who guard our flocks, and being +an out-of-door-living people are (may be mysteriously) in touch with +mother Nature and the gods who watch over her. + +Æneas, the father of the Latin races (and as such not so distantly +related to the British) was the son of the _herdsman_ Anchises, +whom Venus chose to be the father of her son. The goddess chose her +lover from the fields; not from a palace. Goat-footed Pan, the god +of all, is the shepherds’ god, who initiated beautiful Paris, the +chosen judge of beauty. Paris, a shepherd in the Italian upland, +was the lover of beautiful Ænone, whom he deserted for licentious +Venus. He did himself no good by casting off Ænone, his companion. +Venus made game of him! Demeter, one of the most ancient of the +circle of deities of Olympus, saved a child’s life from the fire; +he was Triptolemus, afterwards the inventor of the plough. Demeter +was the goddess of corn, the protectress of agriculture. Her child +Persephone, carried away to the shades, where she was protected +in winter, rose from thither as the almond blossoms heralded the +approach of spring. Persephone was goddess of springtime, of its +blossoms and flowers. The soul of the Greeks is read in their +mythology. It is read also in her history. Athena was the protectress +of Attica, and specially of Athens. It was she that brought the olive +there, the origin of much wealth to the people, and it still is. +When Paul preached from the “Areopagus” he faced the Acropolis of +Athens, half a mile away. Over the top of the wall which contained +the sacred buildings Paul saw the head of the golden spear of Athena +gleaming from the bronze statue by Phidias of the virgin goddess, +a beacon for ships as they passed the dangerous coast of Sunium to +make for the harbour of Phaleron. Within that bronze effigy was a +soul of the Athenian people as the statue was a symbol of it. Paul +was not preaching anything new; he was concentrating a worship whose +expansion, having left much of original simplicity behind, was giving +way. Another primitive form of belief was taking root in monotheism, +in which both shepherds and kings had taken a leading part. Apollo +the Healer was to give way before the child of a Nazarene peasant and +a humble carpenter. The _Cross_ was to be the future beacon for a +while until a new faith shall grow out of the old again. + + + § 3 + +Wisdom was symbolised by the owl, which crowned the helmet of the +goddess Wisdom worshipped by the Greeks in the effigy of their +protectress. The little Athenian owl still haunts the Acropolis. I +have seen and heard it often there, and never without a thrill. Its +plaintive cry proclaims the eternity of things and the never-changing +voice of nature. As the owl hoots there so sings our nightingale in +England’s woods. We too are reminded of the immortality of the soul +of nature, perhaps also of the soul within us, and of its importance +as the only part we can call immortal. Nearer to God are the songs of +birds, the voices of the winds, even the wild utterances of beasts +of the forest than the shrieks of machinery of which industrialism +is so proud. Yes! All human makings are subject to destruction. +The bronze Athena has gone. The golden and ivory statue of Athena +is gone with the effigy of the owl. The shell has been broken, its +parts are scattered, but the primitive faith within them lives +although it has undergone change. Athens is not dead, saved from +the brutal Turk she may become regenerate, she may again shine as +a light to Europe, but if not that exactly, the light she shed may +fix upon another city and shine there, so strange and mysterious are +the comings and goings of nations! Recent discovery in Crete goes +far to prove some fountain-head of truth in every ancient myth. Old +Minos speaks! The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur is explained. The +labyrinth he made is there now, and a Cretan civilization of 4,000 +years ago has been revealed, and what a Civilisation! a very noble +art going hand in hand with “modern” economies and created in a +primitive age, as we call it. Knossos was well drained by drainpipes +almost the same as would be turned out by a “company” to-day. Alas, +the multitudes of inscriptions discovered in Crete have not yet been +read. A key to the script has not yet been found. It may appear at +any moment, and then who shall say what marvels it may tell us! Our +much-praised civilisation may be found to be but a feeble echo of +a past one. We are mighty clever, we moderns, not seldom in making +unpleasant discoveries and using useful ones to the annoyance of +many and destruction of better things. We have electric light, great +scientists have given it us, but the keenest witted have not yet +discovered how the tombs of the kings in Egypt were lit. We know +that neither oil or tallow provided light in those dark miles of +caves and chamber walls covered with pictures in delicate relief and +exquisitely coloured. + +Fresh as the day they were finished, these monuments to the skill, +industry and genius of Egyptian craftsmen 4,000 years ago stand as +an example to us moderns, who at present show no signs of handing +their genius down even to a dozen generations. Had they electric +light? It is quite possible. It is evident whatever artificial light +they used _was smokeless_, because the ceiling and walls are not +discoloured. What was the meaning of all this superb beauty of labour +and craftsmanship? It was not to gain applause, because after years +of labour each tomb was hermetically sealed and a stone was placed at +the entrance. Their labour was an expression of their noble religion. +Their respect for the great dead who must find silence in their tombs +while their souls reached higher and higher levels in their spiritual +kingdom till such time as, purified, they were to be one in the soul +of Osiris. These people worked for a great Ideal, for the Utopia they +ever held in view, _without advertisement_, probably with little +reward. To them the soul grew always in dignity and beauty, visiting +the body from time to time in silence. + +_Silence_ is the note struck by the Great Pyramids of Geza. A +national religion, profoundly spiritual, which in the service it +demanded from Art and Craftsmanship must BE PERFECT. Their art and +craftsmanship tell us this. They were content to give the best only. +They worshipped the Great Spirit by matter. They made their arts to +sing of the noble elevation of the soul from sphere to sphere till +it became perfected. Therein is the _soul_ of the ancient Egyptians, +which they imparted to the Greeks, and which Moses learned and tried +to hand on to the Hebrews. We modern workmen will do well to ponder +on these things awhile, and to take many a lesson from “the poor +pagans.” Poor pagans? Rather were they a most enlightened people, +with whom, by comparison, we moderns are barbarians. They may have +had all, or at least the greater part of what science has given to +us. It is an ignorant cry that calls them Poor Pagans. There was more +soul in ancient Egypt than in Europe to-day! We worship matter, very +often very nasty matter, so long as it provides wealth which we +are not yet civilised enough to know how to use. What England needs +is a little _more_ soul, not less! A great deal more faith, a great +deal more belief in the dignity of labour, a great deal more will to +choose the best and discard the worst, a higher Ideal of honour, and +a deeper sense of responsibility to after-coming generations. Much +more widespread and intensified determination to leave behind us +things so noble that they may bear some comparison with the labour +of the poor Pagan! The spirit of which I write was _here_ once. We +need not cross the Channel to find it. Wiltshire contains it. The +soul of our ancestors is in the very stones of the great monoliths +of Stonehenge, the primitive British temple to the sun, which, +alas, we do not worship but wipe out in material progress of crude +industrialism. + + + § 4 + +Our primitive ancestors were driven by an ardent worship of the Power +within the Sun. Like the Greeks they must set up a great temple to +the Giver of Life, who made their crops ripen, who was to them an +ocular vision of an unravelled mystery, the Prime Author of All! of +Him who holds our destinies, our life and death in the palm of His +hand! That is what urged them. No commercial spirit came between them +and a great Ideal for which to labour and make manifest. + +They fetched huge monoliths from Normandy. Frail crafts bore them +over the rough sea to the shore of England, whence they were +dragged to their destination. Do we think that such a tremendous, +so dangerous an enterprise as this, was carried out under no higher +motive than an industrial company? + +There probably was some Oriental blood in this ancient folk of +England. All Art, indeed all Science, had its birth place in the +land of the “Rising Sun.” Like the Chaldeans, the race that made +Stonehenge were astronomers. Upon a certain morning and at a certain +hour of the year they knew the rising sun would hit a certain spot. +They knew the exact direction of the ray that would do so. There they +placed their altar to the God of Light, the All Beneficent One! We +know now that some centuries before the Roman conquest of England +the south of the island was highly civilised, but who by is not +clear. They must have been a highly artistic people, possibly Kelts, +possibly a race which had been or was in touch with Mykene, because +the metal work that has survived time partakes of the character of +both Keltic and Mycenian craftsmanship. Whoever they were, they +brought art to savage islanders; hence they sowed the seeds of their +ideals and of perfect craftsmanship, to fructify in those days of +England’s greatness before the weed of Industrialism and the darkness +it shed over the country had become a poisonous fetish. Of that grim +subject more presently. The Mithra myth came here from the East +and nearly won as a religion of blood sacrifice. But a stronger +prevailed--the first created thing, Love. The Jews and Romans +crucified Jesus Christ. They thought thus to obliterate His teaching, +to wipe out the Ideal He taught, the Utopia He would erect--a kingdom +of the soul that He would revive in the materialistic Roman decay. +They did kill His body, but His immortal soul survives. They killed +Him as King of the Jews, but left Him living as Monarch of the human +race. The eggshell may be broken without killing the embryo within +it. Love, pure love, so sought for in religions, so nobly conceived +by the “poor pagan” Socrates, took hold of the hearts of primitive +Christians, as the Delphic myth of Apollo of the primitive Greeks, +and God’s forgiveness of man’s rashness and brutality when He set +the bow in the sky as a sign of mercy, not only to Hebrews but the +whole world. Salvation by blood sacrifice is a crude idea; Salvation +through Love is a noble one. + + + § 5 + +The Germans in the late war thought to destroy the soul of France by +battering down the precious casket whose every stone was a living +symbol of her chivalrous, kingly history. Brute force, employing +every engine of industrialism, every energy of materialistic science, +was to prevail. The noblest craftsmanship employed in the flowering +time of French history and for generations, being the expression of +a sensitive people deeply attached to Beauty, was shivered to atoms +recklessly and triumphantly by the cannon of a hypocrite nation which +claimed the first place in the history of the modern world. If Matter +could ever overcome Soul, Germany would have succeeded; Germany would +have broken the pride of Flemish commerce and her traditions as an +organiser of it by the destruction of Ypres. The priceless books +in Louvain, written and illuminated by pious scholars and patient +craftsmen, the brutes burnt or stole with as ignorant a rapacity as a +herd of monkeys. Again, they sought to destroy the soul of France by +turning thousands of acres of productive country and fruit gardens so +essentially a vital part of the commerce of France, making a fruitful +land a desert. They tried (but in vain) to kill the soul of France by +subjecting villagers, men, women and children to torture; like wild +beasts to smash the modesty of pure women, even those dedicated to +spiritual lives; then, the lust satisfied, they slaughtered them. + +The clumsy minded Teuton misjudged its prey. They judge according +to their own low standard of honour; force, brute force, as against +strength of character, chivalry and patriotism: a standard fit only +to be carried in the ranks of savages, but this time carried under +the disguise of “Kultur,” a word which now is a stigma, one which +includes all that is most vile and reprehensible in a people who +employed fine natural faculties to invent every possible device for +the destruction of life. Not a stone did Germany’s scientific men +leave unturned to discover the earth’s hidden sources of destructive +elements. They abused their fine faculties, they perverted their +invention, Industrialism ran riot. Scientific force was used in full +measure by the Germans for annihilation. The Emperor--the worst of +the horde of savages--gave his encouragement to every bestial act +committed by his depraved people. If such depravity was to succeed +or could succeed, Germany would have done so. First in science, +first in organisation, she seemed invincible. Her Industrialism was +perfected, her system organised with the precision of clockwork. +If _materialism_ at the expense of every other consideration can +succeed, Germany would have done so. But no! A nation may kill +its own soul, but God will not permit it to kill another. It is +indeed a lesson. Germany had killed its soul. It had set up Moloch +where God had been. Iron, steel, explosives, every poison upon +the Pharmacy List, every evil pulsation of the heart were German +weapons. The countries she laid waste will revive, their soul has +been strengthened by tribulation, and the would-be conqueror will +lick the dust for a century. France will grow strong again, she will +recultivate her fields and orchards, and rebuild her villages, towns +and churches. + + + § 6 + +In their vulgar vanity the Germans said: “What would matter the +destruction of Rheims Cathedral, of Ypres Town Hall, of Laon, indeed, +of all that the world esteems as Art in France? We, the only nation +of Kultur, can build better. What does the destruction of the library +of Louvain matter? We can create a fresh one; anyhow, we can steal +all the best books therefrom.” Poor deluded people! A people without +taste, possessed of no artistic genius, devoid of the sense of +beauty! All the cathedrals in Germany put together are not worth one +bay of Chartres, one tower of Rheims, or one arcade of Ypres Town +Hall. German architecture is as hard as steel, as unemotional as +iron, and, like her people, dull and soulless. Art is the mirror of +a nation. German Art at its best is brutal as her people have been. +The nineteenth century Minotaurs are in a direct line from the hordes +of barbarians who laid Italy waste, who burned Rome, and spread +horrors wherever their footsteps trod. William II. hates England more +than France. As long as England holds the sea Germany cannot master +the world. After France, England’s turn would have come had German +materialism succeeded. + + + § 7 + +Think of it, craftsmen and builders, and all of us who value the soul +of England! Think of it, farmers, agricultural labourers, and all who +live on and by the land! Your cities would be desolate wastes, your +land poisoned, your women ravished, your children spiked by bayonet +thrusts, your old men and women shot or tortured. That is what would +have happened had Germany’s materialism prevailed! Having done this, +would the soul of England been slain. No!! No conqueror ever killed +the soul of a country conquered. A country commits suicide, that’s +the way its soul is killed, and that is the way Germany destroyed +herself. + +A country may poison itself, degrade itself by self-indulgence and +greed to the lowest level; it may kill in itself every good for which +it has been favoured, and so kill its soul; but slain by a foreign +power--never! The thought of what might have happened to us, and +which was nearer happening than many of us will allow, should set +us thinking of England’s mighty past. Setting the success of her +commerce aside, do we quite value at their true value the legacy +of riches which our ancestors have bequeathed? Do we esteem as we +should the builders of our cathedrals, the _unrivalled_ beauty of the +English parish and village church? Do we esteem at their due English +craftsmen (the first in the world) and what noble work they left us? +Do we value the great creative minds of our predecessors? I sometimes +wonder if we are forgetting the very things which illustrate the +beauty of the English soul in a rush after materialism, which seems +to pay a momentary interest. Are we travelling, or have we been +travelling along a road which has proved the road to ruin of Germany? +I think sometimes we have been. Are we permitting Industrialism +to kill our souls? I am not sure we are not! But more of that +presently. What saved England in the four years of her great danger +and trial? Her Government did not. It was not officialdom that +prevented our ruin, it was that the heart of England was still sound, +notwithstanding grievous temptations to break it. Notwithstanding +false doctrines of Equality taught by ignorant extremists, our +workmen still saw straight according to their ancient traditions as +yet unbroken, as yet deaf to “catch words” from noisy rhetoric out of +the mouths of ignorant and mischievous leaders inflated by vanity and +rendered blind by egotism and desire for power over a more ignorant +but clear-thinking workman. + + + § 8 + +The English workman is still “_au cœur_” _honest_; he cannot help it; +tradition of honesty flows in his veins still. If he _is_ ignorant, +the direction of his instincts is honest. He was the best and most +highly respected workman in Europe; other nations envied him. An +English cabinet, an English knife, English cloth, English needlework +were the envy of every foreigner. Why was the praise of English +workmanship so highly praised and prized by other nations? Because +her workmen were the most honest and skilled in Europe. I say “were.” +Are they so still? No! But they may again become so if they are true +to their noble tradition and to themselves, and no longer permit evil +counsel to draw them away by specious and plausible promises. + +The noble instincts of the English craftsman I am old enough to +remember. Once, and not so long ago, his work was his conscience, +he believed in it and did it with all his might. It was a habit of +mind which ruled him and made him _free_. Why do I write “free”? +Because being an honest workman, he did not fear competition. He had +an ideal, which was to give the best labour for a good wage. He was +simple, he took pride in his work. He had his Utopia, which was to +labour to the enth of his power to do honour to himself, his family +and country. Good work was encouraged then and commanded the market +of the world! Economically, irrespective of honour, the workman was +right. The best work will always command the best market in the long +run. Honesty was the motto on the standard of the Englishman. He +had an image in his mind and up to it he strove to arrive. He liked +perfection and strove to reach it. In that sense he was an artist +plus craftsman, an imaginative worker distinct from a machine. To +have told a bricklayer he must only lay a given number of bricks a +day, or that doing bad work was good for all-round trade, would have +been to insult him. So his work had a soul in it; the pleasure he +took in its doing was reflected. It was a pleasure to regard it. I +remember hundreds of workmen like that when I was a boy, men with +whom one could make friends, in whom there was good fellowship and no +mistrust. There was a bond of union. We were workmen; he and I were +only differentiated by the nature of Trade; he of the plough, the +shovel, the saw or what not, I of the pencil, brush or scalpel, that +was all. + +We had the same soul and sense of honour, he to drive a straight +furrow, dig a good trench, I to do a good drawing or picture. My +fellow-workmen, if they think for themselves, and they are quite +capable to do that, will recognise that to preach “equality” is +one thing; it sounds attractive; it is, in fact, a mare’s nest, a +will-o’-the-wisp; it is unreachable, in the first place; in the +second, if it were reached, to-morrow would provide _inequality_. +Were the scales of Fate adjusted every morning, in the evening they +would be unbalanced. If it were possible to attain equality it would +ruin the world; it would paralyse effort; it would reduce mankind to +a system of self-indulgence, lassitude, and, finally, to imbecility. +Giving up that word as hopeless, we will retain one of the popular +triad--“Liberty,” as including “Fraternity.” Yet while we urge +“liberty” we must beware of its caricature, “licence,” the arch-enemy +of Fraternity and Liberty. Licence is, in fact, the grossest form of +tyranny. We might, indeed, exclude the term “liberty,” which includes +Fraternity, which excludes Licence. + + + § 9 + +And now we come to an important point of our argument. Labour has +permitted itself to become a slave. Individual workers are not FREE. +They have given their souls, or shall we say their freedom, to men +of their own class, who, having a smattering of education, assume +power as their leaders. Anyway, so they began, but time has shown +them more _drivers_ than leaders. Trade union leaders make a show of +fraternity. One asks, for information: Is coercion a sign of it any +more than a sign of liberty? Obedience to national law is one thing, +to class law is another. Having gone far, class leaders assume the +right to absorb capital, _i.e._, to hand it over to Labour. Were that +to arrive would the nation as a whole be in a better way? Surely the +same difficulty would occur which distresses advanced democrats. +Capital would be still a bugbear to extremists, but in the hands of a +class that has had no experience of its use, that has no traditions +of expenditure. In the period of exercise to gain some experience +capital would be wasted; it might be gambled away or spent in hours +of idle self-indulgence. Where, then, would Labour be? Doubtless +starving. Ignorant but ambitious leaders, to please their followers +whom they have coerced, would advocate a purely class and selfish +policy which might lead to civil war, of all wars the one which is +certainly soul-killing. When brothers fall out and set to kill each +other, where is Fraternity, where is the human family, private as +well as public, concentrated or extended? It is lost! A nation is but +a family on an enlarged scale. + +In the concluding years of the 18th century France groaned under +civil war, and came very near ruin. What followed upon the French +Revolution? Autocratic government under Napoleon! It was the only +way out of a grievous mess of anarchy, rapine and chaos. Most of +the authors of the Revolution sooner or later suffered as they +had made others suffer, under the guillotine. The most prominent +agitators fell as victims to their cruelties and misdeeds. The people +sacrificed those who were once their adored leaders. They suffered +the death penalty from the very people that had inflamed the party of +disorder. Anarchy never succeeds. Its leaders always suffer in the +end, and by the hands of their dupes whom they pretended to benefit; +justice invariably follows injustice; that is a law as certain as +that to-morrow succeeds to-day. + + + § 10 + +If the French Revolution does not teach us the inevitable punishment +for anarchy, Russia’s _débâcle_ surely should. Militarism has only +changed places there. Having been in the hands of one party, it is +now in another. Tyranny has changed places, that is all! Educated +men, that is to say, men who have studied cause and effect through +the teaching of past history, know that certain results follow +action. That is to say, situations change places. The student of +history, like a chess player, is aware that the move of a pawn may +be the turning-point in a game. Anarchy is a monster that breeds +quickly; her whelps carry the poison of rabies which, after +infecting a small circle, increases by leaps and bounds. When it +has become unmanageable, when men’s passions have led them out of +the bounds of reason, militarism must be resorted to. When reason +and peaceful persuasion cease to avail, powder and shot have to be +used, and sometimes unmercifully! Uneducated men are led by passion, +educated by reason. Are we sure that anarchy is not being bred here? +If so, has it shown itself? Trades unions were useful in times past, +they sought for justice, they achieved something, and up to a point +it was good. Like many movements beginning well and founded upon +justice, it has overstepped the mark. That which began justly is +ending unjustly. Peaceful order has grown to tyranny. Is it consonant +with the English character to be told how much or how little our +workman may labour? The workmen of England who have given themselves +over to the tyranny of trades unions are rendered slaves to them. + +Leaders of trade unions encourage dishonesty, but that is not all, +they encourage a small output when a large one is an absolute +necessity if England is to retain her place as a leading country +in Europe. An “output” scrapped will mean treasure to Germany. If +English labour declines, German labour will gain ascendancy here; +that is certain. After the financial strain to which England has been +subjected by the war, increased production is imperative. Strikes +arrest production, and thus are harmful to the whole community. If +they are permitted _ad lib._, what will be the result? Each strike +costs millions to trade. What must the end be? Bankruptcy of the +nation! Who will suffer? Labour will suffer first, because if capital +is unobtainable labour cannot be paid for. + + + § 11 + +If wages reach an extravagant sum, capital will not find the money +to pay them. Again, who then will suffer? Labour, of course. These +are truisms, but, being so, have they reached the ears and minds +of Labour? Trades union leaders keep from the sheep they drive the +knowledge of the butcher’s knife; they only tell their dupes what +they (ignorant of the first laws of political economy) wish to hear. +They flatter them with the hope that capital will finally be in their +hands, that they are to govern the country, which is only to move +while it drags the chariot of Labour. Our workmen are not prepared +to rule, they are not mentally equipped to do so; their outlook, at +present, is far too narrow. They see in government good only when it +legislates for the advantage of their class, forgetting that there +are other and equally important classes to be considered. And when +speaking of Labour there is only one which appears to dominate in +their minds, Industrialism as separate from Agriculture. The spread +of Industrialism has pushed Agriculture aside; it has done even more, +it has destroyed it in many parts of England. Agriculture must take +precedence of Industrialism if we are to live on our own produce. +The war ought to have taught us that, but has it? I have lived long +enough to have seen the agriculture of our dear country productive +and the people, relatively to now, content; when squalor was a far +rarer spectacle than now. In great cities, alas, it must always be, +for cities are artificial monstrosities where both wealth and poverty +thrive in extremes, where idlers congregate and vice expands. But in +country towns of reasonable dimensions and villages squalor had no +abiding place when agriculture was the employment of the majority +before the Juggernaut of Industrialism had begun its disastrous +progress. There was work for all on the land. + + + § 12 + +I remember the arrival of a threshing machine into “the street” of +one of the most attractive villages in Kent, Otford. It was greeted +with stones; the people did not want the noisy, smoking monster +which was to take pleasant and healthy labour from so many. And +they were right! The flail no longer threshes, reapers no longer +reap, the sickle and scythe are rarely seen in the fields now, the +plough is rarely drawn by oxen and horses. Machinery does it all now, +and hundreds of thousands of agricultural labourers have had their +work grabbed from them. Who can wonder, then, that Agriculture is +understocked while Industrialism is overstocked? Hundreds of miles +of corn-growing land are in disuse, waste land, once glowing with +golden corn; a land of ashes and unproductive has taken its place. +Where orchards stretched for miles once, flowering and fruiting +abundantly, hideous factories have risen, belching out foul smoke +destructive to man, beasts and vegetation. Where once copses, even +small forests were, now a few skeletons, black and blasted, remind us +of the beauty that _was_ and the devastation that _is_. Rivers and +lakes which once sparkled with clean water under a bright sun, whose +pools were filled with salmon and trout, have become little better +than sewers. A greasy scum thickens the once glittering surface, and +not a fish can live in its natural element, and, moreover, the water +is poisoned, so we may not drink it. The spread of Industrialism +means the spread of poison--poisoned land, water, and air, which, if +not checked now, will cause serious deterioration of the health of +England. When England was mainly agricultural, rosy-cheeked maidens +and well-bronzed youths attested a healthy, vigorous life. Now, +under Industrialism, the girls and youths are pale, sad-looking, and +unhealthy. Why? Agricultural life is _natural_, industrial life is +_artificial_! Of what use is money to a nation deprived of vigour and +health? Rather is it an incubus than an incentive to real progress. +Ill-health means idleness, slackness and inefficiency. Nothing can +compensate for its departure. + +But it is not the body only that suffers; it is the soul of the +nation that is in danger. Discontent is caused by mental distress, +unsatisfied and perfectly justified longings which are inherited +or spontaneous are blunted. Be the purse full of gold, be every +physical sense gratified thereby, the hunger of the soul for more +enlightenment, for more joy, for higher enterprise will continue, and +the whole being, even that part which is physical, will suffer. The +atmosphere of factory life is bleaching bodies and souls wherever it +is in the ascendant; the people become hollow-cheeked, their manners +surly, their wits atrophied. They are not _free_, they are slaves +to Plutus. So sensitive to environment is the mind of man, even at +the simplest and least initiated, that it grows in harmony with its +employment. In constant touch with machinery a man becomes like his +machine! Iron enters in his soul. He becomes a kind of bolt or screw, +a wedge or wheel. No wages, however high, can compensate for what +industrial life has robbed. The greater cities and towns hardly know +of the fields of Enna or the paradise that God made. They think, if +they think at all, that the filthy air they breathe, the hideous +smoke under whose canopy they exist but don’t live, is “alright,” and +that there is nothing else. + +And yet somehow, although perhaps they cannot define it, _they feel +a want_, a yearning for something better, and it is that which makes +their souls discontented, hard, and unsympathetic. Their souls are +caged as the soaring eagle is caged in a menagerie. Cinders, refuse, +evil smells, foul air; instead of flowers, the life-giving sun, pure +air, and sweet scents of spring. God made these, the descendants of +Tubal Cain made the others. Their birthright has been seized by jerry +builders, exploiting companies, who care just about as much for the +people as a butcher cares for the animal whose throat he is about +to cut. To keep the industrial slave in a good humour he is treated +to unhealthy excitement of cinema shows, which to “catch on” must +partake of the Newgate Calendar, or if any Art is presented to him it +must be “_of his level_.” Of his level? + +Is that the attitude to be assumed by those who should know better? +It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to kill a soul, but it can be +wounded and degraded till it is seemingly dead, has lost all power of +progression, and, like a wingless bird, can only creep on the earth. +And that is what an artificial life does, first to an individual, +then, in time, to a whole nation. + + + § 13 + +It is dangerous to gamble with instinct. It is impossible to wholly +destroy man’s instinct, which is essentially as well as hereditarily +opposed to the artificial life of Industrialism. He _is_ an outdoor +animal, he scratches the earth instinctively. It may be through +ignorance, but so it is; he will stick a dead shrub in the ground, +thinking it will grow. Kill Agriculture and in its place erect +Industrialism, and you have killed all that is best, indeed all that +really matters in the human race! + +Before the war what were called civilised countries, our own +included, had reached a point of artificial living as disastrous +to them as it had been to Rome and Byzantium in their decadence. +We, the English, were growing idle, neglecting agriculture, buying +from foreign markets instead of creating our own. We were ceasing +to be a productive nation. Whatever we could borrow we borrowed. +We propped up Germany, who grew rich out of our lack of foresight +and imagination. Ideals were laughed at and Plutus was the god +worshipped; never mind how wealth was gotten or spent, wealth was +all in all. Education, notwithstanding half-hearted and ill-digested +Bills passed through Parliament, was neglected save in so far as it +might be money-providing. It is out of such a degenerating state of +things that we must be dragged if we cannot be drawn. Artificial life +as made by Industrialism must be rectified if England is to make +intellectual progress and take again the honourable and respected +place she held. What are we making to show to generations to come? +Nothing as compared to what the past has left for us! A few iron +and steel bridges which time will destroy, a few exceedingly hideous +railway stations, a great many railway tracks, a vast amount of +“rolling stock,” which will presently be of the value of scrap iron. + +Herds of motor cars and new flights of aeroplanes; monstrous +ironclads which are no sooner completed than they become out of +date; a partial and growing destruction of agriculture; and, in the +meantime, necessary expenses of even a rigid economist are trebled, +if not more, and wages rise to a point where it seems unlikely that +resources will be able to meet them, profiteering by tradesmen has +become the habit. If this be so, instead of leaving on our tracks a +well-organised road, we shall leave debts and a desert. Shall England +be turned into an ash heap? If so, the reason for doing so must be +better explained than hitherto. + + + § 14 + +Science and industry misapplied may prove to be a curse! They _are_ +misapplied when used for purposes of destruction. What folly it +is when it is regarded coolly, rationally and with common sense! +Millions upon millions of money are wasted, which, if spent in the +construction of national intellectual stability, upon education and +all that education would provide, would ennoble the nation. The great +war, made by politicians, by egoists, has been the most devastating +in the history of mankind. Science has been applied to it with acrid +avidity. Without the misapplication of scientific inventions the +disasters caused by the war would have been impossible. Science +wrongly applied, facilities invented as aids to peaceful transport +and international as well as national contact abused, have worked +havoc. The age of iron and steel, of cheap and accessible fuel, +coal and oils, of easy communication between races instinctively +and by tradition antagonistic, has said its say in something very +near the destruction of Europe. Every discovery made to be used to +promote prosperity and peace has been used for the destruction +of both. Terrible things science has done during the last five +years. Without railways, without motors, without factories, without +aeroplanes, without chemistry, each in its way desirable, if used for +construction, the great war would have been impossible; impossible +as it has been enacted. Wars will be as long as man remains foolish. +As yet it appears the folly of men is more potent than their wisdom. +They _invent_ for peace, they _use_ for war. What a contradiction +this implies! They are answerable for this misapplication of science. + + + § 15 + +When wisdom is uppermost war will cease. Governments will not +influence one way or another when the democracy is educated and so +has become wise, when it declines to use genius in an evil direction, +when, having learnt to use well and for national good the facilities +for it which inventive genius has provided, democracy will see +straight. Governments are at a discount just now. Looking over the +world as it is at this moment it is difficult, perhaps impossible, +so far to find one which is stable or wise. Wisdom must be born out +of the people. Wisdom can only be gained by education, which means +discrimination. The free will of a people can only serve for good +when it is guided by _right_, not _wrong_, when people have been so +mentally trained as to be able to discriminate between ephemeral and +permanent welfare. If democracy is not to be a deadly failure and a +deadly curse the people must retain their soul, their honesty, their +good fellowship established upon intellectual more than emotional +fellowship. + +If good is to prevail over evil the working class, the noblest of +England’s product in the past, must be led into the path which +leads to Freedom by a sense of duty owing to the whole community +which it is bound to be called upon to exercise, and to the full, +in the future. It is for “the People” to make the final choice upon +which the future of England depends--peace and prosperity or war +and anarchy! When the people are educated to see straight agitators +may roar themselves hoarse, may tell lies under cover of specious +argument, but they will not prevail. + + + § 16 + +Agitators have never led a country as a whole, they have infected +the less enlightened members of it with discontent, perhaps with +imitable frenzy, but never have they turned the course of the stream +of progress permanently. + +Agitators ruffle the surface of the waters as little boys blow +upon it, thinking they are creating a storm, which, however, is +only severe enough to upset toy ships; only so far are they really +dangerous. Agitators may roar against capitalists, but they cannot do +without them; indeed, their Utopia would be to become capitalists. +When capital says, “I will not be wasted,” and Labour says, “My +work shall not be destroyed because it is part of my best self +which I reverence,” we shall be on the high road to national and +international peace. + + + § 17 + +Politicians may dabble in “Leagues” (we all know what they mean, +to be broken when conditions appear which seem against their +continuity). Statesmen may try to make up for previous mistakes by +twisting arguments to suit new methods, but as long as it does not +come right home to the people that war and internal dissension spells +destruction to Labour as to Capital, in the long run war, within and +without, is certain to occur again. And the next war! Every effort +made by science, plus the experience of the last five years, will be +used to destroy that which it set out to preserve. + +The more splendid the services of science the more terrible will, and +must be their misapplication. Nothing that has happened in Europe, +Russia or the East, however cruel and terrible it has been, will +compare with the horrors of the next war. Cities, entire districts, +fleets and armies will cease to exist in moments, not even in days. +God’s sky will be full of destroying agents against which every +defence will be in vain. We are only out of the last great war by the +skin of our teeth. Shall we profit by the lessons it has offered or +shall we forget? That is the question. + + + § 18 + +Shall we draw closer together as a people whose motto is +“Fraternity,” or drift apart? We can draw closer if we choose and +each one of us resolves to do “the utmost for the highest.” Civil +dissension can be as morally destructive as military rule. It sets +every instrument of the orchestra out of tune; it creates a hideous +discord and chaos which can only be resolved by the greatest enemy +to democracy--a military Government. The very thing we have been +fighting to expel from Germany may have to be enacted here in free +England if anarchical methods prevail, and there is danger (we do +not say probability) that they may if the heart of the country +becomes _rotten_. The heart of the country is Labour, but labour not +selfishly, graspingly, and tyrannically used, but as the bulwark of +protection to the community in part and as a whole. If Labour is to +take a prominent part in the affairs of the country, in legislation, +for example, its votaries _must be educated_; at present they are +not, and therefore had they the power they seek or that is demanded +for them by agitators who are only less ignorant than they, it is +impossible to gauge the difficulties and dangers into which the +country would be plunged. Before Labour is fit to govern it must +learn how to use leisure. The shorter the hours of labour the more +imperative will become education. Are our working men prepared to +use the leisure they demand for the good of the community or only to +please their, as yet, primitive instincts? From a class which is +idle or mischievous during leisure hours we can expect no wisdom, +and without wisdom no man can rule himself, much less his fellows. +From rulers we expect wide wisdom, not class prejudice. The former is +impossible, the latter certain, without education. + +One hears an answer to the assertion we have made: “Give us power and +see how we use it!” That is all very well, but before power is added +to that already in possession we must be sure that the best is being +made of what has been already attained. If the workmen of England +or of any other country are to hold offices of State in which ripe +judgment, experience and knowledge of the world, of the complications +to which it has been subjected from the earliest times, are required, +they must have a very different Utopia in the back of their minds +to that which is evident as yet. They will have to learn that to +legislate entirely in the interests of Labour (and that is what +Labour would do now) would be tantamount to the ultimate destruction +of the very thing they wish to promote--the wealth of Labour as +opposed to that of the capitalist. Before power, and such power, is +granted to a class which has had no experience of its exercise we +must be certain that their previous use of their higher energies has +justified their demands, namely, that they have fulfilled the demands +which their work should have made, well and honestly. First of all, +the workman must have given his best work to his employer, and, +having done that as the first duty to his neighbour and to himself as +an honourable man, he must have proved by the good use of his hours +of leisure that he is in earnest, that he desires not only to become +a _decent_ citizen but a _capable_ one. + +Now, the best instructed of us and the most intellectually endowed +know by experience how difficult it is to so train the mind to be +ready and prompt to employ leisure to the best advantage, that is to +say, in such a manner that is useful and ennobling, not detrimental +and decadent! This is a matter which hinges on principle as well as +choice. Industry is engendered by effort as well as by theory. If a +man is industrious he has trained himself to be so by acting upon a +theory which he has found to be advantageous. Advanced democrats will +tell us: “You have no right to interfere with the hours of leisure +of a citizen. If he elects to get drunk, why not? If he gambles, +why not? If he prefers dog fighting and the prize ring to improving +his mind; if he prefers to beat his wife to treating her decently, +why not? She does not mind it. If he prefers to spend his money in +travelling about to see football matches to taking his earnings home +to his family, why not?” Yes, Mr. Democrat, but by doing so is your +pet working man even on the road to be a worthy ruler or responsible +statesman, or even in a minor degree to take part in framing laws, or +seeing that when made they are put into action? If your working man +spends his leisure in barbarous pursuits he is still, by preference, +a barbarian! If he wastes his earnings, taking little of them home to +provide for and educate a family, in the first place, does he deserve +higher wages, while those he is already receiving he uses ill? Is a +man that acts so fit to rule? Certainly not! If he abuses his own +wages, do you think he will not waste or abuse the use of public +money? Of course he will! The democrat who has added the sauce of +anarchy to his favourite dish, whose logic is framed upon assertion +unjustified by reasoning, will tell you: “You let him alone. He fills +the pockets of the big pots. If he likes to get drunk, why not? I +likes liberty, I does.” And yet the fool who says this will be the +first to urge class tyranny and claim for the idle workman a place in +a Ministry, perhaps the first place. Good God! No; before the working +classes are granted grave responsibilities they must prove they are +worthy of them by exercising a firm purpose, doing what they are +already called to do honourably and well, and show signs by industry +during leisure hours that they are men, not barbarians, and good +citizens, not anarchists! + +They must prove by their private lives that their public acts will +not be a disgrace, that a high principle has been their guide, +that their souls are straight and active for good, and that a true +Fraternity, wide and embracing, has finally ruled out selfish class +prejudice. They must prove that they are in no humour to be levelled +down by their noisy leaders. They must prove their higher ambition by +not listening to the cry, “Strike again, Bill! Force the governor if +_’e_ won’t give in! The Government is weak: force it to a decision in +your favour! You ’ave the power to starve the country if you choose. +Don’t yer see yer power? Why, then, man, use it!” + + + § 19 + +Wise people do not wish to give added power to a class that listens +to and acts upon such folly. They know if they did that the country +would suffer as a whole and become the prey to a tyranny, and a mob +tyranny, the most dangerous of all. + +Before they are granted new powers we want to see the British workman +doing his work as well as he used to do it, to see him an honest man +by giving his best work for good pay. + + + § 20 + +Paying a bad or indolent workman the same wages as an efficient and +industrious one is to put a tax on skill; it discourages the good +workman and encourages the idle one in his idleness. To forbid a +bricklayer to lay more than a minimum number of bricks per hour is to +encourage the lazy and discourage the honest workman; therefore to +curtail the production of work in quantity and quality is directly +injurious to the needs of the country and indirectly to the progress +of trade; moreover, it is unfair to the good workman as it places him +on a level with the inferior or bad one, which is not only morally +wrong but economically silly. Trades union laws have grown to be +tyrannical. They contradict what was good in their initiative. As at +present enacted they prove their authors to be ignorant men, ignorant +of the first principles of political economy and of the results which +must inevitably follow upon their acceptance. If an honest workman +has the will to lay as many bricks per hour (so he does it well) it +is tyranny to forbid him. It is neither to his interest nor of the +trade he represents to coerce him. For the reason he does better +and more work than his idle or incompetent fellow he has a right +to a higher wage; to deny him that right is to lower the standard +of workmanship generally and particularly. To oblige men to down +tools at the command of leaders against their will is tyranny! So we +find after all that grandiloquent talk about Liberty is gas. Trades +union leaders are tyrants; even more, they are slave drivers! Labour +would do well to strike against them instead of striking against +doing their duty and being honourable members of society. Indeed, +they would do well to duck them in the nearest pond as enemies, not +friends, to their cause. The fact is that as soon as the workmen +find out they have been misled retribution is likely to follow and +quickly. When the honest workman sees clearly that a false position +has been pressed upon him he will resent it and drastically. The last +railway strike is a black spot in the history of generous and liberal +England. The majority of the railway men did not wish it. It was +forced on them by the audacity and ambition of their leaders. That +statement is proved by the avidity of their return to work. Perchance +they thought it was just possible that while they were starving +others, and the helpless, they themselves would suffer with them. An +empty belly is a very valuable medicine. + +Englishmen of whatever class, rich or poor, would never consent to +starve out their comrades, their children, their old fathers and +mothers. Our workmen are, _au fond_, too good fellows to do that, +even to descend to threaten it. The threat to starve the country +was not made by them but by their leaders, who, if they do not know +better how to conduct men only a little less ignorant than they, will +have to be taught to do so, and quickly. + + + § 21 + +British workmen laboured like men to win the war. Once or twice signs +were evident that arrogant leaders were trying to seduce them, but +they failed in the long run. But after the immediate danger zone was +past, with reprehensible persistency the same leaders shook off their +reserve forced upon them by a perilous situation and started a new +war cry of class against class which the war and all the suffering +it caused should have killed. But no! While we were all admiring +the straightforward patriotism so tried by grave danger, anarchical +leaders were considering the steps they would take to achieve an +end by brutal force, thereby copying the tyrannical Germany that +was being thrust from civilised companionship with the rest of the +world. These are but mimics of a fallen power which had killed its +soul, killed every instinct of justice, all pity and human kindness +to bring about an end to gratify lust of conquest and overwhelming +tyranny under the mark of Kultur. Trades union leaders threatened +to starve London. Unable to coerce a none too strong Government by +specious proposals and platform oratory, their threat was, happily, +taken seriously, and the Government, in this instance, gave evidence +of a power of forethought which it had too often neglected in the +past. Those leaders were cheated of their prey of dead children and +old people starving for want of milk. It is difficult to abstain +from stronger words than are here used, difficult not to permit +harsh words, so dastardly cowardly was the attempt which, although +it failed, was made with a coldbloodedness that was more German than +English. That it failed to succeed was not the fault of the authors +of the scheme, who intended it to force the pace, intimidate the +people and the Government, and establish trades union leaders as +rulers of the country. In point of fact, it was blackmail! On the +contrary, they have secured obloquy from every decent man and woman, +and have happily placed themselves in a position of disorder which we +hope will continue. If they try the same game again, if they are not +met with physical resistance, they ought to be, and if the leaders of +what is in reality “conspiracy” are not “doing time,” the Government +will have to answer some not pleasant questions from a majority of +orderly citizens which is resolved not to be set out of order by +a minority of exploiters entirely out for their own interests and +self-aggrandisement. If the Government had shown weakness, as it so +often has done in somewhat similar circumstances, its doom would +have been sealed. It has too often tried the patience of the country +by unfulfilled promises and shifting ground when obstacles were +obstinate, and an entirely reprehensible policy of compromise. This +time it surprised the country by being prepared to deal with a crafty +trap. It caught the vermin in the trap they had set to intimidate +the country. That strike has gone far to prove that Labour, as at +present led and organised, is no more fitted to rule than a naughty, +ill brought up child is to rule its parents. We believe the soul of +the British workman is still clean, _au fond_; it has been tempted +to be otherwise by bad guides, taught to be dishonest by them, +to be selfish, hard, even brutal, but enough of the old stamina +has survived to encourage the belief that, under good, wise and +sympathetic, but at the same time strong leadership, the British +workmen will regain the confidence they have lost and the position of +respect which has been compromised for them. + + + § 22 + +They deserve _good_ wages, that is to say, wages which enable them +to lead decent lives under decent environment. They deserve a +better education than they get, and, above all, better guides in +their early school days, guides who shall furnish the sensitive +period of the first stages of youth with first principles of +conduct; taught that they are citizens of no mean country, hence +that a grave responsibility is theirs, not only to themselves +but to their neighbours. Taught that _thou_ as well as _I_ is an +essential pronoun; that civilisation is based upon _Fraternity_, not +_Equality_, because there is no such thing and never can be. That +one’s neighbour is a bit of oneself is a moral truth beyond question. +It is a truth that is in the very foundation of society. It is the +root of the tree of all progress, it is as the water that feeds +it, and as the sun which ripens its fruit. Duty to God is implied +in duty to the neighbour. God made the neighbour, the _thou_ as +well as the _I_ is His design; the two are really inseparable. This +principle, driven home in the earliest years, will form a guide for +life, because the mental impressions then received are never wholly +eradicated. “I must take care of myself to take care of you” is a +truism. But “I must prop you in failure, stand by you in trouble, +and joy in your joy” is surely a higher form of ethics! This simple +principle of life is the summing up of Christian teaching, and not +only of that, but of the writings of such great pagan philosophers as +Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, to name only two of many. To be _able_ +to read is one thing, what is read is another. Bad books are more +detrimental than no books, as _bad_ education is worse than _none_. +To know one book well is better than to have superficially read a +hundred. There are essential and not essential as well as _positively +destructive_ books; plenty, indeed, of the last named, and they grow +like weeds! Only two or three of the best books should be set before +children. “Robinson Crusoe,” “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” and carefully +selected portions of the Bible would not be a bad selection. Teachers +must not be hacks or machines, but wise and sympathetic guides. +History is a complicated study, and one which the busy worker, +agricultural or craftsman, has not time to master. But the chief +events, those which have moulded social life and profoundly led +progress, can be tabulated and learned by heart. The young should be +taught that presently they will be called to make history, and that +in its making absolute _honesty_ is the first condition of success. +The agricultural labourer is helping to feed his country, the +craftsman is making desirable and durable goods for his own as well +as foreign markets, and they must be the best he can turn out to his +honour! + + + § 23 + +Ancestors of the craftsman of to-day erected and adorned the +monuments we now prize; it is the business of the modern craftsman +to make such as will be reverenced and esteemed by-and-bye. Ancient +craftsmen loved their work, that we can see at a glance. Are the +modern craftsmen taught or encouraged to do so by their leaders? No! +They are taught to grab high wages for bad work as good for trade, +a lamentable fallacy which could only have been framed by ignorant +men, and unprincipled to boot. As the duty to a neighbour should be +instilled, as it were, with mother’s milk, so to do good and only +good work should be the mainspring of a boy-craftsman guidance. +The habit of doing good work must be acquired in youth! It must be +begun early and continued as a habit to the end of it. Duty to our +neighbour and duty to our employers are synonymous. Pride in turning +out good and shame in turning out bad. Do Labour leaders teach that? +No! They advocate the reverse. They would have it that while labour +is essential it is derogatory to freedom, to insist on good work +for good pay is _tyranny_, but to demand high wages for bad work is +_justice_. They teach “As little effort as possible to attain the +highest level of wages.” Is this wise? No, it is the height of folly. + +The true answer to those false leaders is to tell the workmen that +all work is honourable when _well done_, dishonourable when _ill +done_. When primary education is conducted upon the simple lines +above indicated we shall be on the road to supply the best possible +education to the greater number. It is worse than useless to cram +young minds with facts before the first principle of selection +has been instilled. Much, indeed most, of England’s foundation of +greatness was laid when the majority could neither read nor write. It +was _character_, not education in _facts_, that made England great. +Honesty, not grasping, was the watchword which guided the deeds of +our great ancestors. Soil must be prepared before it is ready to +receive fruitful seed. We do not plant lilies on dustheaps or corn +on the ashes of factories’ furnaces. Honourable dealing with the +neighbour, honourable _quid pro quo_ are, as it were, the bricks of +which a nation is built, and without them as primaries no nation has +been or will bequeath a noble heritage. What are we making for the +future? To what end is the intelligence of craftsmanship directed +with all the facilities at their hands? To get _enormous wages_ +with the least possible effort. These are hard words, but they are +true. The welfare of the neighbour is not in the calculation, and +_honesty of work has taken a back seat_. That is what is the matter +with England! It is a malady which affects the commercial attitude of +to-day from bottom to top. Under so depressing a social atmosphere is +it a matter for wonder that we are creating so little that will be a +joy or stimulus to aftercomers? Work in which joy has not taken part +will never provide pleasure to the doer or receiver. A creator who +slaves as a drudge, is unwilling and discontented, is a neuter; he +will neither derive nor breed pleasure. + + + § 24 + +The war compelled Labour; without it it would have been lost. But are +there signs that Labour will work for Peace? What ideal has it? What +stimulus is being provided for Labour and by Labour to make England +rich in intellect, purer in heart, more fertile of ideas, less +materialistic and more spiritual? + + + § 25 + +The spirit giveth life! Matter is like an eggshell. We have gone +round in a circle in the later pages, and come back to the point of +starting. The soul of a country is what matters; it and it alone +can control the matter of it! We have seen a great country break +down under the curse of materialism. Explosives, foul gas, and every +instrument of destruction have been the gods of the Germans, and they +have ruined them. Germany sold her soul to the Devil to attain her +lust, the conquest of the world. She failed because she killed the +spirit of God in her, setting in His place monsters of iron, steel +and poison. If matter divorced from spirit can win, Germany would +have won. Is England going to imitate Germany, the country that is +fallen from a high estate to an abject condition of failure? Or +are we to be influenced by Russian disorder and anarchy? Both are +bad, and neither should influence us except to avoid the grievous +errors which have led to such disaster. Anarchy, as every plague, is +catching. It seems to promise to uneducated and undisciplined minds a +panacea. It may offer that, but it grants only additional miseries. +Over and over again it has been tried and has invariably failed! + +So let us not repeat a blunder, but shape a new course upon +ground which has never revealed pitfalls, which is not subject to +earthquakes, that is on rock, not sand, that is productive, not +sterile, fruitful, not destructive. Let us see that the Great Spirit +which inspired England is with us still, but in a wider measure than +heretofore--the spirit that gave her Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, +Milton, Shelley, Blake, Keats, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Browning and +Morris in poetry; in science, Harvey, Bacon, Locke, the Herschells, +Faraday, Darwin, Huxley and Lister, to mention only a few great names +in occult and humane science. The spirit which inspired our great +artists--Reynolds, Wren, Chambers, Blake, Gainsborough, Turner, +Constable, Wilson, Alfred Stephens, Rossetti, Hunt, Millais, Leighton +and Watts. For music we cannot claim so many, but in folk song +England has been rich, perhaps richer than any other country, while +her stately Church music has been quietly developing from Purcell to +Sam Wesley, the last of the severe Church composers. Of novelists, +Richardson, Fielding, Goldsmith, Thackeray, Dickens, the five kings +of that art; while in the second order Meredith, G. Eliot and +Charlotte Brontë are eminent. Let us emulate the builders, craftsmen +and decorators who made our cathedrals, which we now see denuded of +much of their wealth of beauty by wrong-headed Puritans and religious +faddists who have worked so much mischief to the country in too many +directions. + +But, we shall be asked, “Is it possible to work our several faculties +simultaneously in opposite directions: those which are seeking +utility, facilities for still more rapid translation from place to +place, for a restless life which leaves few moments for thought, +but which do not conduce to wealth inasmuch as money can give it, +but which must, if they are further developed, stultify other +faculties which, to reach their highest point of excellence, demand +concentration, leisure and peace?” Yes, it is possible; it has been +done, but it cannot be done if the point is overstrained, which is to +say, if wealth, as applied to money, means that money only matters, +if to get rich is the ideal towards which the whole nation strains. +Money is only a means to an end. Like labour, it is mischievous when +wrongly applied, and it is so wasted upon implements of destruction, +gambling and coarse pleasures which poison or atrophy the higher +senses and nobler ambitions. It is wasted also when spent upon idle +officials, unnecessary committees, the fetish of politicians when +they have got themselves into a muddle. Before spending money surely +the first question should be: “Is the object of _lasting_ or purely +ephemeral importance? Will it return an interest commensurate to +the expenditure _pro bono publico_, _i.e._, a national more than +individual interest?” Thousands upon thousands of public money were +wasted in war time to support political or party schemes for which +we pay dearly now. Money is being wasted upon extravagant wages +in all directions and at this moment when the nation is deeply in +debt. Taxes and rates are at a fabulous premium, raised to pay for +experiments, mistakes and reckless extravagance, and have to be met +by increased taxation which is impoverishing enterprise of every +description, so much so that no surplus is left to meet demands that +are necessary for the intellectual progress of the country. Does any +one suppose that the Labour leaders are doing their mischief unpaid? +They are living (on the contrary) on the fat of the land. Their +salaries are large and are taken from their followers, who claim to +be in such straits. These mischievous agents of Anarchy are better +off _quâ_ money than thousands of their betters, than men whose +education has been expensive and who are the intellectual bulwarks of +Britain. + + + § 26 + +Scholars, every form of research in the arts, science, literature +and education are suffering from want of means to do justice to +their studies and to keep up the level of intellectual attainment +to a point of excellence necessary to the welfare and progress of +England. The so-called idle rich (a term of obloquy justifiable to a +small section) came out well during the war; they sacrificed their +wealth and energies for the public good. How could the huge sums +of money have been collected and dispensed without capital? It was +capital which came to the rescue in those dark hours. Had capital +been less, how could the huge wages have been paid to war workers? +Increase of wages necessitates larger not smaller capital. Breaking +up capital and distributing it in sections, giving it to a class +which has had no experience of its value and uses, would be to commit +social suicide! Upon the whole, Labour behaved well in the war. It +was not unnatural that the rise in prices of the necessities of life +(leaving out luxuries which can easily be dispensed with) raised +discontent sometimes, but by no means justifiable. That certain +foodstuffs became expensive was inevitable. The war, unprepared for +by short-sighted politicians, took the majority by surprise, although +a more thoughtful minority had seen it approaching for years. The +stores of food were small. Insistence upon the prominent pre-eminence +of the Juggernaut of Industrialism had caused agriculture to fall +away, or so to decrease as to form a secondary (whereas it should +be the first) consideration of an island that should be (as far as +possible) self-supporting, save for such luxuries which our climate +is unable to produce. But that the prices of food necessary to +life--meat, bread, and milk--went up to excess has been the fault of +grasping, selfish, unpatriotic tradesmen, who, seeing the opportunity +of their neighbours’ distress, the moment to put money in their +purses, did so, utterly regardless of the suffering such action must +entail. Not all, but the majority of tradesmen, behaved ill while +their country was on the road to starvation, so ill as to command +a decision that, as a class, tradesmen, unchecked, are not fit for +prominent posts in the Government, national or municipal. They proved +that they are egoistic and selfish, a character suspected, and not +without reason, but perhaps never brought so prominently into the +light before. + +It would be tedious did we give a list (it would be a long one) of +necessary foodstuffs refused to applicants excepting at a price they +could ill afford or could not afford to pay at all. It was a system +of blackmailing wholly discreditable to a class which, having power, +exercised it with a cold-blooded arbitrariness that was, to say the +least, unmanly; the worst, cowardly and criminal. To hit a man when +he is down and unable to protect himself is the act of a coward; to +cause, for selfish reasons, suffering to the neighbour is criminal. +We cannot refrain from the hope that the dark side of tradesmen’s +morality, so distinctly pronounced during the late war, will result +in an abstention in granting them powers, national or municipal, +which will offer them chances for extended _jobbery_ in the future. +That, having become aware of their disposition, tradesmen will never +again be allowed a free hand in any form of Government. That to them +is largely due the rise in wages which is straining the capital of +England is unquestionable, therefore they belong to a class which +needs careful watching in the future. If, instead of striking at the +whole nation, trades unions had struck against the prices demanded +by tradesmen, they would have had right on their side in that they +struck against an initial cause. It has been said just now that +money is well spent when dedicated to causes that are permanent, not +ephemeral. Wealth is a necessity for a nation, and wealth without +capital is out of the question. + + + § 27 + +Athens at her great time was rich; Egypt, when the city of Memphis +covered four times the area of London, was rich. Rome was rich, first +by her agriculture; she began to decline when she ceased to grow +corn, getting it from her colonies. Byzantium was full of gold when +she enriched herself still more by the buildings she erected that +live among the most treasured possessions of to-day. When Venice was +producing her great architects and painters, her consummate builders +and craftsmen, her merchants were rich, proud, too, of making their +city as we now see it and know it, one of the most beautiful in the +world. Florence and Genoa were rich when they took a high place in +the arts and intellectual culture of all kinds. France was rich when +she built her unsurpassed cathedrals; so was England at her prime +when she gave us much more than has survived destruction of the +beauty her artists and craftsmen created. Surely wealth was then used +as a permanent means for a permanent supply of honour to which we bow +now in the beauty that remains of the noble labours of great peoples. +The men who acquired the means to do so spent money for national +honour with the ambition to make their city or cities as attractive +and beautiful as possible. They employed the greatest creators of +their generation to leave their mark not only on the present but the +future. The labours of the great spirits of the past are a heritage +than which nothing can be greater or more valuable. Bad men as many +of the Roman Pontiffs were, they used the wealth (not always honestly +attained) with distinction, whether for the exaltation of the Church +or not does not matter to us; they made Rome as we see it now +(deducting the abominations of industrialism which deface the grand +old city). + +What do we go to Italy for? Not to hear discourses of politicians or +to listen to Socialists talking about what they do not understand, +or to see tramways blocking up narrow and picturesque streets. We +have enough of those restless, fugitive obstacles here. We go to +study the immortal works of art of all the centuries from Romulus +to the 16th century of our era; a pretty wide field of interest and +instruction, so richly provided is that highly endowed country. What +do we go to Egypt for? Surely not to see the havoc Western ambitions +in commercialism is causing, with very doubtful results upon the +prosperity of the fellah; nor only to bask in her glorious sunshine, +her pure air, not yet poisoned by the atmosphere of industrialism in +promotion there and quite out of keeping with the distinction of that +great country and the transcendent interests of its history; but to +study, admire and learn from her remote past, that had so much to do +with the formation of intellectual energy which gave birth to so +much that is no less valuable now than it was in the past. + +To us, overtaken by an artificial life, by a destructive force +called Utilitarian, indiscriminating and reckless, the past has +much to teach. It is all very well to sweep away traditions which +the labours of our forefathers provided, under specious excuses, +under plausible arguments; but what we destroy is irrevocable, and +cannot be replaced. The mad course pursued by Industrialism has had +disastrous effects; it has absorbed land that was under cultivation, +it has broken up priceless records of the past by destruction of +noble buildings, it has turned thousands of acres of valuable land +into deserts, filled the air with poisonous fumes, darkened the face +of the sun; it has sown squalor where once was order, and, above +all, it has hardened our people, who have been on the verge of soul +starvation; it has been turning them into machines. Industrialism +has not forwarded Liberty, it has retarded it. Its tendency has +been to make all men alike, to, as it were, take moulds of their +minds, and sell the casts to the highest bidder. It has encouraged +avarice on the one hand and extravagance on the other. Industrialism +carried to excess is an incentive to war. It bears no relation to the +Arts of Peace. It is a tyrant; wherever it goes it leaves a track +of destruction as an invading army does. It has created a spirit +of unrest, hence it is the enemy of research, of the arts, and of +those faculties of a nation which make them intellectually great. +By providing machinery it has crippled craftsmanship. While, in a +narrow sense, it has provided _occupation_ (and that word is used +advisedly), industrialism has damped the spirit of creative labour. +By turning out thousands of articles exactly alike its handmade +machinery has almost swept the board of creative instincts, of good +and discriminating taste, thereby leaving in its tracks little indeed +of æsthetic value and rarely, perhaps, any work of craftsmanship +in whatever trade that will be an honour to our generation in +the judgment of the future. What the craftsman makes with his +finely trained hand, inspired by a creative instinct which is his +distinction, the machine can only _copy badly_. The man who made it +had a soul which he used in his production which fulfilled it, gave +it shape, made it interesting always, even if the workmanship were +rough and ready; it reflected its producer, and so a work of art is +produced and not the product of a dead machine. + +To sum up (and they are hard words that are used) Industrialism is +the enemy of the soul of a nation _en masse_; in particular of man, +by killing his individuality, his productive genius, his observation, +his loyalty to himself, his ambition for fame as a craftsman, the +civilised progress of his country and last, not least, his liberty. +To succeed (and who does not wish it success?) democracy depends upon +the Demos. An unenlightened, self-indulgent, ignorant, uninspired, +misdirected Demos must ruin the chances of a successful Democracy! + + + § 28 + +What is “of the people” must come “from the people.” If the people +represent the roots of a nation they must be pruned, nourished, and +kept clear of poisonous weeds; if not, their product will be sterile. +If a fruit tree bears ill the fault is to be found in the roots and +in the soil that surrounds them. The embryo of its fruit is in the +roots of a tree. Labour is numerically superior, and rightly, because +no country can exist without it. It is imperative, therefore, that +if Labour is finally to rule it must prepare itself to do so, not by +making itself a nuisance and a danger by striking work, by shirking +effort, by giving the _minimum_ of its energy to do its share of +work for the community, but by strenuously following the old maxim: +“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” To take +part in the rule of the community is a more complicated affair than +to rule a household; it follows logically that the man who fails in +the latter will do so in the former. Unable to rule himself, to be +his own conscience guide, how can he be accepted to rule over his +fellows? A man, be he who he may, rich or poor, who uses the leisure +he has ill, brutally or wastefully, has not yet qualified himself +for more. If the ideal of such a one is dog fighting, man fighting, +gambling or any other brutalising sport, his is not likely to be an +ideal of the use of leisure serviceable to himself and his family, +nor is it one which justifies his voice to be heard or his deeds to +influence the affairs of his country, for which he has shown neither +interest or inclination. Among intelligent and instructed men as +colleagues he would find himself quite out of place, and _rightly_. +A limited outlook upon life is one of the penalties which untrained, +undisciplined minds have to pay. The narrow mind is a selfish one +almost always. It is egoistic, it places the social class to which +it belongs in a position of importance far above its merits, for +whose well being, in a material sense, it would legislate to the +disadvantage of every other class. + + + § 29 + +If there is one lesson pre-eminently prominent taught by the +experience of the Great War it is the absolute necessity for a +_revival of agriculture in the British Isles_. And more than that, +viz., that the growth of grain, fruit and vegetables should no +longer be permitted to be crushed by an increase of industrialism. +Further, that forests should be planted wherever possible, that +we may in a large measure derive our wood from our own land. Our +people need work, they need to be encouraged to hand labour, to an +outdoor, healthy life. Every machine made to hasten results, while it +provides work for mechanics, takes away from agricultural labourers. +One man employed to drive a corn-reaping machine is enough to reap +three or four acres in a day. How many does this mean thrown out +of work? Thirty or forty and more. It is true the machine does the +job quicker, but is rapidity of execution overwhelmingly important? +There is a boot-making machine we hear of which can turn out dozens +of finished boots in a day. If this is used what is to become of the +bootmakers? They must either starve or take to another trade! + +And so, instance after instance might be quoted to prove the +narrowing effect produced by industrialism upon labour when carried +to such an extent as to absorb the majority of the energies and +activities of a people. Although the author has visited many +industrial towns where he must confess to have been received with +kindness, and from a section of their inhabitants sympathy, he wished +to improve his acquaintance and go to one which shall be nameless +to have a good look round. Before he relates the story of his +impressions and paints a picture of them he wishes to preface it with +a few words. In his opinion, which has been formed upon experience, +there are undoubtedly great efforts made to render industrial life +possible. There is in all industrial cities a small coterie of +enlightened men who, as manufacturers, are powerful, and who are +making an effort to achieve better conditions of life. There are +art galleries, there are museums, there are mechanics’ institutes, +schools, and many appliances for a better education. But as far +as the author has seen, the people who should be influenced are +not reached, they remain outside; they remain a _class apart_, not +perhaps ungrateful for their chances, but indifferent to them; they +are suspicious. Civilising influences rarely reach them; if they do, +they are disregarded. + +In point of fact, the Demos of “labour” is distinct from the Demos +of intellectual culture. Intellectual culture and Labour are out +of touch. Labour seems to belong to another world, to live another +life, to have no _need_ for what is put for them to take. That is +surely because classes are too abruptly divided, they do not mix +enough; hence each class mistrusts the other! Labour mistrusts +the Capitalist, and the Capitalist mistrusts Labour. Each is apt +to regard the other as of a different species of humanity and one +that is inevitably in antagonism, forgetting that no labour means +no capital and the reverse. It is unfortunate that there is a gulf +between the classes where there should be neutral ground on which +they could meet. _Coercion_ will never create that meeting ground, +neither will continued suspicion and unrest. High wages even will not +tend to reconstruction as long as there is no intellectual basis of +sympathy and desire. The working class (I dislike the term) must make +an effort to rise, it must desire _acquisitiveness_, and I believe +many of it do desire it. It is very little use to place advantages +before people who do not want to use them. They must be _taught_ or +guided to want them, and by degrees to use them. The middleman is +an atrocious invention. The agitator is a middleman. He keeps up +friction. He is neither the “boss” nor the workman; he fiddles for +his own dancing. It is not impossible that he is responsible for the +absence of touch between employed and employer. Trades Unions widen +the differences. + +The middleman thrives on labour of all kinds. He is represented