Review af Revievit, l/S/Oe. 



Character Sketches. 



'57 



Whitman. Browning and Tennyson have been wonderful 

 lielps. Morley's ■ Vollairc " and " Compromise ' and liis 

 "Life of Cobden " were books I relislied. and I have no 

 ■doubt tliey unconsciously lielped to form opinions. Mr. 

 Gladstone's " Gleaniug-s " and Uie Speeches of tile late Jos. 

 €owen were inspirations. You will see by this how one 

 has been helped- 



I would further say that Eeecher's Sermons, Washington 

 ■Gladden and Stopford Brooke have had much to do in 

 forming the moral and spiritual side. — Yours, truly. 



JOHN W. TAiTiOE. 



WILL THORNE (West Ham). 



B. 1857, Hirmingham. Occ, Gasworker. 



In reply to yours with reference to the books which have 

 been most helpful to me. I may say tliat during my trade 

 union, social, and industrial work, the books and pamjih- 

 lets that have been most useful to me are Hviiduian"s 

 "'England for All." Karl Mar.\'s "Das Capital," tlie Fabian 

 Essays by Bernard Shaw, Graham Wallis, Mrs. Besant and 

 others. 



There are also books and pamphlets issued from time to 

 time by tile Social Democratic Federation (of which I 

 liave been a member for the past twenty-three years) that 

 have also been very useful, ^Iso the pamphlets issued bv 

 the Fabian Society. 



The whole of my working-clas« life has been devoted 

 to reading books upon social and industrial matters, and 

 many years ago 1 used to tramp miles to listen to lectures 

 by Bradlaugh. Hyndman, Quelch. Mrs. Besant and other 

 advanced thinkers. 



When I was a boy I always showed a determined and 

 independent spirit, and always studied the most revolu- 

 tionary literature it was possible to obtain, because I felt 

 that, in consequence of bein^ forced into factories an(i 

 workshops when I was only six years of age. and at the 

 same time people were living in luxury and idleness, there 

 must lie somethine radically wrong with the social system, 

 and I was determined to do my best to help to bring about 

 better conditions for the class to which I belong. — "i'ours 

 faithfully. -W. THOSNE. 



In a subse([uent letter, replying to a query, Mr 

 Thome writes ! — 



Witli reference to your first query, as to where I was 

 educated. I may say I never received any education at 

 all. as I started to work when I was six years of age, 

 and have been working ever since With reference to 

 the second query, I belong to no religious denomination 

 at all. 



J I KXRY VI VL^N (Birkenhead). 



B. 1869, Devonshire. Ed., Elementary Schools. 

 Ocr., Carpenter. ReL, Church of England. 



F.cononiies and industrial history earl.v claimed his atten- 

 tion. He was fortunate in his choice of books. Mill and 

 llazzini influenced him from different standpoints, while 

 the life and work of Arnold Toynbee. the Oxford political 

 economist and democrat, got firm grip of him. and tlid 

 niucii to shape his future course-Sirkenhead Election 

 J'innjililel, 1906. 



S11<;PHEX WALSH (Lancashire, Ince). 



IS. i860, Liverpool. Ed., Industrial School. Occ, 

 Coal-miner. Rel., Church of England. 



I lia.ve difficulty in recalling any books of special or 

 outstanding influence upon me in my .vouth, as I was 

 always, and still am. an omniverous reatier. 



But from verj- early years Shakespeare has been a prime 

 and constant favourite. Falstaff, Brutus, Mark Antony, 

 C'assius. quaint old Dogberry, and the tender, half petulant, 

 yet innocent old Verges— all these have been almost living 

 realities with me. The first book I ever bought was a 

 ■-hilling volume of " Pilgrim's Progress," over thirty-two 

 years ago, although I was then a Roman Catholic. Per- 

 haps the book that has most influenced me on the social, 

 economic and inquisitorial side has been Buckle's "History 

 of Civilisation," while in the event of feeling a little run 

 down I almost invariably turn to m.v well-thumbed " In- 

 goldsby Legends. ■ But Dumaa, Mark Twain, Carlyle, Cer- 



Photograpli hul 



Mr. John Wilson. M.P 



[K. H. Millf 



vantes, Jolin Stuart Mill, Victor Hugo (particularly " Les 

 Mis^rables " and the " Hunchback of Notre Dame "), all 

 these and many more have left upon me an abiding and, 

 I hope without egotism, a salutar.v influence. 



But I had almost forgotten the greatest of all— Dickens. 

 He is. indeed, an inexhaustible banquet, and I prize him 

 lor practical everyday life above all the rest. 



Forgive the garrulity, dear Mr. Stead, of one whom you 

 have touched in a tender place, and believe me to remain 

 very faithfully yours, STEPHEN WALSH. 



<;. J. WARDLE (Stockport). 



B. 1865, Leicestershire. 

 Occ, Booking Clerk. 



Ed., Wesleyan School. 

 Rel., Wesleyan. 



It ^3 a difficult task for me to give any adequate sum- 

 mary of the books which have been helpful to me during 

 my career— they have been so many. I have always been 

 a great reader, and books have been my chief inspir-itiou 

 and delight. A few books, however, do stand out: — King&- 

 ley's "Alton Locke"; Drumraond's "Natural Law in the 

 Spiritual World"; Lowell and Tennyson's Poems; Oarlyle's 

 "Past and Present": Ruskin's "Unto This Last" and 

 " Fors Olavigera"; J. A. Hobson's "Social Problems"; 

 Geo. Dawson's Lectures; Robertson's Sermons; Haweis's 

 "Current Coin." These are a few of the books which have 

 influenced me greatly, though there are many others which 

 h;xve been of great service. — Yours laithfultv, 



GEO. J. WAEDLE. 



JOHN WILLIAMS (Glamorgan, Gower). 



B. 1 86 1, Wales. Ed., Brit. School. Occ, Coal- 

 miner. Rel., Baptist. 



To be candid. I cannot name any books that I could eay 

 helped me when young. 



Have reached my present position through sheer force 

 of inexplicable circumstances. 



I associated myself when yotmg with societies and 

 movements that have, in my opinion, brought me to the 

 House of Commons. 



During late years I have read the most modern books 

 on economics, ethics, apologetics and other " ics." includ- 



