RECONSTRUCTION
And what is to come after? The first and the last and the greatest
thing to do is to win the war and to get the right settlement. Unless
we finish this struggle with the nations free, there can be no real
reconstruction. The greatest work of reconstruction--the fundamental
work--will be at the peace table. Those who are giving everything
and doing everything to gain victory for the Allies, are the true
reconstructors of the world.
The first great task of reconstruction is victory and the second is
right peace settlements.
We cannot say that anything we can do will make future peace certain,
but we can see that just and righteous settlements are made, so that
the foundations are laid that ought to ensure peace in the future.
There is no real peace possible while injustices exist.
There is no real peace possible while evil and good contend for
mastery, and the spiritual conflicts of man are, and will be, as
terrible as any physical conflicts. While mankind stands where it does
now, it is well that against corruption of spirit and thought, we can
use our bodies as shields.
The fact that we have had to fight Germany physically, shows clearly
that spiritually and mentally we were unable to make them see truth
and honour, and the meaning of freedom, and that the ideal of peace
made no real appeal to them.
They built up in their nation great thought forces of aggression, of
belief in militarism, of worship of might, of belief that war paid,
and was in itself good, that there was no conscience higher than the
state. They even worship God as a sort of tribal God whom they call
upon to work with them--not a question as to whether they are on God's
side--no--an assertion that God is on theirs.
That was their thought--and the thoughts of the other nations were
bent on problems of freedom and growing democracy, of widening
opportunities, of political and commercial interest, were, on the
whole, the vaguely good thoughts of evolving democracies (with notable
exceptions), but not the clear powerful thoughts needed to fight
effectually those of Germany in the fields of intellect and spirit.
People did not see the full evil of Germany's thought--it was tied up
with so much that was efficient and good and able, and we were only
half articulate as to our own beliefs, and not even thoroughly clear
or agreed about them, and Germany considered us slack and inefficient,
and believed we might even be induced to consent to seeing Europe
overrun and doing nothing. We did not believe, despite warning, that
any nation thought as Germany did and we seemed, in their minds, to be
people to be dominated and swept over.
One interesting fact to note is that Germany, despite its boasted
knowledge of psychology, did not realise that England possesses a
definite sub-conscious mind which always guides its actions. The
sub-conscious mind of England is a desire for fair play, for justice,
and a very definite sense of freedom. England is the creator of
self-government and its sub-conscious mind, built up for centuries,
is a very definite and real thing.
The sub-conscious mind of Germany, filled with these dominating ideas
of power and _Weltmacht_ and militarism, goes on, once set free, to
its logical end, and it seems clearer and clearer that there is no
real end to this struggle till we make the mind and soul of Germany
realize its crimes and mistakes, till they are sane again and talk the
A, B, C of civilization. The real reconstruction of the world begins
there.
That end reached and settlements justly done, we may consider schemes
for a League of Nations and practical possibilities of work in
international organizations to prevent disputes leading to war.
The work of reconstruction must be international, as well as national,
but the people who do, and will do, the best international work
are the people who do the best national work. The individuals who
are not prepared to spend time and service and effort to make
their own country better and nobler, are going to do nothing for
internationalism that is worth doing. The heart that finds nothing to
love and work for in its neighbour is the heart that has nothing to
bring to the whole world.
Again, there must be reparation by the enemy. We cannot reconstruct
this world rightly if we do not enforce justice. A nation that has
broken every international and human law is a nation that must be made
to pay for its crimes as far as human justice can secure it.
Our six thousand murdered merchant seamen, the thousands of passengers
they have killed, the civilians they have bombed, are marshalled
against them, and the horrors of their frightfulness, deliberately
planned and carried out against the peoples they have held in bondage,
their refusal to even feed properly their prisoners and captive
people--are we to be told to reconstruct a world without reparation
for these and their other crimes?
