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A CRITICAL EDITION OF
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THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS

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Carol Lee Hale

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A CRITICAL EDITION OF
ROBERT TRESSELL’S ‘
THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS

By

Carol Lee Hale

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of English

1994

ABSTRACT
A CRITICAL EDITION OF ROBERT TRESSELL’S
THE RAGGED TROUSERED PHILANTHROPISTS

By

Carol Lee Hale

Robert Tressell’s 1914 novel, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists,
takes as its focus a year in the lives of a group of housepainters and
decorators. Set in Hastings, Sussex (the novel’s "Mugsborough") the novel
offers a working-class perspective on life in that politically conservative town.
Since its initial publication, it has gained recognition as the first truly
proletarian English novel; furthermore, it has become a classic of the Labour
Movement, informing the shape of working-class consciousness--and
consciousness of the working class--in England. Through its influence among
workers, socialists, and political progressives, not only in England, but
internationally, the novel has become established as an important text of
twentieth-century literature. Therefore, the novel deserves more critical
attention and more frequent classroom treatment than it has generally
received; to facilitate that end, this study presents a scholarly introduction to
the novel along with annotations to accompany the text. In addition to
encouraging critical and pedagogical use of the text, this work continues the

work done by RC. Ball, without whose efforts the manuscript of the novel, as

well as biographical information about its author, would be yet unknown.
Research in British society and culture (1789-1914) informs the

annotations. Contemporary sources, like Maud Pember Reeves’ Round About

 

a Pound a Week (1913) and Jack London’s People of the Abyss (c. 1902), as
well as secondary studies, such as A.L. Morton’s and ER Thompson’s work on
William Morris have proved particularly valuable. Additionally, field research
in Hastings and textual research at the British Library, as well as work with
the manuscript at the Trades Union Congress, have guided the present study.
The major findings of this study include a survey of the "working-class"
fiction written in the decades immediately preceding The Ragged Trousered
Philanthropisg, as well as the identification of Tressell’s extensive and
purposeful use of biblical allusions. In particular, the study offers the first
published analysis of these biblical allusions, as well as a consideration of the

influence wielded by the biblical presence in this socialist text.

Copyright by
CMHUDI.LEIZILKLE

1 994

iv

Dedicated to
the memory of
EC. Ball

1905-1988

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe debts of gratitude to the following people: my colleagues at the
University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire, particularly Professors Wayne Lindquist,
Doug Pearson, Nadine St. Louis, Bernard Duyfhuizen, and Ed Young;
Professor Martin Wood, who deserves special thanks for his friendship,
support, and scholarly/technical advice; the reference librarians at McIntyre
Library (in particular Kate McIntire, Kay Henning, Randy Owen, and Richard
Bell) who have aided me in many unusual bibliographical pursuits; the office
of Dean Ronald Satz, for authorizing the purchase of a microfilmed copy of
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists holograph manuscript and for a grant
to support travel to Hastings and London; Victor 8c Donna Paananen, for the
generous use of their Hastings flat; Sara Striner, Reference Specialist at the
Library of Congress; friends at King Alfred’s University--Simon Barker,
Alasdair Spark, Margaret Hamer; Mrs. Jacqueline Ball, for her warm
hospitality, interesting conversation, and encouragement; the staff of the
Hastings Museum for allowing me access to their collection of Tresselliana;

and finally, Victor Paananen, without whose expertise, support, and guidance

I could never have completed this project.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
II.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Appendices

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction to Robert Tressell’s

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

F.C. Ball and The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
Biographical Notes on Robert Tressell

Publication History

The Manuscript

The Influence of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
Influences on Tressell

«British Working-Class Movements

«William Morris

--The Bible

Working-Class Fiction

Annotations to Robert Tressell’s

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

Introduction to the Notes
Tressell’s Title Page

Tressell’s Preface

The Text

Tressell’s Appendix: Mugsborough

Appendix A: The Progress of The Ragged Trousered

Philanthropists: A Selected Chronology

Appendix B: A Synoptic List of Chapters in

the 1914, 1918, 1955 Editions

Bibliography

12
13
18
18
28
40
66

102
104
105
106
294

295

297

302

I. INTRODUCT10N to Robert Tressell's
The Bagged Trousered Philanthropists

l . F.C. Ball and The ngge_d Trousered Philanthropic“

To discuss the author of The Ragged Trousered Phil_anthropis_t§
(hereafter RTP), we must begin with another British worker/writer: F .C. Ball
(1905-1988).1 In his introduction to The Robert Tressell Pam, Ball describes
the reasons that drew him to Tressell. When he first read the novel, Ball
already had a strong commitment to the working classes: thus, Tressell’s book,
which he knew to be written about men at work, appealed to him. A book
whose characters, specifically, worked in the building trades interested him
because he himself worked in these trades, as had many of his friends and
relatives. Having read RTP, Ball felt connected with Tressell at a personal
level: the novel is set in Hastings, Ball’s hometown. And Tressell, a worker
who made time to write, was an inspiration to Ball. Of the novel itself, Ball
remarked in particular how vitally important he found it that RTP was written

by a "working house painter and not by a professional writer looking in from

 

1Establishing his author’s name turned out to be one of Ball’s challenges.
Tressell was alternatively spelled "Tressall" or "Tresall," and these discrepancies exist
even in the National Union Catalog. "Tressell," after the painter’s trestle, represents
the spelling the author himself used for his pen name and, as Ball notes, in RTP to
refer to the "trestle" (Damned 146). While "Noonan" does appear to be his real

name, and is now (though it was not always) the name under which the MLA
Biblioggaphy catalogues him, I will refer to him as Tressell.

1

the Outside" (11). Ball’s commitment to the working class deepened in his
particular commitment to this novel and its author. His efforts to discover
more about Tressell, which began in a very casual way, came to be his life’s
most important work. Without these efforts, we would lack not only
knowledge of Tressell himself--we would lack Tressell’s legacy: his story,
complete and unaltered, of working-class life in England at the turn of the
century, told by one who lived it.
Ball describes these years of effort in detail, first in his 1951 work
Tressell of Mugsborough and more recently in the 1973 volume One of the
Damned: The Life and Times of Robert Tressell, Author of The Ragged
Trousered Philanthropists. Critic Peter Keating calls the first a "tentative
biography" (Review 540); Ball himself modestly called it "a book of
reminiscences and an introduction to [Tressell’s] own famous book" (Tressell
8). The greater specificity of his second volume’s title accurately reflects Ball’s
growth in knowledge about Tressell and in his own assurance as a researcher
and writer. The years between these two accounts brought significant
developments in the search for Robert Tressell.

I alluded above to the gratitude due Ball for recovering the complete
legacy of RTP. When Ball procured and examined the manuscript of the
novel, he found that the text as he had read it, as it had been known since
1914, was not in fact the complete text. In 1955 Ball’s efforts made possible

the publication of the first edition to be based on the novel’s full text.

3

Previous editions (1914, 1918, and many reprints) had been not only abridged
but in fact "rearranged" by editor jessie Pope. While publisher Grant Richards
asserted that no political bias determined the "abridgements" (Postgate 391), it
is very difficult to accept this interpretation of the text his firm produced. One
critic refers to Pope’s work as "a travesty-—there is no other word for it" (Woolf
150), while another observes of these early editing jobs that they "might justly

be called an expurgation" (Mayne 77). Because Pope’s editing drastically
altered the original text, Ball’s efforts are certainly a victory in the field of
textual scholarship. And because Pope’s editing also misrepresented Tressell’s
hope for Socialism--and ultimately for the workers--Ball’s achievement is also a
political victory for the working-class.

Through his tireless research, Ball brought to light biographical facts
about Tressell’s life which make it clear that he wrote as one with direct
experience of working-class life. And while these biographical details are not
necessary for a coherent reading of the novel, they demonstrate that in RTP
the working class had finally gotten what they needed: a voice speaking for 6/
them, from within their own experience. Not a voice of the ruling class, as
with Disraeli, nor of the middle-class, as with Gaskell, but the voice of a fellow
worker. Ball’s discoveries substantiate the case for Tressell as that
spokesperson. So we cannot justly speak of Robert Tressell nor of m
Ragged Trousered Philanthropists without speaking of Fred Ball; we would
not really know either, if Fred Ball had not taken on the task of bringing man

and book back to the world. In a review of One of the ngned, Peter

Keating observes that the book offers:

a remarkable testimony to two remarkable men: Robert Noonan,
who contributed to English literature a unique insight into
working-class life at the turn of the century, and EC. Ball, who in
November 1942 placed an advertisement in a local Hastings
newspaper asking for information about Robert Tressell, and
who, more than thirty years later, has produced a biographical
study that can stand beside The Ragged Trousered

Philanthropists with strange and moving appropriateness.
(540-41)

2. BIOGRAPIIICAL NOTES 0N BOBEBT TRESSELL2

Born about 1870 in Dublin and christened as Robert Phillipe Noonan,
Tressell was the illegitimate son of Mary Noonan and Samuel Croker, an
inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary and a magistrate. Although Croker
was a married man with children, his relationship with Mary Noonan was no
casual affair; indeed, he had several children with her. Robert was the
youngest of seven or eight offspring, including three girls and three or four
boys. They apparently lived comfortably and received good educations.
Unfortunately, when Robert was about six years old, Samuel Croker died and,
for reasons that are unclear, no funds remained to provide for Robert’s
education.

Sometime in the late 1880’s or early 1890’s, Robert immigrated to

South Afi'ica and apparently had regular, well-paid work as a house painter

 

2My information in this section comes from F.C. Ball’s two works
already mentioned, both published by Lawrence 8c Wishart: Tressell of
Mugsborough, 1951; One of the Damned, 1973.

 

5

and decorator. He married; he and his wife had one child, Kathleen, born in
1892. The marriage did not last, though it is unclear whether it ended by
separation, divorce, or death. Tressell raised his daughter, paying special
attention to her education, which she received at convent schools. In 1902,
after the outbreak of the Boer War, Tressell returned to England accompanied
by his daughter, one of his sisters (a widow) and her son. Living at first in
London, they soon moved to the coastal town of Hastings, where Tressell
sought work in the building trades as a decorator. For a time, they were able
to live relatively well, and Kathleen continued to receive education at her
father’s expense. Unfortunately, the English economy was in a slump at that
time, and Tressell’s standard of living plummeted. His health was poor; he
apparently knew, on leaving South Africa, that he had contracted tuberculosis.
The life he was forced to lead in England only served to worsen his condition.
By this time in his life, Tressell was no stranger to marginalization; an
illegitimate child, the youngest son in that "second" family, a single parent, an
Irishman in England, he found himself, as a member of the English working
class, introduced to new experiences in disenfranchisement. For him, this was
not just a personal, but also an intellectual problem. A keen thinker and avid
reader, those who knew him reported that he was fond of the writers William
Morris, john Ruskin, and Jonathan Swift, among others (Ball Damned 62, 64-
65, 105). In Morris, especially, he found themes that--taken together with the
circumstances of his life--would draw him into the working-class movement.

He became a staunch Socialist, and joined the local branch of the Socialist

6

Democratic Federation. Though he attended rallies, meetings, and lectures--
and reportedly did some bicycle evangelism for the cause--Tressell expressed
his commitment most tellingly through his own writing. His zeal for and in-
depth knowledge of Socialism infuse his novel with passionate conviction.
Knowing the details of working-class existence as Tressell reveals them,
it is hard to imagine the kind of dedication which kept the manuscript before
him. Ball describes reports of Tressell working away at a make-shift desk
while young Kathleen-~to whose education Tressell remained devoted--studied
at the only table. Woolf movingly imagines the reality of the setting in which
Robert Tressell composed his work:
It is essential to remember [the] nightmarish atmosphere in
which Tressell wrote his novel if the greatness of his achievement
is to be realized. It takes a rare courage and rare industry for
any man who must rise before the winter’s dawn, and may not
return home till hours after the winter sunset, to write a book of
a quarter of a million words. And that is what Tressell did. The
book was written after the day’s work and on Sundays and
sometimes late into the night when his illness kept him awake,
during three or four years. It was an astonishing feat for a
working-man, an amateur writer and a man slowly dying as he
wrote. He was coughing blood before he reached the end. (153)
In addition to the hardships of daily life, Woolf’s narrative introduces
Tressell’s illness, an illness which he bequeathed to RTP’s protagonist, the
socialist Owen. Consumptives have become almost a point of humor, so often
do they appear in 18th and 19th century fiction; readers have come to expect

the snowy handkerchief, the tell-tale crimson spots. But Owen’s affliction is

more than imitation of a literary commonplace; rather, it represents Tressell’s

7

use of autobiography and social realism. It reflects a piece of Tressell’s own
life, and it also shows us the time. Both author and protagonist could perhaps
have had very different experiences with tuberculosis had they lived in a
society whose politico-economic system was based on cooperation rather than
competition.

But they did not. As the English economy, and the building trade,
continued to slump, Tressell’s financial prospects grew bleak. He hoped to
immigrate once more, this time to Canada with his teen-aged daughter, where
they could perhaps make a more successful life for themselves. In August
1910, looking to realize this goal, he travelled to Liverpool to earn money for
their passage, leaving Kathleen in Hastings. But by November, he was a
patient in the Royal Liverpool Infirmary--a work-house hospital. Kathleen
never saw her father again; he died there the following February of cardiac
arrest, related to his disease. Impoverished, he was buried in a pauper’s grave
with several other unfortunates like himself. To Kathleen he left a massive
manuscript--and a model of commitment to the value of learning and to the
fight for social justice.

Ball’s book tells the story of how the manuscript came to jessie Pope’s
hands, and from her hands (a very different novel than the one Tressell wrote)
to the hands of tens of thousands of readers--it must be hundreds of thousands
by now. In that novel the influence of William Morris, both aesthetically and
politically, is easily discernable; it seems appropriate in closing the current

discussion to note these lines, from Morris’s 1885 essay "The Hopes of

8

Civilization." Imagining the feelings of the workers, Morris speaks of "the vain
longings of those . . . who suffer with little power of expressing their sufferings
in an audible voice." Sympathetic as he was, Morris could only imagine the
sufferings. And articulate though he was, he was not the spokesperson the
workers needed; he asserted that they needed a speaker from their own ranks.
Robert Tressell not only observed, but lived in suffering; Robert Tressell
spoke, an audible voice from the workers’ ranks. His novel offers the kind of
vision that Engels commended to socialist writer Margaret Harkness: the
"truthful rendering Of typical characters under typical circumstance"; in
Tressell’s words, his novel offers "the story of twelve months in hell, told by

one of the damned."

3. Publication History

Tressell biographer F .C. Ball’s Tressell of Mugsborough provides the
definitive account of the manuscript’s recovery; see also Frank Swinnerton’s
monograph Adventures of aL Manuscript, which discusses the progress of the
MS from the time it left Tressell’s hands until it was finally published in its
complete form.

jessie Pope of the journal P_un_c11 brought the MS to the attention of
publisher Grant Richards; she then became the editor of the narrative,
discussing changes in the text with Richards as she saw need. Before she was

done, she had drastically altered the manuscript. Its 1914 edition (see

9

synoptic chapters, Appendix B) not only deletes, abridges, and combines many
of the original chapters; it also rearranges sections of the novel so as to
completely alter Tressell’s conclusion, not only in terms of narrative action, but
also--and especially--in terms of narrative direction, or spirit. In particular,
Jessie Pope transferred a section from early in the manuscript and placed it at
the novel’s end, deleting the original ending. The scene she selected to end
her version of the novel describes Owen contemplating murder/suicide as the
only secure option for his family or for himself. He ultimately rejects the
option, and Tressell’s conclusion to the novel is very uplifting, inspiring, full of
hope for the possibility of a Socialist future in England and throughout the
world. This particular alteration completely changes the mood as the story
ends; it is instructive to compare Tressell’s ending with Pope’s. Here is the

ending as Tressell intended it:

But from these ruins was surely growing the glorious
fabric of the Co-operative Commonwealth. Mankind, awaking
from the long night of bondage and mourning and arising from
the dust wherein they had lain prone so long, were at last looking
upward to the light that was riving asunder and dissolving the
dark clouds which had so long concealed from them the face of
heaven. The light that will shine upon the world wide
Fatherland and illumine the gilded domes and glittering
pinnacles of the beautiful cities of the future, where men shall
dwell together in true brotherhood and goodwill and joy. The
Golden Light that will be diffused throughout all the happy
world from the rays of the risen sun of Socialism. (630)

10

And here is Pope’s conclusion:

So this was the beginning of the end! And afterwards, the other
two would be left by themselves at the mercy of the world. In a
few years’ time the boy would be like Bert White, in the clutches
of some psalm-singing devil like Hunter or Rushton, who would
use him as if he were a beast of burden, to be worked, driven,
and bullied. His boyhood would be passed in carrying loads,
dragging carts, and running here and there, trying his best to
satisfy the brutal tyrants whose only thought would be to get
profit out of him for themselves. As the vision of the future rose
before him Owen resolved that it should never be. He would not
leave his wife and child alone and defenceless in the midst of the
’Christian’ wolves who were waiting to rend them as soon as he
was gone. If he could not give them happiness, he could at least
put them out of the reach of further suffering. If he could not
stay and protect them, it would be kinder and more merciful to
take them with him. (391)

You can see how this utterly changes the conclusion’s tone, making it
despondent rather than triumphantly hopeful. And while understanding that
the publisher might have desired a shorter version of the novel, we have to
wonder what motivated such a drastic change as this altered conclusion. Was
it an attempt to weaken the strongly pro-Socialist voice in the original MS?
Grant Richards was evidently eager to dispel any such reading of his or Miss
Pope’s motives. Raymond Postgate, writing in The Builders’ History remarks

in a footnote that Richards, speaking of the second (even shorter) edition of

1918,

. . . asks me to correct an impression that had arisen that this
edition had been "expurgated" for political reasons. No such
thing has occurred, but the first edition was 400 closely printed

11

pages and to reprint it at a low price was impossible. It was,
therefore, condensed, but no political consideration was even
thought of. "The work was done reverently, the editor never
losing sight for a moment of the spirit that animated the dead

author." (391 )
Ball generously claims that the changes "were probably made in deference to
literary conventions of the day" ("Short History"). While Pope does seem to
have been sympathetic--she refers to the novel in her 1914 preface as "a
remarkable human document"--yet the political implications of her changes are
clear. At the best, she chose to downplay Socialism’s role in the narrative,
despite its clear importance to the dead author; at the worst, she chose to
suggest that those who would trust in Socialism have misplaced their
allegiance--that faith in Socialism leads only to despair. This is hardly the
message Tressell wanted to send, and Pope could have been in no doubt about
that. Pope claimed to have "cut away superfluous matter and repetition only";
but then, one’s definition of superfluity must depend on the priorities by
which one assesses the world. Pope may never have lost sight of the "spirit
that animated the dead author," but she certainly did not convey that spirit in

her edition of the novel, however good her intentions.

l2

4. The Manuscript

F.C. Ball describes the state of the MS as he acquired it in 1946:
When my wife and I began reconstituting the manuscript fi'om its
mutilated form we first had to decide whether there were enough
indications to tell us what its original form was.

We had a mass of loose sheets in two parcels, consisting of
a title-page drawn by the author . . . an unfinished preface of five
pages, not numbered in the sequence and left out by jessie Pope,
five pages of a list of contents, a number of hand-drawn
diagrams, a number of loose pages with chapter headings and
1,674 pages numbered in sequence but not packed so, making a
total of some 1,700 handwritten quarto sheets. (Damned ch. 33)

The manuscript is housed in the archives of the Trades Union
Congress, at the Congress House library, in Great Russell Street, London. In
1992 the TUC received grant monies to undertake a conservation project,
which involved microfilming the MS and taking steps to preserve the original
MS. The "some 1,700" handwritten pages were individually encased in plastic
Slipcovers, then stored in three cloth-covered MS boxes.

The paper varies in quality; much of it is stiff, unlined, almost art-
quality while some is flimsy and lined. Tressell wrote with black ink;
throughout the MS, there appears material evidence of Jessie Pope’s editing,
in red ink, and of F .C. and jacqueline Ball’s reconstruction efforts in blue ink.
Some sections of the MS are indecipherable; at points, Tressell himself

evidently inked out portions of the text while in other places pieces of paper

have been pasted over the original text, or editors have written on the MS.

13
5. THE INFLUENCE 0F TIIE BAGGED TJIOUSERED

 

PHILANTHIIGPISTS

In 1955 when Lawrence and Wishart published the complete edition of
The Rggged Trousered Philanthropists, the novel had--even in its
compromised form--already exerted substantial influence on British working-
class society. When Grant Richards published the 1918 edition, just four years
after the novel’s debut, it received good responses from the press3: The Times
reviewer remarked that "The men and women in it touch the heart, the irony
bites deep" and called the book "certainly remarkable"; a reviewer for
Athenaeum called the novel "a document of compelling interest and tragic
stress . . . A book that by no means should be overlooked"; The Saturday
11% welcomed the book as "an actual record of hard experience . . .
Fearless and true . . . a clarion call." These press opinions are seconded by
others; writing in 1923, Raymond Postgate speaks of the novel as "a
masterpiece, a great and moving work," and remarks its "true and terrible
picture of the life of the ordinary operative" (391). Nor did the novel’s
influence wane between the world wars; in his preface to the first British
paperback edition, writer Alan Sillitoe shares his own introduction to RTP,
which came when he was a nineteen-year-old Air Force man stationed in

Malaya: "It was given to me by a wireless operator from Glasgow, who said:

 

3All reviewer' s conments that follow appear printed with the
1918 edition.

14

’You ought to read this. Among other things it is the book that won the ’45
election for Labour’" (RTP Monthly Review Press edition 1). And as Sillitoe
notes, the text’s influence, even in its mutilated form, testifies to its power.
That the book continued to be revered by workers is supported by James
Clunie, who in his 1958 book The Voice of Labour: The Autobioggaphy of a
House Painter refers to "the pathetic and tragic and injured soul of Robert
Tressal, who had the gift of satire and humour in his mind but the curse of
illness in his body" and who, Clunie claims, "gave realism to the world" (34).
The publication of the 1955 edition marked a significant moment in
literary history, though few scholars at the time would have called it such, if
they even took note of it. Unarguably the novel’s appearance marked a crucial
moment in the history of British socialism; in fact, it gave occasion for an
assessment of RTP’s four decades of influence. Jack Beeching’s m
Quarterly review of the complete edition testifies to the novel’s influence in the

years 1914-1955:

Go into any meeting room of the working-class movement in
Britain and you will probably find at least one man present, who
could say: ’That book brought me into the movement. That
book made me a convinced socialist. That book altered the whole
course and direction of my life.’ (217)

Others offer similar testimony for the novel: Raymond Williams in 1969
described a worker’s "introduction" to RTP as "part of a political affiliation"

(Mitchell ix). And the influence which Williams speaks of has not diminished

15
with time; in 1981 worker/activist John Nettleton described a phenomenon
that illustrates Williams’ point. Speaking of the scene portrayed in the chapter
the "Great Money Trick," Nettleton says
I know lads who have got that off by heart. And every new
apprentice who ever comes on the site on the Liverpool

Cathedral, that’s his first lesson. And he learns that before he
learns the trade; he learns that and that’s the way it should be.

(Alfred 9)

So despite its lack of critical attention, the novel has played a crucial role in
the development of British working class consciousness. To that particular
community of readers, and indeed, to their correspondent international
community, RTP stands as a book which inspires and informs political
awareness.

The question of Tressell’s own political alignment must concern us here.
Given the witness of his novel, the depth of his Socialist commitment is
unmistakable. How Robert Noonan came to be Robert Tressell, by which I
mean, how he came to be the socialist that he was, is not easy to trace.
Whatever opportunities his early years offered him, whatever hopes they
instilled in him, he was nevertheless for most of his life a working man familiar
with the struggles particular to that life. His father may have been middle or

upper class, but Tressell himself was a working-class father. Political activist

16

Jack Jones feelingly testifies to this element of the novel:

The book portrays the warp and weft of the lives of our fathers,
the story of the working class at the turn of the century, an
indictment of capitalism in words and in story as searing as any
of the writings and speeches of the great Socialists of all history.
(Alfred 45)

Tressell the worker was also well acquainted with the various schools of
socialist thought in England. His novel demonstrates a familiarity with the
ideas of such socialist forerunners and thinkers as John Ruskin, William
Morris, Robert Blatchford, and Edward Bellamy.

David Smith, in his Socialist Propaganda in the Twentieth-Century
British Novel (1978), recognizes RTP as "a moving human document," and one
which, as Williams and Nettleton have claimed, "is still capable . . . of making
converts" (28). But Smith also characterizes the novel as "a work of purely
polemical intention," a description with which Tressell would take issue. Smith
further asserts that the novel’s "survival is not owing to any originality of
political thought on Tressell’s part." In fact, Smith argues that Tressell’s
socialism, rather than being of any strict school, is "an eclectic, at times
surprising . . . combination of ideas of the time" and suggests that "part of his
appeal lies in his very unsectarian willingness to borrow from various strands
of Socialist ideology" (28).

Tressell himself has in a manner anticipated and addressed this criticism

17
in his own preface to the novel. In explanation of his goal for RTP, he notes
that despite the abundance of books available on Socialism, most people fail to

11’

understand it--not just workers, but great statesmen’" as well. In his own
words, he is not, therefore, writing a "treatise or essay, but a novel" and one
which he defends as, in the final analysis, a true representation of working-
class life. Cultural critics have begun to value this aspect of the novel; excerpts
from it appear as illustrative material in several studies of the era.4

Whether his approach to Socialism was ideologically pure along
sectarian lines simply did not signify; socialism was not, for Tressell, an
intellectual exercise in philosophy or economics. Tressell sought answers to
life and death problems; he sought a more just, more humanely-ordered
system than the one he labored (and was dying) under. As he searched, he
synthesized what he found. And in his novel, he wrote to convey that
synthesis. Smith is right that Tressell’s claim is not at all to originality of
Socialist thought; I would argue that Tressell’s claim is, rather, to the clear
communication of Socialist ideas. And I would be hard pressed to choose
which is the more important, ultimately. If you speak with the insight of Marx
and Engels, but have not clarity, it profits you, perhaps, nothing.

Tressell’s gift lay in the clear conveyance of very important ideas; ideas

that the workers of the world needed to hear--and needed to be able to grasp

 

4See, for example, Stephen Ingle, Sociali_st Thought in Imaginative
Literature (Totowa: Rowman and Littlefield, 1979); Enid Gauldie, C_r_uel
Habitations: A Hi_story of Working-Class Housing 17801918 (New York:
Barnes, 1974); Hugh McLeod, Class and Religion in the Late Victorian City
(Hamden: Archon, 1974).

18

intellectually. To more fully understand the importance of Tressell’s message,
it is helpful to know something of British Socialism in the nineteenth and
early-twentieth century. This knowledge also aids in a study of those novels

preceding RTP which asserted that they offered a working-class perspective.

6. INFLUENCES 0N TRESSELL

ulllllTlSll WflllKlNG-CLASS MIDVEMENTS

We need to view nineteenth-century Socialism in the larger context of
working-class movements, which developed in various forms throughout the
age in response to capitalism and industrialism.5 Workers were active in many
arenas, from local agitations such as the Luddite Rebellions of the nineteenth
century’s first two decades and the Captain Swing riots of the early 1830’s, to
the more organized regional, national, and international movements, such as
Owenism, trades unionism, the cooperative movement, Chartism, Christian
Socialism, and secular socialism.

During these years, people concerned about the condition of the
workers were active in many of these movements, sometimes simultaneously,
or sometimes shifting allegiance from one to another. When groups dissolved,

the individual members might be absorbed into any one of a number of other

 

5See E.P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class 1963 (New
York: Random-Vintage, 1966).

