The Committee of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has noted with
much interest and satisfaction the letter of your correspondent in your impression
of the 19th May, & has directed me to write to you, begging you, since the
Society was mentioned in the letter, to insert a few words explanatory of its views
on this point.
The Committee are aware that the building needs repair badly enough; but it cannot
help feeling that the plan of raising it bodily is fraught with danger to the
fabric, however skillful may be the engineer who conducts the operation: the risk to
the precious mosaics at any rate is undeniable, whatever may happen to the main
stru... (From: Marxists.org.) Some three years ago the governors of Blundell's School at Tiverton, being pressed
for want of room determined to sell the old school buildings and remove the school
to another site: at that time our society in conjunction with some of the townsmen
and neighbors of Tiverton, tried very hard to induce the governors not to desert
the ancient home of their famous school, or at all events if they were driven to do
so to find some public use for the beautiful buildings which were atthat time the
most perfect example left us of a grammar school of the early seventeenth century:
since all the fittings so carefully planned by the founder were still in their
original places.
... (From: Marxists.org.) The two fearful massacres which have taken place this week are but a continuance of that fatal succession of mischances which has dogged the policy of the Government in Egypt. To blame the miserable administration in Cairo for what has taken place is simply to eke out incompetence with meanness. Of course the Khedive and his advisers were half-hearted in supporting Baker Pasha, of course they are ready to intrigue with D I Barrère or anybody else. That is the nature of Orientals; especially when straightforwardness as in the case of Arabi ended in the disgusting butchery of Tel-el-Kebir. But the main responsibility for all these horrors inflicted upon the luckless Egyptians must rest with England; and it is high time that our people ... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “The Boy-Farms at Fault” Commonweal, Vol 3, No. 81, 30 July 1887, p. 241; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. The silly season in the newspapers is beginning briskly with a rain of letters from distressed parents concerning their troubles in dealing with their male children home for the holidays. This is a kind of twaddle which is always recurring: this well-fed, well-housed bourgeois on the hunt for some artificial trouble or another, some sham grievance, since he has no real ones, except his own inherent stupidity and vacancy; but on this occasion there is, if the said bourgeois only knew it, a moral to be drawn. I can imagine the ‘boy’, ‘the enemy of the human race’, as Dickens called him, retorting ... (From: Marxists.org.) The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has heard with regret that it
is the intention of the Dean & Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, to remove from
the Choir the ancient stalls which form such an interesting feature of the
building. The Society feels it its duty to protest against such a course of action,
which it considers injurious to the history, & art of the country. The Society
begs to point out that this woodwork is remarkable for its intrinsic beauty, and
although of comparatively late date, is a noble example of the art of its period,
& in no way interferes with but rather adds to the Architectural Effect of the
building. It is stated that these stalls ... (From: Marxists.org.) I am sorry to trouble you again in the matter of the proposed restoration of
Canterbury Cathedral, but the Dean's letter shows that he has misunderstood both Mr
Loftie and myself somewhat seriously, I think. He is mistaken in reading my letter
as an approval of the schemes of restoration now afoot:on the contrary, I implied
that the removal of the stalls now proposed would practically destroy a worthy work
of art, which I value pretty much as Mr Loftie does, and I expressed a dread, which
I still feel, that changes would not stop there, but would spread to the ancient
fabric of the choir: I believe myself to be justified in that fear by the
well-known fact that assurances of the kind t... (From: Marxists.org.) As Mr Loftie's letter, quoted in your columns, calls on our Society by name, and as
the letters of the Dean of Canterbury and Mr Beresford Hope touch our principles
closely, I venture to hope that you will give me space for a word or two on the
subject of the restoration of the choir of Canterbury Cathedral. As to the present
woodwork at the west end, it seems superfluous to praise it, as it is agreed on all
hands that it is good, though in some people's minds I suppose it would be
condemned as inherently unholy, because it is a post-Reformation work. But, good as
it is, I cannot conceive what purpose it can serve when it is taken away from the
place it was made for, and in which it lo... (From: Marxists.org.) 1. THE DAY IS COMING
Come hither, lads, and hearken, for a tale there is to tell,
Of the wonderful days a-coming, when all shall be better than well.
And the tale shall be told of a country, a land in the midst of the sea,
And folk shall call it England in the days that are going to be.
There more than one in a thousand in the days that are yet to come
Shall have some hope of the morrow, some joy of the ancient home.
For then--laugh not, but listen to this strange tale of mine -
All folk that are in England shall be better lodged than swine.
