ce to the Society only
equalled in the early days when the seven Essayists were all in the
field and all fighting at their bravest. The new life in the Society
during those brilliant years was due to other factors as well as Mr.
Wells. Other Socialist Societies, in which he took no part, also
increased their numbers and launched out into fresh activities. But for
us Mr. Wells was the spur which goaded us on, and though at the time we
were often forced to resent his want of tact, his difficult public
manners, and his constant shiftings of policy, we recognised then, and
we remember still, how much of permanent value he achieved.

Of this the chiefest is his books, and as the Society as such had no
part in them, anything more than a reference to them is outside the
scope of this volume. But it must be said that his "New Worlds for Old,"
published in 1908, whilst he was a member of the Fabian Executive, is
perhaps the best recent book on English Socialism.

In this connection Mr. Wells displayed unexpected modesty and at the
same time inexperience of the ways of the world. His first criticism of
the Society, his first project of reform, related to our tracts. To this
point he directed an unpublished preface to his paper "This Misery of
Boots," when he read it to the Society before the controversy had
actually started. He justly observed that very few of our publications
were addressed to the unconverted, were emotional appeals to join our
movement, or effective explanations of our general principles. He said
that these ought to be written, and the odd thing is that he appeared to
imagine that anybody, or at any rate a considerable number of people,
could just sit down and write them. He was aware that he could do it
himself, and he innocently imagined that plenty of other people could do
it too. He blamed the Executive for failing to make use of the members
in this respect, and persuaded them to invite any member to send in
manuscripts.

In fact of course something like genius, or, at any rate, very rare
ability, is required for this sort of work. Any competent writer can
collect the facts about Municipal Drink Trade, or Afforestation, or Poor
Law Reform: many can explain an Act of Parliament in simple language:
but only one here and there can write what others care to read on the
principles of Socialism and the broad aspects of its propaganda. If our
list of tracts be examined it will be found that the great majority of