 

19

groups. In looking at any of these groups we need to consider a few basic
questions: who organized and directed the movement? what vision did the
leaders have of class structure/class relationships? what was their attitude

towards the trades unions? in what ways were they politically active?

When we think of progressive figures in the working-class movement,
we are likely to think of Robert Owen (1771-1858). Though he made
commendable reforms at his New Lanark Mill in 1800, he retained a fatherly
view of "his" workers. Thus some scholars criticize Owen for his ultimate
investiture of power in the ruling class (Thompson Making 780-88). His
intentions, as we say, were good; his contribution to the development of
working-class consciousness is undeniable. Of Owen, Raymond Williams
observes,
He is the successful manufacturer . . . in temperament and
personality . . . at one with the new industrialists who were
transforming England, but his vision of transformation is human
as well as material. As the new manufacturers would organize
their places of work for production, or for profit, so he would
organize England for happiness. (Culture 26)

Nevertheless, he did not empower workers, but sought only to improve their

living and working conditions; so while Owen is often mentioned as an early

socialist, his paternalism makes him less appropriate for a discussion of

working-class movements; i.e., movements that foreground working-class

empowerment.

20
During the late 1820’s and the decade of the 1830’s the Chartist

Movement formed, gained influence and numbers, and marked the first
independent, committed approach taken by the workers to solve their own
problems. G.D.H. Cole, in Chartist Portraits, provides a comprehensive
introduction that traces the development of Chartism and examines its
component parts. Cole claims that "hunger and hatred . . . were the forces
that made Chartism a mass movement of the British working class" (1) and this
movement, claims Cole, was "a movement powerful enough, for a few years, to
threaten revolution, and to command the backing of the main body of the
working classes" (18). Chartists sought Parliamentary support for their
People’s Charter; they sought political power for the working classes,
specifically in the form of the Six Points of the People’s Charter: equal
electoral districts, abolition of property qualifications for MP’s, universal male

’ suffrage, annual parliament, vote by ballot, and payment of MP’s. The
movement’s motto--"Political power our means, social happiness our end" --
reflects both the growing working-class consciousness and the continuing

influence of Owen.

Despite their cohesiveness and the very effective drive for signatures on
their petition, the Chartists were unable to effect the immediate change for
which they hoped. Gaskell’s Mary Barton offers a sympathetic (if middle-class)

reading of these years. She describes the feeling aroused in July of 1839 when

21

the House of Commons rejected the petition:

Parliament had refused to listen to the working men, when they
petitioned, with all the force of their rough, untutored words, to
be heard concerning the distress which was riding, like the
Conqueror on his Pale Horse, among the people; which was
crushing their lives out of them, and stamping woe-marks over
the land. (112; ch. IX)

Despite the shock of this initial defeat, Chartism revived a few more
times. In May of 1842 workers presented a second petition to Parliament; it,
too, was soundly defeated. On one more occasion, in April of 1848, another
convention met in London to present a petition for the charter. In a tense
setting, fraught with the ruling class’s fears of revolution, the petition was
again rejected. The Chartist movement never recovered.

Through Chartism, workers began to learn the possibilities of
combined action; through Chartism’s defeats at the hands of Parliament,
workers began developing a real sense of themselves as a united class whose
interests were separate from those of the capitalist class. Initially a populist
movement, after the defeat of 1848 Chartism was more and more influenced
by Marx’s ideas; G.D.H. Cole notes that "Chartism became increasingly
Socialist, and increasingly conscious of itself as a section of a growing
international working-class movement" (22). But the majority of workers had
little interest in these things; ideology was not so important as the necessities of

life. And the period of economic upswing following the Chartist movement for

a time relieved the urgency which had driven most workers to think in terms

22

of class solidarity.

Others in Britain had hoped to see society transformed by Chartism,
and after Chartism’s defeat they sought the continued development of
working-class consciousness. Christian Socialism first wielded influence in the
six-year period between 1848-54. F .D. Maurice (1805-72) and Charles
Kingsley (1819-75), two major spokespersons, published Tracts on Chrisgigg
Socialism and the journal The ChristiaiSocialisJ. Essentially an upper and
middle class movement, Christian Socialism asserted the necessary unity of
religion and politics. To a society that generally thought of socialism as hostile
to, rather than compatible with, Christianity, men like F.D. Maurice sought to
convey the idea of justice as a political responsibility held by Christians. As
with many of these movements, Christian Socialism was plagued by conflicts,
leading to splits within the movement. That period of economic stability from
about 1845 to the early 1870’s made the working classes less interested in
agitation; the initial interest in and influence of Christian Socialism waned, and
finally disappeared. It would revive as a movement, more politically effective,
in the period of 1877 to 1914.6 But by then, "secular" socialism was in full

stride.

It would be accurate to speak of the 1880’s as socialism’s decade, though

the movement continued to be active and influential until 1900 when the

 

‘See Peter d’Alroy Jones, The Christian Sociilist Revivg 1877-1914: Religion,
Class and Social Conscience in Lgte VictLian England (Princeton: Princeton UP,
1968)

 

23

Labour Representation Committee was formed. This ten-year period saw more
attention directed to Socialism as a movement and more active membership in
Socialist organizations than ever before in English history.7 But
denominationalism plagued Socialism, as it has Christianity. For every group
within Socialism, one finds publications, membership records, resolutions, and
factions within factions. Still, this does not decrease the extent of Socialism’s
influence, nor its impact on the development of working-class consciousness.
Socialism "proper" begins with an upper-class man who had been

converted by Marx’s economic theories. H.R. Hyndman (1842-1921), known
as "the Father of English Socialism" (Thompson 292) founded the Democratic
Federation in 1881. A political creature, his commitments preceding the
organization of the DF were varied, and perhaps had more to do with
forwarding his own career than with advancing the workers’ cause; he seems
to have been committed to the theory of Socialism, but not so much to the
reality of the workers. E.P. Thompson characterizes Hyndman’s attitude in
this way:

The working class he tended to regard as the raw material of the

revolution, the motive-force which he could harness for his

political strategy, rather than as made up of fellow-comrades
actively and consciously participating in the struggle. (294-95)

In 1884 the DF was renamed the Social Democratic Federation; later

 

7For an interesting and thorough discussion, see E.P. Thompson, William
Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary 1955 (Stanford: Stanford UP, 1976): Part Three
"Practical Socialism."

24

that year one of the SDF’s most influential members, William Morris (1834-
1896), resigned his membership. Together with several other disaffected
members--including, notably, Eleanor Marx and Edward Aveling--Morris
organized a second Socialist group, the Socialist League. Their politics tended
to lean to the left, even toward the Anarchic, as compared to the right-leaning
SDF. Morris held a very different attitude toward the workers than
Hyndman, as this excerpt from one of his lectures demonstrates:

And how can we of the middle classes, we the capitalists and our

hangers-on, help [the workers]? By renouncing our class, and

on all occasions when antagonism rises up between the classes
casting in our lot with the victims. ("Art and Socialism")

Also influential during the years between 1884 and 1900 were the
F abians, whose most famous member was George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).
In Shaw’s own words, this group comprised "a body of middle-class
philanthropists who believe themselves to be Socialists" (Thompson 333). The
F abians, who with regard to the realization of a Socialist society were
gradualists, also held Trades Unions in contempt. Primarily drawn from the
ranks of Oxford and Cambridge graduates, the Fabians were very much a
middle-upper class body. So while they certainly played a role in the
development of socialism at this time, they were in no sense instrumental in
the development of working-class consciousness at the turn of the century.
They are still active within the Labour Party 100 years after the time here

discussed.

25
The Independent Labour Party (formed in 1893) despite the

disagreement of the F abians sought the cooperation of the unions; the
formation of the Labour Representation Committee (1900) represented an
alliance of unions and socialist societies. Thus, in the 1906 Labour Party, we
see the most influential, if the least "pure," form of Socialism to evolve during
the 19th century. Given the divisiveness in the Socialist world, it could hardly
have ended other than it did. It was in this period of English politics that
Tressell returned to England and settled in Hastings.

During England’s great Socialist decade, the 1880’s, Tressell was just a
boy. Now he may well have been such a precocious boy as William Morris,
who had read Sir Walter Scott by the time he was seven. But in Tressell’s
household, there would not likely have been copies of Commonweal or Ju_sti_g_e.
And there would not likely have been talk of the Social Democratic Federation,
nor of the Socialist League, nor of the F abians. By the time he was a young
man, in 1890, Tressell had found his life drastically changed from what he had
expected, and had immigrated to South Africa. It was likely there that his
political education began in earnest.

The South Afiica that welcomed Tressell offered a high standard of
living for Europeans but offered it in the context of a society fraught with
tensions. During the 1890’s, the Anglos and the Boers lived together in
uneasy peace, but gradually increasing hostilities were leading inexorably to
the Second Boer War. In the "background"--depending on the historian one

reads--the Africans were rallying around various leaders, and the "Africa for

26

Africans" movement was developing. While Socialism/Marxism would come to
play an important role in the Pan-African Congress, it was not of great
influence at this early date.

Working-class movements did, however, exist in the South Africa that
Tressell lived and worked in. He would have known of trades unions, and
because of the presence of so many European immigrants in South Africa, he
almost certainly would have come into contact with Socialist ideas. In fact, as
the white population of South Africa grew--from 265,000 in 1865 to 634,000 in
1891--it insured, by the nature of the immigrants it attracted, that working-
class consciousness would also grow. Historians H]. and RE. Simons note
that these men brought with them "habits and attitudes appropriate to an
industrialized society"; in particular, "some were staunch trade unionists and
ardent socialists" (32). Cape Town saw the first founding of African Trades
Unions in 1881. The ensuing decade would see a rapid growth of South
African trades unions in diverse fields, both service oriented and industry-
based.

Unfortunately, it seems that these South African trades unionists
suffered from the same irrational and unproductive biases as the European
capitalists: largely, they were white men first and workers second. Simons cites
many examples of trades union members excluding coloured and African
workers, or of the white workers seeking better deals for themselves at the cost
of their black co-workers (53). Labour struggles "rarely crossed the colour line

to unite workers . . . in a common front against the employing class" (33).

27

We know little with certainty of Tressell’s time in South Africa. Ball
reports that Tressell made his living in South Africa as a decorator--a working
man. During his time there, he was active in the formation of the Irish
Brigade; we know that he had no special affection for the British habit of
imperialism and colonization, whether in South Africa or in Ireland. While
living and working in South Africa, he had been well off, and hoped to
continue to do well by himself and his young daughter in England.

It is easier to say who he was when he returned to England in 1901.
We know that he was an observer of human nature, that he was a writer; we
know that once he had been in England for a time, he had reason to feel bitter
about his decision to move, which drastically lowered the standard of living he
had enjoyed in South Africa. And perhaps his personal family history made
the question of class a particularly vexed one. By 1901, when Tressell moved
to Hastings, Socialism’s great decade had passed: Marx was dead, William
Morris was dead. But their writings were very much alive, as was the
movement their ideas had engendered. Clarion vans still travelled in England,
and Socialist evangelists still made appeals to the workers; Socialist publications
were still published and read. Into this milieu came Robert Tressell, and in
this milieu he almost immediately became a disaffected worker.

Socialism came to be Tressell’s consuming passion: he joined the
Hastings branch of the SDF; he participated in bicycle evangelism; he attended
Socialist rallies and lectures; he made placards and banners for the cause; he

made socialist tracts available to his workmates; he educated his daughter

28

about economic realities and took her with him to Socialist meetings. And he
wrote the great novel of the English working class, therein communicating
Socialism’s hopeful message. In this novel he gave the world the first clear
view of English working class life as seen by those who live it. And he gave
workers around the world a kind of accessible Socialist manifesto, one which
continues to inspire workers today. Robert Tressell gave the world a fine and
impassioned novel which makes it possible for readers of all classes to
understand what many have never known. As Robert Tressell, whatever the
personal disappointments of Robert Noonan, he maintained a steadfast hope
for a Socialist future which would transform society. And in his community of

workers, we can glimpse some of what that transformation might mean.

uWILLlAM MIDIIIIIS

. . . by art, I do not mean @111 pictures and sculpture, nor only these
and architecture, that is beautiful building properly ornamented; these
are only a portion of art, which comprises . . . a great deal more; beauty
produced by the labour of man both mental and bodily, the expression
of interest man takes in the life of man upon the earth with all its
surroundings. ("Art and Labour" 1884)

A keen appreciation of beauty coupled with the deep desire to create
beauty through the work of his hands gave William Morris a natural sympathy

with the working class, who suffered impoverishment not only for lack of daily

bread but also for lack of pleasure in their work; for their "alienated labour" as

29

Marx had it. In this, as in so many things, Morris has proved to be a forward-
looking soul, one of those who had the ability to sense "something stirring in
the heart of the world" ("The Lesser Arts"). Recognizing this, Raymond
Williams calls Morris "a pivotal figure" in the development of our modern
concept of culture (Culture 161); Terry Eagleton describes Morris’ efforts as
having "harnessed . . . romantic humanism to the cause of the working-class
movement" and asserts that through him "the gap between poetic vision and
political practice was significantly narrowed" (Literary 20); ER Thompson,
concluding a comprehensive biography and analysis of Morris, calls him "one
of those men whom history will never overtake" (730).

Morris saw himself more humbly; in his lecture "How I Became a
Socialist" he characterized his own "disposition" as "careless of metaphysics and
religion, as well as of scientific analysis, but with a deep love of the earth and
the life on it, and a passion for the history of the past of mankind". Though a
wealthy and well-educated individual and a published author, in a letter to the
Pall Mall Gazette, he described himself simply as "an artist, a workman, and an
employer of labour" (Collected vol 2 pt 1 249). That he has had a significant
influence on western culture is undeniable; and that influence still makes itself
felt. Nearly a century after his death, William Morris designs remain popular
and purchasable in many forms, including the stencils of his designs that
Tressell would have been familiar with. And collectors of antiques eagerly seek
out the Morris chair. These things bear witness to the artistry and

workmanship of Morris, which grew fiom his vision for society. It is his ideas

30

about society which most concern us here; characteristic of his life at every
stage was a passionate approach to those activities which commanded his
interest, and which he seemed always to see in the largest contexts.

In his early days at Oxford, already sickened with the effects of
capitalism/industrialism on England and on English society, he joined with
other young men who thought as he did; they formed what they called a
"Brotherhood," who intended to take up a "Crusade and Holy Warfare against
the age" (Thompson 24-25 ff). Citing both his "historical studies" and his
"practical conflict with the philistinism of modern society," Morris asserted his
"conviction that art cannot have a real life and growth under the present
system of commercialism and profit-mongering". Naturally inclined to value
the aesthetic, and further influenced by John Ruskin, Morris understood how
what he valued fit in the context of society. Even his early poetry--perhaps
less escapist than has been thought--can be seen as a critique of this society.
It was for his poetry that Morris first became known, and Morris now is read
as "a major Victorian poet" (fl). Specifically the works of his early years, as a
part of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s circle, show his talent. Houghton and Stange
refer to Morris’ The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems as "perhaps the
finest volume of pre-Raphaelite verse" (612). But Morris’ sense of art and his
pursuit of the aesthetic exceeded the bounds of literature.

In pursuit of quality in interior design, Morris established The Firm
(1861), his own design company, later known as "Morris and Co." (1874).

Morris and his workers created innovative designs in stained glass, wallpaper,

31

tapestries/textiles, carpets, and furnishings; and he was no dilettante, no mere
player at any of these tasks. For example, he learned to dye wool, and worked
at it himself, in order to get just the colors he wanted in his tapestries--which
he himself was likely to weave. Morris’ company was, according to Florence
Boos, the "leading English decorating firm" of its time (VB).

In architecture, which Morris had briefly considered as a profession, he
contributed by his activities in the Society to Protect Ancient Buildings
(founded 187 7)--popularly known as "Anti-Scrape"--which sought to keep
buildings from being "restored." Morris, with his "passion for the history of
mankind," believed that the architectural additions that were made over the
years to, say, churches, reflected the evolution of design. They were a kind of
testimony to how the culture had evolved. "Restoration" projects that tore
down these additions and attempted a nineteenth-century-rendering of, for
example, a Tudor design were viewed by Morris as abominations.

Morris’ love for literature, his love for beauty in design, and his love for
the past of mankind all came together in his work at the Kelmscott Press,
which he established in 1891. Here, he produced lavishly illustrated versions
of classic works--the Kelmscott Chaucer being the best known of these. His
work at the Press inspired one writer to call Morris "perhaps the most
significant English book designer since Caxton" (fl). In this, as in all of his
activities, Morris’ efforts were informed by a passionate dedication to simple
beauty and to careful workmanship. The fact that capitalism kept this kind of

beauty and workmanship from being realized, and that it in fact created

32

misery and maintained shoddy lives for millions, caused Morris to look for
answers to these problems in the political arena.

In an 1883 letter to Christian activist Charles Edmund Maurice (son of
ED. Maurice) Morris wrote: "I think that you, like myself, have really been a
Socialist for a long time" (Collected 199). AL. Morton writes of Morris that
"He did not so much become a Socialist as discover he had always been one"
(12). Morris’ public conversion to Socialism came in the 1870’s, and as was his
way, he devoted himself to the socialist struggle with all his energy and
resources. E.P. Thompson describes the aptness of this political commitment:
"Morris’s conversion was a true conversion. It was not sudden, unannounced,
a bolt out of the blue. It was in every sense a qualitative change in
understanding and in action, for which all his life had prepared the way"
(271).

Morris’s work for the socialist cause brought together all of his earlier
interests and concerns. As a witness to the mess that industrial capitalism was
making of England, his beauty-loving nature responded with a disgust that
energized his desire to change things. His "brain" work as a designer and his
"hands" work as a dyer, weaver, tapestry-maker, and textile-worker gave him
an appreciation of and a sympathy for the working classes.

Once convinced of the rightness of the Socialist agenda, Morris used his
rhetorical talent, his gift for keen images and insights, to create socialist essays
and lectures. These he published and delivered, travelling all over Great

Britain to speak. His commitment and unstinting activism--in a rich man who

33

could have had an easy life--inspired many comrades. Historically, his voicing
of socialism’s themes may be his finest legacy; Raymond Williams suggests that
"Morris is a fine political writer, in the broadest sense, and it is on that, finally,
that his reputation will rest" (Culture 156).

Tressell, an active Socialist who read the movement’s literature, would
inevitably have come into contact with William Morris; his novel is shot
through with the marks of Morris’ influence. Many themes remind the reader
of discussions in Morris’s political essays; consider, for example, Tressell’s
emphasis on the quality of work, his vision of the artful expression in
handiwork well done, and finally, his portrayal of the impossible burden laid
on workers by the capitalist system. F .C. Ball confirmed through his research
that Tressell did indeed read Morris’ essays; one of Ball’s primary sources, a
workmate of Tressell’s named Gower, mentioned both Morris and Ruskin as
among the authors "whose works were mentioned by Robert in their
conversations" (Tressell 42; Damned 62). Tressell would also have been
attracted by Morris’s contributions to housepainting and decorating. Ball
reports from Tressell’s daughter, Kathleen, that her father "possessed a folio of
William Morris designs and he may well have used Morris motifs or similar
models" for some of his work. In describing the design of some work Tressell
did for St. Andrew’s Church in Hastings, Ball notes that it was "typical of the
style of the Late Victorian period inherited from the Pre-Raphaelites and from
William Morris particularly." Ball further notes that he believes Tressell

"became particularly interested in Morris’s work for the Socialist Movement

34

and in his theories on the arts, craftsmanship and industrial design" (Damned
64-65).

Jack Mitchell, who authored the first book-length study of RTP,
substantiates Ball’s assertions; he mentions that an acquaintance of Tressell’s

1"

once remarked to him that old Bob was always spouting Morris’" (151). It is
perhaps dangerously easy to blur the lines between Tressell the writer and
Owen, his protagonist; F.C. Ball seems at times to speak of them
interchangeably. And it is certain that a great deal of autobiography made its
way into RTP. Nevertheless, we must be fully aware of the writer Tressell,
who as Robert Noonan lived and worked in Hastings and who was active in
the Socialist movement of his time. Such activity would necessarily include an
awareness of the thought of William Morris. I would go so far as to say that
Robert Tressell was perhaps William Morris’s perfect audience; that he himself
embodied the kind of worker/artist that Morris advocated.

The housepainter Owen, to a large degree a literary manifestation of
Tressell, possesses characteristic Morrisian values and attitudes: he is a worker
in touch with the art of what he does, and because of his "extraordinary"
talents he is allowed some degree of freedom in the way he approaches his
work. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than in Owen’s work with the
Moorish room at the Cave; the scenes of Owen carefully researching the
designs, planning the job, sketching the plan, enlarging it, making and cutting
stencils, and then painstakingly decorating the room--all these scenes illustrate

what work could be, given its proper value and space. "Art," said Morris, "is

35

man’s expression of his joy in labour" ("Art under Plutocracy"). With this line
in mind, consider this description of Owen as he contemplates a job he hopes

to do:

Process by process he traced the work, and saw it advancing stage
by stage until, finally, the large apartment was transformed and
glorified. And then in the midst of the pleasure he experienced
in the planning of the work there came the fear that perhaps
they would not have it done at all. The question, what personal
advantage would he gain never once occurred to Owen. He
simply wanted to do the work . . . . (RTP 131)

Sadly, such opportunities as Owen had with the Moorish room were
rare; how, then, could the workers feel joy in their labour as a daily thing?
Morris anticipates this as well, when he speaks of the "pleasure in handiwork"

that he claims "as the birthright of all workmen. Morris saw this pleasure as

crucial, going on to observe:
if [the workers] lack any part of [this joy] they will be so far
degraded, but . . . if they lack it altogether they are, so far as
their work goes, I will not say slaves, the word would not be
strong enough, but machines more or less conscious of their own
unhappiness. ("Art")

Most of the workers at the Cave have undoubtedly lost this interest, this joy,

"altogether"; and when the reader observes how they are pushed and harassed,

working under surveillance, it comes as no surprise to see that they have lost

this pleasure. Consider Misery, who oversees the job, and of whom the

36

narrator says "it grieved him to see anything done properly" (RTP 32).
Misery, motivated solely by profit, constantly scamps the work: he cheats the
consumer by misrepresenting the quality of the work done; he misleads the
consumer by misrepresenting the quality of the materials used; he charges for
three coats and provides only one; he constantly searches for such "economies"
to boost the firm’s profits. To accomplish these ends, he must harass the men
and require them to do less than fine work. Thus bullied, the men gradually
come to the point that "none of them [take] any pride in their work" (97).
This leads, of course, to work that is a disgrace; the narrator describes a
particular paint job where the surface looks like corduroy, and is marred by
drips. It looks, the narrator observes in a truly Morrisian phrase, "as if the
doors were weeping for the degenerate condition of the decorative arts" (141).
But the reader sees, too, that some of the workers feel the loss of pride;
some of them fight against the loss of their dignity. Surreptitiously trying to
retain some sense of doing things well, the workers find they cannot survive
under Misery’s reign. For example, when Misery is determined to get rid of
some of the full-priced men so as to make way for painters whom he can pay
at a lower rate, he wanders around the job looking for reasons to sack
someone. He runs across old Jack Linden who is "rubbing down the lobby
doors with pumice-stone and water" (37); for the moment, Misery says
nothing. However, when he returns after some time has passed, and he finds
Linden "still working at the vestibule doors," Misery is enraged. Loudly, he

announces to Linden--and any other workers listening:

37

’How much longer are you going to be messing about those

door? Why don’t you get them under colour? You were fooling

about there when I was here this morning. Do you think it’ll pay

to have you playing about there hour after hour with a bit of

pumice-stone? Get the work done!’ (40)
Linden is later given the sack, ostensibly for smoking on the job; but it was
actually Linden’s seniority on the job and the higher wages his experience
earned him that drew Hunter’s wrath. Linden’s careful use of the pumice
stone was the manifestation of his status, a constant reminder to Hunter that
some men could not bear to scamp the work.

Another of the oldest workers on the job, Joe Philpot, remembers a time

when the atmosphere at work was different. In reminiscing about the old

days, when a job like the one at the Cave would have taken six months,

Philpot describes the way they worked:

’. . . it would’ve been done properly, not messed up like that was:
all the woodwork would have been rubbed down with pumice
stone and water: all the knots cut out and the holes properly
filled up, and the work properly rubbed down with glasspaper
between every coat. But nowadays the only place you’d see a bit
of pumice stone was in a glass case in a museum, with a label on

1t.’

"Pumice Stone: formerly used by house-painters." (423-24)

Just as the pumice stone brought on Linden’s ill luck, the glasspaper
mentioned by Philpot causes a similar situation to befall Newman, who "had
been forgetting himself again . . . [h]e had been taking a little pains with the

W01“ 1% doing it something like properly" (140). Misery, enraged at the man

38

who has not done Enough Work, threatens him; he must do better or be

sacked. When at a later date, in speaking to the foreman Crass, Misery learns
that Newman is actually bringing glasspaper to work-glasspaper that Newman
has purchased out of his own funds!--and "stopping up every little crack" (171)

I" 1

he determines to ave a Alteration!" Shortly thereafter, Newman is
observed
facing up the dents [in a wooden cupboard] with white-lead putty
before painting it. He knew quite well that Hunter objected to
any but very large holes or cracks being stopped, and yet
somehow or other he could not scamp the work to the extent
that he was ordered to; and so, almost by stealth, he was in the
habit of doing it--not properly--but as well as he dared. (172)
Misery stands watching Newman at work for a few minutes, "with a sneer on
his face" and then he announces to the nervous worker that "’We shan’t
require your valuable services no more after tonight’." He sacks Newman,
whose hiring at below-rate wages had been the occasion for Misery’s first
deciding to let old Jack Linden go.

Misery thus serves in at least three ways as the agent which alienates the
men from their work: in his insistence on doing the work as quickly as
possible, with no concern for the appearance, he takes away any opportunity
for them to feel pride in what they accomplish; in his hiring of less-skilled men
at below-the-rate wages, he devalues those workers with experience; and in his
mockery of workers who by stealth try to do the best work they can under the

circumstances, he brutally disregards the men’s feelings. And all this fi'om a

Christian; as Tressell would say, a supposed servant of the Workman of

 

39

Nazareth.

Morris, in "Art under Plutocracy" speaks of his view that art is "closely . .
. bound up with the general condition of society." These episodes with Misery
and the workers show, in individual cases, how the devaluation of art--and by
extension, of those who produce it--was creating a rift in society. In the most
basic characteristic of capitalism--competition--we see the driving force that
allowed Misery to be blind to the human cost of his actions: in fact, he may not
have been able to conceive of "human" and "cost" in the same sentence. At any
rate, it is in scenes such as these that Tressell has created the opportunity for
those outside the working-class to grasp what life in that class was like; he is in
this way what Morris called a "master of life"--one who would tell stories "to
our senses" ("The Society of the F uture"). And in telling these stories, Tressell
is able to illustrate a good many truths about the reality of working-class life
under capitalism, which is riddled with the practice of gaining from another’s
losses. Daily exposure to this must surely deaden the senses, especially if those
who most suffer remain inarticulate.

Tressell gave a voice to the working class, and William Morris would
have welcomed this spokesperson. To his close friend Georgiana Burne-Jones,
Morris wrote in an 1883 letter, "What we want is real leaders themselves
working men, and content to be so till classes are abolished" (Collected Vol II,
Part I, 219). Seven years later, Morris expressed this idea again in "Where Are
We Now?", written for the 15 November edition of Commonweal. Here,

Morris asserts that he had "hoped that some working-man leader, or rather

40

leaders, would turn up, who would push aside all middle-class help, and

become great historical figures. Morris goes on to say that while he despaired
of such ever happening, he continued to hope for it.

Robert Tressell was certainly one of many in whose lives the words of
William Morris inspired a strong political commitment. If Tressell did not
himself live to become a political leader, he made possible, through his

representation of working-class reality, the ultimate leadership of other

workers.

