England -- Fiction; Socialism -- Fiction; Socialists -- Fiction
But Richard was well aware that the deception could not be lasting,
and had the Princess alone been concerned he would probably never have
commenced it. It was about his brother that he was really anxious. ‘Arry
might hear the truth any day, and Richard gravely feared the result of
such a discovery. Had he been destined to future statesmanship, he
could not have gone through a more profitable course of experience and
reasoning than that into which he was led by brotherly solicitude. For
‘Arry represented a very large section of Demos, alike in his natural
characteristics and in the circumstances of his position; ‘Arry, being
‘Arry, was on the threshold of emancipation, and without the smallest
likelihood that the event would change his nature. Hence the nut to
crack: Given ‘Arry, by what rapid process of discipline can he be
prepared for a state in which the ‘Arrian characteristics will surely
prove ruinous not only to himself but to all with whom he has dealings?
Richard saw reason to deeply regret that the youth had been put
to clerking in the first instance, and not rather trained for some
handicraft, clerkships being about the least hopeful of positions for a
working-class lad of small parts and pronounced blackguard tendencies.
He came to the conclusion that even now it was not too late to remedy
this error. ‘Arry must be taught what work meant, and, before he came
into possession of his means, he must, if possible, be led to devote his
poor washy brains to some pursuit quite compatible with the standing of
a capitalist, to acquire knowledge of a kind which he could afterwards
use for the benefit of his own pocket. Deficient bodily vigour had
had something to do with his elevation to the office of the drain-pipe
factory, but that he appeared to have outgrown. Much pondering enabled
Richard to hit at length on what he considered a hopeful scheme; he
would apprentice ‘Arry to engineering, and send him in the evenings to
follow the courses of lectures given to working men at the School of
Mines. In this way the lad would be kept constantly occupied, he would
learn the meaning of work and study, and when he became of age would be
in a position to take up some capitalist enterprise. Thus he might
float clear of the shoals of black-guardism and develop into a tolerable
member of society, at all events using his wealth in the direct
employment of labour.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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