in +the arts by the dealer, who, in most instances, secures a larger +share of profit than the producer. The musical middleman (or agent) +takes a large profit from the composer; the singer and executant +are alike sufferers. This constitutes a difficulty by no means easy +to get out of. As long as “advertisement” holds such a sway as it +does now, the wrong men make the chief profit, which is an entirely +unnatural state of things, demonstrating something wrong in the +relations existing between the public and the producer. “The State” +has not the power, inclination, or capacity to deal with what is, +after all, _authorised_ blackmail. It is only by force of public +opinion that a change in economics is likely to come about! By public +opinion we do not mean unenlightened, unskilled, ill-disciplined +agitation, but one arrived at by a better tone generated by ethical +as well as practical education, and a closer touch between teachers +and taught. Justice is not likely to be delivered by a class which +holds that its own interests are paramount; and that undoubtedly is +the present attitude of the class called Labour, which is apt to +forget that we are all, or ought to be, labourers, from the King to +the humblest peasant. Now let us move our ground. I ask my readers +to accompany me on a journey and share with me my observation while +reading the thoughts it has given rise to, and afterwards to the +Dream consequent, I suppose, upon those thoughts. + + + § 30 + +I travelled in a not too clean third-class carriage from London, +which I left in a not uncommon black drizzle. Although it was morning +and a summer day, according to the calendar, the station was partly +lit by electric light which only seemed to accentuate the smoky gloom +within and without. It was depressing, passengers looked depressed, +porters were irritable, everybody seemed to be in everybodies’ +way. There was the impression of Pandemonium in this specimen of +civilization. I wondered at all the pains that had been taken over +the strange medley of squalor, convenience and inconvenience. It +presented one vast, ugly muddle. This, then, is the chief railway +station in the, supposed to be, most civilized city in the world. I +looked forward to getting out of the noise, the smoke, and the mud, +away from the mad hurry of a people with no time to think, so bent +are they in pushing their fellows out of the way. I knew I was going +from bad to worse. Curiosity was taking me to a manufacturing town in +the north. I should have said City, for it possesses a Lord Mayor, +Corporation, and Cathedral, and other conventional essentials. + +The journey was uneventful, nobody spoke to his neighbour, babies +howled, buns and oranges galore, and the floor was well littered +with slippery débris; I was not sorry to reach my destination. I had +resolved to leave the train at a station some three miles from the +City--a dirty little station it was--that I might walk thither. A +hot, damp atmosphere, charged with sulphuric acid, greeted me. The +land was undulating. What had once been beautiful has been rendered a +poisonous desert; the country surrounding the emporium of nastiness, +a capital of Industrialism, was a wreck. Occasionally a white circle +appeared and disappeared behind clouds of smoke and mist, beaten up +into a greasy black soup. It was the sun, but never a shadow did it +cast. The atmosphere, rendered solid by dirt, was heated as in a +furnace. Oxygen was at a minimum; hydrogen, in plenty, played its +part entirely up to date according to modern ideas of civilization. + +Leaving the dirty station, I made my way over fields, or apologies +for them, not by the road which was ankle-deep in black mud. A +few thin cattle were feeding off patches of ill-nourished grass +growing unwillingly from cinders, mixed with poor and thin soil. +Groups of black sheep hurried from patch to patch of sapless grass +to find nourishment. Mostly wool these half-starved sheep were. +Four tumble-down stone walls served as boundaries, which they only +indicated. Straggling thin hedges there were making mourning black +fringes to the desolate fields unpruned and almost leafless. Although +it was July scarce a leaf remained on tree or shrub, none green, few +even brown, being mostly crinkled up and black, poisoned in their +early youth, but making a brave fight for existence in what should +have been their prime. A few broken down buildings appeared as +apologies for what had once been a considerable farmhouse in better +times. A few blackened haystacks only served to deepen the sense of +degradation. About these buildings, instead of flowers and shrubs, +was heterogeneous rubbish. Broken saucepans, smashed crockery, tin +boxes, glass bottles, rags, bits of old garments and soiled scraps +of newspapers. I noticed some garments, men’s and women’s, hanging +out to dry. I wondered how long it would take to do so, and what the +colour of them would be presently. A few dirty hens were scratching +among the débris. A pig or two, none too fat, were turning over +rubbish with their snouts. There was a kind of farm yard, which stank +of rotten wet straw, soaked in microbic poisons. Near by lay a pool, +coated with black slime through which a duck or two pushed their way. + +A dirty woman came out of a broken down doorway carrying a still +dirtier child. She was pale--she looked permanently sad. Set, even +resentful, was her countenance, as she glanced a moment at me--a +stranger. What windows her hovel once had, now mostly broken, were +patched with bits of newspaper. Three or four men languidly worked or +lounged about. Every action pointed to ineptitude and indecision--out +of their element, evidently they were. Walking on, I came to a knoll +crowned with black, dead trees, once, perhaps, a sacred primitive +burying place. I could see the City now, grim in wreaths of black +smoke, now looming out as a cold metallic half-light, from what was +the sun, struck for an instant upon the gloomy pile of factories. +It was as a city of the dead from this distance, silent and grim, +hideous, forlorn, and even menacing. There seemed to spread over it +an awful silence, broken only now and then, as a light wind carried +a dull thud of the throbbing pulse of machinery doing its monotonous +task. I came nearer, even to the environs of this terrible place of +slavery and black life to the thousands of human beings created to +breathe the fresh air of God’s creation, now condemned to evil fumes +and soul-killing labour--the offspring of a monotonous, poisonous +existence. Hoarse voices, using not too choice language, made +discordant music, the like of which I do not wish to hear again. It +was now 12 o’clock. Hooters brayed, a cracked bell or two told the +hour in mournful tones. + +I made my way to the heart of the City. Its narrow, dirty streets, +winding, serpentlike, among the black buildings. A slowly moving +crowd came along. It moved automatically, just mechanically, like +the revolving wheels it had just left. The men had no joy before +them, they were just going to eat, to grease the wheels of their +machine-made bodies, to return in an hour to resume the same +soul-killing toil. Their faces were all alike--very pale, very dirty, +very _neutral_. I thought to myself, this then is civilization, and +these are the slaves to the much vaunted Industrialism which has gone +to kill agriculture and stifle natural life wherever it is planted. +This is the life the people choose to live with an occasional strike, +and who can wonder? whose leisure is spent at football matches, too +often in dog-fighting, man-fighting and gambling; and who can wonder! + +In this stifling place, this kind of systemised Hell, wages are high, +and _rightly_. The loss of the soul of living should be paid for at +a high price in money, it pays a high price for suffering. It is +some comfort to think that the majority of slaves to Industrialism +are unconscious of what they lose in life. But that ought not to +be a consolation; it should stimulate desire and determination to +change it. I thought of the health and happiness that had been here +in one of the most beautiful and fertile districts of England. The +contrast seemed terrible. Nothing can compensate for such a change. +Health, free agricultural life, invaded, ravished, and slaughtered +by the horrors, inevitable (apparently) horrors, which are part and +parcel of Industrialism. I thought of the silver streams once merrily +flowing, now sluggishly creeping, half-solid with filth and poison, +of the rich produce from a land of farms, of happy country festivals, +of content, of the prosperity of England; how she fed herself from +her own land, and in her craftsmanship was a leader of Europe. I +seem to hear a hard voice saying, “That’s all very well, these people +don’t know any other life than the one they live in and are used to.” + +That may be true, but it only makes their case a sadder one. To +lose sensibility, to be ground down to the level of an automatic +machine, is an indignity. Man is an outdoor animal, not made to live +the Artificial life of huge, unhealthy cities. Nothing can make up +for the loss inflicted on man’s soul by depriving him of Light, by +forcing him to live in smoke, squalor, and foul air. Habit does go +a long way, no doubt; _they do get used to it_, but that does not +lessen the evil that the life is doing to the best part of every +man and woman who lives it. I hear another voice say, “But they +don’t care for the sun, or beautiful landscape, for flowers, for the +things _we_ care for,” as if these toilers were of a different race! +“They have lost touch with what you call Nature, and of God they +know nothing but as a kind of head of a rich firm who is autocratic +and hard, if he pays any attention to them.” “It is no use to put +sentiment into this class,” said the hard voice in my ear, “it would +be dangerous if they cared for all you want for them. They would be +discontented and cease work. Perhaps they would want to go back to +the land, to _Freedom_; that would not suit us at all. It is only +because they are ignorant of any other life that we get work out of +them--machines they are, machines they must remain.” + +This was _true_ Industrial _talk_, and exactly typified the mind of +the Arch-Priests of Industrialism. “Well, you must remember,” spoke +the same voice, “they have their own pleasures, fitted for them +and their condition, they like their bit of sport--prize-fights, +dog-fighting and gambling--they can go to a ‘cinema,’ there are +several here, where they can see the things they understand--stories +of vice, of murder, a complete list from the Newgate calendar, that’s +what they like.” + +“But look,” said I, “at the little box outside that dirty window +there; it has fading geraniums in it. Do you mean to tell me that the +hand that tries to tend them, and the eyes that enjoy their colour, +are yet quite paralysed?” “Oh, yes,” was the answer, “they do like +a bit of greenery, of course, but it’s mostly the women that are +sentimental.” At that moment a rough-looking fellow went by. “Look +at that,” said I, “he has a geranium flower in his button-hole.” +There was no answer! _I_ thought that geranium was a symbol of the +life of that man’s soul, and reflects the Garden of Eden, and an +instinctive desire to be there again. “Granted,” I went on to say, +“that Industrial life is a necessity, do you think that it need be +squalid, that the homes of these people should not be bettered, +and their self-respect encouraged thereby?” “They do not want to +be interfered with,” was the answer. “If they were given greater +comfort, better dwellings, and little gardens, as sentimentalists +desire, the dwellings would become squalid and dirty in a week, and +the garden would yield nothing; they’ve lost all touch with such +matters, they are grown to be of a different race; they like their +condition as long as they have plenty of beer, and may do a little +amateur prize-fighting and dog-fighting, and spend a good bit of +their week’s money in journeys to football matches.” + +“Do you think, then, that their life is the best imaginable for them? +Is there no Ideal behind it?” “Yes, it _is_ the best for them. As to +Ideals, I don’t know what you mean; they’ve got to take life as it +is, there is no room in it for fanciful experiments! They are well +paid; for the rest, leave them alone in their ‘squalor,’ as you call +it; they like it, and would resent being made ‘respectable.’ Besides, +if they were, they would get out of hand.” I saw it was no use to +argue with the voice that came from a big, fat man, as hard as nails, +and as prosperous as a fatted pig! I went to see the “Mechanics’ +Institute.” There were a few billiard tables, a strong smell of +stale tobacco and beer; a quantity of newspapers littered the tables, +dirtily thumbed on the pages relating to sport and “all the winners,” +the last prize fight, murder and burglary. Sport and crime appeared +the favourites of the moment. Could this be bettered? I thought. Yes, +was the answer from my better self, but it will not be if men of the +type of him who talked just now lead public opinion. + + + § 31 + +I went to the theatre, the play was not invigorating; it provided +rotten food--money jugglery, a low love affair, and success of a +villain, were the parts. What was not immoral was vulgar. What was +neither, was dull. I venture to imagine whoever was there came away +a little more debased than he went. I found my way to the Cathedral, +a fine 15th century edifice. The stone (local and hard) was fast +being pulverised by acid fumes. Black deposit filled every crevice +of what once had been exquisite carving. The loving work of ancient +craftsmen was being rapidly destroyed by the “necessities” (?) of +Industrialism. An attempt was in progress to reface a portion of the +exterior--far better have left the noble old work decay than replace +it by commercial carving at so much a foot. It had been a noble +building. Standing high, it dominated, by a survival of dignity, the +hideous black factories. It was like a still small voice, speaking +out of a great past to a people who, if they heard it, could not +understand. Its chimes (eight bells) once echoing the hours to the +hills, were silent--better so, perhaps. I did not stay long in the +interior. It made me sad to think of the enlightened people who +had worshipped there, for it was a Benedictine Abbey Church of the +monastery hard by where was preserved all the learning of the times, +and where men led “creative and industrious lives.” + +A pure unsullied sun had glowed through glorious glass, of which +fragments remained, but mostly had been replaced by commercial +attempts at _so much a foot_--commercial, indeed, it was. On the +very rock where stood the monastery--the place of scholarship, of +art, a home for exquisite craftsmanship--is now a huge manufactory, +belching out wreaths of black smoke, like serpents encircling shaft +and building, writhing in poison even along the cobbled ways deep +in black slush. Civilisation, so called? Here, are forged cannon to +kill human creatures. A very apotheosis of hideous war, and one of +the many homes of its implements. When will men be wise and see that +war is not only a hideous crime, a recognised murderer of millions, +an authorised waste of money and energy, but a folly as well? What +waste, cannon to destroy, and to be destroyed after a few hours of +vicious mischief! Oh, the foolishness of such a parody on Ambition, +on Statesmen, on the whole world’s Progress! + + + § 32 + +Men, human beings, brothers, as they ought to be, earning their +livelihood in making engines of Destruction. “Ypres,” “Louvain,” +and “Rheims,” came into my mind, with the devastation of hundreds +of square miles of fair agriculture in France and Belgium, and for +what? That a materialistic nation, clever and unprincipled, and +lost to all moral restraint, audacious and mendacious, might govern +the world under the sovereignty of the mad egoist, William II. But +Britain had to fight. Her honour would have been stained for ever, +had she broken faith with Belgium in her extreme agony. Whether it +is desirable to make implements of destruction in the abstract, is a +question; during the war they had to be made and with all possible +speed, and British factories played an honourable part in saving +Britain, as her soldiers did who shed their blood for their country. +Is it indeed, Utopia, that place where men may come to regard war +as a folly, and where, being taught a better and higher Ideal than +quarrelling, is a reality? I like to think the time will come when +our greatest minds are concentrated on contributing to all that Peace +designs, and our skilled labour and craftsmen are employed on things +permanent. They will be things that last into the ages to come, +that ennobled the men who designed and made them, and bring a pride +for them in the making, and an honour gained in the estimation of +them in the future. The abolition of War might depress the purse of +Industrialism, but it would endow the country with riches that money +cannot purchase. Enormous, scarcely calculable, sums of money now +spent on “preparations” to kill our neighbours, would be converted +to create things enduring and elevating. Perhaps it may never be, +but why not dream of it and work for it as a possibility? There is +an _Ideal_ somewhere. Why not reach after it? There is so much that +needs doing for Education, for Beauty, provision of healthy work for +every one, and healthier lives for every one. + +We ought to have no time for war. The late struggle for Freedom has +supplied Europe and Britain with the rest. Somehow or other, a change +must come. If we are to prosper, aye, to exist, pre-war conditions +cannot be renewed. We have to make a new start, to obtain a greater +simplicity of life. If you like, more primitive. Many good old +customs and systems may well be revived. We were in such a hurry to +coin money. We forgot that what we were leaving behind was better +than what we were recklessly trying to meet. We thought that money +was the “Summum bonum” of existence, to buy transient pleasure, to +gratify our lower instincts, to feed ourselves with luxuries, to be +victims to Vanity Fair, and slaves to it; to eclipse the sun the +giver of physical needs, the symbol of Eternal God, the Giver of +Light; hence, Life, has been as great a folly as War. It is, indeed, +a kind of war to do so, a war against Nature and her manifold gifts +through the Spirit of God, which were visible in the Sun. To live +under gloom, being poisonous to the body, is likewise poisonous to +the Soul, which, in time, it must injure, if not destroy, for it +paralyses Hope; it paralyses everyone of our finer sensibilities +and aspirations. It blinds us to Beauty, it hardens the heart, +destroys graceful sympathy, engenders selfishness, and, in time, it +annihilates Love, because absence of Light is enervating to manhood. + +And that is what a _few_ have been doing to the many under promise +that they shall be enriched. Enriched with what? Money paid for bad +work? And when the money is there, how have they been taught to use +it? Palliatives in plenty have been offered them. More excitements +for leisure hours, which devitalise, have been sown broadcast; and +why? because, pandering to human weakness, it paid to keep the +people quiet. We have reaped that which has been sown. The people +have become restive, they want more wages, not for the purpose of +uplifting their finer sensibilities, but to gamble with first one +then another amusement. Instead of providing, for leisure hours of +our workmen, stimulus to educate themselves to be provident, to be +industrious, we have led them by promises to the silly idea that they +are the right class to govern the country! + + + § 33 + +The precious gift of leisure, in which our working class might +acquire more funds, we have not taught them to use; on the contrary, +their leaders have taught them that they have a right to be idle, +to obtain high wages for bad work, and in their leisure do whatever +they like. This is something very near to Anarchy; any way, it is a +principle which, if persisted in, will ruin England. No! The thing +to do them good is to teach high principles and lead them on to be +useful citizens. And that must be done, unless Democracy is to prove +a disastrous failure! We have got to begin again, to start from the +bottom--that is the clear duty for the future, and the only one that +will succeed in the long run. If Democracy fails, it will be through +apathy in the conduct of our systems, of leaving them to chance, +and bad organisation. We have got to bring classes together, not +separate them. Working men have to bring their share of labour into +the halls of Democracy. An educated class has to bring its share, and +the rich class, in its own sphere, has to bring its share. The rich +have to supply means for labour, the labourer to do his labour up to +the highest point of honour. The Educated Class has to seminate from +the flowers ripened by study, and so each class, working out its own +destiny hopefully and earnestly will contribute to general progress, +which is the end to which democracy, to succeed, must strive. One +class must not try to supersede another. That would only mean some +form of Tyranny. There can be Tyranny from _democracy_, but only +through _Anarchy_, which is as destructive to one class as another. +To put down Anarchy, Force has to be resorted to. Anarchy is quite +as great an enemy to Freedom as Autocracy. It calls out the worst +form of human passion, resulting in civil war, the greatest evil that +any nation can encounter. Russia is going through it, poor Russia, +perhaps presently to become a victim to godless Germany! France +went through the fire. France, for a time, lost her soul. The most +delicately organised people in Europe turned themselves into brutes +for a time. + +What came after? The great conqueror, Napoleon. What did he conquer? +Practically all Europe, save England! What remains to-day of his +conquests? Nothing! Had Napoleon used his genius, which was second +to none other in history, in consolidating France, in putting her +intellectually as well as conventionally at the head of nations, +which, by her innate genius she might have been, Europe would be +a different place to-day. Napoleon failed, not because he was a +conqueror, but because he tried to conquer wrongly. He threw away his +force in War, he might have spent it in Peace. The French Revolution +was the parent of his egoistic ambition, as Tyranny is the child +of Tyranny. A revolution in England--by that is meant a War of +Classes--would certainly give rebirth to Military Rule. This has been +said before; it needs to be enforced by reiteration. + + + § 34 + +Germany knows that, and nothing would please that rapacious nation so +much as England’s failure to make Democracy a success. The success of +Democracy in Britain depends upon the British, not only on how they +choose their leaders, but on the direction taken by the people as a +whole. These, then, are the reasons that I have written and published +this “Book.” I want Democracy to succeed, and I see only one way +to it; _Perfect Unanimity_, a perfect system of education, simple, +not complicated, large-minded, generous rule, without weakness, all +embracing without being overbearing. I cannot see it arrive through +class warfare. I see it in wise concessions, in whole-hearted +justice; in _general_, not _particular_ rule; in the cultivation +of the whole human machinery of our country, not in parts only; of +the soul of England as well as her physical needs; in Industry of +all kinds duly guided, duly answered; of the needs special to every +district, each performing its part in a national enterprise. In that +way, each man and woman can find a place, a usefulness, and position +as citizens of “no mean country.” That is my Ideal for England of the +future. + +As I write, I know that professional politicians will sneer, that +miles of red tape have to be unwound before what is now bad is made +better, that extremists of every party will abuse me. I know I shall +be called an unpractical dreamer. For these I care not one jot, +having little, if any, respect for professional politicians, having +an abhorrence of red tape and the jobbery it wraps up. For extremists +I have pity more than scorn, as I know their tenets are but as grains +of sand blown by the winds. That agitators, as a class, are wholly +unreliable, being, _au fond_, mostly out for themselves, and that is +the reason I warn the workers against them. I have chosen the form +of a Dream to tell my story for several reasons. Some of the finest +literature has been given in the form of Parable or Allegory! which +is as illustrative to-day as it was in any period of History. + + + § 35 + +The wanderings of Osiris, told in ancient Egyptian mythology, are +ethically as beautiful as their progress is enchanting. The most +beautiful and instructive passages in Christ’s teaching are in +parable, as all Oriental disquisitions are. The story of Buddha is a +poetic allegory affecting the lives of millions to-day. The Divine +Comedy of Dante is in allegory, and our own great writer, Bunyan, the +Bedfordshire tinker, chose a dream in which to relate his Christian +progress. Bacon’s New Atlantis is a species of allegory interwoven +with the science of his period. The first three chapters of Genesis, +whoever written by, are in allegory. I know that the form I have +chosen is not one in fashion. I am old-fashioned, and prefer the +example of the greatest minds to those which, on a lower level, in +my opinion, are, just now, uppermost. Imagination is at a discount; +materialism is paying interest on Industrialism; but I believe in the +Triumph of Imagination and the defeat of Materialism. This late war +has cemented that faith in me which William Blake taught me, when he +saw trees at Dulwich filled with angels, and his beautiful mind was +filled with enthusiasm by vision of a more perfect existence than a +mundane one. + +Imagination is the torch that lights the intelligence of man. It +is of the Spirit which God breathed into the mythical Adam, as he +rose physically out of the newly created soil. Without Imagination +the world would soon drift into a desolate chaos. Imagination +is somewhere in the British character, else how came about our +literature, second only to the Greek? Materialism created by +Industrialism has sought to push it out as a vague and idle gift +of no service in the acquisition of wealth. _Plutus_ has been on +the throne of _Zeus_, but only temporarily. Olympus will be peopled +again, for the gods never die. Another Parnassus, with Apollo and the +Muses, will be here again, and great god Pan will come into his own +when Agriculture is restored in the grand simplicity of its initial +purpose, and Industrialism is organised so as not to be a nuisance +and a _curse_, which it has been unquestionably, not because it is +bad in the abstract (for nothing which includes labour is that), but +because it has gone a ruthless way unchecked. Industrialism became a +“Fetish” before which every one must bow. It has destroyed what and +where it wished! Without discrimination it has acted the part of a +Juggernaut by trampling down better things than it can show, which +stood in the way of its tyrannical progress. It has darkened the face +of fair England by smoke, poisoned its rivers, turned good land into +ash heaps. Lowered the vitality of men, of animals, trees and plants +wherever its autocratic will has prevailed. + +Worse even than this it has done, it has created a false creed: “I +believe in gold.” It helped to make the late war the most horrible +in History. It has tended, wherever it has planted its foot, to urge +that _Might is Right_. Without the abuses of Industrialism, the late +war could not have been. Germany trusted to her Industrialism to +win. She felt certain that she could turn out a hundred destroying +machines to the Allies’ thirty. That the force created by her +Industrialism was invincible. There was once a Soul in Germany--the +worship of Industrialism killed it. Germany lost the war because she +had first sold her soul. The Allies won it because, though sorely +wounded, their souls were still alive, and their honour mostly +unscathed. + + + § 36 + +Man was not made to be a machine; Industrialism would make him one; +man was created for a fair open-air life to be a healthy hearty +animal under the sun. Into him had been breathed something God-like, +if he chose to use it; to create a new Eden, not a new Hell. We +have had enough of his creative powers for the latter, we mean to +use them for the former! It’s just a matter of choice, that is +all. We have only to change the direction of creative impulse from +sources of destruction to sources which will insure construction +and preservation of the fittest. It is by that habit of mind and +direction of effort we shall fall again into the footpaths of our +noble predecessors, and create in them new departures, which, not +being ephemeral and time-serving, will act as sign-posts for those to +come; because, surely we are not responsible for a temporary success, +but for the fields we leave to be gleaned when we have passed! These +thoughts took hold of me and held me tight, as I walked to and fro in +the City, watching all and talking to some of its inhabitants, some +of keen intelligence, more of sullen discontented demeanour, a few +but little above animals; not their fault, but of the misdirection of +their lives, the unwholesome teaching of their leaders (a little more +intelligent than they, a good deal more self-seeking and artful), and +generally, if not universally, defective in sound early education +and example. Tired with the fatigues of the day, and passionately +longing for better things, I found an inn, and went to bed, to sleep, +perchance to dream. + + + + + A DREAM OF ENGLAND + + + § 1 + +My body lay asleep. My Spirit was free! Unconscious cerebration led +it where it willed. Free as a bird, my winged soul made its way with +no impediment. Without ears I heard, without eyes I saw, without +hands I touched, without restraint I observed. My Spirit created +images--it was an absolute monarch! Nothing denied its progress, no +walls forbid entry, and nothing clouded its vision. More real, not +less, than before, was every scene presented in the journeys of my +Spirit. Is this real Life? Is this unreality Reality? It seemed so to +be. Innumerable impressions on a long life become facts. The dream of +sixty years was being realised every moment. What I saw and touched +was tangible. Nothing was vague. It was a lifetime concentrated +into a moment. “A thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday, +seeing they pass as a thief in the night.” Time was obliterated. +Each of my senses was acute. I enjoyed beauty with a vivacity I had +only dreamed of, the scent of flowers as I had not known before. I +loathed the stenches of man’s making, for there was pain as well as +pleasure to my acute sensibilities; in this state the Spirit is in a +kind of Purgatory, half in, half out, of the world! half in Heaven, +a bit in Hell. Dante tells it all. Virgil, Homer and Milton sang of +it; the Golden Age lived it. Mankind has longed for it. To satisfy +the longing man has created an Ideal existence the other side of the +Grave. Not satisfied with that which is uncertain, we desire the +Ideal life _here_, and as my Spirit gathers intimacy with what I +see, hear and feel, the Ideal _is_ dawning! “There is more in dreams +than we wot of.” How can we tell that Truth is not the master of +dreamland? “Hypnos” and “Somnos” may be brothers who conduct us into +a land of accomplishment. Are they prophets? I hope so, when they +lead where they lead me. Maybe such a dream as mine may come to be an +abiding reality; that is why I tell it? England would be better and +happier if it did. If there were no such place as Utopia, should we +want to get there? + +The money-grabbers have theirs, an unlimited supply of gold; the +sensualists theirs, unlimited, unrestrained sensuality; the realist +his, and what a tiresome place it would be; the idealist seeks his. +Utopia is a real place, not in the clouds, but here, somewhere, if +we choose to recognise it. If it were not so, the soul, created +before the body, would not seek it. When we give a party we do so to +please our friends, and doing so to gratify ourselves. The Idealist +casts the seeds of live ideas. He knows they will fall on sterile as +well as productive soil. The Idealist is an optimist. Having tested +his ideal, probably through suffering, he believes in its efficacy. +May be he believes in its general acceptance finally, because he is +confident of the ultimate conquest of “the best!” + + + § 2 + +Now to my dream! A moment I hovered over my sleeping body: I left it +to travel on the wings of my soul. In front of me is a City. A part +of it--the most elevated--is enclosed by a high wall, pierced for +eight gates, closed at night. Its plan is octagonal. Within it there +rise high buildings and towers. They are constructed of stone and +brick, mostly of stone, for the region is volcanic. The slopes of the +hill descending to the undulating ground are richly furnished with +fruit trees, and ample vegetable gardens. It is spring time! Rich is +the blossom whose scent the sweet pure air brings to me. The air is +as clear as crystal. As I hovered over the enclosed part of the City, +I heard a hum, pleasant to the ear as that of bees; it proceeded +from within the stately buildings. Yes! It was machinery, complex +and wonderful. How is it that those vast wheels, those intricate +valves and long straps spreading as spider’s web, are moved, and so +silently? Science has discovered how to convert noise to silence. +Science had been practical, she had set herself a problem, and she +had solved it! What appeared to be inevitable had been conquered. + +But how is generated the power to propel this gigantic movement--and +silently? Science had discovered how to collect and use electric +currents, whose power is greater than steam, to move, in perfect +rhythmical order, the heaviest, most complicated machinery. I +searched for, but found no ash-heaps. How can this be? Science had +discovered how to separate heat-giving properties of all fuel from +the waste. Where is the smoke? There was none! What, then, are those +noble towers for? Partly for ventilation, partly as store rooms. +Science had said: “It is time I set to work to use the forces of +Nature with discretion. I have discovered many useful things, but, +being in too great a hurry, have made much havoc with them; I have +destroyed much that was lovely in the world in my haste to provide +‘facilities.’ I have been very clever and very stupid. It is time I +made a new departure. I must no longer be a nuisance. I must set to, +to order my going, that in my track I create blessings, not curses. +I see it now. It is in my power, if I exert it, to render unpleasant +things pleasant. In my mad zeal for discovery, I forgot adaptation. I +forgot that it lay in my genius to use it unharmfully. Now I set to +work and try to make the world pleasant again, much as it was before +I became too proud, too inconsiderate and dominating. + +Alone I cannot do this! I have been too long separated from Art, +too closely wedded to utility, which, though I do not divorce, I +make obedient. Indeed, I rather scorned Art, and ridiculed those +who stood in the way of my reckless march! I know now that I am +responsible in a measure for the soul of MAN, as well as the use +of nature’s forces. ‘Only _I_ matter’ has been my motto. I take Art +to me, which, more than all else, presents the Soul of Man, and +say we must be sisters, not antagonists. That I have brought evil +into dominion I now know. From me, have been born hideous means +to destroy life, property, and the gentler happiness of mankind. +Foul gases to suffocate, explosives to be a curse to humanity to +facilitate destruction in War-time. I have been a kind of earthquake, +indiscriminating and cruel! I have destroyed more than preserved! +What an odd creature I am!! I make wounds, then I heal them. I mangle +bodies, and set them together again. With one hand I cut the world +to pieces, with the other heal the wounds I’ve made. I have torn out +eyes and replaced them as well as I could, with blind ones. Queer +creature that I am. In making artificial light, I hid the sun. I +subverted the natural order by turning day into night and night +into day. I invented all kinds of implements for agriculture while +I was killing vegetable life. I have been unguided by Art, yet I am +entirely artificial! It is true that man has used me foolishly. He +would have me to be Peace Maker and War Lord. He has abused my genius +because he fancied that I only could satisfy his material ambitions +and bring him wealth. What I made for his service he has used for +murder and suicide! It is plain to me now! The blinkers are off and I +see the right way.” + +I listened while Science spoke, and gathered that she had become +wise! Will men grow wiser with her? What I see here seems to promise +it! I went on with my invisible peregrinations. The people of the +City have not their homes where their daily labour is; after that is +finished they go to their homes below the gardens, which entirely +encircle the acropolis of Labour and the City. Hours for Labour +are sufficient for all purposes not extreme. Eight hours do they +labour, eight hours they sleep, eight hours for pastime and _home +industries_. Home industries are many. Eight hours’ factory labour +leave the men still fresh, because where they labour the air is pure; +change of work is pleasant to them, be it cultivating their bit of +the public gardens or in craftsmanship enjoyed in their homes, for it +is becoming a habit to be craftsmen here, and _to give out no work +which can be performed at home_; in this way the middle man, that +raker-in of the gold of others’ labour, is mostly done away with. +Work is not held to be a mark of slavery, but of Freedom. While the +labourer is working for his commune, which gives him good wage, he is +performing one duty; while he is working in his home or garden he is +a home craftsman. And many and desirable are his productions: good, +simple furniture, which only costs him the material, and gives him +continual pleasure in the making. He who was an idler, or worse, is +now an industrious artist in his long hours of recreation. + + + § 3 + +There are pleasant places for refreshment, games, and the like, +but, as far as I can see, they are not abused. Time is too fully +occupied by duty and absorbing labour of craftsmanship to admit of +drunkenness. I see none of that which was so killing a vice when +men’s hours of leisure were poisoned by inertia. Now they do not +want to drink; they are keen, not listless men. They are too busy +to grumble, too happy to listen to agitators, who, if they began +again to sow discontent, would be met by corporal punishment, so +_determined_ is this new race of workmen to be Free! What is the +government under which this new City prospers? It is Home Rule! Each +county governs itself! Imperial Parliament has no power to control +their liberty. London is the seat of Imperial Parliament, which is +represented by one member from each county, selected as a wise and +educated man by the Communes which represent their inhabitants; but +they cannot hold their office for more than five years. Imperial +Parliament is confined to Foreign affairs of State, having in it +a representative from each of our Colonies. Imperial Parliament, +of which the King is Prime Minister, is composed of learned and +efficient citizens who are Privy Councillors, not because they +are rich men (for the party chest and the jobbery it caused is a +thing of the past), but because they are wise and learned. It meets +at stated times which are subject to emergency. The King and his +closest Ministers have the power to call it together. London is +subject to the same rule as the counties; but London is no longer +the centralised authority--she rules herself, but as yet this huge +monster is chaotic. Being heavily populated, although the population +of it has largely decreased owing to the abolition of slums, and +a larger proportion of it than hitherto being under cultivation, +Greater London is broken up, into Boroughs, which have powers of +local Government, carried on by better educated men than heretofore. +Their councils, composed exactly as those of the Counties, are +represented by reliable men who are above profiteering. Each +important trade is represented by one representative; this rule +prevents any trade from working its own interests to the damage of +another. Lawyers are used for reference, but are not allowed to +initiate. Lessons from the past have taught that the legal mind is a +zig-zag puzzle. Imperial Parliament has done away with Free Trade, +except with British Colonies, which pay no entrance fee to our coasts. + +Each Commune guards itself and people from excessive taxation, and +wisely, because heavy taxation is a clog in the wheel of production, +for not unnaturally industry is averse to giving a large portion of +the results of labour to bolster up the extravagance and want of +foresight committed by Party Politicians who, after all, are, far +more eager for the success of that miserable little idol, “Party,” +than for the higher welfare of the people they are supposed to +govern. Party Politics reflect the worst sides of Tory as well as +Radical government. It is now accepted that excessive taxation is +against the first principles of political economy. Care is taken that +taxes shall be borne mostly by those who can best bear them. Trade is +more taxed than Professions. + + + § 4 + +Machinery of all kinds is taxed higher than the handicrafts, because +it produces more swiftly, if less enduringly. Everything that +tends to higher mental development is only nominally taxed. The +Arts are not considered luxuries, but necessities; hence, instead +of contributing to the purse of the country, they are recognised +as contributing to its mental growth, its refinement, as well as +strength, and are taxed as lightly as may be. + +Unproductive land is taxed, but since much more of it is under +cultivation than formerly, and Industrialism is no longer permitted +to play the Juggernaut, since _Agriculture_ and _Arboriculture_ have +been energetically pursued, waste land is an exception; even the +least productive is used in some way or other for national benefit. +A small voluntary army is kept in efficiency, but not extravagantly. +It is supplied from training corps established in each county. The +education of every boy includes military drill; in that way classes +mix, under the same discipline. This method induces good-fellowship +and promotes education; because the better educated, teach the less +fortunate, by example. It is found to be a great factor in promoting +peace, and conduces to good manners and courtesy. The boy scouts are +in full swing. + +Britain can provide almost all necessities of Life. Foreign goods, +of whatever kind, are sufficiently taxed, but not so excessively as +to prevent entrance. It has been found that unlimited free imports +from foreign sources tended to limit local production; hence, labour +suffered, and supervened. A habit in England had grown to pay for, +rather than labour for, even the necessities of Life. It has been +shown in the reconstruction, that if Britain and her Colonies cannot, +inclusively, provide all, they _can_ provide the greater part of the +countries’ needs. The following out of this principle in practice has +arrested the growth of discontent so prevalent a while ago. + + + § 5 + +The great war provided proof that military discipline, which means +obligation of the items of a system to work for the success of +the whole, did not unfit men for peaceful labour, but rather the +contrary; because a habit of self-control in combination strengthens +the fibres of individual physical and mental activity. So far +advanced is the system of units in combination under the flag, +that at any moment mobilisation can be effected, and in a time of +necessity practically the whole male portion of the nation can be +under arms. Industrialism provides arms which in time of peace need +not be overwhelmingly costly to taxpayers, because in a moment +of emergency war material can be produced with almost miraculous +rapidity. It is not the intention of those who are organising +reconstruction to be caught napping again. The nation, as a whole, +being more intelligently equipped than it was, sees ahead, and +mistrusting politicians, it follows the lead of good sense and keener +intellects than those who are under the spell of party politics +possess. + +But I am moving too quickly, a habit which the mind has when it is +keen and full of ideas. Government is on the basis of Home Rule, +with some of the restrictions as well as advantages of the old Saxon +Heptarchy. Imperial Parliament holds no sway over the Communes, which +are governed by a Mayor selected not on account of his wealth, but +his wisdom. He is elected for three years, and by the voice of the +Commune. His Council is representative of each necessary trade and +profession, hence it is truly democratic. Men of the law are used as +referees (but are not except as such) allowed to be active members, +the legal mind being held to be limited, and narrow, by its training +to delay, and dangerous by its sophistry. + +Not more than _one_ representative of each trade is permitted. This +wise proviso has been accepted to prevent jobbery, for which the old +Borough and Town Councils were renowned. Each representative, while +his first duty is to look after the trade he represents, has a vote +upon all subjects. + +In order that the Council of the Commune shall be in a position to +look after the interests of the entire community, what used to be +called “country gentlemen” form a feature. All honest tradesmen are +respected; dishonest ones and profiteers are held in no respect, but +are considered aliens and unworthy of any responsible place in the +State. + +The House of Commons, as it was called, no longer exists. It was +considered a clumsy assembly, and one out of touch with realities. +It ceased to exist because the people became weary with too much +talk, too many promises, and of muddle at every turn; so they ceased +to vote for M.P.’s to sit at Westminster. It died quite a natural +death, the country at large being scarcely aware of the moment of +its demise which no one regrets. It has come to be borne into the +minds of the honest democrat that too many laws framed by lawyers +were every year passed, not one of which was sincerely intended to be +applied, but were passed as sops to public opinion upon some more or +less burning question of the moment. Imperial Parliament, which we +have stated is under the presidency of the King, is composed of Privy +Councillors selected from the County Communes as the wisest men of +the moment, not necessarily rich, but trustworthy, and such as have +proved to have no _personal axes to grind_. This implies that the +King’s Councillors are men of learning and character, and are not +likely to commit banalities in their dealing with foreign affairs, +for which reason it is found desirable that they are travelled and +not insular men, accustomed to meet foreigners and to speak their +language, as well as to be conversant with their habits of thought +and institutions. + + + § 6 + +The Aristocracy of Learning takes a high place in the new democracy. +We have seen that a party chest no longer exists, so men poor in +purse, but rich in wisdom and understanding, if not called “Peers of +the Realm,” have become so by their outstanding merits. Hereditary +titles are the exception. The ancient titles and families go on, +but it is an exception when they are added to. It is agreed that +opportunists and place hunters were numerically increased by the +facilities provided for the purchase of honours. In the new State no +honours can be _purchased_, but they can be _won_! Money may make a +prominent man, but not a great one. By making the King President of +the Privy Councillors it was thought that the grave responsibility +carried with it would strengthen the monarchy, and, holding on to the +fine tradition of kingship, the country would benefit more than under +repeated elections consequent upon a shifting Republic, meaning that +stability is more likely to be reached under a Constitutional Monarch +than under a vacillating Republic. + +To sum up this portion of my dream. Centralisation is a thing +of the past! Each county governs itself; and this plan has been +thought to be wise because every county has its own idiosyncracy, +its own needs, and its own powers of production, some _Industrial_, +some _Agricultural_, but each one must, to be well governed, be +represented by the most varied and highly trained minds. So each +intellectual class is called upon to administer, which system +prevents the commercial element from overriding the intellectual; +hence a better balance is maintained than under the old system, +which pushed into the background some of the best minds in the +community, who, not being commercial, but taking another view, +undoubtedly a higher one, were regarded as fanatics, their ideas +being received with a shrug of the shoulders as a gesture of +contemptuous pity. + +But a wider education, hence better manners, has altered all this, +and members of a class that held in contempt any intelligence applied +other than to commerce have learnt that there are many sides to a +nation’s greatness, none of which can be neglected without detriment +to the whole. Besides the Mayor each Commune has its Minister of +Public Health, who must be a capable authority not an amateur +but an expert, who has under him a staff of officers ever on the +watch for the good of the people. Next to him is the Minister for +Agriculture. In industrial centres a Minister for Industrialism is +at work, whose duty it is to see that all factories are sanitary, +the workmen neither overcrowded or overworked. There is a protecting +Minister of all rivers and lakes, into which no refuse from factories +is permitted to drain. This law, if not obeyed, _the factory can +be immediately shut up_. All coal smoke is forbidden, whether from +factories or private houses. This law at first was resented, and +until fines for its non-observance were heavy, was not obeyed. +As soon as offenders found there was no way to avoid smoke, they +applied science and now the evil never occurs. Electricity is used as +energising power as well as for heat giving, all engines are driven +by it, hence in the whole of England the scandal of a smoking chimney +of any sort or kind is never presented. + +“We are wiser now,” said a scientific man. “We know it to be not +only folly to waste coal, but wrong to smirch the sky, hide the +sun, and poison trees and vegetables with evil fumes--it can be +prevented.” As I hovered over a part of England, not long ago blasted +and blackened, where not a tree would grow, where the sun rarely +penetrated through the evil clouds of unconsumed fuel, I wondered +how it was we permitted that miserable state of things to go on. Now +the country smiles under the sun; what was a desert is a garden, and +what were pale, sad people are now sunburnt, merry and strong folk, +as the British race was before the artificial tyrant Industrialism +began to bleach them. The climate of the British Isles is not genial, +we all know that, but the difference since coal smoke has ceased +to darken the sun is so great as to provide another climate. Fogs +there are and always will be in our Island, but smoke fogs are no +more, hence an outdoor life is led which was impossible under the +circumstances of the past. If the Communes had only effected that +change they would have benefited the human race quite incalculably. +Each Commune has its Minister of Education assisted by a staff of +competent superintendents, who visit local schools and issue reports +that are laid before a Council elected from chosen men of character +and distinction. Each Commune has a Minister of Arts and Crafts, for +music and the drama, including dancing, which I notice has become +an art and an essential one, in the training of the young in good +manners and graceful demeanour. + + + § 7 + +The Mayor or Lord Mayor is elected from any class; preferably he is +not a tradesman, but a man of wide learning and experience, hence +he is not prejudiced in favour of any trade or profession. Lawyers +are not eligible as Mayors, nor is it thought desirable that so +dignified an office should be held by auctioneers or house agents. +Indeed, the further the chief officer of the Commune is removed from +temptations of class jobbery, the better is the service he renders to +the community at large. + +Prices of bread, meat and milk, the three absolute necessities, are +regulated by the commune. They vary as little as possible, and being +essential to the carrying on of life, fortunes are not made from +their sale. The law at the root of this wise decision is the result +of the profiteering of tradesmen during the late war, which became so +serious a scandal that the people suffering from it endeavoured to +make it impossible to be repeated. + +The Council does its work in the capital of each county, but +the smaller cities, townships and villages are permitted to act +independently, as their several interests demand, so long as in the +main features of policy they subscribe to the intention the Chief +Council has in view. Once a year the heads of each country department +meet in the capital and make their reports. The Conference lasts for +one week, and is the occasion of a general holiday. The Conference +is open to all comers, who, while it sits, have an opportunity of +expressing their opinion upon questions of public interest. This +system seems to be working well; the discontented can air their +discontent and the contented their approval. It works well, because +all discussion is open, none taking place under closed doors; that +fact alone is conducive to confidence, by implying it and receiving +it. Where there is honesty there is no need for secrecy. “Do nothing +with closed doors,” said M. Aurelius. The whole system of government +is in the best sense Socialistic, as opposed to Individualistic the +mark of the Radical. “Every man out for himself” is a destructive +policy. While this form of Socialism makes for order, it does not +discourage individual enterprise. Opinions may be stated under a +reasonable check by minds skilled in government, which, being open to +new ideas as long as they are proved to promote _public good_, learn +by listening. + + + § 8 + +If occasion demands it, each Commune throughout the country is +empowered to send its chief and such officers as he may select to +meet together in conference in any one of the chief cities of +Britain. This extreme measure would probably only apply in times +of a national crisis, such as possible war or unruly conduct as +strikes or other disorder imperilling the well-being of a peaceful +and industrious majority. Everything that works for unanimity, but +without weakness, seems to be becoming natural. The artificial +conditions, most disastrous in their effect, of tyrannical Trades +Unions, have given way under a return to Guilds. The painters, +craftsmen of all descriptions, and the best class of tradesmen are +under certain elastic laws appertaining to their profession or +business. There are no such mischievous people as Strike Leaders; +long ago they proved failures, and the workmen became aware of the +damage they had done to their reputation and threw them over. They +did so directly it was brought home to them that their leaders were +really tyrants. The Guilds _encourage good work_, as the Trades Union +leaders of the past encouraged bad; indeed, they have it in their +powers to impose a fine on bad work, if continued to be issued after +warning has been given or a fine paid. The guilds can expel an idle +delinquent as an unworthy citizen. As far as one could learn, that +punishment, so far, has had to be carried into effect very rarely, +because workmen and craftsmen of all kinds now recognise the wisdom +of being honest in their own interest, _i.e._, for good pay to give +good work. + + + § 9 + +Being better educated or, shall we say, more widely informed and +more wisely led, craftsmen in every branch of industry are better +citizens, regarding their work as a contribution valuable to the +Commune and to the country at large. By degrees it is becoming a +habit of mind to regard all labour as noble, if executed honourably. +Every man, whatever his calling may be, takes a pride in doing it +well. Indeed, as my spirit wandered from place to place watching and +listening, I gathered that _idleness_ and _slackness_, encouraged +as they were by the Trades Unions, are now _despised_. For idle +workmen of any sort or in any sphere of life, in trade, profession +or craftsmanship, is not only a useless but mischievous item in the +social system. The pride engendered by honest labour is the cause of +healthy competition. Emulation is a quality which has grown to be +a habit; emulation, not envy or jealousy, which are mean. When men +grow wise they discard smallness. They do not begin every sentence +with the first person singular, but with the second or first person +plural; therefore, being inside and a part of the community, the +co-worker is an essential link in the chain which binds an entire +system and renders it strong. + +This is the reverse of Radical tenet, which proclaiming the creed +of the Jew Fagin, in his discourse with Noah Claypole, “Look after +number one, my dear”--an admirable doctrine for thieves, but the +reverse for the welfare of an honest community. + + + § 10 + +Dreams are queer things, very illogical, and not restrained by +formulæ. In dreams, Q.E.D. does not come in at all. The charm of a +dream is that it is suggestive, not conclusive. It is like a kind of +Inspiration: gaps have to be filled up; sequences are indefinite. +All manner of odd situations jostle one another. An instant of time +is as a thousand years. The ancients, in their wisdom, in their +contemplative abstraction, may not have been far off the mark when +they regarded dreams as omens, having the nucleus of some abstract +truth. Swifter than any train or aeroplane can travel, as swiftly as +a ray of light reaches the earth from the sun, the spirit, free of +the body, moves in a dream. It can inhabit Mars awhile and be back +in Piccadilly in less than a fraction of a minute divided into sixty +pulsations. The spirit has to take no ticket to travel, to pay no +price for a long journey. It has no aims, it only obeys impulse. +There being no method in a dream removes it from actualities, which +it only pictures. These being the chief characteristics of Dreamland, +in the relation of a dream, which is automatic impression, a certain +irregularity in the position of subjects to which it relates is not +only permissible, but necessary to the picture it may be destined to +paint. Having so far preserved a kind of sequence of ideas suggested +as the teller of my dream, I obey the volatile journeys into all +manner of crannies. No brain is so closely locked up that it can +prevent the great inquisitor from entering. While they are free, +dreams are tyrants over reason, to which they bear no relationship. +The interpretation of a dream must be left to the listener of the +tale it tells who can form whatever conclusion he pleases. The +rationalist will probably only see folly; the mathematician, chaos; +the unimaginative, nonsense. Probably the dreamer dreams in close +relationship to his habit of mind. He may be an optimist at one +moment a pessimist at another. He accentuates his likes and dislikes, +hence through the relation of his dream he exposes himself, and gives +himself over to every kind of criticism. To some he appears the +reverse of veracious, to others a lunatic, but to a few he may appear +in the nature of a prophet. + +Having apologised to my readers, I propose now to allow my dream to +lead me, as it most certainly will do, how and where it likes, to +obey its impulses even though they are disconnected. To do otherwise +would tend to muddle up dreams with realities, or such realities +we see in waking hours. And now, feeling free, I can continue with +the story in all its oddities of arrangement, because this is not a +philosophical treatise, although it might be construed into one. It +is not my business as a dream teller to reason, but to leave that to +my readers. + +In the pursuit of largeness of Vision, breadth of Faith, development +of Charity, and strengthening of Hope, the new world formed in my +dream _recognises all religions_, or rather their creeds, with their +differences of approach towards a great mystery, and places them +upon an equality of ministration. Church and State are separated. +The Hebrew, Roman, Anglican, and Presbyterian Churches are, if not +numerically equal, equally respected. The grand mystical tenets of +the Hebrews, the loneliness of the Divine Spirit worshipped, its +nearness as well as its aloofness from what it has created, its +complete unchangeable supremacy associated with its antiquity, are +respected and admired as sincere emotions of one prominent part +in the mind of man. The grave simplicity of the Hebrew ritual is +accepted as an expression of mysterious faith. Having travelled +so far into man’s mind, it was arrested before any explanation of +mysteries arrived to drag the incomprehensible into the region of +logic. No longer despised, the Hebrew faith is as the Father of many +children. Differing from it in detail, the Moslem faith is the elder +child of pure Deism. Mahommed is to his followers what Moses is to +the Hebrews and Jesus Christ to Christians. We, who have to govern +so large a portion of the Moslem world, belong to a nation which of +necessity must come into constant contact with a Faith which (having +its defects, according to Western thought) is to the people who +follow it the fountain of Wisdom and the well of Truth; a Faith, +indeed, from which the most ardent Christian can learn many lessons +of sobriety and reverence. God the all powerful is the unapproachable +Spirit; only by prayer, praise and entire trust are we brought +spiritually near to Him. + +The Roman Catholic community of thought is, in a sense, nearer to +Western life and ideals than the Hebrew or Moslem, but the element +from which it sprang is the same. The One Supreme God, the Father +of His creation, and the mystical spirit which contains _all_. +Differences are only matters of words, they are additions which in +no wise touch the root of the matter. God Almighty is still the root +from which springs the Tree of Life and all its branches. Deus and +Zeus are the same word. All the pagan gods emanate from the Divine +centre, be it Olympus, Rome, or Jerusalem. The Roman Church saw fit +to construe pagan mythology in a new vernacular. Its saints and holy +men became the lesser gods, but no less or more were they, or are +they, absolutely dependent upon the all powerful Deity, the final +author of all, the dispenser of all, the father of all. + +The Anglican Church is the child of the Roman and grandchild of +pagan mythology, the great grandchild of the Hebrew Faith. The +metal of which the chain is formed is gold forged by the Divine +Spirit. Probably the break between the Anglican and Roman Church +was a political, more than a religious, _evolution_. The English +never liked submission to Rome. England has always been a friend to +liberty, an enemy to tyranny, and long may it so remain, be it either +religious or political. + +Nonconformity, especially that branch we call “Presbyterian,” +came from an attempt to simplify ritual, as far as possible, to +reconstruct allegiance with primitive worshippers. The root of belief +the reformers did not touch. The Deity remained pre-eminent. The new +world, that of my dream, while admitting differences, recognises +essential similarities. Hence all denominations are held equal--equal +as regards the respect due to them, and equal in the intention +which dominates differences of detail. Was it not Augustine who +said: “There is no religion which has not something of the Spirit +of God in it”? Sectarianism takes no part in the new world. I saw +in my dream that the cathedrals and churches of England are open +to all religions. To the Hebrews the altars there are as the ark +presided over by the shining cherubims. To the Moslem as a symbol +of the nearness of the Divine Being; to the Catholics as the symbol +of self sacrifice; to the Presbyters as symbols of Divine Hope and +assistance. In them the ancient Psalms of David are sung by Hebrews, +whose incense carries prayers of the faithful up to their roofs and +far above them again. Jesus Christ worshipped in the Synagogue--why +should not the Hebrews worship in His Temples? I saw in my dream that +the Roman Mass, in all its splendour of detail, its imagery, its +exuberance of symbolism, is celebrated in the cathedrals and churches +once reserved as Temples of Protestantism. The simpler ritual of the +Anglicans is also reverently administered, and the almost entirely +bald ritual of Presbyters finds its place within the historic walls +of the churches of Liberal England. + +The breadth of sympathy thus shown to all religious denominations my +spirit saw had nothing but a good result. It is a form of departure +which is catching; it engenders peace; it breaks up animosity; +it extends mental outlook from small to great things. Without +temporising differences it permits them, it places them as small +matters by the side of big essentials, hence the charity to which a +broad view of religion has given rise is spreading and seems to enter +into the spirit of a new and larger life. Hence religion appears +to me to coalesce with a spirit of fraternity which, obviously, is +growing, not sentimentally, but as a social and indispensable fact. + +The cathedrals and churches are adorned with pictures, not +necessarily sectarian or of what are called religious subjects. +Prominent features of the History of the World are presented, but I +do not remember to have seen any pictures in which war is figured. +The new world abominates war, and while it is in a measure prepared +for such a foolish experiment as war is, it is not considered +worthy of handing down by the Arts of Peace, which are and must be +_constructive_. + +It is recognised that while mankind is selfish, grasping and cruel, +wars will occur. The ideal is, of course, general disarmament, but +that is unlikely. Still, it is thought that the more widely and +constantly the Arts of Peace are sown, and the greater interest +taken in life, not as a dissipation, but as concentration of energy +used on things that matter, the less likely war will intervene and +shatter, for perhaps a century, all peaceful intellectual progress. + +War may bring out fine qualities, but experience has told us, in a +minority. War is brutalising to those engaged in it, even to the +atmosphere near and far from its centre. War, when the lust for it +has entered, degrades a people. Bloodshedding is a form of madness. +When the spark is kindled, a flame soon grows, which is fanned by +lunatics, and one fears, sometimes by adroit commercial schemers +who see in devastation a chance to enrich their pockets. When once +greed takes the place of contented energy, avarice, dishonesty and +self-seeking enter and shatter national progress. Indeed, there is +no end to the mischief war may encourage. The seeds of avarice are +sown early in life. Victims to it become unconscious of the rapidity +of its growth, its poison spreads indefinitely, and what is in +reality vice is excused by the plausible word “business,” which, +if laid bare to its root, means tripping up the neighbour, and, if +possible, without being found out. It is because tradesmen behaved +so ill during the period of their country’s danger that, the eyes +of the people are now opened, they are watched, hedged in by honest +men, that they shall have no opportunity in the new Commune to rob +their fellow citizens of food again. In my dream, by listening and +observing, I saw that all classes were bent upon the same conclusion, +to attain much for all! This has led to a great reform in the +education of the young in their tender and malleable years. + + + § 11 + +The public schools are not only in name public; they are open to all +without distinction of class. The peer’s son will sit on a school +bench beside the peasant’s. The only difference being that the +richer pay higher fees. All classes pay something for education; +what is got for nothing no one values, but the education given is +identical. Upon the whole it is desirable that all students live in +their homes. Day scholars are encouraged more than boarders; and, +as we shall presently see that home life is in every respect more +refined than it was. Under the old system, “squalor” was more the +rule than the exception; it is so no longer. Home life, if properly +conducted, is dignified. Every home should be a miniature State, and +it is becoming so here. Wealth is not necessary to make a worthy +home; it is the atmosphere of industry, amity, and union there +which constitute the best school in which to rear a good citizen. +The enormous and unprecedented rise in wages, largely caused by the +rapacity of tradesmen as well as Government waste of public money, +has indirectly promoted industry (not industrialism). Even the better +off folk do not send out work which can be done at home. Tradesmen +have defeated themselves in a large measure. The best provided +citizens are craftsmen, who can use their hands for any manual work, +rough or fine. If a chair is broken, no “gentleman” will send it to +be mended, he mends it himself. + +Experience is fast teaching everybody that a day is long, not short, +and that _unlimited_ specialisation is neither good for soul or body, +rich or poor. The close student of art or letters needs recreation. +He finds it in the new order in manual work, in craftsmanship which +detaches the mind from pursuits necessarily sedentary, and which, if +continued for too many hours a day, are detrimental to health and +vigour. In my wanderings I noticed that one of the chief changes +in or differences from the old life is that every man, woman and +child _is at work_, rich or poor. Hence games and sports of all +kinds, while they take a rational place in life, are not now its +main object. In the public schools every student has to learn some +handicraft. I see the peasant boy sawing away at one end of a log, +while the peer’s son is sawing at the other. It is recognised, of +course, that equality of power is out of the question. Few are born +to rule, but all can serve their country. Endowments are different +in quantity and quality. There are fingers so made as to be bad +instruments for performing delicate tasks, as there are minds +incapable to lead men. A skilled craftsman--skilled, I mean, in the +delicate handling of material--is one thing, the doing rougher work +(quite as useful) is another, and more easily obtained. Young fellows +soon find out what, and what not, they can accomplish. The outcome +of this is energy extended, and if the professional tradesman or +craftsman find himself boycotted, he has only to thank his greed +and his overweening selfishness during hard times for now being +hit with the same weapon he employed on his fellows. Not overmuch +attention is given to BOOKS. The first principle initiated is “good +citizenship,” honest dealing, and the carrying out of the ancient +saying, “Whatsoever thou findest to do, do with thy might.” + + + § 12 + +Business on shifty lines or vicious principles may bring a temporary +fortune, but honest dealing will make good and useful members of +society, who will last out the former, who, in all higher walks of +life, are not seldom mental bankrupts. Music, especially concerted +and vocal, forms a part of general education, and in like manner, +drawing, but music takes a prior place. Like physical drill, music +is useful in training concerted action. Obedience to a leader is a +necessary discipline. Some silly people used to think the study of +music enervating; the wise know it is otherwise. + +But more on that subject when my spirit has travelled further and +become more intimate with the great changes that are taking place +in this young and wonderful new world. So far as I have travelled, +watched and listened, I am certain that _concerted_ action, mental +and physical, is good--even necessary! Boys teach one another. The +peer’s son can teach the peasant, the peasant the peer’s son. Mixing +together of the classes in work as well as play makes for unity, +cohesion and strength. + + + § 13 + +A bird’s-eye view of the new world has been indicated. By this time +who read what my dream relates so far will know that the principles +which guide the new worlds are _socialistic_, that the establishment +of Fraternity is the first object. _Inequality is recognised. +Equality is impossible. Liberty is subject to obedience. Tyranny +under licence is certain, under good fellowship is impossible. The +most dangerous of all tyranny is that which is disguised under the +cloak of Freedom. Before any class can rule efficiently it must have +learnt to obey. Bad leaders are worse than none at all._ + +My dream had hardly taken any shape when the eyes of my spirit were +first awakened. There is a moment between sleep and waking that is +neither one thing or another. At its start, my dream revealed an +indefinite sketch. I must travel back and hover again over the new +city, to see it in detail and work my silent invisible way among +the new things being slowly revealed as my spiritual sense acquires +power. I am in the new city again, and am full of keen watching. + + + § 14 + +There is one railway station, but, unlike those the other world made, +it is clean, orderly, dustless and smokeless. Electric power drives +the trains, which in some subtle way are provided with noiseless +wheels, which run as smoothly as on ice. When, in my dream, I first +saw the railway station, I was sorry. My spirit had been hoping that +the world would be content to travel slower. But when it gave no +evidence of squalor in its neighbourhood or smoke in its vicinity, +my spirit was quieted. Nevertheless, it has not been drawn thither +again. When the new city was laid out, a boundary was fixed, and no +extension is permitted within prescribed limits. One of the great +curses of the old world was the inordinate size of cities. Impossible +to govern well, certain to create squalor and be refuges for the idle +and dissolute, they were intractable. First comes the open country, +freely cultivated, then the city, then a highly cultivated garden of +fruit and flowers on the gradual slope of the Acropolis, upon which +stand the factories, simply and grandly designed, with no pretence of +architecture. What look like broad chimney stacks, reminding one of +the towers of some Italian city, are storehouses as well as shafts in +which fans are constantly working to take pure air into the factories +and workshops. No one but caretakers and watchmen lives on the +Acropolis. + +As we have seen, the City is surrounded by a wall. There are four +entrance gates, which are closed at night, when no work is permitted +by the Commune. + +More and more interested my spirit became as it made its unseen +journey. The houses of the city are erected upon the flat land, and +entirely surround the Acropolis. They begin in something over a mile +from the Acropolis walls. The circumference of the gardens is two to +three miles. They provide a considerable portion of the fruit and +vegetables for the city inhabitants. They are tended not only by +special gardeners, but any capable citizen is welcome to work in them +in spare time under certain restrictions. A beautiful walk indeed it +is from the city up to the Acropolis, shaded in summer by luxury of +growth (for there is sun now that the smoke fiend has been slain). +It was midday, a bell rings, reminding me by its majestic tone of +the “Vacca,” in Florence. No ear-distracting hooters are permitted +or hellish shrieks of discordant whistles, which in the old factory +towns were so nerve-racking. As the sound of the bell filled the air, +out of the city came its crowd of workers to make their dinners in +their homes. They are a healthy, happy-looking crew. Life shines her +best light upon them. They are cared for; they are good citizens, +content, honest, and industrious. If the climate is not the best, +what is good of it is no longer spoiled. What has become of “strike +leaders” and suchlike misleading and “out for themselves folk,” I did +not hear for certain. But I did hear one man say to another, “We are +well rid of them,” and upon another occasion, pointing to a pond, a +man said, “That’s where we ducked him, he wasn’t straight.” + +How solid and compact the city appeared, how sensible its houses, how +clean and orderly. What a change from the old dreary rows of boxes +called houses, slate roofed, almost windowless, more fit for pigs +than human habitations. These being novel in construction, and with +no pretence to be “architecture,” are quite interesting. It appears +that the original soil has been dug out, probably a foot and a half +of it, a solid mass of concrete run in, framed by four courses of +damp-proof bricks; thus is the floor made and a foundation for walls +established. Piers of concrete are erected, from which the roof +springs. The ends of timbers are imbedded in these piers, which are +thereby strengthened. The intervals between the timbers are filled +with strong laths, well bedded in tenacious plaster. Upright posts +are placed between the horizontal timbers, which prevent the longer +ones from sagging and firmly bind together the intervals of lath and +plaster. The roofs are timber covered with red tiles. The colour +effect is very pleasing. The ground plan is oblong, formed of two +cubes. To avoid monotony, the houses are grouped in four, six and +two. Each house measures 40 feet in length and 20 feet in depth. +What would be called the ground floor is open to the height of 7 +feet. Here are kept household implements. The space serves also as +a play-place for children, and in winter can be used by members of +the household for skittles, bowls, and other pleasant games. Rising +from the centre of the ground plan is a shaft showing at regular +intervals pigeon-holes. These shafts contain heat generated in the +neighbourhood by electricity. Instead of wasting energy upon the +discovery of poison gas to slaughter fellow-beings, science has found +means to collect and generate electricity as an agent not only for +movement but for heating, and without the expenditure of coal. At +intervals stand towers, which have a fine effect among the houses. +Within them are the electrical generators. + +The houses are composed of two floors, one forming the upward +boundary of the ground floor, the other eight feet above that, +forming the ceiling of the first floor and the floor of the upper +chambers, which are immediately under the roof. To save space, the +stairway to the upper chambers is in the form of a ladder with hand +rails. The largest room is that occupied by the women, where are +their looms and all other implements belonging to their home trades, +which are several. The kitchen is a walled off space within the +foundation level; from it, the upper floor is reached by a ladder and +handrail. The entrance to the first floor is by a stairway parallel +with the elevation. + + + § 15 + +The furniture is of simple construction, home made, for, as we have +seen, the householders take pleasure in craftsmanship. In the long +winter evenings neighbours drop in, giving a helping hand to one +another. It has been found to be far cheaper to make at home than to +buy of profiteering tradesmen; it only means a little more industry, +a good deal less drink, and a pleasure in making and creating innate +in all creation, but which so-called civilisation has done much +to crush. Since the prices demanded by labour became impossible, +profiteering labour has been to a large extent boycotted. Now that +economy has to be practised, working men as well as women have +grown to be industrious. Each house is a little centre of industry, +and great pleasure is evidently derived from following an instinct +definite and surviving, that of creating and making all household +implements at home. Since shops are rarer than they were, the home +is a creating centre, a very home of industry. Hence the look of the +people is content, it has something of proudness in its freedom of +aspect. They have come into their rights by Industry, by Fraternity. +Agitators who would renew disturbances are treated with contempt. The +happiness created by productive labour has concentrated the people, +given them health and manly independence, besides adding to their +incomes. The