--TIIE BIBLE

In one scene from RTP, we observe an encounter between a street
evangelist and a heckler in the crowd who asks the evangelist to read aloud

the following verses:

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall
they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not
hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover. (Mark 16:17-18)
After the evangelist complies, the challenger suggests that he should take the
gospel at its word; conveniently, the heckler has on hand a bottle with

"sufficient strychnine to kill a dozen unbelievers" (249) that will enable the

preacher to demonstrate the sincerity of his religious belief. Declining to take

41

the challenge, the street preacher claims "I’m not such a fool!" and then
sneers, "I suppose you’re one of them there hired critics wot’s goin’ about the
country doin’ the Devil’s work?" (250).

F.C. Ball reports that Tressell drew this scene from his own experience;
that Tressell himself was the challenger who questioned a street evangelist’s
sincerity, daring him to drink poison (see Damned 94-95). I suggest this scene
is emblematic of Tressell’s use of scripture throughout RTP: like the heckler,
Robert Tressell demonstrates an inconveniently keener knowledge of the Bible
than most readers, even churchgoers, are likely to possess; like the heckler, he
uses his knowledge to call to account a church that has sold its birthright for
material gain, for selfish satisfaction. Furthermore, it is clear that Tressell’s
use of scripture demonstrates not a mere acquaintance but instead an intimate
relationship with the gospel. Finally, Tressell’s use of scripture does tell us
something about just who it is "doin’ the Devil’s work" in Mugsborough and,
largely by implication, what it might mean to be on the side of the angels.

In a Socialist novel, written by an atheist author, what purpose does the
biblical presence serve? I suggest that Tressell invokes this presence neither as
literary flourish nor as marker of alignment; that is, his primary motivation is
not to prove his worthiness for admittance to the company of well-read
authors nor the company of saints. Rather, his use of allusions demonstrates a

profound understanding of the substantive message embedded in Judeo-

42

Christian scriptures: do justice.8

Added to this, Tressell’s insights from Socialist thought provide him
with a clear reading of the church’s part in the present system’s hegemony.
Throughout RTP he offers striking criticisms of both Anglican and non-
conformist, of para-Church charities and the Salvation Army: his hostility to all
of them is unmistakable. Tressell illustrates clearly that the Church, rather
than significantly alleviating poverty, actually participates in the
disenfranchisement of the poor.

His accomplishment in The figged Trousered Phil_a_1nthropists
demonstrates not only that he can play on his opponent’s field, but also that
his grasp of the rule book is far firmer than theirs. This familiarity, however,
does not make Tressell an advocate of the game. Rather, biblical references
inhabit Tressell’s mind and inform his text in substantial and significant ways.

In fact, an analysis of his uses of biblical allusions provides important insights

 

8See Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and
S___alvation (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1971), Ch. 10 "Encountering God in History" pages 194-
96, the sub-section called "To Know God 18 To Do Justice. " Here Gutierrez quotes
lines from Jeremiah that work very well in the present discussion of RTP:

Shame on the man who builds his house by unjust means, and
completes its roof-chambers by fraud, making his countrymen work
without payment, giving them no wage for their labor! Shame on the
man who says, ’I will build a spacious house with airy roof-chambers, set
windows in it, panel it with cedar, and paint it with vermillion’! If your
cedar is more splendid, does that prove you are a king? Think of your
father: he ate and drank, dealt justly and fairly; all went well with him.
He dispensed justice to the cause of the lowly and poor; did this now
show he knew me? says the Lord (22:13-16).

See also Donal Dorr Spirituality and |ustice (Maryknoll: Orbis, 1984), Ch. 7
"Alternative Values, " pages 110- 113 sub- titled "Justice. "

43

into the thematic structure of his text. Furthermore, to read RTP in the light
of these insights is to be aware of the way that Tressell’s vision of society--a
future Socialist society--is deeply rooted in the Gospel message of justice and
the biblical mandate to serve the poor.

In my annotations of RTP, I have identified well over 100 biblical
allusions. A closer analysis of these allusions shows that they function in the
text in essentially two ways: semantic and thematic. By "semantic" allusions, I
mean those occasions when the speech patterns in the novel echo phrases fiom
the Authorized Version (KJV). That is, Robert Tressell is clearly so familiar
with both the Old and New Testaments that echoes of the KJV language
appear in his writing even when he is not otherwise making a pointed biblical
allusion. The allusion may or may not be particularly pertinent to the context
in which it appears; it differs from the thematic allusion in that it does not
become part of a larger pattern of allusions.

In one case, speaking of working-class constituents’ depression as they
read about their elected representatives in Parliament, the narrator describes
"their case" as "an instance of hope deferred making the heart sick" (496)
which borrows directly from Proverbs "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick"
(13:12). Tressell’s use of the lines from Proverbs to comment on the human
response to political disappointments is incisive but is not specifically repeated
elsewhere in the novel. In another example, Tressell’s narrator describes the
smoke from the workers’ cigars as being "typical of the smoke of their torment,

which ascendeth up for ever and ever" (470) which echoes lines from Isaiah

44

34:10 "the smoke thereof shall go up forever"; when the narrator describes
some early autumn fields he describes them as "some rich with harvest" (471)
which reminds us of Christ’s speaking of the "fields . . . white already unto
harvest" (John 4:35). In each of these cases, the context is the workers’ trip to
the inn where they will hold the annual "Beano," or "Bean F east"--a banquet
partially funded by the masters, who also attend. The allusion about the cigars
speaks, I suggest, to the contrast between the apparent festivity and the harsh
reality of the worker’s lives, to which they must return after the feast has
ended. In the reference to the fields, the description of them as "some rich
with harvest" implies, of course, that not all fields are thus enriched—-which in
turn might cause us to inquire why that is. So in each case, the biblical
allusion does carry a message, but these particular allusions do not represent
any larger patterns of similar allusions.

Other semantic allusions carry less of a particular message. For
example, Barrington speaking at the Beano says that "It may or may not be
true that Socialists always know when to speak and when to keep silent" (481)
which borrows from Ecclesiastes "a time to keep silent and a time to speak"
(3:7); the narrator speaks of the workers who "used to take all their money
home religiously every Saturday and give it to the ’old girl’ for the house, and
then, 10 and behold, in a moment, yea, even in the twinkling of an eye, it was
all gone!" (494) which directly alludes to I Corinthians 15:52 where Paul writes
"Behold, I shew you a mystery . . . In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye . .

. we shall all be changed". Neither of these rely on the biblical allusion to add

45

to their significance; in these cases, the allusions simply add to the total biblical
presence in the text.

By "thematic" allusions, I refer to ideas expressed so frequently
throughout the novel that they become a thematic thread, easily noticeable in
the novel’s texture. Tressell tends to make these allusions in no uncertain
terms, often identifying them by the use of quotation marks. In this category,
I locate the following specific recurring themes: (1) the Present System works
in ways antithetical to the teachings of Christ; (2) within the System the
"Christian" characters recurringly behave hypocritically; (3) within the System
the workers participate in their own disenfranchisement; (4) the workers,
sometimes individually and sometimes as a group, function as Christ figures;
(5) Socialism is the logical and spiritual heir of Christ in the 20th century.

That the Present System--by which Tressell means capitalism-~should
operate in ways antithetical to biblical teaching is, of course, ironic. As the
novel illustrates time after time, adherents of the System claim for the most
part to be Christians; further, they make every effort to assert that the System
itself operates in accordance with the will of God. But as Tressell makes clear
through his brilliant weaving of Socialist critique and scriptural language, such
assertions are in fact heretical. Perhaps the first explicit statement of the idea
is given to Owen as he muses about the likely bleak future of his son: "Under
the present system it was impossible for anyone to succeed in life without
injuring other people and treating them and making use of them as one would

not like to be treated and made use of oneself" (91). Later in the novel, the

46

narrator observes "all who live under the present system practise selfishness,
more or less. We must be selfish: the System demands it" (129). Reiterating
this idea and wedding it to the explicit words of Christ, Owen provides his

workmates with the following analysis of the Golden Rule:

All those who really seek to ’Love their neighbour as themselves’,
or to return good for evil, the gentle, the kind, and all those who
refrain from doing to others the things they would not like to
suffer themselves; all these are of necessity found amongst the
vanquished; because only the worst--only those who are
aggressive, cunning, selfish and mean are fitted to survive. (293)

But despite this understanding that the System itself is informed by
selfishness, Tressell does not excuse its advocates. Later in the same "lecture"
to his workmates, Owen finds his anger roused by his own description of the
have’s and have not’s under the present system. Of the have’s he passionately
asserts, "They’re devils! They know that whilst they are indulging in pleasure
of every kind--all around them men and women and little children are existing
in want or dying of hunger" (298). As I have suggested, Tressell’s portrayal of
the present system paints the church as part of the hegemonic structure in
Mugsborough; working within this structure, which allows the workers to be
cruelly used, the self-proclaimed true believers function as "devils." This
characterization provides a fit rejoinder to the street evangelist’s claim that it

was the heckler who was "doin’ the Devil’s work" (250).

47

Perhaps the most striking of Tressell’s uses of biblical texts is what may
be called his "prophetic" voice; that is, those times when he uses scripture to
speak out against the hypocrisy that riddles the system. At times such as these,
far from being flippant about the Bible, Tressell in fact speaks in the tradition
of biblical authority. His narrator’s and his characters’ criticisms of the
pastors, for example, evoke Christ’s criticisms of the Scribes and the Pharisees-
-the professional religious, the wielders of influence, of their day. In this
sense, Tressell is using the biblical text to attack those who should be most
familiar with it; and not only familiar with it, but literally committed to the
following of its directives. Consider these lines, in which Owen’s wife, Nora,

explains some inconsistencies to their son Frankie:

For instance, [the vicar] pretends to believe the Bible, but if we
read the Bible we find that Jesus said that God is our Father and
that all the people in the world are His children, all brothers and
sisters. But the vicar says that although Jesus said ’brothers and
sisters’ He really ought to have said ’masters and servant’. Again,
Jesus said that His disciples should not think of tomorrow, or
save up a lot of money for themselves, but they should be
unselfish and help those who are in need. Jesus said that His
disciples must not think about their own future needs at all,
because God will provide for them if they only do as He
commands. But the vicar says that is all nonsense. (85)

The vicar, Nora finally asserts, "says that the world would never be able to go
on if we did as Jesus taught" (85). Of course, Tressell means us to understand

that it is the Present System that could not continue "if we did as Jesus taught."

48

Tressell’s attack on the church is relentless. Describing the polite
conversation taking place at the Church of the Whited Sepulchre the narrator
confides to the reader: "From the manner in which [these church members]
constantly referred to themselves, it might have been thought that they were a
flock of sheep instead of being what they really were--a pack of wolves" (187)
thus evoking Christ’s warning "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15). This
particular image is one to which Tressell will return again and again.

One effective technique Tressell uses to expose hypocrisy is to juxtapose
a scriptural allusion and a narrative context that create extreme situational
irony. He might do this, for example, to highlight the difference between the
character he’s describing and the model of behavior implied by the text he
alludes to. Clergy as well as laymen came under Tressell’s fire. Consider his
description of a pastor as one who "seemed . . . accustomed to sit in the chief
places at feasts," (180) which reminds us of Christ’s criticism of people who do
"all their works . . . to be seen of men . . . they . . . love the chief place at
feasts" (Matthew 23:5-6). Tressell wields his scriptural allusions sometimes like
a rapier, sometimes like a broadsword. For example, Rushton, who is
portrayed as a philanderer and a dishonest businessman, is also a member of
the church and an occasional street preacher who stands under the verse "Be
not deceived; God is not mocked"(623; see Galatians 6:7). Of course, in thus
situating Rushton, Tressell highlights the man’s hypocrisy and reminds the

reader, too, that Christ criticized the hypocrites who "love to pray standing in

49

the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen"
(Matthew 6:5). Among the workers, this chain of events illustrates additional
hypocrisies: the pious workman, Slyme, runs into the old man, Linden, who
has been fired by Misery--Slyme reports that he "didn’t ’ave time to speak to
’im" when he saw him on the street; by contrast, Owen goes literally the extra
mile (in a pouring rain) to give Linden news of a possible job; and Philpot
lends the old man a shilling-~though none of them is very well off. It is, in
fact, at the point of daily decisions, choices made out of solidarity or
selfishness, that the characters in RTP make clear where their exact allegiance
lies. In exposing hypocrites, Tressell sometimes quotes or paraphrases the
very words of Christ to condemn those he saw around him who, claiming to
follow Christ, clearly were motivated by other priorities. For example, the
narrator describes a leading townsman who "waxed rich and increased in
goods and respectability" (211) which compares with this description of the
young Christ: "And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit"/ "And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature" (Luke 2:40, 52). This same man, Adam
Sweater, is described as "always prominent in every good and charitable work"
(209) and as having "contrived to lay up for himself a large amount of treasure
upon earth" (211). In the first case, his prominence is specifically anti-Gospel;
Christ in the Sermon on the Mount directed his followers to do good deeds
quietly, and concerning "good and charitable works," Paul directs believers to
be either "fruitful in" or "prepared" for such activity (Colossians 1:10; I

Timothy 2:21)--not "prominent". In the second case, Sweater is of course

50

acting in direct contradiction to Christ’s injunction to "lay not up for
yourselves treasure upon earth" (Matthew 6:19). But then, the laying up of
such treasure is exactly what the present system is about.

Tressell understands that the workers participate in their victimization
and so he does not exclude them from his critique of the present system. For
example, when Philpot complains that "[Crass] never does ’is share of a job"
the zealous Slyme defends the boss by asserting "We’d do the same if we was in
’is place, and so would anybody else," and adding "Or p’raps you’d give all the
soft jobs to other people and do all the rough yerself“ (274); obviously Slyme,
though professing to be Christian, hasn’t learned the golden rule--though he
has learned how the present system works. Slyme is also portrayed as never
having time to do charitable works (105, 253) even though this is one of
Christ’s specific directives. In fact, the reader often sees such Christians as
Slyme and Crass ignoring biblical injunctions for the sake of their own comfort
or pocket. (And, as I discussed above, very often their selfishness is thrown
into greater relief by the acts of charity performed by Philpot and Owen.)

Tressell’s understanding of the present system includes the way that the
workers themselves participate in their enslavement by resisting trades
unionism and socialism. After one of Hunter’s characteristically-dcgrading
visits to a work-site, Owen reflects of his workmates:

It was their apathy or active opposition that made it impossible to
establish a better system of society under which those who did

their fair share of the world’s work would be honoured and
rewarded. . . . They were the people who were really responsible

51

for the continuance of the present system. (46)

Much later in the novel Tressell merges the previous two allusions: "All [the
workers] desired was to be left alone so that they might continue to worship
and follow those who took advantage of their simplicity . . . . It was as if a
flock of foolish sheep placed themselves under the protection of a pack of
ravening wolves" (582). Thus Tressell links the images of worship and the
relationship of boss to workers in the present system. At such narrative
moments, Tressell’s tone takes on the feel of the Prophet, and thus he
becomes at once part of a biblical as well as a Victorian model.9

Thus we see that the words of scripture, and in particular of Christ,
maintain a marked presence in RTP. Tressell brilliantly extends the play of
the biblical presence by his insertion into the narrative of Christ figures which
he uses in a particularly interesting and effective way; furthermore, an analysis
of the textual influence of these Christ figures is crucial to a full understanding
of the novel. Approximately 20% of the biblical allusions in RTP fall into this
category, making them a substantial presence. Additionally, Tressell’s fluid
identification of Christ figures makes them especially effective. No single
individual stands as THE Christ figure, rather, Tressell has different workers
at different times fill the role.

It is no surprise that Frank Owen, the protagonist, is frequently one of

the workers to play this part. First it is the external circumstances of Owen’s

 

9See John Holloway, The Victorian Sage: Studies in Argyment (New York:
Macmillan,1953).

52

life that signal the parallel: he is the son of a carpenter who is now dead; he
himself learns a skilled trade (67); and, as the novel opens, Owen is about 32
years old (16)—-the traditionally-held age of Christ as he began his final year of
ministry.10 But beyond these external similarities, Owen in several more
important ways evokes Christ through action and word. For example,
speaking to Easton of the need for action, Owen says "There is no such thing
as being neutral: we must either help or hinder" (140). This echoes Christ’s
words: "He that is not with me is against me" (Matthew 12:30). In trying to
illustrate a point to his mates, Owen kneels "down and [begins] to draw upon
the floor" (158-59) which is strongly reminiscent of Christ’s action in the
incident of the woman taken in adultery (John 8:3-11, esp. 6 8c 8). Similarly,
Owen teaches one day by opening his dinner basket and taking "from it two
slices of bread" (225-26). Here, Owen’s actions remind us of Christ in at least
three ways: the homely manner of teaching is similar to Christ’s as depicted in
the Gospel; the specific act of lifting up, breaking, and distributing bread
reminds us of the feeding of the multitude; it also reminds us of Christ at the
last supper. Owen, like Christ, takes the servant role in an act of compassion
when he washes the Linden boy’s bleeding foot (352, and see John 13:1-17).
Yet Frank Owen, like Robert Tressell, is no Christian; indeed, Owen explicitly
rejects the idea of an omnipotent, omniscient God (70-71). Nevertheless, his

actions--Christ-like in these and other incidents--testify to the possibility of

 

10The circumstances of Owen’s life in many ways parallel those of Tressell, but
not in this instance. In 1905, Tressell would have been about 35 years old.

53

transcending the present system.

While the external circumstances of Joe Philpot’s life do not evoke
Christ in the way that Owen’s do, Philpot’s actions are very frequently
compassionate, tending to manifest Christ’s teachings rather than specifically
mirror Christ’s actions or echo Christ’s words. At times, Owen and Philpot act
in concert; I have commented on these narrative moments in the annotations.
Philpot’s humility, as well as his tender heart, are evident; his concern with
"publicans and sinners," in particular his guardianship of the semi-drunk,
certainly shows him to be Christ-like in his compassion. But Philpot does
eventually take on the role of the Christ figure, and as it happens it is by far
the most compelling of any such allusions in RTP. In the chapter called "The
’Sixty-Five’," we witness Philpot’s suffering and death. The narrative structure
throughout strongly evokes Christ’s passion and crucifixion. And in this
moment, as I suggest in the annotations for this section, the train of events
pulls the parallel lines drawn between workers and Christ to a point of
convergence.

Though no other single character presents so numerous examples, yet
Tressell draws similar parallels between some of the other workers and Christ.
For example, when old Jack Linden is verbally attacked by Misery, the
narrator reports "Jack made no attempt to defend himself: he knew it was of
no use" (47). This reminds us of Christ, who remained dumb before his
accusers (see Isaiah 53:7; Acts 8:32-35). As the work on the Cave progresses,

the narrator describes one particularly bitter day: "As they worked, the thorns .

54

. . caught and tore their clothing and lacerated the flesh of their half-frozen
hands" (272) where the juxtapositioning of thorns and lacerated flesh--in
particular, hands--evokes Christ’s passion. At another moment, when the
Secretary of the local Trades Council writes a letter to the town paper, m
Obscurer, on behalf of the workers, the workers (who never know their own
best interest) express their indignation in this way: "’Who the bloody ’ell was
’e?’ they said. ’ ’E was not a Gentleman! ’E was only a workin’ man the same
as themselves--a common carpenter!’" (372). The gospel of Matthew reports
offended people saying of Christ "Is not this the carpenter’s son?" to which
Jesus replies "A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country" (12:55
& 57). The narrator says of the workers "Even as sheep before their shearers
are dumb, so they were not permitted to open their mouths" (491) which
directly cites Isaiah 53:7--a prophecy about Christ: "He was oppressed, and he
was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth" (see also Acts 8:32 which cites this OT verse in reference to Christ).
It is particularly important that RTP does not envision a traditional
literary Christ figure, but instead it suggests the identification of an entire
class--a down-trodden, marginalized group in the community--with Christ.
And though this is not the typical literary Christ image, it is the exact Christ
image suggested by the original, who identified himself with the hungry, the
thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-45).

While in all his uses of the biblical text Tressell evidences a keen

55

understanding of the Gospel message, he also implies that the message
deserves another messenger. The final pattern of biblical allusions suggests
that Socialism is the replacement for Christianity.

Christianity’s complicity in the present system provides the primary
argument for its replacement. Typically, Tressell uses biblical language to
discredit the "Christians" and to highlight their hypocrisy. As Owen ponders
theology and human existence, he thinks of the "anti-Christs" (see I, II, III
John) who observe all the outward signs of piety but who in fact are "known by
their works to be unbelievers and infidels, unfaithful to the Master they
pretended to serve, their lives being passed in deliberate and systematic
disregard of His teachings and Commandments" (71). Owen’s thoughts are
validated time and again in the narrative action of RTP, which provides
abundant illustrations of just exactly how these "votaries" ignore Christ’s
teachings. Additionally the novel makes it clear that the single most significant
influence for their hypocrisy is the profit motive.

During the teaching chapter, "The Oblong," Owen speaks
convincingly on this point. In a discussion of wealth and poverty, Owen
observes:

. . . while the present Money System remains, it will be impossible
to do away with poverty, for heaps [of money or possessions] in
some places mean little or nothing in other places. Therefore

while the money system lasts we are bound to have poverty and
all the evils it brings in its train. (284)

While not so direct an allusion as Tressell sometimes makes, this assessment of

56

capitalism clearly shares the view expressed in I Timothy 6:10--"The love of
money is the root of all evil." This misdirected love permeates the society,
from millionaire entrepreneur to small businessman. Consider, for example,
this narrative comment about the landlord from whom Owen rents his family’s
flat: "All he cared about was money: although he also was a sincere Christian,
he would not have hesitated to let the top flat to Satan himself, provided he
was certain of receiving the rent regularly" (80). Tressell rarely misses an
opportunity to trace the strands in the hegemonic web that ensnares
Mugsborough; in this case, his observation that the landlord is a Christian
juxtaposed with his opinion that the landlord’s primary motivation is income
illustrates this view: that Christians in the present system don’t allow Christ’s
teaching on money and justice to interfere with their smart business practices.
They understand that they cannot serve God and Mammon, though they
would never state in words the true allegiance that their actions proclaim.
Throughout RTP, Tressell lifts up for our inspection the alliance of
capitalism and Christianity. And I suggest that, given the extent to which
these two influence society, they constitute a kind of false religion: a religion
which takes the name of Christ while betraying His teachings, a religion which
pretends to serve the poor while participating in their disenfranchisement. At
times in RTP the hold of this religion on its followers is painfully portrayed.
For example, Crass’s obsequious grovelling before the wealthy businessman,
Adam Sweater, reminds us of the power such a "being" (as Tressell calls him)

holds over the workers. On another occasion, which sharply drives the point

57

home, Tressell offers a striking description of the boss Rushton. Speaking of
the way he would come to a job and stand to watch the work, the narrator
observes that "[Rushton]. . . just stood there like a graven image" (426). Here
Tressell borrows directly from the language of the Ten Commandments, and
thus likens Rushton to the forbidden object of worship (see Exodus 20:4)--the
graven image of the pagan nations surrounding Israel. Characterized by false
piety and empty religious actions, motivated by the lust for money, and
holding the power of life and death over the workers, the present system--the
capitalist system--is shown as rotten and in need of replacement--much like the
wood trim around the windows the philanthropists work with. Or, perhaps,
much like old wine skins.

The novel leaves no doubt, of course, as to what new wine would most
justly satisfy the needs of all people. Interestingly, the descriptions of
Socialists, Socialism, and the future Socialist state frequently appear in terms
that evoke the early Christians, Christian ideology, and the Kingdom of God.
This language strengthens the case for Socialism as the heir of Christianity.

Descriptions of the Clarion van workers and bicycling Socialists
frequently evoke the early Christians, both in their evangelistic fervor (see 462)
and in the hostile responses of some of the crowds (see 464). This hostile
response to the Socialist gospel is also seen at the Beano, where the half dozen
Socialists are all seated at Payne’s--the head carpenter’s--table and where the

11’

others jeer at them: What have you got to say to that?’ they shouted." "’That’s

"1' I" "I I"
I

up against yer They ain’t got nothing to say now. Why don’t some of

58

you get up and make a speech?’" (480). Those who sit at table with the
carpenter (who share Jesus’s profession) are advocates of Socialism; their views
are met by a hostile crowd reminiscent of the crowd at the high priest’s house
who spat at and physically abused Christ, asking him to "Prophesy unto us,
thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?" (Matthew 26:67-68). Similar crowds
would later accost the early Christians.

In fact, the novel’s portrayal of Socialism itself often reminds the reader
of Christian ideology. This connection is in large part implicit. The weight of
testimony that accrues from the words of Christ used to discredit the Present
System align Socialist and Christocentric thought. This union is made more
explicit when Barrington lectures the workers and the narrator says that Owen
had entreated Barrington to "avail himself of [the] opportunity of proclaiming
the glad tidings of the good time that is to be" (506). Both the choice of the
verb "proclaim" and the phrase "glad tidings," together with the notion of a
future time of beneficence, all evoke Christian rhetoric.

Perhaps most striking of all, the future Socialist state is frequently
described in ways that identify it with the kingdom of God; Barrington very
plainly describes the post-Revolution society as one "wherein it will be possible
to put into practice the teachings of Him whom so many now pretend to
follow" (522). Barrington describes the relationship among the classes by using
the image of the body, as Paul does to explain the relationship among
believers in the church: "Each is a necessary and indispensable part of the

whole" (529). In this state, there would be no need for anyone to set aside

59

money, nor to save, for all would find their needs met. Clearly this reminds
the reader of Christ’s encouragement of believers to "take no thought for the
morrow" and to refrain from "laying up treasure on earth" (Matthew 6:34, 19).
Perhaps Barrington’s clearest articulation of this parallel comes in his claim
that "Socialism means Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind" (539).
Similarly, the narrator’s observation about the "Risen Sun of Socialism" (630),
while it can appropriately be understood as a reference to the image borne by
the Clarion vans, cannot be mistaken--especially given Tressell’s deliberate use
of biblical language--as anything but a direct comparison to the "Risen Son of
God."

Finally, a host of supplemental images sustains this reading of Socialism
as the heir of Christ in the future. The pattern discussed above, of the
workers themselves as Christ, is reinforced in different ways throughout the
text. For example, the way the narrator talks about Hunter, describing him as
an evil spirit who wanders up and down the house, likens him to Satan (42).
Additionally, Hunter’s nickname is not only "Misery" and "Nimrod" (for which
there are obvious explanations) but also "Pontius Pilate." The immediate
explanation in this case is less clear, but the nickname suggests that just as
Pilate sold out Christ, so has Hunter sold out the workers. In a similar way,
the disaffected Socialist is described in ways that evoke Judas; for example, he
explains to Barrington that when first converted to Socialism he "was eager to
tell the good news to others," and that he "sacrificed [his] time, [his] money,

[his] health" to do so (585). But after being ill received and injured by those

60

he came to aid, he found a reason to give up his mission: "thrusting his hand
into his trouser pocket [he] drew it out again full of silver coins" (585). For
these pieces of silver, the erstwhile Socialist has become a spokesperson for the
present system. In another such pattern, several times in the novel, the
narrator describes the workers as sheep, the church leaders as wolves. Now
this works quite well just on the level of mimesis: wolves, after all, consume
sheep--or on the level of Marxist metaphor: capitalists consume workers. But
it additionally works on the level of biblical allusion, for in that tradition, to be
a sheep is to be part of God’s flock and to be a wolf is to be the destroyer of
the flock. Christ, the Good Shepherd, said to His disciples "Go your ways:
behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves" (Luke 10:3); Paul, speaking
to the church at Ephesus, warned "For I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock" (Acts 20:29).
In RTP, the narrator, speaking of the workers’ inability to see the ways that
their leaders abuse them, observes that "It was as if a flock of foolish sheep
placed themselves under the protection of a pack of ravening wolves" (582).
In each of these instances, the workers are implicitly described in ways that
identify them with Christ (either as Christ figures--lambs like the lamb of God
or as sheep under the Good Shepherd’s care), and their antagonists (the
masters) with Christ’s antagonists (the metaphoric wolves).

