creed, a catalogue of maxims, which I am
certain are believed, and believed strongly, by
the overwhelming mass of men and women as far as
the eye can reach. For instance, that an
Englishman's house is his castle, and that awful
proprieties ought to regulate admission to it;
that marriage is a real bond, making jealousy and
marital revenge at the least highly pardonable;
that vegetarianism and all pitting of animal
against human rights is a silly fad; that on the
other hand to save money to give yourself a fine
funeral is not a silly fad, but a symbol of
ancestral self-respect; that when giving treats to
friends or children, one should give them what
they like, emphatically not what is good for them;
that there is nothing illogical in being furious
because Tommy has been coldly caned by a
schoolmistress and then throwing saucepans at him
yourself. All these things they believe; they are
the only people who do believe them; and they are
absolutely and eternally right. They are the
ancient sanities of humanity; the ten commandments
of man.

A week later, Mr. H. G. Wells, who at that time had not yet broken away
from organized Socialism, but was actually a member of the Executive
Committee of the Fabian Society, wrote a reply to the case against
Socialism which had been stated by Chesterton, and, a week earlier, by
Mr. Hilaire Belloc. He attempted to get Chesterton to look facts in the
face. He pointed out that as things are "I do not see how Belloc and
Chesterton can stand for anything but a strong State as against those
wild monsters of property, the strong, big, private owners." Suppose
that Chesterton isn't a Socialist, is he more on the side of the
Socialists or on that of the Free Trade Liberal capitalists and
landlords? "It isn't an adequate reply to say [of Socialism] that nobody
stood treat there, and that the simple, generous people like to beat
their own wives and children on occasion in a loving and intimate
manner, and that they won't endure the spirit of Sidney Webb."

A fortnight later, Chesterton replied. But, though many have engaged
with him in controversy, I doubt if anybody has ever pinned him down to
a fact or an argument. On this occasion, G.K.C. politely refused even to
refer to t