Retif^iE of Renews. T/3/0C 



Character Sketches. 



I- THE LABOUR PARTY IN THE BRITISH HOUSE OF COMMONS 

 AND THE BOOKS THAT HELPED TO MAKE IT. 



/ wish to call (he special attention of all those interested in the education of young^ 

 NOTICE. men to the following article. Nothing has been printed for many a long day so calcu- 

 lated to stimulate and inspire the mind of the young men of to-day, than these au- 

 thentic records of the early struggles of those who are now engaged in making history In the 

 British Commons House of Parliament. Over what difficulties have these Labour Members not tri- 

 umphed, with what indomitable patience and perseverance have they not forged their upward way f 

 What they have done, others as yet unknown may do. In order that the inspiration of their example- 

 may be as widely felt as possible, I urge all Teachers, Trades Unions, Friendly Societies, Con- 

 tinualion Classes, Sunday Schools, Evening Schools, Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Societies, Mutuaf 

 Improvement Societies, Lending Libraries, etc., to bring this article before the attention of their 

 members — H'. T. STEAD- 



The Labour members in the House of Commons 

 constitute the most interesting, and in some re- 

 spects the most important, grouj) of men in the 

 present Parliament. Thty are a sample of the 

 British democracv sLiddenl\ upheavt-d from thc 

 social depths and exposed for the first time to the 

 fierce light that beats upon the rulers of the land. 

 So far as the session has gone they have stood the 

 ordeal well. They have shown themselves to be 

 modest, diligent, earnest, capable men. Many of 

 them have made their mark as good debaters. None 

 of them have disgraced their order or the class from 

 which they have sprung. But this only increases the 

 interest and curiosity with which they are studied. 

 Whi> are these men ? What influences shaped 

 them ? How comes it that they who have had none 

 of the social and educational advantages of the 

 middle and upper classes should nevertheless be 

 capable of holding their own in fair field with the 

 finest product of our universities ? Among all those 

 who belong to the Labour Party not one has profited 

 by the rich endowments of Oxford and Cambridge. 

 These endowments are monopolised by the rich on 

 the principle that to him that hath shall be given, 

 while from him who hath not shall be taken even 

 that which he hath. What cu'.ti're they have they 

 obtained from the chapel, from that popular univer- 

 sity the public library, or still more freq.ientlv from 

 the small collection of books found in the homes 

 of the poor. For these men passed the formative 

 period of their lives in an age when free libraries 

 were scarce. It occurred to me that it would not 

 be without profit to the communitv at large, and 

 especially to those who belong to the working class. 

 if the Labour members could be induced to tell us 

 what were the books which they had found most 

 helpful in their early struggle with adverse circum- 

 stances. For, although it is no longer true tha/ 

 you can judge the character of a man bv the songs 

 that he sings, it is true that his character is largely 



moulded by the books that he reads. If we may 



judge men bv the companions they keep, we may 



form a shrewd conception of the kind of men they 



really are by knowing the silent companions of their 



leisure hours, especiallv the leisure hours of their 



youth. So thinking, I sent round to a.l of them 



a letter, of which the following is a copy: — 



I am preparing an article upon the books which have 

 been most useful to those who have fought their way up 

 -from humble beginnings to the frunt rank. May I ask yon 

 if in tihe midst of your pressing legislative duties you 

 oould spare a few minutes to send me. in the enclosed 

 stamped envelope, some note? or memoranda, no matter 

 how rough and hasty they may be. as to the books which 

 you foxuid by experience most useful to you in the early 

 days when your battle was beginning^ I think that the- 

 record of your experience raav be very helpful to the 

 thousands of ydung liien to whom your example and succe-^* 

 have been an inspiration. 



To this request I received a most courteous and 

 friendly response. Of the 51 Labour members I 

 received replies from 42. For the most part their 

 answers were brief and to the point. Many of 

 them T could well have wished to be longer. But 

 even the shortest are suggestive, and some of the 

 longer are most interesting. 



Dr. Robertson Xicoll collected manv \ears ago a 

 series of papers from well-known public men, which 

 were subsequently published under the title " Books- 

 that Influenced Me.'' The present series of " Books, 

 that have Helped Me," although lacking in most 

 cases the literarv character of the earlier series, is- 

 quite as interesting, and perhaps even more sugges- 

 tive, for the British Wccklx papers were written by 

 the picked few selected fn>m the cultured minority- 

 Our present series is contrihuted by the whole mass- 

 of the direct representatives of the majority of th<! 

 population of the United Kingdom. 



Without further preface. I print the letters, 

 with such brief particulars as to their authors as will 

 throw light upon their personality, such as the date 

 and place of their birth, their schooling, their occu- 

 pation, and. when possible, the religious denomina- 

 tion in the midst of which thev found themselves ir:: 