The structure and vision of the novel’s final chapter provide strong
support to the argument I have elucidated here. In this chapter, Tressell

chooses to foreground the contrast between Socialism and "Christianity"; this

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choice clearly indicates the important role this comparison plays in delivering
RTP’s message. The character Barrington links the two scenes of the closing
chapter: one focuses on the Owen family while the other shows us a street
corner sermon.

As the novel’s second Christmas approaches, Owen, Nora, and Frankie
are not prospering: Owen’s health is deteriorating, chronically damaged by
consumption and consequently, Nora and Frankie are doing without many of
the necessaries of life. This gloomy scene is lightened by the appearance of
Barrington, who reveals to Owen that he comes from a wealthy family, that
he receives a generous allowance, and that he will employ these resources to
fund some Socialist evangelizing in the spring. The happy planning is
interrupted by the news that Ruth Easton has left her illegitimate daughter in
the Owen family’s permanent care. Barrington shortly thereafter departs,
accompanied by Frankie, for a stationer’s shop; here, Barrington writes out a
letter which he then gives to Frankie to deliver to Owen and Nora.

Travelling through town, Barrington next comes across a religious
meeting. As he draws near, he sees that Owen’s boss, Rushton, is standing
again under the lamp which bears the message "Be not deceived, God is not
mocked." Surrounding Rushton, a catalogue of those who stand listening--all
upholders of the present system: Sweater, Bosher, Grinder, Didlum, Starvem,
Dauber, Botchit, Smeeriton, Leavit. Accompanying them, the Rev. John Star
who does the "work" for which he is "paid"--a point that the narrator makes

twice. Through the lens the novel has provided, the reader understands that

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this "work" creates nothing, that Rev. Starr is in fact an Idler. Highlighting yet
another hypocrisy, the narrator notes that Rushton addresses the crowd as
"Brothers and Sister," and then the narrator adds that "nobody laughed" at
being thus addressed by a master with a reputation for hard-heartedness.

The narrator leaves Rushton’s sermon for one of his own, a sermon in
which he proclaims the name of Jesus Christ a dozen times, quotes scripture,
and throughout highlights the social justice messages of the gospel. This
sermon, though, is nothing like the one Rushton preaches, neither is it what
his audience wants to hear. The narrative action then returns to Barrington,
who reflects on leaving for the train station that he "would rather go to hell--if
there were such a place--with some decent people, than share ’glory’ with a
crew like this" (627).

At Owen’s flat, where his wife Nora cares for the baby they’ve "adopted,"
they are trying to feel optimistic about a most bleak future, when Frankie
arrives, bearing the letter fi'om Barrington. The envelope includes not only an
encouraging letter, but also money for the Owen family, and for the two
widows, Mrs. Linden and Mrs. White. The narrative action ends with the
family, in a pre-arranged signal, waving a handkerchief out their open
window, just catching a glimpse of Barrington’s white handkerchief out the
open window of his train. Hope and life are, for the time being, restored;
"[a]ll the undefined terror of the future faded away as [they] thought of all this
small piece of paper made possible" (628).

The last five paragraphs of the novel extend the visual range from the

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surrounding Mugsborough streets, to the night sky, and then to the interior
voice of Owen, who contemplates his feelings of foreboding about the state of
the world, in which he sees: "abundant riches, luxury, vice, hypocrisy, poverty,
starvation, and crime" (629). Only revolution, the concluding paragraphs
suggest, can result from these disparities. The last two paragraphs of the
chapter describe the corruption and imminent downfall of capitalism and the
idealism and hopeful future of socialism. But after the revolution, the
narrator envisions a new creation, and speaks of that new creation in terms
that evoke Genesis: the play of dark and light, of light breaking in on the
darkness, and an image of mankind arising, Adam-like, from the dust of the
earth (630). In this new world, the narrator claims, there will be "true
brotherhood" which contrasts sharply with the asserted but never realized
"brotherhood" of Rushton and his company. In this new world, the source of
light will be the risen sun of Socialism.

Certainly it is possible to read these closing scenes as simple melodrama.
In a sense, perhaps most clearly in their rhetoric, they are just this. But in
their content they are far more. In fact the two scenes illustrate for the reader
two versions of "community"--a concept basic to both Christianity and to
Socialism. The scene with Rushton and his colleagues shows how the
capitalists/the church treats the workers; i.e., despite claims of "brotherhood,"
the only role played in their camp by the workers is that they get to carry off
the harmonium, hymnbooks, and undistributed tracts. The people that

Rushton here addresses as "brother" he has been known to fire for the crime

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of speaking to him on the street. While Barrington’s character is in a sense
the deus ex machina of the novel, it can alternatively be read as the realization
of community; that is, the narrative action between Barrington and Owen
illustrates one example of true brotherhood, the Socialist sharing with his
comrades. It perhaps seems like a deus ex machina only because such
behavior is the exception, not at all the rule, in the present system.

As the biblical allusions accumulate, the novel itself takes on additional
importance, becoming something like a prophetic work in its own right. This
is most clearly obvious in these last pages of the novel, which combine hope
for a successful evangelism movement in the spring with an apocalyptic vision
of a socialist future. One narrative comment that appears earlier in the novel
anticipates this reading. After spending some time detailing various dishonest
activities of Rushton and Nimrod, the narrator observes: "These are only a few
of the petty thefts committed by these people. To give anything approaching
a full account of all the rest would require a separate volume" (438-39).
Compare this to the following narrative observation from the Gospel of John:
"And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they
should be written everyone, I suppose that even the world itself would not
contain the books that should be written (21:25)." Certainly this exemplifies
the kind of ironic allusion that Tressell uses elsewhere in RTP. This echo
perhaps also suggests a comparison between the narrator of RTP and the
gospel writer, as well as suggesting that the good news of RTP, like the gospel

of Christ, is preached to the poor (see Matthew 11:5). There is, further, a

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kind of implicit ironic understatement, I think, in the narrator’s comment:
Tressell’s book was, after all, just one book written about a very few members
of the present system. To imagine all the other books that could have been
written from all the other working class voices is to indeed imagine the whole
world, not just a second volume, being filled.

Tressell chose to infuse his socialist text with the authority of another
text that his enemies could not easily discredit: their own sacred book. As I
suggested above, Tressell knew the book better than its so-called adherents,
and it is the fuel of this knowledge that brings fire to his message, providing
light to illumine the hypocrisy of the "Christians." This same light shows the
way that the true mission of Christ could be fulfilled in the world. In this
sense, then, what Tressell envisions is not so much Socialism as a replacement
as it is Socialism as an heir of the Church.

The history of the prophets in Judeo-Christianity is a history of creating
turbulence in the calm air of status quo. In the pre-Christian era, after Israel
acquired a king, prophets believed they were sent by Yahweh to call the nation
back to her path and accordingly they spoke to the rulers of justice. In the
time of Christ, Israel was largely corrupt, its priests serving Rome or
dominated by Rome; into this setting, the early Church came into being with
an alternative vision of what it meant to be God’s people in the world.
Beginning with Constantine’s oflicial sanction, until the present day, the
Church has steadily come to serve or be dominated by the (frequently

capitalist) state. Through the text of his novel, drawing on his familiarity with

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the scriptural text, Tressell is heckling once more; he is calling for an
accounting from those who, he clearly shows, have abandoned their mission.
Though it would be apt to characterize Tressell’s efforts as endeavors to
overturn the tables of commerce in the temple, it is yet important to recall his
statement from the unfinished Preface: "it will be evident that no attack is
made upon sincere religion . . . " (12). This sentiment, taken together with
Tressell’s profound awareness of the social implications of Christ’s teachings--
and the scriptural embodiment of those teachings--reveals a man who took
Christ at his word. That is, in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Robert
Tressell illustrated not the destruction of, but the fulfillment of, the Gospel;
he sought to champion not the Church of the Whited Sepulchre, but the Body
of Christ, made manifest in a living community. His novel envisions a
revolutionary moment of transformation and apocalypse--of praxis and

liberation.

7. Working-Class Fiction

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is most often described as

"working-class" fiction or sometimes as "proletarian" fiction. But what do these
labels signify? Is it the author, the text itself, or the intended audience who is
"working class"? What is the relationship between "working—class" fiction and

other fiction? Must there be a certain percentage of worker-characters in a

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novel before that novel can be called "working-class"? Clearly, to use the label
is to raise many troublesome questions about genre, and in turn, about
canonicity. The last half of the twentieth century has seen challenge after
challenge successfully mounted--and rightfully so-—on the traditional notion of
the literary canon. Some of these challenges have singled out works ignored
by the traditional canon and have championed their cause under various
banners, usually connected with gender, race, or class. In one sense, these
banners have been useful--they have pointed out with great specificity writers
from groups excluded by the old system and have in turn encouraged critical
and pedagogical attention to these writers. But in another sense, these
banners also create problems. While their initial use is meant to draw
attention to particular works, it is likely that their continued use will draw
walls around these same works, in effect ghettoizing those included under
their heading. _Rgaj literature, one might be tempted to think, needs no labels-
-it is just these "alternative" literatures that must be thus identified.

The use of the term "working-class literature" or "working-class novel"
represents exactly this kind of potential problem. In the geography of the
literary landscape, the very act of labelling creates a space that represents a
kind of inadequacy. The life that is intended for art’s mirror needs no label,
after all; it will not be overlooked. The assumption informing such a view is
that only m of human experience is fit subject for fiction. Readers who
define the province of fiction as encompassing such worthy topics as the course

of a bourgeois romance or the dissolution of an aristocratic family are less

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likely to turn their attention to a working-man’s struggle to feed his family or
the strains put on his marriage from his failure to acquire bread. Such
readers fall unconsciously into the same trap that ensnared Sir Walter Scott,
who, in 1824, described the novel as "a fictitious narrative . . . accommodated
to the ordinary train of human events." His description, which sounds so
commonsensical, upon reflection requires one to ask: just what is "ordinary"
when speaking of "human events"? One’s vantage point in society determines
what one sees as normal, typical, average. If "status quo" were substituted for
"ordinary . . . human events," would Scott’s meaning be substantially altered?
In fact, when Scott was writing, had not the novel itself, in its narrow focus on
bourgeois life and manners, served not only to mirror but perhaps to more
firmly establish this way of life as the norm? In this way, then, the "ordinary"
comes to be, or to seem, the "ordained." Of course, it can continue to seem
this way only so long as readers keep their eyes directed just to the privileged
areas of life’s stage.

In his 1890 essay "Where Are We Now?", William Morris criticizes
novels which relate nothing more than "the troubles of a middle-class couple in
their struggle towards social uselessness" and contrasted with them what he
called "genuine tales of history." History here clearly refers not simply to the
struggles and conquests of the ruling class, but to the everyday struggles of
individual citizens that shape societies and cultures in ways as profound as war.
Only the socially useless exempt themselves from genuine history. In this

view, to ignore the workers or other marginal groups is to deny their

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participation in social reality. Feminist critic Mary Eagleton has pointed out
that exclusion from the discourses of the universities, of law, politics, and
finance must "structure [the] oppression" of those thus disenfranchised (197).
The novel functions as public discourse and thus both mirrors and shapes
public opinion; exclusion from the discourse of fiction because of limited access
to publishing, or to critical attention, is a form of oppression. To the extent
that some writers have been excluded from the canon, they have also been
effectively excluded from speaking of their oppression. In fact, the exclusion
becomes a part of the oppression, perhaps the cruelest part: the silencing of
voices desperate to speak.

Many British writers in the 1840’s and 1850’s sought to speak for these
silenced voices, producing novels that focused on what Carlyle called the
"condition-of-England" question. These writers took as their subject not
middle-class or aristocratic life, but instead a group within society that had in
earlier fiction been invisible or had served at best as villain or as comic relief:
the workers. Many factors contributed to this refocused attention. The
industrialization of England was creating a more urbanized country, and one
whose class system was dividing into more and more component parts. The
secularization of England was creating a society in which hierarchical order
and the rights assumed to attend it were no longer taken as ordained by God.
The education of England’s workers enabled them to take part in their fight
for the vote and in the inevitable conflicts that ensued as a result of the chaos

in society. It was thought by many that if these class difficulties could not be

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cleared up, then England could expect its own version of the French
Revolution. Together with, or perhaps growing out of, these social
considerations, the development of Realism in fiction also did much to draw
authorial attention to those whose lives afforded some of the most painful
realities. These novelists were, for the most part, of middle and upper class
background and their paths in life had not typically brought them through
most of these painful realities. Necessarily, this colored their reading of
working-class life.

One of these novelists, Elizabeth Gaskell, observes in her 1848 novel
Mary Bgrton that the workers during the hungry 40’s "only wanted a Dante to
record their sufferings" (96; Ch. VIII). But even such a skillful writer, she
notes, "would fall short of" portraying clearly "the awful truth." In making this
observation, Gaskell wants to convey that the reality of these years was so
dreadful that even so expressive a writer as Dante could not do it justice. Her
observation also suggests another possibility: that these sufferings could be best
conveyed not by a mere observer--even a Dante-hut by one who experienced
them. Perhaps hell must be inhabited to be understood; certainly it must be
understood before its anguish may be conveyed. In either case, the reader
must come to believe in hell before the anguish can be seen.

The gradually-increasing inclusion of working-class concerns in
nineteenth century literature is an evolutionary process. To study it is to trace
at once the gradually more audible voice of the working-classes as well as the

growing awareness of working-class existence among readers of other classes.

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Joseph Conrad’s definition of the novel speaks tellingly in this context:

What is a novel if not a conviction of our fellow-men’s existence
strong enough to take upon itself a form of imagined life clearer
than reality and whose accumulated verisimilitude of selected
episodes puts to shame the pride of documentary history?
(cited in Keating Haunted 286)
The political context of class relations makes it critical that this "imagined life"
be produced from an awareness of daily working-class life and of the working
out of political/economic ideologies in that life. That is, to define a group in
society by means of the part it plays in that society’s economic life is necessarily
to engage in a political discussion. Authors, too, are part of that economic life
and do not function as unbiased spectators of their "fellow-men"; thus, the class
affiliation of an author becomes an issue of importance. The search for a
working-class voice, an expression of working-class concerns growing from felt
experience, is central to the development of working-class fiction.
For this study I have selected nine well-known novels and a collection of
short fiction that focus on the working class. I chose these not because I
believe that all speak with equal authority or that each accurately depicts its
subject; rather, I chose these because they have been widely read and have
therefore been influential in shaping opinions about the working class. To
answer the question: "What is working-class fiction?" I will speak from the

context of literary history, which will suggest what working-class fiction had

been to the community of readers in the decades preceding Tressell. Having

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determined the salient characteristics of this fiction, I will then discuss how

Tressell’s contribution to this tradition distinguishes itself.

Sybil (1845)

Set in Mowbray (fictionalized Manchester), Benjamin Disraeli’s novel
points out in sharp detail the split between the ruling and laboring classes in
England. "The Two Nations," of course, is the novel’s subtitle or alternative
title, and these two nations are the rich and the poor. Syb_il is an apt work
with which to begin the discussion, for it is very much concerned with the
question of who should best speak for the People.

Essentially, the plot pits Stephen Morley, an articulate and radical
worker, against Charles Egremont, the younger son of a wealthy "landlord"
family. The two characters vie for the love of Sybil Gerard, the daughter of
Chartist leader Walter Gerard, and thus for the position of leader of the
People. Stephen is an admirable character, but very earnest, very driven, by
his political and social vision. A teetotaler and a vegetarian, he is also a scholar
with a radical (but not violent) vision for England. He believes that "the
people never can have their rights until they produce competent champions
from their own order" (169; Bk. III, Ch. 5). This character is held up for
admiration; Gerard says of him:

’the world will hear of him yet, though he was only a workman

and the son of a workman. He has not been at your schools and
your colleges, but he can write his mother tongue as Shakespeare

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and Cobbett wrote it; and you must do that, if you wish to
influence the people. (134; Bk. 11, Ch. 16)
The novel gradually allows Stephen’s views to be undercut, though; for
example, Walter Gerard (described by the narrator as "the real friend and
champion of the People"), despite his fond regard for Stephen, characterizes
him as "crotchety" and as guided by "odd fancies."

Stephen’s competitor for Sybil’s affection, Charles Egremont, is a
sincere, well-intentioned young man who, born to a wealthy family, yet lacks
direction. He is in many ways quite the opposite of Stephen Morley. The
novel opens with Egremont, determined to stick by his bets, having backed the
wrong horse for the Derby. The reader soon learns that this is only one of
many ways that Charles is not quite successful in life; he has his mother’s
regard, but he lacks the family fortune, held by his elder brother. Likewise,
he has lost to his elder brother the first real love of his life-~because he had no
fortune. Egremont is very much casting about for direction to his life.
Characterized as a man who "knew nothing" of "the condition of the people"
(47; Bk. 11, Ch. I), linked by birth to the landlord class, posed as a working
man in order to get close to Sybil and her father, and finally a Member of
Parliament who hears and rejects the Chartist cause, he ultimately finds the
direction he lacks in Sybil. And thus he enters into competition with Stephen
Morley for her love.

Disraeli’s view of who best could lead the people can not be doubted,

then, when in the end Stephen Morley dies at the hands of a yeoman, led by

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Egremont in defense of a castle mobbed by the People. It is revealed to Sybil
that she has noble blood; she marries Egremont; they will clearly come to lead
the people, even as Sybil herself had prophesied early on "Were I a prince I
know no career that I should deem so great" as to lead the people. By the
novel’s end, she and her new husband have clearly become almost princely in
rank and wealth, and we have no doubt that they will embark upon their

natural leadership of the people. Noblesse oblige, after all.

Mary Barton (1848)

Though the setting in place and time are very nearly exact (Manchester
in the late 1830’s, early 1840’s), Mary Barton conveys a very different story
than does SM. In this novel the primary setting lies in the working-class
homes of Manchester and there is no sense that the time spent in this setting is
for "local color"; rather, the Barton family’s experience lies at the novel’s
center. Nor does Elizabeth Gaskell’s vision of society fall so neatly into
leaders/followers as Disraeli’s; instead, her vision is one of mediation between
the "two nations." Her novel is shot through with discussions of the need for
humans to be aware of each other, to not overlook the suffering that is right in
front of them; the story she tells seeks to convey some of that suffering.
Speaking of some of the deprivations of the poor, the narrator observes that

"surely, in a Christian land, it was not known even so feebly as words could tell

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it, or the more happy and fortunate would have thronged with their sympathy
and their aid" (96; Ch. VIII).

It is this belief, that to know would surely be to feel compassion, which
Gaskell asserts as inspiring the Chartist movement. That is, if the government
only knew of the people’s suffering, of course they’d respond immediately and
appropriately by voting to approve the People’s Charter. Gaskell’s narrative
compellingly tells of the trip from Manchester to London, of the hopes of the
half-starved representatives, who carry with them all sorts of messages to
Parliament from those who remain behind, and finally, of their shock at the
utter rejection which comes from Parliament. In fact, the novel may be read
as an effort to mediate between the forces which did not meet on that day in
1839. She seeks to make the attitudes of earnest workers who suffer the
indignities of poverty understandable to those in her audience whose
allegiance is to the ruling class. "These . . . men" she tells us "have endured
wrongs without complaining, but without ever forgetting or forgiving those
who (they believe) have caused all this woe" (24; Ch. III).

The most clearly articulated of any such moment comes in the novel’s
closing pages, in a conversation between the old worker/naturalist Job Legh
and the wealthy owner of a mill, Mr. Carson. Here, in particular, the
connection between Gospel and daily choices in business is made again and
again, Job Legh making reference to the loving, Christ-like way to act and Mr.
Carson taking the angle of political economy. Job Legh concludes his part of

the discussion in this way:

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The masters has it on their own conscience,--you have it on
yours, sir, to answer for to God, whether you’ve done, and are
doing all in your power to lighten the evils that seem always to
hang on the trades by which you make your fortunes.

(455; Ch. XXXVII)

Throughout the novel, Gaskell turns the question away from the rule of

political economy and toward the Golden rule of the Gospel.

Alton Locke (1850)

Clergyman Charles Kingsley’s novel strongly continues the Christian
themes advanced by Gaskell, but takes a far more angry, at times sarcastic tone
than that taken by either Gaskell or Disraeli. Alton Locke, the protagonist, is a
tailor’s journeyman, a Cockney, the son of a small businessman. The first
third of the narrative shows the reader the interior view of sweat shops and
their associated hardships; the narrator does not hesitate to charge the reader
with various duties, for example, when he suggests that those well-off "ought
to know what the men are like to whose labour, ay, life-blood, they owe their
luxuries. They are ’their brothers’ keepers,’ let them deny it as they will" (27;
Ch. 11). Through Alton’s efforts to educate himself the reader is shown the
sacrifice such education costs the workers; more importantly, the reader meets
articulate and even eloquent workers.

Much of the plot is taken up with the conflict between Alton and his

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cousin, George, whose father was far more successful in life than was Alton’s;
consequently, George is looking at a much brighter future than is Alton. He’s
preparing for his Cambridge education and a career in the Church. This
conflict reaches its pitch as the cousins both fall in love with Lillian, a wealthy
and beautiful young woman. Alton’s infatuation with Lillian causes him to
deny some of his strongest political instincts, and this leads him to take
decisions which undercut his power to speak for the workers. He realizes his
error and, in a bid to re-establish his reputation with his estranged Chartist
associates, volunteers for a dangerous political action. This involves Alton in
circumstances which send him to jail for three years; during his jail term, his
cousin George succeeds in winning Lillian’s hand.

The final third of the book shows Alton as he comes more and more
under the influence of Lillian’s cousin, the aristocratic Lady Ellenton. This
aristocrat, however, is a Christian Socialist who has given her money to the
poor and lived among the poor as a workwoman. Several pages late in the
novel are taken up with Eleanor’s "speech" to Alton and a Chartist companion
in which she lays out the tenets of Christian Socialism.

Alton Locke is interesting in its occasional vivid portrait of awful
working conditions and for a spectacularly disgusting portrait of an East End
neighborhood where poverty has completely degraded life. Its portrayal of a
"poet of the People" is also noteworthy, contributing as it does to the collection
of educated laborers presented in these novels. The relationship between

Alton and Eleanor is troubling, for she is a Lady Bountiful, an upper class

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woman who hopes to "find a man of the people, whom [she] could train
[emphasis mine] to be the poet of the people" (384; Ch. XL). And Kingsley’s
goal, if we can take Eleanor’s encouragement of Alton as voicing Kingsley’s
own goals, is also a little troubling:

’publish . . . an honest history of your life; extenuating nothing,

exaggerating nothing, ashamed to confess or to proclaim nothing.

It may perhaps awaken some rich man to look down and take

pity on the brains and hearts more noble than his own, which lie

struggling in poverty and misguidance, among these foul sties,

which civilization rears--and calls them cities’. (387; Ch. XLI)
The truly troubling element here is the notion that "pity" is the feeling that
needs to be awakened; the reference to "brains and hearts more noble" only
somewhat redeems the sentiment. Perhaps the feeling of being preached to is
unavoidable, given Kingsley’s pastoral vocation and his own strong
commitment to Christian Socialism. It is important to note that Kingsley
believed not only in the need for justice to be applied to the impoverished in

his society, but also in the reality of intelligent, articulate workers who could

function as something other than the recipients of charity.

Hard Times (1854)

To mention 19th century English working-class fiction to most readers
is very likely to remind them of Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times. And
certainly the "labouring people" as he refers to them do receive a good deal of

attention. The main focus in this novel, however, is utilitarianism, its influence

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on education, and what could result from this influence. So the reader’s
experience of the narrative comes largely through the middle-class perspective
of the Gradgrind family, and in particular of Tom and Louisa Gradgrind’s
unhappy progress from childhood to adulthood. The workers, or "Hands,"
enter the narrative in a secondary spot, mainly through the story of Stephen
Blackpool but also through the narrator’s observations on the nature and
behavior of the workers. The reader sees mainly two visions of the workers in
this narrative: one offered by the narrator’s direct observations or by his less-
direct, sympathetic presentation of the workers; another offered from the
insufferable and condescending Josiah Bounderby, the boss of the mill where
Stephen Blackpool is employed.

Through the narrator, the reader hears an account of society’s
commonly-held view of the workers: that they don’t attend church, and that
perhaps the House of Commons should pass a law to make them; that,
according to the Teetotal Society, they drink to excess; that, according to the
chemist and the druggist, they take opium; that, according to the chaplain of
the jail, they go to dance halls and behave immorally; and that, as Gradgrind
and Bounderby sum it up, they are "a bad lot altogether," evidenced by their
thanklessness, their restlessness, their inability to know their own wants, their
desire to live only on the best of things, and in general their eternally
dissatisfied and unmanageable demeanor. The narrator, noting all these views
asserts that perhaps all of this is the fault of utilitarianism, and that perhaps

these behaviors are "Fancy . . . demanding to be brought into healthy

8O

existence" (67; Bk. 1, Ch. 5). At other points in the text, the narrator speaks
of the dissatisfied Hand as one of the "popular fictions" of Coketown (211; Bk.
11, Ch. 8) and of the Hands as "a race who would have found more favour
with some people, if Providence had seen fit to make them only hands" (102;
Bk. 1, Ch. 10). Like Gaskell, Dickens alludes to self-educated workers who
"piecing together their broken intervals of leisure through many years, had
mastered difficult sciences, and acquired a knowledge of most unlikely things"
(103; Bk. 1, Ch. 10). Bounderby’s own view of the workers, frequently
asserted in the course of the narrative, is that workers who voice any
dissatisfaction at all with the system are actually longing to be fed "turtle soup
and venison, with a gold spoon." Thus he undercuts their valid complaints by
casting them in hyperbolic fashion. Throughout most of the novel, his views
are seconded by the unctuous Mrs. Sparsit and the self-serving Bitzer.

Many readers have criticized Dickens for apparently pandering to
popular views of the union agitator in his presentation of Slackbridge; it is easy
to read this character as a kind of tradeoff to the public ("think a little better of
the workers, Gentle Reader, and I’ll admit that the union leaders are scum"),
or perhaps as an indication that Dickens’ sympathies truly could not
encompass trades unionism. After all, he puts in Bounderby’s mouth the
assessment of Slackbridge as "a regular qualified leader of the people: that is, a
most confounded scoundrel" (178; Bk. 11, Ch. 5) and in Blackpool’s the
acquiescence in this assessment. However, Blackpool asserts that it is M by

such mischievous strangers as Slackbridge that the troubles are made, but by

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the system itself; this essentially defuses the criticism of trades unionism by

noting that even if the criticisms are just, they do not address the real

problem:
’tis hopeless an useless to dream 0’ takin’ them fro their trade,
’stead o’ takin their trade fro them! All that’s now about me in
this room were heer afor I coom, an will be heer when I am
gone. Put that clock aboard a ship an pack it off to Norfolk
Island, an the time will go on just the same. So ’tis wi’
Slackbridge every bit. (181; Bk. 11, Ch. 5)

Dickens’ portrait of the workers has in common with Gaskell’s the
emphasis on love as an answer, though his view is less explicitly Christian than
hers. He criticizes the "tabular statements," i.e., statistics, that offer all kinds of
explanations for the weaknesses of the workers’ characters, and offers in his
narrative an alternative explanation that lies in the system within which they
labor. Still, sympathetic as he is, Dickens’ portrait of the working-class offers
only Stephen Blackpool--inarticulate and humbly honest--and Slackbridge--
slick and full of rhetoric. Though he mentions well-educated and articulate
workers, he does not introduce any in his novel; though he offers up for
sacrifice the trades union movement, he does not offer in its place any other
leader of the people. All of these things are lost in his portrait of
utilitarianism, and his ending would suggest, I think, that love is all we need to
address these problems. This is emotionally satisfying, even moving, but

avoids the tough political questions. Still, we must value the novel for offering

its reader what Louisa Bounderby’s visit to Stephen Blackpool offered her:

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For the first time in her life, Louisa had come into one of the
dwellings of the Coketown Hands; for the first time in her life,
she was face to face with anything like individuality in connexion
with them. She knew of their existence by hundreds and by
thousands. She knew what results in work a given number of
them would produce, in a given space of time. She knew them in
crowds passing to and from their nests, like ants or beetles. But
she knew fi‘om her reading infinitely more of the ways of toiling
insects than of these toiling men and women. (187: Bk. 11, Ch.