unmanly vice of drunkenness is rare. When it is in +evidence it is punished as an insult to the dignity of the citizen +and a crime against the Commune. From its earliest years the child +is taught that to be a good citizen is a virtue, and to live by +labour a necessity. To give good work for good wage is held to be a +virtue which, if proceeded with through life, makes a good man and +woman. I was so interested in what my dream was revealing that I made +more intimate observation. Upon the partition walls of the houses I +noticed pleasant and quaint designs, childlike and barbaric, if you +like, but gay, and evidently done by someone who wanted to express a +pleasure in making nice shapes and bright colour. + + + § 16 + +The sound of the loom working was music accompanied by singing as the +women and maidens plied their home trades. Evidently the garments of +these are home made--they look too “good” to be bought at high prices +of profiteers. Kaleidoscopic coloured quilts such as I remember in my +childhood made the beds look warm and snug, and curtains of bright +tints gave a generous feeling of warmth where doors are not needed. +By the way, heating is provided by the Commune at a nominal rate, +not subject to variation. As far as I could see, gas is of the past; +hence houses are cleaner than heretofore, and the air is not vitiated +by the fumes of that abominable product. Factory labour is limited to +seven hours. In summer it starts at 5 a.m., in winter at 7 a.m. In +summer it is all over by 12 p.m., in winter by 2 p.m. The remainder +of the days are free, to be enjoyed in garden cultivation or home +labour, other pleasures, and games. + +Now that workers are really leading lives in which they take a +personal interest, and are regarded and regard themselves, not as +slaves, but as kings over their own lives, gambling is rare, and +distasteful sports such as dog fighting and prize fights and other +depressing so-called sports are not in vogue. In their leisure the +people are Artists, taking a pride in their homes and competing +whose shall be the most attractive. As yet I had not travelled +about sufficiently to know whence came the wood so much used in the +new Commune, but presently I shall know. Extensive use of lime is +accounted for--it is a local product. To avoid unnecessary expense +and to encourage local labour, the neighbourhood provides material, +for as little foreign material as possible is imported. Water is +plentiful, a good river meanders in the valley not far from the city, +there are pleasant meadows of fine grass that feeds a goodly number +of cattle, whose milk is pure. Adulteration of _milk_ is treated as a +_crime_! Bad people who for profiteering purposes adulterate milk or +bread are put to prison at once on conviction as criminals. + + + § 17 + +Pollution of rivers, lakes or ponds is _absolutely_ forbidden; +hence there is a constant supply of fresh water fish, which forms +an important feature in the food of the city. Rivers, lakes and +ponds are stocked with fish and fry every year, and close times +are respected. The sale of fresh water fish is the outcome of a +recognised trade which is conducted by experts, and woe betide the +poacher, or still more the factory owner, who steals or poisons them. +Preserves for the private pleasure of fishermen or other sportsmen +are not forbidden, but are out of fashion: _Fraternity_ has overcome +_Egoism_ to a large extent. Inasmuch as honesty is regarded as a +virtue and dishonesty a vice (not the case under Trades Unions) it +has spread from large to smaller issues. A factory owner who polluted +a river, besides being punished by the Commune for so doing, would be +regarded a CAD by the public at large, and would find rough handling +unpleasant. For a moment my attention is again called to education, +for my spirit has been listening. _Truthfulness_, _absolute_ and +_pure_, is inculcated from tenderest years at home and at school. +It is involved in the duty to the neighbour as to God, it is the +foundation of Wisdom, Justice and Fraternity. Faith in the good faith +of the neighbour has become a habit. To override, cheat or deceive +a neighbour is an _unmanly_ act. The Communes seek to make _men_, +men who are responsible, not only to their own dignity, but to the +Commune, and this is the first clause of the creed in which there are +but two commands--Duty to the neighbour and to God, the one includes +the other. Fringes to this simple creed there are no doubt, but +those two clauses are essentials on which all addenda hangs. Besides +teaching a craft, scholars are initiated into the works of the great +English poets. Young people are taught to recite passages from +Shakespeare, Milton and other great poets, and they are encouraged +to act the part they recite, because, as we shall presently see, the +Drama takes a prominent place in the mental development of the new +Communes. + + + § 18 + +Caligraphy is taught as an Art. It is pleasant to look over the pages +of children’s writing, so different to the scrawls which were called +writing a while ago. Drawing comes under the section of caligraphy, +to which it belongs. Making nicely shaped lettering means _drawing +letters_. A child who has learned to draw letters well will soon +learn to copy other forms. + +Dancing (not romping) but the good old English dancing, so graceful +and dignified, is part of the curriculum of education. It engenders +good manners, elegant deportment, and self-control, besides being an +extremely beneficial exercise. There is no folk music more lovely +than the old English, and it is being revived, that one knows, for +familiar old songs are heard in the fields now almost as constantly +as Italian folk songs are heard in Italy. The people have lost the +stiff, morose manner they had; while they work they sing. Their +health is better now that they are more in the open air, and being +engaged in open air pursuits their spirits have gained in elasticity +and freedom of expression. The invention of new tunes is encouraged; +hence there is quite a little school of modern and simple folk song +growing which is pleasant, uncomplicated, and melodious. + +Before learning foreign tongues our own is better taught now. +Dialects are not discouraged; indeed, the reverse, the dialect of a +county is encouraged as an indisputable characteristic of the people. +There is only one dialect that is hateful (Cockney), and every effort +is being made to eradicate that. Our own splendid language is great +in poetry, from Chaucer to Wordsworth; to teach it through the works +of the poets is to get it at its best. In Italy, where the craftsman +class is far more cultivated than it has been in England, her great +poets are common property; one hears Dante quoted constantly, as well +as Tasso and minor poets. Under the new order in England there is +reason to hope that ignorance of our great poets will give place to a +general acquaintance with them. An individual who can speak and write +his own language decently is not ill educated. If he has acquired +facility in the language of his birthplace, diligence will soon give +him some in foreign tongues. Those young people who show an aptitude +for languages have the opportunity of qualifying in them, but the +general run of labour and craftsmanship has no need of them. To fill +the mind and memory with too many subjects at once is to dilute all. +A sound knowledge of craftsmanship is what is wanted, and that is +evidently being supplied by practice, a thousand times better system +than by theory. Constant _occupation_, not _excitements_, create +content. Excitements produce reaction. Occupation, varied in kind, +steadies the character. It is with a view to that that the Communes +do not overwork their workers. Energy is left to them after their +hours of labour for which they are well paid, and to use it either +physically or mentally, out of doors working in gardens or fields, +or in their homes upon all such things which tend to make the home +a happy and profitable little city in itself. A grumbler is voted +a nuisance, an agitator an obstruction. Loiterers and loafers who +would live on the earnings of honest citizens are held to be mean +unproductive weeds for which the Communes have no use. For agitators +there is no room now, the democratic howler at street corners or on +common land finds no listeners; he is treated as a windbag since it +has become known to the community at large that in the past he was a +well-paid mischief-maker, who did far more harm than good to a cause +which he pretended to advance. + + + § 19 + +Dreams are vagarious, they are not restricted to times or seasons. +Night appears during midday hours. The paradox is lively, often very +humorous, but by no means ill fitting. From summer to winter is like +the winking of an eyelid. In my dream the shades of a winter evening +arrived. Factory working hours were over. My spirit was transported +within the walls of one of the houses recently described. Well +placed electric lights made the home as bright as day. A pleasant +warm air gently circulated in the rooms from the pigeon-holes in the +heating shafts. What we used to call England’s sun, the open fire, +with all the smoke and dirt it made, its extravagance of fuel and +insufficient warmth it provided, is no more. Since the abolition of +the use of coal as a speed and warmth producer, sunshine in England +is more than doubled and there is much less rain and mist; so, +even in winter, the air is warmer, while it is clear and clear of +particles which robbed us of light and rendered a clean house almost +an impossibility in the barbarous past. + +A family is busy. The head of it, a fine type of workman, clean +and appropriately dressed as a workman should be, is occupied in +making a table. His wife is busy at her loom. Two daughters are +sewing together strips of strong woollen stuff which are to form +by no means inelegant frocks. The stuff is dyed a pleasant blue. +They are not using sewing machines, but ply the needle with patient +hands; a strong thread well waxed is inevitable. Hand sewing being +more durable than machine is, in the long run, more economical. Two +sons are helping their father. In the corner of this bright sitting +and working room, a table is laid for supper, covered by a spotless +cloth. Pewter plates and jugs glisten with their bright polish. +Large loaves of wholemeal look fat and desirable, while a big cheese +fresh from a dairy is appetising and tempting. Hard by is a barrel +of ale, real ale, made of hops and malt, wholesome and invigorating. +No shams enter into its making; no poisonous chemicals destroy its +purity. One or two neighbours have dropped in, and pleasant talk is +in progress. When supper is finished work is suspended, some simple +glees echo pleasantly from the walls, or a story is read aloud and +commented upon. How thrifty it all looks, how homeful, how quietly +gay is the atmosphere of this modestly provided household; what a +contrast it presents to the old squalor, absence of order and often +low dissipation of past times, and not so far off, which were called +civilised and free, but were indeed barbarous and tyrannical. + +The streets are quiet, most of the inhabitants are occupied in a +manner similar in motive, if different in the matter of it. At an +early hour, before midnight, the big bells of the Commune ring, when +it is expected that the people will go to rest. Soon after the whole +city is asleep, resting after a day of rich labour. + + + § 20 + +It is midsummer again; my dream is again vagarious! I find my way to +the Market Place. In its centre stands the Town Hall. Now that the +smoke fiend is slain and outdoor life in cities is pleasant, markets, +which fell into disuse owing to grasping profiteering tradesmen, +who put what price they pleased upon indifferent goods, robbed +honest folk right and left, did not like the restraint which markets +put upon unreasonable profits. A weekly market is a wholesome and +sensible institution. It fosters an influx of fresh goods, it tends +to economy and providence, in that the people reckon up their weekly +requirements and purchase them at a price which, if not absolutely +uniform, varies little compared with the chaotic licence permitted in +the less well regulated communities of the past. On every Monday the +market opens early and continues through hours of daylight. Pretty +well any useful article is found there, from reels of cotton, pots +and pans, good woven stuffs, boots and shoes, groceries also, which +under old conditions were the means of elaborate swindling, are to +be bought in all their varieties. Market days bring into contact +town and country folk; their existence is one of the chief causes +of the departure of that expensive nuisance, the middleman. Markets +discourage fluctuation in prices and encourage the sale of fresh, +in place of stale goods. The weekly held market lessens weekly +expenditure by something like half of what it was when tradesmen +charged what they pleased for even stale goods. The middleman was a +rascal, he was the “Muck Rake” in the Pilgrim’s Progress, he grabbed +money earned by his betters, he was a kind of cuckoo laying eggs in +other birds’ nests, he was sharp, not clever, and as unprincipled +as constructively idle. As a social pest the middleman is now being +dealt with by wiser economic measures. Probably the lessening in the +numbers of small tradesmen has tended to speed agriculture. Unable +to build up small fortunes by dishonest trade proceedings, the +class which was pre-eminent in that respect is tending toward _land +labour_, which, under the new conditions of life, is numerically +larger than it was. + +On market day all the classes meet. Owing to the high price demanded +by domestic servants in the past, ladies of high rank are their own +housekeepers. The most wealthy keep few servants; hence the young +ladies of noble families are converted into economic housewives, and +setting themselves to their task, do it well; being better educated +now, whatever they set out to do they do with forethought. Thus they +make good wives, daughters, and mothers, and are spending far less +time than formerly upon idle amusements. + +The foregoing is a sketch of what the weekly open market is doing for +the community by bracing it up and giving it backbone, eradicating +spineless self-indulgence and a mischievous system of profiteering. + +The Town Hall is the most ample building outside the factories. It +is the centre of INTELLECTUAL as well as COMMERCIAL life. While it +belongs to the people it represents also a kind of University. No +pedantic teaching goes on there, but lectures upon all branches of +knowledge are delivered by chosen experts, to which the public are +admitted free. These lectures are delivered voluntarily by good +and cultivated citizens, whose pride it is to give their knowledge +_without fees_. Chiefly these are delivered in the winter months, +because most of the people’s spare time in summer is spent, not +within, but outdoors. Socrates found wisdom in the Agora, and wise +men of to-day search in the market for the same. Hence there is +constant touch of intellectual as well as commercial interests +between class and class. This is leading to a surprising unity of +conception and practice. Within the walls of the Town Hall is the +large concert room, where the best music is given, and as far as +possible by local talent, which does not mean only of the cities, +but coming out of the population of the county _inclusive_. This +concentration gives a chance to local success which importation in +the days of centralisation never achieved, when native talent was +overlooked. + + + § 21 + +There is also a picture gallery conducted under an analogous +scheme. Italy has owed (in the past) everything great in its Art +to Decentralisation. The variety, hence the interest, of the great +schools of painting in Italy is due to the independent expression of +emotion as the property of the race. In Italy, the art of Venice, +of Rome, Florence, and Siena, to mention only many of the great +schools of painting that flourished there, identified itself with +the idiosyncracy of each community. Why should not the same apply to +England? The man of Devonshire is as different in mental construction +to the man of Yorkshire as the Florentine is from the Roman. Why then +should not each express himself in the vernacular of his locality? +Time will show that there is far more artistic talent in England +than has been supposed. Give it a chance of having its say, and an +admirable result is certain. Let us become something higher in the +intellectual scale than a race of shopkeepers! + +Town Councils, being here composed of a much more cultivated class +than before, Commerce and Art are no longer antagonistic. On the +contrary, they appear to be becoming indispensable to each other. +The tradesmen no longer having matters all their own way, and being +checked by the stronger minds encircling them, are taking their +place, not as tyrannical class rulers, but as useful items in +communal interests and progress. In my dream, I noticed that the +walls of the public rooms in the Town Hall are not bare, or that the +only so-called decoration on them has been restricted to whole-length +portraits of weird Mayors, with an occasional bad picture of the +reigning monarch. There is in progress a scheme of History pictures. +The subjects for them are chosen by a committee of painters and +literary men. So far as this scheme has developed, I saw the products +of it; varied in merit they are, which goes without saying, but a +certain sincerity of aim and approach seemed to distinguish them from +the tiresome and commonplace; anyway, they express a good intention. +There certainly is an absence of “academic prescription”; they are +hopeful efforts. A variety is maintained, the reverse of monotonous, +showing individuality of approach, which may in time lead to greater +things. + +A really intellectual life seems to be growing here, but not of +hot-house breed only accessible to a few, but one which is slowly +permeating the people, which I hold to be due to the commingling of +all the classes produced by an increased desire to do more than fill +pockets (too often by ill-gotten gold), but by a growing elevation of +the plane of thought brought about by unity of purpose and rejection +of class prejudice. Given that home life is ambitious of industry, +municipal life is certain to follow suit. A great change must come +from the bottom. It is no use to clear the surface of a pond of slime +unless the base of it is clean and fresh. It is no use to cut the +heads from weeds if the roots are left in the ground, or to achieve +good fruit from a tree whose roots are unpruned. And surely the root +of a great nation is represented by the industrious attitude taken +by the people at large. That is the essential to a Democracy that is +workable. A Democracy which is only one in name is an anomaly, and is +quite certain to be ephemeral. + + + § 22 + +In my dream I had heard talk that once, not far from the river, +was a Benedictine Monastery, and attached to it an Abbey. Save for +a few remains of its cloisters, its kitchen, and a portion of its +great dining hall, the monastery is gone. But the Abbey remains, as +we have seen. Although vulgarised to a certain extent by barbarians +of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it retains much of the +simplicity and grandeur of the work of the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries. Its nave now belongs to the people. It is there that the +Hebrews and Moslems conduct their religious services. The chancel, +its sanctuary and aisles are retained for Christian worship. In the +nave, old mystery plays are reverently acted, and such noble old +dramas as “Every Man” are produced. At Christmas, the incidents in +the birth of Jesus Christ are acted, and many a primitive song of the +shepherds is heard. These presentations keep that beautiful story +vivid by bringing before the eyes of the people the mysterious events +of 2,000 years ago. They form a tangible and visible link between +those old days and these more complicated and less simple times. + +A form of monasticism disconnected from hard and fast dogma is +growing. Not ascetic, it is educational; in which it resembles the +earlier forms of the old Benedictine orders. But as yet my spirit +has only heard of this; presently it will be given access to its +principles and working. + + + § 23 + +It has been previously intimated that the Drama takes a prominent +place in the intellectual and emotional substance of the people’s +training, plus its delights. An open air theatre was proposed, +but the conclusion arrived at was that the climate (although much +bettered by the death of the smoke fiend) is too unstable to ensure +success. + +The chief theatre of the city is large, capable of holding a thousand +people. It is not conducted on private enterprise, but by a council +of the best local minds, which, while occupied in supplying the best, +are wise enough not to dismiss pleasurable and light comedies so long +as they are “clean.” Declamation, the first essential of the actor’s +craft, is taught in every school. Dancing, which we have seen to be +part of a liberal education, provides an elasticity of deportment and +freedom of manner but not undisciplined, which goes far towards the +creation of a good player. The plays of Shakespeare are prominent, +but to their list are added many of the fine Elizabethan plays, +Marlow’s and others. Modern drama, so long as it is wholesome, is +readily admitted, while the old and so entirely English Pantomime and +Extravaganza of other days have been revived, and very jolly they are +and entirely in place at certain merrymaking seasons of the year. +There is no priggishness in the management, only care is taken that +no play is produced which is undesirable for the young to witness. + + + § 24 + +Within the walls of the Town Hall is the School of Music, where +instrumental and vocal music are taught, and where the elements of +opera training can be learnt. The Town Hall is at once the seat of +government, not only commercial but artistic. A great proportion of +work done in it is voluntary, being conducted by men and women who +have time and energy to spare, and is leading more and more to what +has been called, the upper class taking part in general progress. +Time gone by, and not so long, that class was idle as regards local +affairs. Thus they got into the hands of ill-equipped tradesmen, who +were out for their own advantages, and misconducted local affairs to +a deplorable extent. I reiterate, that, being held in check, the more +or less ignorant and selfish class no longer rides roughshod, but is +held in a leash by better equipped citizens; and so there is hope for +them to mend their manners, and in time to become useful members of +Home Rule. + +The theatre is not open all the year round, but only at times of +festival, hence the pleasure and instruction it provides is always +fresh. + + + § 25 + +In my dream I became aware that the cinema, which had become an +abuse and a positive mischief, is under strict regulations. It +catered to the lowest taste and became a very dangerous implement. +Now, being under strict control of the same committee which manages +the Communal theatre, it has become free of vice, and is not only +a pleasant but instructive institution, and a picture palace is by +no means an undignified place in which to pass an hour. There is +plenty of fun there, but clean fun, and plenty of exciting situations +are presented, but, while humour and wit are present, whatever +might tend to decadence is absent. Individualists, who regard with +suspicion any form of legislation which in pompous terms they call +“interference with the liberty of the subject,” will be up in arms at +the restrictions applied by a wise Government, forgetting, or perhaps +never having read, in Plato’s “Republic” that the wise philosopher +would protect the community from degradation created by exploiters +out for themselves at the expense of a moral tone essential to +stability and real progress. These will call the care of the people, +implied by restrictions, “grandfatherly government,” forgetting that +an ignorant crowd has to be guided to abstention from any poison in +their midst, which may in time kill the soul of a nation. + + + § 26 + +It is the aim of the Commune to ally, as far as possible, +agricultural and industrial pursuits. With a view to that, every +house has a garden which the householder is expected to cultivate. +Waste land is nowhere permitted within the city or its environs. +I find as my spirit travels hither and thither that the “entirely +leisured gentleman” hardly exists. If a man of means is not using +his leisure, and, in some instances, all his time, for the public +good, he is using it to be his own servant. I saw a man, called +rich, putting in a pane of glass, adroitly manipulating the putty +with the skill of an expert. Another I observed sawing up blocks +of wood, another cutting down trees in his garden, another pruning +fruit and rose trees, and in the country, not far distant from the +city, another cultivated scholar ploughing a furrow on his estate. +The great war taught these admirable habits, which profiteers now +regret, because “the gentleman” prefers to mend his own belongings to +paying a king’s ransom to a fellow who did it ill in obedience to his +iniquitous leaders. Shortly, he prefers to do honest work for himself +than to pay for dishonest. + +Throughout the community, rich or poor delegate no manual labour +which can be done at home. Every girl of every class is a good +needlewoman and dressmaker. Every boy is trained to be a skilful +carpenter and is not ashamed of sewing on his buttons or darning his +socks. Industrious habits, habits of making use of odd moments in +practical home work, enter into every sphere. The great war taught +the wiser how much outdoor assistance could be dispensed with. The +colossal rise in wage obliged even the well-to-do to learn to turn +their hands to the simplest duties connected with _home_. In time +this beneficial result will become automatic, and a far simpler +as well as more dignified life is certain to result from it. Of +scholars, artists, writers and musicians there is a goodly number, +which is increasing, owing to less hurry and more concentration, the +result of better physical conditions. Men of the highest attainments, +who are following the professions, inspired by peace and moderate +expenditure of money, keep their minds fresh by light labour on +the land, which they prefer to SPORT; indeed, SPORT, once made a +business, is rather despised. It is thought to be enervating, and an +idle, unproductive way of “getting through time.” Mental vitality +is increased by labour which became necessary to men of small means +through the rise of wages and reckless increase of rates and taxes. +It now seems to permeate the richest as well as the poorest classes, +so men are becoming more dignified and self-helpful. + + + § 27 + +Theoretical politics and party conventions are ruled out by strenuous +practical occupations. Instead of being the last subject for action, +_useful citizenship is the first_. Politics used to be abstractions +put into phrases by _doctrinaires_. The text completed, its result +was pigeon-holed, under the fallacy that the object was attained +when, indeed, it had only been talked about. People are now united, +hence can govern themselves. There is no need for sermons upon thrift +and economy; they are practised. Politicians have been taught that +their words formed easy back-doors for the exit of action. The people +are interested now from top to bottom in deeds. Theories which do not +lead to action represent waste of energy; energy displayed in every +section of the community is in demand. + +Some return to more primitive social conditions is evidently an +invigorating process. An easy way of getting through life by +facilities which militated against effort was unstiffening the back +of the English character. Instead of saying to himself, “How much can +I do myself?” the majority was saying, “How much can I delegate?” “We +were on the look-out for a very beneficent fairy who would perform +miracles, and so, instead of effort, we were trusting to ease. Now, +we are sweeping our own floors instead of wasting our little savings +upon paying for the doing of it. We were thinking that sweeping +our houses clean was a tax upon time, an exhausting expenditure of +physical energy. Experience is telling us the opposite.” “Mental +energies are revived, even stimulated, by automatic industry which +is a rest to them. While a man is sweeping his house or garden, he +can think, and think well. He can organise his work.” These words I +heard from the mouth of a scholar. I heard the same thought expressed +by a skilled craftsman, differently, but analogous. “The lack of +domestic servants is proving a blessing to us all,” I heard a woman +say. “We did not know, under the old self-indulgent system, how long +a day was, and what a lot of time we wasted. We had forgotten we had +hands, strong muscles and vigorous aptitudes. We paid a high price +for the neglect to which we had submitted our physical energies. We +suffered from ‘boredom’ and other evils consequent upon indolence. +Now, we do not ask ourselves how we shall dispose of the day. That +question is answered before it is asked. We have our duties to +perform to the Commune, as members of it, to our homes as sacred +trusts as our palaces of pleasure as well as duty. We know what are +our responsibilities. We accept and use them, in the city and home.” +As my spirit grew in experience and closer observation, I noticed +that in matters of dress or costume there was little difference +between the classes. Constant changes of fashion created to supply +the tradesmen when novelties were so constantly demanded from them, +are out of date. The garments of the rich may be more elaborately +adorned, be more sumptuous, more composed of silk than wool, but in +their simple cut they are not differentiated from those of the poorer +classes. + +“We do not make them all at home,” I heard an elegantly attired +lady of high rank say. “That would be unfair; because we can afford +to give employment, expensive though it is. At the same time, quite +half is made at home. Even in houses of the rich the peaceful sound +of the loom prevails. Our daughters are all taught to use it, +for who knows when they may be compelled to do so. It is wise to +instruct the young in occupation which they may be called upon to +use in darker times. Besides,” the lady added, “girls need quiescent +employment to establish character. It is not that the arts are +ceasing to flourish or the elegancies of mental cultivation are +curtailed; it is only,” as the lady went on to say, “now that we are +more busy we have more time. A girl can study a language while she +works her loom, or another can read to her.” This led me to wonder +if peripatetic teaching was usual? It is, for, in schools young +people are encouraged while learning by heart, reciting or reading +aloud, to personate, by action the drama or tale they are telling. +This habit, no doubt, has arisen from the high position the drama +and all that belongs to histrionic training takes in the new life. +Artists and such who are called by their genius to create are not a +set apart, nor are they regarded any longer as harmless lunatics. +Being, by the nature of their calling constructors, they are expected +to help in the affairs of the Commune, not only as specialities but +as intelligences well adapted to other forms of construction than +those demanded from their own work. The mind of an artist of any +kind, in letters, graphic or plastic arts, or music, is a well tuned +instrument. It must be so, or success is out of the question. + + + § 28 + +Being imaginative, a follower of any of the Arts sees miles ahead +of the less endowed crowd. Besides being a useful person in that +respect, it is good for his temperament to be called away from +a groove wherein, if he allows himself to remain, he becomes a +machine, and his art suffers. The strongest faculty for creation +cannot be used for many hours daily, it cannot keep up the tension of +creation as a machine. A mind demands repose by change of work, which +can be obtained in serving upon councils where special aptitudes of +foresight and imagination are useful. Thus, coming into contact with +other minds, the individual is broadened. He is not an ascetic except +in his study; outside of that he is a man of the world and capable +of dealing with what are called “plain men,” which does not always +mean wise ones. It is related of an Italian philosopher that he spent +his days with the peasants on his little estate, the evenings in his +study. Not a bad division of the day Socrates would have told us. In +the Agora of Athens, wise men found both folly and wisdom: folly to +refute, wisdom to encourage. Plato’s Republic is an effort to show +that a democracy, under restraint, is the fairest form of government. +First, the conception of the scheme founded upon the greatest good +for the greatest number, to be followed by activity in its promotion. +Experience is gained as activity proceeds, discussion follows +experience. The bud is before the blossom. The fruit is selected; +what is rotten is thrown away. It is futile to discuss a question, +and tear it into rags before it has been set in motion. There is +a point in progress when not to start the top spinning is folly. +The top, when once started, must be whipped continually. It stops +spinning as soon as the strokes of the whip subside. The great fault +of the late administration was the policy of “Wait and see.” A blind +man may wait; doing so will not help him to see! To imagine that +committees, based only on theories, have settled all the pros and +cons, is to put the cart before the horse. Committees can do no more +than propose such and such starting points for action. The rest must +be left to the executive. Too often, no action follows the sittings +of an elaborate scheme. + + + § 29 + +To delay action is as ineffectual as to hurry it. The great war +taught that the complete preparation of Germany failed of success +because the moral element at the bottom of extreme diligence and +multifarious ingenuity was _rotten_. The Allies were unprepared, +England most so of all (notwithstanding some historians). England +was not prepared for the great struggle, but she and her Allies had +justice on their side, hence they won. After the war reconstruction +should have started at once, which means that abuses which the war +has brought into prominence should have been stopped or England +would suffer permanently. It appears that politicians narrow and +personal in their ambition were unable to effect the change. They +delayed action even at moments of serious danger, lest their party +should suffer defeat. Now, no one cares twopence about “Party,” the +question before Democracy is, What is to be done in spite of Party +Government? A democracy, to be enduring, must govern itself. No party +must be in the ascendant, except the one which is in combination with +all parties, _e.g._, the unity not the equality, of classes. The +Agora was a place in disorder, where every man’s hand was against +his neighbour. The crowd was led by unwise agitators. Ignorance and +unwisdom are nearly related. We were tired to death of theories, of +Government promises, of its failure to keep them, of leaders who +were broken reeds, who, under pretence of giving Freedom exercised +Tyranny. So we listened to wiser men than they, we resolved no longer +to be ignorant, and becoming convinced that, as ignorant, we are not +fitted to take part in Government, we would pull ourselves together +and once more be men and work as good citizens. + +These latter words and the statements which precede them formed the +substance of a lecture delivered in the Town Hall by a factory worker +this very evening. And what a contrast in tone it exhibits to that +truculent one which disfigured whatever hidden justice there might +have been in similar and dissimilar orations emanating from the same +source. This one was as wise as the other was foolish. Like Socrates, +we may now go to the Agora and find wisdom. + +“Plato’s Republic aimed at completeness in Theory and discipline +in Action. The New Democracy aims at making itself aristocratic in +practice. It aims to promote activity in every corner and enterprise +of life. We do not pretend that our class is the only one necessary +to welfare. It was ignorance that in past times made us think that; +bad guidance as well. We recognise ourselves to be branches of the +great Tree of Life, whose roots are embedded in the soil of Truth. +We recognise ourselves to be as waves in a great stream progressing, +meandering, ever moving on from its source to the sea. We recognise +the sea to be as a deep scheme which nature has provided, subject to +storm, stress, and calm; we bring to its salt waters invigorating +drops of freshness from the hills and collected in the plains. We +are not at work alone, now, whatever our work be. We are brothers +in a great family, not jealous egoists. Time was when we thought of +little else than money. We thought that the educated, the refined and +learned class was made up of enemies who would make us slaves. We see +we were wrong. They are our real friends. Our enemies they are who +we thought were our friends, we see that now. Our friends will give +us _a real democracy_, in which we may have a voice if we please. +The others would give us a sham one, and rule not only our theories +but our actions and with a tyranny as ruthless and obstructive to +progress as any autocracy.” + +From the Agora wise words come now, from which all can learn. The +people were _becoming_ corrupted, they have been too wise to _become_ +corrupt. I think that most of us who have given ourselves the trouble +to think knew that good leadership was what was wanted. First +convincing, then leading, not looking back, but going to the root of +things which were discordant and pruning them away, that is what was +wanted. + +They, of the past, wanted an “Ideal,” but they did not know it. +Indeed, they scorned the idea of something that was like religious +sectarian dogma. It was to them something hopeless and abstract, and +quite outside “Life,” with which it had no touch. They thought high +wages, wealth, indeed Mammon in any form, was the god they needed, +and to that they made their way, growing more and more discontented, +cynical, envious and suspicious. That was the matter with the people +who had once been patterns to all Europe as honest workmen. England +once simple, happy, industrious (_not industrial_) had become +complicated, discontented, IDLE. + + + § 30 + +In my peregrinations, which became more and more absorbing as my +spirit grew more bold, I listened eagerly, not as an eavesdropper, +but as one keen to learn. One evening, it was winter--I heard a +discourse on “Happiness” by a craftsman, one of those living in +the new houses I have visited. He was an old man who had lived in +the dark, narrow dogs’ kennels of the dark, dirty city which is no +more--the city of discontent, of bad government, of callousness. He +spoke earnestly, but not with rhapsody. What he said was convincing +from the cool sincerity of his diction and manner. “Happiness,” he +said, “is rooted in the soil of LABOUR; in _doing_, not theorising. +In being so occupied as to leave no time for a morbid outlook. The +old saying, which I did not, and few seemed to understand, ‘Whatever +thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might.’ We were taught not to +do that. We were taught to work as little as possible, to receive +much, and give almost nothing. Good workmen were under a ban. If +some of us wished to do our utmost we were bullied and suspected. +The industrious of us were pushed aside by the idle. Bad, dishonest +workmen were applauded, they lived on the labour of their fellows. +We were taught to make other nations labour for us--to sell bad goods +for large prices. + +“The standard of work was lowered. Cheap German goods were encouraged +in the markets. A balance of our wages (a large one) went to support +trades unions. The good workman grew poor, the bad grew rich. It was +a state of things which took all the strength of an honest man to +combat. Honest men grew rare and more rare. Dishonesty flourished. +Leaders became fanatics. They were of our class. Ignorant of cause +and effect we were, but they were noisy, they spoke platitudes, their +arguments (if arguments they could be called) were founded upon +catch words which sounded wise, but were foolish. They pretended to +work for the great cause of Liberty and Equality. They _did_ nothing +of the kind. They feathered their nests from our labour and grew +rich. They were well paid for the cause they preached. Liberty was +dragged more and more into the far distance. We thought we had been +slaves; we found we had been free. We found we were being mastered +by unscrupulous men. We grew more and more suspicious, more and more +hostile. We thought revolution would put things straight. Taught, +that the Government was weak (which was not far wrong), that anarchy +would give us what we wanted, that if we defied the Government, if we +used German methods of might against right, we must win. To starve +our country into submission was a method preached to us which, in +our hearts, we were unwilling to believe. If we did not obey we were +threatened. Those of us who would not stood the chance of starvation. +The great railway strike of 1919, wicked as it was, because it very +nearly approached attempted murder of innocent people, failed. That +strike it was that opened our eyes. Surely we were being led on the +wrong road! Faith in our leaders left us. They _began to hedge_. We +saw that. Then we knew they were false and untrustworthy and we +broke loose from them, which, having done, we began to find who were +our friends. We came to the conclusion that we must get to work again +and be honest once more. We did so, and on every side found helping +hands. Hence the city of Liberty and Peace in which we live now. We +know we were ignorant, we resolved to learn. We knew we had been idle +and greedy. We knew the life we had led could not make good citizens +or happy ones. We resolved to labour, to give up coarse excitements +in leisure time. + +“We tried it. We formed our own Union, which had for its motto, ‘All +Labour is dignified,’ but it depends upon the labourer to make it so. +‘Help yourselves and you will be helped,’ is such a truism it seems +needless to quote, but there are many truisms of which we need to be +often reminded. We know now that reform must come from the bottom. +If the foundations are rotten the veriest palace will fall. We know +that in us lies the foundation of the State. Before the State is +reformed we must reform ourselves, and this we are doing. When it is +accomplished we shall be fit to take part in the rule of our country, +and we are on the road to do it, in the meantime we are learning +the difficult task of SELF RULE, and in that, even if it be labour +to do it, it is lightened by the vision it provides, and the happy +conscience it engenders. Now, we are children of Liberty, before we +were cripples and chained to doctrinaires and wind-bags.” + +The tone of this discourse, of which is given only an epitome is, +as it were, the text of all that is working its way, and the means +employed in its success my dream will go on to relate. + + + § 31 + +An important neglected industry is revived. I noticed many men with +deeply stained arms and hands; they were the dyers. It did not much +matter that coal-tar dyes slipped through English fingers and were +developed in Germany, because the colours they made were vulgar and +discordant, far more in harmony with Teutonic taste than English. +Many years ago the author of these pages was in Algiers and heard +of local dyers there, some Arabs, but mostly Moors they were. A +black Soudanese servant of his told him of them. At once he took +advantage of this and put into their hands fine muslin strips, which +they converted into colour as exquisite as possible. Now rags, the +remnants retain their freshness. A yellow like crocus, a pink rose, +a lustrous black shot with copper, a green like fresh ivy leaves, +an iris purple, and a blue like the sea at Malta. He tried to get +the colour copied--there were no dyers with the skill to do it. +Since those days (50 years ago), and quite recently, I hear that +enterprising people from the New City have learnt many a secret +from Eastern dyers. In this instance, instead of spoiling oriental +taste for colour, alas! a habit of the commercial English, they are +learning from them. India is helping England out of her bad taste. +More beautiful tints I never saw than those in my dream. The sight +of them made my spirit think how much we might learn from the East +of value instead of pushing our tasteless goods where for centuries +beauty has prevailed. The eye is pleased now in the New City, instead +of displeased. Beautiful colour seems to grow naturally, the streets +and gardens are full of it. + +Every garment gives a lively note which is the key to interchanges +of harmonies of colour only to be compared with exquisite music. The +trade of the dyer has become an Art which creates pictures at every +turn of the road and field. + + + § 32 + +Why is the New City so orderly and yet so free? How is it that +life seems to run so smoothly, and yet without monotony? Trades +are located as they were in Ancient Greece and Rome, in a measure +also in Europe and England in better times than ours were a while +ago. Chaos is no more. The hundred headed hydra, personified +in “the middle-man,” that robber of the earnings of labour, is +becoming extinct, owing in large measure to the more extended use +of the market, where as we have seen practically any article can be +purchased at a reasonable price which leaves a reasonable profit +for the producer. This has led to a diminution of shops, which are +no longer heterogeneously planted in residential quarters. Every +tradesman has to take out a licence for which he pays, the money +going to the Commune. There is the Butchers’ Quarter, a blessing +indeed. No longer are wayfarers offended by the barbarous sights of +bleeding corpses, of blood sprinkling the footways. If such horrors +must be, they are hidden. No butcher is permitted to make a public +display of his bloody trade. Meat, when not sold in the Market, +is found in a district set apart for a necessary, if disgusting, +trade, but its products are not before the public eye. The shop +is not _on the street_, it is located behind it. The same law +applies to poulterers, indeed, to all trades which, of necessity, +contain objectionable matter. A large, but not universal, part of +the fish trade is carried on by the weekly market; but, owing to +the swift destruction of freshness, and fish being a health-giving +food (besides being cheap) there is a considerable demand for fresh +as well as salt water fish, therefore shops for its sale are a +necessity. Fishmongers alike with butchers have their locality. + +Those trades which are disconnected with unpleasant associations +are not excluded from public gaze. Only those of them which produce +_litter_ are restricted in residential quarters. Silversmiths, and +all shops associated with handicrafts, are permitted on the public +streets, of which they are ornaments, but these also take out a +licence, but the tax is smaller than for objectionable trades. The +order thus established is in no sense inconvenient. Electric tramways +(only one line is permitted) run in the broad streets. They are not +allowed in the narrow. The lovely city of Florence has been well nigh +spoiled by liberty to run trams in streets not more than 25 feet +wide. The English Communes took note of that. When facilities for +quick locomotion are not regulated, they constitute a nuisance, are +destructive of peace, and become a tyranny. “Companies” pretended +to study the convenience of citizens, in reality studied their own +financial success, and let other considerations take their chance. + +All foreign goods of whatever kind, save those provided by British +Colonies, are taxed. Free trade is only permitted to the colonials. +Since this has been a law of all the Communes, British trade has +increased, British output is larger, and greater activity of +production has proved the wisdom of a law which encourages local +enterprises. Every householder is bound to keep clean the footway +immediately touching his habitation, but the cleanliness of the +roadway is under the direction of the Commune. Wandering over every +portion of the city in my dream I have seen no squalor. Poverty +there is and always must be, but squalor, the result of want of self +respect and bad early training, no! The people have risen above it. +Where industry is (not industrialism) squalor can find no place. A +man who keeps the tools of his trade in good order, who is proud of +the work of which they are the implements, and who respects his home, +is particular about “appearances.” So is a good wife, so are good +sons and daughters. + + + § 33 + +Home life is but a little picture of the extended scene outside. +Disorder in smaller matters leads to disorder in greater. While the +Commune is responsible for order on a large scale, every citizen is +responsible on a smaller scale. The half is greater than the whole! +Order must be a first principle of the home, as it must be of the +Commune, which is but an extended home. The new city being small +compared to the monstrous, heterogeneous places of muddle in the +past, and leisure greater, there is less call for swift locomotion. +The new people walk more, and are, consequently, more healthy. So +the streets are not congested by traffic, and people are not all in +the muddle-minding strain of “hurry.” Where order is, leisure is +certain. Busy, or rather, industrious people always find time, it +is only an ill-regulated day that produces “hurry-scurry.” Outside +my dream, I never knew an industrious man complain of want of +time. William Morris, as industrious a man as ever breathed, never +complained of interrupters. After a visit from a friend, and none +took greater pleasure than he in giving him welcome, Morris was at +his work again in a “twinkling.” The man who orders his day wisely +is alert, ready at any moment to concentrate his energy. The idle, +not the industrious, grumble about want of time. The real question, +and one that is serious, is the use to which leisure is subjected. +The so-called working class (by the way, every man worth his salt is +a working man) is coming to know that, and that ill-used leisure is +a sin against order, and here in the new life he has set his mind +against it. From what has been recounted of my dream the reader +already knows that, but as it proceeds, my dream will show how order, +punctuality, and reverence for the uses which leisure should breed is +permeating the entire community and becoming a habit, hence idle folk +are in the minority, indeed, they are despised. + + + § 34 + +It has been read from my dream, so far, that, while material welfare +of the people is one object, and a prominent one, the Commune, as +the guiding spirit of the new life, is fully conscious of the wise +saying of Jesus Christ, “Man does not live by bread alone but by +every word that proceeds from the Spirit of God.” We had eyes and saw +not, ears and heard not; noble intuitions we repulsed, aspirations +we neglected, and we were taught elaborate creeds out of touch with +realities. Blind, too often, to the beauties of nature and its +sisters “The Arts,” we had grown deaf to the songs of birds, to music +of the winds moaning, or joyfully singing, among forest trees. We +had ceased to sing as we worked. Indeed, the natural joys granted us +to receive have ceased to please, ceased to be a part of life. To +the arts, which seek to crystallise visions inspired by God’s gift +of exquisite nature, we had become blind and deaf. They had ceased +to move us, ceased to inspire us, ceased to raise us from the mire +of money grabbing. So eager we were for wealth that we pursued it +blindly as the only object of our energies. We had lost touch with +half, and the better half, of life, and the soul of England was +becoming hardened, insensitive, and ANIMAL. Good, in some ways the +hard Puritan was dead to the beauty of God’s work. He thought he +was spiritual. He did not know that there is soul in all matter. In +this respect he was more _un_christian than a pagan, who, at least, +saw the gods and recognised them in the movement of the stars, in +the dawn, in the shining midday, and the splendour of sunset time. +The old pagan found God in all nature, as he found him in great art. +He saw into the very heart of the marble from which Phidias carved +Olympian Zeus. He saw the spirit of Pallas Athene under the ivory and +golden statue in the Parthenon. + +The Puritan cut himself off from _All Beauty_. Instead of seeing good +in God’s greatest works and in man’s most inspired creations, he saw +evil. His mind was distorted, a cripple; and little did he dream that +his spiritual nature was really a material one. To his narrow and +crooked creed much of the apathy of the modern mind is to be traced. +“As it was wicked to see beauty, to worship it as God made it, let +us make ourselves rich.” What a Creed? + +With the neglect of _agriculture_ came the Tyranny of +_industrialism_. With an apathy towards Art, towards its great +mission to display the beauty of the soul in the array of material +presentation, the soul of England was growing degenerate. It was +becoming GERMAN, and what lower place than that can be found for a +country so great as England has been! We have to remake England, and +we mean to do it. We mean to learn from the Pagans, to reinstate much +of their teaching. We mean to cultivate the teaching of Jesus Christ, +who drew a lesson from the “lilies of the field,” the death of a +sparrow, His generosity to the mistake of a troubled woman. Who, from +the Cross blessed a thief, who, dying in agony, forgave his enemies, +who taught the gospel of _thou_ more than I, who would give to Cæsar +as well as to God, and, above all, whose noble life was pressed on by +human as well as Divine love. Jesus Christ was a poet and artist as +well as a prophet and reformer. The life of the soul was everything +to Him. Wealth for wealth’s sake is a phantom, a chimera. We mean +to go back to find a fairer road to happiness than the modern world +would give us. While we accept facilities for greater comfort, we +mean to use them wisely, not to overwhelm us, but to help us. We wish +to help the people to see beauty, and in their lives to live up to +the vision. To live, not as a preparation for another and happier +life, to reward in a future state, but to live and see with clear +eyes the one which is now ours to make or mar it. Every man and +woman who labours is praising God, so long as the labour is not from +_greed_, but from a fixed principle to enrich the soul of the people +by first enriching our own. + + + § 35 + +These words and a great many more I heard said, not in a church, but +in the Town Hall by a great artist, and they led me to search. In +my dream I had seen how the principles he dwelt upon were already +at work in the homes of the people in municipal government, which +was seeking Justice and Fraternity. So I extended my travels and +observations. + +The walls of the churches are growing busy with beauty. The fear of +idol worship is no more. Men know now, being better instructed, that +it was not the wooden effigy _but the soul it put into a shape_, +that was worshipped. It was a symbol, sometimes an ugly one, but +still a symbol of Divine Power. The crafts are symbols of industry, +of faithfulness to an ideal that only the best work counts for good, +hence underlying their technical merit is a great truth that the +people are understanding, and of which they are conscious, so they +have pride in the ethic as well as æsthetic quality of what they are +doing; but in no spirit of priggism or sermonising is this, just +simply it is a pleasurable sensation added to the fulfilment of duty. +For what a man does unwillingly will be bad, what he does pleasurably +will be good and impressive. + +Many of the pictures are strange, some would call them childish. +Perhaps they are _childlike_ because they express intensity +without rhetoric. To affect to be what one is not is humbug. Every +“primitive” did his best. He tried hard to make his pictures look +like nature. His hand was not so cultivated as his imagination. +The image he formed in his mind was more complete than his power +to portray it. Looking at works of art by “a primitive,” if we +have the discriminating sensibility, we see what he saw and follow +his mental effort, which compensates for technical shortcomings. +To _affect_ childishness is to prove imbecility. What we like in +the new world pictures is their real _naïvete_. That the authors +of them are untaught is obvious, but there is that in them which +compensates. They are done by men who believe in what they are doing +and are feeling it with intensity. An academic critic can find +plenty to criticise, but nothing to laugh at. The simplicity evinced +comes from the fact that their authors ARE _primitive_. I heard +said they are mostly by peasants, who, like the noblest of French +artists, J. François Millet, saw _simply_. Even when the subjects +are biblical or so-called “religious,” the artist has used modern +costume, which, seeing in an abstract, not photographic, manner, he +has invested with poetical interest. A return to agricultural life +is everywhere evident. It is producing, or reinstating, a healthy +mental temperament which industrialism was well-nigh killing. This +natural aptitude to create in art and to do so sincerely is not only +prominent among the people, whose chief labour is agricultural, +it is shown in the design of “industrials” also, who, not wholly +emancipated by the artificiality of their labour earning hours, “let +themselves go” in their leisure time and show by what they produce +that even their straightforward simplicity has not been killed by the +monotony of their wage-earning hours. They are not machines in their +off hours, but human beings who have something to say for themselves +which may be uncultured, but is a spontaneous expression of something +they like to think of and enjoy making. + + + § 36 + +Machinery can never be made to feel, the hand can do nothing worth +having without “feeling.” A bit of craftsmanship, like a building, a +statue, a picture, a song, or a tale, gives itself away at once. If +the impulse was artificial or insincere, it is at once obvious that +the man who made it was not an artist; he might be anything else, but +not that. The exact quantity of pleasure taken in the creation of a +work of art is visible at once, in that sense the maker of it exposes +his soul. The revival of craftsmanship is evident everywhere in the +new city. The best designers are the best workmen. We never hear it +said, “Oh, yes, he can design, but cannot make.” The craftsman makes +well what he has well designed. Being simple, he asks himself, “What +is the object for? What is it intended to do when it is made?” Having +made up his mind to solve that question, the first in good design, +he proceeds to make it answer that purpose, and something good and +interesting is the result. The artist has used his intelligence +from first to last, so what he makes is something that has life +in it, because it is a reflection of the life of its creator. As +craftsmanship grows in estimation, machinery is delegated to do what +it can do well, not ill. Furthermore, the extension of the demand +for craftsmanship provides occupation which may be entirely thus +occupied, or only in leisure hours, and leisure hours so occupied +are educational, and not only that, they are productive, inasmuch as +their authors sell their productions and so add to their earnings in +a manner that is useful to them and beneficial to the community. + +As with the churches, so with all public buildings, which are (by +the way) not made to “pattern” in accordance with this or that +“style”--Gothic, Classic, Renaissance, or what not. The art they +exhibit rises out of the “plan.” They are not “faced” with a skin +of stone or stucco to look what they are not. The outside does +not conceal but expresses the “plan.” Construction is not hidden, +but revealed. Ornament is not “stuck on,” it is a growth out of +construction. To an eye artificially accustomed to “shams” the new +buildings look austere. They seem to reflect a serious people who +want to tell the truth. Should it be necessary to erect them in steel +or iron, the metal is treated against the action of weather, but is +not concealed. If it forms the skeleton, the skeleton is visible, +and so all through the construction. Stone looks like stone, wood +like wood, and metal like metal. This principle carried out does not +make for monotony, but for the reverse. These serious and impressive +public buildings are, as it were, the picture galleries of the city. +Not executed in a hurry, the subjects of the wall paintings are well +thought out by a select committee of learned men and artists. They +are proceeding. As yet some are incomplete, but enough are finished +to demonstrate the care taken in their subject matter, which is not +only local, but embodies episodes of English history. While being +pleasant to the eye, they tell pleasant and noble tales of the lives +of our ancestors who made England great. Again here, as we noticed in +the churches, there is much original simplicity, which does not ape +archæology, or rather does not make that valuable science the first +necessity. Looking at them one feels they could only have been done +to-day. The impress of what is best in the modern mind is there, not +artificial, but sincere and vital. Presently we shall leave the city +to see what agriculture is doing. + + + § 37 + +We have seen that the Fine Arts are not commercial incidents in the +life here, they are part of the scheme of it. The Drama is also not +only a source of pleasure or, of momentary emotion. It is held to +be a prominent factor in education, whose mission it is to elevate +intelligence, encourage noble ardour, stimulate heroism and provide +beauty. Under the old system the Drama was too often used ill. The +play played down to the people, often exciting the lower passions. +To be made familiar with vice is, in a measure, to take part in it. +To sow vice on the boards of the stage is to make it popular. The +idea that vice is romantic is combated now. Vice is ugly, as virtue +is lovely. Art has no business with ugliness except it be used as a +contrast to beauty. To perpetuate ugliness by Art is like encouraging +the durance of the plague. Higher intelligence verified by education +should be employed to uplift, not depress, choice. Lower intelligence +must be guided by the higher! + +What is being done by Art in the churches, in public buildings, +gives evidence that the people are regarding it as essential, not as +a thing to be played with. Our city, not being large, is manageable. +Being near the country, every citizen is in touch with country life. +Indeed, there are few who do not labour on their own bit of garden in +however small a way. Country life is not foreign to the artizan or +to the factory worker. SQUALOR, that curse of big cities, the result +of ignorant and debased people herding together, is unknown here. +Poverty there is, of course, that must be everywhere, but it need not +be debasing. So much that was degrading has gone. _Sloth_ is no more. +What was useless is purged away, and what were positive scandals of +misrule have been replaced by order, sobriety and uplifting. It is +recognised that while a city must be a centre of commerce it need not +be that of greed, and need not be divorced from country life. Hence +the gardens provide for the people adequate means of employment in +such matters; so that while the city is commercial, it is not out +of touch with many forms of agriculture; and the blanched, hopeless +faces in the past too prevalent, are replaced by bronzed faces and +the open happy countenances of a contented industrious people. + +What has been gained? Fraternity. A clean atmosphere and more +sun, more leisure and more work, a broader outlook on the life of +a city, expanded agriculture and education, greater variety of +pleasures, a more _human_ as well as _humane_ ideal, and an equable +government covering a great variety of interests, with absence of +class legislation, death to profiteering, and education in honesty +for tradesmen. What has been lost? Squalor, trade tyranny, jobbery, +pollution of rivers, smoke, drunkenness, bloodless bodies and +ill-nourished souls, and, above all, selfish class egoism. Government +is carried on with less talk and more action. There is not less but +more money in the country, which is more distributed. Agriculture +pays sufficiently. The middleman having found his match, tradesmen +can no longer extort from workers prices they cannot afford to pay. +Politicians have not the opportunity of getting the country into +a muddle and then muddling their way out of it by false promises +to whichever class is for the moment uppermost. The people, better +educated, are not easily led by windbags. They see that the whole +nation counts before the individual, that a nation which, for +temporary wealth, neglects to till the land to (as far as possible) +produce, but purchases from foreign countries its food, is neglecting +the first duty to the community. It has come to them to know that +the success of agriculture is the first necessity to be secured. +The people are being taught that a country which in an emergency +cannot feed itself off its own land may be at the mercy of its enemy +at any moment. The great war taught them that the weakest spot was +not to be found in difficulty to make guns and shells and even an +army in a hurry, but in providing them and the people at home with +food. Empty bellies are bad generals! And so the people have turned +to, and resolve that their country shall never again be exposed to +the risk of a great _débâcle_, which was nearer than politicians +desire them to know. While our cities are better organised, more +healthfully disposed, they are smaller in area; hence congestion +which produces squalor, is no more. A large proportion of what were +useless folk, undisciplined, and a drag upon the State, as well as a +shame to it, are performing the first duty of man, the tillage, the +care of, and the provisioning of the land in all matters connected +with agriculture. Agriculture being first now, industrialism second, +the cities are released from over-population, and the countryside +is adequately populated. Owing to the growth of an agricultural +population, more small towns and villages are growing up all over +England. Much of what was not a relative but positive scandal is no +more. There is plenty of work for everybody who chooses to find it +and take it. It is considered unmanly to live on doles. + +Cities are not less but more successful commercial centres. But the +influx is native, not foreign. England supplies herself out of the +exertions of her people, for she is no longer buying necessities from +foreign markets, but from her own. The country is the source of the +wealth of the towns. The great war taught that in the future England +must be self-providing. She must grow her own timber, her own fruit +and corn, provide her own meat and, as far as possible, in case of +another naval war, provide her own fish from inland sources as well +as from the sea. Her fine rivers, her lakes, her ponds must be kept +stocked with fresh water fish. To do this, the pollution of all +inland waters is absolutely, not relatively, forbidden, not forbidden +by an Act of Parliament which is quite a negligible affair when +made by lawyers who leave open a back door for the escape of a rich +delinquent, who will pay a nominal fine over and over again if it +suits his purpose to destroy valuable fish by the thousand. What does +the payment of a nominal fine mean to a rich manufacturer? Nothing. +The pollution of rivers as of the air has been stopped by the people, +who very rightly say, “We will not be deprived of the food provided +for us by our rivers, and we will not be deprived of a grain of corn +unnourished by the sun, or a blade of grass for the cattle poisoned +by deleterious acids from factories.” “We have a right,” they say, +“to pure water, to pure air, and all the benefits from life-giving +rays of the sun essential in a country placed as England is in the +centre of the sea, where clouds must always hide a considerable +portion of sunlight.” The people are learning from science that light +is essential to life, that darkness is a symbol of death. + + + § 38 + +A few sentences back, arboriculture has been mentioned. Let us see +how in the new England, it has become a factor in the wealth of the +country, how, once almost wholly neglected, it has become an industry +at once profitable, engaging and health-giving. It takes time to +grow a forest. Time will come when coal gives out, of that there is +no doubt, so the sooner we set to work to provide wood for burning +as well as for building the better. It is clear, then, that England +must provide wood. A war which would prevent influx of wood into +England might happen at any moment. Millions a year are spent on a +navy to protect commerce, but that navy may be rendered powerless by +mine-sowing, by stealthy under-water craft which, with one torpedo, +can sink the biggest ship ever constructed, or by a bomb from an +aeroplane, become a wreck in a moment. If that be so, it is obvious +that to neglect provision for such a fatality would be the height +of folly, which even a party politician cannot fail to acknowledge. +It is clear, then, that Britain must have wood, and wood of her +own growing. I gather from my travels that this is at last being +accomplished. Wherever, in the length and breadth of Britain, Forests +can be planted and trees grown, the Communes see to it. Some counties +lend themselves to the form of industry which forestry implies more +than others. Certain trees suffer from situations where storms of +wind prevail, some do not suffer. The fir tribe will flourish well in +windy districts, but sand is necessary for their root nourishment. +This is proved by the miles of fir forests grown on the flat lands +between the Carrara Mountains and Leghorn, and on the damp but +still sandy districts around Ravenna. Most trees, to flourish, need +drainage, but some will flourish where there is none. So now, in +Britain, forests are being planted wherever possible, so long as they +do not interfere with open land necessary to the growth of corn. + +To one of these forests I made my silent, unseen way, and it was +a revelation. Thousands of hands were occupied. Forest life is +primeval, it is dignified; it is a life by itself quite away from the +distractions of city life; it breeds a hardy race. A self-contained +life, it is pre-eminently health producing. The settlers live in +wooden huts built by themselves in glades cleared for the purpose. In +a measure the people are supported with food, for game is plentiful, +and fish from lakes and ponds made for the purpose and constantly +restocked are sufficient to supply nourishing food. Game laws are no +more. There is no stoppage in production. Fresh stocks of game and +fish are constantly coming in, and this is an industry by itself, +which provides labour, ingenuity and expert technical knowledge. + +The people have made their own “close time” in breeding seasons, and +have learnt not to consume more than they can breed. I heard it said +that mistakes were made at first, which experience rectified. Laws +followed the dictation of necessity. Wages are low but sufficient, +as the greater part of food is provided by nature. One law is +obligatory. When a tree is cut down, another small one is immediately +planted in its place, so there are no gaps and no waste. For this +purpose there are nurseries managed by experts in the growing of +young saplings from seed. This industry is a specialised one, needing +great skill. It is pleasant to hear the merry sound of the axe, the +music made by wind among the branches, and the sound of singing as +the people work is a sign of their health and happiness. The huts +built of wood are erected upon posts driven deep into the ground. +Their habitable parts above the ground are reached by an open +stairway. The ground floor, well concreted, is the receptacle for +forestry implements. + +The forest is warm in winter, cool in summer. Wood only is permitted +as fuel; it would cost too much to get coal there; besides, the +people would object to the smoke of that bituminous and blackening +product. From what I hear said, colliery owners disliked the +innovation; it would reduce their profits. They considered that they, +and they only, held rights on fuel to provide warmth, but public +opinion obliged them to stop their class prejudice in their own +favour. Every block of buildings has its vegetable and fruit gardens +for whose well-being, for light and air, spaces are cleared of trees. + + + § 39 + +Never were seen healthier children or more honest countenanced +people--the men at the labour, the women at their looms. The men +are hunters, too. They employ the ancient bow and arrow, so the +sweet silence is not spoiled by the irritating sound of firearms so +closely connected with war and all its abominations. The skins of +stags and roe deer form winter garments made at home, for there are +no shops here. Every household provides its own needs. Here and there +are artificial lakes where the people bathe and swim. After all, a +primitive life is the natural one, to which we soon revert when the +artificiality of life in cities is far distant. + +There are millions of acres of these forests growing up in Britain +now. There is a population growing thereon second to none in the +country for healthy manhood and industrious, thrifty womanhood. Two +generations of such a healthy state of things is enough to eliminate +the supineness of so-called civilised life. I saw no complicated +machinery. The axe and double-handed saw does well, if leisurely, +all necessary work for a generation that is learning that speed +is not essential to good workmanship or sustained trade! Light +railways driven by electricity take the timber to its destination, +but I noticed that few people travel in them. They have lost a +restless spirit, being content with the interests provided by their +environment. Learned in their craft and entertained by the practice +of it, these foresters have little need for _books_, but I did hear +that story-tellers visit them in winter time, and that they act +plays among themselves, and well can I imagine the big log fires, +the warm ale, the venison and fish suppers and the story-telling, +delightful and simple, of these forest folk. I imagined that a new +folklore was dawning and new poets might come out of this natural +life. One thing we may be sure of. A new life will set in motion a +new set of ideas; new, anyway, to modern minds, but ancient in their +simplicity and growth under identical circumstances. I heard it said +that this new life is productive of Romance, and is very satisfying +to that part of the human that asks for it. There is a great deal +left still in us which is closely allied to the instincts of our +forefathers. The temptation to roam is less acute now. Romance, badly +needed by all of us, is found in the new life. What a contrast this +is to the impositions of ruthless industrialism, that Juggernaut, +that tyrannical destroyer of agricultural life, that brutalising +devastator of Beauty, that cold but systematised muck rake, which, +while it pretended to give liberty, was making slaves, which, while +it was providing a Health Minister, was destroying health, and +while providing artificial wealth was destroying the soul of the +people, because it was withdrawing them from simple and leading them +to artificial pleasures, and so was breeding discontent. What is +necessary for the future of England is industry less concentrated in +cities, more extended over the whole country, and this industry of +Forestry is one act in the new drama that is doing it. + +The new life is recreating honesty and straight dealing. Once +corrupt, Borough and County Councils are composed of honourable men, +not of selfish _class legislators_. Jobbery, that fatal failing among +tradesmen who formed the majority in the old system of municipal +rule, is at a minimum, it was in a maximum. Unscrupulous agitators +have been found out and given a dismissal. Trades unions, not in +principle bad, only bad as far as they became decadent, played an +artificial game, have been broken up by the people, who discovered +before it was too late that a tyranny of the gravest character was +being enacted and growing stealthily was ruining a class under the +pretence of giving power to it. The great war proved that as a +class tradesmen are untrustworthy; as individuals there is good in +them, but the nature of their education being, “Get all you can, +at whatever cost to your neighbour,” is a policy the reverse of a +good one. As soon as these things were realised by the people they +began to see straight. Blinkers were withdrawn from their eyes and +they looked right and left for the cause of impending disaster. +The people, led now by honesty and intelligence in place of crafty +subterfuge, know that industry, not industrialism, is the key to +happiness. By largely extended agriculture, the necessities, indeed, +most of the luxuries of life, can be secured. More grass, more +beasts, more cows, sheep and goats, more milk, more wool, more hides, +more grain, more bread, more cheap and good houses for workmen and +craftsmen. No smoke, more sun, hence a quicker ripening of grain and +fruit. Hence finer energies, more vitality, and less discontent. The +invasion of industrialism has been the creation of an enemy to light, +to joy, to freedom. To turn a man into a machine is to contradict +the first elements of his creation. To put him on a level with a +screwdriver, a hammer, a grease-pot, is to lower him all round. +Why does it lower him? Because it kills his individuality, blunts +his ambition, and destroys his creative faculty. Hand labour is +dignified, but a man reduced to the level of a machine is a cripple. + +The industrious class, of which happily many remained, even under +depressing environment and determined to earn honest money, +emancipated themselves from their evil leaders who would, but for +the remnant of honest men left, have destroyed their freedom. Never +in the ugly history of agitators did they give themselves away more +successfully than when they threatened to starve England by direct +action to gain an addition to already good wages. At once, this was a +little too much for the people. “If England starves, we shall,” was +their logical conclusion. If production is strangled by unreasonable +wages, the time will come when there is no money left to pay a +reasonable wage. In revolution, it always happens that extremists +break the bank they sought to enrich. The good sense at the bottom +of the English character prevailed; and even if slowly, it overcame. +The people began to see that once loosened from the chain their +mischievous leaders had wound round them that antagonism between +class and class is fatal to peace and progress, to realise that the +rise in prices was the work of profiteering tradesmen, and to them +the onus of the necessity for a rise in wages was chiefly due. The +profiteering tradesman was their enemy, not the capitalist. Then they +said among themselves, “We must get to work like honest men and give +the best that is in us. We must improve and not strangle British +trade, if we do we shall be the first to suffer.” We must not trust +to foreign countries to produce for us, but produce for ourselves. +He who trusts to purchase the necessities of life from foreign +neighbours may some day find they have nothing to sell. + +There is nothing in this that is new or original, it is the commonest +common sense. It was by trying to escape labour and to put it into +foreign hands and secure profit that England was growing idle. Trade +was given over to the Germans, who, seeing they could produce more +cheaply than the English because they paid lower wages, grew rich +at the expense of England. England had the most industrious workmen +in Europe, and the best, but by teaching them to shirk work, trades +unions gave them away. In the new order this is changed. The workmen +know now that to labour honestly brings not only pleasure but +profit. The idle inherit poverty and discontent. The Germans said to +themselves, “British labour in a state of unrest brings profit to us. +Britain poor means Germany rich.” Germans are cunning. + + + § 40 + +In a northern county, I heard the following talk. A group of typical +blue-eyed artizans were sitting under an oak, enjoying their smoke +after a hearty midday meal. The day was glorious; this English +climate was at its best. One of them, evidently rather a leader of +the others, was recounting memories. He was a fair old man, with +something of the Dane in appearance, the kind of strong-spirited +sensible character that the North supplies, a type of the men that +made England strong. He said, speaking with a broad, pleasant North +Country accent which I will not attempt to imitate: “The strikers +were foolish fellows. I was a boy at the time. My father was dead +against them. We had good wages, but we wasted them in selfish +pleasures. We thought more about amusing ourselves than doing our +duty, that is true. We had leisure, which we used badly. If we had +chosen to do so, we could have got on quite well, but we were got +hold of by unprincipled fellows a little more learned than we. +They led us astray with promises to be rich _without work_. They +turned our heads. It is true that food was dear by way of the rascal +tradesmen--a lying lot they were. They hid behind their counters +rabbits and such-like food because the Government was making them +lower their prices when food got scarce. + +“Now I see straight. Instead of striking we ought to have gone for +the tradesmen. It was they who sent up the prices to profit by it +while we were getting hungry. The lists of strikers the leaders +published were all ‘bunkum,’ the majority did not want to strike. +Now we have got rid of strike leaders, we see what they were--just +men who wanted to get power to be in the House of Commons and play +the gentleman at our expense. Now I know the difference between an +honest master and the swaggering tyrants who pretended to be our +friends. Give me for a master an educated gentleman, not a howling +agitator, who out of our money built themselves fine houses. If we +had known then what we know now, wild horses would not have made us +‘down tools.’ I see now, no capital, no labour. We had got into idle +habits. Now we have changed, and see that honest work brings honest +reward. Instead of dog-fighting, drinking, and low sports, in off +times we do a bit of gardening, grow our own vegetables, and our +missus and girls make their own frocks and weave the stuff on the +old-fashioned looms I often heard my grandmother talk about. We are +twice the men we were. A football match now and again is all very +well, but making a business of games and gambling is ROT. And the +best of it is that Parliament, where there was more talk than doing, +didn’t work the change, we did it ourselves, setting to work like +men, and gave up whimpering and grumbling like silly girls. I guess +we took the wind out of the sails of the Germans and the rascally +Bolsheviks. What the high up in authority were playing for was our +votes, that’s all. We see straight through the politicians now, and +don’t give them a vote, so the Talking House, I hear, is shut up, +and a good thing too. We can keep some restraint over the chaps we +have now at hand, and good ones they are. They pull the strings of +the Commune effectually, where the tradesmen and suchlike folk out +for themselves played what games they liked with us. There are good +honest citizens on the Councils with no axes to grind, and they keep +the axe-grinders straight. The Union leaders went too far for us when +they threatened to starve England and tried to prevent milk from +reaching our children. That was too much for us! We’ve got hearts +and now we have got heads, and see through humbug like through a +pane of glass. Since food is a reasonable price, we are satisfied +with reasonable wages, and we have plenty of leisure, which we use +profitably. Instead of only thinking of ourselves, we give a thought +to the other chap, and that makes for union and fraternity.” These +remarks, spoken with conviction, were received with applause. The +man was the spokesman of the thought in the minds of his fellows. +“That is Democracy.” + +The English County Communes did well when they taxed the entrance +of foreigners into local trades, and taxed all foreign goods (save +Colonial) before permitting them to enter the country. Now there is +plenty of work for all Britons, agricultural and industrial, and it +will take a long time before the artificial liberty (so-called) has +power again, because “The People” know their way about, and are no +longer led by schemers and well paid “windbags.” + +Before the change, which grew out of honest guiding, public opinion +and education in its best sense was coming to a standstill. +Parliament played with it in committee, the usual course when +Ministers do not know what to do. New schemes for education wasted a +lot of paper and ink, and cost the nation more than it could afford. +Schemes which only played into the hands of the place-hunters came +to little. Guidance is better than legislation, and immediate touch +of class with class will do more to mend matters than a plethora +of work of committees. The working class (inclusive) claimed a +right to govern, and it is doing so now that it is learning to rule +itself. All men, in whatever station, from the King to the humblest +peasant, should be working men--anyway, the State demands that of +them and rightly. The greatest crime to the State is indolence and +idleness. The state has no need for them, or for those who, being +so, are living on the earnings of their betters. Under the tyranny +of commercial unrest every honest profession and trade was suffering +(save the profiteers). The arts were suffering. A publisher had to +think twice before he published a good book, a painter before he +started a picture. The initial expenses had grown so large that under +the best conditions only a very small margin of profit was left, +scarce enough to keep body and soul together. Science was suffering +because research can make no progress without capital. The expense +of living to the most moderate consumer was becoming intolerable. + +Ministers played cup and ball with legislation by first attempting +to exercise control over prices, then withdrawing control, thereby +leaving a new muddle to be dealt with. We all know Æsop’s satiric +fable of blowing hot and cold with the same breath, but that is +exactly what Government did. Who, putting two and two together, +could, with the most kindly feeling, respect a weak policy which so +well imitates the first Fable of Æsop, “The Man, the Boy, and the +Ass”? wherein first the man was criticised for riding, then the boy +for doing the same, then both for carrying the ass, which finally, +was cast into a river and so disposed of. Compromise followed +compromise, until the whole country lost confidence in their rulers, +who, without a policy, were always watching which way the cat would +jump. During the war we were better off than after it. After it was +over the curtain had to be pulled up and the players to come forward, +but no cheers for them. We saw the men who had made the muddle, which +they were trying by every compromise to clear up. “The People,” +seeing the paralysis of Government, took the matter into their hands +and set to work to clear the situation by restoring industry, and +they set to reform themselves by a sensible mode of living, not in +sections only, but as a part of a great scheme in which everybody, +rich and poor, learned and unlearned, was individually concerned. +No amount of legislation made in the talking house, could reform a +people unwilling for reform. “The People” saw their mistakes and set +themselves to rectify them. The rich resolved to use their wealth for +the public benefit; the leisurely their leisure to instruct, or, I +like better the word, to guide the less cultivated minds; and young +men on whose education large sums of money had been expended, instead +of wasting energies on sport and a lazy club or society life, turned +to make themselves factors of usefulness in a great national cause. +Thus, the general tone of the nation rose rapidly from apathy to +activity, from selfishness to altruism. + + + § 41 + +Heavy taxation and inflated rates were telling upon production, and +it was said, not once, but very generally: “We do not care to give +away 50 per cent. of our earnings and hard-earned interest on a +little money put by for old age and study, to a wasteful, shuffling +Government, for whose follies in the past we are called upon to pay. +We want, and mean to have, a real Democracy, not sham bureaucratic +Government pulled by red tape and the impulses of impetuous +politicians, who rush their fences when mounted upon lame hacks, +trusting to Providence to land them on the other side, if possible, +without a scratch. It has been known that riders have lost their +seats in this proceeding.” The foregoing are not opinions created +by the relator of this Dream, but constantly heard expressed by +all sorts and conditions of men and spoken in public as well as in +private; as such, together with more, equally trenchant and sensible, +they represent the public opinion of the new Communes. + +Dreams, like life, have distasteful moments. Even in them there are +degrees of interest, commonplace situations, truisms, and paradox. +But one has no choice, things are chosen for one, and in the sequence +provided. Sometimes a very disorderly sequence! Subjects in a dream +are arranged with anything but mathematical precision. Perhaps that +constitutes half their charm. Everybody knows that the unexpected +happens in life, as in dreams. The unexpected is, in this case, +that the intellectual level in Britain rises higher and higher. The +arts and sciences are taking their place in the new kingdom, and +this, if it be true, is not an unnatural evolution, but a movement +in the direction of survival of the fittest. The barbarous period +of the near past was, in a sense, an accident. If, for a while, the +influence of mental morphia prevailed, instincts were too strong +to be permanently dulled. The spirit that was in the men who made +our great cathedrals, who furnished our country with the most +beautiful and desirable parish and village churches in all Europe, if +unproductive, was not dead. The labours of generations of scholars, +if put into the background in times of hurry-scurry, of facilities +of swift locomotion, hence of restlessness, have not been thrown +away. We were in such a desperate state of going to and fro that few +found time to pause and think, to ask themselves the question if it +were all worth while? If man, as a creative creature with a lot of +the Angel in him, was mistaking Means for Ends? Means there were, +and coming so swiftly that they jostled one another. So swiftly was +every facility absorbed and made use of to acquire wealth (honestly +or dishonestly didn’t matter) that the people were swept off their +balance and became as atoms driven hither and thither in chaos. +They mistook chaos for kosmos, licence for liberty, astuteness for +intellect, the transient for permanency, and small things for great +ones. The cry was, Agriculture does not pay. Of course it did not +under the unnatural conditions of the time. Once upon a time 3 or +5 per cent. was good interest. When 10 per cent. was demanded, and +much more hoped for, only gambling could provide it. Agriculture, the +first need to be demanded, was pushed out of the field by Industrial +Gambling. Ignorance of cause and effect, of the lessons to be got +from History, blinded the eyes of gamblers to the fact that the +fall of Roman power, while becoming almost universal, can be traced +to the cessation of corn growing in the Agro Romano. Trusting her +Colonies to provide grain led to idleness. A people, in the first +place agricultural, released from an effort of their genius, became +dilapidated and political; they exchanged Labour for luxury, easy +getting for dignified control, and Rome became extravagant, and so, +by degrees, she fell a victim to barbarians. She fell from a high to +a low estate. Once a victor, and then a victim to the worst plague +from which a nation can suffer: Idleness and greed for money without +paying the price for it, Labour! + + + § 42 + +If Rome thus suffered, why should it be impossible or even unlikely +that a modern nation following the same road would not pay the +penalty! The desire to get rich at all costs did not only endanger +internal commerce and growth, but, affecting the whole soul of +the nation, blinded to all other matters. Literary standards were +lowered, Research was starved for want of funds; discoveries of the +power and mightiness of the Past were known only to a comparatively +few, rather held in contempt as Faddists, or, at the best, harmless +lunatics who grasped at a shadow and lived in a Phantom world +of their own making. Hence, compared with the great nations of +antiquity, Britain was providing little or nothing by which future +generations could gauge her creative intelligence or weigh it against +her ephemeral conquests. There is no surer sign of the decadence +of a nation than the cessation of Artistic activity. Politicians +are but “will o’ the wisps” in comparison with creative Artists. +They are but makeshifts, come to-day, gone to-morrow. What care we +for the Politics of Bacon, or whether Shakespeare was a Liberal or +Conservative? We know Milton was a Puritan; that does not matter, +because he was a Poet. + + + § 43 + +Where are the law givers of the Elizabethan period? Dead letters. +That period is known and loved for the Poets it made, as well as for +discoveries by travellers and men of science. It was a time of great +craftsmanship also. It was a period of refined taste, when people +were not aware of the Treasures they were making for the future to +enjoy. The ambition to do that was quite outside the calculation of +the recent Philistines. “It is good enough for me.” “It will last my +time.” “It serves my purpose.” “I am a plain man!” Well, we all know +that you are a plain man, and a selfish, stagnant man as well, and a +person that leads to nothing, a brick wall at the end of the narrow +footway on which you press your unprogressive feet; your only use is +that you provide a subject for satire which Carlyle and Ruskin knew +so well how to employ. + + + § 44 + +Trade is _much_ but not _everything_; it is noble when honestly +pursued, but may be entirely the reverse. Trade is for the provision +of food, clothing, warmth and sanitation. The service of Science +is to protect Health, to soften suffering, to add to our knowledge +of the wonders of the world we live in, to use its genius for +construction, not destruction, to, if possible, prolong life, not +destroy it, to make it happier, not sadder, to reveal the mysteries +of Movement, of Light, of Force, to tell us, however little, of the +Heavens and the Treasures still concealed in the little globe on +which we stand. This is much, and would seem to be enough to occupy +Science day and night. But there is another side to Science which is +deplorable. + +To invent engines, gasses, and substitutes for nature’s products from +poisonous chemicals, is to abuse her genius, to fructify misery and +accelerate pain. When doing these things Science brutalizes herself, +distorts herself and renders herself a nuisance. By inventing engines +to destroy, Science encourages mankind’s worst instincts, and by +doing so is not advancing but delaying progress. Science can be +every bit as harmful as beneficial; she can be as great a curse as a +blessing. If the Great War did not teach that it has failed to teach +one of its profoundest lessons. + + + § 45 + +The Germans, through the aid of their scientific men, carried War to +a depth of horror never before known. God help the world if Science +is again so employed next time, maybe, to the extinction of the +human race, certainly it will be to the extinction of all loveliness +that God and man have created. A few days ago I read noble words of +Anatole France to a teachers’ union: “_Arouse the hatred of hate_,” +“glorify Love and Work,” “Burn all books that _teach Hate_.” “The +hour has come for us all to be citizens of the World, but first of +our own land, or to see civilization perish.” “Train intelligent +workers, experts in the Arts they practice, knowing what they owe +to the community of the nation and to the World. Teach Reason, +Intelligence, Wisdom; the teachers of the future must teach the Love +of Peace and the Hatred of War.” These are strong words from a great +man. + +By ingenious invention of destructive agents Science has been +glorified by War. Why? Because she has lined pockets with ill-gained +wealth; but, in reality, Science has debased herself. I would go a +step further. I would, if I could, destroy every tradition which +could prop up Science to do the like again. I would teach children +that when Science misconducts herself she is on the side of an evil, +not good, power. + + + § 46 + +If a League of Nations is to succeed, the wings of Science must be +cut, her reckless flight, curtailed. Science has, by adaptation of +peaceful to aggressive purposes, committed a crime against herself. +She has used her children to be poisoners and murderers. Germany set +the example, under the title “Kultur,” a wolf in sheepskin. Science, +perverted from her noble initial intentions, became popular; she +became the means for fabulous fortunes; piles of money was the price +paid for her ghastly cleverness. A not very enviable class wore +diamonds, drove expensive cars and clad themselves in costly furs; +that is how they went into mourning for the slain. Science, pressed +on by commercial greed, lost a friend when War ceased. What hideous +contemplation; the slaughter of our children paying a hundred per +cent. profit. + +Politicians may plan elaborate games. Complicated moves may look as +if checkmate was certain. No legislator, singular or plural, will +stop War. All Wars come from the commercial element in the first +place. War is made now for a purpose, and if we look that purpose +straight in the face it is “More money.” Plutus has been the god of +the modern world. As long as he reigns Wars will be. Politicians +and lawyers may try to wriggle out of it, but The Truth has a +disagreeable habit of cropping up. Sophistry may do its best to hide +it or drown it; it may be hidden but not destroyed. There is only one +way to stop War; to make people abominate it, scorn it as a stupid +reckless destroyer. Once there was chivalry, even a kind of noble +beauty in its conduct, which, superficially, redeemed it. The South +African War was a war to acquire diamonds; it was purely commercial, +hidden by sophistry under a garb of protection of public interest. +It was not public, but private commercial success which produced +a shameful disaster which came near to wreck England. When we are +really civilized and are engrossed in the Arts of Peace, when we +are all bent upon making the world a desirable place by making Life +growingly attractive, growingly efficacious for all the classes, War +will cease to have any attractions. When the beauty quite possible to +life is insisted upon by the exerted will of an entire people united +in Fraternity, united in schemes for the betterment of moral status, +of honour and of industry, War will cease, and not till then. When we +would clean out a pond, it is no use to scrape its surface of slime; +slime on the surface is only a superficial sign of trouble. The +bottom must be cleansed, that is where the real trouble is. It is of +little use to adorn a chair with fanciful design when its legs are +rotten, they must be made strong. The mass of the people is as the +clean bottom of a pond is to its surface, the chair to its legs. They +must be strengthened and purified by education, which is not arrived +at by a parrot-like repetition of facts or theories, but which +teaches the whole duty of man to man, hence to God. That is what our +new Education is trying to do. The child being father to the man, we +try to take him in hand at once, and through him re-establish honour, +sobriety, industrious habits which will lead his highest instincts +and teach him that he must be master of himself, to which, having +attained, he will be a guide, philosopher and friend to his and after +generations. Make the people love Beauty as a sign to goodness, +ugliness as a signpost to Evil. If that education fails none will +succeed. + +This discourse was delivered by an Expert. He was no amateur in +Science; it was only that his fine mind was free from disillusion. +Right and wrong are on different planes. They are disconnected, +and he, being honest as well as gifted, had no intention of making +a compromise between them! He has a great following in the New +Life, and is a progressive power not only in his own but in all the +Communes of England. + + + § 47 + +We have seen that Forestry has been reinstated, and under what +pleasant, profitable circumstances it grows. Now my dream takes +me on, and my spirit peregrinates in other localities and seeks +enlightenment. Windswept moors, and places where bogs are prevalent, +prove difficult antagonists to agriculture as generally practised. +It is true that what the Italians call “_terra ingrata_,” literally +translated, “unyielding soil,” is in England as well as in Italy +an obstinate problem, which it will take time to solve. In such +counties where there is much of this unyielding soil, science is +trying to find remedies or uses to which it can be put. Science is +busy with experiments. Effort is being made to discover what trees +(if any) can be planted with advantage in such districts; so far, the +pine is in favour. In the meantime, much more use is made of peat for +many purposes, as fuel for instance, and manure for gardens and the +growth of flowers and shrubs, which answer at once to its fructifying +influence. Extending my spirit flight through the length and breadth +of the land, I see that no land capable of growing grain is out of +service. Grain for bread, grass for cattle and sheep, unpolluted +rivers where ample supplies of fish are obtainable, and the nation is +provided against starvation, even in time of another War. + + + § 48 + +“We are looking ahead now,” said one to another. “We are facing, +not avoiding, the consideration of anxious possibilities.” “Each +Commune of Britain is busy with problems to solve which will make +us safe in emergencies; the policy of ‘Wait and See,’ than which +none could be more dangerous to welfare, is treated (as it should +be) with contempt. ‘Up and doing’ has taken its place; we have had +enough of fallacious epigrams as catch words for opportunists.” The +River Severn, one of the most productive in England, has been taken +from German hands and is producing a goodly yield of food. There +was a prejudice against “coarse fish as an article of food; we are +returning to an old English habit of using it.” In old days most +of the monasteries were erected near a river; where that was not +possible, lakes were dug out and plentifully supplied with fish. We +have returned to use an important and nourishing food in localities +where it can be employed, and a great and growing industry is +proving a success, it is feeding a large section of the people. Sea +fishermen did not like it at first; it appeared to be an innovation +of their right, but since it has proved not to interfere with their +business it is accepted. + + + § 49 + +There are many “practical” schemes being initiated. My dream leads me +now into matters not generally called “practical,” but are necessary +to a great nation. We all know (any way), who have read History what +we owe to-day to the Monastic system, which, with all its abuses, +did save learning. Monasteries were the Cabinets of tradition, +without which we might now be barbarians, and it was by no means all +for good they were suppressed. To Henry VIII. is not due all the +mischief which Cromwell completed. The lands belonging to the Church +were regarded with envy by the State before the coming of those two +powerful autocrates. Every one knows that, but every one does not +realise the debt we owe to a concentrated life going on amid war and +rapine. Good things, if once they have been proved good and useful, +are apt to crop up again. If not used exactly as they were, if the +principle which started them no longer prevails, if their recurrence +is not on the lines of what was called the “religious life,” the +results they achieved may be copied in a New Age and under a fresh +inspiration. + + + § 50 + +Action and reaction are inevitable. Extended activities lead to +complications and concentrated action to simplicity. Thus men, +inclined towards quiet more than to jostle in the crowd, find it +necessary to retire to find peace to work out their destinies, and +in groups--in groups because continued solitude is paralysing, as +much to mental as physical activity. There be men who are born in +scholarship whose intuition is to research, they are the vessels that +hold learning, but not seldom they pour it out with difficulty. They +give it out drop by drop; they are to a nation what foundations are +to a building. In a sense they are passive. History, Archæology, +indeed, all the ologies, Art in its various branches, and Science in +hers, cannot get along without silent strenuous workers who are as +disinterested a race as our social system provides. Mostly poor, they +live in solitude, receiving little encouragement. If they happened to +have a small steady income it was heavily taxed. What with income, +super-taxes and rates, what remained of small income, at the best, +was reduced to less than that of an unskilled labourer. The New +Communes seek these valuable men, who, when found, are presented with +a “living wage.” Thus, some of the most valuable servants of the +State are, at least, placed upon a financial basis with unskilled +labour. + + + § 51 + +There is another group of indispensable servants to the State which +was neglected, whose wages were less than the modern menial--the +teachers. They are men whose education has been costly to their +parents, who, in more cases than not, could ill afford the drain upon +their resources. While miners, servants, even ignorant boys employed +by publishers to wrap up books for distribution, were getting wages +out of all proportion to the work they were doing, these “teachers” +went quietly on with their useful labour, unnoticed and ill-paid. +They formed a large class of intelligence and usefulness which +constituted The New Poor!!! While the Government was conceding +principle after principle to “strikers” and to a whole army of +unreasonable discontent, the men who were working quietly for the +cause of Education remained outside the sympathy of Government +“Officials.” Under the New Commune a better and more just system +is at work. They are treated, having been chosen and selected with +care, as public servants, and as such they are paid; at least, they +are now upon a scale of pay equal to the scullery maid of the past. +“The profiteers,” often as ignorant as grasping, drove about the +country in expensive motor cars, while the makers of England, from +an intellectual point of view, were disregarded, even treated with +contempt, because the balance at their bankers was small, probably +nil, while that of Profiteers was such that their ladies were in +diamonds and furs, and Borough Councillors thrived upon the Rates. + +Now, let me remember and state what, in my dream, such men are doing, +as public servants, for the previously unestimated value of education +for that part of the community which is called Labour. In one of the +most beautiful parts of Kent, once “the Garden” of England, under the +slope of its backbone, on which is the Pilgrims Way, the road from +London to Canterbury, is to be seen a straggling group of buildings, +evidently erected gradually as accommodation demanded. The starting +place was an old barn, one of those magnificent but simple buildings +which were next to the church in importance and only second to it in +noble proportions and dignified aspect. In a way, those old Tythe +barns represented the people and their agriculture as faithfully as +the churches their reverence and sacred traditions. + + + § 52 + +Once the storehouse for grain, the Tythe barns were the meeting +place for landlords, their tenants, and country folk; the flail +made delightful music at threshing time. In them county dances were +held and seasons celebrated. Before the Town Hall was, they were. +In the new life the Tythe barn was used, in the first instance as a +dwelling place for a kind of Franciscan order, not bound by an oath +or dedicated to any sectarian creed; it is a place of retirement for +scholars as well as for communal activity. By degrees the little +community grew. New buildings, inexpensive but sanitary, have been +added; surrounding land purchased and cultivated with the specialties +common to the soil of Kent--Fruit and Hops. Hops especially, because +the New World repudiates “Kultur,” and no longer substitutes for that +fragrant and desirable fruit deleterious chemical products which +agents interested in a “Company” exploited against the original +article. The noisy, smoky threshing machine does not visit here; +grain is threshed by the flail. The occupiers of these buildings +subsist upon their own land; cows and goats give them milk; they +make their own bread, and brew their own light beer, and wines got +from the elder, the pear, apple and some sweet grapes grown and +flourishing well in sunny aspects. + + + § 53 + +The community established here is voluntary, mostly composed of men +of small incomes, large intelligence, and varied pursuits. Being in +a sense public servants, they only pay a nominal tax to the Commune +for the use of the land, and no income _tax_ is levied from them. +Intellect contributes what money cannot buy. + +So interesting was the appearance of this little nest of +disinterested men, so lively in surroundings, so snug in its +suggestion of quiet concentrated life, that my spirit sought to +examine it. It is high summer; the corn and fruit are ripening; the +hop gardens are laden with fragrance. It is that time of year when +repose seems to take the place of agricultural activity; the sun is +hot, the air full of the hum of bees. It is the midday of the year +when, as the old pagans told, the gods sleep. The sun, no longer +hidden by smoke, is doing his work, preparing for the gathering +time, fruitful autumn! Something after an old monastery it is. A +refectory, and a kitchen built after the plan of that at Glastonbury, +denote a goodly company to feed. Every member of the order has his +sleeping cell. Those whose avocations are primarily studious have a +study to themselves. It is noon, a bell rings. Soon the refectory is +full, accommodated to hold fifty or sixty men of different ages and +occupations. One could easily pick out the scholars from the active +workers. There appeared to be no servants, so called; the cook was +of the order; they waited upon themselves. What is the main business +of the Order? It is “teaching.” The Prior, or he in priority, is +a distinguished old man. I noticed or learnt by listening, that +sectarian creeds did not exist here. They were just Christians, +_i.e._, who work for others, give of their experience and knowledge +freely and abundantly. The Athenic academy must have been something +like this modern adaptation of Plato’s republic; who knows if there +be not a Socrates among them? + +There are artists and craftsmen as well as historians, and music +plays its part, for in the refectory is an organ. Sweet music came +from its pipes during dinner. The number I saw was not inclusive; +many of the order were away in different parts of the county +teaching. I heard that every county in Britain contains a similar +Order of Teachers. The subjects taught, answer to the needs of the +County. The Prior has power to choose from and send teachers where +he pleases; in this sense he is an autocrat. The object is to instil +Agricultural peasants with high Ideals of their life as such, and +to enlighten Industrial districts by History. So much of the old +agitation and mistrust on the part of the people was the result of +_ignorance_. It was to combat ignorance and to place high ideals +before the people that the Order was founded. Within an easy walk for +the pedestrian, my spirit flew the distance in less than a second. I +found myself in a village. It reminded me of one that in my waking +youth I remember before the giant Industrialism had sprawled his +uncouth body there, and with his great ungainly feet had trodden down +grass, corn and fruit trees, pulled down ancient buildings to erect +factories, and turned a place of gardens into ash heaps. The horrid +remnants of his invasion have been eradicated. Everything seemed to +record peace. The country at peace, the people at peace. I went +into the village school; there I saw one of the order instructing. +No birch rod was suspended on its whitewashed walls; I looked for +it, remembering Dr. Johnson’s homage to the Rod, but saw none. The +boys and girls were being led, not driven; interested, not forced; +they were being taught the dignity of Labour and the criminality of +laziness. Taught self-respect they were, and to abominate not only +low actions, but dishonest impulses. From every cottage I heard the +music of the loom. In the fields the sound of happy song prevailed. +They rivaled the thrush and the blackbird, did those merry workers. +They were merry with the birds, joining them in song. + + + § 54 + +In dreams, seasons change places. Suddenly it is autumn, harvest +time, a festival time when people are gay as they set out to gather +the fruit of their ploughing and sowing. + +It is the same village, but the aspect is in a degree changed. +The repose of summer has given way to the activity of autumn, or +rather to the approach of it. The harvest is in full swing. The male +population is busy with _Sickle_ and _Scythe_. I did not see the +mechanical cutter; the New Communes find that the old system provides +more work for the agricultural class, which has grown numerically +since it became evident that Britain must feed itself with its own +products as much as possible. This has led to greater importance +being attached to agriculture than to industrialism, which is now an +aid, not an obstruction to agriculture. The village forge is busy; +scythes and sickles are being ground, new ones are in the making, +fresh shoes are preparing for farm horses; wheels, of great carts to +carry the grain and straw, are being set in order. A merry place is +the forge, with its lusty bellows, bright fire and brilliant sparks +like stars, dancing up the chimney. Everybody is alert. The parson, +the schoolmaster, the doctor and land owner will take part in the +great event of cutting and storing the precious products of the +soil. I noticed several of “The Order” have come up to lend a hand. +The great Barn is prepared to receive the golden result of a fine +harvest. It has been a summer of sun; the corn is so ripe it shines +like copper. The straw is strong, good for hat makers and those +occupied in the use of that precious material. + +How they work, the strong fellows; with what a heart they gather +their own from the beneficent earth; it shall not be sold elsewhere +until enough has been stored for the use of the Parish. The New +Communes have an excellent habit of looking after _their own people +first_, a bad commercial economy, according to old habits, but +it answers well because it is just. Plenty of pure light beer is +brewed, and pure because brewers are not permitted to adulterate it +(if they did so here they would be punished as “forgers”); casks of +this, and of home-made cider, have been carted to the cornfields. If +the workers do stagger a bit no one blames them; anyhow, they have +not been drinking poison, as they did in the past. When the golden +harvest moon rises full in a purple sky, they fall to dancing and +merriment, and sing folk songs, but before midnight they are at rest, +for at daylight they must be up and at it again. + +When the corn harvest is reaped and stored, the English vintage +begins. Hop gardens in plenty are cultivated here. Every woman and +child, besides all grown ups, who can be spared from the farms, are +engaged in gathering the lovely green fruit. Hop gathering is one +of the pleasantest of all agricultural operations. The scent of the +fruit produces a charm as the scent of poppies does, a lotus-eating +charm of quiet not excitement. The alleys between the stately hop +poles bending under the weight of fruit are dotted with tints as of +flowers, for the women’s and children’s garments are bright coloured, +woven at home and dyed by the village dyers. Here is seen _the +natural life_, for which man was created, from the labour of whose +hands bread shall be eaten. No pale, sickly faces are seen here, no +discontented looks, no morbid longings for a rich idle life prevail; +instead of that are ruddy cheeks, beaming smiles, neighbourly +greetings and happy songs are heard “_through daylight hours_.” +Winter comes, no less beautiful than summer, only different. Work +changes its character. The fruitfulness of summer depends upon winter +labour. Not only labourers plough, the parson, clerk and “Gentlemen” +plough. This reminds me that in this Dream of a purified and clean +England there is no class of “Gentlemen,” because all who labour +are such. A man who did not take part in the manual labour (in some +measure, at least) would not be regarded with respect. Even those +whose occupations demand care of their hands put in a certain amount +of hard labour. Practice being better than precept, and fraternity +being best of all, this habit succeeds. + + + § 55 + +Now, winter is in full swing, the days are short, evenings long, but +not dull. The Village Church, well warmed, is used for concerts, +when not for them educational addresses are given by members of “The +Order.” The big schoolroom is used for dances and play acting. It is +considered by Village Communes that their duty is to help recreation +as well as encourage labour. Concise little plays have been written +by scholars of “The Order.” They make no fuss about scenery; what +they do take pains with is the playing, which, in winter, forms a +conspicuous item of education. It has been deemed wisest that the +plays shall be simple and, above all, CLEAN minded. It is the object +of the Village Communes that their people remain simple, which means +not stupid, but innocent. As far as I have travelled I have been made +aware that “Cinemas” are under strict control. It has been argued +and decided that amusements may prove fatal to development. In no +sense of priggishness, but as a proper protection. Cinemas are not +permitted to show crime; they are used, as other enjoyments are, to +excite the nobler not ignoble features of life. + +We need not go to Germany now for basket-weaving, straw-plaiting +and so on. That ancient industry is restored to England, which had +let it slip, with too many others, into the hands of the Teutons an +industrious people when the English were getting idle and were trying +to live on other people’s earnings and labour, and more shame to them +for it. It is the object of the Community so to conduct affairs that +the idle are the exception, not the rule as they were growing to be +some time ago. While those occupied in the affairs of the Communes +are strict (for what is the use of Government if it is ductile, +compromising and weak?), they are not autocratic, save in the sense +that having framed laws, with consideration they carry them into +effect. They do not make a law until they are sure it is a just one, +and one which is necessary for the good of the people as a whole, not +only for a section of it. + + + § 56 + +This principle has done away with Class Legislation, which was +proving a grave danger to the well being of England. Of course, +it stands for sense that every County is not ruled alike. There +must be Industrial districts as well as Agricultural, but they are +not permitted to invade each other. As far as possible Industrial +districts are not divorced from Agriculture. Now that the smoke fiend +is no more Industrial districts can have their gardens, and the +people can grow their vegetables and fruit with security. This has +been made possible, as we have seen, for each person is master of his +own little bit of land, which he is taught to cultivate, and which +if he does not it is taken away from him and given to someone else +who will use it. Once a year (if necessary more often) the leaders of +Communes meet in conclave somewhere in the centre of England. There +they consider the laws. In that way conditions are kept clear from +becoming stereotyped. Men of various adaptabilities shake brains with +each other. This becomes a habit and prevents isolation, because the +national interest is the County interest extended. If Agriculture +is to be the first consideration the main essential without which +the nation might starve, Industrialism had to be checked, but not +destroyed. It had to be put in its proper place, not as an autocratic +ruler, but a useful servant. + +Nuisances produced by Industrialism are sternly dealt with. No +factories are permitted in Agricultural districts or to be planted +in the centre of towns among dwelling houses or where they might be +a nuisance. There is no hardship in that decision, it is just, that +is all. Borough and Village, as well as City Councils, are now so +represented that jobbery is put out of court. Not only is the body +of the people considered, but the soul of the Nation is encouraged +to enlarge and expand. Men have got to see that, and to act on it. +All forms of religion are equally regarded. There is no State Church +or State monopoly. It was a blow to the narrow brain, this was; it +wrenched power from inquisitors and took the wind out of the sails +of doctrinaires. But it is proved to have been wise, because there +is more, not less, religion than there was. It is simplified on the +broad basis of belief in God. The Devil gets a poor look in now. +Religious persecution was one of his choicest allies. The Devil found +in it admirable matter for his schemes, for it promoted hate, not +love. The noblest Greek philosophy teaches that love was the first +created abstract power, and what philosophy is better calculated to +make men of us than that is? The story of the Garden of Eden teaches +us that God made perfect beauty, which, by folly, man, in his +inquisitive, greedy pursuit of wealth, attempted to destroy. + +He had to become poor to buy back what he had lost; he had to labour +to create a new Garden, and that is what the New Life is struggling +to do. Not a less, but a more beautiful Garden than the first is +being created. Now it is to be made for the many. We have history +to teach us what to avoid, and what to cling to, and it is one of +the chief duties of men versed in history to teach it to their less +favoured fellows, and that the New Order is striving to do. + +Christ’s disciples were few, but by their earnestness and belief in +the truth they wrought a great change. Perhaps, in their enthusiasm, +they broke away from things that were beautiful and useful; but one +prominent good they did: they promoted a spirit of fellowship; of +fraternity which, if not new in theory, was new in practice. The +Franciscan Order began in spite of the Church. St. Francis was, in +a sense, a revolutionary. While the Church was preaching wealth he +preached poverty. While the Church was systematically conservative +he was progressive. And with what swiftness his teaching moved. +Beginning in a little company of followers in Assisi, the Order +spread over Europe, almost as a flash of lightning. All the greatest +things start small. It is enthusiasm that really moves the world; +to use enthusiasm wisely comes afterwards. Who shall say how far +or how beneficially the new lay Order in Britain will go? It may +become the ruling factor of modern democracy; it may turn a paper +democracy into a living one. Movements of less moment than this one +have changed the destinies of nations, and such changes have always +come about after great upheavals. After the terrible strain of War +people looked about them and began to wonder if what led up to the +War was not (even if it made wealth) destroying our spiritual nature. +I like better, our instinctive Ideals. It surely made the wise think +more deeply and the less wise wonder what was the matter. It was +evident that a mood was about beyond the power of politicians to +tackle. No red tape could do it; it could only wrap it up and put the +bundle away in a pigeon-hole. Was it all a chimera in which we were +living? Extended luxuries, ridiculously high wages, penalising taxes, +were all artificial and demonstrated an entirely artificial life. +Constant demand for excitement, if prolonged, must ruin a nation. +The preachments of equality were vain; there is not such a thing and +never can be. The only approach to equality can be found in _equality +of honour_; each man working his best, giving the best for decent +wages, and the noblest of all giving their best for no wages at all. + + + § 57 + +What was the matter with England? Too rich! Too self-indulgent, +growing idle and becoming dishonest! An enormous population of +so-called Labour, led by ignorant, headstrong agitators. A weak +Government, carrying on the tactics of promise and no performance, +tactics of sops to agitators, of declining to face realities. A +Government which was losing whatever respect it might have had, even +from the Party in the Country which it had pampered and spoiled, and +what for? To gain their votes at a general election. Tradesmen who +could charge what they pleased, and a Government that one moment held +them in check, the next gave way. Growing blindness to everything +that makes a great nation, Honesty, Industry, Thrift and a high Ideal +for the future welfare of their country, and entire apathy as to +the judgment which history will pass upon the _Tone of the People_. +In fact, something so like Anarchy as to be practically, if not +theoretically, Anarchy. + +Even if the Government saw the danger it did not face it. It dared +not do so because its very existence depended upon a class, and that +one the least provided with education sufficient to put it into a +position of clear thinking and sound judgment. “The idle” rich were +pointed at as the first offenders; Capital was destructive to Labour +interests, was the foolish cry, as if a country could exist without +Capital! The fact being that the higher wages the greater the capital +will have to be to meet them. To achieve capital all must work! + +In my dream just now I heard a workman say, “Never again will we +cry out against Capital; we see now that without it we should be +_paupers_! And who, after all, came forward in the extreme moments of +stress during the War? Surely that part of Society dubbed ‘The Idle +Rich.’ How was the cost of five millions a day met? By Capital, of +course. How were we paid for making munitions? By Capital, of course. +And (he went on to say), from our own point of view, in our own +interests, indeed, discounting all others for the sake of argument, +our enemies were not the rich or the refined and cultivated classes, +they were the men who pretended to lead us, and, alas! they did so, +almost to our undoing; but rid of them we are now, and will never +again accept them.” New ideas, or old ones revived are catching, +and if formed on the highest motives, will prevail as long as a +good humour towards them is in favour. “The Lay Order,” which we +have watched and found entirely sincere, is working a great change. +Extending from villages to cities, from the fields to factories, from +public to private life, the Lay Order finds respect from the peasant, +the agricultural and the industrial classes. Its influence is felt +in every form of social life, from the Lord Mayors to the humblest +commoner. The peasant finds wisdom in these men! He saw them at the +plough, he found them companions as well as leaders. + +We hear him say, “What they teach they do.” At first they marvelled. +“Why do gentlemen do this? We thought ‘gentlemen’ _loved ease_ now +we know that the real gentleman is a hard handed man with a gentle +heart, and he knows more than we do, so we listen to him! The Order +has done wonders in breaking down class distinction. Instead, fervent +fraternity is taking root. “We have given up the fetish of equality; +we know it is a broken reed that is quite untrustworthy, even to a +drowning man.” We know, whatever station of life is ours, that we can +dignify it or defile it.” + + + § 58 + +Dignify it by exertion, defile it by apathy or worse. The churches +looked upon the Lay Order with suspicion at first. Inclined to +question their Dogmas, they called them “Socinians,” Atheists and +even harder names we know of, triumphantly adopted by Dogmatists. The +Cardinals of Rome mistrusted St. Francis and his little following, +who cut at the root of their wealth. The Cardinals drove about in +splendid carriages, were attended by gaily dressed footmen, of whom +they demanded servility. The Franciscans walked, footsore in snow and +hail, were exposed to scorching sun, were hungry, were beggars, but +inside them they felt the warmth of the Love of God, and a burning +love for their fellow-men. The Order has something of Monasticism, +and why not? It is Monasticism purged of its morbidity. It is not +eager to save souls for the next world, but to nourish them for +their progress in this which is, after all, the only one that can be +demonstrated and dealt with with certainty. They do not ask for joy +after death, but before it; and they find it in labour, in labour for +the less instructed, in the Doctrine of THOU more than of _I_. They +remember a fine ancient saying, “Love enters the soul when self has +evacuated the fortress of the heart.” + +The word soul has been often used in this story of my dream. What do +I mean by it? I mean that part of a nation and individual that is +immortal! Not longing to escape damnation or to attain Joy hereafter, +but escape it here, and realise it here. They teach the Art of +living, “_Ars Vivendi_,” and it is followed with honesty and just +pride, “The Art of dying, _Ars Moriendi_,” will take care of itself. +They do not preach the joys of a life to come, but of this one which +we can make joyful if we please. They are Idealists who are, at the +same time practical; Rationalists, if you like so to call them. They +accept matter, not as a check or obstacle to the conduct of an Ideal, +but as inseparable from it. They teach Free Will, and have nothing +to say to Predestination. The former is certain, the latter is +supposition. It is the common sense which pervades their work that is +making it respected. They teach an Ideal that _can_ be touched if not +entirely reached: that an Ideal is not a phantom. + +Education is spreading persistently, not by leaps or bounds, but +systematically and surely. Facts are taught, but not as a parrot +is. Then cause and effect, of which the parrot, as far as we know +is ignorant, is the very kernel of History. Young people are led to +reason, to obey their instincts so far as they are justified. Facts +are useful, but too many piled together puzzle more than invigorate +the mind. If we try to hold too many seeds in our hand some must +escape through the fingers. Young people are led, not driven, and +with discretion. They are not crammed with useless facts. Every +child, rich and poor, is initiated to a handicraft. In that there +is no distinction; this was forced upon us when it became certain +that we should have to be in a measure our own craftsmen and our own +servants. The rise in wages made that a _sine quâ non_, and it has +been met. The class that served as household domestics is doing now a +work much more serviceable to the country; it is working on the land, +both men and women are. + +Performing our own jobs of mending, we have released a whole army of +small hand-to-mouth trades. This is economical; indeed, at the price +“little labour” demanded it was imperative, and since it has become +a habit nobody grumbles. Home exercises of prudence and economy fill +up moments which grow to be hours otherwise wasted. An effect this +has had is remarkable; it has been the cause of greater, not less +independence of self-reliance which tells upon character. We are very +wary of men of law like Napoleon; we mistrust them as we mistrust +all sophists. We do not care for them as members of our Councils; we +use them as referees, not as helmsmen. The man of law goes round and +round in a circle in equal distance from the centre, he avoids the +centre. We like the guilty punished, but we do not like that he gets +off on a point of law when the man who got him off knows perfectly +well he is guilty, this is playing with Justice, not administering it. + + + § 59 + +“We admit that a reasonable profit is justifiable on the sale of all +goods, but the Great War taught us that tradesmen profited enormously +upon our evil times. We might grow hungry, but they must profit by +it; and it was men of our own class who did this mercilessly. This +has made us beware of tradesmen, so we have put spokes in their +wheels which they do not like, and finding they can ‘rook’ us no +longer, they have gone to work on the land, which is better for +their health and morals and for the country at large.” So spoke a +workman--mind, a workman, not a capitalist!! + +Another said, “Directly we saw straight, and viewed the horizon +clearly, we knew we had power, and we set ourselves to use it +rightly, and chose leaders who would help us. We do not intend to go +back, we mean to go forward, and show the country that it may have +confidence in us. We are learning to rule ourselves, hence we may +claim a place among legislators. We know that a bad servant cannot +make a good master. The old Trades Union masters could not become +statesmen because they taught that “bad work is good for Trade,” than +which nothing can be a greater fallacy.” + + + § 60 + +A nation progresses, even survives, only on good work. It is ruined +by bad! Since we are rid of bad leaders, the outlook on life is +extended fourfold. The new Lay Order, being composed of a great +variety of minds, some passive (as scholars and teachers must be, +in a measure) active and alert, physically and mentally, leaves no +subject of education, high as well as simple, untouched. Among this +disinterested community there exists no struggle for precedence. Each +man regards himself as an item of the nation’s wants, and strives to +advance them in due order and without prejudice. Hence we have the +men of letters, the Artist (inclusive) and Scientist working under +the banner of Justice, hand-in-hand with the ploughman. The order is +coming to be the root of all education. + + + § 61 + +It is referred to by Village as well as City “Teachers.” It has +become a kind of university, a source from which spring many small +streams irrigating deserts that were unproductive. When started, +the scheme was considered Utopian; a mere fad, and the men who +framed its first principles were “Dreamers”--Poets, if you like, but +unpractical. In a short time it became evident that far from being +unpractical they were the reverse. They, seeing chaos, sought to +achieve Kosmos. Success, hitherto gained, has been due to the touch +created with an almost infinite variety of occupations and interests, +which, while being local, are also national. They came at exactly the +right moment, when a great upheaval threatened the very existence +of England. By personal influence, direct and circumspect, they are +doing for the country what the politician can never do, or statesman +achieve, even if they are gifted with “Imagination.” + + + § 62 + +Theories were abundant, practice now prevails. So sure is the +growth of practical education that those who thought in grooves, now +think broadly; hence they are not easily misled. The effort of each +Commune is not to make new laws, but to enforce a few already made +which, protecting every class, are not limited to one pre-eminently. +It is said, “We got tired of Government which, to save their seats, +listened to the last popular clamour, and toyed with transient public +needs and opinions; which listened to the discontented and tried to +appease them by promises which they knew they could not fulfil. We +see through that paradox! We were tired to death of ‘The Plain Man,’ +the obstinate ignorant utilitarian. We don’t want the kind of man +who prevailed, who, to lay a B line of tramways, would, if he could, +pull down the sacred trusts left to us by creative master minds. We +do not want the kind of man who, for the sake of ‘Rents,’ would build +factories or cheap houses on every open space, the ‘lungs of our +Cities.’ We do not want the man who looks upon every fair garden to +destroy it and erect ‘Flats’; who would float a company with promises +of 10 per cent. when the capital is mostly on paper.” + + + § 63 + +Once upon a time an ex-Lord Mayor was surprised to hear an expression +of disgust at a proposal to convert Westminster Abbey into a railway +terminus. “We don’t want that kind of Mayor or ex-Mayor; we regard +him as a savage.” Excellent John Bright! Your study of the style of +the Bible and Milton made you an orator, but not a wise man when +you expressed a hope that Industrialism would so prevail that smoky +chimneys should be everywhere as a sign of Wealth! You saw as a +sectarian, narrowly and ill! The beauty of our English lake scenery +would no longer exist if “The Plain Man” had had his way. The banks +of the Thames near to Chiswick, that precious bit of rural Suburban +London, was saved from destruction, but only just saved. + +The promoters of the scheme held out plausible hopes to “The People,” +but were outwitted, thank Heaven, and the King’s Meadows were saved. +Had it succeeded Chiswick would have been under a smoke cloud, and we +should have said good-bye to the health and beauty of what is still +the most charming suburb of our grim, chaotic, dirty Metropolis. How +to treat London as a whole, is under consideration. It will probably +be broken up into self-governing sections. Much of it will have +to be pulled down and rearranged. Open spaces will be increased. +Public opinion will not, in these days of its greater enlightenment, +be the slave of Jerry-builders or Companies that, for the sake of +high interest, erected _Pig-styes_ and called them dwellings. It is +proposed to break London up, to equalise the number of the population +in every district, and not to permit their extension in the future. +One scheme I heard in my dream is to divide Central London from its +suburbs by a zone, entirely free of buildings, which shall be one +vast productive garden. It is thought to be a practicable scheme, in +point of fact, the simplest yet suggested. The total abolition of the +Smoke Fiend and the consequent clean and healthy air now enjoyed, +and the quantity of sunlight being doubled, experts say there is +no reason to doubt the healthy growth of fruit and vegetables in +the proposed rural zone. Within Central London only such factories +will be permitted which are entirely free from nuisance, disorder, +bad smells or smoke of any kind whatever. A plan is being thought +out to heat Central London by electricity upon the same system so +successfully applied to the New City. + + + § 64 + +It is determined already that from London Bridge to Richmond Bridge +no factories will be permitted on the banks of our splendid river. +Imagination will supply a vision of what our river might be then. +Clear water, heaps of good fish, even salmon and trout, a place for +pageants, a healthy playground for the people and as beautiful a +river as any in Europe. + +Centralization has received its death blow. Home rule, including all +responsibilities, has taken the place of a gigantic mistake. Each +County now rules itself. Only the best and most reliable men are +in a position of power. Class legislation is at an end. The rich +have no more power than the poor. The great or main effort of New +England is to _level up_. That desirable object, indeed more than +desirable, indispensable object, can only be attained by extending +enlightenment, and to do so the whole nation is now of one voice. To +sharpen our wits, as well as our tools, to enlarge the boundaries +of our outlook, and to maintain simplicity. Not to be time-servers, +but to recognise the debt we owe to aftercomers, and never to forget +that we are trustees, not only of the moment, but for the future. To +put big things before small. To realise, and profoundly, that every +poor as well as rich man is a responsible agent; that responsibility +is equal if different; the rich to use their money well, the poor +to earn honourable wages for honourable toil. Never to forget that +all labour is honourable, if well and honestly executed; and that +idleness and living upon the savings of our neighbours is a crime +against Society. Above all, to bear in mind that the _Soul of a +Nation_ must not be forgotten. Upon the purity of its conduct, the +elevation of its Ideals, carried into effect by constant and the +highest efforts, a nation keeps itself on the high road to dignity +and prosperity. To do this we must choose our guides, not from +platforms on Clapham Common, but from every class which, having +learnt the lesson of “Self-Rule,” is in a position to lead others to +attain it, and so to proceed with the delicate task of ruling others. + +The foregoing statements are becoming truisms, so universal are they +becoming. And hence a Democracy is a possibility, even a probability, +as it is certainly the most consistent form of Government. To attain +it discord must cease! The discord which followed the Great War was +more dangerous to Britain than its great enemy, Germany. But, if that +discord is resolved into a concord, deplorable as it seemed to be, it +will have worked for good. The motto of the New England is an ancient +Benedictine proverb:-- + + “_Laborare est Orare._” + +And so ends my Dream, which, when I woke, I thought might some day +grow to be a Reality. + + + § 65 + +I can find no nobler words in all literature with which to end than +the prayer of Socrates, spoken at the end of the “Phædrus”:-- + +“Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt this place, give me +beauty in the inward soul; and may the outward and inward man be +one. May I reckon the Wise to be the Wealthy, and may I have such +a quantity of gold as none but the temperate can bear and carry. +Anything more? That prayer, I think, is enough for me. Let us go.” +(_From Jowett’s Translation._) + + + THE END. + + + + +Transcriber’s Note: + +Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent +hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged. Eight +misspelled words were corrected. + +Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like +this_. Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or +partially printed letters, were corrected. Duplicate punctuation +was deleted. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and +abbreviations were added. One missing section (§) symbol was added. +Redundant word ‘thousand’ following ‘4,000’ was deleted. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78117 *** diff --git a/78117-h/78117-h.htm b/78117-h/78117-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bd7a04 --- /dev/null +++ b/78117-h/78117-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6900 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <title> + Democracy— false or true? | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +/* Heading Styles */ + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + clear: both; + font-weight: bold; + page-break-before: avoid;} + +h1 { margin: 1em 5% 1em; + font-size: 180%;} +h2 { margin: 1em 5% 1em; + font-size: 150%;} +h3 { margin: 1.5em 5% 1em; + font-size: 120%;} + +.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; + margin-top: 4em;} + +/* Paragraph styles */ +p {text-indent: 1.25em; + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em;} + +.unindent {text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em;} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} +.tall {line-height: 150%;} /* Adjust as necessary */ +.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em;} + +/* use as span class for only left and right; floats are eliminated in epubs unless restated using x-ebookmaker */ +.justl {float: left;} +.justr {float: right;} +x-ebookmaker .justl {float: left;} +x-ebookmaker .justr {float: right;} + +/* Font styling */ +.smcap {font-style: normal; font-variant: small-caps;} +.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} +.smaller {font-size: 83%;} +.larger {font-size: 120%;} +.ls {letter-spacing: .25em; + margin-right: -0.25em;} +.ls1 {letter-spacing: .4em; + margin-right: -0.25em;} +.ls2 {letter-spacing: .6em; + margin-right: -0.25em;} + +abbr { border:none; text-decoration:none; font-variant:normal; } + +/* Links */ +a:visited {text-decoration:none; color: red;} +a:link {text-decoration:none;} /* no UL of any links - useful for html accessibility */ + +/* Rules */ +hr { /*default rule across entire width */ + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} + +/* Page numbers */ +.pagenum { + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: 50%; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; + color: #444;} + + .linebox {border-top-style:double; border-top-width:thick; padding-top: 1em; } + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78117 ***</div> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h1>DEMOCRACY—<br> +<span class="smaller">FALSE OR TRUE?</span></h1> +<p class="p2 center larger tall">A Prologue<br> +and Dream</p> + +<p class="p4 center tall">BY<br> +SIR WILLIAM BLAKE RICHMOND<br> +<abbr title="Knight Commander">K.C.B.</abbr>, <abbr title="Royal Artilliary">R.A.</abbr></p> + +<div class="p4 linebox"> +<p class="center"><span class="justl">London</span>  -   -   - <span class="justr">Cecil Palmer</span></p> +</div><!--end linebox--> +<p class="center">Oakley House Bloomsbury Street WC1</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center"> +Printed at<br> +The Morland Press <abbr title="Limited">Ltd</abbr><br> +190 Ebury Street<br> +London<br> +<abbr title="Southwest one">SW1</abbr> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center"> +Dedicated to the honest working classes of<br> +England, rich and poor, by one of<br> +themselves +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="center"> +<span class="ls">FIRST</span><br> +EDITION<br> +<span class="ls2">1920</span><br> +<span class="ls1">COPY</span><br> +<span class="ls">RIGHT</span> +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="DEMOCRACY"> + DEMOCRACY + </h2> +</div> + +<h3>§ 1</h3> + +<p>It is a dangerous, but agreeable, game to play +the prophet, perhaps unwise; but while admitting +that, I am going to do so, not because I feel sure, +but because I want to sift my own thoughts. I may be +told “why not do so in private?” I’ve done that +already. Probably it does not matter what an old +man says, “He is a weather beaten block waiting for +axe or fire.” Whatever Ideals are mine, there are few +which are in agreement with the fashion of to-day. +Still I am capable of looking forward. I’ve looked +back a great deal in my life, and been a humble student +of “Cause and Effect.” Young enough to believe, +even though it lies distant from hence, in Utopia, and I +make bold to say so. I still believe in the human +race. I still believe in a capacity for repentance and +change of direction from bad to a better state of things. +It is likely that the desirable, according to my philosophy, +would be the undesirable to many, perhaps, just now, +most people! Nevertheless I mean to state it.</p> + +<p>William Morris made a delightful story, “News from +Nowhere”; he thought that Socialism would realise +his Ideal, perhaps it might; anyway Socialism is a +pleasanter word than Individualism, it suggests “<em>Thou</em>,” +the other cries “<em>I</em>.” <em>Thou</em> has not been in the air of +late. <em>I</em> has been so, and prominently; of this, more +presently!</p> + +<p>Some great and wise men have spent considerable +energies in building Utopia. Jesus Christ, Moses, Hamurrabbi, +and Mohammed, Plato, Sir Thomas More, and, +when I come to think of it, all leaders of thought have +played with the bricks of that entertaining place. I +imagine that the folk, who think at all, form a picture of +their preference, which includes the future with the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>present. Seemingly, the future has a habit of taking +care of itself; that is possibly a fatalistic fallacy! +What <em>will</em> be done in the future is in the making of the +present. The flower is forming out of sight. We have +no reason for knowing what kind of being the man of +the future, even of the near future, is to be. One +thing, however, is pretty certain; he will be as good +or evil, ignorant or learned, as he chooses. We might +reason together for a year as to the meaning of <em>Good</em> +and <em>Evil</em>. To clear the way I will state now that I +am a firm believer in Free Will, in as far as conduct +is concerned. We have to die; that is a physical law +as that we live is; but we can retard even the supreme +victor, death, by effort of Will. To wish ardently is +half way to obtaining.</p> + +<p>If we wish wickedly we are on the road to wickedness. +For those who thus wish I have no words but these, +“It is a bad habit, reverse it.” The foundation of +good is to wish <em>Well</em> and nobly, and Will strongly by +action. Belief in Free Will is an incentive to industry, +courage and stability. It includes <em>Hope</em>, the sister of +Faith and Charity and courage to proceed through the +thorny way of Life; Industry to make life happy; and +Stability to maintain effort however adverse circumstances +may be to it, and Hope to make us cling to the +dream and to realise it in Vision if not yet in fact, which +urged us at the outset. Did “Free Will,” in the abstract, +exist before we came hither and will it continue after +we go hence? I suggest that Free Will is eternal, that +God is All Free Will; when He breathed His spirit into +man’s body He imparted it to him. Plato’s sublime +allegory of the soul driving her chariot, directing her +horses antagonistic Eros and Himeros, proclaims the +potentiality and immortality of the Soul. If matter +does not die but is converted into other matter, can the +Soul, created before matter, die? What the conversion +of matter and Soul is, is beyond our thinking. But +what does concern us is how we use the soul during its +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>pilgrimage within the body! Its temporary home must +be split up to effect an escape for the eternal organism. +Perhaps death is really Life! Is it reasonable to believe +that a live thing contains a dead one? If it is not so +the soul was alive before it was environed by matter, +and continues to live after its temporary shell is broken +up and its particles are driven by Time hither and thither +in dust.</p> + +<p>The brain is matter, it is as wax, impressionable. +From the first instant of its creation to its last effort it +is receiving impressions. It dies as all matter dies. +But do the impressions die? Instinct and reason say +Nay. As far as they have exercised authority for good +or evil upon the individual they do so reflectively upon a +generation and progressively to succeeding generations. +Philosophy tells us there is no waste in nature. If there +is none as regards matter, is there likely to be as regards +the soul which has been pre-existing and will be post-existing? +If that is so and Free Will accepts and acts, +brain impressions are immortal! Did the soul enter +the body unasked? Does it leave unasked? A +child under reprimand said, pathetically “I did not ask +to be born,” that child was obviously alluding to her +inclination. The child inadvertently spoke as a fatalist; +it was a way of saying “I could not help what I did.” +Before the soul enters the body is it an individual or +only an atmosphere? Had it experience or not? +Where has it been before? Has the soul a memory? +These questions we all know have received answers +from metaphysical and philosophic minds.</p> + +<p>From the dawn of man’s intelligence, whenever that +was, until to-day, mankind has yearned for an answer. +A great philosopher and friend of mine, the Bishop of +Durham, Dr. Westcott, said to me “Now-a-days there +is nothing more difficult than to say bravely I <em>do not</em> +know.” Yes, I accept that modest statement from a +great man but I cannot help casting about for an answer! +The Truth is somewhere, perhaps in Utopia, even at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>bottom of a well. There is something on a different plane +than sophistry, poetical rhapsody. There is a great +deal to be said for emotion, it is our strongest instinct. +Reading Indian, Egyptian, Greek and Christian philosophy +are we not drawn into the atmosphere of Rhapsody +and Fancy? Even into a land of dreams if so we please +to call Ideals. However they may urge Reason against +Emotion, none of the great philosophers succeed in +doing it themselves. If they did they would fall quite +flat, because we who read are creatures of emotional +instincts. All the great philosophers, though they wrote +in prose, were poets, not by choice but necessity. Absolutely +materialistic philosophy is, happily, rare. It may +lay hold of certain minds for a time, but being contrary to +our higher instincts its grip is only partial, unsatisfying +and ephemeral. The great philosophers live in a land +of Dreams or Ideals, a land from which mankind is +always as substance. We want the dreams to come +True as children do after hearing a fairy story. Plato, +Confucius, Buddha, Aristotle, Paul, Kant, Hegel, Spinoza, +even Comte were idealists, builders of Utopia. They +tried their minds in a furnace of difficulties, their chief +effort was to reconcile emotion and reason.</p> + +<p>They tried to account for <em>Feeling</em> by Reason. However +far Reason may travel, there is a point where it is +arrested; speculation starts afresh. It is the poetry in +all mythology, not its probability, which is neither here +nor there, which touches the human heart; it is that +which detains us and holds us fast. It is the poetry of +Love that underlies the exquisite verse of Apulius. The +story of the Soul of Love it is. French novels, marvellously +clever, tell us the other side. I back Apulius’ +story of Cupid and Psyche to outlive most of them. It is +the abstract poetry of the wanderings of Osiris, not the +philosophy built upon it, that engrosses us. The myth +of the Delphic oracle, an inspired pastoral, clings when +the Delphic oracle is no more. Goats and sheep skipping +in rhapsody, their shepherd afterwards giving way to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span><em>mania</em> of prophecy, enchanted by the voice of Apollo +from a bubbling stream, have more to say for us than the +oracle said to the Greeks afterwards in a stately temple. +There is something instinctively true in the first emotion, +something untrue in the political use made of it by +priests and politicians. It is not the political use made +of Nature myths which we admire, but the imagination +of a highly endowed temperament from which they +sprang in the golden age of emotional invention, unrestrained +by reason, yet having at the root a <em>True Ideal</em>. +Psyche personated the soul! The poets have answered +our question more simply than the philosophers, who +have ploughed over the ground already sown with +beautiful flowers, and not seldom have sown weeds on it.</p> + +<p>The Churches have added nothing to the beauty of the +Christian story. In their efforts to codify it and convert +its simplicity into dogmatic and puzzling creeds, +upon acceptance of which or not depends the salvation +or damnation of the human race, they have not improved +or better interpreted the amazing mystery which threads +its way in and out among a tapestry of exquisite design. +In their effort to materialise the spiritual or Ethos of the +story they have often played havoc with it. As a +wondrous story full of humanity it has passed through +the fire of sophism, politics and Churchcraft, and remains +as it was—a product of simple poetical mystical +inspiration, and as such it will always touch the world. +Whoever wrote the first chapter of Genesis was a great +poet who has inspired multitudes, not by his science, +which was <em>nil</em>, but by a poetic truth incomparably +delightful and mythically <em>true</em>, It inspired M. Angelo, +Raphael, and a host of great artists. Milton expanded +and retold it in his immortal verse. It has supplied +inspiration to musicians, and scientific men have done +battle among themselves and over a Poem. Thus have +they done it honour. If in details what is related breaks +down under the cold light of science, what does that +matter? The soul survives. The allegory is complete, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span>the parable is untouched. If the mighty scenes portrayed +with simple dignity and unapproachable reserve +do not accord with the teachings of science, does that +matter? Not one whit! The story is the same, as +Homer’s tale of the Siege of Troy is the same, whoever +wrote it or when it was written. Whether the “Iliad” +was put together by travelling minstrels’ stories edited +by Homer or his invention has nothing to do with its +value as a poem. The history of the Jews, as related in +the Bible, is full of strange and direct dealings with +miraculous events which no science or sense can accept. +What does it matter that the historian made a blunder +in astronomy? It was not his business. We all know +that the sun did not stand still for Joshua. The historian +wrote for patriots, not for astronomers. To him +the earth was stationary and flat, the sun rising and +setting each day. Even now, with all our science, we +talk of the setting and rising of the sun because it looks +like that. To the people of that time the stars were as +lamps slung from the blue vault of heaven, not at all a +bad figure of the truth, they look so to us, and to-day +Arabs speak of them as “lamps.”</p> + + +<h3>§ 2</h3> + +<p>A new star, the story of the birth of Christ tells, +guided the kings to the manger, where lay a girl-mother +and her newborn child. She, one “of the people,” her +reverent custodian a carpenter. That was what they +went to see, and the new star was their guide. We need +not take that literally; it is far more beautiful symbolically, +figuratively, poetically: a new light was dawning +upon a worn out faith, a new symbol of the Spirit of +God arose, and not out of a palace or as a child of kings, +but from a manger, from a straw bed, from a girl of the +people and a craftsman. Not only did the three kings +come thither guided by light in their hearts, but simple +mountain shepherds too from their sheepfolds came. +An angel of the heavenly host, three Oriental kings, a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>few shepherds, a maid, a carpenter, and a little child +were the first actors in a great drama that has moved the +world for two thousand years.</p> + +<p>A shepherd, a flock of goats, a bubbling fountain form +the <i lang="la">dramatis personæ</i> of the myth of Apollo’s oracle at +Delphi. From that sprang the Pithea and the thousands +of votive statues for which Delphi became famous. Its +temples and universities, its priests and politicians +degraded the myth to a level of lies and deceit. “God +set a bow in the sky for a sign.” How does it affect the +promise that we know how the bow came there? We +remember the promise in the poem. We are not concerned +with the structure of the bow. Even now in these +materialist days wherever we see the rainbow we recall +God’s promise which, made or not made to mankind <em>in +fact</em>, is so told in the poem.</p> + +<p>Plato’s allegory in the “Phædrus” of the chariot of +the soul, the antagonistic steeds Love and Desire, Eros +and Himeros, struggling for supremacy, taken literally or +judged from a scientific aspect, is nonsense; as a parable +it is one of the truest, as a poem one of the most beautiful +in Greek literature.</p> + +<p>Apollo came over the mountains. The singer, minstrel, +and healer came, bringing music from Olympus. +We picture the Sun God lighting up the dense forests as +he journeyed through them on the crests and edge of a +mountain range. We can hear in our spiritual ears +sweet music from his golden lyre, see the rivers as the Sun +God passes over them, sparkling with amethyst diamond +and silver as the light from him, the giver of light, kisses +their surface. This is the figure of the Dorian invasion +that the poets, not the scientists, present!