We shall have a reconstructed world with right foundations, only when
the nations know that justice is throned internationally, and that
every crime is to be judged and punished. There can be no new world
without living faith, without real religion. A cheap and sentimental
humanitarism is no substitute for real faith--philosophies that seem
adequate in ordinary times are poor things when the soul of man
stands stripped of all its trappings and faces death and suffering and
watches agonies. Then the abiding eternal soul knows its own reality
and its oneness with the Divine and eternal, and the sacrifice of
Christ is a real living thing--and in the men's sacrifice they are
very near to Him.
So the Churches are being tested, too, in this great crisis, and in a
reconstructed world we shall want Churches that carry the message of
Christianity with a clearer and firmer voice, but that is the task of
all believers. We cannot cast the duty of making the Church a living
witness on our priests alone--it is our work, and unless our faith
goes into everything we do, it is no use. People who profess a faith,
and carefully shut it up in a compartment of their lives, so that
it has no real connection with their work, are worse than honest
doubters--because they betray what they profess.
So reconstruction rests upon great spiritual tasks and values, and
upon the willingness and ability of the nations to carry these out.
In our country, our political parties are going to be changed and
reconstructed. The Labour Party has already made a big appeal
to "brain and hand workers," and has announced its scheme of
re-organization.
One definite result of the war in the minds of the people of our
country is the definite mental discarding of state socialism of the
bureaucratic kind as a conceivable system of government. We have seen
bureaucracy at work to a great extent, and shall undoubtedly have
to continue control in many ways after peace comes, but we do not
like it. Socialism will have to go on to new lines of thought and
development if it wishes to achieve anything--and the most interesting
thought and schemes are on the lines of Guild Socialism.
How the great Liberal and Unionist Parties will emerge, we cannot
say--but this we know, they will be different. We have a new
electorate, more men and the women, and the opinion and needs of the
women will undoubtedly affect our political reconstruction. Most of
us, in the war, have entirely ceased to care for party; even the most
fierce of partisans have changed, and the "party appeal," in itself,
will be of little account in our country.
I feel sure we shall scrutinize measures and men and programmes more
carefully, and the work of educating our women will be part of the
women's great tasks in reconstruction.
Our ability to reconstruct and renew rests fundamentally upon our
financial condition--even the power to make the best peace terms rests
upon it. Crippled countries cannot stand out for the best terms, so
finance is all-important.
The democratic nature of our loans is all-important, too. We have had
people suggesting that these loans would be repudiated--a suggestion
that is not only absurd, but is humorous when one realizes that about
ten million of our people have invested in them. To get a House of
Commons elected that would repudiate these loans would be a difficult
task.
The widespread nature of the loans is sound for the people and the
Government, and will help us not only to win the war, but, what is
still more important, "to win the peace." We have in this struggle
paid more and better wages to our people than ever before, conditions
have been improved, masses of our people have led a fuller existence
than ever before. We want to make these and still better conditions
permanent. We cannot do that by a military victory only--we can only
do it by finishing financially sound, and the man or woman who saves
now and invests is one of our soundest reconstructors.
In the readjustments in industry that must come there will be
temporary displacements, and the money invested will be invaluable
to those affected. In our great task of reorganizing industries, of
renovating and repairing, of building up new works and adding to our
productiveness, finance is all-important. We shall need large sums for
the development of our industry, for the transferring of war work back
to peace pursuits, for the opening up of new industries and work, for
the development of trade abroad and the selfish using up of resources
that could be conserved, makes the work harder--might even, if
extravagantly large, cripple us seriously at the end of this struggle.
The sacrifices of our men can achieve military victory, but weakness
and self-indulgence at home can take the fruits of their victories
away.
Those who are working and saving in our War Savings Movement are so
convinced of its value, not only to the state, but to the individual,
and for the character of our people, that they have expressed the very
strongest conviction that it should go on after the War, and it will
probably remain in our reconstruction.
We have also urged the wisdom of saving for the children's education
and for dots for daughters, so that our young women may have some
money in emergencies, or something of their own on marriage, and both
of these are being done.
