CHAPTER II. AS A CHILD IN THE WORKHOUSE 8 CHAPTER III. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS 16 CHAPTER IV. ROUND THE HAUNTS OF HIS BOYHOOD 25 CHAPTER V. IN TRAINING FOR A CRAFTSMAN 33 CHAPTER VI. TRAMPING THE COUNTRY FOR WORK 43 CHAPTER VII. ONE OF LONDON'S UNEMPLOYED 50 CHAPTER VIII. THE COLLEGE AT THE DOCK GATES 57 CHAPTER IX. FROM THE CHEERING MULTITUDE TO A SORROW-LADEN HOME 67 CHAPTER X. A LABOUR MEMBER'S WAGES 75 CHAPTER XI. ON THE LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL 85 CHAPTER XII. TWO OF HIS MONUMENTS 96 CHAPTER XIII. THE TASK OF HIS LIFE BEGINS 105 CHAPTER XIV. THE MAN WHO FED THE POOR 112 CHAPTER XV. TURNING WORKHOUSE CHILDREN INTO USEFUL CITIZENS 119 CHAPTER XVI. ON THE METROPOLITAN ASYLUMS BOARD 128 CHAPTER XVII. A BAD BOYS' ADVOCATE 134 CHAPTER XVIII. PROUD OF THE POOR 144 CHAPTER XIX. THE FIRST WORKING-MAN MAYOR IN LONDON 154 CHAPTER XX. THE KING'S DINNER--AND OTHERS 166 CHAPTER XXI. THE MAN WHO PAID OLD-AGE PENSIONS 175 CHAPTER XXII. ELECTION TO PARLIAMENT 186 CHAPTER XXIII. ADVENT OF THE POLITICAL LABOUR PARTY 195 CHAPTER XXIV. THE LIVING WAGE FOR MEN AND WOMEN 202 CHAPTER XXV. FREE TRADE IN THE NAME OF THE POOR 210 CHAPTER XXVI. PREPARING FOR THE UNEMPLOYED ACT 219 CHAPTER XXVII. AGITATION IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS 227 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE QUEEN INTERVENES 241 CHAPTER XXIX. HOME LIFE AND SOME ENGAGEMENTS 252 CHAPTER XXX. COLONISING ENGLAND 264 CHAPTER XXXI. THE REVIVAL OF BUMBLEDOM 271 CHAPTER XXXII. APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE 280 CHAPTER XXXIII. "THE HAPPY WARRIOR" 296 INDEX 303 * * * * * LIST OF PLATES WILL CROOKS, M.P. _Frontispiece_ THE CROOKS FAMILY _Facing p._ 18 WILL CROOKS ADDRESSING AN OPEN-AIR MEETING AT WOOLWICH " 192 MR. AND MRS. WILL CROOKS " 248 INTRODUCTION Mr. Will Crooks, as I know him in his own house at Poplar and in that other House at Westminster, always seems to me to be something far greater than a Labour Member of Parliament. He stands out as the supreme type of the English working classes, who have chosen him as one of their representatives.