</p> + +<p>We still think of Apollo as the primitive author and +forerunner of all that Greece became. When the Persians +were on their way to invade Greece, Datis, the admiral +of the great fleet, steered clear of the island of Delos, the +birthplace of Apollo, for fear of vengeance from the God +of Light, whom they worshipped. Even to-day Delos is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>a <em>sacred island</em> where once a year Christian Mass is said +by Roman and Greek priests upon an ancient altar to +Apollo that I myself have seen. The myth of Apollo is +still alive in poetry if it is dead in prose! The imagination +still responds to it if reason does not accept it as a +literal truth.</p> + +<p>It surely was not the reverberation of the trumpets’ +blasts from the hosts of Joshua which overthrew the +walls of Jericho. Taken literally it is a ridiculous statement; +figuratively, a very impressive one. The power +of martial music is great; it stimulates courage, +quickens the pulse, and inspires mad valour, which it +urges until every obstacle in the way of a triumphant +army is overthrown: an impressive metaphor so taken, +but taken as a literal fact it is silly.</p> + +<p>The power of music as an influence to calm a people +maddened by lust of war is told by the poet. It is +related by a Greek historian that one hundred harpists +were sent to Sparta from Ionia to make gentle, seductive, +sedative music to a wild people who knew it not, +knowing only war. It prevailed! Their war instincts +slept under the calming influence of Apollo’s art.</p> + +<p>Strictly speaking, the event related may never have +happened. As a poetical presentation of the power of +music it is true! Was not the madness of Saul temporarily +abated by the harpist David? The foregoing +illustrations illustrate the range of art as a direct influence +upon men in diametrically opposite directions.</p> + +<p>That the Divine Spirit is very near, is even in our +midst, is related in Genesis. “God walked in the garden +in the cool of the day,” so sang the poet. The idea of +God as subject to heat or cold is almost comical. The +poet has anthropomorphised a mystery. To God he +gives the feelings of the thing he has created, that is the +way he presents God—God as very near to man and +sharing his comforts and discomforts. The primitive +poet made nonsense poetic sense.</p> + +<p>The nearness of the spiritual world has been well said +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>by a spiritual poet, “Heaven is only a foot above our +heads.” How near, after all, is the Ideal to the Real, +if we could only see; and yet we can feel it in our subconscious +state to be so.</p> + +<p>Now let us see for a moment how closely in touch +Divinity is with agricultural life, how much it was in +favour of it, how the gods were close to it, becoming +even a part of it, not only by the benediction of it, but +unison with it. Obviously, the gods thought well of +labour and the labourer both loved and feared the gods.</p> + +<p>As, to the Hebrew poet, God walked in the garden in +the cool of the day, so to the Greek, “Speak low in the +noontide, for then the gods sleep.” The mythical +instances presented are only a few of many which occur +in classical mythology. And be it remembered that we inherit +Greek mythology. It is far nearer than we are apt +to think to what are still primitive instincts, and specially +so to those who till and sow the land, follow the +plough, who guard our flocks, and being an out-of-door-living +people are (may be mysteriously) in touch with +mother Nature and the gods who watch over her.</p> + +<p>Æneas, the father of the Latin races (and as such not +so distantly related to the British) was the son of the +<em>herdsman</em> Anchises, whom Venus chose to be the father +of her son. The goddess chose her lover from the fields; +not from a palace. Goat-footed Pan, the god of all, is +the shepherds’ god, who initiated beautiful Paris, the +chosen judge of beauty. Paris, a shepherd in the Italian +upland, was the lover of beautiful Ænone, whom he +deserted for licentious Venus. He did himself no good +by casting off Ænone, his companion. Venus made +game of him! Demeter, one of the most ancient of the +circle of deities of Olympus, saved a child’s life from the +fire; he was Triptolemus, afterwards the inventor of +the plough. Demeter was the goddess of corn, the protectress +of agriculture. Her child Persephone, carried +away to the shades, where she was protected in winter, +rose from thither as the almond blossoms heralded the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>approach of spring. Persephone was goddess of springtime, +of its blossoms and flowers. The soul of the +Greeks is read in their mythology. It is read also in her +history. Athena was the protectress of Attica, and +specially of Athens. It was she that brought the olive +there, the origin of much wealth to the people, and it still +is. When Paul preached from the “Areopagus” he +faced the Acropolis of Athens, half a mile away. Over +the top of the wall which contained the sacred buildings +Paul saw the head of the golden spear of Athena gleaming +from the bronze statue by Phidias of the virgin +goddess, a beacon for ships as they passed the dangerous +coast of Sunium to make for the harbour of Phaleron. +Within that bronze effigy was a soul of the Athenian +people as the statue was a symbol of it. Paul was not +preaching anything new; he was concentrating a worship +whose expansion, having left much of original simplicity +behind, was giving way. Another primitive form of +belief was taking root in monotheism, in which both +shepherds and kings had taken a leading part. Apollo +the Healer was to give way before the child of a Nazarene +peasant and a humble carpenter. The <em>Cross</em> was +to be the future beacon for a while until a new faith shall +grow out of the old again.</p> + + +<h3>§ 3</h3> + +<p>Wisdom was symbolised by the owl, which crowned +the helmet of the goddess Wisdom worshipped by the +Greeks in the effigy of their protectress. The little +Athenian owl still haunts the Acropolis. I have seen +and heard it often there, and never without a thrill. Its +plaintive cry proclaims the eternity of things and the +never-changing voice of nature. As the owl hoots there +so sings our nightingale in England’s woods. We too are +reminded of the immortality of the soul of nature, +perhaps also of the soul within us, and of its importance +as the only part we can call immortal. Nearer to God +are the songs of birds, the voices of the winds, even the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>wild utterances of beasts of the forest than the shrieks +of machinery of which industrialism is so proud. Yes! +All human makings are subject to destruction. The +bronze Athena has gone. The golden and ivory statue +of Athena is gone with the effigy of the owl. The shell +has been broken, its parts are scattered, but the primitive +faith within them lives although it has undergone +change. Athens is not dead, saved from the brutal +Turk she may become regenerate, she may again shine as a +light to Europe, but if not that exactly, the light she +shed may fix upon another city and shine there, so +strange and mysterious are the comings and goings of +nations! Recent discovery in Crete goes far to prove +some fountain-head of truth in every ancient myth. +Old Minos speaks! The myth of Theseus and the +Minotaur is explained. The labyrinth he made is there +now, and a Cretan civilization of 4,000 years +ago has been revealed, and what a Civilisation! a very +noble art going hand in hand with “modern” economies +and created in a primitive age, as we call it. Knossos +was well drained by drainpipes almost the same as would +be turned out by a “company” to-day. Alas, the +multitudes of inscriptions discovered in Crete have not +yet been read. A key to the script has not yet been +found. It may appear at any moment, and then who +shall say what marvels it may tell us! Our much-praised +civilisation may be found to be but a feeble echo +of a past one. We are mighty clever, we moderns, not +seldom in making unpleasant discoveries and using useful +ones to the annoyance of many and destruction of better +things. We have electric light, great scientists have +given it us, but the keenest witted have not yet discovered +how the tombs of the kings in Egypt were lit. +We know that neither oil or tallow provided light in +those dark miles of caves and chamber walls covered +with pictures in delicate relief and exquisitely coloured.</p> + +<p>Fresh as the day they were finished, these monuments +to the skill, industry and genius of Egyptian craftsmen +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>4,000 years ago stand as an example to us moderns, who +at present show no signs of handing their genius down +even to a dozen generations. Had they electric light? +It is quite possible. It is evident whatever artificial +light they used <em>was smokeless</em>, because the ceiling and +walls are not discoloured. What was the meaning of all +this superb beauty of labour and craftsmanship? It +was not to gain applause, because after years of labour +each tomb was hermetically sealed and a stone was +placed at the entrance. Their labour was an expression +of their noble religion. Their respect for the great dead +who must find silence in their tombs while their souls +reached higher and higher levels in their spiritual kingdom +till such time as, purified, they were to be one in the +soul of Osiris. These people worked for a great Ideal, for +the Utopia they ever held in view, <em>without advertisement</em>, +probably with little reward. To them the soul grew +always in dignity and beauty, visiting the body from +time to time in silence.</p> + +<p><em>Silence</em> is the note struck by the Great Pyramids of Geza. +A national religion, profoundly spiritual, which in the +service it demanded from Art and Craftsmanship must <span class="allsmcap">BE +PERFECT</span>. Their art and craftsmanship tell us this. They +were content to give the best only. They worshipped the +Great Spirit by matter. They made their arts to sing of +the noble elevation of the soul from sphere to sphere till +it became perfected. Therein is the <em>soul</em> of the ancient +Egyptians, which they imparted to the Greeks, and which +Moses learned and tried to hand on to the Hebrews. We +modern workmen will do well to ponder on these things +awhile, and to take many a lesson from “the poor +pagans.” Poor pagans? Rather were they a most +enlightened people, with whom, by comparison, we +moderns are barbarians. They may have had all, or at +least the greater part of what science has given to us. +It is an ignorant cry that calls them Poor Pagans. +There was more soul in ancient Egypt than in Europe +to-day! We worship matter, very often very nasty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>matter, so long as it provides wealth which we are not +yet civilised enough to know how to use. What England +needs is a little <em>more</em> soul, not less! A great deal +more faith, a great deal more belief in the dignity of +labour, a great deal more will to choose the best and +discard the worst, a higher Ideal of honour, and a +deeper sense of responsibility to after-coming generations. +Much more widespread and intensified determination to +leave behind us things so noble that they may bear +some comparison with the labour of the poor Pagan! +The spirit of which I write was <em>here</em> once. We need +not cross the Channel to find it. Wiltshire contains +it. The soul of our ancestors is in the very stones +of the great monoliths of Stonehenge, the primitive +British temple to the sun, which, alas, we do not worship +but wipe out in material progress of crude industrialism.</p> + + +<h3>§ 4</h3> + +<p>Our primitive ancestors were driven by an ardent +worship of the Power within the Sun. Like the +Greeks they must set up a great temple to the Giver +of Life, who made their crops ripen, who was to them +an ocular vision of an unravelled mystery, the Prime +Author of All! of Him who holds our destinies, our life +and death in the palm of His hand! That is what +urged them. No commercial spirit came between +them and a great Ideal for which to labour and make +manifest.</p> + +<p>They fetched huge monoliths from Normandy. Frail +crafts bore them over the rough sea to the shore of +England, whence they were dragged to their destination. +Do we think that such a tremendous, so dangerous +an enterprise as this, was carried out under no +higher motive than an industrial company?</p> + +<p>There probably was some Oriental blood in this ancient +folk of England. All Art, indeed all Science, had its +birth place in the land of the “Rising Sun.” Like the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>Chaldeans, the race that made Stonehenge were astronomers. +Upon a certain morning and at a certain hour of +the year they knew the rising sun would hit a certain +spot. They knew the exact direction of the ray that +would do so. There they placed their altar to the God +of Light, the All Beneficent One! We know now that +some centuries before the Roman conquest of England +the south of the island was highly civilised, but who by +is not clear. They must have been a highly artistic +people, possibly Kelts, possibly a race which had been +or was in touch with Mykene, because the metal work +that has survived time partakes of the character of both +Keltic and Mycenian craftsmanship. Whoever they +were, they brought art to savage islanders; hence they +sowed the seeds of their ideals and of perfect craftsmanship, +to fructify in those days of England’s greatness +before the weed of Industrialism and the darkness it +shed over the country had become a poisonous fetish. +Of that grim subject more presently. The Mithra myth +came here from the East and nearly won as a religion of +blood sacrifice. But a stronger prevailed—the first +created thing, Love. The Jews and Romans crucified +Jesus Christ. They thought thus to obliterate His +teaching, to wipe out the Ideal He taught, the Utopia +He would erect—a kingdom of the soul that He would +revive in the materialistic Roman decay. They did kill +His body, but His immortal soul survives. They killed +Him as King of the Jews, but left Him living as Monarch +of the human race. The eggshell may be broken without +killing the embryo within it. Love, pure love, so sought +for in religions, so nobly conceived by the “poor pagan” +Socrates, took hold of the hearts of primitive Christians, +as the Delphic myth of Apollo of the primitive Greeks, +and God’s forgiveness of man’s rashness and brutality +when He set the bow in the sky as a sign of mercy, not +only to Hebrews but the whole world. Salvation by +blood sacrifice is a crude idea; Salvation through Love is +a noble one.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></p> + + +<h3>§ 5</h3> + +<p>The Germans in the late war thought to destroy +the soul of France by battering down the precious +casket whose every stone was a living symbol of her +chivalrous, kingly history. Brute force, employing +every engine of industrialism, every energy of materialistic +science, was to prevail. The noblest craftsmanship +employed in the flowering time of French history and for +generations, being the expression of a sensitive people +deeply attached to Beauty, was shivered to atoms +recklessly and triumphantly by the cannon of a hypocrite +nation which claimed the first place in the history of the +modern world. If Matter could ever overcome Soul, Germany +would have succeeded; Germany would have +broken the pride of Flemish commerce and her traditions +as an organiser of it by the destruction of Ypres. The +priceless books in Louvain, written and illuminated by +pious scholars and patient craftsmen, the brutes burnt or +stole with as ignorant a rapacity as a herd of monkeys. +Again, they sought to destroy the soul of France by +turning thousands of acres of productive country and +fruit gardens so essentially a vital part of the commerce +of France, making a fruitful land a desert. They tried +(but in vain) to kill the soul of France by subjecting +villagers, men, women and children to torture; like +wild beasts to smash the modesty of pure women, even +those dedicated to spiritual lives; then, the lust satisfied, +they slaughtered them.</p> + +<p>The clumsy minded Teuton misjudged its prey. +They judge according to their own low standard of +honour; force, brute force, as against strength of +character, chivalry and patriotism: a standard fit +only to be carried in the ranks of savages, but this +time carried under the disguise of “Kultur,” a word +which now is a stigma, one which includes all that is +most vile and reprehensible in a people who employed +fine natural faculties to invent every possible device for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>the destruction of life. Not a stone did Germany’s +scientific men leave unturned to discover the earth’s +hidden sources of destructive elements. They abused +their fine faculties, they perverted their invention, +Industrialism ran riot. Scientific force was used in full +measure by the Germans for annihilation. The Emperor—the +worst of the horde of savages—gave his encouragement +to every bestial act committed by his depraved +people. If such depravity was to succeed or could succeed, +Germany would have done so. First in science, +first in organisation, she seemed invincible. Her Industrialism +was perfected, her system organised with the +precision of clockwork. If <em>materialism</em> at the expense +of every other consideration can succeed, Germany +would have done so. But no! A nation may kill its +own soul, but God will not permit it to kill another. It +is indeed a lesson. Germany had killed its soul. It had +set up Moloch where God had been. Iron, steel, explosives, +every poison upon the Pharmacy List, every evil +pulsation of the heart were German weapons. The +countries she laid waste will revive, their soul has been +strengthened by tribulation, and the would-be conqueror +will lick the dust for a century. France will grow +strong again, she will recultivate her fields and orchards, +and rebuild her villages, towns and churches.</p> + + +<h3>§ 6</h3> + +<p>In their vulgar vanity the Germans said: “What +would matter the destruction of Rheims Cathedral, of +Ypres Town Hall, of Laon, indeed, of all that the world +esteems as Art in France? We, the only nation of +Kultur, can build better. What does the destruction of +the library of Louvain matter? We can create a fresh +one; anyhow, we can steal all the best books therefrom.” +Poor deluded people! A people without taste, +possessed of no artistic genius, devoid of the sense of +beauty! All the cathedrals in Germany put together +are not worth one bay of Chartres, one tower of Rheims, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>or one arcade of Ypres Town Hall. German architecture +is as hard as steel, as unemotional as iron, and, like +her people, dull and soulless. Art is the mirror of a +nation. German Art at its best is brutal as her people +have been. The nineteenth century Minotaurs are in +a direct line from the hordes of barbarians who laid Italy +waste, who burned Rome, and spread horrors wherever +their footsteps trod. William II. hates England more +than France. As long as England holds the sea Germany +cannot master the world. After France, England’s +turn would have come had German materialism +succeeded.</p> + + +<h3>§ 7</h3> + +<p>Think of it, craftsmen and builders, and all of us +who value the soul of England! Think of it, farmers, +agricultural labourers, and all who live on and by the +land! Your cities would be desolate wastes, your +land poisoned, your women ravished, your children +spiked by bayonet thrusts, your old men and women shot +or tortured. That is what would have happened had +Germany’s materialism prevailed! Having done this, +would the soul of England been slain. No!! No +conqueror ever killed the soul of a country conquered. +A country commits suicide, that’s the way its soul is +killed, and that is the way Germany destroyed herself.</p> + +<p>A country may poison itself, degrade itself by self-indulgence +and greed to the lowest level; it may kill in +itself every good for which it has been favoured, and so +kill its soul; but slain by a foreign power—never! The +thought of what might have happened to us, and which +was nearer happening than many of us will allow, should +set us thinking of England’s mighty past. Setting the +success of her commerce aside, do we quite value at their +true value the legacy of riches which our ancestors have +bequeathed? Do we esteem as we should the builders +of our cathedrals, the <em>unrivalled</em> beauty of the English +parish and village church? Do we esteem at their due +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>English craftsmen (the first in the world) and what noble +work they left us? Do we value the great creative +minds of our predecessors? I sometimes wonder if we +are forgetting the very things which illustrate the beauty +of the English soul in a rush after materialism, which +seems to pay a momentary interest. Are we travelling, +or have we been travelling along a road which has proved +the road to ruin of Germany? I think sometimes we have +been. Are we permitting Industrialism to kill our souls? +I am not sure we are not! But more of that presently. +What saved England in the four years of her great danger +and trial? Her Government did not. It was not +officialdom that prevented our ruin, it was that the heart +of England was still sound, notwithstanding grievous +temptations to break it. Notwithstanding false doctrines +of Equality taught by ignorant extremists, our +workmen still saw straight according to their ancient +traditions as yet unbroken, as yet deaf to “catch +words” from noisy rhetoric out of the mouths of ignorant +and mischievous leaders inflated by vanity and rendered +blind by egotism and desire for power over a more +ignorant but clear-thinking workman.</p> + + +<h3>§ 8</h3> + +<p>The English workman is still “<i lang="fr">au cœur</i>” <em>honest</em>; he cannot +help it; tradition of honesty flows in his veins still. If he <em>is</em> +ignorant, the direction of his instincts is honest. He was +the best and most highly respected workman in Europe; +other nations envied him. An English cabinet, an English +knife, English cloth, English needlework were the envy +of every foreigner. Why was the praise of English +workmanship so highly praised and prized by other +nations? Because her workmen were the most honest +and skilled in Europe. I say “were.” Are they so +still? No! But they may again become so if they are +true to their noble tradition and to themselves, and no +longer permit evil counsel to draw them away by +specious and plausible promises.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span></p> + +<p>The noble instincts of the English craftsman I am old +enough to remember. Once, and not so long ago, +his work was his conscience, he believed in it and +did it with all his might. It was a habit of mind +which ruled him and made him <em>free</em>. Why do I write +“free”? Because being an honest workman, he did +not fear competition. He had an ideal, which was to +give the best labour for a good wage. He was simple, he +took pride in his work. He had his Utopia, which was to +labour to the enth of his power to do honour to himself, +his family and country. Good work was encouraged +then and commanded the market of the world! Economically, +irrespective of honour, the workman was +right. The best work will always command the best +market in the long run. Honesty was the motto on the +standard of the Englishman. He had an image in his +mind and up to it he strove to arrive. He liked perfection +and strove to reach it. In that sense he was an artist +plus craftsman, an imaginative worker distinct from a +machine. To have told a bricklayer he must only lay +a given number of bricks a day, or that doing bad work +was good for all-round trade, would have been to insult +him. So his work had a soul in it; the pleasure he took +in its doing was reflected. It was a pleasure to regard +it. I remember hundreds of workmen like that when I +was a boy, men with whom one could make friends, in +whom there was good fellowship and no mistrust. There +was a bond of union. We were workmen; he and I were +only differentiated by the nature of Trade; he of the +plough, the shovel, the saw or what not, I of the pencil, +brush or scalpel, that was all.</p> + +<p>We had the same soul and sense of honour, he to drive +a straight furrow, dig a good trench, I to do a good +drawing or picture. My fellow-workmen, if they think +for themselves, and they are quite capable to do that, +will recognise that to preach “equality” is one thing; +it sounds attractive; it is, in fact, a mare’s nest, a will-o’-the-wisp; +it is unreachable, in the first place; in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>second, if it were reached, to-morrow would provide +<em>inequality</em>. Were the scales of Fate adjusted every morning, +in the evening they would be unbalanced. If it +were possible to attain equality it would ruin the world; +it would paralyse effort; it would reduce mankind to a +system of self-indulgence, lassitude, and, finally, to imbecility. +Giving up that word as hopeless, we will retain +one of the popular triad—“Liberty,” as including +“Fraternity.” Yet while we urge “liberty” we must +beware of its caricature, “licence,” the arch-enemy of +Fraternity and Liberty. Licence is, in fact, the +grossest form of tyranny. We might, indeed, exclude +the term “liberty,” which includes Fraternity, which +excludes Licence.</p> + + +<h3>§ 9</h3> + +<p>And now we come to an important point of our +argument. Labour has permitted itself to become a +slave. Individual workers are not <span class="allsmcap">FREE</span>. They have +given their souls, or shall we say their freedom, to +men of their own class, who, having a smattering of +education, assume power as their leaders. Anyway, so +they began, but time has shown them more <em>drivers</em> than +leaders. Trade union leaders make a show of fraternity. +One asks, for information: Is coercion a sign of it any +more than a sign of liberty? Obedience to national +law is one thing, to class law is another. Having gone +far, class leaders assume the right to absorb capital, <i>i.e.</i>, +to hand it over to Labour. Were that to arrive would +the nation as a whole be in a better way? Surely the +same difficulty would occur which distresses advanced +democrats. Capital would be still a bugbear to extremists, +but in the hands of a class that has had no +experience of its use, that has no traditions of expenditure. +In the period of exercise to gain some experience +capital would be wasted; it might be gambled away or +spent in hours of idle self-indulgence. Where, then, +would Labour be? Doubtless starving. Ignorant but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>ambitious leaders, to please their followers whom they +have coerced, would advocate a purely class and selfish +policy which might lead to civil war, of all wars the one +which is certainly soul-killing. When brothers fall out +and set to kill each other, where is Fraternity, where +is the human family, private as well as public, concentrated +or extended? It is lost! A nation is but a +family on an enlarged scale.</p> + +<p>In the concluding years of the 18th century France +groaned under civil war, and came very near ruin. +What followed upon the French Revolution? Autocratic +government under Napoleon! It was the only +way out of a grievous mess of anarchy, rapine and +chaos. Most of the authors of the Revolution +sooner or later suffered as they had made others suffer, +under the guillotine. The most prominent agitators fell +as victims to their cruelties and misdeeds. The people +sacrificed those who were once their adored leaders. They +suffered the death penalty from the very people that had +inflamed the party of disorder. Anarchy never succeeds. +Its leaders always suffer in the end, and by the +hands of their dupes whom they pretended to benefit; +justice invariably follows injustice; that is a law as +certain as that to-morrow succeeds to-day.</p> + + +<h3>§ 10</h3> + +<p>If the French Revolution does not teach us the inevitable +punishment for anarchy, Russia’s <i lang="fr">débâcle</i> +surely should. Militarism has only changed places +there. Having been in the hands of one party, it is now +in another. Tyranny has changed places, that is all! +Educated men, that is to say, men who have studied +cause and effect through the teaching of past history, +know that certain results follow action. That is to say, +situations change places. The student of history, like a +chess player, is aware that the move of a pawn may be +the turning-point in a game. Anarchy is a monster that +breeds quickly; her whelps carry the poison of rabies +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>which, after infecting a small circle, increases by leaps +and bounds. When it has become unmanageable, when +men’s passions have led them out of the bounds of reason, +militarism must be resorted to. When reason and +peaceful persuasion cease to avail, powder and shot have +to be used, and sometimes unmercifully! Uneducated +men are led by passion, educated by reason. Are we +sure that anarchy is not being bred here? If so, has it +shown itself? Trades unions were useful in times past, +they sought for justice, they achieved something, and up +to a point it was good. Like many movements beginning +well and founded upon justice, it has overstepped the +mark. That which began justly is ending unjustly. +Peaceful order has grown to tyranny. Is it consonant +with the English character to be told how much or how +little our workman may labour? The workmen of +England who have given themselves over to the tyranny +of trades unions are rendered slaves to them.</p> + +<p>Leaders of trade unions encourage dishonesty, but that +is not all, they encourage a small output when a large +one is an absolute necessity if England is to retain her +place as a leading country in Europe. An “output” +scrapped will mean treasure to Germany. If English +labour declines, German labour will gain ascendancy +here; that is certain. After the financial strain to +which England has been subjected by the war, increased +production is imperative. Strikes arrest production, +and thus are harmful to the whole community. If they +are permitted <i>ad lib.</i>, what will be the result? Each +strike costs millions to trade. What must the end be? +Bankruptcy of the nation! Who will suffer? Labour +will suffer first, because if capital is unobtainable labour +cannot be paid for.</p> + + +<h3>§ 11</h3> + +<p>If wages reach an extravagant sum, capital will not +find the money to pay them. Again, who then will +suffer? Labour, of course. These are truisms, but, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>being so, have they reached the ears and minds of +Labour? Trades union leaders keep from the sheep +they drive the knowledge of the butcher’s knife; they +only tell their dupes what they (ignorant of the first laws +of political economy) wish to hear. They flatter them +with the hope that capital will finally be in their hands, +that they are to govern the country, which is only to +move while it drags the chariot of Labour. Our workmen +are not prepared to rule, they are not mentally +equipped to do so; their outlook, at present, is far too +narrow. They see in government good only when it +legislates for the advantage of their class, forgetting that +there are other and equally important classes to be considered. +And when speaking of Labour there is only one +which appears to dominate in their minds, Industrialism +as separate from Agriculture. The spread of Industrialism +has pushed Agriculture aside; it has done even +more, it has destroyed it in many parts of England. +Agriculture must take precedence of Industrialism if we +are to live on our own produce. The war ought to have +taught us that, but has it? I have lived long enough to +have seen the agriculture of our dear country productive +and the people, relatively to now, content; when squalor +was a far rarer spectacle than now. In great cities, alas, +it must always be, for cities are artificial monstrosities +where both wealth and poverty thrive in extremes, +where idlers congregate and vice expands. But in +country towns of reasonable dimensions and villages +squalor had no abiding place when agriculture was the +employment of the majority before the Juggernaut of +Industrialism had begun its disastrous progress. There +was work for all on the land.</p> + + +<h3>§ 12</h3> + +<p>I remember the arrival of a threshing machine into +“the street” of one of the most attractive villages in +Kent, Otford. It was greeted with stones; the people +did not want the noisy, smoking monster which was to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>take pleasant and healthy labour from so many. And +they were right! The flail no longer threshes, reapers no +longer reap, the sickle and scythe are rarely seen in the +fields now, the plough is rarely drawn by oxen and horses. +Machinery does it all now, and hundreds of thousands of +agricultural labourers have had their work grabbed +from them. Who can wonder, then, that Agriculture is +understocked while Industrialism is overstocked? Hundreds +of miles of corn-growing land are in disuse, waste +land, once glowing with golden corn; a land of ashes +and unproductive has taken its place. Where orchards +stretched for miles once, flowering and fruiting abundantly, +hideous factories have risen, belching out +foul smoke destructive to man, beasts and vegetation. +Where once copses, even small forests were, now a few +skeletons, black and blasted, remind us of the beauty +that <em>was</em> and the devastation that <em>is</em>. Rivers and lakes +which once sparkled with clean water under a bright sun, +whose pools were filled with salmon and trout, have +become little better than sewers. A greasy scum +thickens the once glittering surface, and not a fish can +live in its natural element, and, moreover, the water is +poisoned, so we may not drink it. The spread of Industrialism +means the spread of poison—poisoned land, +water, and air, which, if not checked now, will cause +serious deterioration of the health of England. When +England was mainly agricultural, rosy-cheeked maidens +and well-bronzed youths attested a healthy, vigorous +life. Now, under Industrialism, the girls and youths are +pale, sad-looking, and unhealthy. Why? Agricultural +life is <em>natural</em>, industrial life is <em>artificial</em>! Of what use is +money to a nation deprived of vigour and health? +Rather is it an incubus than an incentive to real progress. +Ill-health means idleness, slackness and inefficiency. +Nothing can compensate for its departure.</p> + +<p>But it is not the body only that suffers; it is the soul +of the nation that is in danger. Discontent is caused by +mental distress, unsatisfied and perfectly justified longings +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>which are inherited or spontaneous are blunted. Be +the purse full of gold, be every physical sense gratified +thereby, the hunger of the soul for more enlightenment, +for more joy, for higher enterprise will continue, and the +whole being, even that part which is physical, will suffer. +The atmosphere of factory life is bleaching bodies and +souls wherever it is in the ascendant; the people become +hollow-cheeked, their manners surly, their wits atrophied. +They are not <em>free</em>, they are slaves to Plutus. So sensitive +to environment is the mind of man, even at the simplest +and least initiated, that it grows in harmony with its +employment. In constant touch with machinery a man +becomes like his machine! Iron enters in his soul. He +becomes a kind of bolt or screw, a wedge or wheel. No +wages, however high, can compensate for what industrial +life has robbed. The greater cities and towns hardly +know of the fields of Enna or the paradise that God made. +They think, if they think at all, that the filthy air they +breathe, the hideous smoke under whose canopy they +exist but don’t live, is “alright,” and that there is +nothing else.</p> + +<p>And yet somehow, although perhaps they cannot define +it, <em>they feel a want</em>, a yearning for something better, +and it is that which makes their souls discontented, +hard, and unsympathetic. Their souls are caged as +the soaring eagle is caged in a menagerie. Cinders, +refuse, evil smells, foul air; instead of flowers, the life-giving sun, pure air, and sweet scents of spring. +God made these, the descendants of Tubal Cain made +the others. Their birthright has been seized by jerry +builders, exploiting companies, who care just about as +much for the people as a butcher cares for the animal +whose throat he is about to cut. To keep the industrial +slave in a good humour he is treated to unhealthy excitement +of cinema shows, which to “catch on” must +partake of the Newgate Calendar, or if any Art is presented +to him it must be “<em>of his level</em>.” Of his level?</p> + +<p>Is that the attitude to be assumed by those who should +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>know better? It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to kill +a soul, but it can be wounded and degraded till it is +seemingly dead, has lost all power of progression, and, +like a wingless bird, can only creep on the earth. And +that is what an artificial life does, first to an individual, +then, in time, to a whole nation.</p> + + +<h3>§ 13</h3> + +<p>It is dangerous to gamble with instinct. It is impossible +to wholly destroy man’s instinct, which is essentially +as well as hereditarily opposed to the artificial life of +Industrialism. He <em>is</em> an outdoor animal, he scratches +the earth instinctively. It may be through ignorance, +but so it is; he will stick a dead shrub in the ground, +thinking it will grow. Kill Agriculture and in its place +erect Industrialism, and you have killed all that is best, +indeed all that really matters in the human race!</p> + +<p>Before the war what were called civilised countries, +our own included, had reached a point of artificial living +as disastrous to them as it had been to Rome and Byzantium +in their decadence. We, the English, were growing +idle, neglecting agriculture, buying from foreign markets +instead of creating our own. We were ceasing to be a +productive nation. Whatever we could borrow we +borrowed. We propped up Germany, who grew rich out +of our lack of foresight and imagination. Ideals were +laughed at and Plutus was the god worshipped; never +mind how wealth was gotten or spent, wealth was all in +all. Education, notwithstanding half-hearted and ill-digested +Bills passed through Parliament, was neglected +save in so far as it might be money-providing. It is +out of such a degenerating state of things that we must +be dragged if we cannot be drawn. Artificial life as +made by Industrialism must be rectified if England is to +make intellectual progress and take again the honourable +and respected place she held. What are we making +to show to generations to come? Nothing as compared +to what the past has left for us! A few +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>iron and steel bridges which time will destroy, a few +exceedingly hideous railway stations, a great many +railway tracks, a vast amount of “rolling stock,” which +will presently be of the value of scrap iron.</p> + +<p>Herds of motor cars and new flights of aeroplanes; +monstrous ironclads which are no sooner completed +than they become out of date; a partial and growing +destruction of agriculture; and, in the meantime, +necessary expenses of even a rigid economist are trebled, +if not more, and wages rise to a point where it seems +unlikely that resources will be able to meet them, +profiteering by tradesmen has become the habit. If this +be so, instead of leaving on our tracks a well-organised +road, we shall leave debts and a desert. Shall England +be turned into an ash heap? If so, the reason for doing +so must be better explained than hitherto.</p> + + +<h3>§ 14</h3> + +<p>Science and industry misapplied may prove to be a +curse! They <em>are</em> misapplied when used for purposes of +destruction. What folly it is when it is regarded coolly, +rationally and with common sense! Millions upon +millions of money are wasted, which, if spent in the construction +of national intellectual stability, upon education +and all that education would provide, would ennoble +the nation. The great war, made by politicians, by +egoists, has been the most devastating in the history of +mankind. Science has been applied to it with acrid +avidity. Without the misapplication of scientific inventions +the disasters caused by the war would have been +impossible. Science wrongly applied, facilities invented +as aids to peaceful transport and international as well as +national contact abused, have worked havoc. The +age of iron and steel, of cheap and accessible fuel, +coal and oils, of easy communication between races +instinctively and by tradition antagonistic, has said +its say in something very near the destruction of Europe. +Every discovery made to be used to promote prosperity +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>and peace has been used for the destruction of both. +Terrible things science has done during the last five +years. Without railways, without motors, without +factories, without aeroplanes, without chemistry, each +in its way desirable, if used for construction, the great +war would have been impossible; impossible as it +has been enacted. Wars will be as long as man remains +foolish. As yet it appears the folly of men is more +potent than their wisdom. They <em>invent</em> for peace, they +<em>use</em> for war. What a contradiction this implies! They +are answerable for this misapplication of science.</p> + + +<h3>§ 15</h3> + +<p>When wisdom is uppermost war will cease. Governments +will not influence one way or another when the +democracy is educated and so has become wise, when +it declines to use genius in an evil direction, when, +having learnt to use well and for national good the +facilities for it which inventive genius has provided, +democracy will see straight. Governments are at a discount +just now. Looking over the world as it is at this +moment it is difficult, perhaps impossible, so far to find +one which is stable or wise. Wisdom must be born out +of the people. Wisdom can only be gained by education, +which means discrimination. The free will of a people +can only serve for good when it is guided by <em>right</em>, not +<em>wrong</em>, when people have been so mentally trained as to +be able to discriminate between ephemeral and permanent +welfare. If democracy is not to be a deadly +failure and a deadly curse the people must retain their +soul, their honesty, their good fellowship established +upon intellectual more than emotional fellowship.</p> + +<p>If good is to prevail over evil the working class, the +noblest of England’s product in the past, must be led +into the path which leads to Freedom by a sense of duty +owing to the whole community which it is bound to be +called upon to exercise, and to the full, in the future. +It is for “the People” to make the final choice upon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>which the future of England depends—peace and prosperity +or war and anarchy! When the people are +educated to see straight agitators may roar themselves +hoarse, may tell lies under cover of specious argument, +but they will not prevail.</p> + + +<h3>§ 16</h3> + +<p>Agitators have never led a country as a whole, they +have infected the less enlightened members of it with +discontent, perhaps with imitable frenzy, but never have +they turned the course of the stream of progress permanently.</p> + +<p>Agitators ruffle the surface of the waters as little boys +blow upon it, thinking they are creating a storm, which, +however, is only severe enough to upset toy ships; only +so far are they really dangerous. Agitators may roar +against capitalists, but they cannot do without them; +indeed, their Utopia would be to become capitalists. +When capital says, “I will not be wasted,” and Labour +says, “My work shall not be destroyed because it is part +of my best self which I reverence,” we shall be on the +high road to national and international peace.</p> + + +<h3>§ 17</h3> + +<p>Politicians may dabble in “Leagues” (we all know +what they mean, to be broken when conditions appear +which seem against their continuity). Statesmen may +try to make up for previous mistakes by twisting arguments +to suit new methods, but as long as it does not +come right home to the people that war and internal +dissension spells destruction to Labour as to Capital, in +the long run war, within and without, is certain to occur +again. And the next war! Every effort made by +science, plus the experience of the last five years, will be +used to destroy that which it set out to preserve.</p> + +<p>The more splendid the services of science the more +terrible will, and must be their misapplication. Nothing +that has happened in Europe, Russia or the East, however +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>cruel and terrible it has been, will compare with the +horrors of the next war. Cities, entire districts, fleets +and armies will cease to exist in moments, not even in +days. God’s sky will be full of destroying agents against +which every defence will be in vain. We are only out +of the last great war by the skin of our teeth. Shall we +profit by the lessons it has offered or shall we forget? +That is the question.</p> + + +<h3>§ 18</h3> + +<p>Shall we draw closer together as a people whose +motto is “Fraternity,” or drift apart? We can draw +closer if we choose and each one of us resolves to do +“the utmost for the highest.” Civil dissension can be as +morally destructive as military rule. It sets every +instrument of the orchestra out of tune; it creates a +hideous discord and chaos which can only be resolved +by the greatest enemy to democracy—a military Government. +The very thing we have been fighting to expel from +Germany may have to be enacted here in free England if +anarchical methods prevail, and there is danger (we +do not say probability) that they may if the heart of the +country becomes <em>rotten</em>. The heart of the country is +Labour, but labour not selfishly, graspingly, and tyrannically +used, but as the bulwark of protection to the +community in part and as a whole. If Labour is to +take a prominent part in the affairs of the country, in +legislation, for example, its votaries <em>must be educated</em>; +at present they are not, and therefore had they the +power they seek or that is demanded for them by +agitators who are only less ignorant than they, it is +impossible to gauge the difficulties and dangers into +which the country would be plunged. Before Labour is +fit to govern it must learn how to use leisure. The +shorter the hours of labour the more imperative will +become education. Are our working men prepared to +use the leisure they demand for the good of the community +or only to please their, as yet, primitive instincts? +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>From a class which is idle or mischievous during leisure +hours we can expect no wisdom, and without wisdom no +man can rule himself, much less his fellows. From rulers +we expect wide wisdom, not class prejudice. The former +is impossible, the latter certain, without education.</p> + +<p>One hears an answer to the assertion we have made: +“Give us power and see how we use it!” That is all +very well, but before power is added to that already in +possession we must be sure that the best is being made +of what has been already attained. If the workmen of +England or of any other country are to hold offices of +State in which ripe judgment, experience and knowledge +of the world, of the complications to which it has been +subjected from the earliest times, are required, they must +have a very different Utopia in the back of their minds to +that which is evident as yet. They will have to learn that +to legislate entirely in the interests of Labour (and that +is what Labour would do now) would be tantamount to +the ultimate destruction of the very thing they wish to +promote—the wealth of Labour as opposed to that of +the capitalist. Before power, and such power, is granted +to a class which has had no experience of its exercise we +must be certain that their previous use of their higher +energies has justified their demands, namely, that they +have fulfilled the demands which their work should have +made, well and honestly. First of all, the workman +must have given his best work to his employer, and, +having done that as the first duty to his neighbour and +to himself as an honourable man, he must have proved +by the good use of his hours of leisure that he is in +earnest, that he desires not only to become a <em>decent</em> +citizen but a <em>capable</em> one.</p> + +<p>Now, the best instructed of us and the most intellectually +endowed know by experience how difficult it is to +so train the mind to be ready and prompt to employ +leisure to the best advantage, that is to say, in such a +manner that is useful and ennobling, not detrimental and +decadent! This is a matter which hinges on principle as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>well as choice. Industry is engendered by effort as well +as by theory. If a man is industrious he has trained +himself to be so by acting upon a theory which he has +found to be advantageous. Advanced democrats will tell +us: “You have no right to interfere with the hours of +leisure of a citizen. If he elects to get drunk, why not? If +he gambles, why not? If he prefers dog fighting and the +prize ring to improving his mind; if he prefers to beat his +wife to treating her decently, why not? She does not mind +it. If he prefers to spend his money in travelling about to +see football matches to taking his earnings home to his +family, why not?” Yes, Mr. Democrat, but by doing +so is your pet working man even on the road to be a +worthy ruler or responsible statesman, or even in a +minor degree to take part in framing laws, or seeing that +when made they are put into action? If your working +man spends his leisure in barbarous pursuits he is still, +by preference, a barbarian! If he wastes his earnings, +taking little of them home to provide for and educate +a family, in the first place, does he deserve higher wages, +while those he is already receiving he uses ill? Is a man +that acts so fit to rule? Certainly not! If he abuses +his own wages, do you think he will not waste or abuse +the use of public money? Of course he will! The +democrat who has added the sauce of anarchy to his +favourite dish, whose logic is framed upon assertion +unjustified by reasoning, will tell you: “You let him +alone. He fills the pockets of the big pots. If he likes +to get drunk, why not? I likes liberty, I does.” And yet +the fool who says this will be the first to urge class +tyranny and claim for the idle workman a place in a +Ministry, perhaps the first place. Good God! No; +before the working classes are granted grave responsibilities +they must prove they are worthy of them by +exercising a firm purpose, doing what they are already +called to do honourably and well, and show signs by +industry during leisure hours that they are men, not +barbarians, and good citizens, not anarchists!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> + +<p>They must prove by their private lives that their +public acts will not be a disgrace, that a high principle +has been their guide, that their souls are straight and +active for good, and that a true Fraternity, wide and +embracing, has finally ruled out selfish class prejudice. +They must prove that they are in no humour to be +levelled down by their noisy leaders. They must prove +their higher ambition by not listening to the cry, +“Strike again, Bill! Force the governor if <em>’e</em> won’t give +in! The Government is weak: force it to a decision in +your favour! You ’ave the power to starve the country +if you choose. Don’t yer see yer power? Why, then, +man, use it!”</p> + + +<h3>§ 19</h3> + +<p>Wise people do not wish to give added power to a class +that listens to and acts upon such folly. They know +if they did that the country would suffer as a whole and +become the prey to a tyranny, and a mob tyranny, the +most dangerous of all.</p> + +<p>Before they are granted new powers we want to see the +British workman doing his work as well as he used to do +it, to see him an honest man by giving his best work for +good pay.</p> + + +<h3>§ 20</h3> + +<p>Paying a bad or indolent workman the same wages as +an efficient and industrious one is to put a tax on skill; +it discourages the good workman and encourages the +idle one in his idleness. To forbid a bricklayer to lay +more than a minimum number of bricks per hour is to +encourage the lazy and discourage the honest workman; +therefore to curtail the production of work in quantity +and quality is directly injurious to the needs of the +country and indirectly to the progress of trade; moreover, +it is unfair to the good workman as it places him on +a level with the inferior or bad one, which is not only +morally wrong but economically silly. Trades union +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>laws have grown to be tyrannical. They contradict +what was good in their initiative. As at present enacted +they prove their authors to be ignorant men, ignorant +of the first principles of political economy and of the +results which must inevitably follow upon their acceptance. +If an honest workman has the will to lay as +many bricks per hour (so he does it well) it is tyranny to +forbid him. It is neither to his interest nor of the trade +he represents to coerce him. For the reason he does +better and more work than his idle or incompetent +fellow he has a right to a higher wage; to deny him that +right is to lower the standard of workmanship generally +and particularly. To oblige men to down tools at the +command of leaders against their will is tyranny! So +we find after all that grandiloquent talk about Liberty +is gas. Trades union leaders are tyrants; even more, +they are slave drivers! Labour would do well to strike +against them instead of striking against doing their +duty and being honourable members of society. Indeed, +they would do well to duck them in the nearest pond as +enemies, not friends, to their cause. The fact is that as +soon as the workmen find out they have been misled +retribution is likely to follow and quickly. When the +honest workman sees clearly that a false position has been +pressed upon him he will resent it and drastically. The +last railway strike is a black spot in the history of +generous and liberal England. The majority of the +railway men did not wish it. It was forced on them +by the audacity and ambition of their leaders. That +statement is proved by the avidity of their return to +work. Perchance they thought it was just possible that +while they were starving others, and the helpless, they +themselves would suffer with them. An empty belly is +a very valuable medicine.</p> + +<p>Englishmen of whatever class, rich or poor, would +never consent to starve out their comrades, their children, +their old fathers and mothers. Our workmen are, +<i lang="fr">au fond</i>, too good fellows to do that, even to descend to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>threaten it. The threat to starve the country was not +made by them but by their leaders, who, if they do not +know better how to conduct men only a little less +ignorant than they, will have to be taught to do so, and +quickly.</p> + + +<h3>§ 21</h3> + +<p>British workmen laboured like men to win the war. +Once or twice signs were evident that arrogant leaders +were trying to seduce them, but they failed in the long +run. But after the immediate danger zone was past, +with reprehensible persistency the same leaders shook +off their reserve forced upon them by a perilous situation +and started a new war cry of class against class which +the war and all the suffering it caused should have killed. +But no! While we were all admiring the straightforward +patriotism so tried by grave danger, anarchical +leaders were considering the steps they would take to +achieve an end by brutal force, thereby copying the +tyrannical Germany that was being thrust from civilised +companionship with the rest of the world. These are +but mimics of a fallen power which had killed its soul, +killed every instinct of justice, all pity and human kindness +to bring about an end to gratify lust of conquest +and overwhelming tyranny under the mark of Kultur. +Trades union leaders threatened to starve London. +Unable to coerce a none too strong Government by +specious proposals and platform oratory, their threat +was, happily, taken seriously, and the Government, in +this instance, gave evidence of a power of forethought +which it had too often neglected in the past. Those +leaders were cheated of their prey of dead children and +old people starving for want of milk. It is difficult to +abstain from stronger words than are here used, difficult +not to permit harsh words, so dastardly cowardly +was the attempt which, although it failed, was made +with a coldbloodedness that was more German than +English. That it failed to succeed was not the fault of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>the authors of the scheme, who intended it to force the +pace, intimidate the people and the Government, and +establish trades union leaders as rulers of the country. +In point of fact, it was blackmail! On the contrary, +they have secured obloquy from every decent man and +woman, and have happily placed themselves in a position +of disorder which we hope will continue. If they try +the same game again, if they are not met with physical +resistance, they ought to be, and if the leaders of what +is in reality “conspiracy” are not “doing time,” the +Government will have to answer some not pleasant questions +from a majority of orderly citizens which is resolved +not to be set out of order by a minority of exploiters entirely +out for their own interests and self-aggrandisement. +If the Government had shown weakness, as it so often +has done in somewhat similar circumstances, its doom +would have been sealed. It has too often tried the +patience of the country by unfulfilled promises and +shifting ground when obstacles were obstinate, and an +entirely reprehensible policy of compromise. This time +it surprised the country by being prepared to deal with a +crafty trap. It caught the vermin in the trap they had +set to intimidate the country. That strike has gone far +to prove that Labour, as at present led and organised, is +no more fitted to rule than a naughty, ill brought up +child is to rule its parents. We believe the soul of the +British workman is still clean, <i lang="fr">au fond</i>; it has been +tempted to be otherwise by bad guides, taught to be +dishonest by them, to be selfish, hard, even brutal, but +enough of the old stamina has survived to encourage the +belief that, under good, wise and sympathetic, but at the +same time strong leadership, the British workmen will +regain the confidence they have lost and the position of +respect which has been compromised for them.</p> + + +<h3>§ 22</h3> + +<p>They deserve <em>good</em> wages, that is to say, wages which +enable them to lead decent lives under decent environment. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>They deserve a better education than they get, +and, above all, better guides in their early school days, +guides who shall furnish the sensitive period of the first +stages of youth with first principles of conduct; taught +that they are citizens of no mean country, hence that a +grave responsibility is theirs, not only to themselves but +to their neighbours. Taught that <em>thou</em> as well as <em>I</em> is an +essential pronoun; that civilisation is based upon +<em>Fraternity</em>, not <em>Equality</em>, because there is no such thing +and never can be. That one’s neighbour is a bit of +oneself is a moral truth beyond question. It is a truth +that is in the very foundation of society. It is the root +of the tree of all progress, it is as the water that feeds it, +and as the sun which ripens its fruit. Duty to God is +implied in duty to the neighbour. God made the neighbour, +the <em>thou</em> as well as the <em>I</em> is His design; the two are +really inseparable. This principle, driven home in the +earliest years, will form a guide for life, because the +mental impressions then received are never wholly +eradicated. “I must take care of myself to take care +of you” is a truism. But “I must prop you in failure, +stand by you in trouble, and joy in your joy” is surely a +higher form of ethics! This simple principle of life is the +summing up of Christian teaching, and not only of that, +but of the writings of such great pagan philosophers as +Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, to name only two of +many. To be <em>able</em> to read is one thing, what is read is +another. Bad books are more detrimental than no +books, as <em>bad</em> education is worse than <em>none</em>. To know +one book well is better than to have superficially read +a hundred. There are essential and not essential as well +as <em>positively destructive</em> books; plenty, indeed, of the last +named, and they grow like weeds! Only two or three of +the best books should be set before children. “Robinson +Crusoe,” “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” and carefully +selected portions of the Bible would not be a bad selection. +Teachers must not be hacks or machines, but wise +and sympathetic guides. History is a complicated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>study, and one which the busy worker, agricultural or +craftsman, has not time to master. But the chief events, +those which have moulded social life and profoundly led +progress, can be tabulated and learned by heart. The +young should be taught that presently they will be called +to make history, and that in its making absolute <em>honesty</em> +is the first condition of success. The agricultural +labourer is helping to feed his country, the craftsman is +making desirable and durable goods for his own as well +as foreign markets, and they must be the best he can +turn out to his honour!</p> + + +<h3>§ 23</h3> + +<p>Ancestors of the craftsman of to-day erected and +adorned the monuments we now prize; it is the business +of the modern craftsman to make such as will be reverenced +and esteemed by-and-bye. Ancient craftsmen +loved their work, that we can see at a glance. Are the +modern craftsmen taught or encouraged to do so by +their leaders? No! They are taught to grab high +wages for bad work as good for trade, a lamentable +fallacy which could only have been framed by ignorant +men, and unprincipled to boot. As the duty to a neighbour +should be instilled, as it were, with mother’s milk, +so to do good and only good work should be the mainspring +of a boy-craftsman guidance. The habit of +doing good work must be acquired in youth! It must +be begun early and continued as a habit to the end of it. +Duty to our neighbour and duty to our employers are +synonymous. Pride in turning out good and shame in +turning out bad. Do Labour leaders teach that? No! +They advocate the reverse. They would have it that +while labour is essential it is derogatory to freedom, to +insist on good work for good pay is <em>tyranny</em>, but to +demand high wages for bad work is <em>justice</em>. They +teach “As little effort as possible to attain the highest +level of wages.” Is this wise? No, it is the height of +folly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p> + +<p>The true answer to those false leaders is to tell the +workmen that all work is honourable when <em>well done</em>, +dishonourable when <em>ill done</em>. When primary education +is conducted upon the simple lines above indicated we +shall be on the road to supply the best possible education +to the greater number. It is worse than useless to cram +young minds with facts before the first principle of +selection has been instilled. Much, indeed most, of +England’s foundation of greatness was laid when the +majority could neither read nor write. It was <em>character</em>, +not education in <em>facts</em>, that made England great. Honesty, +not grasping, was the watchword which guided the deeds +of our great ancestors. Soil must be prepared before it +is ready to receive fruitful seed. We do not plant lilies +on dustheaps or corn on the ashes of factories’ furnaces. +Honourable dealing with the neighbour, honourable +<i lang="la">quid pro quo</i> are, as it were, the bricks of which a nation +is built, and without them as primaries no nation has +been or will bequeath a noble heritage. What are we +making for the future? To what end is the intelligence +of craftsmanship directed with all the facilities at their +hands? To get <em>enormous wages</em> with the least possible +effort. These are hard words, but they are true. The +welfare of the neighbour is not in the calculation, and +<em>honesty of work has taken a back seat</em>. That is what is +the matter with England! It is a malady which affects +the commercial attitude of to-day from bottom to top. +Under so depressing a social atmosphere is it a matter +for wonder that we are creating so little that will be a joy +or stimulus to aftercomers? Work in which joy has not +taken part will never provide pleasure to the doer or +receiver. A creator who slaves as a drudge, is unwilling +and discontented, is a neuter; he will neither derive +nor breed pleasure.</p> + + +<h3>§ 24</h3> + +<p>The war compelled Labour; without it it would have +been lost. But are there signs that Labour will work for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>Peace? What ideal has it? What stimulus is being +provided for Labour and by Labour to make England +rich in intellect, purer in heart, more fertile of ideas, less +materialistic and more spiritual?</p> + + +<h3>§ 25</h3> + +<p>The spirit giveth life! Matter is like an eggshell. We +have gone round in a circle in the later pages, and come +back to the point of starting. The soul of a country is +what matters; it and it alone can control the matter of +it! We have seen a great country break down under the +curse of materialism. Explosives, foul gas, and every +instrument of destruction have been the gods of the +Germans, and they have ruined them. Germany sold +her soul to the Devil to attain her lust, the conquest of +the world. She failed because she killed the spirit of +God in her, setting in His place monsters of iron, steel +and poison. If matter divorced from spirit can win, +Germany would have won. Is England going to imitate +Germany, the country that is fallen from a high estate +to an abject condition of failure? Or are we to be influenced +by Russian disorder and anarchy? Both are bad, +and neither should influence us except to avoid the +grievous errors which have led to such disaster. Anarchy, +as every plague, is catching. It seems to promise to +uneducated and undisciplined minds a panacea. It may +offer that, but it grants only additional miseries. Over +and over again it has been tried and has invariably +failed!</p> + +<p>So let us not repeat a blunder, but shape a new course +upon ground which has never revealed pitfalls, which is +not subject to earthquakes, that is on rock, not sand, that +is productive, not sterile, fruitful, not destructive. Let +us see that the Great Spirit which inspired England is +with us still, but in a wider measure than heretofore—the +spirit that gave her Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, +Milton, Shelley, Blake, Keats, Wordsworth, Tennyson, +Browning and Morris in poetry; in science, Harvey, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>Bacon, Locke, the Herschells, Faraday, Darwin, Huxley +and Lister, to mention only a few great names in occult +and humane science. The spirit which inspired our +great artists—Reynolds, Wren, Chambers, Blake, Gainsborough, +Turner, Constable, Wilson, Alfred Stephens, +Rossetti, Hunt, Millais, Leighton and Watts. For +music we cannot claim so many, but in folk song England +has been rich, perhaps richer than any other country, +while her stately Church music has been quietly developing +from Purcell to Sam Wesley, the last of the severe +Church composers. Of novelists, Richardson, Fielding, +Goldsmith, Thackeray, Dickens, the five kings of that art; +while in the second order Meredith, G. Eliot and Charlotte +Brontë are eminent. Let us emulate the builders, +craftsmen and decorators who made our cathedrals, +which we now see denuded of much of their wealth of +beauty by wrong-headed Puritans and religious faddists +who have worked so much mischief to the country in too +many directions.</p> + +<p>But, we shall be asked, “Is it possible to work our +several faculties simultaneously in opposite directions: +those which are seeking utility, facilities for still more +rapid translation from place to place, for a restless +life which leaves few moments for thought, but which +do not conduce to wealth inasmuch as money can +give it, but which must, if they are further developed, +stultify other faculties which, to reach their highest +point of excellence, demand concentration, leisure and +peace?” Yes, it is possible; it has been done, but it cannot +be done if the point is overstrained, which is to say, if +wealth, as applied to money, means that money only +matters, if to get rich is the ideal towards which the +whole nation strains. Money is only a means to an end. +Like labour, it is mischievous when wrongly applied, and +it is so wasted upon implements of destruction, gambling +and coarse pleasures which poison or atrophy the +higher senses and nobler ambitions. It is wasted also +when spent upon idle officials, unnecessary committees, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>the fetish of politicians when they have got themselves +into a muddle. Before spending money surely the first +question should be: “Is the object of <em>lasting</em> or purely +ephemeral importance? Will it return an interest commensurate +to the expenditure <i lang="la">pro bono publico</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, a +national more than individual interest?” Thousands +upon thousands of public money were wasted in war +time to support political or party schemes for which we +pay dearly now. Money is being wasted upon extravagant +wages in all directions and at this moment when the +nation is deeply in debt. Taxes and rates are at a +fabulous premium, raised to pay for experiments, mistakes +and reckless extravagance, and have to be met by +increased taxation which is impoverishing enterprise of +every description, so much so that no surplus is left to +meet demands that are necessary for the intellectual +progress of the country. Does any one suppose that +the Labour leaders are doing their mischief unpaid? +They are living (on the contrary) on the fat of the land. +Their salaries are large and are taken from their followers, +who claim to be in such straits. These mischievous +agents of Anarchy are better off <i lang="la">quâ</i> money than thousands +of their betters, than men whose education has +been expensive and who are the intellectual bulwarks +of Britain.</p> + + +<h3>§ 26</h3> + +<p>Scholars, every form of research in the arts, science, +literature and education are suffering from want of +means to do justice to their studies and to keep up the +level of intellectual attainment to a point of excellence +necessary to the welfare and progress of England. The +so-called idle rich (a term of obloquy justifiable to a +small section) came out well during the war; they sacrificed +their wealth and energies for the public good. +How could the huge sums of money have been collected +and dispensed without capital? It was capital which +came to the rescue in those dark hours. Had capital +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>been less, how could the huge wages have been paid to +war workers? Increase of wages necessitates larger +not smaller capital. Breaking up capital and distributing +it in sections, giving it to a class which has had no +experience of its value and uses, would be to commit +social suicide! Upon the whole, Labour behaved well in +the war. It was not unnatural that the rise in prices of +the necessities of life (leaving out luxuries which can +easily be dispensed with) raised discontent sometimes, +but by no means justifiable. That certain foodstuffs +became expensive was inevitable. The war, unprepared +for by short-sighted politicians, took the majority by +surprise, although a more thoughtful minority had seen +it approaching for years. The stores of food were small. +Insistence upon the prominent pre-eminence of the +Juggernaut of Industrialism had caused agriculture to +fall away, or so to decrease as to form a secondary +(whereas it should be the first) consideration of an island +that should be (as far as possible) self-supporting, save +for such luxuries which our climate is unable to produce. +But that the prices of food necessary to life—meat, +bread, and milk—went up to excess has been the fault +of grasping, selfish, unpatriotic tradesmen, who, seeing +the opportunity of their neighbours’ distress, the +moment to put money in their purses, did so, utterly +regardless of the suffering such action must entail. Not +all, but the majority of tradesmen, behaved ill while +their country was on the road to starvation, so ill as to +command a decision that, as a class, tradesmen, unchecked, +are not fit for prominent posts in the Government, +national or municipal. They proved that they +are egoistic and selfish, a character suspected, and not +without reason, but perhaps never brought so prominently +into the light before.</p> + +<p>It would be tedious did we give a list (it would be a +long one) of necessary foodstuffs refused to applicants +excepting at a price they could ill afford or could not +afford to pay at all. It was a system of blackmailing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>wholly discreditable to a class which, having power, +exercised it with a cold-blooded arbitrariness that was, +to say the least, unmanly; the worst, cowardly and +criminal. To hit a man when he is down and unable to +protect himself is the act of a coward; to cause, for selfish +reasons, suffering to the neighbour is criminal. We +cannot refrain from the hope that the dark side of +tradesmen’s morality, so distinctly pronounced during +the late war, will result in an abstention in granting +them powers, national or municipal, which will offer +them chances for extended <em>jobbery</em> in the future. That, +having become aware of their disposition, tradesmen +will never again be allowed a free hand in any form of +Government. That to them is largely due the rise in +wages which is straining the capital of England is unquestionable, +therefore they belong to a class which +needs careful watching in the future. If, instead of +striking at the whole nation, trades unions had struck +against the prices demanded by tradesmen, they would +have had right on their side in that they struck against +an initial cause. It has been said just now that money +is well spent when dedicated to causes that are permanent, +not ephemeral. Wealth is a necessity for a +nation, and wealth without capital is out of the question.</p> + + +<h3>§ 27</h3> + +<p>Athens at her great time was rich; Egypt, when the +city of Memphis covered four times the area of London, +was rich. Rome was rich, first by her agriculture; she +began to decline when she ceased to grow corn, getting +it from her colonies. Byzantium was full of gold when +she enriched herself still more by the buildings she +erected that live among the most treasured possessions +of to-day. When Venice was producing her great architects +and painters, her consummate builders and craftsmen, +her merchants were rich, proud, too, of making their +city as we now see it and know it, one of the most beautiful +in the world. Florence and Genoa were rich when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>they took a high place in the arts and intellectual culture +of all kinds. France was rich when she built her unsurpassed +cathedrals; so was England at her prime when she +gave us much more than has survived destruction of the +beauty her artists and craftsmen created. Surely wealth +was then used as a permanent means for a permanent +supply of honour to which we bow now in the beauty that +remains of the noble labours of great peoples. The men +who acquired the means to do so spent money for national +honour with the ambition to make their city or cities as +attractive and beautiful as possible. They employed +the greatest creators of their generation to leave their +mark not only on the present but the future. The +labours of the great spirits of the past are a heritage than +which nothing can be greater or more valuable. Bad +men as many of the Roman Pontiffs were, they used +the wealth (not always honestly attained) with distinction, +whether for the exaltation of the Church or not does +not matter to us; they made Rome as we see it now +(deducting the abominations of industrialism which +deface the grand old city).</p> + +<p>What do we go to Italy for? Not to hear discourses of +politicians or to listen to Socialists talking about what +they do not understand, or to see tramways blocking up +narrow and picturesque streets. We have enough of those +restless, fugitive obstacles here. We go to study the +immortal works of art of all the centuries from Romulus +to the 16th century of our era; a pretty wide field of interest +and instruction, so richly provided is that highly +endowed country. What do we go to Egypt for? Surely +not to see the havoc Western ambitions in commercialism +is causing, with very doubtful results upon the prosperity +of the fellah; nor only to bask in her glorious sunshine, her +pure air, not yet poisoned by the atmosphere of industrialism +in promotion there and quite out of keeping with the +distinction of that great country and the transcendent +interests of its history; but to study, admire and learn +from her remote past, that had so much to do with the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>formation of intellectual energy which gave birth to so +much that is no less valuable now than it was in the +past.</p> + +<p>To us, overtaken by an artificial life, by a destructive +force called Utilitarian, indiscriminating and reckless, +the past has much to teach. It is all very well to sweep +away traditions which the labours of our forefathers +provided, under specious excuses, under plausible +arguments; but what we destroy is irrevocable, and +cannot be replaced. The mad course pursued by +Industrialism has had disastrous effects; it has absorbed +land that was under cultivation, it has broken up priceless +records of the past by destruction of noble buildings, +it has turned thousands of acres of valuable land into +deserts, filled the air with poisonous fumes, darkened +the face of the sun; it has sown squalor where once was +order, and, above all, it has hardened our people, who +have been on the verge of soul starvation; it has been +turning them into machines. Industrialism has not +forwarded Liberty, it has retarded it. Its tendency +has been to make all men alike, to, as it were, take +moulds of their minds, and sell the casts to the highest +bidder. It has encouraged avarice on the one hand +and extravagance on the other. Industrialism carried +to excess is an incentive to war. It bears no relation to +the Arts of Peace. It is a tyrant; wherever it goes it +leaves a track of destruction as an invading army does. +It has created a spirit of unrest, hence it is the enemy of +research, of the arts, and of those faculties of a nation +which make them intellectually great. By providing +machinery it has crippled craftsmanship. While, in a +narrow sense, it has provided <em>occupation</em> (and that word +is used advisedly), industrialism has damped the spirit +of creative labour. By turning out thousands of articles +exactly alike its handmade machinery has almost swept +the board of creative instincts, of good and discriminating +taste, thereby leaving in its tracks little indeed of +æsthetic value and rarely, perhaps, any work of craftsmanship +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>in whatever trade that will be an honour to our +generation in the judgment of the future. What the +craftsman makes with his finely trained hand, inspired +by a creative instinct which is his distinction, the +machine can only <em>copy badly</em>. The man who made it +had a soul which he used in his production which fulfilled +it, gave it shape, made it interesting always, even +if the workmanship were rough and ready; it reflected +its producer, and so a work of art is produced and not +the product of a dead machine.