The great problem of education bulks very large in our reconstruction
schemes. A new Education Bill for England and Wales has been prepared
by Mr. Fisher--and his appointment is in itself a sign of our new
attitude. He is Minister of Education and is really an educationist,
having been Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield University when given the
appointment. His Bill puts an end to that stigma on English education,
the half-time system in Lancashire, and raises the age for leaving
school to what it has been in Scotland for some years--sixteen years
of age. It provides greater opportunities for secondary and technical
training and improves education in every way. Its passage, or the
passage of a still better Bill, is essential for any real work in
reconstruction.
There are other schemes of education being planned and considered, and
women are working with men on the education committee of the Ministry
of Reconstruction.
The land question is all-important in reconstruction. We have fixed a
minimum price for wheat for five years, as well as minimum wages for
the labourers on land, men and women, and we have schemes and land
for the settlement of soldiers. It is safe to predict that agriculture
will be better looked after than it was before the war, and that we
have learned a valuable lesson on food production, and the value of
being more self-supporting.
There are people who talk airily and foolishly of "revolutions after
the war"--of great labour troubles, of exorbitant and impossible
demands, of irreconcilable quarrels. These people are themselves the
creators and begettors of trouble, and mischievous in the highest
degree. They belong, though they are much less attractive, to the same
category as the person who tells you that the moral regeneration of
the world is coming from this great war.
The "revolutionists" have to learn that there is no need to have any
such crises happen, that they can only happen if we are foolish beyond
belief and conception--for we have learned in this war how great and
ample is the common meeting ground of all of us, how impossible it is
for anyone to believe that we, who have fought together, suffered
and lost together, while our men have died together, cannot find in
consideration of claims enough common sense and wisdom to prevent any
such disaster.
And one wonders where the people are going to be found who are going
to be so unjust to the workers as to provide any reason for such
dangers to be feared, for we know one thing in the war, that in the
trenches, on the sea, behind the trenches and carrying on at home, the
workers have done the greater part--and they, in their turn, know all
others have borne their share. Out of such common knowledge and the
consciousness that the practical work of democracy is to raise its
people more and more, we shall have not revolution, but evolution of
the best kind. And the moral regeneration of the world will come if we
reconstruct the one thing that matters most and that is fundamental
to all--ourselves--and it will not come if we do not. When one
has said everything there is to be said of schemes and hopes of
reconstruction--about the schemes for better homes, and a great
housing scheme is wisely one of the foundation schemes of our
reconstruction, for which plans are now being prepared, about schemes
for the care of children, about schemes for endowment of motherhood,
which are exercising the minds of many of our women, you are back
again to the individual. When you think of education schemes, and
schemes for teaching national service to the young, of work to
teach care and thrift, you are back again to the problem of creating
character.
When you go into the great world of industry and its problems, of care
of the workers in health and sickness, of securing justice and full
opportunities, of developing and wisely using our resources, again you
return to the individual.
When you want to make the art and beauty of life accessible to all,
you come back to the question as to the individual's desire for it and
appreciation of it.
Schemes in theory may be perfect--reconstruction may be planned
without a flaw--but what does that help if we as individuals are blind
and selfish?
The regeneration of the world cannot come from the sacrifice of our
men alone, or even of some of us at home. The few may save countries
and do great things, but the work of reconstruction rests on
everybody. Nations are made up of individuals, and a nation cannot
hope for moral and social regeneration except through individual
self-denial, self-sacrifice and service.
It is in our own hearts and our own minds that the great task of
reconstruction must be done.
The greatest task of reconstruction for most of us is to make all
our actions worthy of our highest self--to bring to the problems that
confront us, not one detached and prejudiced bit of us, but the whole
mind and spirit of ourselves--the best of us always in unity.
That is life's greatest task, and calls for all we have to give, and
all we are. There lies true reconstruction and the hope of all the
world.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
American Women's War Relief Fund, 123 Victoria Street, London, S.W. 1.
Association of Infant Consultation and Schools for Mothers, 4
Tavistock Square, London, W.C. 1.
British Women's Hospital, Bond Street, London, W. 1.
Glove Waistcoat Society, 75 Chancery Lane, E.C. 4.