5)

North and South (1855)

Before Hard Times was initially published in serial format in the spring
of 1854, Dickens’ attention had been drawn to Elizabeth Gaskell’s M311
B_ar_to_n; he made contact with her and solicited work for publication in his
magazine Household Words. In this venue, Gaskell’s North and South first
appeared in the fall of 1854, following soon after Hard Times. The novel was
published as a complete text in 1855.

North and South offers a view of contrasting lives in many senses,
including that implied in the title, the difference between the north and the
south of England. The novel also addresses class contrasts, providing the
reader with glimpses of upper-class life in London, of the genteel but not
wealthy life led by the Hales in the Helstone parsonage, of the poor residents
of the agrarian counties in the south of England, of the wealthy but not

educated industrialists of Manchester (the novel’s Milton-Northern), and of the

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impoverished workers of Manchester. The novel frequently pursues courses
which take the reader on a tour of the prejudices with which these characters
view those different from themselves. These differences well established,
Gaskell’s primary goal comes clear--mediation among those who view each
other with suspicion.

North grid South lacks the primary focus on the workers that
characterizes Mary Barton and thus seems to be "about" more than working-
class lives. The workers’ lives do play an important role, but in this novel it is
subordinate to the main plot of the Hale family difficulties and the relationship
between Margaret Hale and John Thornton. Still, the reader gains a great
deal of information about and sympathy for the workers. The unhealthy
working conditions of the mills, the way that the poor see after the poor, the
assertion from a worker that the wealthy do not really value what the Bible
says, and the feeling on the part of the workers that the owners are hard-
hearted about their suffering are eloquently and sympathetically expressed.
But the reader sees, too, the workers from the perspective of the owners, and
this is true to a far greater extent than in Mary Barton.

As I have suggested, Gaskell’s goal of mediation very much informs this
novel, and that mediation is aimed in multiple directions. While her primary
goal is mediation between owners and workers, she is yet clearly interested in
allowing her readers of any particular persuasion to hear viewpoints they
might not normally hear. For example, class prejudices, frequently expressed

by Margaret Hale in the novel’s opening chapters, begin to alter when she

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actually meets some individuals workers, notably Bessy Higgins and her father.
"As she went along the crowded narrow streets, she felt how much of interest
they had gained by the simple fact of her having learnt to care for a dweller in
them" (99; Bk. 1, Ch. XIII). And late in the novel, Margaret tries to mediate
between Oxford (Mr. Bell) and Manchester (Mr. Thornton) to provide each
with a greater insight into the other.

In North gnd South, as in Mary Barton, Gaskell offers a very
sympathetic and helpfully detailed view of working-class life. Her political
views are very much directed by her religious beliefs, and are thus informed
by a sense of the importance of loving and valuing the individual. In her
view, this value of the individual flies in the face of competition--but it also flies
in the face of the trades union movement, at least inasmuch as the union
engages in divisive treatment, such as the "sending to Coventry" of workers
who refuse to join. The Reverend Mr. Hale offers his opinion that the unions
would be "Christianity itself" if they could work for the good of all, rather than
for one class; at another point, the narrator speaks of the "deep selfishness of
competition"; I suggest that Gaskell sees the Union as just manifesting another
form of competition, a seeking of power over another group, rather than the
goal she would suggest--that of mutual cooperation with an awareness of the
ways that the good of masters and men are intertwined. As Margaret observes
to the mill-owner Thornton: " . . . I see two classes dependent on each other in
every possible way, yet each evidently regarding the interests of the other as

opposed to their own" (118; Bk 1, Ch. XV).

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Felix Holt (1866)

Chronologically, in terms of the narrative action, George Eliot’s novel
looks back farther, much earlier in the century than the fiction previously
discussed, to 1832--the period just preceding the first Reform Bill. The
narrative action precedes all that I have so far discussed, but the novel was
written after the works by Disraeli, Gaskell, and Dickens, and after the failure
of Chartism. This is just one way that Felix Holt complicates this study.

For this novel really has very little to do with the working-class. The
protagonist himself, previously apprenticed to a doctor but having determined
to make his living as a watchmaker, is very vocal about his ideas and his
advocacy of the working class. But he is in almost every way presented in
externals, through rhetoric, and thus seems not quite "real" to the reader. In
the development of the plot, Holt represents one choice available to the
beautiful Esther Lyon, while the wealthy Harold Transome is the other choice.
Both men describe themselves as "Radicals," but only Holt really deserves the
name.

Apart from Felix, the other working-class characters presented in the
novel are doltish fellows, as selfish in their way as the upper classes. The only
other articulate voice speaking for the workers is identified as a "trades union
man" who voices Chartist arguments, but he is not viewed sympathetically by
the narrator; in fact, the plot ends up pitting Holt against this speaker. The

other workers appear at their worst during the Treby Riot, which ends in

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Felix Holt’s arrest for murder. In the end he of course is vindicated and wins
Esther’s hand.

George Eliot’s view of the common people in her novel is troublesome,
as is her stance, voiced by her protagonist, that social reform must precede
political reform. That is, before the workers push very hard for the vote, they
should work to improve themselves personally so that they are worthy of the
vote and handle it wisely. This is the view that informs Felix Holt’s views in
the novel, and it is also the view expressed in an "Address to Working Men by
Felix Holt" which was solicited of Eliot by Blackwood and appeared in January
1868. Why workers should need to prove themselves worthy when worthiness
is assumed for the upper classes or householders is not clear.

These six novels, published over a span of twenty-one years, manifest
varying degrees of paternalism towards the workers. Elizabeth Gaskell offers
the least condescending version, while the honor of most patronizing must be
jointly held by Benjamin Disraeli and George Eliot. Kingsley, while showing
an articulate and intelligent worker, nevertheless makes him subordinate to an
aristocrat who hopes to "train" him; this suggests a relationship between classes
similar to that envisioned by Disraeli. Dickens’ most detailed portrait of a
worker is the pathetic Stephen Blackpool, goodhearted but neither keen of
mind nor fiery of spirit. Most notably, none of these novels offer the reader
an understanding of what Raymond Williams has called "work as a primary
kind of consciousness" (Problems 220); that is, the text reveals nothing of what

a life defined by work might be.

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All Sorts and Conditions of Men (1882)

Walter Besant’s novel offers the reader, in Peter Keating’s words, a
"bizarre slum pastoral"--an apt characterization. Reading the two-part
Prologue, which sets up the separate improbable plans of wealthy heiress
Angela Messenger and of upper-class nurtured but working-class natured
Harry Goslett (previously Harry Le Breton), the reader has no doubt that
these two will eventually wed; of course they do, and it is their courtship, full
of Shakespearian plottings and counterfeits, which earns the "pastoral" label.

Despite this bit of fictive fun, Besant’s main concern is to illustrate the
boredom, the tedium, the lack of imagination which characterize working-class
lives. Like Eliot, Besant is concerned with the social reform of the working
classes. It is the "Palace of Delight" (read, People’s Palace) with which his
protagonists will seek to address these ills. Besant glosses over the ugliness of
the East End lives he portrays, and almost completely ignores the work which
drives them. There is little sense, then, of how workers spend their time; for
example, speaking of Miss Messenger’s East End business, the narrator says
"we need not follow her" into the "details . . . concerning the conduct of a
dressmakery" (93; Ch. VIII). The narrator offers a little more regarding Mr.
Goslett, who for most of the novel merely flan—s to work as a cabinetmaker.
This craft, we are told, was the first to organize and is populated by workers
who are intelligent, possessed of good taste, and who take pride in their work.

There’s not much sense, though, about what that work would be and what

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skill would be involved.

The novel’s answer to the question of who may best lead the People
would please Disraeli. Harry Goslett has a cousin, Dick, who is articulate but
not yet a deep thinker. The narrator characterizes Dick in this way: "I do not
think he would himself go a—murdering of kings and priests, but I fancy he
regards these things as accidents naturally rising out of pardonable
enthusiasm" (172; Ch. XIX). The plot brings the cousins together at a
working-man’s debate, where Dick speaks and receives wild applause. Elated
by this reception, he thinks to himself that he "would be the Leader of the
People" (243; Ch. XXVIII); unfortunately, within minutes his speech is
completely upstaged by the genteelly-bred Harry, who it turns out by the
novel’s end is actually to be the Leader of the People-powered, of course, by
Miss Messenger’s millions. Harry encourages the workers to seek to address
the manifestations of powerlessness that afflict their lives--adulterated food,
poor housing, ill treatment of female workers--but discourages them from

seeking to address the source of powerlessness--the political system itself.

Out of Work (1888)

"In society gold smelts ’all sorts and conditions of men’ together"
observes the narrator in Margaret Harkness’s (who published pseudonymously
as John Law) novel; the opening pages offer a vivid contrast to Besant’s vision.

Here, a crowd gathered around the Palace of Delight (significant that

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Harkness uses Besant’s fictive name for the actual place, the People’s Palace) is
described as "sullen, ugly" and the narrator hints that they may "a year or so
hence prove dangerous" (2; Ch. I). The novel’s initial scene, in a Wesleyan
chapel, sets up the themes of the smugness of the saved toward the unsaved,
of the complacency of the well-fed toward the hungry. The theme receives
further articulation in the frequent assertion by one devout woman: "Don’t tell
me there isn’t work to be had, if young men care to do it" (36; Ch. 11).

Out of Work--for obvious reasons--does not provide much detail about
what work itself might involve; it does, however, provide a sense of workers as
men with specific abilities--the narrator speaks of "skilled workmen whose
trades are itching at their fingers’ ends" (65; Ch. IV) and frequently refers to
the carpenters’ work baskets filled with the particular tools of their trade.
Given this understanding of skilled labourers who are accustomed to seeing
themselves as men of some talent, the narrative’s pursuit of Joseph Coney’s
gradual destruction is especially poignant: defined within the system by his
ability to work at a particular trade, he is then denied by that same system any
opportunity of plying his trade. Watching his wealthy countrymen in Hyde
Park, Joseph thinks to himself "not one of these . . . knew what it was to be
hungry, had felt the sting of being ’out of work’, the pang of feeling "I am not
wanted" (89; Ch. VI). Clearly, Joseph feels not merely the physical deprivation
wrought by hunger, but also the psychological devastation wrought by a sense
of uselessness.

Out of Work concerns itself little with the question of who is to lead the

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people; Harkness’s protagonist is a particularly (or perhaps a typically) quiet
young man:

His attitude towards the public was one of silence; he listened to
conversation, but seldom said more than ’yes’ and ’no.’ He could
talk if he chose; in fact,he was sometimes surprised when he
heard himself talking, for, like many uneducated men, he knew
more than he was conscious of knowing; but he preferred to sit
still and listen, to see and hear, and keep quiet. (129; Ch. X)

At one point in the narrative, Joseph finds temporary employment as a dock
labourer. Observing the huge warehouses that stand near the docks, he thinks
to himself that it is "a horrible injustice" that hungry men should have to work
amid such plenty. "He could not say why it was wrong exactly; and he kept
his thoughts to himself, for he was a very silent man, very much afraid of
being laughed at" (168; Ch. XIII).

That there are less silent workers, more willing to risk censure, is also
testified to in Out of Work. The narrative includes the much-publicized
unemployment demonstrations preceding Bloody Sunday (13 November
1887); in one scene, an unemployed worker, motivated by reactionary
newspaper accounts, addresses his peers in this way:

’Now I don’t pay much attention to [these articles], for I know
they’re written by folks as never ’ad a wife ill from want of food,
and children starving. If I stood ’ere, and told you ’ow folks live
up in Jupiter, you’d say, ’None of your rubbish.’ It’s just so with
the folks as write in the papers, the chaps in Parliament, and the
upper classes. They don’t know what they’re talking about.
When I ’ear ’em talk, and read the stuff they write, I says to
myself, ’None of your rubbish.’ Now the papers say no
respectable men have been at these ere demonstrations, nothing

but roughs and idle chaps what wouldn’t work if they got the
chance. One chap tells us ’ow ’e set three men to work for ’im,

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and ’ow they went off to a public-’ouse. Another chap says he
sent a shoulder of mutton to a family what said they were
starving, and they asked for onion sauce to give it a relish. Says I
to myself, ’None of your rubbish.’ Now becos the papers tell lies
like this, I’ve come down ’ere, mates, in my dinner hour, to show
’em that I’m a legitimate British labourer, like thousands of men
who’re now tramping the streets with empty pockets. 1 know,
though I’ve got work to-day, I may be sacked to-morrow
morning, and then I’ll have nothing to do but tramp the streets,
or go to the work’us.’ (191-92; Ch. XIV)
Not only does this speaker provide a contrast with silent Joseph; he also
suggests a possible response toward working-class fiction written by non-
workers: "None of your rubbish." Which is to say, if readers are going to
pursue the "imagined li[ves]" of workers, they should be sure that the author
has got it right.

Would-be leaders of the people are present in Out of Work but they are
peripheral to the "silent" protagonist, who no doubt stands for much of his
class. The novel, in its portrayal of the more vocal workers, suggests
something of their complaints and hopes; thus the reader is aware that Joseph
exists in a larger world, even if Joseph is not really sure about that world’s
boundaries. For example, in his early days in London, Joseph takes his
sweetheart to Victoria Park where they run across "some men . . . arguing and
lecturing on all sorts of subjects connected with politics and religion" (46; Ch.
111). And Joseph makes a friend of a dock labourer who "talk[s] like a book" on
the subject of work and politics (168; Ch. XIII). One such leader, the anarchist

Robinson, dreams of being "the poet of the people" and he attempts to convey

some of his passion to Joseph; but in response, all Joseph can do is "vaguely

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wonder why [Robinson] was so excited" (155; Ch. XII). In fact, Joseph never
does come to understand the larger context of politics and ideology that
directs his life; even when caught up in the chaos of Bloody Sunday and jailed
in Bow Street, he does not grasp the connections. He understands vaguely
that there are too many workers, not enough work--but he views this
fatalistically. He senses, too, that there is some kind of injustice going on, but
he cannot analyze it. Demoralized by the insecurity of his life and in poor
health from his lack of food and lodging in London, he eventually returns to
his home village to die of exposure and hunger. Here, the local inquest
cannot even agree on his death by starvation, since he has yet a shilling in his
pocket. Thus he recedes into local myth as the latest manifestation of the

wandering tramp who dies in Ellsworth village.

The Nether World (1889)

In The Nether World, perhaps George Gissing’s finest novel of
working-class life, the narrator offers this observation--an appropriate follow-
up to the novels discussed thus far:

Well, as every one must needs have his panacea for the ills of
society, let me inform you of mine. To humanise the multitude
two things are necessary--two things of the simplest kind
conceivable. In the first place, you must effect an entire change
of economic conditions . . . then you must bring to bear on the

new order of things the constant influence of music. (109; Ch.
XII)

93

That working-class life, the life of the multitude, is in need of humanization is
clear from the novel’s opening, which envisions the evening rush hour in
terms of animals released from work: men and women are "unyoking" from
their places, erupting from them as from "hives," and making their way home,
or "stablewards." They are identified by their labor, and by that labor made a
part of commerce: "Workers in metal, workers in glass and in enamel, workers
in wood, workers in every substance on earth, or from the waters under the
earth, that can be made commercially valuable" (l 1; Ch. 11). But these animal-
like laborers have feelings toward their craft. For example, of the protagonist
Sidney Kirkwood who works as a jeweler, the narrator observes: "He had no
liking for his craft, and being always employed upon the meaningless work
which is demanded by the rich vulgar, he felt such work to be paltry and
ignoble" (57; Ch. VI). Of a more mundane craft, die-sinking, the narrator
observes that it "is not the craft it once was; cheap methods, vulgarising here as
everywhere, have diminished the opportunities of capable men" (70; Ch. VIII).
In these two instances, Gissing raises points other writers have left untouched:
that a worker might like or dislike his craft, and might do so based on the
usefulness of that which his labor produced; and, that industrialization, not in
every case a boon, has resulted in the cheapening of product, therefore of
process, necessarily of the producer. This degradation of labor is only one of
many degradations experienced daily in the nether world.

Gissing cites among these experiences the absence of "the speech which

brings relief"; i.e., he suggests that the kind of silent man that Harkness

94

portrayed in Joseph Coney may in fact be not just restrained in manner but
constrained in fact. For example, Gissing’s pathetic character John Hewett has
"no gift of expression whatever" but nevertheless speaks on Clerkenwell Green
in "brief stammering protests against this or that social wrong" with "an honest,
indeed . . . a pathetic sound" (53; Ch. VI). Hewett is later characterized as
"uncalculating" and "inarticulate," though driven by a "spirit of revolt" (79; Ch.
IX).

Apart from his modest proposal to "effect an entire change of economic
conditions," Gissing does not pose clear ideological cures for working class ills;
in fact, he discredits many of the common responses. Radicalism he speaks of
as "the outcome of a noble heart sheltered by ignorance," (57; Ch. VI) and the
advocacy of universal suffrage as a cure for social injustices he characterizes as
"lacking common sense" (53; Ch. VI). Social reform is suspect, especially when
so many of its adherents hold the opinion that the poor are thriftless and thus
responsible for their own poverty. "They talk about thriftiness, and it just
means that poor people are expected to practise a self-denial that the rich
can’t even imagine, much less carry out!" (175; Ch. XX) Philanthropy is
likewise motivated by a misapprehension about economic hegemonies: to some
genteel ladies managing a soup kitchen the narrator comments, "Have you still
to learn that this nether world has been made by those who belong to the
sphere above it?" (252; Ch. XXVIII).

Like Harkness, Gissing resists in his conclusion the easy answer, the

hopeful tone that Besant resorted to; unlike Harkness, Gissing resists the

95

descent into complete darkness. He clearly had earlier novelists in mind
(Besant, Disraeli) when writing these concluding summations of Sidney
Kirkwood and Jane Snowdon: of the first, the narrator observes that he is
"neither an artist, nor a leader of men in the battle for justice," of the second,
that she is "no daughter of the people, holding wealth in trust for the people’s
needs"; of both, that their lives are "a protest," in their "love of uprightness and
mercy." "Where they abode," the narrator assures us, "it was not all dark"
(391-92; Ch. XL). This is presumably the best that can be hoped for; only
complete revolution, in Gissing’s view, will alter the course of things. "Work as
you will, there is no chance of a new and better world until the old be utterly

destroyed" (109).

Working Class Stories of the 1890’s

The 1890’s saw the publication of many stories of working-class life;
distinctly realistic in tone, these stories obviously take a more open approach
to sordid details of impoverished urban life than do the majority of the novels
discussed above; Harkness suggests a great deal, while Gissing says more--even
Gissing, though, resists the relentless portrayal of ugliness that most of these

stories offer.ll Peter Keating’s 1971 collection of these writings includes stories

 

11In The Nether World, Gissing remarks: "Needless to burden description with
further detail; the slum was like any other slum; filth, rottenness, evil odours,
possessed these dens of superfluous mankind and made them gruesome to the
peering imagination" (74; Ch. VIII).

96

by well-known writers Arthur Morrison, Rudyard Kipling, George Gissing and
by lesser-known writers Henry Nevinson, Edwin Pugh, Arthur St. John
Adcock, and Clarence Rook.

These stories, called working-class, can be more generally characterized
as stories of the London slums and the lives of the miserable unemployed who
inhabit them. Morrison and Kipling focus on the marital infidelity and
domestic violence that they see as typical in male-female relationships in this
class; Nevinson’s stories are interesting in their bringing together of an inter-
class couple in a kind of mysterious fantasy relationship in "The St. George of
Rochester" and also for considering the response of the slum-dwellers to an
inter-racial couple in "Sissero’s Return." But they otherwise contribute little of
note. Gissing’s "Lou and Liz" looks interesting at the outset as it explores a
relationship between two women who have set up housekeeping together, but
it degenerates into another story of marital infidelity--bigamy, in this particular
case. Clarence Rook’s stories are not really so much about working-class life as
they are about hooligan life; Keating connects them with the older English
tradition of the "literature of roguery," which is an apt classification. Three
stories by Edwin Pugh avoid the scenes of violence central to Morrison and
Kipling as well as the feeling of condescension toward the characters that is so
common; however, they do not add to any sense of the workers 2_1§ workers
nor do they entirely avoid a certain paternalistic narrative feel. Finally, St.
John Adcock, in "At the Dock Gate," offers the most "sympathetic" view of

these characters; focusing just on two men in a crowd, this very short story

97

illustrates the possibility of humane behavior in the midst of inhumane
conditions. Read in the context of the dock gate scenes in Out of Work, this
short story takes on even more significance.

As Keating notes in his introduction to this collection, there is absolutely
an experimental feeling to all of these stories. Darkest London is being
explored and, in these reports "home," is presented with all the most unsavory
details foregrounded, as the current literary practice required. In virtually
every case, characters seem stereotyped or flat; the narrator’s position is
distinctly from outside the working-class sensibility. There are no articulate
working-class spokespersons. There is less direct paternalism on the part of
the middle-class characters, and in most cases an authorial awareness that such
condescension is offensive. Yet neither is it demonstrated that the workers are
really above condescension, not in need of paternalism.

Work itself, as process, as wielding of skill, as purveyor of dignity (or
degradation) does not appear in these stories. Nor does any suggestion of
leadership for the people. In fact, these stories lack any sense of class unity.
Lacking these things, they cannot be called "working-class stories" in the terms

I have here developed.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (1914)

In the first decade of the twentieth century, Robert Tressell wrote a

novel that has come to be known as a classic of working-class life. On the title

98

page of this novel, carefully lettered, the sign-writer Tressell describes his story
as portraying "twelve months in Hell, told by one of the damned." Not
Gaskell’s looked-for Dante, then, but one of the Inferno’s inhabitants. In this
way, Tressell stands apart from the writers who preceded him, and close
enough to the subject to speak intimately and authoritatively of it. Or, to
borrow a standard suggested by Henry James ("The Art of F iction" 1884), to
speak interestingly of the subject, to portray something of the truth that
history seeks as its goal. Tressell twice in his unfinished Preface speaks of his
desire to present "an interesting story" and "a readable story full of human
interest."

Assessing Tressell’s achievement, V.S. Pritchett, writing in 1970,
classified RTP as "our only proletarian novel . . . up to 1914. . . ." Pritchett
also suggested something about what he understood a working-class novel to
be when be characterized RTP as a "minor classic," which fell "somewhere
between fiction and documentary." The term "minor classic" makes a case for
the novel in the context of the traditional canon (on its hinges), and it is
understandable that Pritchett would have seen it that way. But of course one
must ask, "minor" by whose measure? And what standards determine the
measurement: volumes sold? scholarly attention? pedagogical attention?
societal influence? impact on individual lives? And that label--"proletarian"--
does it aid by clarifying the political impact, or limit by condescending?
Pritchett’s location of RTP between fiction and documentary is also

interesting. "Documentary" by definition means "based on documents," and

99

while documents such as those by Mayhew or Booth played a role in some
"working-class" fiction, Tressell certainly had no need to draw on documents
for his novel. Since ruling class experience tends to determine "ordinary life,"
then perhaps any text which features another kind of life seems more like
documentary than fiction. Seen this way, the labelling of a work as
"documentary" says more about the perceptions of the reader than the
intentions of the writer.

"Documentary" implies, too, that there is something less than fiction
involved, or at least something other. Pritchett’s observation suggests that a
certain objectivity or factuality accompanies the classification of documentary
that does not come with the category of fiction. Of course, this begs the
question of whether objectivity ever accompanies any text. Too, earlier
readers expected that fiction (which is to say, realistic fiction), in particular if it
explicitly advanced certain arguments, would meet certain standards of
accuracy. And the novelist, they assumed, could only meet these standards if
he/she had experience in the situations focused on. Even a future Prime
Minister was held to such a standard: Sheila M. Smith writes of Disraeli’s first
novel Vivigg Grey that it was eagerly received by high-class Londoners until
"the author was discovered to be an obscure young man, ignorant of London
high life or politics" (ix). These members of the ruling class were quite
anxious to read "fiction" about themselves and those they knew, until it became
known that Disraeli had no experience within the circles he was writing about.

Did those readers want fiction? Or documentary? And how is it that writers

100

who often had little or no experience of working—class life were nevertheless

well-received on the subject?

A work that clearly blurs documentary and fiction is Jack London’s
People of the Abyss, a very sympathetic account of the life of the down and
out. While the actual amount of time that London spent in the East End is
uncertain12 what is certain is that he always knew that he had an escape, as he
himself so clearly says: "I disconnected myself from my working hypothesis . .
. hailed a bus, and climbed aboard." To one degree or another, each author
here discussed, except Tressell (and perhaps Harkness), could make the same
claim. Surely the awareness that you can always "disconnect" when you want
must affect your narrative voice. In fact, are not writers of documentaries
those who visit a situation from outside, observe, leave, and report?

I have been discussing the question of the author’s qualifications; but !
few would argue that Robert Tressell was unfit to speak to the conditions of ’(

working-class life. My point is rather that Tressell was qualified to speak in a

 

way that Disraeli, Gaskell, Dickens, Eliot, Kingsley, and Besant in particular j
I!

could never have been--any good intentions notwithstanding. In Tressell, the 1"

coming together of literary talent and experience make his novel a notable
!

step in the evolution of working-class fiction. The publication of The Ragged

 

Trousered Philanthropists permanently redefined "working-class" fiction; it

‘1'
1

did this by bringing to its readers a rich wealth of information that no

 

12See Clarice Stasz’s foreward to the Joseph Simon edition, 1980.

101

previous writer had matched. In particular, Tressell offers readers the chance
to understand these important facts: the work of housepainters and
decorators, at its best, relies on refined skills involving both hands and brains;
the workers comprise a community of common interests (though they
themselves fail to see this, for the most part); the system within which the
workers operate works to their disadvantage; the relationship between
capitalist state and "Christian" church is hypocritical, even heretical; despite
earlier fictional presentations, there are thinking, articulate workers, as
personified in Owen and of course in Tressell himself.

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists represents a revolutionary step
in the development of fiction because it is informed by an acute awareness of
those "structures of oppression" which Mary Eagleton spoke of; in it, the
educated worker Owen (and standing behind him, the educated worker
Tressell) articulates the experience not just of the misery born of economic .
uncertainty, but of the entire context in which that misery is conceived.
Robert Tressell is that worker spoken of by Walter Gerard, who though not
educated at the "schools and colleges" of the ruling class can "write his mother
tongue as Shakespeare and Cobbett" did; that is, with a marriage of artistry

and political insight that questions what seems to others to be ordained.

II. AN NOTAT10NS to Robert Tressell's

 

 

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

l . Introduction to the Notes

Pages numbers from RTP cited in the annotations are keyed to both the
Lawrence 8c Wishart edition of 1955 and to the Monthly Review Press edition
of 1962. While I drew on a wide variety of sources in writing these
annotations, three particular works deserve special comment. Jack London’s
People of the Abyss (hereafter A_by§§), written about his observations during
the summer of 1902 in London’s East End, supplies substantial support and in
many cases amazingly parallel situations to those described by Tressell. Maud
Pember Reeves’ Round About a Pound a Week, a Fabian publication, explores
the daily lives of working-class families over the period from 1909-1913. As
with the reports made by London, those offered by Reeves describe working-
class neighborhoods in ways that evoke the fictional working-class community
in RTP. Finally, Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia (hereafter fl), edited by
Sally Mitchell and published by Garland, provides a wealth of information
about the culture and society of the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries in England.