Then a man shall work and bethink him, and rejoice in the deeds of his
hand,
Nor yet come home in the even too faint and weary to stand.
Men... (From: Marxists.org.) What is this, the sound and rumor? What is this that all men hear,
Like the wind in hollow valleys when the storm is drawing near,
Like the rolling on of ocean in the eventide of fear?
'Tis the people marching on.
Whither go they, and whence come they? What are these of whom ye tell?
In what country are they dwelling 'twixt the gates of heaven and hell?
Are they mine or thine for money? Will they serve a master well?
Still the rumor's marching on.
Hark the rolling of the thunder!
Lo the sun! and lo thereunder
Riseth wrath, and hope, and wonder,
And the host comes marching on.
Forth they come from grief and torment; on they wend toward healt... (From: Marxists.org.) Many of your readers are aware that for some time a scheme has been on foot for
rebuilding the north-western tower of Chichester Cathedral, which fell down about
the year 1634, leaving only the lower portion standing, and that it is now proposed
to carry out this work as a memorial to the late Bishop. The promoters of this
scheme, in appealing to the public for funds, state that `unless this tower is
rebuilt shortly the whole north-east corner of the Cathedral will come crashing to
the ground, so bad is the state into which that part of the building has got owing
to the lack of support which the tower was intended to supply.'
This is an assertion eminently calculated to fri... (From: Marxists.org.) When morning was, there were horns sounding from the tower on the toft, and all men hastening in their war-gear to the topmost of the other toft, the bare one, whereon was no building; for thereon was ever the mote-stead of these woodmen. But men came not only from the stead and houses of the Tofts, but also from the woodland cots and dwellings anigh, of which were no few. And they that came there first found King Christopher sitting on the mound amid the mote-stead, and Jack of the Tofts and his seven sons sitting by him, and all they well-weaponed and with green coats over their hauberks; and they that came last found three hundreds of good men and true gathered there, albeit this was but the Husting of the Tofts.
So when there were... (From: Marxists.org.) The CHAIRMAN said he accepted the position in which he found
himself because he felt it was only right that any one who had
sympathy with the great movement of the present day should express
that sympathy in a public manner. Perhaps there might be many who
looked with suspicion upon a Christian minister occupying such a
position. but he should like to say that it was because he was a
Christian that he occupied the chair. The motto of Christianity, as
it related to our social life, was gathered up in the words of the
Apostle, "Bear ye one another's burdens." That, as he
understood it, was also the motto of the socialistic movement. He did
not think that the time had arrived when we could formulate schemes
for the renovation of soc... (From: Marxists.org.) The last of the present course of lectures under the auspices of the Socialist
league was delivered on Tuesday evening, the Cooperative Hall, High street.
The lecturer on this occasion was Mr. Wm. Morris, the editor of the official
journal of the League and author of several works bearing on the subject of
Socialism, who gave a vigorous address on "The Class Struggle.”
Mr. Thos. Barclay presided, and there was a good attendance.
The Lecturer said at the outset that Socialism in its modern form had not been
before the English people for more than six or seven years, but that short time
had changed its position very much. Before then it was assumed by ordinary
politicians that in England there was no class grievance that c... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Coal in Kent” Commonweal, Vol 6, No. 217, 8 March 1890, p.77; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. The news that coal had been discovered in Kent, and that it would probably be found to be workable, has no doubt sent a shock of hope and expectation to some hearts and of terror to others. Among those who have anything to lose, those who are able to live in tolerably pleasant places without being too stupified by poverty to prevent their enjoying them, among the cultivated middle-classes in short, I should think the latter feeling prevails. The threat of the creation of a new black country on the ruins of the rural beauty of some of the most beautiful country in England, and close to London also, must impress most well-to-do peo... (From: Marxists.org.) It will seem a mere commonplace to say, in your columns at any
rate, that the crisis now drawing to an end is one of the most momentous in the
history of the present labor war;1 yet it may well be doubted if the general
public understand how momentous it is. To many it seems a mere troublesome
interference of the overpaid, overfed miners with the ordinary and beneficent
stream of production, which the coal-owners naturally and laudably resist, for
the benefit, we must suppose, of all those who would like, if they could, to be
as rich with as litle trouble as those worthies. To others it is an unavoidable
nuisance, bound to recur at certain intervals, for which neither party is to
blame, but which cannot be dealt with by the public ... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Coercion for London” Commonweal, Vol 3, No. 70, 14 May 1887, p. 153-154; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. It may be thought that the patriots who are so eager for the unity of the British empire that they want to use artificial means to make it more specially uncomfortable to live in one part of it than it is elsewhere, are taking unnecessary trouble; that the coercionists are such enthusiasts in the art of coercion that they are hunting it when they have already got it.