Ministry of Food, Mrs. Pember Reeves, Mrs. C.S. Peel, Grosvenor House,
W. 1.
National Federation of Women's Workers.
Women's Trade Union League, 34 Mecklenburgh Square, W.C. 1.
National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies.
Scottish Women's Hospitals, 62 Oxford Street, W.C. 1.
Women's Interests Committee, 62 Oxford Street, W.C.I.
National War Savings Committee, Salisbury Square, E.C. 4.
National Union of Women Workers (Women Patrols), Parliament Mansions,
Victoria Street, S.W.I.
Queen Mary's Needlework Guild, St. James Palace, S.W.I.
National Food Economy League, 3 Woodstock Street, Oxford Street,
W.C.I.
Prisoners of War, Help Committee, 4 Thurloe Place, Brompton Road, W.
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, Devonshire House, W. 1.
Women's Branch, Food Production Department, Board of Agriculture, 72
Victoria Street, S.W.I.
Women's Service Bureau, L.S.W.S., 58 Victoria Street, S.W. 1.
Women's National Land Service Corps, 50 Upper Baker Street, W. 1.
Women Police Service, St. Stephens House, Westminster, S.W.I.
Young Women's Christian Association, 25 George Street, Hanover Square,
W. 1.
V.A.D., Lady Ampthill, Devonshire House, W. 1.
* * * * *
MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS
PUBLICATIONS OF HEALTH OF MUNITION WORKERS' COMMITTEE
The following Memoranda have been prepared by the Committee and
issued:
No. 1--Sunday Labour.
No. 2--Welfare Supervision.
No. 3--Industrial Canteens.
No. 4--Employment of Women.
No. 5--Hours of Work.
No. 6--Canteen Construction and Equipment (Appendix to No. 3).
No. 7--Industrial Fatigue and Its Causes. No. 8--Special Industrial
Diseases.
No. 9--Ventilation and Lighting of Munition Factories and Workshops.
No. 10--Sickness and Injury.
No. 11--Investigation of Workers' Food and Suggestions as to Dietary.
(Report by Leonard E. Hill, F.R.S.)
No. 12--Statistical Information Concerning Output in Relation to Hours
of Work. (Report by H.M. Vernon, M.D.)
No. 13--Juvenile Employment.
No. 14--Washing Facilities and Baths.
No. 15--The Effect of Industrial Conditions Upon Eyesight.
No. 16--Medical Certificates for Munition Workers.
also, Feeding the Munition Worker.
Published by H.M. STATIONERY OFFICE,
London, W.C.
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BOOKS BY MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS
A significant proof of the growth of the Association's influence in
recent years is afforded by the fact that our Secretary, Mr. G. Arnold
Shaw, has been enabled to enter the publishing field successfully. We
reverse thus the plan of campaign of the ordinary lecture bureau which
is usually impressed with the possibilities of a man who has won fame
as an author rather than as a lecturer; we discover that a man is a
first rate lecturer and then we proceed to make him an author--also of
the front rank as the reviews quoted below show.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE
BY IAN C. HANNAH, F.S.A.
Some Irish Religious Houses........ .50
Irish Cathedrals................... .50
BY I.B. STOUGHTON HOLBORN
The Need for Art in Life. (Third Thousand)........... .75
"One of the greatest little books of the Age."--Boston Transcript.
Architectures of European Religions, Illustrated.... 2.00
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
The interest of these books depend not merely upon the interesting
personality of the famous lecturer and the equally fascinating
personalities of his two brothers, but also on the exquisite literary
style to which the critics have paid such eloquent testimony.
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS AND LLEWELLYN POWYS
Confessions of Two Brothers....... 1.50
BY THEODORE FRANCIS POWYS
The Soliloquy of a Hermit......... 1.00
This book can be compared to Amiel's Journal in the opinion of a
prominent London publisher.
ESSAYS AND CRITICISM
The essays contained in the following books deal with the best lecture
subjects of our various members; they are specially recommended to
those who wish to pursue further the study outlined in our lecture
courses.