</p> + +<p>To sum up (and they are hard words that are used) +Industrialism is the enemy of the soul of a nation <i lang="fr">en +masse</i>; in particular of man, by killing his individuality, +his productive genius, his observation, his loyalty to himself, +his ambition for fame as a craftsman, the civilised +progress of his country and last, not least, his liberty. To +succeed (and who does not wish it success?) democracy +depends upon the Demos. An unenlightened, self-indulgent, +ignorant, uninspired, misdirected Demos must ruin +the chances of a successful Democracy!</p> + + +<h3>§ 28</h3> + +<p>What is “of the people” must come “from the +people.” If the people represent the roots of a nation +they must be pruned, nourished, and kept clear of +poisonous weeds; if not, their product will be sterile. +If a fruit tree bears ill the fault is to be found in the +roots and in the soil that surrounds them. The embryo +of its fruit is in the roots of a tree. Labour is numerically +superior, and rightly, because no country can +exist without it. It is imperative, therefore, that if +Labour is finally to rule it must prepare itself to do so, +not by making itself a nuisance and a danger by striking +work, by shirking effort, by giving the <em>minimum</em> of +its energy to do its share of work for the community, +but by strenuously following the old maxim: “Whatsoever +thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” +To take part in the rule of the community is a more +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>complicated affair than to rule a household; it follows +logically that the man who fails in the latter will do +so in the former. Unable to rule himself, to be his own +conscience guide, how can he be accepted to rule over +his fellows? A man, be he who he may, rich or poor, +who uses the leisure he has ill, brutally or wastefully, +has not yet qualified himself for more. If the ideal of +such a one is dog fighting, man fighting, gambling or +any other brutalising sport, his is not likely to be an +ideal of the use of leisure serviceable to himself and his +family, nor is it one which justifies his voice to be heard +or his deeds to influence the affairs of his country, for +which he has shown neither interest or inclination. +Among intelligent and instructed men as colleagues he +would find himself quite out of place, and <em>rightly</em>. A +limited outlook upon life is one of the penalties which +untrained, undisciplined minds have to pay. The +narrow mind is a selfish one almost always. It is egoistic, +it places the social class to which it belongs in a +position of importance far above its merits, for whose +well being, in a material sense, it would legislate to the +disadvantage of every other class.</p> + + +<h3>§ 29</h3> + +<p>If there is one lesson pre-eminently prominent taught +by the experience of the Great War it is the absolute +necessity for a <em>revival of agriculture in the British Isles</em>. +And more than that, viz., that the growth of grain, fruit +and vegetables should no longer be permitted to be +crushed by an increase of industrialism. Further, that +forests should be planted wherever possible, that we may +in a large measure derive our wood from our own land. +Our people need work, they need to be encouraged to +hand labour, to an outdoor, healthy life. Every +machine made to hasten results, while it provides work +for mechanics, takes away from agricultural labourers. +One man employed to drive a corn-reaping machine is +enough to reap three or four acres in a day. How many +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>does this mean thrown out of work? Thirty or forty +and more. It is true the machine does the job quicker, +but is rapidity of execution overwhelmingly important? +There is a boot-making machine we hear of which can +turn out dozens of finished boots in a day. If this is +used what is to become of the bootmakers? They must +either starve or take to another trade!</p> + +<p>And so, instance after instance might be quoted to +prove the narrowing effect produced by industrialism +upon labour when carried to such an extent as to absorb +the majority of the energies and activities of a people. +Although the author has visited many industrial towns +where he must confess to have been received with kindness, +and from a section of their inhabitants sympathy, +he wished to improve his acquaintance and go to one +which shall be nameless to have a good look round. +Before he relates the story of his impressions and paints +a picture of them he wishes to preface it with a few +words. In his opinion, which has been formed upon +experience, there are undoubtedly great efforts made +to render industrial life possible. There is in all +industrial cities a small coterie of enlightened men who, +as manufacturers, are powerful, and who are making +an effort to achieve better conditions of life. There +are art galleries, there are museums, there are mechanics’ +institutes, schools, and many appliances for a +better education. But as far as the author has seen, +the people who should be influenced are not reached, they +remain outside; they remain a <em>class apart</em>, not perhaps +ungrateful for their chances, but indifferent to them; +they are suspicious. Civilising influences rarely reach +them; if they do, they are disregarded.</p> + +<p>In point of fact, the Demos of “labour” is distinct +from the Demos of intellectual culture. Intellectual +culture and Labour are out of touch. Labour +seems to belong to another world, to live another life, to +have no <em>need</em> for what is put for them to take. That is +surely because classes are too abruptly divided, they do +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>not mix enough; hence each class mistrusts the other! +Labour mistrusts the Capitalist, and the Capitalist +mistrusts Labour. Each is apt to regard the other as of +a different species of humanity and one that is inevitably +in antagonism, forgetting that no labour means no +capital and the reverse. It is unfortunate that there +is a gulf between the classes where there should be neutral +ground on which they could meet. <em>Coercion</em> will never +create that meeting ground, neither will continued suspicion +and unrest. High wages even will not tend to +reconstruction as long as there is no intellectual basis of +sympathy and desire. The working class (I dislike the +term) must make an effort to rise, it must desire <em>acquisitiveness</em>, +and I believe many of it do desire it. It is +very little use to place advantages before people who do +not want to use them. They must be <em>taught</em> or guided +to want them, and by degrees to use them. The middleman +is an atrocious invention. The agitator is a middleman. +He keeps up friction. He is neither the “boss” +nor the workman; he fiddles for his own dancing. It is +not impossible that he is responsible for the absence of +touch between employed and employer. Trades Unions +widen the differences.</p> + +<p>The middleman thrives on labour of all kinds. He is +represented in the arts by the dealer, who, in most +instances, secures a larger share of profit than the producer. +The musical middleman (or agent) takes a large +profit from the composer; the singer and executant are +alike sufferers. This constitutes a difficulty by no +means easy to get out of. As long as “advertisement” +holds such a sway as it does now, the wrong men make +the chief profit, which is an entirely unnatural state +of things, demonstrating something wrong in the relations +existing between the public and the producer. +“The State” has not the power, inclination, or capacity +to deal with what is, after all, <em>authorised</em> blackmail. +It is only by force of public opinion that a change in +economics is likely to come about! By public opinion +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>we do not mean unenlightened, unskilled, ill-disciplined +agitation, but one arrived at by a better tone generated +by ethical as well as practical education, and a closer +touch between teachers and taught. Justice is not +likely to be delivered by a class which holds that its own +interests are paramount; and that undoubtedly is the +present attitude of the class called Labour, which is apt +to forget that we are all, or ought to be, labourers, from +the King to the humblest peasant. Now let us move +our ground. I ask my readers to accompany me on a +journey and share with me my observation while reading +the thoughts it has given rise to, and afterwards to the +Dream consequent, I suppose, upon those thoughts.</p> + + +<h3>§ 30</h3> + +<p>I travelled in a not too clean third-class carriage +from London, which I left in a not uncommon black +drizzle. Although it was morning and a summer day, +according to the calendar, the station was partly lit +by electric light which only seemed to accentuate the +smoky gloom within and without. It was depressing, +passengers looked depressed, porters were irritable, +everybody seemed to be in everybodies’ way. There +was the impression of Pandemonium in this specimen +of civilization. I wondered at all the pains that had +been taken over the strange medley of squalor, convenience +and inconvenience. It presented one vast, +ugly muddle. This, then, is the chief railway station +in the, supposed to be, most civilized city in the world. +I looked forward to getting out of the noise, the smoke, +and the mud, away from the mad hurry of a people with +no time to think, so bent are they in pushing their +fellows out of the way. I knew I was going from bad +to worse. Curiosity was taking me to a manufacturing +town in the north. I should have said City, for it +possesses a Lord Mayor, Corporation, and Cathedral, +and other conventional essentials.</p> + +<p>The journey was uneventful, nobody spoke to his neighbour, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>babies howled, buns and oranges galore, and the +floor was well littered with slippery débris; I was not +sorry to reach my destination. I had resolved to leave +the train at a station some three miles from the City—a +dirty little station it was—that I might walk thither. +A hot, damp atmosphere, charged with sulphuric acid, +greeted me. The land was undulating. What had +once been beautiful has been rendered a poisonous +desert; the country surrounding the emporium of +nastiness, a capital of Industrialism, was a wreck. +Occasionally a white circle appeared and disappeared +behind clouds of smoke and mist, beaten up into a +greasy black soup. It was the sun, but never a shadow +did it cast. The atmosphere, rendered solid by dirt, +was heated as in a furnace. Oxygen was at a minimum; +hydrogen, in plenty, played its part entirely up to date +according to modern ideas of civilization.</p> + +<p>Leaving the dirty station, I made my way over fields, or +apologies for them, not by the road which was ankle-deep +in black mud. A few thin cattle were feeding off patches +of ill-nourished grass growing unwillingly from cinders, +mixed with poor and thin soil. Groups of black sheep +hurried from patch to patch of sapless grass to find +nourishment. Mostly wool these half-starved sheep were. +Four tumble-down stone walls served as boundaries, +which they only indicated. Straggling thin hedges +there were making mourning black fringes to +the desolate fields unpruned and almost leafless. +Although it was July scarce a leaf remained on tree +or shrub, none green, few even brown, being mostly +crinkled up and black, poisoned in their early youth, +but making a brave fight for existence in what should +have been their prime. A few broken down buildings +appeared as apologies for what had once been a considerable +farmhouse in better times. A few blackened +haystacks only served to deepen the sense of degradation. +About these buildings, instead of flowers and +shrubs, was heterogeneous rubbish. Broken saucepans, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>smashed crockery, tin boxes, glass bottles, rags, bits of +old garments and soiled scraps of newspapers. I +noticed some garments, men’s and women’s, hanging +out to dry. I wondered how long it would take to do +so, and what the colour of them would be presently. +A few dirty hens were scratching among the débris. +A pig or two, none too fat, were turning over rubbish +with their snouts. There was a kind of farm +yard, which stank of rotten wet straw, soaked in +microbic poisons. Near by lay a pool, coated with +black slime through which a duck or two pushed their +way.</p> + +<p>A dirty woman came out of a broken down doorway +carrying a still dirtier child. She was pale—she looked +permanently sad. Set, even resentful, was her countenance, +as she glanced a moment at me—a stranger. +What windows her hovel once had, now mostly broken, +were patched with bits of newspaper. Three or four +men languidly worked or lounged about. Every action +pointed to ineptitude and indecision—out of their +element, evidently they were. Walking on, I came to +a knoll crowned with black, dead trees, once, perhaps, +a sacred primitive burying place. I could see the City +now, grim in wreaths of black smoke, now looming out +as a cold metallic half-light, from what was the sun, +struck for an instant upon the gloomy pile of factories. +It was as a city of the dead from this distance, silent +and grim, hideous, forlorn, and even menacing. There +seemed to spread over it an awful silence, broken only +now and then, as a light wind carried a dull thud of the +throbbing pulse of machinery doing its monotonous task. +I came nearer, even to the environs of this terrible place +of slavery and black life to the thousands of human +beings created to breathe the fresh air of God’s creation, +now condemned to evil fumes and soul-killing labour—the +offspring of a monotonous, poisonous existence. +Hoarse voices, using not too choice language, made +discordant music, the like of which I do not wish to hear +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>again. It was now 12 o’clock. Hooters brayed, a +cracked bell or two told the hour in mournful tones.</p> + +<p>I made my way to the heart of the City. Its narrow, +dirty streets, winding, serpentlike, among the black +buildings. A slowly moving crowd came along. It moved +automatically, just mechanically, like the revolving +wheels it had just left. The men had no joy before +them, they were just going to eat, to grease the wheels +of their machine-made bodies, to return in an hour to +resume the same soul-killing toil. Their faces were all +alike—very pale, very dirty, very <em>neutral</em>. I thought +to myself, this then is civilization, and these are the +slaves to the much vaunted Industrialism which has +gone to kill agriculture and stifle natural life wherever +it is planted. This is the life the people choose to live +with an occasional strike, and who can wonder? whose +leisure is spent at football matches, too often in dog-fighting, +man-fighting and gambling; and who can +wonder!</p> + +<p>In this stifling place, this kind of systemised Hell, +wages are high, and <em>rightly</em>. The loss of the soul of +living should be paid for at a high price in money, +it pays a high price for suffering. It is some comfort +to think that the majority of slaves to Industrialism are +unconscious of what they lose in life. But that ought +not to be a consolation; it should stimulate desire and +determination to change it. I thought of the health and +happiness that had been here in one of the most beautiful +and fertile districts of England. The contrast seemed +terrible. Nothing can compensate for such a change. +Health, free agricultural life, invaded, ravished, and +slaughtered by the horrors, inevitable (apparently) +horrors, which are part and parcel of Industrialism. I +thought of the silver streams once merrily flowing, +now sluggishly creeping, half-solid with filth and poison, +of the rich produce from a land of farms, of happy +country festivals, of content, of the prosperity of +England; how she fed herself from her own land, and in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>her craftsmanship was a leader of Europe. I seem to hear +a hard voice saying, “That’s all very well, these people +don’t know any other life than the one they live in +and are used to.”</p> + +<p>That may be true, but it only makes their case +a sadder one. To lose sensibility, to be ground down +to the level of an automatic machine, is an indignity. +Man is an outdoor animal, not made to live the +Artificial life of huge, unhealthy cities. Nothing +can make up for the loss inflicted on man’s soul by +depriving him of Light, by forcing him to live in smoke, +squalor, and foul air. Habit does go a long way, no +doubt; <em>they do get used to it</em>, but that does not lessen the +evil that the life is doing to the best part of every man +and woman who lives it. I hear another voice say, +“But they don’t care for the sun, or beautiful landscape, +for flowers, for the things <em>we</em> care for,” as if +these toilers were of a different race! “They have lost +touch with what you call Nature, and of God they +know nothing but as a kind of head of a rich firm who +is autocratic and hard, if he pays any attention to them.” +“It is no use to put sentiment into this class,” said +the hard voice in my ear, “it would be dangerous if +they cared for all you want for them. They would be +discontented and cease work. Perhaps they would +want to go back to the land, to <em>Freedom</em>; that would +not suit us at all. It is only because they are ignorant +of any other life that we get work out of them—machines +they are, machines they must remain.”</p> + +<p>This was <em>true</em> Industrial <em>talk</em>, and exactly typified the +mind of the Arch-Priests of Industrialism. “Well, +you must remember,” spoke the same voice, “they +have their own pleasures, fitted for them and their +condition, they like their bit of sport—prize-fights, +dog-fighting and gambling—they can go to a ‘cinema,’ +there are several here, where they can see the things +they understand—stories of vice, of murder, a complete +list from the Newgate calendar, that’s what they like.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></p> + +<p>“But look,” said I, “at the little box outside that +dirty window there; it has fading geraniums in it. +Do you mean to tell me that the hand that tries to tend +them, and the eyes that enjoy their colour, are yet +quite paralysed?” “Oh, yes,” was the answer, “they +do like a bit of greenery, of course, but it’s mostly +the women that are sentimental.” At that moment +a rough-looking fellow went by. “Look at that,” +said I, “he has a geranium flower in his button-hole.” +There was no answer! <em>I</em> thought that geranium was +a symbol of the life of that man’s soul, and reflects +the Garden of Eden, and an instinctive desire to be +there again. “Granted,” I went on to say, “that +Industrial life is a necessity, do you think that it need +be squalid, that the homes of these people should +not be bettered, and their self-respect encouraged +thereby?” “They do not want to be interfered with,” +was the answer. “If they were given greater comfort, +better dwellings, and little gardens, as sentimentalists +desire, the dwellings would become squalid and dirty in +a week, and the garden would yield nothing; they’ve +lost all touch with such matters, they are grown to be +of a different race; they like their condition as long as +they have plenty of beer, and may do a little amateur +prize-fighting and dog-fighting, and spend a good bit +of their week’s money in journeys to football matches.”</p> + +<p>“Do you think, then, that their life is the best imaginable +for them? Is there no Ideal behind it?” “Yes, +it <em>is</em> the best for them. As to Ideals, I don’t know +what you mean; they’ve got to take life as it is, there +is no room in it for fanciful experiments! They are +well paid; for the rest, leave them alone in their +‘squalor,’ as you call it; they like it, and would resent +being made ‘respectable.’ Besides, if they were, they +would get out of hand.” I saw it was no use to argue +with the voice that came from a big, fat man, as hard +as nails, and as prosperous as a fatted pig! I went +to see the “Mechanics’ Institute.” There were a few +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>billiard tables, a strong smell of stale tobacco and beer; +a quantity of newspapers littered the tables, dirtily +thumbed on the pages relating to sport and “all the +winners,” the last prize fight, murder and burglary. +Sport and crime appeared the favourites of the moment. +Could this be bettered? I thought. Yes, was the +answer from my better self, but it will not be if men +of the type of him who talked just now lead public +opinion.</p> + + +<h3>§ 31</h3> + +<p>I went to the theatre, the play was not invigorating; +it provided rotten food—money jugglery, a low love +affair, and success of a villain, were the parts. What +was not immoral was vulgar. What was neither, was +dull. I venture to imagine whoever was there came +away a little more debased than he went. I found +my way to the Cathedral, a fine 15th century edifice. +The stone (local and hard) was fast being pulverised by +acid fumes. Black deposit filled every crevice of what +once had been exquisite carving. The loving work of +ancient craftsmen was being rapidly destroyed by +the “necessities” (?) of Industrialism. An attempt +was in progress to reface a portion of the exterior—far +better have left the noble old work decay than +replace it by commercial carving at so much a foot. +It had been a noble building. Standing high, it dominated, +by a survival of dignity, the hideous black +factories. It was like a still small voice, speaking out +of a great past to a people who, if they heard it, could +not understand. Its chimes (eight bells) once echoing +the hours to the hills, were silent—better so, perhaps. +I did not stay long in the interior. It made me sad to +think of the enlightened people who had worshipped +there, for it was a Benedictine Abbey Church of the +monastery hard by where was preserved all the learning +of the times, and where men led “creative and industrious +lives.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span></p> + +<p>A pure unsullied sun had glowed through glorious +glass, of which fragments remained, but mostly had +been replaced by commercial attempts at <em>so much a +foot</em>—commercial, indeed, it was. On the very rock +where stood the monastery—the place of scholarship, +of art, a home for exquisite craftsmanship—is now a +huge manufactory, belching out wreaths of black +smoke, like serpents encircling shaft and building, +writhing in poison even along the cobbled ways deep +in black slush. Civilisation, so called? Here, are +forged cannon to kill human creatures. A very +apotheosis of hideous war, and one of the many +homes of its implements. When will men be wise and +see that war is not only a hideous crime, a recognised +murderer of millions, an authorised waste of money and +energy, but a folly as well? What waste, cannon to +destroy, and to be destroyed after a few hours of vicious +mischief! Oh, the foolishness of such a parody on +Ambition, on Statesmen, on the whole world’s Progress!</p> + + +<h3>§ 32</h3> + +<p>Men, human beings, brothers, as they ought to be, +earning their livelihood in making engines of Destruction. +“Ypres,” “Louvain,” and “Rheims,” came +into my mind, with the devastation of hundreds of square +miles of fair agriculture in France and Belgium, and for +what? That a materialistic nation, clever and unprincipled, +and lost to all moral restraint, audacious +and mendacious, might govern the world under the +sovereignty of the mad egoist, William II. But Britain +had to fight. Her honour would have been stained for +ever, had she broken faith with Belgium in her extreme +agony. Whether it is desirable to make implements of +destruction in the abstract, is a question; during the +war they had to be made and with all possible speed, and +British factories played an honourable part in saving +Britain, as her soldiers did who shed their blood for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>their country. Is it indeed, Utopia, that place where +men may come to regard war as a folly, and where, +being taught a better and higher Ideal than quarrelling, +is a reality? I like to think the time will come when +our greatest minds are concentrated on contributing +to all that Peace designs, and our skilled labour and +craftsmen are employed on things permanent. They +will be things that last into the ages to come, that +ennobled the men who designed and made them, and +bring a pride for them in the making, and an honour +gained in the estimation of them in the future. The +abolition of War might depress the purse of Industrialism, +but it would endow the country with riches that +money cannot purchase. Enormous, scarcely calculable, +sums of money now spent on “preparations” +to kill our neighbours, would be converted to create +things enduring and elevating. Perhaps it may never +be, but why not dream of it and work for it as a possibility? +There is an <em>Ideal</em> somewhere. Why not reach +after it? There is so much that needs doing for Education, +for Beauty, provision of healthy work for every +one, and healthier lives for every one.</p> + +<p>We ought to have no time for war. The late struggle for +Freedom has supplied Europe and Britain with the rest. +Somehow or other, a change must come. If we are to prosper, +aye, to exist, pre-war conditions cannot be renewed. +We have to make a new start, to obtain a greater +simplicity of life. If you like, more primitive. Many +good old customs and systems may well be revived. +We were in such a hurry to coin money. We forgot +that what we were leaving behind was better than +what we were recklessly trying to meet. We thought +that money was the “Summum bonum” of existence, +to buy transient pleasure, to gratify our lower instincts, +to feed ourselves with luxuries, to be victims to Vanity +Fair, and slaves to it; to eclipse the sun the giver of +physical needs, the symbol of Eternal God, the Giver +of Light; hence, Life, has been as great a folly as War. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>It is, indeed, a kind of war to do so, a war against Nature +and her manifold gifts through the Spirit of God, which +were visible in the Sun. To live under gloom, being +poisonous to the body, is likewise poisonous to the Soul, +which, in time, it must injure, if not destroy, for it +paralyses Hope; it paralyses everyone of our finer +sensibilities and aspirations. It blinds us to Beauty, +it hardens the heart, destroys graceful sympathy, +engenders selfishness, and, in time, it annihilates Love, +because absence of Light is enervating to manhood.</p> + +<p>And that is what a <em>few</em> have been doing to the many +under promise that they shall be enriched. Enriched +with what? Money paid for bad work? And when +the money is there, how have they been taught to use +it? Palliatives in plenty have been offered them. +More excitements for leisure hours, which devitalise, +have been sown broadcast; and why? because, pandering +to human weakness, it paid to keep the people +quiet. We have reaped that which has been sown. +The people have become restive, they want more wages, +not for the purpose of uplifting their finer sensibilities, +but to gamble with first one then another amusement. +Instead of providing, for leisure hours of our workmen, +stimulus to educate themselves to be provident, to +be industrious, we have led them by promises to the +silly idea that they are the right class to govern the +country!</p> + + +<h3>§ 33</h3> + +<p>The precious gift of leisure, in which our working +class might acquire more funds, we have not taught +them to use; on the contrary, their leaders have taught +them that they have a right to be idle, to obtain high +wages for bad work, and in their leisure do whatever +they like. This is something very near to Anarchy; any +way, it is a principle which, if persisted in, will ruin +England. No! The thing to do them good is to +teach high principles and lead them on to be useful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>citizens. And that must be done, unless Democracy +is to prove a disastrous failure! We have got to begin +again, to start from the bottom—that is the clear duty +for the future, and the only one that will succeed in +the long run. If Democracy fails, it will be through +apathy in the conduct of our systems, of leaving them +to chance, and bad organisation. We have got to +bring classes together, not separate them. Working +men have to bring their share of labour into the halls +of Democracy. An educated class has to bring its +share, and the rich class, in its own sphere, has to bring +its share. The rich have to supply means for labour, +the labourer to do his labour up to the highest point +of honour. The Educated Class has to seminate from +the flowers ripened by study, and so each class, +working out its own destiny hopefully and earnestly +will contribute to general progress, which is the end to +which democracy, to succeed, must strive. One class +must not try to supersede another. That would only +mean some form of Tyranny. There can be Tyranny +from <em>democracy</em>, but only through <em>Anarchy</em>, which is +as destructive to one class as another. To put down +Anarchy, Force has to be resorted to. Anarchy is +quite as great an enemy to Freedom as Autocracy. +It calls out the worst form of human passion, resulting +in civil war, the greatest evil that any nation can +encounter. Russia is going through it, poor Russia, +perhaps presently to become a victim to godless Germany! +France went through the fire. France, for a +time, lost her soul. The most delicately organised people +in Europe turned themselves into brutes for a time.</p> + +<p>What came after? The great conqueror, Napoleon. +What did he conquer? Practically all Europe, save +England! What remains to-day of his conquests? +Nothing! Had Napoleon used his genius, which was +second to none other in history, in consolidating France, +in putting her intellectually as well as conventionally +at the head of nations, which, by her innate genius +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>she might have been, Europe would be a different place +to-day. Napoleon failed, not because he was a conqueror, +but because he tried to conquer wrongly. He +threw away his force in War, he might have spent it in +Peace. The French Revolution was the parent of his +egoistic ambition, as Tyranny is the child of Tyranny. +A revolution in England—by that is meant a War of +Classes—would certainly give rebirth to Military Rule. +This has been said before; it needs to be enforced by +reiteration.</p> + + +<h3>§ 34</h3> + +<p>Germany knows that, and nothing would please +that rapacious nation so much as England’s failure to +make Democracy a success. The success of Democracy +in Britain depends upon the British, not only on how +they choose their leaders, but on the direction taken +by the people as a whole. These, then, are the reasons +that I have written and published this “Book.” I +want Democracy to succeed, and I see only one way to +it; <em>Perfect Unanimity</em>, a perfect system of education, +simple, not complicated, large-minded, generous rule, +without weakness, all embracing without being overbearing. +I cannot see it arrive through class warfare. +I see it in wise concessions, in whole-hearted justice; +in <em>general</em>, not <em>particular</em> rule; in the cultivation of +the whole human machinery of our country, not in +parts only; of the soul of England as well as her +physical needs; in Industry of all kinds duly guided, +duly answered; of the needs special to every district, +each performing its part in a national enterprise. In +that way, each man and woman can find a place, a +usefulness, and position as citizens of “no mean +country.” That is my Ideal for England of the future.</p> + +<p>As I write, I know that professional politicians will +sneer, that miles of red tape have to be unwound before +what is now bad is made better, that extremists of every +party will abuse me. I know I shall be called an unpractical +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span>dreamer. For these I care not one jot, having +little, if any, respect for professional politicians, having +an abhorrence of red tape and the jobbery it wraps +up. For extremists I have pity more than scorn, as +I know their tenets are but as grains of sand blown by +the winds. That agitators, as a class, are wholly +unreliable, being, <i lang="fr">au fond</i>, mostly out for themselves, +and that is the reason I warn the workers against +them. I have chosen the form of a Dream to tell my +story for several reasons. Some of the finest literature +has been given in the form of Parable or Allegory! +which is as illustrative to-day as it was in any period +of History.</p> + + +<h3>§ 35</h3> + +<p>The wanderings of Osiris, told in ancient Egyptian +mythology, are ethically as beautiful as their progress +is enchanting. The most beautiful and instructive +passages in Christ’s teaching are in parable, as all +Oriental disquisitions are. The story of Buddha is +a poetic allegory affecting the lives of millions to-day. +The Divine Comedy of Dante is in allegory, and our own +great writer, Bunyan, the Bedfordshire tinker, chose +a dream in which to relate his Christian progress. +Bacon’s New Atlantis is a species of allegory interwoven +with the science of his period. The first three +chapters of Genesis, whoever written by, are in allegory. +I know that the form I have chosen is not one in fashion. +I am old-fashioned, and prefer the example of the +greatest minds to those which, on a lower level, in my +opinion, are, just now, uppermost. Imagination is +at a discount; materialism is paying interest on +Industrialism; but I believe in the Triumph of Imagination +and the defeat of Materialism. This late war +has cemented that faith in me which William Blake +taught me, when he saw trees at Dulwich filled with +angels, and his beautiful mind was filled with enthusiasm +by vision of a more perfect existence than a mundane one.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span></p> + +<p>Imagination is the torch that lights the intelligence +of man. It is of the Spirit which God breathed into the +mythical Adam, as he rose physically out of the newly +created soil. Without Imagination the world would +soon drift into a desolate chaos. Imagination is somewhere +in the British character, else how came about +our literature, second only to the Greek? Materialism +created by Industrialism has sought to push it out as +a vague and idle gift of no service in the acquisition of +wealth. <em>Plutus</em> has been on the throne of <em>Zeus</em>, but +only temporarily. Olympus will be peopled again, +for the gods never die. Another Parnassus, with +Apollo and the Muses, will be here again, and great +god Pan will come into his own when Agriculture +is restored in the grand simplicity of its initial purpose, +and Industrialism is organised so as not to be a +nuisance and a <em>curse</em>, which it has been unquestionably, +not because it is bad in the abstract (for nothing +which includes labour is that), but because it has gone +a ruthless way unchecked. Industrialism became a +“Fetish” before which every one must bow. It +has destroyed what and where it wished! Without +discrimination it has acted the part of a Juggernaut +by trampling down better things than it can show, +which stood in the way of its tyrannical progress. It +has darkened the face of fair England by smoke, +poisoned its rivers, turned good land into ash heaps. +Lowered the vitality of men, of animals, trees and +plants wherever its autocratic will has prevailed.</p> + +<p>Worse even than this it has done, it has created a false +creed: “I believe in gold.” It helped to make the late war +the most horrible in History. It has tended, wherever +it has planted its foot, to urge that <em>Might is Right</em>. +Without the abuses of Industrialism, the late war could +not have been. Germany trusted to her Industrialism +to win. She felt certain that she could turn out a +hundred destroying machines to the Allies’ thirty. +That the force created by her Industrialism was invincible. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span>There was once a Soul in Germany—the +worship of Industrialism killed it. Germany lost the +war because she had first sold her soul. The Allies +won it because, though sorely wounded, their souls +were still alive, and their honour mostly unscathed.</p> + + +<h3>§ 36</h3> + +<p>Man was not made to be a machine; Industrialism +would make him one; man was created for a fair +open-air life to be a healthy hearty animal under the +sun. Into him had been breathed something God-like, +if he chose to use it; to create a new Eden, not +a new Hell. We have had enough of his creative +powers for the latter, we mean to use them for the +former! It’s just a matter of choice, that is all. We +have only to change the direction of creative impulse +from sources of destruction to sources which will insure +construction and preservation of the fittest. It is +by that habit of mind and direction of effort we shall +fall again into the footpaths of our noble predecessors, +and create in them new departures, which, not being +ephemeral and time-serving, will act as sign-posts for +those to come; because, surely we are not responsible +for a temporary success, but for the fields we leave +to be gleaned when we have passed! These thoughts +took hold of me and held me tight, as I walked to and +fro in the City, watching all and talking to some of +its inhabitants, some of keen intelligence, more of sullen +discontented demeanour, a few but little above animals; +not their fault, but of the misdirection of their lives, the +unwholesome teaching of their leaders (a little more +intelligent than they, a good deal more self-seeking +and artful), and generally, if not universally, defective +in sound early education and example. Tired with +the fatigues of the day, and passionately longing for +better things, I found an inn, and went to bed, to sleep, +perchance to dream.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="A_DREAM_OF_ENGLAND"> + A DREAM OF ENGLAND + </h2> +</div> + + +<h3>§ 1</h3> + +<p>My body lay asleep. My Spirit was free! Unconscious +cerebration led it where it willed. Free as a bird, +my winged soul made its way with no impediment. +Without ears I heard, without eyes I saw, without +hands I touched, without restraint I observed. My +Spirit created images—it was an absolute monarch! +Nothing denied its progress, no walls forbid entry, and +nothing clouded its vision. More real, not less, than +before, was every scene presented in the journeys of +my Spirit. Is this real Life? Is this unreality Reality? +It seemed so to be. Innumerable impressions on a +long life become facts. The dream of sixty years was +being realised every moment. What I saw and touched +was tangible. Nothing was vague. It was a lifetime concentrated +into a moment. “A thousand years in Thy +sight are but as yesterday, seeing they pass as a thief +in the night.” Time was obliterated. Each of my +senses was acute. I enjoyed beauty with a vivacity +I had only dreamed of, the scent of flowers as I had +not known before. I loathed the stenches of man’s +making, for there was pain as well as pleasure to my +acute sensibilities; in this state the Spirit is in a kind +of Purgatory, half in, half out, of the world! half in +Heaven, a bit in Hell. Dante tells it all. Virgil, +Homer and Milton sang of it; the Golden Age lived +it. Mankind has longed for it. To satisfy the longing +man has created an Ideal existence the other side +of the Grave. Not satisfied with that which is uncertain, +we desire the Ideal life <em>here</em>, and as my Spirit +gathers intimacy with what I see, hear and feel, the +Ideal <em>is</em> dawning! “There is more in dreams than we +wot of.” How can we tell that Truth is not the master +of dreamland? “Hypnos” and “Somnos” may be +brothers who conduct us into a land of accomplishment. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>Are they prophets? I hope so, when they +lead where they lead me. Maybe such a dream as +mine may come to be an abiding reality; that is why +I tell it? England would be better and happier if it +did. If there were no such place as Utopia, should we +want to get there?</p> + +<p>The money-grabbers have theirs, an unlimited +supply of gold; the sensualists theirs, unlimited, +unrestrained sensuality; the realist his, and what a +tiresome place it would be; the idealist seeks his. +Utopia is a real place, not in the clouds, but here, +somewhere, if we choose to recognise it. If it were not +so, the soul, created before the body, would not seek it. +When we give a party we do so to please our friends, +and doing so to gratify ourselves. The Idealist casts +the seeds of live ideas. He knows they will fall on +sterile as well as productive soil. The Idealist is an +optimist. Having tested his ideal, probably through +suffering, he believes in its efficacy. May be he believes +in its general acceptance finally, because he is confident +of the ultimate conquest of “the best!”</p> + + +<h3>§ 2</h3> + +<p>Now to my dream! A moment I hovered over my +sleeping body: I left it to travel on the wings of my +soul. In front of me is a City. A part of it—the +most elevated—is enclosed by a high wall, pierced +for eight gates, closed at night. Its plan is octagonal. +Within it there rise high buildings and towers. They +are constructed of stone and brick, mostly of stone, +for the region is volcanic. The slopes of the hill +descending to the undulating ground are richly +furnished with fruit trees, and ample vegetable +gardens. It is spring time! Rich is the blossom whose +scent the sweet pure air brings to me. The air is as +clear as crystal. As I hovered over the enclosed part +of the City, I heard a hum, pleasant to the ear as that +of bees; it proceeded from within the stately buildings. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>Yes! It was machinery, complex and wonderful. +How is it that those vast wheels, those intricate valves +and long straps spreading as spider’s web, are moved, +and so silently? Science has discovered how to convert +noise to silence. Science had been practical, she had +set herself a problem, and she had solved it! What +appeared to be inevitable had been conquered.</p> + +<p>But how is generated the power to propel this gigantic +movement—and silently? Science had discovered how +to collect and use electric currents, whose power is +greater than steam, to move, in perfect rhythmical +order, the heaviest, most complicated machinery. I +searched for, but found no ash-heaps. How can this +be? Science had discovered how to separate heat-giving +properties of all fuel from the waste. Where is +the smoke? There was none! What, then, are those +noble towers for? Partly for ventilation, partly as +store rooms. Science had said: “It is time I set to +work to use the forces of Nature with discretion. I +have discovered many useful things, but, being in too +great a hurry, have made much havoc with them; I +have destroyed much that was lovely in the world in +my haste to provide ‘facilities.’ I have been very +clever and very stupid. It is time I made a new departure. +I must no longer be a nuisance. I must set to, +to order my going, that in my track I create blessings, +not curses. I see it now. It is in my power, if I exert it, +to render unpleasant things pleasant. In my mad zeal +for discovery, I forgot adaptation. I forgot that it lay +in my genius to use it unharmfully. Now I set to work +and try to make the world pleasant again, much as it was +before I became too proud, too inconsiderate and +dominating.</p> + +<p>Alone I cannot do this! I have been too long separated +from Art, too closely wedded to utility, which, though I +do not divorce, I make obedient. Indeed, I rather scorned +Art, and ridiculed those who stood in the way of my +reckless march! I know now that I am responsible in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>a measure for the soul of <span class="smcap">Man</span>, as well as the use of +nature’s forces. ‘Only <em>I</em> matter’ has been my motto. +I take Art to me, which, more than all else, presents the +Soul of Man, and say we must be sisters, not antagonists. +That I have brought evil into dominion I now know. +From me, have been born hideous means to destroy life, +property, and the gentler happiness of mankind. Foul +gases to suffocate, explosives to be a curse to humanity +to facilitate destruction in War-time. I have been a +kind of earthquake, indiscriminating and cruel! I +have destroyed more than preserved! What an odd +creature I am!! I make wounds, then I heal them. I +mangle bodies, and set them together again. With one +hand I cut the world to pieces, with the other heal the +wounds I’ve made. I have torn out eyes and replaced +them as well as I could, with blind ones. Queer +creature that I am. In making artificial light, I hid the +sun. I subverted the natural order by turning day +into night and night into day. I invented all kinds +of implements for agriculture while I was killing +vegetable life. I have been unguided by Art, yet +I am entirely artificial! It is true that man has +used me foolishly. He would have me to be Peace +Maker and War Lord. He has abused my genius +because he fancied that I only could satisfy his material +ambitions and bring him wealth. What I made for +his service he has used for murder and suicide! It is +plain to me now! The blinkers are off and I see the +right way.”</p> + +<p>I listened while Science spoke, and gathered that she +had become wise! Will men grow wiser with her? What I +see here seems to promise it! I went on with my +invisible peregrinations. The people of the City have +not their homes where their daily labour is; after that +is finished they go to their homes below the gardens, +which entirely encircle the acropolis of Labour and the +City. Hours for Labour are sufficient for all purposes +not extreme. Eight hours do they labour, eight hours +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>they sleep, eight hours for pastime and <em>home industries</em>. +Home industries are many. Eight hours’ factory labour +leave the men still fresh, because where they labour the +air is pure; change of work is pleasant to them, be it +cultivating their bit of the public gardens or in craftsmanship +enjoyed in their homes, for it is becoming a +habit to be craftsmen here, and <em>to give out no work which +can be performed at home</em>; in this way the middle man, +that raker-in of the gold of others’ labour, is mostly +done away with. Work is not held to be a mark of +slavery, but of Freedom. While the labourer is working +for his commune, which gives him good wage, he is +performing one duty; while he is working in his home +or garden he is a home craftsman. And many and +desirable are his productions: good, simple furniture, +which only costs him the material, and gives him +continual pleasure in the making. He who was an idler, +or worse, is now an industrious artist in his long hours of +recreation.</p> + + +<h3>§ 3</h3> + +<p>There are pleasant places for refreshment, games, +and the like, but, as far as I can see, they are not abused. +Time is too fully occupied by duty and absorbing labour +of craftsmanship to admit of drunkenness. I see none +of that which was so killing a vice when men’s hours of +leisure were poisoned by inertia. Now they do not want +to drink; they are keen, not listless men. They are +too busy to grumble, too happy to listen to agitators, +who, if they began again to sow discontent, would be +met by corporal punishment, so <em>determined</em> is this new +race of workmen to be Free! What is the government +under which this new City prospers? It is Home +Rule! Each county governs itself! Imperial Parliament +has no power to control their liberty. London +is the seat of Imperial Parliament, which is represented +by one member from each county, selected as a wise and +educated man by the Communes which represent their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>inhabitants; but they cannot hold their office for more +than five years. Imperial Parliament is confined to +Foreign affairs of State, having in it a representative +from each of our Colonies. Imperial Parliament, of +which the King is Prime Minister, is composed of learned +and efficient citizens who are Privy Councillors, not because +they are rich men (for the party chest and the +jobbery it caused is a thing of the past), but because they +are wise and learned. It meets at stated times which +are subject to emergency. The King and his closest +Ministers have the power to call it together. London is +subject to the same rule as the counties; but London +is no longer the centralised authority—she rules herself, +but as yet this huge monster is chaotic. Being +heavily populated, although the population of it +has largely decreased owing to the abolition of slums, +and a larger proportion of it than hitherto being under +cultivation, Greater London is broken up, into +Boroughs, which have powers of local Government, +carried on by better educated men than heretofore. +Their councils, composed exactly as those of the Counties, +are represented by reliable men who are above profiteering. +Each important trade is represented by one +representative; this rule prevents any trade from +working its own interests to the damage of another. +Lawyers are used for reference, but are not allowed to +initiate. Lessons from the past have taught that the +legal mind is a zig-zag puzzle. Imperial Parliament +has done away with Free Trade, except with British +Colonies, which pay no entrance fee to our coasts.</p> + +<p>Each Commune guards itself and people from excessive +taxation, and wisely, because heavy taxation is a clog +in the wheel of production, for not unnaturally industry +is averse to giving a large portion of the results of labour +to bolster up the extravagance and want of foresight +committed by Party Politicians who, after all, are, +far more eager for the success of that miserable +little idol, “Party,” than for the higher welfare of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>people they are supposed to govern. Party Politics +reflect the worst sides of Tory as well as Radical government. +It is now accepted that excessive taxation is +against the first principles of political economy. Care is +taken that taxes shall be borne mostly by those who can +best bear them. Trade is more taxed than Professions.</p> + + +<h3>§ 4</h3> + +<p>Machinery of all kinds is taxed higher than the handicrafts, +because it produces more swiftly, if less enduringly. +Everything that tends to higher mental development +is only nominally taxed. The Arts are not +considered luxuries, but necessities; hence, instead of +contributing to the purse of the country, they are recognised +as contributing to its mental growth, its +refinement, as well as strength, and are taxed as lightly +as may be.</p> + +<p>Unproductive land is taxed, but since much more of it +is under cultivation than formerly, and Industrialism +is no longer permitted to play the Juggernaut, since +<em>Agriculture</em> and <em>Arboriculture</em> have been energetically +pursued, waste land is an exception; even the least +productive is used in some way or other for national +benefit. A small voluntary army is kept in efficiency, +but not extravagantly. It is supplied from training +corps established in each county. The education of +every boy includes military drill; in that way classes +mix, under the same discipline. This method induces +good-fellowship and promotes education; because the +better educated, teach the less fortunate, by example. +It is found to be a great factor in promoting peace, and +conduces to good manners and courtesy. The boy scouts +are in full swing.</p> + +<p>Britain can provide almost all necessities of Life. Foreign +goods, of whatever kind, are sufficiently taxed, but +not so excessively as to prevent entrance. It has been +found that unlimited free imports from foreign sources +tended to limit local production; hence, labour suffered, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>and supervened. A habit in England had grown to pay +for, rather than labour for, even the necessities of Life. +It has been shown in the reconstruction, that if Britain +and her Colonies cannot, inclusively, provide all, they +<em>can</em> provide the greater part of the countries’ needs. +The following out of this principle in practice has arrested +the growth of discontent so prevalent a while ago.</p> + + +<h3>§ 5</h3> + +<p>The great war provided proof that military discipline, +which means obligation of the items of a system to +work for the success of the whole, did not unfit men for +peaceful labour, but rather the contrary; because a habit +of self-control in combination strengthens the fibres of +individual physical and mental activity. So far advanced +is the system of units in combination under the flag, that +at any moment mobilisation can be effected, and in a time +of necessity practically the whole male portion of the +nation can be under arms. Industrialism provides +arms which in time of peace need not be overwhelmingly +costly to taxpayers, because in a moment of emergency +war material can be produced with almost miraculous +rapidity. It is not the intention of those who are +organising reconstruction to be caught napping again. +The nation, as a whole, being more intelligently +equipped than it was, sees ahead, and mistrusting +politicians, it follows the lead of good sense and keener +intellects than those who are under the spell of party +politics possess.</p> + +<p>But I am moving too quickly, a habit which the +mind has when it is keen and full of ideas. Government +is on the basis of Home Rule, with some of the restrictions +as well as advantages of the old Saxon Heptarchy. +Imperial Parliament holds no sway over the Communes, +which are governed by a Mayor selected not on account +of his wealth, but his wisdom. He is elected for three +years, and by the voice of the Commune. His Council +is representative of each necessary trade and profession, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span>hence it is truly democratic. Men of the law are used +as referees (but are not except as such) allowed to be +active members, the legal mind being held to be +limited, and narrow, by its training to delay, and dangerous +by its sophistry.</p> + +<p>Not more than <em>one</em> representative of each trade +is permitted. This wise proviso has been accepted to +prevent jobbery, for which the old Borough and Town +Councils were renowned. Each representative, while his +first duty is to look after the trade he represents, has a +vote upon all subjects.</p> + +<p>In order that the Council of the Commune shall be in +a position to look after the interests of the entire community, +what used to be called “country gentlemen” +form a feature. All honest tradesmen are respected; +dishonest ones and profiteers are held in no respect, but +are considered aliens and unworthy of any responsible +place in the State.</p> + +<p>The House of Commons, as it was called, no longer +exists. It was considered a clumsy assembly, and one +out of touch with realities. It ceased to exist because the +people became weary with too much talk, too many +promises, and of muddle at every turn; so they +ceased to vote for M.P.’s to sit at Westminster. It +died quite a natural death, the country at large being +scarcely aware of the moment of its demise which no +one regrets. It has come to be borne into the minds of +the honest democrat that too many laws framed by +lawyers were every year passed, not one of which was +sincerely intended to be applied, but were passed as +sops to public opinion upon some more or less burning +question of the moment. Imperial Parliament, which +we have stated is under the presidency of the King, is +composed of Privy Councillors selected from the County +Communes as the wisest men of the moment, not necessarily +rich, but trustworthy, and such as have proved +to have no <em>personal axes to grind</em>. This implies that the +King’s Councillors are men of learning and character, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span>and are not likely to commit banalities in their dealing +with foreign affairs, for which reason it is found desirable +that they are travelled and not insular men, accustomed +to meet foreigners and to speak their language, as well +as to be conversant with their habits of thought and +institutions.</p> + + +<h3>§ 6</h3> + +<p>The Aristocracy of Learning takes a high place in the +new democracy. We have seen that a party chest no +longer exists, so men poor in purse, but rich in wisdom +and understanding, if not called “Peers of the Realm,” +have become so by their outstanding merits. Hereditary +titles are the exception. The ancient titles and +families go on, but it is an exception when they are +added to. It is agreed that opportunists and place +hunters were numerically increased by the facilities +provided for the purchase of honours. In the new +State no honours can be <em>purchased</em>, but they can be +<em>won</em>! Money may make a prominent man, but not a +great one. By making the King President of the Privy +Councillors it was thought that the grave responsibility +carried with it would strengthen the monarchy, and, +holding on to the fine tradition of kingship, the country +would benefit more than under repeated elections +consequent upon a shifting Republic, meaning that +stability is more likely to be reached under a Constitutional +Monarch than under a vacillating Republic.</p> + +<p>To sum up this portion of my dream. Centralisation +is a thing of the past! Each county governs itself; +and this plan has been thought to be wise because every +county has its own idiosyncracy, its own needs, and its +own powers of production, some <em>Industrial</em>, some +<em>Agricultural</em>, but each one must, to be well governed, +be represented by the most varied and highly trained +minds. So each intellectual class is called upon to +administer, which system prevents the commercial +element from overriding the intellectual; hence a better +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>balance is maintained than under the old system, which +pushed into the background some of the best minds in +the community, who, not being commercial, but taking +another view, undoubtedly a higher one, were regarded +as fanatics, their ideas being received with a shrug of +the shoulders as a gesture of contemptuous pity.</p> + +<p>But a wider education, hence better manners, has +altered all this, and members of a class that held in contempt +any intelligence applied other than to commerce +have learnt that there are many sides to a nation’s +greatness, none of which can be neglected without +detriment to the whole. Besides the Mayor each Commune +has its Minister of Public Health, who must be a +capable authority not an amateur but an expert, who has +under him a staff of officers ever on the watch for the +good of the people. Next to him is the Minister for +Agriculture. In industrial centres a Minister for Industrialism +is at work, whose duty it is to see that all factories +are sanitary, the workmen neither overcrowded or overworked. +There is a protecting Minister of all rivers +and lakes, into which no refuse from factories is permitted +to drain. This law, if not obeyed, <em>the factory +can be immediately shut up</em>. All coal smoke is forbidden, +whether from factories or private houses. This law at +first was resented, and until fines for its non-observance +were heavy, was not obeyed. As soon as offenders found +there was no way to avoid smoke, they applied science and +now the evil never occurs. Electricity is used as energising +power as well as for heat giving, all engines are +driven by it, hence in the whole of England the scandal +of a smoking chimney of any sort or kind is never +presented.</p> + +<p>“We are wiser now,” said a scientific man. “We know +it to be not only folly to waste coal, but wrong to smirch +the sky, hide the sun, and poison trees and vegetables +with evil fumes—it can be prevented.” As I hovered +over a part of England, not long ago blasted and blackened, +where not a tree would grow, where the sun rarely +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>penetrated through the evil clouds of unconsumed fuel, +I wondered how it was we permitted that miserable state +of things to go on. Now the country smiles under the sun; +what was a desert is a garden, and what were pale, sad +people are now sunburnt, merry and strong folk, as the +British race was before the artificial tyrant Industrialism +began to bleach them. The climate of the British Isles +is not genial, we all know that, but the difference since +coal smoke has ceased to darken the sun is so great +as to provide another climate. Fogs there are and +always will be in our Island, but smoke fogs are no +more, hence an outdoor life is led which was impossible +under the circumstances of the past. If the Communes +had only effected that change they would have benefited +the human race quite incalculably. Each Commune +has its Minister of Education assisted by a staff of +competent superintendents, who visit local schools and +issue reports that are laid before a Council elected from +chosen men of character and distinction. Each Commune +has a Minister of Arts and Crafts, for music and +the drama, including dancing, which I notice has +become an art and an essential one, in the training of +the young in good manners and graceful demeanour.</p> + + +<h3>§ 7</h3> + +<p>The Mayor or Lord Mayor is elected from any class; +preferably he is not a tradesman, but a man of wide +learning and experience, hence he is not prejudiced in +favour of any trade or profession. Lawyers are not +eligible as Mayors, nor is it thought desirable that so +dignified an office should be held by auctioneers or +house agents. Indeed, the further the chief officer of +the Commune is removed from temptations of class +jobbery, the better is the service he renders to the +community at large.</p> + +<p>Prices of bread, meat and milk, the three absolute +necessities, are regulated by the commune. They vary as +little as possible, and being essential to the carrying on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>of life, fortunes are not made from their sale. The law +at the root of this wise decision is the result of the +profiteering of tradesmen during the late war, which +became so serious a scandal that the people suffering +from it endeavoured to make it impossible to be repeated.</p> + +<p>The Council does its work in the capital of each +county, but the smaller cities, townships and villages +are permitted to act independently, as their several +interests demand, so long as in the main features of +policy they subscribe to the intention the Chief +Council has in view. Once a year the heads of each +country department meet in the capital and make their +reports. The Conference lasts for one week, and is the +occasion of a general holiday. The Conference is open +to all comers, who, while it sits, have an opportunity of +expressing their opinion upon questions of public +interest. This system seems to be working well; the +discontented can air their discontent and the contented +their approval. It works well, because all discussion is +open, none taking place under closed doors; that fact +alone is conducive to confidence, by implying it and +receiving it. Where there is honesty there is no need +for secrecy. “Do nothing with closed doors,” said +M. Aurelius. The whole system of government is in the +best sense Socialistic, as opposed to Individualistic the +mark of the Radical. “Every man out for himself” is +a destructive policy. While this form of Socialism +makes for order, it does not discourage individual +enterprise. Opinions may be stated under a reasonable +check by minds skilled in government, which, being +open to new ideas as long as they are proved to promote +<em>public good</em>, learn by listening.</p> + + +<h3>§ 8</h3> + +<p>If occasion demands it, each Commune throughout +the country is empowered to send its chief and such +officers as he may select to meet together in conference +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>in any one of the chief cities of Britain. This extreme +measure would probably only apply in times of a +national crisis, such as possible war or unruly conduct +as strikes or other disorder imperilling the well-being +of a peaceful and industrious majority. Everything +that works for unanimity, but without weakness, +seems to be becoming natural. The artificial conditions, +most disastrous in their effect, of tyrannical Trades +Unions, have given way under a return to Guilds. +The painters, craftsmen of all descriptions, and the best +class of tradesmen are under certain elastic laws appertaining +to their profession or business. There are no +such mischievous people as Strike Leaders; long ago +they proved failures, and the workmen became aware +of the damage they had done to their reputation and +threw them over. They did so directly it was brought +home to them that their leaders were really tyrants. +The Guilds <em>encourage good work</em>, as the Trades Union +leaders of the past encouraged bad; indeed, they +have it in their powers to impose a fine on bad work, if +continued to be issued after warning has been given or +a fine paid. The guilds can expel an idle delinquent as +an unworthy citizen. As far as one could learn, that +punishment, so far, has had to be carried into effect +very rarely, because workmen and craftsmen of all +kinds now recognise the wisdom of being honest in their +own interest, <i>i.e.</i>, for good pay to give good work.</p> + + +<h3>§ 9</h3> + +<p>Being better educated or, shall we say, more widely +informed and more wisely led, craftsmen in every branch +of industry are better citizens, regarding their work as +a contribution valuable to the Commune and to the +country at large. By degrees it is becoming a habit of +mind to regard all labour as noble, if executed honourably. +Every man, whatever his calling may be, takes a +pride in doing it well. Indeed, as my spirit wandered +from place to place watching and listening, I gathered +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>that <em>idleness</em> and <em>slackness</em>, encouraged as they were by +the Trades Unions, are now <em>despised</em>. For idle workmen +of any sort or in any sphere of life, in trade, profession +or craftsmanship, is not only a useless but mischievous +item in the social system. The pride engendered by +honest labour is the cause of healthy competition. +Emulation is a quality which has grown to be a habit; +emulation, not envy or jealousy, which are mean. +When men grow wise they discard smallness. They do +not begin every sentence with the first person singular, +but with the second or first person plural; therefore, +being inside and a part of the community, the co-worker +is an essential link in the chain which binds an entire +system and renders it strong.</p> + +<p>This is the reverse of Radical tenet, which proclaiming +the creed of the Jew Fagin, in his discourse with Noah +Claypole, “Look after number one, my dear”—an +admirable doctrine for thieves, but the reverse for the +welfare of an honest community.</p> + + +<h3>§ 10</h3> + +<p>Dreams are queer things, very illogical, and not +restrained by formulæ. In dreams, Q.E.D. does not +come in at all. The charm of a dream is that it is +suggestive, not conclusive. It is like a kind of Inspiration: +gaps have to be filled up; sequences are indefinite. +All manner of odd situations jostle one another. +An instant of time is as a thousand years. The ancients, +in their wisdom, in their contemplative abstraction, +may not have been far off the mark when they regarded +dreams as omens, having the nucleus of some abstract +truth. Swifter than any train or aeroplane can travel, +as swiftly as a ray of light reaches the earth from the +sun, the spirit, free of the body, moves in a dream. It +can inhabit Mars awhile and be back in Piccadilly in +less than a fraction of a minute divided into sixty +pulsations. The spirit has to take no ticket to travel, +to pay no price for a long journey. It has no aims, it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>only obeys impulse. There being no method in a dream +removes it from actualities, which it only pictures. +These being the chief characteristics of Dreamland, in +the relation of a dream, which is automatic impression, +a certain irregularity in the position of subjects to +which it relates is not only permissible, but necessary to +the picture it may be destined to paint. Having so far +preserved a kind of sequence of ideas suggested as the +teller of my dream, I obey the volatile journeys into all +manner of crannies. No brain is so closely locked up +that it can prevent the great inquisitor from entering. +While they are free, dreams are tyrants over reason, to +which they bear no relationship. The interpretation of +a dream must be left to the listener of the tale it tells +who can form whatever conclusion he pleases. The +rationalist will probably only see folly; the mathematician, +chaos; the unimaginative, nonsense. Probably +the dreamer dreams in close relationship to his habit +of mind. He may be an optimist at one moment a +pessimist at another. He accentuates his likes and dislikes, +hence through the relation of his dream he exposes +himself, and gives himself over to every kind of criticism. +To some he appears the reverse of veracious, to others +a lunatic, but to a few he may appear in the nature of +a prophet.</p> + +<p>Having apologised to my readers, I propose now to +allow my dream to lead me, as it most certainly will do, +how and where it likes, to obey its impulses even though +they are disconnected. To do otherwise would tend to +muddle up dreams with realities, or such realities we +see in waking hours. And now, feeling free, I can +continue with the story in all its oddities of arrangement, +because this is not a philosophical treatise, although it +might be construed into one. It is not my business as a +dream teller to reason, but to leave that to my readers.</p> + +<p>In the pursuit of largeness of Vision, breadth of Faith, +development of Charity, and strengthening of Hope, +the new world formed in my dream <em>recognises all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span>religions</em>, or rather their creeds, with their differences of +approach towards a great mystery, and places them +upon an equality of ministration. Church and State +are separated. The Hebrew, Roman, Anglican, and +Presbyterian Churches are, if not numerically equal, +equally respected. The grand mystical tenets of the +Hebrews, the loneliness of the Divine Spirit worshipped, +its nearness as well as its aloofness from what it has +created, its complete unchangeable supremacy associated +with its antiquity, are respected and admired as +sincere emotions of one prominent part in the mind of +man. The grave simplicity of the Hebrew ritual is +accepted as an expression of mysterious faith. Having +travelled so far into man’s mind, it was arrested before +any explanation of mysteries arrived to drag the incomprehensible +into the region of logic. No longer +despised, the Hebrew faith is as the Father of many +children. Differing from it in detail, the Moslem faith +is the elder child of pure Deism. Mahommed is to +his followers what Moses is to the Hebrews and Jesus +Christ to Christians. We, who have to govern so large a +portion of the Moslem world, belong to a nation which +of necessity must come into constant contact with a +Faith which (having its defects, according to Western +thought) is to the people who follow it the fountain of +Wisdom and the well of Truth; a Faith, indeed, from +which the most ardent Christian can learn many lessons +of sobriety and reverence. God the all powerful is the +unapproachable Spirit; only by prayer, praise and +entire trust are we brought spiritually near to Him.</p> + +<p>The Roman Catholic community of thought is, in a +sense, nearer to Western life and ideals than the Hebrew +or Moslem, but the element from which it sprang is the +same. The One Supreme God, the Father of His +creation, and the mystical spirit which contains <em>all</em>. +Differences are only matters of words, they are additions +which in no wise touch the root of the matter. God +Almighty is still the root from which springs the Tree of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>Life and all its branches. Deus and Zeus are the same +word. All the pagan gods emanate from the Divine +centre, be it Olympus, Rome, or Jerusalem. The +Roman Church saw fit to construe pagan mythology in +a new vernacular. Its saints and holy men became the +lesser gods, but no less or more were they, or are they, +absolutely dependent upon the all powerful Deity, the +final author of all, the dispenser of all, the father of all.</p> + +<p>The Anglican Church is the child of the Roman and +grandchild of pagan mythology, the great grandchild +of the Hebrew Faith. The metal of which the chain is +formed is gold forged by the Divine Spirit. Probably +the break between the Anglican and Roman Church +was a political, more than a religious, <em>evolution</em>. The +English never liked submission to Rome. England +has always been a friend to liberty, an enemy to tyranny, +and long may it so remain, be it either religious or +political.</p> + +<p>Nonconformity, especially that branch we call +“Presbyterian,” came from an attempt to simplify +ritual, as far as possible, to reconstruct allegiance with +primitive worshippers. The root of belief the reformers +did not touch. The Deity remained pre-eminent. The +new world, that of my dream, while admitting differences, +recognises essential similarities. Hence all +denominations are held equal—equal as regards the +respect due to them, and equal in the intention which +dominates differences of detail. Was it not Augustine +who said: “There is no religion which has not something +of the Spirit of God in it”? Sectarianism takes +no part in the new world. I saw in my dream that the +cathedrals and churches of England are open to all +religions. To the Hebrews the altars there are as the +ark presided over by the shining cherubims. To the +Moslem as a symbol of the nearness of the Divine Being; +to the Catholics as the symbol of self sacrifice; to the +Presbyters as symbols of Divine Hope and assistance. +In them the ancient Psalms of David are sung by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>Hebrews, whose incense carries prayers of the faithful +up to their roofs and far above them again. Jesus +Christ worshipped in the Synagogue—why should not +the Hebrews worship in His Temples? I saw in my +dream that the Roman Mass, in all its splendour of +detail, its imagery, its exuberance of symbolism, is +celebrated in the cathedrals and churches once reserved +as Temples of Protestantism. The simpler ritual of +the Anglicans is also reverently administered, and the +almost entirely bald ritual of Presbyters finds its place +within the historic walls of the churches of Liberal +England.</p> + +<p>The breadth of sympathy thus shown to all religious +denominations my spirit saw had nothing but a good +result. It is a form of departure which is catching; it +engenders peace; it breaks up animosity; it extends +mental outlook from small to great things. Without +temporising differences it permits them, it places them +as small matters by the side of big essentials, hence the +charity to which a broad view of religion has given rise +is spreading and seems to enter into the spirit of a new +and larger life. Hence religion appears to me to coalesce +with a spirit of fraternity which, obviously, is growing, +not sentimentally, but as a social and indispensable +fact.</p> + +<p>The cathedrals and churches are adorned with +pictures, not necessarily sectarian or of what are called +religious subjects. Prominent features of the History +of the World are presented, but I do not remember to +have seen any pictures in which war is figured. The +new world abominates war, and while it is in a measure +prepared for such a foolish experiment as war is, it is +not considered worthy of handing down by the Arts +of Peace, which are and must be <em>constructive</em>.</p> + +<p>It is recognised that while mankind is selfish, grasping +and cruel, wars will occur. The ideal is, of course, +general disarmament, but that is unlikely. Still, it is +thought that the more widely and constantly the Arts +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>of Peace are sown, and the greater interest taken in +life, not as a dissipation, but as concentration of energy +used on things that matter, the less likely war will +intervene and shatter, for perhaps a century, all peaceful +intellectual progress.</p> + +<p>War may bring out fine qualities, but experience has +told us, in a minority. War is brutalising to those +engaged in it, even to the atmosphere near and far from +its centre. War, when the lust for it has entered, +degrades a people. Bloodshedding is a form of madness. +When the spark is kindled, a flame soon grows, +which is fanned by lunatics, and one fears, sometimes +by adroit commercial schemers who see in devastation a +chance to enrich their pockets. When once greed takes +the place of contented energy, avarice, dishonesty +and self-seeking enter and shatter national progress. +Indeed, there is no end to the mischief war may encourage. +The seeds of avarice are sown early in life. +Victims to it become unconscious of the rapidity of its +growth, its poison spreads indefinitely, and what is in +reality vice is excused by the plausible word “business,” +which, if laid bare to its root, means tripping up the +neighbour, and, if possible, without being found out. +It is because tradesmen behaved so ill during the period +of their country’s danger that, the eyes of the people +are now opened, they are watched, hedged in by +honest men, that they shall have no opportunity in +the new Commune to rob their fellow citizens of food +again. In my dream, by listening and observing, I saw +that all classes were bent upon the same conclusion, +to attain much for all! This has led to a great reform +in the education of the young in their tender and +malleable years.</p> + + +<h3>§ 11</h3> + +<p>The public schools are not only in name public; they +are open to all without distinction of class. The peer’s +son will sit on a school bench beside the peasant’s. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>only difference being that the richer pay higher fees. +All classes pay something for education; what is got +for nothing no one values, but the education given +is identical. Upon the whole it is desirable that all +students live in their homes. Day scholars are +encouraged more than boarders; and, as we shall +presently see that home life is in every respect +more refined than it was. Under the old system, +“squalor” was more the rule than the exception; it +is so no longer. Home life, if properly conducted, is +dignified. Every home should be a miniature State, +and it is becoming so here. Wealth is not necessary to +make a worthy home; it is the atmosphere of industry, +amity, and union there which constitute the best school +in which to rear a good citizen. The enormous and +unprecedented rise in wages, largely caused by the +rapacity of tradesmen as well as Government waste of +public money, has indirectly promoted industry (not +industrialism). Even the better off folk do not send +out work which can be done at home. Tradesmen have +defeated themselves in a large measure. The best +provided citizens are craftsmen, who can use their +hands for any manual work, rough or fine. If a chair +is broken, no “gentleman” will send it to be mended, +he mends it himself.</p> + +<p>Experience is fast teaching everybody that a +day is long, not short, and that <em>unlimited</em> specialisation +is neither good for soul or body, rich or poor. +The close student of art or letters needs recreation. +He finds it in the new order in manual work, in craftsmanship +which detaches the mind from pursuits +necessarily sedentary, and which, if continued for too +many hours a day, are detrimental to health and vigour. +In my wanderings I noticed that one of the chief changes +in or differences from the old life is that every man, +woman and child <em>is at work</em>, rich or poor. Hence games +and sports of all kinds, while they take a rational place +in life, are not now its main object. In the public +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span>schools every student has to learn some handicraft. +I see the peasant boy sawing away at one end of a log, +while the peer’s son is sawing at the other. It is recognised, +of course, that equality of power is out of the +question. Few are born to rule, but all can serve their +country. Endowments are different in quantity and +quality. There are fingers so made as to be bad instruments +for performing delicate tasks, as there are minds +incapable to lead men. A skilled craftsman—skilled, +I mean, in the delicate handling of material—is one +thing, the doing rougher work (quite as useful) is +another, and more easily obtained. Young fellows soon +find out what, and what not, they can accomplish. The +outcome of this is energy extended, and if the professional +tradesman or craftsman find himself boycotted, he +has only to thank his greed and his overweening selfishness +during hard times for now being hit with the same +weapon he employed on his fellows. Not overmuch +attention is given to <span class="allsmcap">BOOKS</span>. The first principle initiated +is “good citizenship,” honest dealing, and the carrying +out of the ancient saying, “Whatsoever thou findest to +do, do with thy might.”