I envision both an American as well as a British audience for the

102

annotations; this will be most noticeable in instances of British slang such as
"bloater" or "fair doo’s". Otherwise, I have annotated with the advanced
undergraduate in a baccalaureate program as well as the graduate student in
mind. I thought, too, of the readers of RTP not affiliated with any course of

university study, but for whom the annotations might prove helpful.

103

104
2. Tressell's Title Page

3 "Being the story of twelve months in Hell . . ."

The characterization of working-class life as hell recurs in 1311:; see, for
example, pages 155-56 where the men discuss the present world as hell.
While the comparison is not original, it is worth noting that William Morris,
whose work greatly influenced Tressell, also used the image. A particularly
articulate example appears in Morris’s 1884 lecture "Useful Work Versus
Useless Toil," where he observes, "for a man to be the whole of his life
hopelessly engaged in performing one repulsive and never ending task, is an
arrangement fit enough for the hell imagined by theologians but scarcely fit
for any other form of society." Contemporaries to Tressell made similar
observations. For example, Jack London prefaces all of the chapters in @312
of the Abyss with epigraphs; notable in this context are these: chapter 17
opens with a quote from Socialist pamphleteer Robert Blatchford, referring to
life in East London as the "life of a brute in a stinking hell"; chapter 22 opens
with a quote from Theodore Parker: "England is the paradise of the rich, the

purgatory of the wise, and the hell of the poor."

105
3. Tressell's Preface

12 "it will be evident that no attack is made upon sincere

religion. . . ."

F .C. Ball, Tressell’s biographer and champion, notes that in the
manuscript, the final sentence of the preface ends "abruptly at the beginning
of a page, the last word having no full stop behind it" (Tressell 177). While it
would be helpful to have the complete statement, Tressell’s attitude toward
"sincere religion" is easily discernible in his text, as is his attitude toward
hypocrites. The frequent appearance of biblical allusions in m indicates a
thorough familiarity on Tressell’s part with the Bible, and in particular, a

sensitive appreciation for the teachings of Christ.

106
4. The Text

Chapter I "An Imperial Banquet. A Philosophical Discussion. The

Mysterious Stranger. Britons Never Shall Be Slaves. "

In the "Short History" that F .C. Ball wrote to accompany the MS of
RTP, he describes the condition of the MS and in particular he remarks the
difficulty of establishing the chapters; he notes that "[e]ach chapter had
originally been separated by Tressell 8c fastened with loose title-sheet attached"
and furthermore, that:
the length of individual chapters varies fi'om 7 to 90 pages of MS.
Tressells [sic] method of attaching title-sheets to chapters instead
of heading the first page of each made it almost impossible when
preparing the MS for publication in full to decide just where he
intended chapters to begin 8: end, 8: since most of his title sheets
were weeded out by Jessie Pope we may now only judge by the
subject-matter indicated in the List of Contents--with the curious
results I have mentioned. ("Short")
Many of the chapter titles include multiple indicators; some simply

indicate content, while others provide ironic or sarcastic commentary on the

chapter--as here, with "the imperial banquet."

13 "The house was named 'The Cave'."

Ball, himself a Hastings resident, offers a fairly precise identification of a

house in the Hollington Park district of Hastings as being the place Tressell

107
refers to (Tressell 156-57). Ball frequently identifies the actual spot he believes

Tressell to have been describing; in One of the Damned, Ball observes of
Mugsborough that "the whole atmosphere is of Hastings and the town centre
and environs" (58). Not all Tressell scholars agree with Ball; Jack Mitchell,
author of the only book-length treatment of RTP, has it that "Tressell’s
Mugsborough has none of the ’local colour’ so beloved among professional
writers of that time and this. There is nothing which might lead the reader to
identify what Tressell is telling him with Hastings in particular" (89). Perhaps
the most noticeable difference between Hastings and Mugsborough is the
absence of the coast in the latter. A visitor to Hastings/St Leonards cannot
avoid the presence of the sea: seagulls wheel endlessly over the town, and their
cries, together with the sound of the breakers on the beach, provide a constant
audible reminder of the ocean’s proximity. And the Grand Parade, frequently
mentioned in RTP, runs right along the sea front. But even if the physical
landscape of Hastings is not present in Mugsborough, the social/political

landscape is plainly painted.

l3 "Mugsborough"

That is, the borough/city of the "mugs"--according to the OED, a "stupid
or incompetent person." Jack London quotes a man in the "spike"--the casual
ward (here, in London’s White Chapel)--who refers to himself and the other

inmates as "mugs" (Abyss 69).

108

13 "Bushton & Co.. Builders and Decorators"

We may suppose this employer to be a kind of composite picture
provided from Tressell’s own experience. Ball reports that during the time
Tressell lived in Hastings, "he worked about four years for one firm and three
years for another, and for others for short periods" (Tressell 38) and that while
these employers might differ in terms of their "honesty and amiability," the
conditions Tressell describes are generally accurate (Tressell 111). Adams and
Jarrett are generally assumed to be the model for Rushton and Co.; the firm
still does business in Hastings/St Leonards. Its red vans may be seen rolling

along the Grand Parade or parked along Warrior Square.

13 "There were, altogether. about twenty-five men working there.
carpenters, plumbers, plasterers, bricklayers and painters, besides

several unskilled labourers. "

Writing in Problems in Materialism and Culture, Raymond Williams
observes: "It may be significant that the first internal English working-class
novel--Tressell’s Rigggd Trousered Philanthropists--is set in the small-scale
provincial building trade: a social location which has important effects on its
tone; the small, relatively unorganized group as distinct fi'om the major

collectives of large-scale industry" (217).

109
13 "a Tar-iii Beiorm Paradise"

The question of tariff reform, and of protectionism in general, will be a
recurring concern in m; hence, some background will prove helpful.
England had enjoyed a period of economic prosperity fiom 1850 into the
early 1870’s; after this time, economic decline, high unemployment, and
sporadic employment caused social unrest. It is no coincidence that socialism’s
boom period followed in the 1880’s, culminating in the 1906 birth of the
Labour Party. Then, as now, manufacturers grumbled that foreign
competition was undermining them. In 1903, statesman Joseph Chamberlain
formed a tariff reform league which satisfied manufacturers by promising to
work toward protecting their industries from the threat of foreign competition.
Tariff reformers worked actively during the first decade of the century, but
' had little success until 1914 (Thomson 199). Donald Read characterizes tariff
reform as "the main Conservative alternative to Liberal social reform" and
further asserts that "it meant abandonment of the great Victorian economic
dogma of free trade" (18). See "The Attack upon Free Trade" in Read’s
Edwardian England 1901-1915: Society and Politics (London: Harrap, 1972).
And see John Saville’s "Trade Unions and Free Labour: The Background to
the Taff Vale Decision" in Asa Briggs and John Saville, eds. Essays in Labour

History (London: Macmillan, 1960).

110

14 "threepence a week for the tea and sugar"

Threepence is 1/4 of a shilling. To give a sense of how this might fit
into a weekly budget, note that in steady times, a skilled worker might hope to

earn 40 shillings a week, a semi-skilled, 30, and an unskilled, 20.

14 "bloater"

ED: A lightly salted, slightly smoked herring. London mentions a
bloater as "a very good breakfast for a London workman" when accompanied

by "a pint of tea . . . and ’two slices’ (bread and butter)" (Abyss 150).

14 "Bert White was a frail-looking. weedy. pale-laced boy"

Of course the poor nutrition of the working classes left them physically
underdeveloped. London several times remarks the relative smallness of the
people he sees; for example, upon entering the East End, he notes "a new and
different race of people, short of stature" (6) and he describes the men in the

Salvation Army barracks as noticeably short (86).

15 "Penny 'orribles"

More commonly known as "Penny dreadfuls," these popular thrillers--

111

aimed at youthful males--emphasized heroes who "drank, smoked and engaged
in adventure for personal glory and gain" (E 146). These publications
sometimes adopted gothic themes, handled in sensational ways (Q 334). See
Michael Anglo, Penny Dreadfuls and Other Victorian Horrors. 1977, and

Peter Haining, The Penny Dreadful. 1975.

15 ". . . his wages--iivepence an hour-were twopence an hour less

than the standard rate . . ."

In a 40 hour week, this wage would amount to 280 pence, or just over a
pound per week. A family needed a minimum of 26 shillings (nearly 1 1/2
pounds) a week to avoid "chronic want." See fl 624, which cites B. Seebohm

Rowntree’s (author of the 1901 work Poverty: A Studgt of Townlife) 1899

benchmark of 21 shillings for a family of 5 as "primary poverty."

16 Baily 0bscurer

Tressell’s satiric edge finds expression in his naming of periodicals as
well as of scoundrels like Grass and Slyme, Sweater and Rushton; this
particular reference probably stands for the Hastings and St Leonards
Observer--a weekly Conservative newspaper (Ball Damned 73, 107) (see text
reference at 20, which describes the Obscurer as Tory). At any rate, the titles

indicate what becomes painfully clear as we read on: propaganda set forth as

112

facts in the popular presses--a staple of daily life--found easy targets in many
working class readers who were barely literate and not otherwise well
educated. Ball speaks of Tressell dismissing such periodicals as "down right

lie-sheets" (Tressell 69).

16 ". . . the majority of the people lived on the verge of want"

In 1800 approximately 2/3 of the British population lived marginally,
and while the percentage of the poor declined to less than 1/3 the population,
in 1901 more people lived in poverty than had in 1800 (_VB 623-25). London

cites similar statistics (Abyss 184).

16 "carefully cooked statistics on Free Trade and Protection"

In 1832, the Board of Trade created a statistical department whose
business was to "organize and publish information" (3’11 755). Tressell’s
observation indicates that then as now, statistics were manipulated to support
particular views. See Donald A. MacKenzie, Statistics in Britain, 1865-1930:

The Social Construction of Scientific Knowledgg. 1981.

113

16 "the renowned Captain Kiddem"

Horse racing was very popular with the working classes--or more
properly, gambling on races. According to 111;, "Most of those who bet
probably never witnessed a race; they followed the sport in the racing
newspapers" (319). Bookmakers would take bets from anyone, and for as little
as Sixpence or a shilling. See Ross McKibbin, "Working-Class Gambling in

Britain, 1880-1939." fist and Present (82): 147-48.

17 "The Chronicles 9! Crime"

A reference to the popular cheap literature, broadsides, which focused
on sensational details-mot necessarily true--of murders, suicides, executions.

For a thorough discussion, see Martha Vicinus, The Industrifl Muse. 1974.

19 "fissical policy"

One of Tressell’s reproductions of working-class speech, the fiscal policy
here mentioned marks, according to Ball, "the principle difference in policy
between Conservative and Liberal [dating] from 1903" (Damned 73). Arising
from the debate over Tariff Reform (see note at 13 above), this issue will prove

"the subject of violent argument among Robert’s ragged trousered

114

philanthropists in the book where [it is] pronounced as ’Fissical’ and ’Fistical’"
(73). And just as Raymond Williams notes that we are likely to ask "what sort
of emotion is that?" of the working-class pronunciation "I LUV YER" ("Ragged-
Arsed" 255), the reader is likely to ask "what sort of economic understanding is

represented by this ’fissical’ policy?"

19 " . . . he was conscious of a growing feeling of indignation and
hatred against foreigners of every description. who were minhg this

country . . ."

This establishes xenophobia as yet another way those in power manage
to deflect attention away from themselves and onto other targets. Once again,
London’s testimony concurs with Tressell’s; while in the spike, he heard men

blame foreign immigration for their homelessness (Abyss 70-71).

20 "The 0bscurer was a Tory paper and Barlow was a member of the

local liberal club."

The growth of the press in the nineteenth century included the
affiliation of different papers with particular parties or groups, thus allowing
these politicos to "communicate to the electorate, to foreign governments, and

to each other, and vilify their opponents" (E 628). Clubs and organizations

115

affiliated with political groups or others with agendas were common in
nineteenth century England (E 873). Harlow’s membership in a Liberal
Club indicates that he should be more sympathetic to Owen than to the

conservatives like Crass, Linden, and Slyme.

20 "They know as much . . . planet Jupiter."

Which knowledge, the reader later learns, is neither extensive nor
sophisticated (RIP 383). Interestingly, a character in Margaret Harkness’s
novel Out of Work refers to Jupiter in a similar way: "’If I stood ’ere, and told
you ’ow folks live up in Jupiter, you’d say, ’None of your rubbish’" (191; Ch.

XIV).

21 "Grand Hotel"

This would be a fairly standard name for a hotel in a resort community

such as Hastings/Mugsborough; however, the 1902 map of Hastings and St

Leonard’s included in the Papers collections does not list a Grand Hotel.

21 "IIitalians and Frenchies"

Almost certainly a common attitude, given the mood of the workers.

See R. F oerster’s The Italian Emiggation of Our Times (1919).

116
22 "Philistines"

Matthew Arnold’s particular definition of the term does not pertain
here; rather, we will find more illumination in the Old Testament accounts of
conflicts between Jehovah’s favored Israelites and the pagan Philistines who
harassed them. Owen satirically characterizes the xenophobic response of his
mates (part of England, surely God’s favored land) to the foreigners in their

midst who, as they perceive it, make life hard for them.

22 " 'I pays my rates and taxes,‘ he shouted . . . "

England’s central government established taxes, while local governments
set rates. Local rates, imposed on buildings and land, "provided funds for

poor relief, public health, and . . . education" (_V_B "Taxes and Tariffs").

2 3 " 'I reads the Ananias every week. and I generally takes the Daily

Chloroform, or the Bobscurer . . .' "

See note at 16 above for the "Hobscurer"; the Daily Chloroform
probably stands for the Hastings and St Leonards Chronicle, a weekly paper.
The A_n_a___nias may stand for the A_rgpa (published in a Morning and Evening
edition); while the satiric thrust of the titles Daily Chloroform and Obscurer

require no comment, the Ananias is rather more obscure. Ananias is a figure

117

from the New Testament book of Acts (4:32-5:11). Given the direction of the
biblical narrative, Tressell may intend to indicate the betrayal of the populace
by one who appears to be telling all but is in fact holding back something.
This was not, by the way, Tressell’s first use of the title; Ball reports a story
that on shipboard from South Africa to England, Tressell "edited and

produced a ship’s bulletin which he called The Evening Anania_s" (Tressell 35).

24 "Bramwell Booth"

Bramwell (1856-1929) was the oldest son of William Booth (1829-1912),
the founder of the Salvation Army. Bramwell served as chief organizer and
chief of staff from 1880-1912, and after his father’s death as general of the
Army until his own death. Ball reports a comment made by Tressell,
presumably to his work mate Gower: "Of the Salvation Army he said that
General Booth was a bounder and humbug who appealed to the lowest
instincts of the working classes" (Tressell 48). See London m ch. 21 "The
Peg" for some very detailed criticism. See also G.B. Shaw’s play _Majg
Saw. See also the 1889 novel by John Law [Margaret Harkness], gm

Lobe: A Story of the Salvation Army.

118

25 "This young man had been through some strange process that

he called 'conversion'."

The particular elements of Slyme’s conversion-his "change of ’art’, his
condescension to those with "worldly" views, his abstinence from things like
drinking, smoking, and theatre going-indicate that he has linked up with one
of the dissenting or evangelical sects. Ball writes of the model for Slyme that
"Robert treated him with open contempt, not so much on account of his
childish beliefs, but because the man was an untrustworthy humbug" (Tressell

123).

25 "Within the last fifty years the population of Ireland has been

reduced by more than half."

And if Ball’s account of Tressell’s early life is accurate, then the writer

was himself one of the Irishmen "got rid of by emigration" (Damned Chapters

1, 2, 3).

25 "insult to the Founder of Christianity"

Tressell’s observation here, that the doctrine of total abstinence amounts

to an insult to Jesus Christ, probably refers to the first miracle--turning water

119

into wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11), and to the wine drunk at the
Last Supper. Christ was, of course, criticized by the Pharisees for associating

with drunkards; the drawing up of sides here is, perhaps, worth noting.

25 "'Then thers all this new tangled machinery.‘ " continued Crass.

“That's wot's ruinin' everything.”

Though Tressell/Owen would argue that the present system is what’s
ruining everything, it remains true that Crass here voices a real concern of
workers--one that has not changed with time. William Morris remarked the
inevitable disruption caused by the development of new machines: "Each new
machine will cause a certain amount of misery among the workers whose
special industry it may disturb; so many of them will be reduced from skilled
to unskilled workmen. . . ." ("Useful Work Versus Useless Toil" 1884).
London, on a visit to Spitalfields’ Frying-pan Alley, meets sweatshop
shoemakers, living in hellish conditions, who yet can observe ("mournfully"
says London) "’This is the last year of this trade; they’re getting machines to

do away with us,’" (Abyss 40).

25 "0wen was listening to this pitiable iarrago . . ."

ED offers "A confused group; a medley, mixture, hotch potch."

120
26 "Building Society"

That is, a savings and loan association. The QED offers "a society in
which the members periodically contribute to a fund out of which money may
be lent to any other of their number for the purpose of building (or
purchasing) a house." Enid Gauldie remarks that in the late nineteenth
century "building societies . . . were most often begun by optimistic middle-
class groups and always administered by middle-class officials" even though
their main business was to provide housing for working-class people (198). Vis
a vis class affiliation, i.e., building society rather than bank, consider possible
parallels in this country, e.g., as in the Bailey Savings and Loan versus Old

Man Potter’s bank in Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Iafg.

26 ". . . we don't all go to the same chapel as old Misery."

The Chapel and Church distinction is an important one in nineteenth-
century/early-twentieth-century England. Specifically, to speak of a "chapel" is
to speak of an evangelical, non-conformist (dissenting) group--i.e., dissenting

from the positions held by the Church of England. See OED def. 4 for a

lengthy, interesting entry.

121
26 "He was also known as 'Nimrod' and 'Pontius Pilate'."

"Nimrod" plays on Hunter’s surname: cf. Genesis 9:8-9 "a mighty hunter
before the lord." And of course, Hunter is always "hunting" for ways to scamp
and in general to bring misery. The use of "Pontius Pilate" is a little more
obscure; Pilate’s best-known historical role as the one who sold out Christ

suggests that as Pilate was to Christ, so is Hunter to the working men (see note

below for 47 "_Jack").

27 "There's always been rich and poor in the world. and there always

will be."

The allusion is to John 12:8--a defense frequently cited by those who
want biblical "justification" for not doing more for the poor. Tressell’s use of
scripture leads me to speculate that he might have been aware of another
biblical text that complicates the issue; while appearing to anticipate the gospel
author, the writer of Deuteronomy goes further: "For the poor shall never
cease out of the land; therefore . . . open thy hand wide unto thy brother, to

thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land" (15:7-11).

29 "patent paint-pumping machine"; "hose-pipe"

See Usher, Abbott P. A History of Mechanical Inventions. 2nd ed. 1959.

122
30 "stench of stale white-wash"

It couldn’t have smelled too good when it was fresh. Whitewash
comprises lime and water, sometimes adding whiting (a pure, white grade of

chalk), size (a gelatinous or glutinous substance of glue, wax, or clay), or glue

(from animal collagen) (OED).

Chapter 2 "Nimrod: A Mighty Hunter Before the Lord"

See note at 26 above.

32 "square him or bluff him"

ED offers for "square, to conciliate, satisfy, or gain over (a person)

especially by some form of bribery."

34-5 "It had been a very slow summer altogether. Sometimes a
fortnight for one firm; then perhaps a week doing nothing; then three

weeks or a month for another firm. then out again. and so on."

According to KS, poverty in the second half of the nineteenth century
was "rooted in low pay and [this very kind of] irregular employment" (623a).

Reeves observes "to the insufficiency of a low wage is added the horror that it

123

is never secure" (209-10). Ball observes that "unemployment was the curse of

the building industry" (Tressell 159).

34 "(Iver the men stood Misery . . ."

A good example of the way that Hunter’s presence becomes at times

metaphoric; see note for 42 below.

35 "full-price man"

In 1900 the average weekly wage of a skilled labourer was 40 shillings,
or two pounds (11} 838b). But Tressell’s workers--and those observed by the
F abians in Round About a Pound a Week--seem to have earned closer to a
pound a week. Ball refers to Tressell’s 7 1/2d per hour as "top rate" for the

time.

38 " . . . he deserved a spell and a smoke for five minutes."

Workers were evidently not allowed such breaks. Most firms had "no

smoking" policies (Ball Tressell 155); see RTP 54 for a description of a work

day, in which no short breaks are mentioned.

124
39 '"havin a mike."

OED: cant phrase from the printing trade for wasting or idling time.

40 "He called himself a Conservative and was very patriotic."

Which Tressell/Owen finds utterly incomprehensible, of course, since
conservatives by definition want to maintain the existing order. For Linden,
the present state of things is hellish, so his conservatism, like his patriotism,
results from the hegemonic influence of the ruling class and the present
system. If Linden had looked around, he might have seen what Pember
Reeves saw, that the "old soldiers . . . are an appreciable proportion of these
low-wage men" (171). And London, too, ran into soldiers frequently in his

wanderings collecting material for Abyss.

40 "Boer War"

The Boer War (1899-1902) cost about 22,000 British lives. Ball

discusses Tressell’s possible involvement with opposition efforts in both South

Africa and in England (Tressell 27).

125

40 "The young woman earned a little occasionally by doing

needlework . . . "

No poor woman could expect to earn more than a modest income from
needlework, and the advent of sewing machines, like technology in so many
other areas, drastically affected even this (3L1; 537b-538a). See London’s

account of another widowed blouse-maker (Abyss 136).

42 I'Bownstairs. Misery was still going to and fro in the house and

walking up and down in it."

An allusion to the Old Testament book of Job, where Satan, in response
to God’s query about his whereabouts, answers that he has just returned from

"going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it" (1:7).

44 "Was it gorn or not?"

Though not the first, one of the more noticeable examples of Tressell’s
efforts to duplicate dialect. The gradual inclusion of dialect as something
other than a comic touch characterizes much of 19th c. fiction. It is part of
the move toward realism. Tressell, however, is not entirely free of bias in his

representations of dialect, especially in characters like Grass and Sweater

126

(Williams "Ragged-Arsed" 32-33). Ball singles out Tressell’s recreation of
worker’s talk for praise, observing that "No other writer has listened so

carefully to the working-class talking" (Tressell 184-85).

45 "All his life it had been the same: incessant work under similar
more or less humiliating conditions. and with no more result than

being inst able to avoid starvation. "

Compare this passage: "Most unskilled workers experienced bouts of
desperate poverty at various times in their lives: when there were a number of
young children in a family, at times of illness, with the death of a principal
wage earner, and during physical decline and old age" (E 623). Tressell’s
workers and their families provide readers with painfully clear portraits of

each stage.

45 "As a rule he did not smoke . . . orders."

See note for 38 above.

47 "How's the enemy?"

An almost Shakesperean allusion to time. Tressell later brings the point

127

home: "So they went on, day after day, year after year, wishing their time was

over and, without realising it, really wishing that they were dead" (97).

47 "Jack made no attempt to defend himself: he knew it was of no

One of many moments in the novel when one of the workers, through
situation or action, is presented as a Christ figure. Christ was also dumb

before his accusers (cf. Isaiah 53.7; Acts 8.32-35).

Chapter 3 "The F inanciers"

Maud Pember Reeves’ report on working-class budgets (80-87) lends
credence to this chapter, as do many figures cited by London (see, for
example, W 131-32; 195). See also Martha Vicinus’ book Suffer and Be
Still: Women in the Victorian Agp, in particular chapter 6 "Working-Class
Women in Britain, 1890-1914" by Peter N. Stearns. Stearns frequently cites
RTP, saying that it "provides excellent insights into working-class life in a
backward southern area" but in his footnote incorrectly identifies Tressell as
having been a carpenter (223 note 23) or a construction worker (113). Some
of Stearns’ references to RTP are identified as coming from a novel only in his

footnotes, while in the text he treats the information as factual (see 115-116,

128

and footnote 66).

49 "It had been a very bad summer for most people and he had not

fared better than the rest."

Ball tells us that "when Robert came to Mugsborough about 1901-02
the workers were at their lowest ebb, during the decline in the building boom
of late Victorian times, the aftermath of the Boer War, the uncertain state of
the holiday trade due to many factors, and before paid holidays for workers"
(Tressell 37). London’s Preface to A_bfia notes that the winter of ’02-’03 was a

hard one.

49 " . . . his wages did not average a pound a week."

And so fell below the minimum of 26 shillings a week said necessary to

avoid "chronic want" (fl 838b).

50 "The front door opened into a passage . . . covered with oilcloth."

ED "A canvas of various degrees of thickness, painted or coated with a

preparation containing a drying oil, used for tablecloths, floorcloths, etc."

129

51 "In the centre of the room was a round deal table . . ."

Cheap furniture, as of pine. Cf. Mrs. Gaskell, writing in Mary Barton:
"Opposite the fire-place was a table, which I should call a Pembroke, only that
it was made of deal, and I cannot tell how far such a name may be applied to

such humble material" (13; Ch. 11).

51 ". . . an old couch covered with faded cretonne . . ."

OED: "(from Creton, village in Normandy famous for linen) The French
name of a strong fabric of hempen warp and linen woof applied in England to
a stout unglazed cotton cloth printed on one or both sides with a pattern in

colours and used for chair covers, curtains, and the like."

51 "on the hire system"

That is, on the installment plan; another way the workers lived

insecurely.

51 "It comprised a series of recollections of petty tyrannies, insults

and indignities."

"Employers often demanded unrealistic devotion and perpetual work

130

from servants" (_VB 378). For a detailed example of what this might mean, see
an account which came from Tressell "to Poynton and Poynton to [Ball]" in

One of the Damned (97-98).

51 "if she had really been a slave"

Compare with page 41--a recurring theme; see also William Morris’s
definition of slaves’ work "mere toiling to live, that we may live to toil" from his

1885 essay "Useful Work Versus Useless Toil."

52 " . . . the baby kept moving uneasily in its sleep."

Tressell’s close description of the sick infant’s restless sleep demonstrates
a familiarity and a sensitivity uncommon at the time for men. Ball (Damned
45) refers to Tressell’s "deep feeling of pathos in regard to children, so
strongly expressed" in RTP, and credits this sensitivity as natural in "a man
who had charge of a child in such circumstances." For more specific details
about the circumstances of Robert and Kathleen Noonan’s life, see F.C. Ball’s

One of the Dapnned.

131
52 "presently it began to whipmer Isicl. drawing up its knees as if in

pain.

A typesetter’s error; the original manuscript, page 105, shows that

Tressell correctly wrote "whimper."

53 ". . . he had a whole saucer full of fried potatoes with little bits of

bacon in it."

The most common way that workers were able to consume protein,
. n . - H
smce even in prosperous t1mes many workers could not regularly afford meat

(Q 623).

54 "He begantoreckon uphistime . . . ."

Easton and the others have essentially a six-day work week. Monday

through Saturday, 8 1/2 hours paid out of 10 spent at work daily.

54 "The best way is to write out a list of everything we owe; then we

shall know exactly where we are."

This detailed discussion of the Eastons’ budget illustrates what the

workers are up against; and these details are born out in all the reading I did.

132

Notably, again, Reeves and London lend strong support. London frequently
includes budgets and discusses the costs of things in A_byis; late in his writing,
he observes "it is sheer bosh and nonsense to preach thrift to the 1,800,000
London workers who are divided into families which have a total income of
less than $5.25 per week, one-quarter to one-half of which must be paid for
rent" (195). Reeves, for her part, offers some very telling comparisons
between working-class and upper-class of the percentages of income spent in

rent and taxes.