BY I.B. STOUGHTON HOLBORN
THE NEED FOR ART IN LIFE........... 75
"The thoughtful man who reads it will feel that a new
classic has been added to the world's literature."--BOSTON
TRANSCRIPT.
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS
VISIONS AND REVISIONS, A Book of Literary Devotions 2.00
"Seventeen essays remarkable for the omission of all that is
tedious and cumbersome in literary appreciations."--REVIEW
OF REVIEWS.
SUSPENDED JUDGMENTS, Essays on Books and Sensations 2.00
"Anything written by John Cowper Powys is arresting and thrilling.
This is superlatively true of his essays in literary
criticism."--CINCINNATI ENQUIRER.
"A book of infinite delight to the book lover, for few present day
writers have the ability in the same measure as Mr. Powys
to express every shade of impression and sensation, and
his ripe judgment will appeal to all."--BOSTON GLOBE.
ONE HUNDRED BEST BOOKS, with commentary and an
essay on Books and Reading.............. 75
"Of each of the hundred books he gives a brief, sparkling,
thoroughly informative and delightfully interesting
critical view. If book reviewers could do the job as well
as Mr. Powys, the book pages would be the most popular
part of a newspaper."--EVENING TELEGRAM, PHILADELPHIA.
* * * * *
FICTION
Critics of literature seldom succeed as creative artists and so it
is specially remarkable that the highest authorities give even more
unqualified praise to the fiction of our members than to their
essays. We need not emphasize further our lack of appreciation for
the literary value of "best-sellers"; our aim has not been to produce
topical tracts for the times but novels that will survive. It is more
to us that competent critics should compare Mr. Powys' fiction to that
of Hardy, Dostoievsky and Emily Bronte than that the public should buy
it by the hundred thousand. Those who are not convinced that "you can
place 'Wood and Stone' unhesitatingly at the side of Dostoievsky's
masterpieces" should reflect that this is not the over-enthusiasm of
"America's newest Publisher" but the verdict of a London publisher
who has long held a pre-eminent position; it is therefore peculiarly
satisfactory to point out that our first novel "Wood and Stone" was
PUBLISHED UNDER THE IMPRINT OF
WILLIAM HEINEMANN G. ARNOLD SHAW
[Illustration] [Illustration]
IN LONDON IN NEW YORK
FICTION
BY IAN CAMPBELL HANNAH
QUAKER-BORN, A ROMANCE OF THE GREAT WAR............ 1.35
BY I.B. STOUGHTON HOLBORN
THE CHILD OF THE MOAT, A story of 1557 for girls... 1.25
"Of such absorbing interest and literary merit that it
will doubtless take its place among the classics."--ART
AND ARCHAEOLOGY.
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS
WOOD AND STONE, A Romance reminiscent of the
great Dostoievsky ................................. 1.75
"One of the best novels of the year."--EVENING POST,
NEW YORK.
"His mastery of language, his knowledge of human
impulses, his interpretation of the forces of nature
and of the power of inanimate objects over human
beings, all pronounce him a writer of no mean rank.
He can express philosophy in terms of narrative
without prostituting his art; he can suggest an
answer without drawing a moral; with a clearer
vision he could stand among the masters in literary
achievement."--BOSTON TRANSCRIPT.
"Psychologically speaking, it is one of the most remarkable
pieces of fiction ever written."--CHICAGO TRIBUNE.
RODMOOR, A Romance of the old Thrilling Romantic
Order............1.50
"It is so far above the average English and American
fiction that one can well exempt it from the necessity
of following the rules. He has intellect, he has taste,
he has a sure instinct for what is aesthetically fine.
These qualities in themselves make his 'Rodmoor' a
novel of exceptional distinction."--BOSTON TRANSCRIPT.
"Without exception the most exquisitely written
novel of the year."--ATLANTIC MONTHLY.
HISTORY AND TRAVEL
BY IAN CAMPBELL HANNAH, M.A., D.C.L., F.S.A.
