The Project Gutenberg EBook of The British Barbarians, by Grant Allen

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Title: The British Barbarians

Author: Grant Allen

Release Date: August, 2003 [Etext# 4340]
Posting Date: December 4, 2009

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BRITISH BARBARIANS ***

Produced by Charles Aldarondo Aldarondo and Don Lainson

THE BRITISH BARBARIANS

A HILL-TOP NOVEL

By Grant Allen

1895

INTRODUCTION

Which every reader of this book is requested to read before beginning
the story.

This is a Hill-top Novel. I dedicate it to all who have heart enough,
brain enough, and soul enough to understand it.

What do I mean by a Hill-top Novel? Well, of late we have been flooded
with stories of evil tendencies: a Hill-top Novel is one which raises a
protest in favour of purity.

Why have not novelists raised the protest earlier? For this reason.
Hitherto, owing to the stern necessity laid upon the modern seer for
earning his bread, and, incidentally, for finding a publisher to assist
him in promulgating his prophetic opinions, it has seldom happened that
writers of exceptional aims have been able to proclaim to the world at
large the things which they conceived to be best worth their telling
it. Especially has this been the case in the province of fiction. Let
me explain the situation. Most novels nowadays have to run as serials
through magazines or newspapers; and the editors of these periodicals
are timid to a degree which outsiders would hardly believe with regard
to the fiction they admit into their pages. Endless spells surround
them. This story or episode would annoy their Catholic readers; that one
would repel their Wesleyan Methodist subscribers; such an incident is
unfit for the perusal of the young person; such another would drive away
the offended British matron. I do not myself believe there is any real
ground for this excessive and, to be quite frank, somewhat ridiculous
timidity. Incredible as it may seem to the ordinary editor, I am of
opinion that it would be possible to tell the truth, and yet preserve
the circulation. A first-class journal does not really suffer because
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