</p> + + +<h3>§ 12</h3> + +<p>Business on shifty lines or vicious principles may +bring a temporary fortune, but honest dealing will +make good and useful members of society, who will last +out the former, who, in all higher walks of life, are not +seldom mental bankrupts. Music, especially concerted +and vocal, forms a part of general education, and in +like manner, drawing, but music takes a prior place. +Like physical drill, music is useful in training concerted +action. Obedience to a leader is a necessary discipline. +Some silly people used to think the study of music +enervating; the wise know it is otherwise.</p> + +<p>But more on that subject when my spirit has travelled +further and become more intimate with the great +changes that are taking place in this young and wonderful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>new world. So far as I have travelled, watched and +listened, I am certain that <em>concerted</em> action, mental and +physical, is good—even necessary! Boys teach one +another. The peer’s son can teach the peasant, the +peasant the peer’s son. Mixing together of the classes +in work as well as play makes for unity, cohesion and +strength.</p> + + +<h3>§ 13</h3> + +<p>A bird’s-eye view of the new world has been indicated. +By this time who read what my dream relates so far +will know that the principles which guide the new +worlds are <em>socialistic</em>, that the establishment of Fraternity +is the first object. <em>Inequality is recognised. Equality +is impossible. Liberty is subject to obedience. Tyranny +under licence is certain, under good fellowship is impossible. +The most dangerous of all tyranny is that which +is disguised under the cloak of Freedom. Before any +class can rule efficiently it must have learnt to obey. Bad +leaders are worse than none at all.</em></p> + +<p>My dream had hardly taken any shape when the eyes +of my spirit were first awakened. There is a moment +between sleep and waking that is neither one thing or +another. At its start, my dream revealed an indefinite +sketch. I must travel back and hover again over the +new city, to see it in detail and work my silent invisible +way among the new things being slowly revealed as my +spiritual sense acquires power. I am in the new city +again, and am full of keen watching.</p> + + +<h3>§ 14</h3> + +<p>There is one railway station, but, unlike those the +other world made, it is clean, orderly, dustless and +smokeless. Electric power drives the trains, which in +some subtle way are provided with noiseless wheels, +which run as smoothly as on ice. When, in my dream, +I first saw the railway station, I was sorry. My spirit +had been hoping that the world would be content to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span>travel slower. But when it gave no evidence of squalor +in its neighbourhood or smoke in its vicinity, my spirit +was quieted. Nevertheless, it has not been drawn +thither again. When the new city was laid out, a +boundary was fixed, and no extension is permitted +within prescribed limits. One of the great curses of +the old world was the inordinate size of cities. Impossible +to govern well, certain to create squalor and +be refuges for the idle and dissolute, they were intractable. +First comes the open country, freely cultivated, +then the city, then a highly cultivated garden +of fruit and flowers on the gradual slope of the Acropolis, +upon which stand the factories, simply and grandly +designed, with no pretence of architecture. What look +like broad chimney stacks, reminding one of the towers +of some Italian city, are storehouses as well as +shafts in which fans are constantly working to take +pure air into the factories and workshops. No one but +caretakers and watchmen lives on the Acropolis.</p> + +<p>As we have seen, the City is surrounded by a wall. +There are four entrance gates, which are closed at night, +when no work is permitted by the Commune.</p> + +<p>More and more interested my spirit became as it made +its unseen journey. The houses of the city are erected +upon the flat land, and entirely surround the Acropolis. +They begin in something over a mile from the Acropolis +walls. The circumference of the gardens is two to three +miles. They provide a considerable portion of the fruit +and vegetables for the city inhabitants. They are +tended not only by special gardeners, but any capable +citizen is welcome to work in them in spare time under +certain restrictions. A beautiful walk indeed it is from +the city up to the Acropolis, shaded in summer by +luxury of growth (for there is sun now that the smoke +fiend has been slain). It was midday, a bell rings, +reminding me by its majestic tone of the “Vacca,” in +Florence. No ear-distracting hooters are permitted or +hellish shrieks of discordant whistles, which in the old +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>factory towns were so nerve-racking. As the sound of +the bell filled the air, out of the city came its crowd of +workers to make their dinners in their homes. They +are a healthy, happy-looking crew. Life shines her best +light upon them. They are cared for; they are good +citizens, content, honest, and industrious. If the +climate is not the best, what is good of it is no longer +spoiled. What has become of “strike leaders” and +suchlike misleading and “out for themselves folk,” I +did not hear for certain. But I did hear one man say +to another, “We are well rid of them,” and upon +another occasion, pointing to a pond, a man said, +“That’s where we ducked him, he wasn’t straight.”</p> + +<p>How solid and compact the city appeared, how sensible +its houses, how clean and orderly. What a change from +the old dreary rows of boxes called houses, slate roofed, +almost windowless, more fit for pigs than human +habitations. These being novel in construction, and with +no pretence to be “architecture,” are quite interesting. +It appears that the original soil has been dug out, +probably a foot and a half of it, a solid mass of concrete +run in, framed by four courses of damp-proof bricks; +thus is the floor made and a foundation for walls established. +Piers of concrete are erected, from which the +roof springs. The ends of timbers are imbedded in these +piers, which are thereby strengthened. The intervals +between the timbers are filled with strong laths, well +bedded in tenacious plaster. Upright posts are placed +between the horizontal timbers, which prevent the +longer ones from sagging and firmly bind together the +intervals of lath and plaster. The roofs are timber +covered with red tiles. The colour effect is very pleasing. +The ground plan is oblong, formed of two cubes. To +avoid monotony, the houses are grouped in four, six +and two. Each house measures 40 feet in length and +20 feet in depth. What would be called the ground +floor is open to the height of 7 feet. Here are kept +household implements. The space serves also as a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>play-place for children, and in winter can be used by +members of the household for skittles, bowls, and other +pleasant games. Rising from the centre of the ground +plan is a shaft showing at regular intervals pigeon-holes. +These shafts contain heat generated in the neighbourhood +by electricity. Instead of wasting energy upon +the discovery of poison gas to slaughter fellow-beings, +science has found means to collect and generate electricity +as an agent not only for movement but for +heating, and without the expenditure of coal. At +intervals stand towers, which have a fine effect among +the houses. Within them are the electrical generators.</p> + +<p>The houses are composed of two floors, one forming +the upward boundary of the ground floor, the other +eight feet above that, forming the ceiling of the first +floor and the floor of the upper chambers, which are +immediately under the roof. To save space, the stairway +to the upper chambers is in the form of a ladder +with hand rails. The largest room is that occupied by +the women, where are their looms and all other implements +belonging to their home trades, which are several. +The kitchen is a walled off space within the foundation +level; from it, the upper floor is reached by a ladder +and handrail. The entrance to the first floor is by a +stairway parallel with the elevation.</p> + + +<h3>§ 15</h3> + +<p>The furniture is of simple construction, home made, +for, as we have seen, the householders take pleasure in +craftsmanship. In the long winter evenings neighbours +drop in, giving a helping hand to one another. It has +been found to be far cheaper to make at home than to +buy of profiteering tradesmen; it only means a little +more industry, a good deal less drink, and a pleasure in +making and creating innate in all creation, but which +so-called civilisation has done much to crush. Since +the prices demanded by labour became impossible, +profiteering labour has been to a large extent boycotted. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>Now that economy has to be practised, working men as +well as women have grown to be industrious. Each +house is a little centre of industry, and great pleasure +is evidently derived from following an instinct definite +and surviving, that of creating and making all household +implements at home. Since shops are rarer than they +were, the home is a creating centre, a very home of +industry. Hence the look of the people is content, it +has something of proudness in its freedom of aspect. +They have come into their rights by Industry, by +Fraternity. Agitators who would renew disturbances +are treated with contempt. The happiness created by +productive labour has concentrated the people, given +them health and manly independence, besides adding +to their incomes. The unmanly vice of drunkenness is +rare. When it is in evidence it is punished as an insult +to the dignity of the citizen and a crime against the +Commune. From its earliest years the child is taught +that to be a good citizen is a virtue, and to live by +labour a necessity. To give good work for good wage +is held to be a virtue which, if proceeded with through +life, makes a good man and woman. I was so interested +in what my dream was revealing that I made more +intimate observation. Upon the partition walls of the +houses I noticed pleasant and quaint designs, childlike +and barbaric, if you like, but gay, and evidently done +by someone who wanted to express a pleasure in making +nice shapes and bright colour.</p> + + +<h3>§ 16</h3> + +<p>The sound of the loom working was music accompanied +by singing as the women and maidens plied their +home trades. Evidently the garments of these are +home made—they look too “good” to be bought at +high prices of profiteers. Kaleidoscopic coloured quilts +such as I remember in my childhood made the beds look +warm and snug, and curtains of bright tints gave a +generous feeling of warmth where doors are not needed. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>By the way, heating is provided by the Commune at a +nominal rate, not subject to variation. As far as I +could see, gas is of the past; hence houses are cleaner +than heretofore, and the air is not vitiated by the fumes +of that abominable product. Factory labour is limited +to seven hours. In summer it starts at 5 a.m., in +winter at 7 a.m. In summer it is all over by 12 p.m., in +winter by 2 p.m. The remainder of the days are free, +to be enjoyed in garden cultivation or home labour, +other pleasures, and games.</p> + +<p>Now that workers are really leading lives in which +they take a personal interest, and are regarded and +regard themselves, not as slaves, but as kings over +their own lives, gambling is rare, and distasteful sports +such as dog fighting and prize fights and other depressing +so-called sports are not in vogue. In their leisure the +people are Artists, taking a pride in their homes and +competing whose shall be the most attractive. As yet +I had not travelled about sufficiently to know whence +came the wood so much used in the new Commune, but +presently I shall know. Extensive use of lime is accounted +for—it is a local product. To avoid unnecessary +expense and to encourage local labour, the neighbourhood +provides material, for as little foreign material as +possible is imported. Water is plentiful, a good river +meanders in the valley not far from the city, there are +pleasant meadows of fine grass that feeds a goodly +number of cattle, whose milk is pure. Adulteration of +<em>milk</em> is treated as a <em>crime</em>! Bad people who for profiteering +purposes adulterate milk or bread are put to prison +at once on conviction as criminals.</p> + + +<h3>§ 17</h3> + +<p>Pollution of rivers, lakes or ponds is <em>absolutely</em> forbidden; +hence there is a constant supply of fresh water +fish, which forms an important feature in the food of the +city. Rivers, lakes and ponds are stocked with fish and +fry every year, and close times are respected. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span>sale of fresh water fish is the outcome of a recognised +trade which is conducted by experts, and woe betide +the poacher, or still more the factory owner, who steals +or poisons them. Preserves for the private pleasure of +fishermen or other sportsmen are not forbidden, but are +out of fashion: <em>Fraternity</em> has overcome <em>Egoism</em> to a +large extent. Inasmuch as honesty is regarded as a +virtue and dishonesty a vice (not the case under Trades +Unions) it has spread from large to smaller issues. A +factory owner who polluted a river, besides being +punished by the Commune for so doing, would be regarded +a <span class="allsmcap">CAD</span> by the public at large, and would find rough +handling unpleasant. For a moment my attention is +again called to education, for my spirit has been listening. +<em>Truthfulness</em>, <em>absolute</em> and <em>pure</em>, is inculcated from +tenderest years at home and at school. It is involved in +the duty to the neighbour as to God, it is the foundation +of Wisdom, Justice and Fraternity. Faith in the good +faith of the neighbour has become a habit. To override, +cheat or deceive a neighbour is an <em>unmanly</em> act. The +Communes seek to make <em>men</em>, men who are responsible, +not only to their own dignity, but to the Commune, and +this is the first clause of the creed in which there are +but two commands—Duty to the neighbour and to God, +the one includes the other. Fringes to this simple creed +there are no doubt, but those two clauses are essentials +on which all addenda hangs. Besides teaching a +craft, scholars are initiated into the works of the great +English poets. Young people are taught to recite +passages from Shakespeare, Milton and other great +poets, and they are encouraged to act the part they +recite, because, as we shall presently see, the Drama +takes a prominent place in the mental development of +the new Communes.</p> + + +<h3>§ 18</h3> + +<p>Caligraphy is taught as an Art. It is pleasant to look +over the pages of children’s writing, so different to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>scrawls which were called writing a while ago. Drawing +comes under the section of caligraphy, to which it belongs. +Making nicely shaped lettering means <em>drawing +letters</em>. A child who has learned to draw letters well +will soon learn to copy other forms.</p> + +<p>Dancing (not romping) but the good old English +dancing, so graceful and dignified, is part of the curriculum +of education. It engenders good manners, +elegant deportment, and self-control, besides being an +extremely beneficial exercise. There is no folk music +more lovely than the old English, and it is being revived, +that one knows, for familiar old songs are heard in +the fields now almost as constantly as Italian folk +songs are heard in Italy. The people have lost the stiff, +morose manner they had; while they work they sing. +Their health is better now that they are more in the +open air, and being engaged in open air pursuits their +spirits have gained in elasticity and freedom of expression. +The invention of new tunes is encouraged; hence +there is quite a little school of modern and simple folk +song growing which is pleasant, uncomplicated, and +melodious.</p> + +<p>Before learning foreign tongues our own is better +taught now. Dialects are not discouraged; indeed, +the reverse, the dialect of a county is encouraged as an +indisputable characteristic of the people. There is only +one dialect that is hateful (Cockney), and every effort +is being made to eradicate that. Our own splendid +language is great in poetry, from Chaucer to Wordsworth; +to teach it through the works of the poets is to get it at its +best. In Italy, where the craftsman class is far more +cultivated than it has been in England, her great poets +are common property; one hears Dante quoted constantly, +as well as Tasso and minor poets. Under the +new order in England there is reason to hope that +ignorance of our great poets will give place to a general +acquaintance with them. An individual who can speak +and write his own language decently is not ill educated. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>If he has acquired facility in the language of his birthplace, +diligence will soon give him some in foreign +tongues. Those young people who show an aptitude +for languages have the opportunity of qualifying in +them, but the general run of labour and craftsmanship +has no need of them. To fill the mind and memory with +too many subjects at once is to dilute all. A sound +knowledge of craftsmanship is what is wanted, and that +is evidently being supplied by practice, a thousand +times better system than by theory. Constant <em>occupation</em>, +not <em>excitements</em>, create content. Excitements +produce reaction. Occupation, varied in kind, steadies +the character. It is with a view to that that the Communes +do not overwork their workers. Energy is left +to them after their hours of labour for which they are +well paid, and to use it either physically or mentally, +out of doors working in gardens or fields, or in their +homes upon all such things which tend to make the +home a happy and profitable little city in itself. A +grumbler is voted a nuisance, an agitator an obstruction. +Loiterers and loafers who would live on the earnings of +honest citizens are held to be mean unproductive weeds +for which the Communes have no use. For agitators +there is no room now, the democratic howler at street +corners or on common land finds no listeners; he is +treated as a windbag since it has become known to the +community at large that in the past he was a well-paid +mischief-maker, who did far more harm than good to a +cause which he pretended to advance.</p> + + +<h3>§ 19</h3> + +<p>Dreams are vagarious, they are not restricted to +times or seasons. Night appears during midday hours. +The paradox is lively, often very humorous, but by no +means ill fitting. From summer to winter is like the +winking of an eyelid. In my dream the shades of a +winter evening arrived. Factory working hours were +over. My spirit was transported within the walls of one +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>of the houses recently described. Well placed electric +lights made the home as bright as day. A pleasant +warm air gently circulated in the rooms from the +pigeon-holes in the heating shafts. What we used to +call England’s sun, the open fire, with all the smoke +and dirt it made, its extravagance of fuel and insufficient +warmth it provided, is no more. Since the +abolition of the use of coal as a speed and warmth +producer, sunshine in England is more than doubled +and there is much less rain and mist; so, even in winter, +the air is warmer, while it is clear and clear of particles +which robbed us of light and rendered a clean house +almost an impossibility in the barbarous past.</p> + +<p>A family is busy. The head of it, a fine type of workman, +clean and appropriately dressed as a workman +should be, is occupied in making a table. His wife is +busy at her loom. Two daughters are sewing together +strips of strong woollen stuff which are to form by no +means inelegant frocks. The stuff is dyed a pleasant blue. +They are not using sewing machines, but ply the needle +with patient hands; a strong thread well waxed is +inevitable. Hand sewing being more durable than +machine is, in the long run, more economical. Two +sons are helping their father. In the corner of this +bright sitting and working room, a table is laid for +supper, covered by a spotless cloth. Pewter plates +and jugs glisten with their bright polish. Large loaves +of wholemeal look fat and desirable, while a big cheese +fresh from a dairy is appetising and tempting. Hard +by is a barrel of ale, real ale, made of hops and malt, +wholesome and invigorating. No shams enter into its +making; no poisonous chemicals destroy its purity. +One or two neighbours have dropped in, and pleasant +talk is in progress. When supper is finished work is +suspended, some simple glees echo pleasantly from the +walls, or a story is read aloud and commented upon. +How thrifty it all looks, how homeful, how quietly gay +is the atmosphere of this modestly provided household; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>what a contrast it presents to the old squalor, absence +of order and often low dissipation of past times, and +not so far off, which were called civilised and free, but +were indeed barbarous and tyrannical.</p> + +<p>The streets are quiet, most of the inhabitants are +occupied in a manner similar in motive, if different in +the matter of it. At an early hour, before midnight, +the big bells of the Commune ring, when it is expected +that the people will go to rest. Soon after the whole +city is asleep, resting after a day of rich labour.</p> + + +<h3>§ 20</h3> + +<p>It is midsummer again; my dream is again vagarious! +I find my way to the Market Place. In its centre stands +the Town Hall. Now that the smoke fiend is slain and +outdoor life in cities is pleasant, markets, which fell +into disuse owing to grasping profiteering tradesmen, +who put what price they pleased upon indifferent +goods, robbed honest folk right and left, did not like +the restraint which markets put upon unreasonable +profits. A weekly market is a wholesome and sensible +institution. It fosters an influx of fresh goods, it tends +to economy and providence, in that the people reckon +up their weekly requirements and purchase them at a +price which, if not absolutely uniform, varies little +compared with the chaotic licence permitted in the less +well regulated communities of the past. On every +Monday the market opens early and continues through +hours of daylight. Pretty well any useful article is +found there, from reels of cotton, pots and pans, good +woven stuffs, boots and shoes, groceries also, which +under old conditions were the means of elaborate +swindling, are to be bought in all their varieties. Market +days bring into contact town and country folk; their +existence is one of the chief causes of the departure of +that expensive nuisance, the middleman. Markets +discourage fluctuation in prices and encourage the sale +of fresh, in place of stale goods. The weekly held +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>market lessens weekly expenditure by something like +half of what it was when tradesmen charged what they +pleased for even stale goods. The middleman was a +rascal, he was the “Muck Rake” in the Pilgrim’s Progress, +he grabbed money earned by his betters, he was +a kind of cuckoo laying eggs in other birds’ nests, he +was sharp, not clever, and as unprincipled as constructively +idle. As a social pest the middleman is +now being dealt with by wiser economic measures. +Probably the lessening in the numbers of small tradesmen +has tended to speed agriculture. Unable to build +up small fortunes by dishonest trade proceedings, the +class which was pre-eminent in that respect is tending +toward <em>land labour</em>, which, under the new conditions of +life, is numerically larger than it was.</p> + +<p>On market day all the classes meet. Owing to the +high price demanded by domestic servants in the past, +ladies of high rank are their own housekeepers. The +most wealthy keep few servants; hence the young ladies +of noble families are converted into economic housewives, +and setting themselves to their task, do it well; +being better educated now, whatever they set out to do +they do with forethought. Thus they make good wives, +daughters, and mothers, and are spending far less time +than formerly upon idle amusements.</p> + +<p>The foregoing is a sketch of what the weekly open +market is doing for the community by bracing it up and +giving it backbone, eradicating spineless self-indulgence +and a mischievous system of profiteering.</p> + +<p>The Town Hall is the most ample building outside +the factories. It is the centre of <span class="allsmcap">INTELLECTUAL</span> as well +as <span class="allsmcap">COMMERCIAL</span> life. While it belongs to the people it +represents also a kind of University. No pedantic +teaching goes on there, but lectures upon all branches +of knowledge are delivered by chosen experts, to which +the public are admitted free. These lectures are delivered +voluntarily by good and cultivated citizens, whose pride +it is to give their knowledge <em>without fees</em>. Chiefly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>these are delivered in the winter months, because most +of the people’s spare time in summer is spent, not +within, but outdoors. Socrates found wisdom in the +Agora, and wise men of to-day search in the market for +the same. Hence there is constant touch of intellectual +as well as commercial interests between class and class. +This is leading to a surprising unity of conception and +practice. Within the walls of the Town Hall is the +large concert room, where the best music is given, and +as far as possible by local talent, which does not mean +only of the cities, but coming out of the population of +the county <em>inclusive</em>. This concentration gives a chance +to local success which importation in the days of centralisation +never achieved, when native talent was overlooked.</p> + + +<h3>§ 21</h3> + +<p>There is also a picture gallery conducted under an +analogous scheme. Italy has owed (in the past) everything +great in its Art to Decentralisation. The variety, +hence the interest, of the great schools of painting in +Italy is due to the independent expression of emotion +as the property of the race. In Italy, the art of Venice, +of Rome, Florence, and Siena, to mention only many +of the great schools of painting that flourished there, +identified itself with the idiosyncracy of each community. +Why should not the same apply to England? +The man of Devonshire is as different in mental construction +to the man of Yorkshire as the Florentine is +from the Roman. Why then should not each express +himself in the vernacular of his locality? Time will +show that there is far more artistic talent in England +than has been supposed. Give it a chance of having its +say, and an admirable result is certain. Let us become +something higher in the intellectual scale than a race of +shopkeepers!</p> + +<p>Town Councils, being here composed of a much +more cultivated class than before, Commerce and Art +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span>are no longer antagonistic. On the contrary, they +appear to be becoming indispensable to each other. +The tradesmen no longer having matters all their own +way, and being checked by the stronger minds encircling +them, are taking their place, not as tyrannical class +rulers, but as useful items in communal interests and +progress. In my dream, I noticed that the walls of +the public rooms in the Town Hall are not bare, or that +the only so-called decoration on them has been restricted +to whole-length portraits of weird Mayors, with +an occasional bad picture of the reigning monarch. +There is in progress a scheme of History pictures. The +subjects for them are chosen by a committee of painters +and literary men. So far as this scheme has developed, +I saw the products of it; varied in merit they are, which +goes without saying, but a certain sincerity of aim and +approach seemed to distinguish them from the tiresome +and commonplace; anyway, they express a good +intention. There certainly is an absence of “academic +prescription”; they are hopeful efforts. A variety is +maintained, the reverse of monotonous, showing individuality +of approach, which may in time lead to +greater things.</p> + +<p>A really intellectual life seems to be growing here, +but not of hot-house breed only accessible to a few, +but one which is slowly permeating the people, which +I hold to be due to the commingling of all the classes +produced by an increased desire to do more than fill +pockets (too often by ill-gotten gold), but by a +growing elevation of the plane of thought brought about +by unity of purpose and rejection of class prejudice. +Given that home life is ambitious of industry, municipal +life is certain to follow suit. A great change must come +from the bottom. It is no use to clear the surface of a +pond of slime unless the base of it is clean and fresh. +It is no use to cut the heads from weeds if the roots are +left in the ground, or to achieve good fruit from a tree +whose roots are unpruned. And surely the root of a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span>great nation is represented by the industrious attitude +taken by the people at large. That is the essential to a +Democracy that is workable. A Democracy which is +only one in name is an anomaly, and is quite certain to +be ephemeral.</p> + + +<h3>§ 22</h3> + +<p>In my dream I had heard talk that once, not far from +the river, was a Benedictine Monastery, and attached to +it an Abbey. Save for a few remains of its cloisters, its +kitchen, and a portion of its great dining hall, the +monastery is gone. But the Abbey remains, as we have +seen. Although vulgarised to a certain extent by barbarians +of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it +retains much of the simplicity and grandeur of the work +of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Its nave now +belongs to the people. It is there that the Hebrews +and Moslems conduct their religious services. The +chancel, its sanctuary and aisles are retained for +Christian worship. In the nave, old mystery plays +are reverently acted, and such noble old dramas as +“Every Man” are produced. At Christmas, the +incidents in the birth of Jesus Christ are acted, and +many a primitive song of the shepherds is heard. These +presentations keep that beautiful story vivid by bringing +before the eyes of the people the mysterious events of +2,000 years ago. They form a tangible and visible link +between those old days and these more complicated +and less simple times.</p> + +<p>A form of monasticism disconnected from hard and +fast dogma is growing. Not ascetic, it is educational; +in which it resembles the earlier forms of the old Benedictine +orders. But as yet my spirit has only heard of +this; presently it will be given access to its principles +and working.</p> + + +<h3>§ 23</h3> + +<p>It has been previously intimated that the Drama +takes a prominent place in the intellectual and emotional +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span>substance of the people’s training, plus its delights. +An open air theatre was proposed, but the conclusion +arrived at was that the climate (although much bettered +by the death of the smoke fiend) is too unstable to +ensure success.</p> + +<p>The chief theatre of the city is large, capable of +holding a thousand people. It is not conducted on +private enterprise, but by a council of the best local +minds, which, while occupied in supplying the best, +are wise enough not to dismiss pleasurable and light +comedies so long as they are “clean.” Declamation, +the first essential of the actor’s craft, is taught in +every school. Dancing, which we have seen to be part +of a liberal education, provides an elasticity of deportment +and freedom of manner but not undisciplined, +which goes far towards the creation of a good player. +The plays of Shakespeare are prominent, but to their +list are added many of the fine Elizabethan plays, +Marlow’s and others. Modern drama, so long as it is +wholesome, is readily admitted, while the old and so +entirely English Pantomime and Extravaganza of +other days have been revived, and very jolly they +are and entirely in place at certain merrymaking +seasons of the year. There is no priggishness in the +management, only care is taken that no play is produced +which is undesirable for the young to witness.</p> + + +<h3>§ 24</h3> + +<p>Within the walls of the Town Hall is the School +of Music, where instrumental and vocal music are +taught, and where the elements of opera training can +be learnt. The Town Hall is at once the seat of +government, not only commercial but artistic. A great +proportion of work done in it is voluntary, being conducted +by men and women who have time and energy +to spare, and is leading more and more to what has been +called, the upper class taking part in general progress. +Time gone by, and not so long, that class was idle +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span>as regards local affairs. Thus they got into the hands +of ill-equipped tradesmen, who were out for their own +advantages, and misconducted local affairs to a deplorable +extent. I reiterate, that, being held in check, the more +or less ignorant and selfish class no longer rides roughshod, +but is held in a leash by better equipped citizens; +and so there is hope for them to mend their manners, +and in time to become useful members of Home Rule.</p> + +<p>The theatre is not open all the year round, but only +at times of festival, hence the pleasure and instruction +it provides is always fresh.</p> + + +<h3>§ 25</h3> + +<p>In my dream I became aware that the cinema, which +had become an abuse and a positive mischief, is under +strict regulations. It catered to the lowest taste and +became a very dangerous implement. Now, being under +strict control of the same committee which manages the +Communal theatre, it has become free of vice, and is +not only a pleasant but instructive institution, and a +picture palace is by no means an undignified place in +which to pass an hour. There is plenty of fun there, +but clean fun, and plenty of exciting situations are +presented, but, while humour and wit are present, +whatever might tend to decadence is absent. +Individualists, who regard with suspicion any form of +legislation which in pompous terms they call “interference +with the liberty of the subject,” will be up in +arms at the restrictions applied by a wise Government, +forgetting, or perhaps never having read, in Plato’s +“Republic” that the wise philosopher would protect +the community from degradation created by exploiters +out for themselves at the expense of a moral tone +essential to stability and real progress. These will +call the care of the people, implied by restrictions, +“grandfatherly government,” forgetting that an ignorant +crowd has to be guided to abstention from any poison in +their midst, which may in time kill the soul of a nation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span></p> + + +<h3>§ 26</h3> + +<p>It is the aim of the Commune to ally, as far as possible, +agricultural and industrial pursuits. With a view to +that, every house has a garden which the householder +is expected to cultivate. Waste land is nowhere +permitted within the city or its environs. I find as +my spirit travels hither and thither that the “entirely +leisured gentleman” hardly exists. If a man of means +is not using his leisure, and, in some instances, all his +time, for the public good, he is using it to be his own +servant. I saw a man, called rich, putting in a pane of +glass, adroitly manipulating the putty with the skill of +an expert. Another I observed sawing up blocks of +wood, another cutting down trees in his garden, another +pruning fruit and rose trees, and in the country, not far +distant from the city, another cultivated scholar +ploughing a furrow on his estate. The great war +taught these admirable habits, which profiteers now +regret, because “the gentleman” prefers to mend his +own belongings to paying a king’s ransom to a fellow +who did it ill in obedience to his iniquitous leaders. +Shortly, he prefers to do honest work for himself than +to pay for dishonest.</p> + +<p>Throughout the community, rich or poor delegate +no manual labour which can be done at home. Every +girl of every class is a good needlewoman and dressmaker. +Every boy is trained to be a skilful carpenter and +is not ashamed of sewing on his buttons or darning his +socks. Industrious habits, habits of making use of odd +moments in practical home work, enter into every sphere. +The great war taught the wiser how much outdoor assistance +could be dispensed with. The colossal rise in wage +obliged even the well-to-do to learn to turn their hands to +the simplest duties connected with <em>home</em>. In time this +beneficial result will become automatic, and a far simpler +as well as more dignified life is certain to result from it. +Of scholars, artists, writers and musicians there is a goodly +number, which is increasing, owing to less hurry and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>more concentration, the result of better physical conditions. +Men of the highest attainments, who are +following the professions, inspired by peace and moderate +expenditure of money, keep their minds fresh by +light labour on the land, which they prefer to <span class="allsmcap">SPORT</span>; +indeed, <span class="allsmcap">SPORT</span>, once made a business, is rather despised. +It is thought to be enervating, and an idle, unproductive +way of “getting through time.” Mental vitality +is increased by labour which became necessary to +men of small means through the rise of wages and +reckless increase of rates and taxes. It now seems +to permeate the richest as well as the poorest +classes, so men are becoming more dignified and self-helpful.</p> + + +<h3>§ 27</h3> + +<p>Theoretical politics and party conventions are ruled +out by strenuous practical occupations. Instead of +being the last subject for action, <em>useful citizenship +is the first</em>. Politics used to be abstractions put into +phrases by <em>doctrinaires</em>. The text completed, its result +was pigeon-holed, under the fallacy that the object was +attained when, indeed, it had only been talked about. +People are now united, hence can govern themselves. +There is no need for sermons upon thrift and economy; +they are practised. Politicians have been taught +that their words formed easy back-doors for the exit +of action. The people are interested now from top to +bottom in deeds. Theories which do not lead to action +represent waste of energy; energy displayed in every +section of the community is in demand.</p> + +<p>Some return to more primitive social conditions is +evidently an invigorating process. An easy way of +getting through life by facilities which militated against +effort was unstiffening the back of the English character. +Instead of saying to himself, “How much can I do +myself?” the majority was saying, “How much can I +delegate?” “We were on the look-out for a very beneficent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span>fairy who would perform miracles, and so, instead of +effort, we were trusting to ease. Now, we are sweeping +our own floors instead of wasting our little savings upon +paying for the doing of it. We were thinking that +sweeping our houses clean was a tax upon time, an +exhausting expenditure of physical energy. Experience +is telling us the opposite.” “Mental energies are +revived, even stimulated, by automatic industry which +is a rest to them. While a man is sweeping his house or +garden, he can think, and think well. He can organise +his work.” These words I heard from the mouth of a +scholar. I heard the same thought expressed by a +skilled craftsman, differently, but analogous. “The +lack of domestic servants is proving a blessing to us all,” +I heard a woman say. “We did not know, under the +old self-indulgent system, how long a day was, and +what a lot of time we wasted. We had forgotten we +had hands, strong muscles and vigorous aptitudes. +We paid a high price for the neglect to which we had +submitted our physical energies. We suffered from +‘boredom’ and other evils consequent upon indolence. +Now, we do not ask ourselves how we shall dispose of +the day. That question is answered before it is asked. +We have our duties to perform to the Commune, as +members of it, to our homes as sacred trusts as our +palaces of pleasure as well as duty. We know what are +our responsibilities. We accept and use them, in the +city and home.” As my spirit grew in experience +and closer observation, I noticed that in matters of +dress or costume there was little difference between the +classes. Constant changes of fashion created to supply +the tradesmen when novelties were so constantly +demanded from them, are out of date. The garments +of the rich may be more elaborately adorned, be more +sumptuous, more composed of silk than wool, but in +their simple cut they are not differentiated from those +of the poorer classes.</p> + +<p>“We do not make them all at home,” I heard an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>elegantly attired lady of high rank say. “That would be +unfair; because we can afford to give employment, +expensive though it is. At the same time, quite half is +made at home. Even in houses of the rich the peaceful +sound of the loom prevails. Our daughters are all +taught to use it, for who knows when they may be +compelled to do so. It is wise to instruct the young in +occupation which they may be called upon to use +in darker times. Besides,” the lady added, “girls +need quiescent employment to establish character. +It is not that the arts are ceasing to flourish or the +elegancies of mental cultivation are curtailed; it is only,” +as the lady went on to say, “now that we are more busy +we have more time. A girl can study a language while +she works her loom, or another can read to her.” This +led me to wonder if peripatetic teaching was usual? +It is, for, in schools young people are encouraged while +learning by heart, reciting or reading aloud, to personate, +by action the drama or tale they are telling. This +habit, no doubt, has arisen from the high position the +drama and all that belongs to histrionic training takes +in the new life. Artists and such who are called by their +genius to create are not a set apart, nor are they regarded +any longer as harmless lunatics. Being, by the nature +of their calling constructors, they are expected to help in +the affairs of the Commune, not only as specialities but +as intelligences well adapted to other forms of construction +than those demanded from their own work. The +mind of an artist of any kind, in letters, graphic or +plastic arts, or music, is a well tuned instrument. It +must be so, or success is out of the question.</p> + + +<h3>§ 28</h3> + +<p>Being imaginative, a follower of any of the Arts sees +miles ahead of the less endowed crowd. Besides being +a useful person in that respect, it is good for his temperament +to be called away from a groove wherein, if he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>allows himself to remain, he becomes a machine, and his +art suffers. The strongest faculty for creation cannot be +used for many hours daily, it cannot keep up the tension +of creation as a machine. A mind demands repose +by change of work, which can be obtained in serving +upon councils where special aptitudes of foresight and +imagination are useful. Thus, coming into contact with +other minds, the individual is broadened. He is not an +ascetic except in his study; outside of that he is a man +of the world and capable of dealing with what are called +“plain men,” which does not always mean wise ones. +It is related of an Italian philosopher that he spent his +days with the peasants on his little estate, the evenings +in his study. Not a bad division of the day Socrates +would have told us. In the Agora of Athens, wise men +found both folly and wisdom: folly to refute, wisdom to +encourage. Plato’s Republic is an effort to show that a +democracy, under restraint, is the fairest form of government. +First, the conception of the scheme founded +upon the greatest good for the greatest number, to +be followed by activity in its promotion. Experience +is gained as activity proceeds, discussion follows experience. +The bud is before the blossom. The fruit +is selected; what is rotten is thrown away. It is futile +to discuss a question, and tear it into rags before +it has been set in motion. There is a point in progress +when not to start the top spinning is folly. The top, +when once started, must be whipped continually. It +stops spinning as soon as the strokes of the whip subside. +The great fault of the late administration was +the policy of “Wait and see.” A blind man may +wait; doing so will not help him to see! To imagine +that committees, based only on theories, have settled +all the pros and cons, is to put the cart before the horse. +Committees can do no more than propose such and such +starting points for action. The rest must be left to the +executive. Too often, no action follows the sittings of +an elaborate scheme.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span></p> + + +<h3>§ 29</h3> + +<p>To delay action is as ineffectual as to hurry it. The +great war taught that the complete preparation of +Germany failed of success because the moral element at +the bottom of extreme diligence and multifarious +ingenuity was <em>rotten</em>. The Allies were unprepared, +England most so of all (notwithstanding some historians). +England was not prepared for the great struggle, but she +and her Allies had justice on their side, hence they won. +After the war reconstruction should have started at once, +which means that abuses which the war has brought into +prominence should have been stopped or England would +suffer permanently. It appears that politicians narrow +and personal in their ambition were unable to effect the +change. They delayed action even at moments of serious +danger, lest their party should suffer defeat. Now, no one +cares twopence about “Party,” the question before Democracy +is, What is to be done in spite of Party Government? +A democracy, to be enduring, must govern +itself. No party must be in the ascendant, except the +one which is in combination with all parties, <i>e.g.</i>, the +unity not the equality, of classes. The Agora was +a place in disorder, where every man’s hand was against +his neighbour. The crowd was led by unwise agitators. +Ignorance and unwisdom are nearly related. We were +tired to death of theories, of Government promises, of +its failure to keep them, of leaders who were broken +reeds, who, under pretence of giving Freedom exercised +Tyranny. So we listened to wiser men than they, we +resolved no longer to be ignorant, and becoming convinced +that, as ignorant, we are not fitted to take part +in Government, we would pull ourselves together and +once more be men and work as good citizens.</p> + +<p>These latter words and the statements which precede +them formed the substance of a lecture delivered in the +Town Hall by a factory worker this very evening. And +what a contrast in tone it exhibits to that truculent one +which disfigured whatever hidden justice there might +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>have been in similar and dissimilar orations emanating +from the same source. This one was as wise as the +other was foolish. Like Socrates, we may now go to +the Agora and find wisdom.</p> + +<p>“Plato’s Republic aimed at completeness in Theory +and discipline in Action. The New Democracy aims +at making itself aristocratic in practice. It aims to +promote activity in every corner and enterprise of +life. We do not pretend that our class is the only +one necessary to welfare. It was ignorance that in +past times made us think that; bad guidance as well. +We recognise ourselves to be branches of the great +Tree of Life, whose roots are embedded in the soil of +Truth. We recognise ourselves to be as waves in a +great stream progressing, meandering, ever moving on +from its source to the sea. We recognise the sea to be +as a deep scheme which nature has provided, subject +to storm, stress, and calm; we bring to its salt waters +invigorating drops of freshness from the hills and +collected in the plains. We are not at work alone, now, +whatever our work be. We are brothers in a great +family, not jealous egoists. Time was when we thought +of little else than money. We thought that the educated, +the refined and learned class was made up of enemies +who would make us slaves. We see we were wrong. +They are our real friends. Our enemies they are who +we thought were our friends, we see that now. Our +friends will give us <em>a real democracy</em>, in which we may +have a voice if we please. The others would give us a +sham one, and rule not only our theories but our actions +and with a tyranny as ruthless and obstructive to +progress as any autocracy.”</p> + +<p>From the Agora wise words come now, from which +all can learn. The people were <em>becoming</em> corrupted, +they have been too wise to <em>become</em> corrupt. I think +that most of us who have given ourselves the trouble +to think knew that good leadership was what was wanted. +First convincing, then leading, not looking back, but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span>going to the root of things which were discordant and +pruning them away, that is what was wanted.</p> + +<p>They, of the past, wanted an “Ideal,” but they did not +know it. Indeed, they scorned the idea of something +that was like religious sectarian dogma. It was to them +something hopeless and abstract, and quite outside “Life,” +with which it had no touch. They thought high wages, +wealth, indeed Mammon in any form, was the god they +needed, and to that they made their way, growing more +and more discontented, cynical, envious and suspicious. +That was the matter with the people who had once +been patterns to all Europe as honest workmen. +England once simple, happy, industrious (<em>not industrial</em>) +had become complicated, discontented, <span class="allsmcap">IDLE</span>.</p> + + +<h3>§ 30</h3> + +<p>In my peregrinations, which became more and more +absorbing as my spirit grew more bold, I listened +eagerly, not as an eavesdropper, but as one keen to +learn. One evening, it was winter—I heard a discourse +on “Happiness” by a craftsman, one of those living in +the new houses I have visited. He was an old man +who had lived in the dark, narrow dogs’ kennels of the +dark, dirty city which is no more—the city of discontent, +of bad government, of callousness. He spoke earnestly, +but not with rhapsody. What he said was convincing +from the cool sincerity of his diction and manner. +“Happiness,” he said, “is rooted in the soil of <span class="allsmcap">LABOUR</span>; +in <em>doing</em>, not theorising. In being so occupied as to +leave no time for a morbid outlook. The old saying, +which I did not, and few seemed to understand, ‘Whatever +thy hand findeth to do, do with thy might.’ We +were taught not to do that. We were taught to work +as little as possible, to receive much, and give almost +nothing. Good workmen were under a ban. If some +of us wished to do our utmost we were bullied and +suspected. The industrious of us were pushed aside by +the idle. Bad, dishonest workmen were applauded, they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span>lived on the labour of their fellows. We were taught to +make other nations labour for us—to sell bad goods for +large prices.</p> + +<p>“The standard of work was lowered. Cheap German +goods were encouraged in the markets. A balance of +our wages (a large one) went to support trades unions. +The good workman grew poor, the bad grew rich. It +was a state of things which took all the strength of +an honest man to combat. Honest men grew rare +and more rare. Dishonesty flourished. Leaders became +fanatics. They were of our class. Ignorant of +cause and effect we were, but they were noisy, they +spoke platitudes, their arguments (if arguments they +could be called) were founded upon catch words +which sounded wise, but were foolish. They pretended +to work for the great cause of Liberty and +Equality. They <em>did</em> nothing of the kind. They +feathered their nests from our labour and grew rich. +They were well paid for the cause they preached. +Liberty was dragged more and more into the far distance. +We thought we had been slaves; we found we had been +free. We found we were being mastered by unscrupulous +men. We grew more and more suspicious, more +and more hostile. We thought revolution would put +things straight. Taught, that the Government was +weak (which was not far wrong), that anarchy would +give us what we wanted, that if we defied the Government, +if we used German methods of might against right, +we must win. To starve our country into submission +was a method preached to us which, in our hearts, +we were unwilling to believe. If we did not obey we +were threatened. Those of us who would not stood the +chance of starvation. The great railway strike of 1919, +wicked as it was, because it very nearly approached +attempted murder of innocent people, failed. That +strike it was that opened our eyes. Surely we were +being led on the wrong road! Faith in our leaders left +us. They <em>began to hedge</em>. We saw that. Then we +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>knew they were false and untrustworthy and we broke +loose from them, which, having done, we began to find +who were our friends. We came to the conclusion that +we must get to work again and be honest once more. +We did so, and on every side found helping hands. +Hence the city of Liberty and Peace in which we live +now. We know we were ignorant, we resolved to +learn. We knew we had been idle and greedy. We +knew the life we had led could not make good citizens +or happy ones. We resolved to labour, to give up coarse +excitements in leisure time.</p> + +<p>“We tried it. We formed our own Union, which had +for its motto, ‘All Labour is dignified,’ but it depends +upon the labourer to make it so. ‘Help yourselves and +you will be helped,’ is such a truism it seems needless +to quote, but there are many truisms of which we need +to be often reminded. We know now that reform must +come from the bottom. If the foundations are rotten +the veriest palace will fall. We know that in us lies +the foundation of the State. Before the State is reformed +we must reform ourselves, and this we are doing. +When it is accomplished we shall be fit to take part in +the rule of our country, and we are on the road to do it, +in the meantime we are learning the difficult task of +<span class="smcap">Self Rule</span>, and in that, even if it be labour to do it, it +is lightened by the vision it provides, and the happy +conscience it engenders. Now, we are children of +Liberty, before we were cripples and chained to doctrinaires +and wind-bags.”</p> + +<p>The tone of this discourse, of which is given only an +epitome is, as it were, the text of all that is working its +way, and the means employed in its success my dream +will go on to relate.</p> + + +<h3>§ 31</h3> + +<p>An important neglected industry is revived. I noticed +many men with deeply stained arms and hands; they +were the dyers. It did not much matter that coal-tar +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span>dyes slipped through English fingers and were +developed in Germany, because the colours they made +were vulgar and discordant, far more in harmony with +Teutonic taste than English. Many years ago the +author of these pages was in Algiers and heard of local +dyers there, some Arabs, but mostly Moors they were. +A black Soudanese servant of his told him of them. +At once he took advantage of this and put into their +hands fine muslin strips, which they converted into +colour as exquisite as possible. Now rags, the remnants +retain their freshness. A yellow like crocus, a pink rose, +a lustrous black shot with copper, a green like fresh +ivy leaves, an iris purple, and a blue like the sea at +Malta. He tried to get the colour copied—there +were no dyers with the skill to do it. Since those days +(50 years ago), and quite recently, I hear that enterprising +people from the New City have learnt many a +secret from Eastern dyers. In this instance, instead +of spoiling oriental taste for colour, alas! a habit of the +commercial English, they are learning from them. +India is helping England out of her bad taste. More +beautiful tints I never saw than those in my dream. +The sight of them made my spirit think how much we +might learn from the East of value instead of pushing +our tasteless goods where for centuries beauty has +prevailed. The eye is pleased now in the New City, +instead of displeased. Beautiful colour seems to grow +naturally, the streets and gardens are full of it.</p> + +<p>Every garment gives a lively note which is the key to +interchanges of harmonies of colour only to be compared +with exquisite music. The trade of the dyer has become +an Art which creates pictures at every turn of +the road and field.</p> + + +<h3>§ 32</h3> + +<p>Why is the New City so orderly and yet so free? How +is it that life seems to run so smoothly, and yet +without monotony? Trades are located as they were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span>in Ancient Greece and Rome, in a measure also in +Europe and England in better times than ours were a +while ago. Chaos is no more. The hundred headed +hydra, personified in “the middle-man,” that robber +of the earnings of labour, is becoming extinct, owing +in large measure to the more extended use of the +market, where as we have seen practically any article +can be purchased at a reasonable price which leaves +a reasonable profit for the producer. This has led +to a diminution of shops, which are no longer +heterogeneously planted in residential quarters. Every +tradesman has to take out a licence for which he +pays, the money going to the Commune. There is the +Butchers’ Quarter, a blessing indeed. No longer are +wayfarers offended by the barbarous sights of bleeding +corpses, of blood sprinkling the footways. If such +horrors must be, they are hidden. No butcher +is permitted to make a public display of his bloody +trade. Meat, when not sold in the Market, is found in +a district set apart for a necessary, if disgusting, trade, +but its products are not before the public eye. The +shop is not <em>on the street</em>, it is located behind it. The +same law applies to poulterers, indeed, to all trades +which, of necessity, contain objectionable matter. +A large, but not universal, part of the fish trade is +carried on by the weekly market; but, owing to the +swift destruction of freshness, and fish being a health-giving +food (besides being cheap) there is a considerable +demand for fresh as well as salt water fish, +therefore shops for its sale are a necessity. Fishmongers +alike with butchers have their locality.</p> + +<p>Those trades which are disconnected with unpleasant +associations are not excluded from public gaze. Only +those of them which produce <em>litter</em> are restricted in +residential quarters. Silversmiths, and all shops +associated with handicrafts, are permitted on the public +streets, of which they are ornaments, but these also +take out a licence, but the tax is smaller than for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span>objectionable trades. The order thus established is in +no sense inconvenient. Electric tramways (only one +line is permitted) run in the broad streets. They are +not allowed in the narrow. The lovely city of Florence +has been well nigh spoiled by liberty to run trams in +streets not more than 25 feet wide. The English Communes +took note of that. When facilities for quick locomotion +are not regulated, they constitute a nuisance, are +destructive of peace, and become a tyranny. “Companies” +pretended to study the convenience of citizens, +in reality studied their own financial success, and let +other considerations take their chance.</p> + +<p>All foreign goods of whatever kind, save those provided +by British Colonies, are taxed. Free trade is +only permitted to the colonials. Since this has been a law +of all the Communes, British trade has increased, +British output is larger, and greater activity of production +has proved the wisdom of a law which encourages +local enterprises. Every householder is bound +to keep clean the footway immediately touching his +habitation, but the cleanliness of the roadway is under +the direction of the Commune. Wandering over every +portion of the city in my dream I have seen no squalor. +Poverty there is and always must be, but squalor, the +result of want of self respect and bad early training, +no! The people have risen above it. Where industry is +(not industrialism) squalor can find no place. A man who +keeps the tools of his trade in good order, who is proud +of the work of which they are the implements, and who +respects his home, is particular about “appearances.” +So is a good wife, so are good sons and daughters.</p> + + +<h3>§ 33</h3> + +<p>Home life is but a little picture of the extended scene +outside. Disorder in smaller matters leads to disorder +in greater. While the Commune is responsible for +order on a large scale, every citizen is responsible on +a smaller scale. The half is greater than the whole! +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>Order must be a first principle of the home, as it must +be of the Commune, which is but an extended home. +The new city being small compared to the monstrous, +heterogeneous places of muddle in the past, and leisure +greater, there is less call for swift locomotion. The +new people walk more, and are, consequently, more +healthy. So the streets are not congested by traffic, +and people are not all in the muddle-minding strain +of “hurry.” Where order is, leisure is certain. Busy, +or rather, industrious people always find time, it is +only an ill-regulated day that produces “hurry-scurry.” +Outside my dream, I never knew an industrious man +complain of want of time. William Morris, as industrious +a man as ever breathed, never complained of +interrupters. After a visit from a friend, and none +took greater pleasure than he in giving him welcome, +Morris was at his work again in a “twinkling.” The +man who orders his day wisely is alert, ready at any +moment to concentrate his energy. The idle, not the +industrious, grumble about want of time. The real +question, and one that is serious, is the use to which +leisure is subjected. The so-called working class (by +the way, every man worth his salt is a working man) +is coming to know that, and that ill-used leisure is +a sin against order, and here in the new life he has set +his mind against it. From what has been recounted of +my dream the reader already knows that, but as it +proceeds, my dream will show how order, punctuality, +and reverence for the uses which leisure should breed +is permeating the entire community and becoming a +habit, hence idle folk are in the minority, indeed, they +are despised.</p> + + +<h3>§ 34</h3> + +<p>It has been read from my dream, so far, that, while +material welfare of the people is one object, and a +prominent one, the Commune, as the guiding spirit +of the new life, is fully conscious of the wise saying of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span>Jesus Christ, “Man does not live by bread alone but by +every word that proceeds from the Spirit of God.” We +had eyes and saw not, ears and heard not; noble intuitions +we repulsed, aspirations we neglected, and we +were taught elaborate creeds out of touch with realities. +Blind, too often, to the beauties of nature and its +sisters “The Arts,” we had grown deaf to the songs +of birds, to music of the winds moaning, or joyfully +singing, among forest trees. We had ceased to sing +as we worked. Indeed, the natural joys granted us to +receive have ceased to please, ceased to be a part of +life. To the arts, which seek to crystallise visions +inspired by God’s gift of exquisite nature, we had +become blind and deaf. They had ceased to move us, +ceased to inspire us, ceased to raise us from the mire of +money grabbing. So eager we were for wealth that we +pursued it blindly as the only object of our energies. +We had lost touch with half, and the better half, of life, +and the soul of England was becoming hardened, +insensitive, and <span class="allsmcap">ANIMAL</span>. Good, in some ways the hard +Puritan was dead to the beauty of God’s work. He +thought he was spiritual. He did not know that there is +soul in all matter. In this respect he was more <em>un</em>christian +than a pagan, who, at least, saw the gods and recognised +them in the movement of the stars, in the dawn, in the +shining midday, and the splendour of sunset time. +The old pagan found God in all nature, as he found him +in great art. He saw into the very heart of the marble +from which Phidias carved Olympian Zeus. He saw +the spirit of Pallas Athene under the ivory and golden +statue in the Parthenon.</p> + +<p>The Puritan cut himself off from <em>All Beauty</em>. Instead +of seeing good in God’s greatest works and in man’s +most inspired creations, he saw evil. His mind was +distorted, a cripple; and little did he dream that his +spiritual nature was really a material one. To his +narrow and crooked creed much of the apathy of the +modern mind is to be traced. “As it was wicked to see +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span>beauty, to worship it as God made it, let us make +ourselves rich.” What a Creed?</p> + +<p>With the neglect of <em>agriculture</em> came the Tyranny of +<em>industrialism</em>. With an apathy towards Art, towards +its great mission to display the beauty of the soul in +the array of material presentation, the soul of England +was growing degenerate. It was becoming <span class="smcap">German</span>, +and what lower place than that can be found for +a country so great as England has been! We have +to remake England, and we mean to do it. We mean to +learn from the Pagans, to reinstate much of their teaching. +We mean to cultivate the teaching of Jesus +Christ, who drew a lesson from the “lilies of the field,” +the death of a sparrow, His generosity to the mistake +of a troubled woman. Who, from the Cross blessed a +thief, who, dying in agony, forgave his enemies, who +taught the gospel of <em>thou</em> more than I, who would give +to Cæsar as well as to God, and, above all, whose noble +life was pressed on by human as well as Divine love. +Jesus Christ was a poet and artist as well as a prophet +and reformer. The life of the soul was everything to +Him. Wealth for wealth’s sake is a phantom, a +chimera. We mean to go back to find a fairer road +to happiness than the modern world would give us. +While we accept facilities for greater comfort, we mean +to use them wisely, not to overwhelm us, but to help us. +We wish to help the people to see beauty, and in their +lives to live up to the vision. To live, not as a preparation +for another and happier life, to reward in a future +state, but to live and see with clear eyes the one which +is now ours to make or mar it. Every man and woman +who labours is praising God, so long as the labour is +not from <em>greed</em>, but from a fixed principle to enrich the +soul of the people by first enriching our own.</p> + + +<h3>§ 35</h3> + +<p>These words and a great many more I heard said, +not in a church, but in the Town Hall by a great artist, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span>and they led me to search. In my dream I had seen +how the principles he dwelt upon were already at work +in the homes of the people in municipal government, +which was seeking Justice and Fraternity. So I extended +my travels and observations.</p> + +<p>The walls of the churches are growing busy with +beauty. The fear of idol worship is no more. Men +know now, being better instructed, that it was not the +wooden effigy <em>but the soul it put into a shape</em>, that was +worshipped. It was a symbol, sometimes an ugly one, +but still a symbol of Divine Power. The crafts are +symbols of industry, of faithfulness to an ideal that +only the best work counts for good, hence underlying +their technical merit is a great truth that +the people are understanding, and of which they are +conscious, so they have pride in the ethic as well as +æsthetic quality of what they are doing; but in no spirit +of priggism or sermonising is this, just simply it is a +pleasurable sensation added to the fulfilment of duty. +For what a man does unwillingly will be bad, what he +does pleasurably will be good and impressive.</p> + +<p>Many of the pictures are strange, some would call +them childish. Perhaps they are <em>childlike</em> because they +express intensity without rhetoric. To affect to be what +one is not is humbug. Every “primitive” did his best. +He tried hard to make his pictures look like nature. +His hand was not so cultivated as his imagination. +The image he formed in his mind was more complete +than his power to portray it. Looking at works of art +by “a primitive,” if we have the discriminating sensibility, +we see what he saw and follow his mental effort, +which compensates for technical shortcomings. To +<em>affect</em> childishness is to prove imbecility. What we like +in the new world pictures is their real <em>naïvete</em>. That +the authors of them are untaught is obvious, but there +is that in them which compensates. They are done by +men who believe in what they are doing and are +feeling it with intensity. An academic critic can find +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span>plenty to criticise, but nothing to laugh at. The simplicity +evinced comes from the fact that their authors +<span class="allsmcap">ARE</span> <em>primitive</em>. I heard said they are mostly by peasants, +who, like the noblest of French artists, J. François +Millet, saw <em>simply</em>. Even when the subjects are biblical +or so-called “religious,” the artist has used modern +costume, which, seeing in an abstract, not photographic, +manner, he has invested with poetical interest. A +return to agricultural life is everywhere evident. It is +producing, or reinstating, a healthy mental temperament +which industrialism was well-nigh killing. This +natural aptitude to create in art and to do so sincerely +is not only prominent among the people, whose chief +labour is agricultural, it is shown in the design of +“industrials” also, who, not wholly emancipated by +the artificiality of their labour earning hours, “let +themselves go” in their leisure time and show by what +they produce that even their straightforward simplicity +has not been killed by the monotony of their wage-earning +hours. They are not machines in their off hours, +but human beings who have something to say for +themselves which may be uncultured, but is a +spontaneous expression of something they like to think +of and enjoy making.</p> + + +<h3>§ 36</h3> + +<p>Machinery can never be made to feel, the hand can +do nothing worth having without “feeling.” A bit of +craftsmanship, like a building, a statue, a picture, a song, +or a tale, gives itself away at once. If the impulse was +artificial or insincere, it is at once obvious that the man +who made it was not an artist; he might be anything +else, but not that. The exact quantity of pleasure +taken in the creation of a work of art is visible at once, +in that sense the maker of it exposes his soul. The +revival of craftsmanship is evident everywhere in the +new city. The best designers are the best workmen. +We never hear it said, “Oh, yes, he can design, but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>cannot make.” The craftsman makes well what he has +well designed. Being simple, he asks himself, “What +is the object for? What is it intended to do when it is +made?” Having made up his mind to solve that +question, the first in good design, he proceeds to make +it answer that purpose, and something good and +interesting is the result. The artist has used his intelligence +from first to last, so what he makes is something +that has life in it, because it is a reflection of the life of +its creator. As craftsmanship grows in estimation, +machinery is delegated to do what it can do well, not ill. +Furthermore, the extension of the demand for craftsmanship +provides occupation which may be entirely thus +occupied, or only in leisure hours, and leisure hours so +occupied are educational, and not only that, they are +productive, inasmuch as their authors sell their productions +and so add to their earnings in a manner that is +useful to them and beneficial to the community.</p> + +<p>As with the churches, so with all public buildings, +which are (by the way) not made to “pattern” in +accordance with this or that “style”—Gothic, Classic, +Renaissance, or what not. The art they exhibit rises +out of the “plan.” They are not “faced” with a skin +of stone or stucco to look what they are not. The +outside does not conceal but expresses the “plan.” +Construction is not hidden, but revealed. Ornament +is not “stuck on,” it is a growth out of construction. +To an eye artificially accustomed to “shams” the new +buildings look austere. They seem to reflect a serious +people who want to tell the truth. Should it be necessary +to erect them in steel or iron, the metal is treated +against the action of weather, but is not concealed. If it +forms the skeleton, the skeleton is visible, and so all +through the construction. Stone looks like stone, wood +like wood, and metal like metal. This principle carried +out does not make for monotony, but for the reverse. +These serious and impressive public buildings are, as it +were, the picture galleries of the city. Not executed in a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span>hurry, the subjects of the wall paintings are well thought +out by a select committee of learned men and artists. +They are proceeding. As yet some are incomplete, but +enough are finished to demonstrate the care taken in +their subject matter, which is not only local, but embodies +episodes of English history. While being pleasant +to the eye, they tell pleasant and noble tales of the +lives of our ancestors who made England great. Again +here, as we noticed in the churches, there is much +original simplicity, which does not ape archæology, or +rather does not make that valuable science the first +necessity. Looking at them one feels they could only +have been done to-day. The impress of what is best in +the modern mind is there, not artificial, but sincere and +vital. Presently we shall leave the city to see what +agriculture is doing.</p> + + +<h3>§ 37</h3> + +<p>We have seen that the Fine Arts are not commercial +incidents in the life here, they are part of the scheme +of it. The Drama is also not only a source of pleasure +or, of momentary emotion. It is held to be a +prominent factor in education, whose mission it is to +elevate intelligence, encourage noble ardour, stimulate +heroism and provide beauty. Under the old system +the Drama was too often used ill. The play played +down to the people, often exciting the lower passions. +To be made familiar with vice is, in a measure, to take +part in it. To sow vice on the boards of the stage is +to make it popular. The idea that vice is romantic is +combated now. Vice is ugly, as virtue is lovely. Art +has no business with ugliness except it be used as a +contrast to beauty. To perpetuate ugliness by Art +is like encouraging the durance of the plague. Higher +intelligence verified by education should be employed +to uplift, not depress, choice. Lower intelligence must +be guided by the higher!</p> + +<p>What is being done by Art in the churches, in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span>public buildings, gives evidence that the people are +regarding it as essential, not as a thing to be played with. +Our city, not being large, is manageable. Being near +the country, every citizen is in touch with country life. +Indeed, there are few who do not labour on their own +bit of garden in however small a way. Country life is +not foreign to the artizan or to the factory worker. +<span class="smcap">Squalor</span>, that curse of big cities, the result of ignorant +and debased people herding together, is unknown here. +Poverty there is, of course, that must be everywhere, +but it need not be debasing. So much that was degrading +has gone. <em>Sloth</em> is no more. What was useless is +purged away, and what were positive scandals of misrule +have been replaced by order, sobriety and uplifting. It +is recognised that while a city must be a centre of +commerce it need not be that of greed, and need not be +divorced from country life. Hence the gardens provide +for the people adequate means of employment in such +matters; so that while the city is commercial, it is not out +of touch with many forms of agriculture; and the +blanched, hopeless faces in the past too prevalent, are +replaced by bronzed faces and the open happy countenances +of a contented industrious people.</p> + +<p>What has been gained? Fraternity. A clean atmosphere +and more sun, more leisure and more work, a +broader outlook on the life of a city, expanded agriculture +and education, greater variety of pleasures, a +more <em>human</em> as well as <em>humane</em> ideal, and an equable +government covering a great variety of interests, with +absence of class legislation, death to profiteering, +and education in honesty for tradesmen. What has +been lost? Squalor, trade tyranny, jobbery, pollution +of rivers, smoke, drunkenness, bloodless bodies and +ill-nourished souls, and, above all, selfish class egoism. +Government is carried on with less talk and more action. +There is not less but more money in the country, which +is more distributed. Agriculture pays sufficiently. +The middleman having found his match, tradesmen +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span>can no longer extort from workers prices they cannot +afford to pay. Politicians have not the opportunity of +getting the country into a muddle and then muddling +their way out of it by false promises to whichever class +is for the moment uppermost. The people, better +educated, are not easily led by windbags. They see +that the whole nation counts before the individual, that +a nation which, for temporary wealth, neglects to +till the land to (as far as possible) produce, but +purchases from foreign countries its food, is neglecting +the first duty to the community. It has come to them +to know that the success of agriculture is the first +necessity to be secured. The people are being taught +that a country which in an emergency cannot feed itself +off its own land may be at the mercy of its enemy at any +moment. The great war taught them that the weakest +spot was not to be found in difficulty to make guns and +shells and even an army in a hurry, but in providing +them and the people at home with food. Empty bellies +are bad generals! And so the people have turned to, +and resolve that their country shall never again be +exposed to the risk of a great <i lang="fr">débâcle</i>, which was +nearer than politicians desire them to know. While +our cities are better organised, more healthfully disposed, +they are smaller in area; hence congestion +which produces squalor, is no more. A large proportion +of what were useless folk, undisciplined, and a drag +upon the State, as well as a shame to it, are performing +the first duty of man, the tillage, the care of, and the +provisioning of the land in all matters connected with +agriculture. Agriculture being first now, industrialism +second, the cities are released from over-population, and +the countryside is adequately populated. Owing to the +growth of an agricultural population, more small towns +and villages are growing up all over England. Much of +what was not a relative but positive scandal is no more. +There is plenty of work for everybody who chooses to find +it and take it. It is considered unmanly to live on doles.