Produced by Clare Boothby, Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net POST-PRANDIAL PHILOSOPHY By GRANT ALLEN AUTHOR OF "THE EVOLUTIONIST AT LARGE," ETC. LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS 1894 PREFACE These Essays appeared originally in _The Westminster Gazette_, and have only been so far modified here as is necessary for purposes of volume publication. They aim at being suggestive rather than exhaustive: I shall be satisfied if I have provoked thought without following out each train to a logical conclusion. Most of the Essays are just what they pretend to be--crystallisations into writing of ideas suggested in familiar conversation. G. A. Hind Head, _March_ 1894. CONTENTS PAGE I. THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE AMONG LANGUAGES 1 II. IN THE MATTER OF ARISTOCRACY 9 III. SCIENCE IN EDUCATION 18 IV. THE THEORY OF SCAPEGOATS 27 V. AMERICAN DUCHESSES 35 VI. IS ENGLAND PLAYED OUT? 44 VII. THE GAME AND THE RULES 53 VIII. THE ROLE OF PROPHET 61 IX. THE ROMANCE OF THE CLASH OF RACES 70 X. THE MONOPOLIST INSTINCTS 79 XI. "MERE AMATEURS" 87 XII. A SQUALID VILLAGE 95 XIII. CONCERNING ZEITGEIST 104 XIV. THE DECLINE OF MARRIAGE 112 XV. EYE _versus_ EAR 122 XVI. THE POLITICAL PUPA 130 XVII. ON THE CASINO TERRACE 138 XVIII. THE CELTIC FRINGE 147 XIX. IMAGINATION AND RADICALS 156 XX. ABOUT ABROAD 165 XXI. WHY ENGLAND IS BEAUTIFUL 173 XXII. ANENT ART PRODUCTION 182 XXIII. A GLIMPSE INTO UTOPIA 190 XXIV. OF SECOND CHAMBERS 199 XXV. A POINT OF CRITICISM 207 POST-PRANDIAL PHILOSOPHY I. _THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE AMONG LANGUAGES._