Eastern Asia, A history 2.50
Capitals of the Northlands, A Tale of ten cities 2.00
The Heart of East Anglia (A History of Norwich) 2.00
The Berwick and Lothian Coast 2.00
POETRY
BY I.B. STOUGHTON HOLBORN
CHILDREN OF FANCY 2.00
"A Notable volume of Verse."--Boston Globe.
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS
WOLF'S-BANE 1.25
"We hesitate to say how many years it is necessary
to go back in order to find their equals in
sheer poetic originality."--Evening Post, New York.
MANDRAGORA 1.25
THE WAR
BY IAN CAMPBELL HANNAH
ARMS AND THE MAP 1.25
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS
THE WAR AND CULTURE .60
"More weighty than many of the more pretentious
treatises on the subject."--The Nation.
Any of the above books sent post-free on receipt of price by
[Illustration: (G. ARNOLD SHAW PUBLISHER, NEW YORK)]
* * * * *
RECOMMENDED BY THE A.L.A. BOOKLIST
SPECIALLY SUITABLE FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
ARMS AND THE MAP
A STUDY IN NATIONALITIES AND FRONTIERS
BY IAN CAMPBELL HANNAH, M.A., D.C.L.
12mo, 256 pages, $1.25 net
This work, which has had a large sale in England, will be invaluable
when the terms of peace begin to be seriously discussed. Every
European people is reviewed and the evolution of the different
nationalities is carefully explained. Particular reference is made
to the so-called "Irredentist" lands, whose people want to be under
a different flag from that under which they live.
The colonizing methods of all the nations are dealt with, and
especially the place in the sun that Germany hasn't got.
NEW YORK TIMES says: "Such a volume as this will undoubtedly
be of value in presenting ... facts of great importance in a
brief and interesting fashion."
BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE says: "It is hard to find a man who
presents his arguments so broad-mindedly as Dr. Hannah. His
spirit is that of a catholic scholar striving earnestly to
find the truth and present it sympathetically."
PHILADELPHIA NORTH AMERICAN says: "It is in no sense history,
but rather a preparatory effort to mark broadly the outlines
of any future peace settlement that would have even a fighting
chance of permanency. Only in perusing a critical study of
this character can the vast problems of post-bellum imminence
be fully apprehended."
PHILADELPHIA PRESS says: "His work is immensely readable and
particularly interesting at this time and will throw much
fresh light on the situation."
OTHER BOOKS BY IAN C. HANNAH
Eastern Asia, A History $2.50
Capitals of the Northlands (A tale of ten cities) 2.00
The Berwick and Lothian Coast (in the County Coast Series) 2.00
The Heart of East Anglia (A History of Norwich) 2.00
Some Irish Religious Houses (Reprinted from the
_Archæological Journal_) 50c
Irish Cathedrals (Reprinted from the _Archæological Journal_) 50c
G. ARNOLD SHAW PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS ASSOCIATION
* * * * *
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL NEW YORK
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RECOMMENDED BY THE A.L.A. BOOKLIST
ADOPTED FOR REQUIRED READING BY THE PITTSBURGH TEACHERS READING CIRCLE
VISIONS AND REVISIONS
A BOOK OF LITERARY DEVOTIONS
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS
8vo, 298 pp. Half White Cloth with Blue Fabriano Paper Sides, $2.00
net
This volume of essays on Great Writers by the well-known lecturer
was the first of a series of three books with the same purpose as the
author's brilliant lectures; namely, to enable one to discriminate
between the great and the mediocre in ancient and modern literature:
the other two books being "One Hundred Best Books" and "Suspended
Judgments."
Within a year of its publication, four editions of "Visions and
Revisions" were printed--an extraordinary record considering that
it was only the second book issued by a new publisher. The value of
the book to the student and its interest for the general reader are
guaranteed by the international fame of the author as an interpreter
of great literature and by the enthusiastic reviews it received from
the American Press.
REVIEW OF REVIEWS, New York: "Seventeen essays ... remarkable
for the omission of all that is tedious and cumbersome
in literary appreciations, such as pedantry, muckraking,
theorizing, and, in particular, constructive criticism."
