ey lack refinement. I see much raw material around me which might
possibly be hewn into lovely shape--but----To my friend, with his
intellectual Toryism, this hiatus is quite reasonable. These lower
classes, he will observe sublimely, have their functions; refinement
is not for all. And the _St. James's Gazette_ rustles comfortably as
he sinks back into the saddle-bags again!

Well, let me be honest in this matter. My mind is still in a fluid
state concerning theories of society. I can only generalise. I
believe, with Emerson, that the world exists ultimately for the weal
of souls; I believe, also, the spiritually correlative truth, the
ultimate probity of those same souls, but--I have not yet discovered
why I abhor contact with those who hold the same political faith. Am
I misanthropic? Or unsocial? Why, when I sit resolutely down to hear
my own beliefs preached, do I silently contest each point, adopt the
contrary view? Why do I avoid "active propaganda," "working for
the cause," and such like? Is it because I disbelieve utterly in
preaching? I do that, anyway. I often think how much farther ahead we
should be if no one ever preached. I do not condemn lecturing by any
means. I dislike the packed audience of the conventional preacher,
socialistic or otherwise. My ideal is the heterogeneous assembly,
hearkening to the words of a man skilled in oratory, profound in
thought, a genius in the art of the suggestive phrase. The audience in
all probability would be far from clear as to his intentions; they
would grow clearer as time went on and the suggestions ripened into
independent speculation. If they could understand at once what he
intends, they would stand in no need of his ministry.

You will perceive how unfitted I was for the meeting I attended
to-night. The uppermost thought in mind as I left was, "I do not
believe in bloodless revolutions." You cannot have a revolution of
society without turning part of it upside down. And I am half afraid
that a good deal of what I value most in this world will be turned
upside down by a socialistic revolution. Add the sad, indisputable
fact that if everyone were a Socialist I should, by natural law, be a
Tory, and you will see, more or less accurately, how I stand. You will
see, too, the cause of my belief in heroes and gods, which latter you
call natural laws. I look upon myself as a man working among gods and
heroes, and I am beginning to think that the question of revolutions