56 "It demanded the . . . Poor Bate within fourteen days . . ."

Parishes bore the responsibility of caring for their poor, and did so by

levying a special tax on those who lived in the parish (E 612).

57 "J. Bidlum & Co."

Another example of Tressell’s satiric naming practice; in this case, an

elided form of "diddle ’em", i.e,. to cheat, swindle, victimize (OED).

59 "Having rid his stomach of this unnatural burden. . . "

While advances came rapidly in health matters in the nineteenth

133

century, the new knowledge often did not extend to the working classes. Even
if they mg the knowledge, they of course frequently had not the means to
create a healthy environment for themselves and their children. Reeves noted
that among the working classes, "there is no doubt that the healthy infant at
birth is less healthy at three months, less healthy still at a year, and often by
the time it is old enough to go to school it has developed rickets or lung

trouble through entirely preventible causes" (179).

60 "We shall want a piece of meat of some kind; we've had none for

nearly three weeks."

"At the beginning of the Victorian era meat was seldom consumed by
the unskilled [workers]. Even in prosperous times many workers could not
regularly afford meat" (ES 623). When the family budget dropped, meat was
one of the first items cut (Reeves 96-97). And the meat they did occasionally
have was poor; both Reeves and London noted this. She describes the meat as
"worse in original quality as well as less fresh and less clean" than West End
meat (94). London provides some more vivid details to illustrate what "less
fresh and less clean" might mean; writing about a scene he observed in an East
End market, he describes what he sees for sale as "dog meat in the United
States" (151-52). Reeves speaks of women paying 3d for meat comprising

gristle and sinew (96-97).

134

61 "When you're not working, we must either get into debt or

starve. "

"The cost of food was exacerbated by shopkeepers’ credit and the
necessity of purchasing food in small and therefore more expensive quantities"

(18 624).

61 "There's nothing left to pawn . . . "

A common resort of the working classes for credit, which was offered at
rates not to exceed 25% annually. Such loans were preferred by many to poor
relief despite the stigma attached to them (E 584). See Melanie Tebbut.

Making Ends Meet: Pawnbroking and Working-Class Credit. 1983.

61-2 ". . . taken off to iail for a month."

London’s observations, reported in Chapter XVI "Property versus
Person" of People of the Abyss provide us with "illustrative cases . . . culled
from the police court reports for a single week" (121). As the chapter title
indicates, crimes against property were taken more seriously--punished more
vigorously--than crimes against people. See also Sidney Webb and Beatrice

Webb, English Prisons Under Local Government. 1922.

135

62 " . . . there being only bread and butter-or. to be more correct.

margarine. "

According to the QED, margarine was brought out in the early 1870’s
as a substitute for butter; in 1888 Parliament adopted "margarine" as the
official term. This margarine was based on lard, not on vegetable oil, and thus
not very pleasant. It is easy to see, then, why in the late 1800’s the term was

frequently used as a synonym for "sham."

63 "There's a cupboard in the room and whoever took it would be

sure to have a box."

ED: "A case or receptacle usually having a lid . . . [and] made to hold

merchandise and personal property; but (unless otherwise specified)

understood to be four sided and of wood."

65 "He remembered there was a clock over the front of a ieweller's

shop a little way down the main road."

Ball identifies George Street and the "clock of a well-known

watchmaker" as the scene of Easton’s embarrassment (Tressell 174).

136

65 "bull's eye lantern"

OED: A lantern equipped with a "hemispherical or piano-convex" lens,
characteristically used by police, which in the center displayed a "thick boss or

prominence, called the ’Bull’s -eye’."

Ch. 4 "The Placard"

Ball (Tressell 35) cites this chapter as one, together with "The Veteran,"
that shows Tressell’s sympathies for the lives led by British soldiers--once their

services were no longer needed by the state.

67 "Frank Bwen was the son of a iourneyman carpenter . . ."

The details of Owen’s life offer many parallels to the life of Christ: He
is the son of a carpenter who is now dead; he himself learns a trade; he is in

his early 30’s.

67 "there had arisen a new generation"

One example of Tressell’s use of Biblical allusions; this one is of a

linguistic rather than a thematic significance. See Judges 2:10: . . . there

137

arose another generation after them which knew not the Lord, nor yet the

works which he had done for Israel."

69 "In every workhouse . . ."

Able-bodied poor could receive relief only in the parish-operated
workhouse or in the "union workhouse" run by a union of parishes and known
as the "Poor Law Bastilles" (VB 612-14; 872-75). See M.A. Crowther. _qu
Workhouse System, 1834-1929: The History of an English Social Institution.

1981.

69 "Makehaste & Sloggit"

Another name as indicator of character. Like "Rush-it-on," "Make haste

and Slog it" do work as quickly and cheaply (to themselves) as possible, while

charging the clients the most they possibly can (and paying the workmen as

little as they possibly can).

69 "thousands living in misery . . . parents . . . wealthy"

Given the revelations about Tressell’s early life in Ball’s One of the

Damned, this would seem to be an autobiographically-inspired observation.

138

70 "He . . . perceived that it was a small black kitten."

Ball reports that "Gower tells of an occasion . . . when Robert found a
wet and bedraggled kitten, which purred around his legs, and he remarked
that he couldn’t understand anyone being cruel to such a creature, which was

in no way responsible for its own existence" (Tressell 48).

71 "The anti-Christs who went about singing hymns, making long
prayers and crying Lord. Lord, but never doing the things which He

said. who were known by their works . . ."

A piling up of Biblical allusions; the term "anti-Christ" seems to have
been an invention of the writer of I, II, III John, where the term is always
used to refer to someone who denies Christ’s teachings or reality. "Making
long prayers" as a pretence is a behavior Christ attributed to the Pharisees--see
Matthew 23:14. Luke 6:46 is the source for crying "Lord, Lord" and not doing
what he says; Matt. 7:20-21 provides a "by their fruits [i.e., "works"] ye shall

know them" source as well as another "Lord, Lord" reference.

Ch. 5 "The Clockcase"

The careful descriptions provided here of the hand-carved clock case

made by Tom Linden for his mother emphasize Tressell’s value of the hand-

139

work guided by the brain-mot the relentless slogging through of a job, but the
loving attention to detail that creates art even in household objects. In this, as
in so much of Tressell, we observe the influence of William Morris, who spoke
of "the province of art" as being to inspire and nurture "a life to which the
perception and creation of beauty . . . shall be felt to be as necessary to man as
his daily bread" ("How I Became a Socialist" 1884); under the present system,
however, the Lindens can ultimately not maintain such a relationship to this

work of art.

72 "Linden's . . . youngest son . . . died while serving in the South

African War. "

That is, the Boer War, 1899-1902, also known as the Second South

African War--the first being fought in 1880-81.

73 ". . . on one end of the dresser was a pile of sewing: ladies' blouses

in process of making."

London several times discusses, in detail, the working conditions, the
kinds of work expected, and the remuneration of women (and men) working
for "sweaters." In his descriptions, London generally converts British
monetary amounts to American, for example: "I have spoken with women in

Whitechapel who receive right along less than 25 cents for a twelve-hour day

140

in the coat-making sweat shops . . ." (134). Since Linden’s daughter-in-law was
only able to work "in her spare time" we can imagine how paltry a sum she
received. Thematically, this expansion of Sweater’s role illustrates the

interlocking patterns of exploitation in RTP.

74 " . . . Satan often appears as an angel of light."

Sec II Corinthians 11:14.

74 "Work is done so rough . . . the only one."

Linden’s claims here give voice to the alienation felt by the workers;
forced to ignore what they knew about skilled work, they rushed through jobs
in chaotic fashion. In so doing they lost not only additional hours of paid
labor, but the sense of pride in a job well done. William Morris believed that
this devaluation of work, the emphasis on speed--at the expense of carefully
done, aesthetically pleasing work--degraded workers. "Art," claimed Morris, "is
man’s expression of his joy in labour" and this "pleasure in handiwork" was
"the birthright of all workmen" ("Art under Plutocracy" 1883). Marx, too, is
instructive; in his "Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844" he speaks
of the alienation of labor; in such labor, Marx asserts, we observe that the

work done does not "affirm" but rather "denies" the self of the worker (74).

141

75 " 'We're not as them who are without God and without hope in the
world. The Lord is our shepherd. He careth for the widow and the

fatherless'. "

Mrs. Linden’s remonstrance consecutively links three biblical allusions:
Ephesians 2:12; Psalm 23; James 1:27. The way they are tossed off--three
verses, from different locations, one after anotherngives the impression of

using scripture in a kind of mindless, incantatory way.

76 "'If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema

Maranatha.‘ "

See I Corinthians 16:22. "Anathema" is the curse; "Maranatha" simply
means "Lord, come." Again, the verse is quoted in a way that indicates the

speaker’s ignorance of its full meaning.

77 "It stood about two feet high and was made of fretwork . . . . "

OED: i.e., "wood work cut with a fret saw into ornamental designs" and
which typically involved "cutting out an open and elaborate design in thin

wood." The clockcase--a poignant symbol to the Linden family--is important

here as an example of the kind of working-class art that both Tressell and

142

Morris valued: handcrafted work, done carefully--even painstakingly. Its
reappearance later in the novel marks a particularly painful example of

exploitation; see RTP chapter 33.

77 "Possibly the Lord in His infinite loving kindness and mercy was

chastening this unhappy castaway . . . ."

Tressell demonstrates a keen awareness of uses of language by his

characters; I believe this example echoes the language of chapel preachers.

78 ". . . 0wen once more set out on his way homeward through the

storm that howled around like a wild beast hungry for its prey."

A semantic, rather than a thematic, biblical allusion. See I Peter 5.8:
"Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he
may devour." The context would indicate that for the poor, even the

environment seems to take on an active malevolence.

143
Ch. 6 "It is Not My Crime"

Ball notes the source for this chapter, explaining that he came into the
possession of "a faded, mutilated newspaper-cutting, given me by a friend of
Robert’s, taken from the Weekly Dispatch for 13 August 1905 headed:
’DEMENTED FATHER Kills His Children Because He could Not See Them

Starve. STRESS or POVERTY” (Damned 54).

79 "0wen and his family occupied the top floor of a house . . . ."

Ball (Tressell 38) remarks Tressell’s preference for top flats, later
adding that Tressell in fact "lived in top flats all the time he was in
Mugsborough"(48). Perhaps Tressell knew what Reeves reported: "On the
whole, the health of those who lived upstairs was less bad than that of those
who lived on the ground floor, and decidedly less bad than that of those who
lived in basements"(193). For a fictive illustration of Reeves’ point, see Mrs.

Gaskell’s Mary Barton, Chapter 6, "Poverty and Death".

79 "shop walkers." "ferry-builders," "tallyman's traveller"

Shop walkers are obviously store clerks; jerry builders, a term for which

the OED says the origin is uncertain, were "speculating builder[s] who [ran] up

unsubstantially built houses of inferior materials." A Tallyman’s traveller was,

144

according to the OED, "One who carries on a tally trade, or supplies good on

credit, to be paid for by installments."

80 " . . . the hearts of these disciples of the meek and lowly Jewish

carpenter were filled with uncharitableness . . . .

Referring to Christ in this way identifies him with the workers rather
than with the ruling class, and points up the difference between Christ and his

"followers".

80 "All [the landlordl cared about was money: although he also was
a sincere Christian. he would not have hesitated to let the top flat to
Satan himself. provided he was certain of receiving the rent

regularly. "

Even in a relatively minor narrative observation, the case is made

against "Christians" who are motivated by capital rather than gospel. Religion

is only religion, but rent is income.

83-4 "' . . . and sometimes he gets into a fine old wax . . . .'"

ED notes this as colloquial or slang usage for "Angry feeling; a fit of

anger."

145

85 "'Well, that's not fair doos. is it, Mum?”

An English colloquial expression that means things have not been

equitably distributed. (Not in OED/EDD) (thanks to Alasdair Spark).

85 A series of biblical allusions: (ll "'. . . Jesus said that God is our
Father and that all the people in the world are His children, all
brothers and sisters.’ " {21 " 'Jesus said that His disciples should not
think of tomorrow. or save up a lot of money for themselves, but they
should be unselfish and help those who are in need.” 13) "'Jesus said
that His disciples must not think about their own future needs at all.
because God will provide for them if they only do as He commands.‘ "
(4) "'Jesus also said that if anyone tried to do His disciples harm. they
must never resist. but forgive those who iniured them and pray God

to forgive them also.‘ "

Nora’s references to biblical texts are less-precisely worded than many
that appear in m, but the general ideas are fairly easily traced. See (1)
Matthew 12:50 (2) Matthew 6:39; Luke 12:22; Luke 6:30; Matthew 5:42; (3)
continues ideas in reference 2 (4) Luke 6:27-29; Matthew 5:44. It is worth
noting her focus on "Jesus said," which repeated here as it is lends the weight

of authority to the sayings.

146
87 " 'I'm sure I should have tumbled to it.‘ "

OED says "to grasp something not clearly expressed; to perceive or

apprehend a hidden signal."

87 " 'I'm not such a iuggins as you think I am.‘ "
OED says "A simpleton, one easily taken in or imposed upon" and the

derivation may be related to "mug"/"muggins".

91 "Under the present system it was impossible for anyone to succeed
in life without iniuring other people and treating them and making
use of them as one would not like to be treated and made use of

oneself. "

Tressell, of course, is alluding to what has come to be known as "the
Golden Rule"--see Matthew 7:12, where Christ is concluding the Sermon on
the Mount. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to
you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." London
indirectly points up the conflict between the law articulated by Christ and the
society envisioned by capitalism: "It is a simple thing, this Golden Rule, and all
that is required. Political economy and the survival of the fittest can go hang

if they say otherwise" (Abyss 138).

147
92 "It was one of the ordinary poverty crimes. "

Speaking of suicide, London observes "So common is it, that one cannot
pick up a daily paper without running across it" (167). And, on glimpsing,
huddled on a park bench, a homeless man, woman, infant, child--the man
awake, looking out over the water--London observes "it would not be a
pleasant thing to speculate upon his thought; but this I know, and all London
knows, that the cases of out-of works killing their wives and babies is not an

uncommon happening" (102-03).

93 " 'This is not my crime. but society's'."

So common an occurrence was suicide among the East Enders that
London devoted an entire chapter of People of the Abyss to the topic (see Ch
22 "Suicide"). The entire chapter provides important insights to Tressell’s
work; London, a most sympathetic witness, observed that "Poverty, misery, and
fear of the workhouse are the principal causes of suicide among the working

classes" (169).

93 The Cyclolgdia 0L Practical Medicine

 

Probably Owen consulted The Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine:

Comprising Treati_ses on the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Materia

148

Medica and Therapeutics, Medical Jurisprudence, etc,. etc. which, first
published in 1833, went through at least a dozen editions. OCLC lists the last
edition catalogued as 1858; Owen describes his source as "rather an old book."
At any rate, London agrees with Owen’s assessment of the methods chosen for
destruction; he says, "The chief trouble with these poor folk is that they do not
know how to commit suicide"(l69). Pope, by the way, deletes all of Owen’s

specific descriptions of how suicide might be better committed.

93 " . . . vermillion, one of the colours he frequently had to use in his

work, was one of the most deadly poisons . . . . "

ED defines "vermillion" as "red crystalline mercuric sulphide"; AHD
verifies Tressell’s claim, defining "mercuric sulphide" first of all as a "poisonous
compound," the red variety of which is used as pigment. It’s derived by

heating mercury with sulfur.

93 "The report went on to explain that the deed must have been
perpetrated during a fit of temporary insanity brought on by the

sufferings the man had endured."

London, again, bears witness—-see note at 93 above. In the chapter
there mentioned, London observes "I do not say that all people who commit

suicide are sane, no more than I say that all people who do not commit suicide

149

are sane. Insecurity of food and shelter, by the way, is a great cause of
insanity among the living" (171). In an earlier chapter, London reports a

conversation he heard between a carpenter and a carter:

. . . they talked of the divers times they had contemplated suicide.
The Carter, not a week before, had stood on the bridge and
looked at the water, and pondered the question. Water, the
Carpenter insisted with heat, was a bad route. He, for one, he
knew, would struggle. A bullet was ’handier,’ but how under the
sun was he to get hold of a revolver? That was the rub. (58-59)

96 "0wen sat listening to the bowling of the wind and the noise of

therainasitpouredheavilyontheroof...."

Thus ends the Friday that opened chapter 1 of RTP.

Ch. 7 "The Exterminating Machines"

The chapter title emphasizes the attention given to machinery in
conversations played out in the following pages. It may also refer less directly
to the machine-like way in which the workers go about their day, effectively

wishing for their own deaths, as the narrator observes.

150
97 "They had no conception of that lofty ideal of 'work for work's

sake'. which is so popular with the people who do nothing. "

Tressell may well have had in mind these lines from Morris’s 1884
lecture "Useful Work versus Useless Toil":

It is assumed by most people nowadays that all work is useful,
and by most well-to-do people that all work is desirable. Most
people, well-to-do or not, believe that, even when a man is doing
work which appears to be useless, he is earning his livelihood by
it--he is ’employed’, as the phrase goes; and most of those who
are well-to-do cheer on the happy worker with congratulations
and praises, if he is only ’industrious’ enough and deprives
himself of all pleasure and holidays in the sacred cause of labour.
In short, it has become an article of the creed of modern morality
that all labour is good in itself--a convenient belief to those who
live on the labour of others.

99 " . . . his clothes were of many colours . . . "

Perhaps an ironic contrast with Joseph, cf. Genesis 37:3, whose many-

coloured clothing marked him as a favorite rather than an outcast.

99 "Bert was a lean, undersized boy about fifteen years of age and

about four feet nine inches in height."

This picks up, again, the recurring image of the workers as smaller in

stature than normal--something that London frequently remarks in Abyss.

151

Enid Gauldie notes that "Boer War recruiting officers found as much as four
inches average difference in stature between young men from the slums and

from more favoured areas" (85).

99 "His father had been a railway porter who had worked very

laboriously . . . ."

In a brief glimpse into a different working-class group, we see yet
another vision of perpetual poverty despite the hardest of labor. In this way,
Tressell offers his readers a suggestion of the range of working-class stories
that might be heard. For additional material on what Mr. White’s working life
might have been, see Richard Bell "How I Got On." Pearson’s Weekly 15 Feb.
1906: n.p. Listed in Vol. I of The Autobiography; of the Working Class: An
Annotated, Critical Biography. John Burnett, David Vincent, David Mayall,

eds.

100 "At first Mr. Bushton demanded ten pounds as a premium . . . .
Afterwards, as a special favour--a matter of charity. in fact, as she

was a very poor woman--he agreed to accept five pounds."

Rushton’s treatment of Mrs. White clearly exploits both widow and son.

Bert’s experience as a disenfranchised worker, then, is beginning early in his

152

life; and yet, if you can believe it, many were treated far worse--see the
accounts in 3111 "Child Labor." Financially, this particular deal is quite a good
one for Mr. Rushton; Mrs. White’s five pounds will basically pay for all of
Bert’s "salary" in his second year at Rushton’s. So Bert’s labour will cost
Rushton nothing until his third year there, and even then, the labour will
come very cheap. By the time Bert reaches 19, his pay would only amount to

13 pounds for the year.

103 "Why, the number of men what's been throwed out of work by

all this 'ere new-fangled machinery is something chronic!"

Morris ("Useful Work versus Useless Toil") observes "Each new machine
will cause a certain amount of misery among the workers whose special

industry it may disturb; so many of them will be reduced from skilled to

unskilled . . . ."

103 Cricketers

This bar still stands, and the map included in The Robert Tressell
Papers marks the location of the Cricketers, South Terrace. Ball refers to this
public house as the spot where, in September 1906, "a few men met . . . to

discuss the formation of a branch of the Social Democratic Federation"

(Damned 85); Tressell, Ball says, attended this meeting.

153

104 "(If course 'e does a bit of grainin' . . . ."

OED, "to paint in imitation of the ’grain’ of valuable woods or of

marble." That is, a kind of housepainter’s trompe-l’oeil.

105 . . I didn't 'ave time to speak to 'im."

One fine example wherein the workers model a truly Christian
community, and the professing Christian models selfishness. Ball, speaking of
Tressell, says "He was true to the spirit of all that is finest in Christianity, the
churches were not" (M 218). In this case, Owen went, literally, the extra
mile for Linden; Philpot lent him a shilling; Slyme reports that he "didn’t ’ave
time to speak to ’im." Compare this incident with one later in the novel, when

Grass and Slyme run into Newman and Linden (RTP 252-53).

105 "'I should say the best thing old Jack could do would be to go in

the union', said Harlow."

Not a trades union, that is, but the union workhouse.

154

106 "'The miserable wretches who toil sixteen or eighteen hours a
day--father, mother and even the little childrenumaking match-boxes.
or shirts or blouses. have 'plenty of work'. but I for one don't envy

them. ' "

In a society where all workers could be said to be the victims of
exploitation, such workers as these--matchbox makers, seamstresses--had
perhaps the worst of it. Utterly unregulated, sweated labor was fought by

unions and reformers (see VS 777 "sweatshops" list).

107 "I have here . . . some figures which I copied from the Bally Mall

Year Book for 1907. page 33."

OCLC records indicate that the Associated Newspapers group first

published this volume in 1901, and that it is still published.

Ch. 8 "The Cap on the Stairs"

The cap placed on the stairs of The Cave, in hopes of moving Mr.
Sweater to toss money into it, graphically symbolizes the beggar-like

relationship of the workers to the capitalists.

155

111"hesang...averseofaMoody&Sankeyhymn...."

American evangelists Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey toured England in
1873-75, inspiring an interest in revival meetings and outdoor hymn singing.
They are, of course, associated with chapel rather than with church (1B 386).
They made a second tour of Great Britain in 1881-83 (Webster’s Bioggaphical
Dictionary). They published two collections of hymns, Sacred Songs and Solos

(1873) and Gospel Hymns (1875).

112 " . . . he carried a small Gladstone Bag."

OED: "A light kind of portmanteau or travelling-bag"—-the name of
William Gladstone (1808-98) was used attributively or elliptically to designate

certain items.

112 "'Ho yes. sir. we're beginning to make a bit hov a show now, sir.‘

replied Crass. speaking as if he had a hot potato in his month."

One of the narrative observations that signals Tressell’s linguistic/class
awareness. Some might argue that this consciousness is a factor separating

Tressell from other workers.

156
114 "'Not a bloody stiverl'"

According to the OED, a term used "(like penny) as a type of coin of

small value, or of a small amount of money." "not a stiver" = nothing.

114 "'I'm afraid it's a frost, mate' . . . . "

As in, to have a cold shoulder turned your way.

Ch. 9 "Who Is To Pay?"

Most obviously, the chapter heading refers to the questions immediately
raised: shall Sweater pay for the pipes connecting "The Cave" to the main
sewer, or will he and Rushton work it so that the Corporation covers the cost.
But, I suggest that the heading also refers to the hunt that Misery is making
for a man to fire, and to the uneasy feeling that Owen and the other workers

feel while they wait for the axe to fall.

118 "As he wandered up and down the house like an evil spirit . . . ."

Recapitulates the image of Misery first noted above at 42; this time,

Tressell directly alludes to Satan by mentioning the "evil spirit" that Misery

resembles.

157
Ch. 10 "The Long mu"

Ball identifies London Road in Hastings as the site of the Long Hill

described in this chapter (Tressell 91).

119 " . . . the roads were . . . paved with wood blocks."

An early method of paving, later improved on by MacAdam (see note

below). XS describes nineteenth century road surfaces generally as "abysmal"

(812).

119 "he narrowly escaped colliding with . . . an electric tram . . . ."

In 1883, England saw the first electric-powered tram, successfully

achieved by naturalized-citizen Karl Willhelm Siemens (E 813).

119 "...alongstretchofmacadamisedroad...."

John L. McAdam (1756-1836), Scottish engineer, developed a method of

paving using layers of compacted small stones.

158
121" ...whereheusedtogowithotherboystocatcheffets.... "

Probably a spelling based on hearing (or on pronunciation) of "efts," a
newt-like creature. The English Dialect Dictionary, while it does not list "eft,"
does list "eftstool," which it defines as a substantive used to refer to a newt or

lizard stool.

123 " 'hope he gets runned over by a motor' "

If he had done, it could only have been under the wheels of a wealthy
man’s vehicle; according to E, the automobile "made a hesitant appearance
among the rich in the 1890’s" (813). One source refers to them as seeming
like "visible symbols of the selfishness of arrogant wealth" and claims that "few

things, for a decade or so, did more to aggravate class-feeling" (Ensor 510).

Ch. I 1 "Hands and Brains"

John Ruskin’s essay "Work" speaks of the distinction "between those who
work with the head, and those who work with the hand"; by "hand work" he
seems to mean the very roughest kind of manual labor--"heaving clay out of a
ditch all day . . . driving an express train against the north wind all night . . .

holding a collier’s helm in a gale on a lee shore . . . whirling white-hot iron at

159

a furnace mouth." Recognizing that such work needs to be done, Ruskin then
seems most concerned that justice be done to the workers; that they have good
pay and comfortable homes. And in his essay "The Nature of Gothic" (1853;
especially points 15 and 21) Ruskin makes it clear that he would have
disapproved of the kind of division implied in the "hands and brains" label
used here. For while he is discussing the impact of mechanization on labour,
it is nevertheless true that the alienation of the worker from the product--a
characteristic result of mechanization--occurs equally in this model which

separates realization of product from conceptualization of product.

126 " . . . glazed with muranese obscured glass."

According to the OED, taken from Murano, "The name of an island
close to Venice, on which the manufactories of Venetian glass are situated."
An interesting point: Venetian glass is used by Ruskin as an example in "The

Nature of Gothic."

126 " . . . a type-writing machine . . . ."

By the time Tressell lived in Hastings, type-writing machines and
women to operate them were well-established in oflices (1S 825-26). See
Margery W. Davies. Woman’s Place Is at the Typewriter: Office Work and

Office Workers, 1870-1930. 1982.

160

127 " 'Youre a bit of a hartist, ain't yer?‘ "

Ball reports of Tressell that "at work he was known as Raphael and

other nicknames after various great painters" (Tressell 41).

127 "He was dressed in a grey Norfolk suit . . . ."

The OED describes a Norfolk jacket as "a loosely fitting jacket having a
waistband, and used chiefly in shooting, fishing, cycling, etc." So, something

like a casual (for the better-off classes) tweed jacket.

127 " . . . decorated in a Moorish style."

Rushton’s inability to recognize the Moorish style--or to distinguish it
from a Japanese style--points up the ridiculousness of E functioning as the
"head" or "brains" in this system. Ball refers to a house in Hollington Park,
Hastings, as the site of the room decorated by Tressell in this style (Tressell

120).

128 " "E'll inst 'ave a frieze put up . . . ."

A brief Glossary of Technical Terms included in The Robert Tressell

Papers defines "Frieze rails" as "an architectural moulding defining the lower

161

limit of the wall area known as the frieze, i.e. picture rail" (82).

130 ". . . searching through old numbers of the Decogatorsa' Journal"

 

Very likely a reference to The Decorator: An Illustrated Monthly
Magazine for the House Painting; Decorating, and Kindred Trades, published
by the Trade Papers Publishing Company of London. The first issue

appeared 15 July 1902.

131 "The question. what personal advantage would he gain never
once occurred to 0wen. He simply wanted to do the work . . . the

question of profit was crowded out."

And thus the "Hands and Brains" chapter ends with a perfect model of
the union of the two: Owen, for once not alienated from the work he is doing,

is caught up in the joy of the work itself, its planning and its execution.

Ch. l2 "The Letting of the Boom"

Enid Gauldie, in Cruel Habitations: A History of Working-Class
Housingl7 80-1918, comments that "in the provinces . . . the taking of lodgers

to help with the rent was exceedingly common" (91).

