Review of Reviews, l/S/OS. 



Character Sketches. 



155 



I became familiar with the leaders in our land, and 

 aeemed to know all of them; and these lives inspired me 

 wUh a desire to be good; and the Old Testament stories 

 of the godly men of past times became so real to me 

 that X have long been convinced that the history of 

 Joseph, Daniel, David, and many others is being repeated 

 to-day. 



1 cannot do other than believe that God led me. a lad 

 with scarcely any education, in a very humble home, 

 without wealth or influence beliind me — led me and made 

 my way plain, not easy. I tliink 1 may say that the 

 lives of men, more than books written by men, were most 

 useful to me in the early days, when my battle was 

 beginning. 



I liav© never bad any ambition other than to be good 

 and useful, and I believe the poorest and those with small 

 educational advantages may be both. — Yours faithfully, 



QEO. NICIIOLLS. 



J. O'GRADV (Leeds, East). 



B. 1866, Bristol Irish. Ed., Roman Catliohc 

 School. Occ, Furniture Maker. Re!., 

 Catholic. 



The books that made an inipiession on me as a young- 

 ster were Dickens's works and shaKespeare. Coming to 

 books that seriously moulced my life, they were Spencer's 

 "Social Statics," "Principles of Sociology," Letoumeau's 

 "Sociology.' Darwin's -Origin of Species," "Descent ol 

 Man"; Drummond's "Ascent of Man," "Natural Law in 

 the Spiritual World"; Haeckel's " History of Creation, 

 all tiie writings of Huxley. English history, especially 

 Green's " Short, History of the 'English People," 1 have 

 read economics freely, from Adam Smith's "Wealth of 

 Nations " to Marshall's " Economics of Industry," Karl 

 Marx's "Das Capital." and Laveleye; Engels, Webb, Qron- 

 lund, in Social Science Series; Fabian Essays, Hobson's 

 "Evolution of Capital." "Problems of Poverty." Henry 

 George's " Progress and Poverty " made a big impression ; 

 Marcus Aurelius, Plato's " Philosophy," Socrates, Charles 

 Kingsley's "Alton Locke," "yeast ' and " Hypatia. But 

 above and beyond all Carlyle is my solace and inspira- 

 tion. 1 always read a good novel with a purpose in it 

 with infinite zest, and have sampled the best of English, 

 and translations of the best foreign, writers. I have read, 

 and still read, every good work on English political and 

 industrial history. 



These, rough Iv, are the type of books that has moulded 

 my life. I ma.v sum up by saying that every book, whe- 

 tlier of science, philosophy, or fiction that outlines a new 

 idea, or gives a new view point, are my companions.— 

 Yours sincerely, JAMES O'GEADY. 



JAMES PARKER (Halifax). 



B. 1863, Lincolnshire. Ed., Wesleyan School. 

 Occ, Labourer. Rel., Nonconformist. 



You ask me for a few notes upon " The books that have 

 been most helpful to me." i scarcely know where to begin. 

 I have been a desultory reader, and have devoured almost 

 everything that has come my way, from the Bible to, 

 Balzac, and from Darwin's " Origin of Species " to Mark 

 Twain's " Innocents Abroad." Many books have helped 

 me iu my work. Perhaps I owe more to Thomas Carlyle 

 than to any other writer. The philosophy of the " Sage 

 of Chelsea" always appealed to me from the time I first 

 opened "Heroes and Hero Worship." 'Sartor Eesartus " 

 is, I tnink, the book I would save from my library if my 

 liouse was on fire and I could only escape with one book. 

 Emerson, Mazzini, Huxley, Frederic Harrison and Euskin 

 have all helped to mould my opinions. Among the novel- 

 ists, I am familiar with the writings of Oliarles Dickens, 

 Thomas Hardy, George Meredith, George Moore, Victor 

 Hugo, Zola, Balzac, George Eliot and many others. 



The " History of the English People, " by John Eichard 

 Green. Thorold" Eogers' " Six Centuries of Work and Wages," 

 Ashley's " Ecouoinio History," Marshall's "Economics of 

 Industry, " and a multitude of books dealing with social 

 and political topics have helped to form my political and 

 economic faith. 



Whitman, Shelley, and Edward Carpenter are also 

 favourites, though I am familiar with most of the major 

 and some of the minor poets. I could never settle down 

 to any system of reading, and possibly am the worse for 

 it.— Yours truly, JAMES PAHKEE. 



G. H. ROBERTS (Norwich). 



B. 1869, Norfolk. Ed., Church School. 



Printer. 



Early in life extremely delicate health threw me much 

 upon the companionship of books, and I found Dickens's 



PhntograpJi hyl 



Mr G NIchoils. M.P 



[B. //. MiUs 



Occ, 



works most congenial to my inclinations, overflowing as 

 they do with a deep and humane sympathy for the poor 

 and oppressed. 



I well remember my father introducing a copy of 

 Bunyan's ' Pilgrim's Progress " to my notice, and how 

 that I read and re-read it, the struggles of Christian 

 against the many obstacles besetting his path towards 

 the Better Land appealing powerfully to me as reflecting 

 the struagles in which mankind is involved when striving 

 to right the wrong, to remove injustice, and to create a 

 new heaven and a new earth. 



Later Darwin's works secured my attention, and "I de- 

 rived knowledge and interest therefrom. Similarly with 

 Professor Drummond's "Ascent of Man," Kidd's "Social 

 Evolution." and collateral worlis. 



From these I passed to social science works, finding 

 Swan Sonneuschein's series very helpful. 



The democratic poets interest me most^-Burns, Walt 

 Whitman, Gerald Massey, Shelley, etc.— Yours sincerely, 



G. H. EOBERTS. 



T. FRED. RICHARDS (Wolverhampton, South). 

 B. 1863, Wednesbury. Ed., Church School till 

 Seven, Board School till twelve. Occ, Boot- 

 maker. Rel., in youth, Low Church. 



I may say that the books which made the most impres- 

 sion upon mv life were the New Testament, Charles 

 Dickens's works, and those of John Ruskin, all of which 

 breathe the same in,spiration as drawn from the former 

 by a careful study of the Sermon on the Mount. A wish 

 to live such a life is to me divine.— Yours faithfully, 



T. raEnERICK KICHARDS. 



A. RICHARDSON (Nottingham, South). 



B. i860, Notts. Ed., National and Grammar 

 School. Occ, Grocer. 



Taking three books as types of their class— apart from 

 the Bible — "John Halifax." by Miss Muloch, "Social 

 Questions," llenrj George, " Natural Law in the Spiritual 

 World." Professor Drummond, have been most useful to 

 me, and have had most influence on my life. — Faithfully 

 yours. AR RICHARDSON. 