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> + +<p>Cities are not less but more successful commercial +centres. But the influx is native, not foreign. England +supplies herself out of the exertions of her people, for +she is no longer buying necessities from foreign markets, +but from her own. The country is the source of the +wealth of the towns. The great war taught that in the +future England must be self-providing. She must grow +her own timber, her own fruit and corn, provide her +own meat and, as far as possible, in case of another naval +war, provide her own fish from inland sources as well as +from the sea. Her fine rivers, her lakes, her ponds must +be kept stocked with fresh water fish. To do this, the +pollution of all inland waters is absolutely, not relatively, +forbidden, not forbidden by an Act of Parliament which +is quite a negligible affair when made by lawyers who +leave open a back door for the escape of a rich delinquent, +who will pay a nominal fine over and over again if it +suits his purpose to destroy valuable fish by the thousand. +What does the payment of a nominal fine mean to a rich +manufacturer? Nothing. The pollution of rivers as of +the air has been stopped by the people, who very +rightly say, “We will not be deprived of the food +provided for us by our rivers, and we will not be deprived +of a grain of corn unnourished by the sun, or a blade of +grass for the cattle poisoned by deleterious acids from +factories.” “We have a right,” they say, “to pure +water, to pure air, and all the benefits from life-giving +rays of the sun essential in a country placed as England +is in the centre of the sea, where clouds must always +hide a considerable portion of sunlight.” The people +are learning from science that light is essential to life, +that darkness is a symbol of death.</p> + + +<h3>§ 38</h3> + +<p>A few sentences back, arboriculture has been mentioned. +Let us see how in the new England, it has become a +factor in the wealth of the country, how, once almost +wholly neglected, it has become an industry at once +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span>profitable, engaging and health-giving. It takes time +to grow a forest. Time will come when coal gives out, +of that there is no doubt, so the sooner we set to work +to provide wood for burning as well as for building the +better. It is clear, then, that England must provide +wood. A war which would prevent influx of wood into +England might happen at any moment. Millions a +year are spent on a navy to protect commerce, but that +navy may be rendered powerless by mine-sowing, by +stealthy under-water craft which, with one torpedo, can +sink the biggest ship ever constructed, or by a bomb from +an aeroplane, become a wreck in a moment. If that be +so, it is obvious that to neglect provision for such a +fatality would be the height of folly, which even a party +politician cannot fail to acknowledge. It is clear, then, +that Britain must have wood, and wood of her own +growing. I gather from my travels that this is at last being +accomplished. Wherever, in the length and breadth of +Britain, Forests can be planted and trees grown, the +Communes see to it. Some counties lend themselves +to the form of industry which forestry implies more than +others. Certain trees suffer from situations where +storms of wind prevail, some do not suffer. The fir tribe +will flourish well in windy districts, but sand is necessary +for their root nourishment. This is proved by the +miles of fir forests grown on the flat lands between the +Carrara Mountains and Leghorn, and on the damp but +still sandy districts around Ravenna. Most trees, to +flourish, need drainage, but some will flourish where +there is none. So now, in Britain, forests are being +planted wherever possible, so long as they do not +interfere with open land necessary to the growth of +corn.</p> + +<p>To one of these forests I made my silent, unseen way, +and it was a revelation. Thousands of hands were +occupied. Forest life is primeval, it is dignified; it is a +life by itself quite away from the distractions of city +life; it breeds a hardy race. A self-contained life, it is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>pre-eminently health producing. The settlers live in +wooden huts built by themselves in glades cleared for +the purpose. In a measure the people are supported +with food, for game is plentiful, and fish from lakes and +ponds made for the purpose and constantly restocked +are sufficient to supply nourishing food. Game laws +are no more. There is no stoppage in production. +Fresh stocks of game and fish are constantly coming in, +and this is an industry by itself, which provides labour, +ingenuity and expert technical knowledge.</p> + +<p>The people have made their own “close time” in +breeding seasons, and have learnt not to consume more +than they can breed. I heard it said that mistakes were +made at first, which experience rectified. Laws followed +the dictation of necessity. Wages are low but sufficient, +as the greater part of food is provided by nature. One +law is obligatory. When a tree is cut down, another +small one is immediately planted in its place, so there +are no gaps and no waste. For this purpose there are +nurseries managed by experts in the growing of young +saplings from seed. This industry is a specialised one, +needing great skill. It is pleasant to hear the merry +sound of the axe, the music made by wind among the +branches, and the sound of singing as the people work +is a sign of their health and happiness. The huts built +of wood are erected upon posts driven deep into the +ground. Their habitable parts above the ground are +reached by an open stairway. The ground floor, well +concreted, is the receptacle for forestry implements.</p> + +<p>The forest is warm in winter, cool in summer. Wood +only is permitted as fuel; it would cost too much to +get coal there; besides, the people would object to the +smoke of that bituminous and blackening product. +From what I hear said, colliery owners disliked the +innovation; it would reduce their profits. They +considered that they, and they only, held rights on fuel +to provide warmth, but public opinion obliged them to +stop their class prejudice in their own favour. Every +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span>block of buildings has its vegetable and fruit gardens +for whose well-being, for light and air, spaces are cleared +of trees.</p> + + +<h3>§ 39</h3> + +<p>Never were seen healthier children or more honest +countenanced people—the men at the labour, the +women at their looms. The men are hunters, too. +They employ the ancient bow and arrow, so the sweet +silence is not spoiled by the irritating sound of firearms +so closely connected with war and all its abominations. +The skins of stags and roe deer form winter garments +made at home, for there are no shops here. Every +household provides its own needs. Here and there are +artificial lakes where the people bathe and swim. +After all, a primitive life is the natural one, to which we +soon revert when the artificiality of life in cities is far +distant.</p> + +<p>There are millions of acres of these forests growing +up in Britain now. There is a population growing thereon +second to none in the country for healthy manhood and +industrious, thrifty womanhood. Two generations of +such a healthy state of things is enough to eliminate the +supineness of so-called civilised life. I saw no complicated +machinery. The axe and double-handed saw +does well, if leisurely, all necessary work for a generation +that is learning that speed is not essential to +good workmanship or sustained trade! Light railways +driven by electricity take the timber to its destination, +but I noticed that few people travel in them. They have +lost a restless spirit, being content with the interests +provided by their environment. Learned in their craft +and entertained by the practice of it, these foresters +have little need for <em>books</em>, but I did hear that story-tellers +visit them in winter time, and that they act +plays among themselves, and well can I imagine the +big log fires, the warm ale, the venison and fish suppers +and the story-telling, delightful and simple, of these +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span>forest folk. I imagined that a new folklore was dawning +and new poets might come out of this natural life. One +thing we may be sure of. A new life will set in motion +a new set of ideas; new, anyway, to modern minds, but +ancient in their simplicity and growth under identical +circumstances. I heard it said that this new life is +productive of Romance, and is very satisfying to that +part of the human that asks for it. There is a great +deal left still in us which is closely allied to the instincts +of our forefathers. The temptation to roam is less acute +now. Romance, badly needed by all of us, is found in +the new life. What a contrast this is to the impositions +of ruthless industrialism, that Juggernaut, that +tyrannical destroyer of agricultural life, that brutalising +devastator of Beauty, that cold but systematised +muck rake, which, while it pretended to give liberty, +was making slaves, which, while it was providing a +Health Minister, was destroying health, and while +providing artificial wealth was destroying the soul of the +people, because it was withdrawing them from simple +and leading them to artificial pleasures, and so was +breeding discontent. What is necessary for the future +of England is industry less concentrated in cities, more +extended over the whole country, and this industry of +Forestry is one act in the new drama that is doing it.</p> + +<p>The new life is recreating honesty and straight +dealing. Once corrupt, Borough and County Councils +are composed of honourable men, not of selfish <em>class +legislators</em>. Jobbery, that fatal failing among tradesmen +who formed the majority in the old system of municipal +rule, is at a minimum, it was in a maximum. Unscrupulous +agitators have been found out and given a +dismissal. Trades unions, not in principle bad, only +bad as far as they became decadent, played an artificial +game, have been broken up by the people, who +discovered before it was too late that a tyranny of the +gravest character was being enacted and growing +stealthily was ruining a class under the pretence of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>giving power to it. The great war proved that as a +class tradesmen are untrustworthy; as individuals there +is good in them, but the nature of their education being, +“Get all you can, at whatever cost to your neighbour,” +is a policy the reverse of a good one. As soon as these +things were realised by the people they began to see +straight. Blinkers were withdrawn from their eyes and +they looked right and left for the cause of impending +disaster. The people, led now by honesty and intelligence +in place of crafty subterfuge, know that industry, +not industrialism, is the key to happiness. By +largely extended agriculture, the necessities, indeed, +most of the luxuries of life, can be secured. More grass, +more beasts, more cows, sheep and goats, more milk, +more wool, more hides, more grain, more bread, more +cheap and good houses for workmen and craftsmen. +No smoke, more sun, hence a quicker ripening of grain +and fruit. Hence finer energies, more vitality, and less +discontent. The invasion of industrialism has been +the creation of an enemy to light, to joy, to freedom. To turn a man into a machine is to contradict the first +elements of his creation. To put him on a level +with a screwdriver, a hammer, a grease-pot, is to lower +him all round. Why does it lower him? Because +it kills his individuality, blunts his ambition, and +destroys his creative faculty. Hand labour is dignified, +but a man reduced to the level of a machine is a +cripple.</p> + +<p>The industrious class, of which happily many remained, +even under depressing environment and determined +to earn honest money, emancipated themselves +from their evil leaders who would, but for the remnant +of honest men left, have destroyed their freedom. +Never in the ugly history of agitators did they give +themselves away more successfully than when they +threatened to starve England by direct action to gain +an addition to already good wages. At once, this was a +little too much for the people. “If England starves, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span>we shall,” was their logical conclusion. If production +is strangled by unreasonable wages, the time will come +when there is no money left to pay a reasonable wage. +In revolution, it always happens that extremists break +the bank they sought to enrich. The good sense at +the bottom of the English character prevailed; and even if +slowly, it overcame. The people began to see that once +loosened from the chain their mischievous leaders had +wound round them that antagonism between class and +class is fatal to peace and progress, to realise that the rise +in prices was the work of profiteering tradesmen, and to +them the onus of the necessity for a rise in wages was +chiefly due. The profiteering tradesman was their +enemy, not the capitalist. Then they said among themselves, +“We must get to work like honest men and give +the best that is in us. We must improve and not +strangle British trade, if we do we shall be the first to +suffer.” We must not trust to foreign countries to +produce for us, but produce for ourselves. He who +trusts to purchase the necessities of life from foreign +neighbours may some day find they have nothing to +sell.</p> + +<p>There is nothing in this that is new or original, it is +the commonest common sense. It was by trying to +escape labour and to put it into foreign hands and secure +profit that England was growing idle. Trade was given +over to the Germans, who, seeing they could produce +more cheaply than the English because they paid lower +wages, grew rich at the expense of England. England +had the most industrious workmen in Europe, and the +best, but by teaching them to shirk work, trades unions +gave them away. In the new order this is changed. +The workmen know now that to labour honestly brings +not only pleasure but profit. The idle inherit poverty +and discontent. The Germans said to themselves, +“British labour in a state of unrest brings profit to us. +Britain poor means Germany rich.” Germans are +cunning.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span></p> + + +<h3>§ 40</h3> + +<p>In a northern county, I heard the following talk. +A group of typical blue-eyed artizans were sitting under +an oak, enjoying their smoke after a hearty midday +meal. The day was glorious; this English climate was +at its best. One of them, evidently rather a leader of +the others, was recounting memories. He was a fair +old man, with something of the Dane in appearance, +the kind of strong-spirited sensible character that the +North supplies, a type of the men that made England +strong. He said, speaking with a broad, pleasant North +Country accent which I will not attempt to imitate: +“The strikers were foolish fellows. I was a boy at the +time. My father was dead against them. We had good +wages, but we wasted them in selfish pleasures. We +thought more about amusing ourselves than doing our +duty, that is true. We had leisure, which we used +badly. If we had chosen to do so, we could have got on +quite well, but we were got hold of by unprincipled +fellows a little more learned than we. They led us astray +with promises to be rich <em>without work</em>. They turned our +heads. It is true that food was dear by way of the +rascal tradesmen—a lying lot they were. They hid +behind their counters rabbits and such-like food because +the Government was making them lower their prices +when food got scarce.</p> + +<p>“Now I see straight. Instead of striking we ought to +have gone for the tradesmen. It was they who sent +up the prices to profit by it while we were getting +hungry. The lists of strikers the leaders published +were all ‘bunkum,’ the majority did not want to strike. +Now we have got rid of strike leaders, we see what +they were—just men who wanted to get power to be +in the House of Commons and play the gentleman at +our expense. Now I know the difference between an +honest master and the swaggering tyrants who pretended +to be our friends. Give me for a master an +educated gentleman, not a howling agitator, who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>out of our money built themselves fine houses. If +we had known then what we know now, wild horses +would not have made us ‘down tools.’ I see now, no +capital, no labour. We had got into idle habits. Now +we have changed, and see that honest work brings +honest reward. Instead of dog-fighting, drinking, and +low sports, in off times we do a bit of gardening, grow +our own vegetables, and our missus and girls make their +own frocks and weave the stuff on the old-fashioned +looms I often heard my grandmother talk about. We +are twice the men we were. A football match now and +again is all very well, but making a business of games +and gambling is <span class="allsmcap">ROT</span>. And the best of it is that Parliament, +where there was more talk than doing, didn’t +work the change, we did it ourselves, setting to work +like men, and gave up whimpering and grumbling like +silly girls. I guess we took the wind out of the sails of +the Germans and the rascally Bolsheviks. What the +high up in authority were playing for was our votes, +that’s all. We see straight through the politicians now, +and don’t give them a vote, so the Talking House, I +hear, is shut up, and a good thing too. We can keep +some restraint over the chaps we have now at hand, and +good ones they are. They pull the strings of the +Commune effectually, where the tradesmen and suchlike +folk out for themselves played what games they liked +with us. There are good honest citizens on the Councils +with no axes to grind, and they keep the axe-grinders +straight. The Union leaders went too far for us when +they threatened to starve England and tried to prevent +milk from reaching our children. That was too much +for us! We’ve got hearts and now we have got heads, +and see through humbug like through a pane of glass. +Since food is a reasonable price, we are satisfied with +reasonable wages, and we have plenty of leisure, which +we use profitably. Instead of only thinking of ourselves, +we give a thought to the other chap, and that makes for +union and fraternity.” These remarks, spoken with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span>conviction, were received with applause. The man +was the spokesman of the thought in the minds of his +fellows. “That is Democracy.”</p> + +<p>The English County Communes did well when they +taxed the entrance of foreigners into local trades, and +taxed all foreign goods (save Colonial) before permitting +them to enter the country. Now there is plenty of work +for all Britons, agricultural and industrial, and it will +take a long time before the artificial liberty (so-called) +has power again, because “The People” know their +way about, and are no longer led by schemers and +well paid “windbags.”</p> + +<p>Before the change, which grew out of honest guiding, +public opinion and education in its best sense was +coming to a standstill. Parliament played with it in +committee, the usual course when Ministers do not +know what to do. New schemes for education wasted +a lot of paper and ink, and cost the nation more than +it could afford. Schemes which only played into the +hands of the place-hunters came to little. Guidance is +better than legislation, and immediate touch of class +with class will do more to mend matters than a plethora +of work of committees. The working class (inclusive) +claimed a right to govern, and it is doing so now that it +is learning to rule itself. All men, in whatever station, +from the King to the humblest peasant, should be +working men—anyway, the State demands that of them +and rightly. The greatest crime to the State is indolence +and idleness. The state has no need for them, or for +those who, being so, are living on the earnings of their +betters. Under the tyranny of commercial unrest every +honest profession and trade was suffering (save the +profiteers). The arts were suffering. A publisher had +to think twice before he published a good book, a painter +before he started a picture. The initial expenses had +grown so large that under the best conditions only a +very small margin of profit was left, scarce enough to +keep body and soul together. Science was suffering +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>because research can make no progress without capital. +The expense of living to the most moderate consumer +was becoming intolerable.</p> + +<p>Ministers played cup and ball with legislation by first +attempting to exercise control over prices, then withdrawing +control, thereby leaving a new muddle to be +dealt with. We all know Æsop’s satiric fable of blowing +hot and cold with the same breath, but that is exactly +what Government did. Who, putting two and two +together, could, with the most kindly feeling, respect +a weak policy which so well imitates the first Fable of +Æsop, “The Man, the Boy, and the Ass”? wherein +first the man was criticised for riding, then the boy for +doing the same, then both for carrying the ass, which +finally, was cast into a river and so disposed of. +Compromise followed compromise, until the whole +country lost confidence in their rulers, who, without a +policy, were always watching which way the cat would +jump. During the war we were better off than after it. +After it was over the curtain had to be pulled up and +the players to come forward, but no cheers for them. +We saw the men who had made the muddle, which they +were trying by every compromise to clear up. “The +People,” seeing the paralysis of Government, took the +matter into their hands and set to work to clear the +situation by restoring industry, and they set to reform +themselves by a sensible mode of living, not in sections +only, but as a part of a great scheme in which everybody, +rich and poor, learned and unlearned, was individually +concerned. No amount of legislation made in the +talking house, could reform a people unwilling for reform. +“The People” saw their mistakes and set themselves +to rectify them. The rich resolved to use their +wealth for the public benefit; the leisurely their leisure +to instruct, or, I like better the word, to guide the less +cultivated minds; and young men on whose education +large sums of money had been expended, instead of +wasting energies on sport and a lazy club or society life, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>turned to make themselves factors of usefulness in a +great national cause. Thus, the general tone of the +nation rose rapidly from apathy to activity, from +selfishness to altruism.</p> + + +<h3>§ 41</h3> + +<p>Heavy taxation and inflated rates were telling upon +production, and it was said, not once, but very generally: +“We do not care to give away 50 per cent. +of our earnings and hard-earned interest on a little +money put by for old age and study, to a wasteful, +shuffling Government, for whose follies in the past +we are called upon to pay. We want, and mean to +have, a real Democracy, not sham bureaucratic Government +pulled by red tape and the impulses of impetuous +politicians, who rush their fences when mounted +upon lame hacks, trusting to Providence to land +them on the other side, if possible, without a scratch. +It has been known that riders have lost their seats +in this proceeding.” The foregoing are not opinions +created by the relator of this Dream, but constantly +heard expressed by all sorts and conditions of men +and spoken in public as well as in private; as such, +together with more, equally trenchant and sensible, +they represent the public opinion of the new Communes.</p> + +<p>Dreams, like life, have distasteful moments. Even in +them there are degrees of interest, commonplace situations, +truisms, and paradox. But one has no choice, +things are chosen for one, and in the sequence provided. +Sometimes a very disorderly sequence! Subjects in a +dream are arranged with anything but mathematical +precision. Perhaps that constitutes half their charm. +Everybody knows that the unexpected happens in life, +as in dreams. The unexpected is, in this case, that the +intellectual level in Britain rises higher and higher. +The arts and sciences are taking their place in the new +kingdom, and this, if it be true, is not an unnatural +evolution, but a movement in the direction of survival +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span>of the fittest. The barbarous period of the near past +was, in a sense, an accident. If, for a while, the influence +of mental morphia prevailed, instincts were too strong +to be permanently dulled. The spirit that was in the +men who made our great cathedrals, who furnished our +country with the most beautiful and desirable parish +and village churches in all Europe, if unproductive, +was not dead. The labours of generations of scholars, +if put into the background in times of hurry-scurry, +of facilities of swift locomotion, hence of restlessness, +have not been thrown away. We were in such a desperate +state of going to and fro that few found time to +pause and think, to ask themselves the question if it +were all worth while? If man, as a creative creature +with a lot of the Angel in him, was mistaking Means for +Ends? Means there were, and coming so swiftly that +they jostled one another. So swiftly was every facility +absorbed and made use of to acquire wealth (honestly +or dishonestly didn’t matter) that the people were swept +off their balance and became as atoms driven hither and +thither in chaos. They mistook chaos for kosmos, +licence for liberty, astuteness for intellect, the transient +for permanency, and small things for great ones. The +cry was, Agriculture does not pay. Of course it did not +under the unnatural conditions of the time. Once upon +a time 3 or 5 per cent. was good interest. When 10 +per cent. was demanded, and much more hoped for, +only gambling could provide it. Agriculture, the first need +to be demanded, was pushed out of the field by Industrial +Gambling. Ignorance of cause and effect, +of the lessons to be got from History, blinded the eyes of +gamblers to the fact that the fall of Roman power, +while becoming almost universal, can be traced to +the cessation of corn growing in the Agro Romano. +Trusting her Colonies to provide grain led to idleness. +A people, in the first place agricultural, released +from an effort of their genius, became dilapidated +and political; they exchanged Labour for luxury, easy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span>getting for dignified control, and Rome became extravagant, +and so, by degrees, she fell a victim to barbarians. +She fell from a high to a low estate. Once a victor, and +then a victim to the worst plague from which a nation +can suffer: Idleness and greed for money without paying +the price for it, Labour!</p> + + +<h3>§ 42</h3> + +<p>If Rome thus suffered, why should it be impossible +or even unlikely that a modern nation following the +same road would not pay the penalty! The desire to +get rich at all costs did not only endanger internal +commerce and growth, but, affecting the whole soul of +the nation, blinded to all other matters. Literary +standards were lowered, Research was starved for want +of funds; discoveries of the power and mightiness of +the Past were known only to a comparatively few, rather +held in contempt as Faddists, or, at the best, harmless +lunatics who grasped at a shadow and lived in a Phantom +world of their own making. Hence, compared with the +great nations of antiquity, Britain was providing little +or nothing by which future generations could gauge her +creative intelligence or weigh it against her ephemeral +conquests. There is no surer sign of the decadence of a +nation than the cessation of Artistic activity. Politicians +are but “will o’ the wisps” in comparison with +creative Artists. They are but makeshifts, come to-day, +gone to-morrow. What care we for the Politics of Bacon, +or whether Shakespeare was a Liberal or Conservative? +We know Milton was a Puritan; that does not matter, +because he was a Poet.</p> + + +<h3>§ 43</h3> + +<p>Where are the law givers of the Elizabethan period? +Dead letters. That period is known and loved for the +Poets it made, as well as for discoveries by travellers +and men of science. It was a time of great craftsmanship +also. It was a period of refined taste, when people +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>were not aware of the Treasures they were making for the +future to enjoy. The ambition to do that was quite outside +the calculation of the recent Philistines. “It is +good enough for me.” “It will last my time.” “It +serves my purpose.” “I am a plain man!” Well, we +all know that you are a plain man, and a selfish, stagnant +man as well, and a person that leads to nothing, a +brick wall at the end of the narrow footway on which you +press your unprogressive feet; your only use is that +you provide a subject for satire which Carlyle and Ruskin +knew so well how to employ.</p> + + +<h3>§ 44</h3> + +<p>Trade is <em>much</em> but not <em>everything</em>; it is noble when +honestly pursued, but may be entirely the reverse. +Trade is for the provision of food, clothing, warmth and +sanitation. The service of Science is to protect Health, +to soften suffering, to add to our knowledge of the +wonders of the world we live in, to use its genius +for construction, not destruction, to, if possible, prolong +life, not destroy it, to make it happier, not sadder, +to reveal the mysteries of Movement, of Light, of Force, +to tell us, however little, of the Heavens and the +Treasures still concealed in the little globe on which we +stand. This is much, and would seem to be enough to +occupy Science day and night. But there is another +side to Science which is deplorable.</p> + +<p>To invent engines, gasses, and substitutes for nature’s +products from poisonous chemicals, is to abuse her +genius, to fructify misery and accelerate pain. When +doing these things Science brutalizes herself, distorts +herself and renders herself a nuisance. By inventing +engines to destroy, Science encourages mankind’s worst +instincts, and by doing so is not advancing but delaying +progress. Science can be every bit as harmful as beneficial; +she can be as great a curse as a blessing. If the +Great War did not teach that it has failed to teach one +of its profoundest lessons.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span></p> + + +<h3>§ 45</h3> + +<p>The Germans, through the aid of their scientific men, +carried War to a depth of horror never before known. +God help the world if Science is again so employed +next time, maybe, to the extinction of the human +race, certainly it will be to the extinction of all +loveliness that God and man have created. A few +days ago I read noble words of Anatole France to a +teachers’ union: “<cite>Arouse the hatred of hate</cite>,” “glorify +Love and Work,” “Burn all books that <em>teach Hate</em>.” +“The hour has come for us all to be citizens of the World, +but first of our own land, or to see civilization perish.” +“Train intelligent workers, experts in the Arts they +practice, knowing what they owe to the community of +the nation and to the World. Teach Reason, Intelligence, +Wisdom; the teachers of the future must teach +the Love of Peace and the Hatred of War.” These are +strong words from a great man.</p> + +<p>By ingenious invention of destructive agents Science +has been glorified by War. Why? Because she has +lined pockets with ill-gained wealth; but, in reality, +Science has debased herself. I would go a step further. +I would, if I could, destroy every tradition which could +prop up Science to do the like again. I would teach +children that when Science misconducts herself she is +on the side of an evil, not good, power.</p> + + +<h3>§ 46</h3> + +<p>If a League of Nations is to succeed, the wings of +Science must be cut, her reckless flight, curtailed. +Science has, by adaptation of peaceful to aggressive +purposes, committed a crime against herself. She has +used her children to be poisoners and murderers. +Germany set the example, under the title “Kultur,” a +wolf in sheepskin. Science, perverted from her noble +initial intentions, became popular; she became the +means for fabulous fortunes; piles of money was the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>price paid for her ghastly cleverness. A not very +enviable class wore diamonds, drove expensive cars and +clad themselves in costly furs; that is how they went +into mourning for the slain. Science, pressed on by +commercial greed, lost a friend when War ceased. What +hideous contemplation; the slaughter of our children +paying a hundred per cent. profit.</p> + +<p>Politicians may plan elaborate games. Complicated +moves may look as if checkmate was certain. No +legislator, singular or plural, will stop War. All Wars +come from the commercial element in the first place. +War is made now for a purpose, and if we look that purpose +straight in the face it is “More money.” Plutus +has been the god of the modern world. As long as he +reigns Wars will be. Politicians and lawyers may try +to wriggle out of it, but The Truth has a disagreeable +habit of cropping up. Sophistry may do its best to +hide it or drown it; it may be hidden but not destroyed. +There is only one way to stop War; to make people +abominate it, scorn it as a stupid reckless destroyer. +Once there was chivalry, even a kind of noble beauty +in its conduct, which, superficially, redeemed it. The +South African War was a war to acquire diamonds; +it was purely commercial, hidden by sophistry under +a garb of protection of public interest. It was not +public, but private commercial success which produced +a shameful disaster which came near to wreck England. +When we are really civilized and are engrossed in the +Arts of Peace, when we are all bent upon making the +world a desirable place by making Life growingly +attractive, growingly efficacious for all the classes, +War will cease to have any attractions. When the +beauty quite possible to life is insisted upon by the +exerted will of an entire people united in Fraternity, +united in schemes for the betterment of moral status, +of honour and of industry, War will cease, and not till +then. When we would clean out a pond, it is no use +to scrape its surface of slime; slime on the surface +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span>is only a superficial sign of trouble. The bottom must +be cleansed, that is where the real trouble is. It is of +little use to adorn a chair with fanciful design when its +legs are rotten, they must be made strong. The mass +of the people is as the clean bottom of a pond is to its +surface, the chair to its legs. They must be strengthened +and purified by education, which is not arrived at by a +parrot-like repetition of facts or theories, but which +teaches the whole duty of man to man, hence to God. +That is what our new Education is trying to do. The +child being father to the man, we try to take him in +hand at once, and through him re-establish honour, +sobriety, industrious habits which will lead his highest +instincts and teach him that he must be master of himself, +to which, having attained, he will be a guide, philosopher +and friend to his and after generations. Make +the people love Beauty as a sign to goodness, ugliness +as a signpost to Evil. If that education fails none will +succeed.</p> + +<p>This discourse was delivered by an Expert. He +was no amateur in Science; it was only that his +fine mind was free from disillusion. Right and wrong +are on different planes. They are disconnected, and +he, being honest as well as gifted, had no intention of +making a compromise between them! He has a great +following in the New Life, and is a progressive power +not only in his own but in all the Communes of England.</p> + + +<h3>§ 47</h3> + +<p>We have seen that Forestry has been reinstated, and +under what pleasant, profitable circumstances it grows. +Now my dream takes me on, and my spirit peregrinates +in other localities and seeks enlightenment. Windswept +moors, and places where bogs are prevalent, prove +difficult antagonists to agriculture as generally practised. +It is true that what the Italians call “<i lang="la">terra ingrata</i>,” +literally translated, “unyielding soil,” is in England +as well as in Italy an obstinate problem, which it will +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>take time to solve. In such counties where there is +much of this unyielding soil, science is trying to find +remedies or uses to which it can be put. Science is +busy with experiments. Effort is being made to discover +what trees (if any) can be planted with advantage +in such districts; so far, the pine is in favour. +In the meantime, much more use is made of peat for +many purposes, as fuel for instance, and manure for +gardens and the growth of flowers and shrubs, which +answer at once to its fructifying influence. Extending +my spirit flight through the length and breadth of the +land, I see that no land capable of growing grain is out of +service. Grain for bread, grass for cattle and sheep, +unpolluted rivers where ample supplies of fish are obtainable, +and the nation is provided against starvation, +even in time of another War.</p> + + +<h3>§ 48</h3> + +<p>“We are looking ahead now,” said one to another. +“We are facing, not avoiding, the consideration of +anxious possibilities.” “Each Commune of Britain is +busy with problems to solve which will make us safe in +emergencies; the policy of ‘Wait and See,’ than which +none could be more dangerous to welfare, is treated +(as it should be) with contempt. ‘Up and doing’ has +taken its place; we have had enough of fallacious +epigrams as catch words for opportunists.” The River +Severn, one of the most productive in England, has +been taken from German hands and is producing a +goodly yield of food. There was a prejudice against +“coarse fish as an article of food; we are returning to +an old English habit of using it.” In old days most +of the monasteries were erected near a river; where +that was not possible, lakes were dug out and plentifully +supplied with fish. We have returned to use an +important and nourishing food in localities where it can +be employed, and a great and growing industry is proving +a success, it is feeding a large section of the people. Sea +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>fishermen did not like it at first; it appeared to be an +innovation of their right, but since it has proved not to +interfere with their business it is accepted.</p> + + +<h3>§ 49</h3> + +<p>There are many “practical” schemes being initiated. +My dream leads me now into matters not generally +called “practical,” but are necessary to a great nation. +We all know (any way), who have read History what we +owe to-day to the Monastic system, which, with all its +abuses, did save learning. Monasteries were the Cabinets +of tradition, without which we might now be barbarians, +and it was by no means all for good they were suppressed. +To Henry VIII. is not due all the mischief which Cromwell +completed. The lands belonging to the Church were +regarded with envy by the State before the coming +of those two powerful autocrates. Every one knows +that, but every one does not realise the debt we owe to a +concentrated life going on amid war and rapine. +Good things, if once they have been proved good and +useful, are apt to crop up again. If not used exactly +as they were, if the principle which started them no +longer prevails, if their recurrence is not on the lines of +what was called the “religious life,” the results they +achieved may be copied in a New Age and under a fresh +inspiration.</p> + + +<h3>§ 50</h3> + +<p>Action and reaction are inevitable. Extended activities +lead to complications and concentrated action to simplicity. +Thus men, inclined towards quiet more than to +jostle in the crowd, find it necessary to retire to find +peace to work out their destinies, and in groups—in +groups because continued solitude is paralysing, as much +to mental as physical activity. There be men who are +born in scholarship whose intuition is to research, +they are the vessels that hold learning, but not seldom +they pour it out with difficulty. They give it out drop +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>by drop; they are to a nation what foundations are +to a building. In a sense they are passive. History, +Archæology, indeed, all the ologies, Art in its various +branches, and Science in hers, cannot get along without +silent strenuous workers who are as disinterested a race +as our social system provides. Mostly poor, they live in +solitude, receiving little encouragement. If they happened +to have a small steady income it was heavily taxed. +What with income, super-taxes and rates, what remained +of small income, at the best, was reduced to less +than that of an unskilled labourer. The New Communes +seek these valuable men, who, when found, are presented +with a “living wage.” Thus, some of the most valuable +servants of the State are, at least, placed upon a financial +basis with unskilled labour.</p> + + +<h3>§ 51</h3> + +<p>There is another group of indispensable servants to +the State which was neglected, whose wages were less +than the modern menial—the teachers. They are +men whose education has been costly to their parents, +who, in more cases than not, could ill afford the drain +upon their resources. While miners, servants, even +ignorant boys employed by publishers to wrap up books +for distribution, were getting wages out of all proportion +to the work they were doing, these “teachers” went +quietly on with their useful labour, unnoticed and ill-paid. +They formed a large class of intelligence and +usefulness which constituted The New Poor!!! While +the Government was conceding principle after principle +to “strikers” and to a whole army of unreasonable discontent, +the men who were working quietly for the +cause of Education remained outside the sympathy of +Government “Officials.” Under the New Commune a +better and more just system is at work. They are treated, +having been chosen and selected with care, as public +servants, and as such they are paid; at least, they are now +upon a scale of pay equal to the scullery maid of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span>past. “The profiteers,” often as ignorant as grasping, +drove about the country in expensive motor cars, +while the makers of England, from an intellectual +point of view, were disregarded, even treated with contempt, +because the balance at their bankers was small, +probably nil, while that of Profiteers was such that +their ladies were in diamonds and furs, and Borough +Councillors thrived upon the Rates.</p> + +<p>Now, let me remember and state what, in my dream, +such men are doing, as public servants, for the previously +unestimated value of education for that part of the community +which is called Labour. In one of the most +beautiful parts of Kent, once “the Garden” of +England, under the slope of its backbone, on which is the +Pilgrims Way, the road from London to Canterbury, +is to be seen a straggling group of buildings, evidently +erected gradually as accommodation demanded. The +starting place was an old barn, one of those magnificent +but simple buildings which were next to the church in +importance and only second to it in noble proportions +and dignified aspect. In a way, those old Tythe barns +represented the people and their agriculture as faithfully +as the churches their reverence and sacred +traditions.</p> + + +<h3>§ 52</h3> + +<p>Once the storehouse for grain, the Tythe barns were the +meeting place for landlords, their tenants, and country +folk; the flail made delightful music at threshing time. +In them county dances were held and seasons celebrated. +Before the Town Hall was, they were. In the new life the +Tythe barn was used, in the first instance as a dwelling +place for a kind of Franciscan order, not bound by an oath +or dedicated to any sectarian creed; it is a place of retirement +for scholars as well as for communal activity. By +degrees the little community grew. New buildings, inexpensive +but sanitary, have been added; surrounding +land purchased and cultivated with the specialties +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span>common to the soil of Kent—Fruit and Hops. Hops +especially, because the New World repudiates “Kultur,” +and no longer substitutes for that fragrant and desirable +fruit deleterious chemical products which agents interested +in a “Company” exploited against the original +article. The noisy, smoky threshing machine does not +visit here; grain is threshed by the flail. The occupiers +of these buildings subsist upon their own land; cows and +goats give them milk; they make their own bread, and +brew their own light beer, and wines got from the elder, +the pear, apple and some sweet grapes grown and +flourishing well in sunny aspects.</p> + + +<h3>§ 53</h3> + +<p>The community established here is voluntary, mostly +composed of men of small incomes, large intelligence, +and varied pursuits. Being in a sense public servants, +they only pay a nominal tax to the Commune for the +use of the land, and no income <em>tax</em> is levied from them. +Intellect contributes what money cannot buy.</p> + +<p>So interesting was the appearance of this little nest of +disinterested men, so lively in surroundings, so snug in +its suggestion of quiet concentrated life, that my spirit +sought to examine it. It is high summer; the +corn and fruit are ripening; the hop gardens are laden +with fragrance. It is that time of year when repose +seems to take the place of agricultural activity; the sun +is hot, the air full of the hum of bees. It is the midday +of the year when, as the old pagans told, the gods +sleep. The sun, no longer hidden by smoke, is doing +his work, preparing for the gathering time, fruitful +autumn! Something after an old monastery it is. +A refectory, and a kitchen built after the plan of that +at Glastonbury, denote a goodly company to +feed. Every member of the order has his sleeping cell. +Those whose avocations are primarily studious have a +study to themselves. It is noon, a bell rings. Soon +the refectory is full, accommodated to hold fifty or +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span>sixty men of different ages and occupations. One +could easily pick out the scholars from the active +workers. There appeared to be no servants, so called; +the cook was of the order; they waited upon themselves. +What is the main business of the Order? It is “teaching.” +The Prior, or he in priority, is a distinguished old man. +I noticed or learnt by listening, that sectarian creeds did +not exist here. They were just Christians, <i>i.e.</i>, who +work for others, give of their experience and knowledge +freely and abundantly. The Athenic academy must +have been something like this modern adaptation of +Plato’s republic; who knows if there be not a Socrates +among them?</p> + +<p>There are artists and craftsmen as well as historians, +and music plays its part, for in the refectory is an +organ. Sweet music came from its pipes during +dinner. The number I saw was not inclusive; many +of the order were away in different parts of the county +teaching. I heard that every county in Britain contains +a similar Order of Teachers. The subjects taught, +answer to the needs of the County. The Prior has +power to choose from and send teachers where he pleases; +in this sense he is an autocrat. The object is to instil +Agricultural peasants with high Ideals of their life as +such, and to enlighten Industrial districts by History. +So much of the old agitation and mistrust on the part of +the people was the result of <em>ignorance</em>. It was to combat +ignorance and to place high ideals before the people that +the Order was founded. Within an easy walk for the +pedestrian, my spirit flew the distance in less than a +second. I found myself in a village. It reminded me +of one that in my waking youth I remember before the +giant Industrialism had sprawled his uncouth body +there, and with his great ungainly feet had trodden +down grass, corn and fruit trees, pulled down ancient +buildings to erect factories, and turned a place of gardens +into ash heaps. The horrid remnants of his invasion +have been eradicated. Everything seemed to record +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span>peace. The country at peace, the people at peace. I +went into the village school; there I saw one of the order +instructing. No birch rod was suspended on its whitewashed +walls; I looked for it, remembering Dr. Johnson’s +homage to the Rod, but saw none. The boys and girls +were being led, not driven; interested, not forced; they +were being taught the dignity of Labour and the criminality +of laziness. Taught self-respect they were, and to +abominate not only low actions, but dishonest impulses. +From every cottage I heard the music of the loom. In +the fields the sound of happy song prevailed. They +rivaled the thrush and the blackbird, did those merry +workers. They were merry with the birds, joining them +in song.</p> + + +<h3>§ 54</h3> + +<p>In dreams, seasons change places. Suddenly it is +autumn, harvest time, a festival time when people are +gay as they set out to gather the fruit of their ploughing +and sowing.</p> + +<p>It is the same village, but the aspect is in a degree +changed. The repose of summer has given way to the +activity of autumn, or rather to the approach of it. The +harvest is in full swing. The male population is busy with +<em>Sickle</em> and <em>Scythe</em>. I did not see the mechanical cutter; the +New Communes find that the old system provides more +work for the agricultural class, which has grown numerically +since it became evident that Britain must feed +itself with its own products as much as possible. This +has led to greater importance being attached to agriculture +than to industrialism, which is now an aid, not an +obstruction to agriculture. The village forge is busy; +scythes and sickles are being ground, new ones are in the +making, fresh shoes are preparing for farm horses; +wheels, of great carts to carry the grain and straw, are +being set in order. A merry place is the forge, with its +lusty bellows, bright fire and brilliant sparks like stars, +dancing up the chimney. Everybody is alert. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span>parson, the schoolmaster, the doctor and land owner +will take part in the great event of cutting and storing +the precious products of the soil. I noticed several of +“The Order” have come up to lend a hand. The great +Barn is prepared to receive the golden result of a fine +harvest. It has been a summer of sun; the corn is so ripe +it shines like copper. The straw is strong, good for hat +makers and those occupied in the use of that precious +material.</p> + +<p>How they work, the strong fellows; with what a +heart they gather their own from the beneficent +earth; it shall not be sold elsewhere until enough has +been stored for the use of the Parish. The New Communes +have an excellent habit of looking after <em>their own +people first</em>, a bad commercial economy, according to old +habits, but it answers well because it is just. Plenty of +pure light beer is brewed, and pure because brewers are +not permitted to adulterate it (if they did so here they +would be punished as “forgers”); casks of this, and of +home-made cider, have been carted to the cornfields. If +the workers do stagger a bit no one blames them; +anyhow, they have not been drinking poison, as they +did in the past. When the golden harvest moon rises +full in a purple sky, they fall to dancing and merriment, +and sing folk songs, but before midnight they are at rest, +for at daylight they must be up and at it again.</p> + +<p>When the corn harvest is reaped and stored, the +English vintage begins. Hop gardens in plenty are +cultivated here. Every woman and child, besides all +grown ups, who can be spared from the farms, are engaged +in gathering the lovely green fruit. Hop gathering is one +of the pleasantest of all agricultural operations. The +scent of the fruit produces a charm as the scent of +poppies does, a lotus-eating charm of quiet not excitement. +The alleys between the stately hop poles bending +under the weight of fruit are dotted with tints as of +flowers, for the women’s and children’s garments are +bright coloured, woven at home and dyed by the village +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span>dyers. Here is seen <em>the natural life</em>, for which man +was created, from the labour of whose hands bread +shall be eaten. No pale, sickly faces are seen here, +no discontented looks, no morbid longings for a rich +idle life prevail; instead of that are ruddy cheeks, +beaming smiles, neighbourly greetings and happy songs +are heard “<em>through daylight hours</em>.” Winter comes, +no less beautiful than summer, only different. Work +changes its character. The fruitfulness of summer depends +upon winter labour. Not only labourers plough, +the parson, clerk and “Gentlemen” plough. This +reminds me that in this Dream of a purified and clean +England there is no class of “Gentlemen,” because all +who labour are such. A man who did not take part +in the manual labour (in some measure, at least) would +not be regarded with respect. Even those whose occupations +demand care of their hands put in a certain +amount of hard labour. Practice being better than +precept, and fraternity being best of all, this habit +succeeds.</p> + + +<h3>§ 55</h3> + +<p>Now, winter is in full swing, the days are short, evenings +long, but not dull. The Village Church, well warmed, +is used for concerts, when not for them educational +addresses are given by members of “The Order.” The +big schoolroom is used for dances and play acting. It +is considered by Village Communes that their duty is +to help recreation as well as encourage labour. Concise +little plays have been written by scholars of “The +Order.” They make no fuss about scenery; what they +do take pains with is the playing, which, in winter, +forms a conspicuous item of education. It has been +deemed wisest that the plays shall be simple and, above +all, <span class="allsmcap">CLEAN</span> minded. It is the object of the Village +Communes that their people remain simple, which +means not stupid, but innocent. As far as I have +travelled I have been made aware that “Cinemas” are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span>under strict control. It has been argued and decided +that amusements may prove fatal to development. In +no sense of priggishness, but as a proper protection. +Cinemas are not permitted to show crime; they are +used, as other enjoyments are, to excite the nobler not +ignoble features of life.</p> + +<p>We need not go to Germany now for basket-weaving, +straw-plaiting and so on. That ancient industry is restored +to England, which had let it slip, with too many +others, into the hands of the Teutons an industrious +people when the English were getting idle and were +trying to live on other people’s earnings and labour, and +more shame to them for it. It is the object of the +Community so to conduct affairs that the idle are the +exception, not the rule as they were growing to be some +time ago. While those occupied in the affairs of the +Communes are strict (for what is the use of Government +if it is ductile, compromising and weak?), they are +not autocratic, save in the sense that having framed +laws, with consideration they carry them into effect. +They do not make a law until they are sure it is a just +one, and one which is necessary for the good of the +people as a whole, not only for a section of it.</p> + + +<h3>§ 56</h3> + +<p>This principle has done away with Class Legislation, +which was proving a grave danger to the well being of +England. Of course, it stands for sense that every +County is not ruled alike. There must be Industrial +districts as well as Agricultural, but they are not permitted +to invade each other. As far as possible Industrial +districts are not divorced from Agriculture. Now +that the smoke fiend is no more Industrial districts can +have their gardens, and the people can grow their vegetables +and fruit with security. This has been made +possible, as we have seen, for each person is master of +his own little bit of land, which he is taught to cultivate, +and which if he does not it is taken away from him and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>given to someone else who will use it. Once a year (if +necessary more often) the leaders of Communes meet in +conclave somewhere in the centre of England. There +they consider the laws. In that way conditions are +kept clear from becoming stereotyped. Men of various +adaptabilities shake brains with each other. This +becomes a habit and prevents isolation, because the +national interest is the County interest extended. If +Agriculture is to be the first consideration the main +essential without which the nation might starve, Industrialism +had to be checked, but not destroyed. It +had to be put in its proper place, not as an autocratic +ruler, but a useful servant.</p> + +<p>Nuisances produced by Industrialism are sternly +dealt with. No factories are permitted in Agricultural +districts or to be planted in the centre of towns among +dwelling houses or where they might be a nuisance. +There is no hardship in that decision, it is just, that is +all. Borough and Village, as well as City Councils, are +now so represented that jobbery is put out of court. +Not only is the body of the people considered, but the +soul of the Nation is encouraged to enlarge and expand. +Men have got to see that, and to act on it. All forms of +religion are equally regarded. There is no State +Church or State monopoly. It was a blow to the +narrow brain, this was; it wrenched power from inquisitors +and took the wind out of the sails of doctrinaires. +But it is proved to have been wise, because +there is more, not less, religion than there was. It +is simplified on the broad basis of belief in God. The +Devil gets a poor look in now. Religious persecution +was one of his choicest allies. The Devil found in it +admirable matter for his schemes, for it promoted hate, +not love. The noblest Greek philosophy teaches that +love was the first created abstract power, and what +philosophy is better calculated to make men of us than +that is? The story of the Garden of Eden teaches us +that God made perfect beauty, which, by folly, man, in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span>his inquisitive, greedy pursuit of wealth, attempted to +destroy.</p> + +<p>He had to become poor to buy back what he had lost; +he had to labour to create a new Garden, and that is +what the New Life is struggling to do. Not a less, but a +more beautiful Garden than the first is being created. +Now it is to be made for the many. We have history +to teach us what to avoid, and what to cling to, and +it is one of the chief duties of men versed in history to +teach it to their less favoured fellows, and that the New +Order is striving to do.</p> + +<p>Christ’s disciples were few, but by their earnestness +and belief in the truth they wrought a great change. +Perhaps, in their enthusiasm, they broke away from +things that were beautiful and useful; but one prominent +good they did: they promoted a spirit of +fellowship; of fraternity which, if not new in theory, +was new in practice. The Franciscan Order began in +spite of the Church. St. Francis was, in a sense, a +revolutionary. While the Church was preaching wealth +he preached poverty. While the Church was systematically +conservative he was progressive. And with what +swiftness his teaching moved. Beginning in a little +company of followers in Assisi, the Order spread over +Europe, almost as a flash of lightning. All the greatest +things start small. It is enthusiasm that really moves the +world; to use enthusiasm wisely comes afterwards. Who +shall say how far or how beneficially the new lay +Order in Britain will go? It may become the ruling +factor of modern democracy; it may turn a paper +democracy into a living one. Movements of less +moment than this one have changed the destinies of +nations, and such changes have always come about after +great upheavals. After the terrible strain of War +people looked about them and began to wonder if what +led up to the War was not (even if it made wealth) +destroying our spiritual nature. I like better, our instinctive +Ideals. It surely made the wise think more deeply +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span>and the less wise wonder what was the matter. It was +evident that a mood was about beyond the power of +politicians to tackle. No red tape could do it; it could +only wrap it up and put the bundle away in a pigeon-hole. +Was it all a chimera in which we were living? +Extended luxuries, ridiculously high wages, penalising +taxes, were all artificial and demonstrated an entirely +artificial life. Constant demand for excitement, if +prolonged, must ruin a nation. The preachments +of equality were vain; there is not such a thing and +never can be. The only approach to equality can be +found in <em>equality of honour</em>; each man working his best, +giving the best for decent wages, and the noblest of all +giving their best for no wages at all.</p> + + +<h3>§ 57</h3> + +<p>What was the matter with England? Too rich! +Too self-indulgent, growing idle and becoming dishonest! +An enormous population of so-called Labour, led by +ignorant, headstrong agitators. A weak Government, +carrying on the tactics of promise and no performance, +tactics of sops to agitators, of declining to face realities. +A Government which was losing whatever respect it +might have had, even from the Party in the Country +which it had pampered and spoiled, and what for? +To gain their votes at a general election. Tradesmen +who could charge what they pleased, and a Government +that one moment held them in check, the next +gave way. Growing blindness to everything that +makes a great nation, Honesty, Industry, Thrift and +a high Ideal for the future welfare of their country, +and entire apathy as to the judgment which history +will pass upon the <em>Tone of the People</em>. In fact, something +so like Anarchy as to be practically, if not +theoretically, Anarchy.</p> + +<p>Even if the Government saw the danger it did not +face it. It dared not do so because its very existence +depended upon a class, and that one the least provided +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span>with education sufficient to put it into a position of +clear thinking and sound judgment. “The idle” rich +were pointed at as the first offenders; Capital was +destructive to Labour interests, was the foolish cry, as +if a country could exist without Capital! The fact +being that the higher wages the greater the capital +will have to be to meet them. To achieve capital all +must work!</p> + +<p>In my dream just now I heard a workman say, +“Never again will we cry out against Capital; we see +now that without it we should be <em>paupers</em>! And +who, after all, came forward in the extreme moments of +stress during the War? Surely that part of Society +dubbed ‘The Idle Rich.’ How was the cost of five +millions a day met? By Capital, of course. How +were we paid for making munitions? By Capital, +of course. And (he went on to say), from our own +point of view, in our own interests, indeed, discounting +all others for the sake of argument, our enemies +were not the rich or the refined and cultivated +classes, they were the men who pretended to lead us, and, +alas! they did so, almost to our undoing; but rid of +them we are now, and will never again accept them.” +New ideas, or old ones revived are catching, and if +formed on the highest motives, will prevail as long as a +good humour towards them is in favour. “The Lay +Order,” which we have watched and found entirely +sincere, is working a great change. Extending from +villages to cities, from the fields to factories, from +public to private life, the Lay Order finds respect from +the peasant, the agricultural and the industrial classes. +Its influence is felt in every form of social life, from the +Lord Mayors to the humblest commoner. The peasant +finds wisdom in these men! He saw them at the plough, +he found them companions as well as leaders.</p> + +<p>We hear him say, “What they teach they do.” At +first they marvelled. “Why do gentlemen do this? +We thought ‘gentlemen’ <em>loved ease</em> now we know that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span>the real gentleman is a hard handed man with a gentle +heart, and he knows more than we do, so we listen to +him! The Order has done wonders in breaking down +class distinction. Instead, fervent fraternity is taking +root. “We have given up the fetish of equality; we +know it is a broken reed that is quite untrustworthy, +even to a drowning man.” We know, whatever station +of life is ours, that we can dignify it or defile it.”</p> + + +<h3>§ 58</h3> + +<p>Dignify it by exertion, defile it by apathy or worse. +The churches looked upon the Lay Order with suspicion +at first. Inclined to question their Dogmas, they called +them “Socinians,” Atheists and even harder names we +know of, triumphantly adopted by Dogmatists. The +Cardinals of Rome mistrusted St. Francis and his little +following, who cut at the root of their wealth. The +Cardinals drove about in splendid carriages, were +attended by gaily dressed footmen, of whom they demanded +servility. The Franciscans walked, footsore +in snow and hail, were exposed to scorching sun, were +hungry, were beggars, but inside them they felt the +warmth of the Love of God, and a burning love +for their fellow-men. The Order has something of +Monasticism, and why not? It is Monasticism purged +of its morbidity. It is not eager to save souls for +the next world, but to nourish them for their progress +in this which is, after all, the only one that can be +demonstrated and dealt with with certainty. They +do not ask for joy after death, but before it; and +they find it in labour, in labour for the less instructed, +in the Doctrine of <span class="allsmcap">THOU</span> more than of <em>I</em>. They +remember a fine ancient saying, “Love enters the soul +when self has evacuated the fortress of the heart.”</p> + +<p>The word soul has been often used in this story of my +dream. What do I mean by it? I mean that part of +a nation and individual that is immortal! Not longing +to escape damnation or to attain Joy hereafter, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span>but escape it here, and realise it here. They teach +the Art of living, “<i lang="la">Ars Vivendi</i>,” and it is followed +with honesty and just pride, “The Art of dying, +<i lang="la">Ars Moriendi</i>,” will take care of itself. They do not +preach the joys of a life to come, but of this one +which we can make joyful if we please. They are Idealists +who are, at the same time practical; Rationalists, +if you like so to call them. They accept matter, +not as a check or obstacle to the conduct of an +Ideal, but as inseparable from it. They teach Free +Will, and have nothing to say to Predestination. The +former is certain, the latter is supposition. It is the +common sense which pervades their work that is making +it respected. They teach an Ideal that <em>can</em> be touched +if not entirely reached: that an Ideal is not a phantom.</p> + +<p>Education is spreading persistently, not by leaps or +bounds, but systematically and surely. Facts are +taught, but not as a parrot is. Then cause and effect, of +which the parrot, as far as we know is ignorant, is the +very kernel of History. Young people are led to reason, +to obey their instincts so far as they are justified. +Facts are useful, but too many piled together puzzle +more than invigorate the mind. If we try to hold too +many seeds in our hand some must escape through the +fingers. Young people are led, not driven, and with +discretion. They are not crammed with useless facts. +Every child, rich and poor, is initiated to a handicraft. +In that there is no distinction; this was forced upon us +when it became certain that we should have to be in a +measure our own craftsmen and our own servants. The +rise in wages made that a <i lang="la">sine quâ non</i>, and it has been +met. The class that served as household domestics is +doing now a work much more serviceable to the country; +it is working on the land, both men and women are.</p> + +<p>Performing our own jobs of mending, we have released +a whole army of small hand-to-mouth trades. +This is economical; indeed, at the price “little labour” +demanded it was imperative, and since it has become +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span>a habit nobody grumbles. Home exercises +of prudence and economy fill up moments which grow +to be hours otherwise wasted. An effect this has +had is remarkable; it has been the cause of greater, not +less independence of self-reliance which tells upon +character. We are very wary of men of law like +Napoleon; we mistrust them as we mistrust all sophists. +We do not care for them as members of our Councils; +we use them as referees, not as helmsmen. The man of +law goes round and round in a circle in equal distance +from the centre, he avoids the centre. We like the guilty +punished, but we do not like that he gets off on a point of +law when the man who got him off knows perfectly well he +is guilty, this is playing with Justice, not administering it.</p> + + +<h3>§ 59</h3> + +<p>“We admit that a reasonable profit is justifiable on +the sale of all goods, but the Great War taught us that +tradesmen profited enormously upon our evil times. +We might grow hungry, but they must profit by it; +and it was men of our own class who did this mercilessly. +This has made us beware of tradesmen, so we +have put spokes in their wheels which they do not like, +and finding they can ‘rook’ us no longer, they have +gone to work on the land, which is better for their health +and morals and for the country at large.” So spoke a +workman—mind, a workman, not a capitalist!!</p> + +<p>Another said, “Directly we saw straight, and viewed +the horizon clearly, we knew we had power, and we set +ourselves to use it rightly, and chose leaders who would +help us. We do not intend to go back, we mean +to go forward, and show the country that it may have +confidence in us. We are learning to rule ourselves, +hence we may claim a place among legislators. We +know that a bad servant cannot make a good master. +The old Trades Union masters could not become +statesmen because they taught that “bad work is good +for Trade,” than which nothing can be a greater fallacy.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p> + + +<h3>§ 60</h3> + +<p>A nation progresses, even survives, only on good work. +It is ruined by bad! Since we are rid of bad leaders, +the outlook on life is extended fourfold. The new Lay +Order, being composed of a great variety of minds, +some passive (as scholars and teachers must be, in a +measure) active and alert, physically and mentally, leaves +no subject of education, high as well as simple, untouched. +Among this disinterested community there exists no +struggle for precedence. Each man regards himself as an +item of the nation’s wants, and strives to advance them +in due order and without prejudice. Hence we have the +men of letters, the Artist (inclusive) and Scientist working +under the banner of Justice, hand-in-hand with the +ploughman. The order is coming to be the root of all +education.</p> + + +<h3>§ 61</h3> + +<p>It is referred to by Village as well as City “Teachers.” +It has become a kind of university, a source from which +spring many small streams irrigating deserts that were +unproductive. When started, the scheme was considered +Utopian; a mere fad, and the men who framed +its first principles were “Dreamers”—Poets, if you +like, but unpractical. In a short time it became +evident that far from being unpractical they were +the reverse. They, seeing chaos, sought to achieve +Kosmos. Success, hitherto gained, has been due to the +touch created with an almost infinite variety of occupations +and interests, which, while being local, are also +national. They came at exactly the right moment, +when a great upheaval threatened the very existence +of England. By personal influence, direct and circumspect, +they are doing for the country what the politician +can never do, or statesman achieve, even if they are +gifted with “Imagination.”</p> + + +<h3>§ 62</h3> + +<p>Theories were abundant, practice now prevails. So +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>sure is the growth of practical education that those who +thought in grooves, now think broadly; hence they +are not easily misled. The effort of each Commune +is not to make new laws, but to enforce a few already +made which, protecting every class, are not limited +to one pre-eminently. It is said, “We got tired +of Government which, to save their seats, listened to +the last popular clamour, and toyed with transient +public needs and opinions; which listened to the discontented +and tried to appease them by promises which +they knew they could not fulfil. We see through that +paradox! We were tired to death of ‘The Plain +Man,’ the obstinate ignorant utilitarian. We don’t want +the kind of man who prevailed, who, to lay a B line of +tramways, would, if he could, pull down the sacred +trusts left to us by creative master minds. We do +not want the kind of man who, for the sake of ‘Rents,’ +would build factories or cheap houses on every open +space, the ‘lungs of our Cities.’ We do not want the +man who looks upon every fair garden to destroy it and +erect ‘Flats’; who would float a company with promises +of 10 per cent. when the capital is mostly on +paper.”</p> + + +<h3>§ 63</h3> + +<p>Once upon a time an ex-Lord Mayor was surprised to +hear an expression of disgust at a proposal to convert +Westminster Abbey into a railway terminus. “We +don’t want that kind of Mayor or ex-Mayor; we regard +him as a savage.” Excellent John Bright! Your +study of the style of the Bible and Milton made you an +orator, but not a wise man when you expressed a hope +that Industrialism would so prevail that smoky chimneys +should be everywhere as a sign of Wealth! You +saw as a sectarian, narrowly and ill! The beauty of +our English lake scenery would no longer exist if “The +Plain Man” had had his way. The banks of the +Thames near to Chiswick, that precious bit of rural +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span>Suburban London, was saved from destruction, but +only just saved.</p> + +<p>The promoters of the scheme held out plausible hopes +to “The People,” but were outwitted, thank Heaven, +and the King’s Meadows were saved. Had it succeeded +Chiswick would have been under a smoke cloud, and +we should have said good-bye to the health and beauty +of what is still the most charming suburb of our grim, +chaotic, dirty Metropolis. How to treat London as a +whole, is under consideration. It will probably be +broken up into self-governing sections. Much of it +will have to be pulled down and rearranged. Open +spaces will be increased. Public opinion will not, in +these days of its greater enlightenment, be the slave of +Jerry-builders or Companies that, for the sake of high +interest, erected <em>Pig-styes</em> and called them dwellings. +It is proposed to break London up, to equalise the +number of the population in every district, and not to +permit their extension in the future. One scheme I +heard in my dream is to divide Central London from its +suburbs by a zone, entirely free of buildings, which +shall be one vast productive garden. It is thought to +be a practicable scheme, in point of fact, the simplest +yet suggested. The total abolition of the Smoke +Fiend and the consequent clean and healthy air now +enjoyed, and the quantity of sunlight being doubled, +experts say there is no reason to doubt the healthy +growth of fruit and vegetables in the proposed +rural zone. Within Central London only such factories +will be permitted which are entirely free from nuisance, +disorder, bad smells or smoke of any kind whatever. +A plan is being thought out to heat Central London +by electricity upon the same system so successfully +applied to the New City.</p> + + +<h3>§ 64</h3> + +<p>It is determined already that from London Bridge +to Richmond Bridge no factories will be permitted on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>the banks of our splendid river. Imagination will +supply a vision of what our river might be then. +Clear water, heaps of good fish, even salmon and trout, a +place for pageants, a healthy playground for the people +and as beautiful a river as any in Europe.</p> + +<p>Centralization has received its death blow. Home +rule, including all responsibilities, has taken the place of +a gigantic mistake. Each County now rules itself. +Only the best and most reliable men are in a position of +power. Class legislation is at an end. The rich have +no more power than the poor. The great or main effort +of New England is to <em>level up</em>. That desirable object, +indeed more than desirable, indispensable object, can +only be attained by extending enlightenment, and to do +so the whole nation is now of one voice. To sharpen our +wits, as well as our tools, to enlarge the boundaries of +our outlook, and to maintain simplicity. Not to be +time-servers, but to recognise the debt we owe to aftercomers, +and never to forget that we are trustees, not +only of the moment, but for the future. To put big +things before small. To realise, and profoundly, that +every poor as well as rich man is a responsible agent; +that responsibility is equal if different; the rich to use +their money well, the poor to earn honourable wages for +honourable toil. Never to forget that all labour is +honourable, if well and honestly executed; and that idleness +and living upon the savings of our neighbours is a +crime against Society. Above all, to bear in mind that +the <em>Soul of a Nation</em> must not be forgotten. Upon the +purity of its conduct, the elevation of its Ideals, carried +into effect by constant and the highest efforts, a nation +keeps itself on the high road to dignity and prosperity. +To do this we must choose our guides, not from platforms +on Clapham Common, but from every class which, +having learnt the lesson of “Self-Rule,” is in a position +to lead others to attain it, and so to proceed with the +delicate task of ruling others.</p> + +<p>The foregoing statements are becoming truisms, so +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span>universal are they becoming. And hence a Democracy +is a possibility, even a probability, as it is certainly +the most consistent form of Government. To attain +it discord must cease! The discord which followed the +Great War was more dangerous to Britain than its +great enemy, Germany. But, if that discord is resolved +into a concord, deplorable as it seemed to be, it will +have worked for good. The motto of the New England +is an ancient Benedictine proverb:⁠—</p> + +<p class="center"> +“<cite lang="la">Laborare est Orare.</cite>” +</p> + +<p>And so ends my Dream, which, when I woke, I +thought might some day grow to be a Reality.</p> + + +<h3>§ 65</h3> + +<p>I can find no nobler words in all literature with +which to end than the prayer of Socrates, spoken at the +end of the “Phædrus”:⁠—</p> + +<p>“Beloved Pan, and all ye other gods who haunt +this place, give me beauty in the inward soul; and may +the outward and inward man be one. May I reckon +the Wise to be the Wealthy, and may I have such a +quantity of gold as none but the temperate can bear +and carry. Anything more? That prayer, I think, +is enough for me. Let us go.” (<cite>From Jowett’s +Translation.</cite>)</p> + +<p class="p2 center"> +THE END. +</p> + +<div class="chapter transnote"> +<h3>Transcriber’s Note:</h3> + +<p>Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent +hyphenation in the text. These have been left unchanged. Eight +misspelled words were corrected.</p> + +<p>Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or +partially printed letters, were corrected. Duplicate punctuation +was deleted. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and +abbreviations were added. One missing section (§) symbol was added. +Redundant word ‘thousand’ following ‘4,000’ was deleted. +</p> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78117 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78117-h/images/cover.jpg b/78117-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4e463c --- /dev/null +++ b/78117-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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