It is true that there is a pleasure in making a special and blatant demonstration of success, but it is a pleasure that has to be paid for by the opposition that the attempt to make it stirs up. The wise are contented with having the substance and letting... (From: Marxists.org.) Now first I suppose nobody, however rash he may be, can suppose that such a change
can be brought about suddenly, or by the conscious efforts of a few or even a great
many people. It is true that in times past there have been great men who have noted
the woeful way in which the mass of people live, and who from the depths of their
own insight and benevolence have imagined schemes for a better life, and in some of
them enthusiasm and energy have been so strong that they have tried to realize
those ideals, and for a time have seemed as if they might succeed; but the
relentless march of the commercial army has crushed those schemes, and the ordinary
shrewd bourgeois intelligence that can ... (From: Marxists.org.) ... The privilege of birth has waned to such a poor shadow that an outcast tribe
scarcely tolerated in Medieval Europe does now practically rule Europe; and one of
these people in our country managed but a few years [ago] to persuade the
extra-rich men who perhaps think (very mistakenly) that [they] are the lineal
descendants of the baronage of our Plantagenet Kings, the he was marshaling them
in triumph to the sure defense of their ancient position. The privilege of birth
has gone, and the privilege of riches has taken its place.
... the long course of the centuries, therefore, whatever gain they have brought us
otherwise, in development of man's intellect, or his power ov... (From: Marxists.org.) While I think that the hope of the new-birth of society is certainly growing, and
that speedily, I must confess myself puzzled about the means toward that end which
are mostly looked after now; and I am doubtful if some of the measures which are
pressed, mostly, I think, with all honesty of purpose, and often with much ability,
would, if gained, bring us any further on the direct road to a really new-born
society, the only society which can be a new birth, a society of practical
equality. Not to make any mystery about it, I mean that the great mass of what most
non-Socialists at least consider at present to be Socialism, seems to me nothing
more than a machinery of Socialism, which I t... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Conscience of the Upper Classes” Commonweal, Vol 3, No. 101, 17 December 1887, p. 404; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford.. It seems to be universally admitted that the conference held on December 5th in the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, on the prevailing distress in London was the direct outcome of the unemployed agitation, for joining in which so many poor men have been sentenced with a spite at once so malignant and so petty that it fairly sickens an honest man to think of it. These rich and well-to-do persons were driven to meet together by a fear which I do not say they all felt in their own persons, but which is certainly permeating their class, a fear so easily aroused that a few hundred destitute, unarmed, peaceab... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Correspondence” Commonweal, Vol 5, No. 175, 18 May 1889, p.157; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. In answer to our comrade Blackwell’s suggestion, and in default of someone else beginning that free discussion he speaks of, I wish to note down a few thoughts suggested by reading the clauses of the Anarchist Congress at Valentia, as stated by our comrade; premising that I do so in no polemical spirit, but simply giving my own thoughts and hopes for the future for what they may be worth.
I will begin by saying that I call myself a Communist, and have no wish to qualify that word by joining any other to it. The aim of Communism seems to me to be the complete equality of condition for all people; and anything in a Social... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Christianity and Socialism” Commonweal, Vol 6, No. 217, 8 March 1890, p.77; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. Mr Rickarby’s letter, though written in a friendly and conciliatory spirit, requires, I think, some answer. Let it be admitted that Christianity, like all religions which include a system of morality, has something in common with socialism. Let it also be admitted that many of the ‘sneers and unjust charges’ of which Mr Rickarby writes, are aimed at the stupidities and hypocrisies of the Christianity of the day, which no doubt men of Mr Rickarby’s stamp sincerely condemn; granted this, yet if Christianity is ‘a revelation addressed to all times’ it can not be neutral as to politic... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Correspondence: Communism and Anarchism” Commonweal, Vol 5, No. 188, 17 August 1889, p.261; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. I have to excuse myself for being so long in answering our comrades. My journey to the Paris Congress, and business necessary to be done before and after that event, accounts for the greater part of the delay. I will now do what I can to answer our friends who have written to the Commonweal. I must premise, by the way, that I have let a typographical error of importance pass unnoticed: for ‘moral conscience’ our friends should read ‘social conscience’.