BOOK NEWS MONTHLY, Philadelphia: "Not one line in the entire
book that is not tense with thought and feeling. With
all readers who crave mental stimulation ... 'Visions and
Revisions' is sure of a great and enthusiastic appreciation."
THE NATION AND THE EVENING POST, New York: "Their imagery is
bright, clear and frequently picturesque. The rhythm falls
with a pleasing cadence on the ear."
BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE: "A volume of singularly acute and
readable literary criticism."
CHICAGO HERALD: "An essayist at once scholarly, human and
charming is John Cowper Powys.... Almost every page carries
some arresting thought, quaintly appealing phrase, or picture
spelling passage."
REEDY'S MIRROR, St. Louis: "Powys keeps you wide awake in the
reading because he's thinking and writing from the standpoint
of life, not of theory or system. Powys has a system but it is
hardly a system. It is a sort of surrender to the revelation
each writer has to make."
KANSAS CITY STAR: "John Cowper Powys' essays are wonderfully
illuminating.... Mr. Powys writes in at least a semblance of
the Grand Style."
"Visions and Revisions" contains the following essays:--
Rabelais Dickens Thomas Hardy
Dante Goethe Walter Pater
Shakespeare Matthew Arnold Dostoievsky
El Greco Shelley Edgar Allan Poe
Milton Keats Walt Whitman
Charles Lamb Nietzsche Conclusion
G. ARNOLD SHAW PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS ASSOCIATION
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL NEW YORK
* * * * *
SUSPENDED JUDGMENTS
ESSAYS ON BOOKS AND SENSATIONS
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS
8vo. about 400 pages. Half cloth with blue Fabriano paper sides $2.00
net
_The Book News Monthly_ said of "Visions and Revisions":
"Not one line in the entire book that is not tense with thought and
feeling."
The author of "Visions and Revisions" says of this new book of essays:
"In 'Suspended Judgments' I have sought to express with more
deliberation and in a less spasmodic manner than in 'Visions,' the
various after-thoughts and reactions both intellectual and sensational
which have been produced in me, in recent years, by the re-reading of
my favorite writers. I have tried to capture what might be called the
'psychic residuum' of earlier fleeting impressions and I have tried
to turn this emotional aftermath into a permanent contribution--at any
rate for those of similar temperament--to the psychology of literary
appreciation.
"To the purely critical essays in this volume I have added a certain
number of others dealing with what, in popular parlance, are called
'general topics,' but what in reality are always--in the most extreme
sense of that word--personal to the mind reacting from them. I have
called the book 'Suspended Judgments' because while one lives, one
grows, and while one grows, one waits and expects."
SUSPENDED JUDGMENTS CONTAINS THESE ESSAYS:
THE ART OF DISCRIMINATION IN LITERATURE
MONTAIGNE EMILY BRONTE
PASCAL JOSEPH CONRAD
VOLTAIRE HENRY JAMES
ROUSSEAU OSCAR WILDE
BALZAC AUBREY BEARDSLEY
VICTOR HUGO
DE MAUPASSANT FRIENDS
ANATOLE FRANCE RELIGION
PAUL VERLAINE LOVE
REMY DE GOURMONT CITIES
WILLIAM BLAKE MORALITY
BYRON EDUCATION
G. ARNOLD SHAW PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY LECTURERS ASSOCIATION
GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL NEW YORK
* * * * *
ONE HUNDRED BEST BOOKS
WITH COMMENTARY AND AN ESSAY ON
BOOKS AND READING
BY JOHN COWPER POWYS
This list is designed to supply the need of persons who wish to
acquire a general knowledge of such books in world-literature as are
at once exciting and thrilling to the ordinary mind and written in the
style of the masters. It recognizes the fact that modern people are
most interested in modern books; but it recognizes also that such
books, to be worthy of this interest, must uphold the classical
tradition of manner and form.
80 Pages 12mo. 75 Cents
[Illustration: (G. ARNOLD SHAW PUBLISHER. NEW YORK)]