, not least in the
sketch given of his life and of the influences that had contributed
to the formation of his mind. It did too another thing: it clarified
his philosophical position for the world at large. For some time now
many had been demanding such a clarification. When G.K. attacked the
Utopia of Wells and of Shaw, both Wells and Shaw had been urgent in
their demands that he should play fair by setting forth his own
Utopia. When he attacked the fundamental philosophy of G. S. Street,
Mr. Street retorted that it would be time for him to worry about his
philosophy when G.K.'s had been unfolded. (G.K.'s retort to this was
_Orthodoxy_!)

_G. K. Chesterton: a Criticism_--far the best book that has ever been
written about Chesterton--showed at last a mind that had really
grasped his philosophy and could even have outlined his Utopia.
Perhaps this was the less surprising as it ultimately turned out to
have been written by his brother Cecil.

I do not know at what stage Cecil revealed his authorship, but I
remember that at first Frances told me only that they suspected Cecil
because it was from the angle of his opinions that the book
criticised many of Gilbert's. However, I was at that date only an
acquaintance and the truth may still have been a family secret. At
any rate Cecil it was, and it is small wonder if after all those
years of arguing he understood something of the man with whom he had
been measuring forces. But he did better than that--for he explained
him to others without ever having resort to these arguments, which
after all were more or less private property. He explained G.K.'s
general philosophy from the _Napoleon_, his ideas of cosmic good from
_The Wild Knight_ and _The Man Who Was Thursday_, which had just been
published that same year, 1908.

In this last fantastic story the group of anarchists (distinguished
by being called after the days of the week) turn out, through a
series of incredible adventures to be, all save one, detectives in
disguise. The gigantic figure of Sunday before whom they all tremble
turns from the chief of the anarchists, chief of the destructive
forces, into--what? The sub-title, "A Nightmare," is needed, for
Sunday would seem to be some wild vision, seen in dreams, not merely
of forces of good, of sanity, of creation, but even of God Himself.

When, almost twenty years later, _The Man Who Was Thursday_ was
adapted for the stage,* Chesterton said in an interview:

[* By