And now I find that one difficulty in dealing with the friends who are discussing the matter is that, in all probability, I d... (From: Marxists.org.) The commission appointed by government to inquire into the
sanitary condition of the weaving sheds where the delicious compound of filth
called heavily sized cotton is worked up into cloth (?), says among other
things: "The amount of size used to a given weight of cotton warp could no
longer be actually described as being from 50 to 90 per cent.; 100, 120, 150
per cent. of size is now not unfrequently used. We conversed with one
manufacturer, who admitted that to every 100 lb. of warp he put 200 lb. of
size; another had gone as far as 230. In one factory visited by us the
manufacturer weighed in our presence a piece of cotton cloth weighing 8 3/4 lb.
and another weighing 4 1/2 lb. and remarked that the latter contained by far the
... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Counting Noses” Commonweal, Vol 4, No. 128, 23 June 1888, p.196; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. Mr Chamberlain ...believed that the experience of the United States and their own, so far as it had gone, went to show that when people were constantly being called on to vote, the whole matter fell into the hands of caucuses and machine politicians.
Thus the reporters of the House of Commons give us the present view of the once semi-Socialist agitator, the advocate of the ransoming of the upper-classes; and no one can wonder at the ‘ironical cheers and laughter’ of the opposition that followed this expression of opinion from the once darling of the caucuses, the once supreme lender of the midland-county machine p... (From: Marxists.org.) Source: “Dead At Last” Commonweal, Vol 4, No. 114, 17 March 1888, p.81; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. The flood of cant and servility which has been poured out by the bourgeois press during the last few days, because the long-expected death of [Frederick III Emperor of Germany] a tyrant of the old type embedded in a modern type of tyranny, has at last happened, disgusts one so much that at first one is tempted to keep silence in mere contempt for such degraded nonsense. Court mourning is always a preposterous spectacle, but here is a case where it is more preposterous than usual. Conventional universal grief, when scarcely any one is grieved at the event, no one whose interests do not suffer by it, most people are profoundly ind... (From: Marxists.org.) 3
Hereafter I hope in another lecture to have the pleasure
of laying before you an historical survey of the Decorative
Arts, and I must confess it would have been pleasanter
to me to have begun my talk with you by entering
at once upon the subject of the history of this great
industry; but, as I have something to say in a third
lecture about various matters connected with the practice
of Decoration among ourselves in these days, I feel that
I should be in a false position before you, and one that
might lead to confusion, or overmuch explanation, if I
did not let you know what I think on the nature and
scope of these arts, on their condition at the present time,
and their outlook in times to come. In doing this it
is like enoug... (From: Marxists.org.) To the Editor: Sir,
May I be allowed to say a word in supplement to your paragraph
about my opinions about the fine arts? You rather imply that I am a pessimist
on this matter. This is not the case; but I am anxious that there should be no
illusions as to the future of art. I do not believe in the possibility of
keeping art vigorously alive by the action, however energetic, of a few groups
of specially gifted men and their small circle of admirers amid a general
public incapable of understanding and enjoying their work. I hold firmly to the
opinion that all worthy schools of art must be in the future, as they have been
in the past, the outcome of the aspirations of the people towards the beauty
and true pleasure of life. And fu... (From: Marxists.org.) What is the essence of the society which took the place of feudalism: free
competition - that is in other words a desperate war in which every man fights for
his own hand; the aim of the struggle being to live free from labor at the expense
of those that labor. This struggle results necessarily in the formation of two
great classes, the successful and the unsuccessful, which in spite of minor
divisions among them, have now taken the place of all the elaborate castes of
feudality: the struggle therefore proposed for everyone born into the world of
civilization is the getting, or the keeping of a place in the class which lives on
the labor of others: the getting or the keeping; because t... (From: Marxists.org.) The question asked by Lord Houghton in the House of Lords on Thursday elicited from
the Bishop of London an acknowledgment that the scheme proposed some few years back
for the wholesale removal of the City churches is continuing its destructive course
unimpeded. Four more churches are to be sacrificed to the Mammon-worship and want
of taste of this great city. Last year witnessed the destruction of the fine church
of St Michael's, Queenhithe, and All Hallows, Bread Street, which bore upon its
walls the inscription stating that Milton had been baptized there. St Dionis
Backchurch, a remarkable building by Wren, is now in course of destruction, while
within the last ten years the beautif... (From: Marxists.org.)