162
133 " . . . she thought twelve shillings a week would be fair."

Assuming that Slyme, like most of the others, makes about a pound a
week, then this charge for room and board (washing 8c mending thrown in)
would leave him eight shillings a week. A glance back to "The F inanciers" will

show what relatively good shape he is in.

134 "'If we can't stand it, we'll give up the house and take a couple of

rooms. or a small flat--if we can get one.”

On the difficulty of obtaining lodgings--and a more graphic
representation of what type of lodgings these might be--see London’s account

in Ch. 111 "My Lodging and Some Others."

Ch. I 3 "Penal Servitude and Death "

The chapter title refers to Owen’s point (139) about the lives led by

workers amounting to punitive hard labor, followed by death. This represents

a slight variation on the motif of the workers’ lives as hell.

163

135 "cholery morbus"

That is, cholera, one of the 19th century’s plagues. Great Britain saw
four epidemics between 1831 and 1866, which killed 140,000 or more. These
mortalities tended to appear in poor areas where sanitation was non-existent
(E 149). See Asa Briggs. "Cholera and Society in the Nineteenth Century."

Past and Present 19 (1961): up.

13 7 " 'I've been figuring out exactly what my money has averaged for
the last twelve months and how much a week do you think it comes
to?’ "

"'God only knows.'"said Gwen. "'How much?”

" 'About eighteen bob.”

Remember that 20 shillings--the average weekly rate for an unskilled
worker--comes to a pound a week. The Eastons have been subsisting at below
that level, on average, for a year. Their 18 shillings comes to half the amount
that Rowntree estimated a family needed to avoid "chronic want"; furthermore,
Rowntree claimed that anything below 21 shillings a week would mean

"desperate poverty" (y_B 838).

164
137 "'You know . . . if ole Misery 'ad four legs. 'e'd make a very good

pig....'

See earlier reference (RTP 129) to Rushton as a pig.

138 " 'At the present time there are thousands of people so badly off

that. compared with them. 32 are rich.”

Readers need only consult London’s Abyss to see the truth of Owen’s
statement. Tressell would have been well aware of the conditions in London;
Ball reports that Tressell came first to London from South Africa, and that he

later returned there in hopes of procuring a better living (see Damned 40-41).

138 "'I don't see how we can odds it.'"

ED: "To make different, alter; to balance"
138 "'. . . you're about twenty-six. . . . That means that you have about

another thirty years to live.‘ "

In the second half of the century, average life expectancy for men rose
to 51.5; generally, among the working classes, fewer years obtained. For

example, in 1840 Whitechapel, a gentleman could expect to live to 45, while a

165
labourer averaged 22 (y_B_ 617, 356).

140 "'Every man who is not helping to bring about a better state of
affairs for the future is helping to perpetuate the present misery, and
is therefore the enemy of his own children. There is no such thing as

being neutral: we must either help or hinder.”

Cf. Matthew 12:30 "He that is not with me is against me . . ."; and
Revelation 3:15-1 "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I
would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither

cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

141 " . . . as if the doors were weeping for the degenerate condition of

the decorative arts. "

This narrative comment clearly reflects a Morrisian attitude toward the
work done at the Cave; given the setting, it also clearly distinguishes between
the workers and Misery, who despite his affiliation with the "brains" is utterly
unable to appreciate the significance of the poorly-done job. See Morris’s
essay "Art Under Plutocracy," in particular his discussion of the Intellectual

and the Decorative Arts.

166
Ch. l4 "Three Children. The Wages of Intelligence"

Chapter 14 is divided into two sections, indicated by a row of asterisks.
The first part of the chapter heading simply refers to the interlude with the
Linden children and Owen’s son Frankie. In the second half of the chapter,
Owen takes his designs for the Moorish room to Rushton for approval and for
the cost to be estimated. The second part of the title alludes to Romans 6:23,
which speaks of death as "the wages of sin." Here, the "wages" of intelligence
equals the monetary cost of the job Owen will do. But the word "intelligence"
speaks loudly, appearing as it does for this sub-chapter where the narrator
holds up the hands/brains dichotomy for ridicule: "What a dreadful calamity it
would be for the world and for mankind if all these brain workers were to go

on strike."

143 " . . . he went round to the Free Library . . . ."

The nineteenth century saw the development of the library system,
which evolved during the century from organizations for whose services
members paid fees to free and public libraries. See "Libraries and

Librarianship" VB 450-52.

167
143 "'We was only inst supposing what we'd buy if we 'ad a fardin .'"

That is, a "farthing"--a quarter of a penny.

144 "'. . . sometimes a magic lantern 'tainment.'"

QSQ: "An optical instrument by means of which a magnified image of a
picture on glass is thrown upon a white screen or wall in a darkened room."
According to ES "Toys and Games," the magic lantern, c. 1840, and "other by-
products of discoveries in optics . . . were first produced as amusements for all

but gradually became identified with children" (807).

144 "home-made cakes"

£12: "A comparatively small flattened sort of bread, round, oval, or
otherwise regularly shaped, and usually baked hard on both sides by being
turned during the process." In this case, where the cakes are a kind of treat,
Nora might have added ingredients, such as "butter, sugar, spices, currants,

raisins, etc."--if she had been able to afford them.

145 "'It's only iust round in Duke Street . . . .'"

The Hastings and St. Leonards Directory, c. 1902, does not indicate

such a street in either town; "Duke Street" is, however, the name of a popular

168

hymn melody (c. 1793) and since this is the address given for the Shining

Light Chapel, it is possible that Tressell was having a bit of fun.

145 ". . . Elsie to have first innings."

ED: A metaphor borrowed from cricket, indicating one’s turn at bat.
"In Great Britain, always in plural form . . . whether in singular or plural

sense."

147 "He consulted a ready reckoner that was on the desk."

ED: "A table, or collection of tables, showing at a glance the results of

such arithmetical calculations as are most frequently required in ordinary

business, housekeeping, etc." Quite an impressive display of brains, yes?

147 "'It isn't like an ordinary iob. you know. If he gets a London

firm to do it. it'll cost him double . . . .'"

In "Useful Work versus Useless Toil," Morris observes, "If you wish to
have ornament, you must pay specially for it, and the workman is compelled
to produce ornament, as he is to produce other wares" (102). In Morris’s view
of things, this attitude results from capitalism’s alienation of the worker from

his work, which has separated utilitarian and decorative function.

169
Ch. I 5 "The Undeserving Persons and the Upper and Nether

Millstones "

The first part of the title refers to Owen’s examples of landed
aristocracy (RTP l62ff.) and his discussion of the ways their ancestors came
into their property. "The present holders," he claims, "are certainly not
deserving people." The terms in the second part of the title appear late in this
chapter, when Owen observes that "competing employers are the upper and
nether millstones which grind the workers between them" (RTP 166). The
image of the millstone is appropriately linked to machinery and commerce,
while at the same time the word itself provides a linguistic allusion to the

Bible; see Matthew 18:6, Revelation 18:21.

148 "dinner-as they called it"

Possibly a double-edged note; first, "dinner" refers to the main meal of
the day, and as the OLD notes, this used to mean the middle of the day. But
for the "professional and fashionable classes" the meal came to be the evening
meal, and often a formal meal of several courses. So this observation could
reflect a class-consciousness on Tressell’s part, either of himself as
distinguished from people who considered themselves his "betters" or of the
class of people be anticipated as readers for RTP. It may also reflect a sarcasm

about the quality/quantity of the food available for this chief meal of the day.

170

148 "Harlow mentioned . . . traces of bugs in one of the bedrooms."

Harlow is probably speaking of bedbugsufl, Cimex Iectularious, "a
blood sucking hemipterous insect found in bedsteads and other furniture, of
flattened form and emitting an offensive smell when touched"; London
describes an account from a coroner of an old woman discovered dead,
covered with such vermin (140). Obviously a very pleasant meal-time

conversation topic--as well as part of pleasant working conditions.

151 "'They say as all disease is caused by little insects. If Gord adn't

made no cancer germs or consumption microbes . . .'

Knowledge about the causes of disease had been steadily increasing
during Tressell’s lifetime; in fact, bacteriology as a field of inquiry developed
during the last third of the nineteenth century. "The British, like the French
and Germans, worked on several major lines of research: the origin of
microbial life forms; the germ theory of disease; and, later, during the ’golden
age of bacteriology’ (1880-1900), the explication of specific disease agents" (XS

59-60).

152 "the peace which passes all understanding"

See Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all

171

understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

153 "'cadgin' money orf silly old women . . . .'"

A cadger, according to the OED, is one who "goes about begging or

getting his living by questionable means"; it can also mean one who is "wanton'

or "lustful."

l5 3 " 'Parsons and publicans is the worst enemies the workin' man

ever 'ad.'"

"Publican" is a familiar term from the KJV Bible, where it refers to
notoriously dishonest tax gatherers (often used in the phrase "publicans and
sinners"; see Matt. 11:19; Lk. 7:34), and thence came by extension to refer to
any person out of favor with God or church. By the second decade of the
eighteenth century, it had also come to mean the keeper of a public house,
i.e., a tavernkeeper (E). The grouping of publicans with parsons is none-
too-complementary for the churchmen--either way they are linked with

exploiters.

153 "'shy 'em through the bloody winder.”

ED: colloquial, "A quick, jerking (or careless) throw, as of a stone, etc."

172
153 "'I don't believe I've been to church more than arf a dozen times

since I've been married--that's over fifteen year ago now . . . .'"

The "religious indifference of the masses" (ES 154) was a characteristic
of nineteenth century England; it is perhaps a corollary of another such
characteristic--the religious doubt which plagued many thinking people in
response to new scientific theories and the attitudes of higher criticism toward
the biblical text. While probably not many workers experienced a crisis of
faith because of Darwin or Colenso, they nevertheless "developed a lifestyle
which, though not hostile to religion, did not include participation in it. The
church did not lose the working class; it never had it. By the 18805 the
nonattenders were a majority, which grew thereafter" (ES 156). Tressell, of
course, shows us many explanations for this indifference; I discuss these in the
introductory section on the Bible. See also Kenneth Stanley Inglis. Churches
and the Working Class in Victorian Engian_d. 1963, and Hugh McLeod. Qiasa

and Religion in the Latte Victorian City. 1974.

154 Slyme here makes several biblical allusions: (ll "Great White Throne"
12) "Moon turned inter blood . . . (31 cryin' hout for the mountings

and the rocks" etc.

(1) Revelation 20:11 (2) Revelation 6:12 (3) Revelation 6:16. This

fondness for prophetic literature is characteristic of evangelical/fundamentalist

173

Christianity. For one thing, it lets such people focus on the apocalypse rather
than on the abyss at hand, and their social responsibility to it. They would do

better to read the Gospels.

154 " 'I'm a Bush Baptist meself.' remarked the man on the upturned

pail."

According to Partridge, "A person of uncertain religion," with the usage

originally linked to soldiers in the Boer War.

158-59 "He . . . knelt down and began to draw upon the floor."

Owen’s act, strongly reminiscent of Christ’s kneeling and drawing in the
mud in the incident of the woman taken in adultery (see John 8: 3-11, esp.
verses 6 8c 8), was also evidently a common practice for Tressell. Ball reports
from Gower that "In summer [Tressell] liked to sit on the beach with a friend
or friends and . . . always chose to sit near a patch of dry sand. Before long, if
he hadn’t something with him for the purpose, he would be searching for a
stray stick and then would draw in the sand" (Tressell 73). Hasting’s sea-side
location would make this a fairly natural thing to do--though of course Tressell

does not locate Mugsborough on the coast.

174
160 "'We ain't sich bloody fools as to think that the largest number is

the minority.‘ interrupted Crass."

A good example of Tressell’s brand of irony; of course the working-
class, though the majority of the population, certainly are in the minority in

terms of political power.

161 " . . .managedtobuyafew'ousestosupport 'im . . .'"

As is often the case, Tressell sets things up so that we can see the seeds
of the system being sown, new victimizers getting ready to take their place in
the system. Ironically, as a "Christian" of a particular school, Slyme would be
likely to see his healthy finances as signs of divine approval. Gauldie discusses
the commonly-held view of wealth and property as gifts from God, and of
course of the lack of these things as signs of divine displeasure.

This view was supported quite as much by the artisan who had
just attained the status of owning his own tools and workshop as
it was by the owners of vast estates. So long as there existed a
possibility of the poor man becoming a property owner in

however small a way, he would support the rights of private
property. (117)

161 "the sacred rights of property"

Given Tressell’s penchant for slyness, the reader might suspect this line

to be tinged with sarcasm. Unfortunately, it has historical precedent.

175

Consider these excerpts from a May 1842 speech, given in the House of
Commons by Thomas Babington Macaulay in response to the Six
Points/People’s Charter.
My firm conviction is that, in our country, universal suffrage is
incompatible, not with this or that form of government, but with
all forms of government, and with everything for the sake of
which forms of government exist; that it is incompatible with
property, and that it is consequently incompatible with
civilisation.
And a bit later,
If it be admitted that on the institution of property the wellbeing
of society depends, it follows surely that it would be madness to
give supreme power in the state to a class which would not be
likely to respect that institution.
If the Six Points were granted, warns Macaulay, "in every constituent body
capital will be placed at the feet of labour; knowledge will be borne down by
ignorance; [note the parallelism there--it’s implicitly the brains/hands

dichotomy] and is it possible to doubt what the result must be? . . . What could

follow but one vast spoliation?" (Haight 231-37).

162 "'Ballcartridge Bent Bay'"

Land, perhaps a nation’s premier resource, was an important issue for
Socialists and for the people generally. The ES entry on "Aristocracy and
Gentry" bears out Tressell’s claims here, noting that "so important was land to
maintaining nobility that until 1885, estates were granted if necessary when

new peerages were created (as they often were) as political rewards" (39). See

176
F .M.L. Thompson. leish Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century. 1963.

165 "'the Society'"

Ball says this refers to the Painters’ Society, affiliated with the Trades
Council (Damned 120). Here, Harlow’s thoughts following Owen’s

observations would seem to support this interpretation.

166 "Competing employers are the upper and nether millstones

which grind the workers between them."

The image evokes both industrialism and the biblical image of the

millstones around one’s neck--Luke 17:2.

Ch. 16 "True Freedom"

The chapter title perhaps echoes the language of John 8:32--("you shall
know the truth and the truth shall set you free"). Given a positive meaning,
the title could reflect Owen’s feelings about being assigned to the job
decorating the Moorish room. Jack Mitchell refers to this chapter as
"significantly entitled," and points out that in it we see "how the pleasure which
Owen experiences in the thought of this work transforms him" (163). With an

ironic spin, it could reflect on Newman’s firing and the consequent clarification

177

for the remaining workers of their slavery. Perhaps most appropriate of all,
we could take the two events together; thus, we would note that, even if there
might be moments when a worker could realize his full potential, nevertheless,
the bosses had the final say: freedom was illusory, or at best only short-lived.
Morris, in "Art and Socialism," speaks of how most men were "free--to take at a
wretched waged that slave’s work lay nearest to them or starve" which Ball
echoes, "they knew what happened to any workman who imagined he was

living in a free country. He was free to starve" (Damned 60).

167 "one of Sankey's hymns"

See note page 111.

167 "bloody sod"

This is doubtless one of the passage that Tressell had in mind when, in
his Preface, he observes, "As far as I have dared I let the characters express
themselves in their own sort of language and consequently some passages may
be considered objectionable." A reviewer of the 1914 edition noted that "’The
conversation is transcribed with brutal frankness. You will find the word that
we supply with __ on nearly every page, but there is justification for its

use, for without it the rude philosophy of the men could hardly be rendered’"

(Damned 174).

178
168 "frieze rails and dado rails"

For "frieze" see note at 128 above. "Dado rails" were "part of the
interior wall from the top of the skirting to a point at waist level, terminated

by a chair rail or ’dado rail’" (Papers 82).

168 "Since his first conversation with Bushton he had thought of

little else than this work."

Note Owen’s Morrisian love of work when it allows for the expression of

his artistry, not just sheer drudgery.

171 " 'rubbing it with glasspaper and stopping up every little crack' "

In Newman’s actions here we get a picture of the way the workers
would prefer to work, with pride in their ability to do a skillful job. The

painful scene that follows only makes it worse.

172-73 "Newman stood in the darkening room feeling as if his heart

had turned to lead."

One reviewer of the 1914 edition of RTP surely had this scene in mind

when he noted "’We know no book in which the anguish of the man with wife

179

and children at the chance of getting ’the sack’ . . . have [sic] been more
faithfully and harrowingly portrayed . . . . ’" (Damned 175).

172 "white-lead putty"

White lead, according to the 9S2, is "a compound of lead carbonate
and hydrated oxide of lead, much used as a white pigment; also called
CERUSE." One of the usage notes, c. 1823, notes that "white lead is the
principal ingredient used in house-painting." Another note, c. 1827, remarks
that "white lead ground up with oil, when spread upon slips of cloth, is very
useful for making joints tight." Indexes for The Decorator list several different
articles on White Lead during the first decade of the 1900s; one in 1905-06
and another in 1909-1910 was on white lead poisoning. These seem to
indicate a growing concern; and the 1910-1911 index lists these telling entries:
"The White Lead Commission," "Some Alternatives to the Use of White Lead,"
"A White Lead Substitute," and "Belgian White Lead Regulations." It would

appear, then, that Newman endangered not only his job, but his life.

173 "Possibly congratulating himself that he had not been hiding his
light under a bushel. but that he had set it upon a candlestick and

given light unto all that were within that house."

A very strong condemnation of the pious Hunter; Tressell uses Christ’s

180
own words here--see Matthew 5:15-16; Mark 4:21; and Luke 11:33--to

comment on the man’s hypocrisy.

173 "At first several of them spoke of 'chucking up' at once . . . ."

OED usage note from 1873, "to surrender, give in, from the custom of

throwing up the sponge at a prize fight in token of yielding."

Ch. 1 7 "The Rev. John Starr"

The brightest star in the firmament of the Shining Light Chapel, but
one which sheds no light on the workers’ lives. Tressell’s attitude toward
Starr, which is somewhat ambiguous here, becomes clear in the final chapter

of the novel.

177 "brushing and combing and curling the long yellow locks into

ringlets round her fingers"

Tressell’s nephew, son of his sister Adelaide, was evidently the model for
Frankie Owen. Kathleen Noonan told F.C. Ball that her cousin, Arthur, "had

long curls and was a very pretty and attractive little boy" (Damned 49).

181

179 "The girls' and the very young children's classes were presided

over by ladies: the boys' teachers were men. "

Another practice typical of evangelicals, even in the 1990’s, which they

justify based on the Apostle Paul’s recommendations in I Corinthians 14:34-35.

180 "There were . . . one or two members of the congregation who
were not without some misgivings and doubts as to the soundness of

his doctrines."

Many groups within Christianity that are founded more along
fundamentalist lines place an inordinate amount of emphasis on various
"doctrines"; congregations might split, for example, over varying
interpretations of some verses in Revelation that have to do with Christ’s
second coming. Tressell may here be implicitly commenting on the fact that
these members of the Shining Light Chapel have misgivings about arcane
points, but have no misgivings about failing in their duty to their brothers and

sisters.

182

180 "He was arrayed in a long garment of costly black cloth . . . and
seemed to be one of those accustomed to sit in the chief places at

feasts."

The first half of the description here echoes the language of I Timothy
2:9, where Paul advises that women should "adorn themselves in modest
apparel . . . not . . . costly array." The second part of the description,
typically, uses biblical language to illustrate how one of the "Christians" is
violating a teaching of Christ. See Matthew 23:5-6, where Christ criticizes
people like this: "But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they . . .

love the chief place at feasts . . . .

181 "Mr. Belcher . . . looked around upon the underfed. ill-clad

children with a . . . fatherly smile . . . . "

It’s the "fatherly smile" that really damns him; Reverend Belcher seems
to have forgotten several of Christ’s teachings--in particular, note these
observations about a father’s natural response to his hungry child: Matthew
7:9 "Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him
a stone?" and Luke 11:11 "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a
father, will he give him a stone?" Perhaps the strongest condemnation of all
comes from an episode described in Matthew 25: 41-46. I note here just

verses 44-45. "Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we

183

thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and
did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say
unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to

11

me.

182 " 'the wanderings of the Children of Israel in the wilderness' "

This story takes up a good deal of the early Old Testament; see Exodus
chapter 12 through Joshua chapter 7. More to the point, it is a story safely
removed in time and theme from the contemporary moment; thus, it is
unlikely to raise any uncomfortable questions about social responsibility--unlike

the Gospels.

182 "'a good plan would be . . . to call upon them every Saturday

afternoon’"

Belcher knows that this is just after the workers pick up their pay, of

Course.

186-87 "'your dear Shepherd was presented with an illuminated

address. and a purse of gold sufficient to defray the expenses of a

184

month's holiday in the South of France' "

Anyone as familiar with scripture as Tressell obviously was would
appreciate the comparison between this treatment of Belcher and the
travelling arrangements made for the twelve disciples. See Mark 6:8 "And
[Jesus] commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey . . .

no money in their purse. Luke 9:3 and Matthew 10:4 are similarly pertinent.

187 "it might have been thought that they were a flock of sheep

instead of being what they really were--a pack of wolves."

See Matthew 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in

sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

187 "'Paid to the Bev. John Starr for Sunday. Nov. l4--4.4.0 per the

treasurer...‘ "

So Rev. Starr has, for his little speech, been paid more than the workers

will earn in a month of hard labour.

188 "the Labourer is worthy of his hire."

See Luke 10:7 " . . . for the labourer is worthy of his hire." The hire

185

Jesus was speaking of was simply that the Apostles, already travelling without
money, should not feel guilty about accepting food and drink from the people
they stayed with. Thus this reference is strongly ironic. Tressell must have

been reading the Gospels when he wrote this chapter.

188 "Mr. Sweater's . . . motor car"

See note above at 123.

Ch. l8 "The Lodger"

This brief chapter’s incident, wherein Slyme provides an expensive
rattle for the Easton baby, illustrates Slyme’s preoccupation with pleasing
Ruth. It also shows that he has more money for luxuries than most of the

workers.

190 " 'that cuff about money bein' the cause of poverty.‘ "

From OED, perhaps either from "guff/goff" for stupid, foolish, or from
the American attribution of "guff' for foolish talk. The EDD offers for "cuff"
both a possible verb and substantive meaning which would work: "to try to

make believe, to insinuate, to deceive," and "a lie, a hoax, deceit."

186
190 "'Nimrod's sure to ramp.”

From OED, of persons: "To storm or rage with violent gestures; to act

in a furious or threatening manner."

Ch. 19 "The Filling of the Tank"

This chapter gives a detailed picture of the life of the workers during
their free time. Their shortage of funds, together with their shortage of
experience, left them with not many choices. "In a society relatively starved of
recreation, working men had to choose the life of the pub and the music-hall
or the life of the temperance society, mutual improvement society, and chapel:

there was nowhere else to go" (LG I 161).

194 "a 'penny-in-the-slot' polyphone"

A large kind of musical box, driven by clockwork or by hand, and
capable of playing any tune when the corresponding perforated disk is
inserted. The OED’s usage samples include this from 1902: "Daily Chronicle 7

April Polyphone for sale, including stand; cost L14."

187
195 "The bar was arranged in the usual way . . . ."

Pubs were divided into sections, and in fact, some still are; for example,
the Hastings Arms, in Norman Road, St. Leonards which stands opposite
Adams and Jarrett for whom Tressell worked. The entry on "Pubs" in IE
Victorian City (volume 1) provides a lengthy discussion of the decor,
locations, entertainments, and generally, the variety of social roles fulfilled by
pubs. It also includes a discussion of the conflict between the temperance
movement and the pub owners, which is of particular interest with regard to

the working class.

196 "Philpot was already stony broke."

From 1895 OED example, "I’m cleaned out--’stony broke’, as the slang

goes."

196 "drinks obtained on tick"

From the OED, colloquial/slang for "on the ticket," i.e., on credit, on

trust.

188

196 "'a pint o'porter for meself.'"

That is, a particular type of beer. The OED describes "porter" as a

Scots usage.

199 "'Ard lines.' remarked Bundy . . . ."

OED: "Line"--"Hard lines: ill luck, bad fortune. (prob. nautical in origin;

now often associated with [the definition in] 4 c, "appointed lot in life."

205 "at Windley. where they all resided."

Tressell’s appendix (631) also mentions that the working-class

neighborhood of Mugsborough is named Windley.

Ch. 20 "The Forty Thieves. The Battle: Brigands Versus Bandits"

Part one of chapter 20, "The Forty Thieves," sets the scene by providing
background information on the Town Council; part two, "The Battle: Brigands
Versus Bandits," shows the group in actions. Speaking of Tressell’s portrayal
of this lot, Raymond Williams observes that "it was obviously a very sore point .
. . that the standard response to working men who talked about socialism or

how the country should be run differently, was to say that they were ignorant.

189

So [Tressell] took great care with the Brigands . . . the Forty Thieves as I
heard somebody in Hastings, when I was living there, say we still ought to call
them . . . he took great care to show the Brigands as ignorant people" (Writing

254).

208 "Sheriff's sales "

Not in OED or y_B, but the practice of selling off the household goods

of people who cannot or will not pay their poll tax continues today.

208 "He had an extensive stock of second-hand furniture that he had

resumed possession of . . . ."

Tressell does a careful job of indicating the patterns of exploitation that
wear down the workers; this is just the fate that the Eastons are dreading (see

RTP 57).

209 "These girls then became a sort of reserve . . . . "

Again, a glimpse of other workers’ lives where we see the same pattern

of workers set against workers. The status quo, thus maintained, benefits the

capitalists. Dressmakers, and other similar trades account for many entries in

190

The Autobiography of the Working Class volumes. See John Law [Margaret

Harkness] A City Girl for a fictional representation of this kind of life.

209 " Mr. Sweater. who was always prominent in every good and

charitable work."

And such prominence would be, of course, specifically anti-Gospel; see
Matthew 6:1-4. Also, compare the language of Colossians 1:10 "being fruitful

in every good work" and II Timothy 2:21 "prepared unto every good work."

210 "These poor women were able to clear from six to eight shillings
a week . . . they had to work almost incessantly for fourteen or

sixteen hours a day."

These six or eight shillings would not even amount to quite half a

pound per week (one pound = 20 shillings).

211 "Mr. Sweater waxed rich and increased in goods and

respectability."

A particularly strong, ironic biblical allusion, even for Tressell.

Compare this description of Christ, from Luke 2:40, "And the child grew, and

191

waxed strong in spirit" and verse 52, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and

stature."

211 " Mr. Trafaim . . . always put the matter before them in the

plainest. fairest possible way."

We met Mr. Trafaim, Owen’s superior neighbor of "French Extraction,"
during the discussion (RTP 79) of the various inhabitants who shared the
apartment building with the Owen family. This description of Trafaim’s terms
is Strongly reminiscent of Hunter’s offering of reduced wages to the workers
(see RTP 36). Once again, Tressell takes an opportunity to show a brief glance
of another area of working-class life and the way that the System enslaves

them all.

211 "Sweater had contrived to lay up for himself a large amount of

treasure upon earth": "his obese figure arrayed in costly apparel"

See Matthew 6:19-21 "Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth . .
. But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven . . . . " And as mentioned above
(180) see also 1 Timothy 2:12, " . . . not . . . with costly array" (though this

directive is applied to women).

192

212 "nine days' wonder"

ED: Refers to "the time (’nine day’ or ’nights’) during which a novelty

is proverbially said to attract attention." The earliest usage note for this, by

the way, is l374--from Chaucer’s Troylus.

213 "about two years ago"

Ball reports that this episode is based on fact, on things that transpired

just before Tressell moved to Hastings (Damned 148-49).

212 "There was nothing of the low agitator about him."

In this portrait of Councillor Weakling Tressell may be criticizing well-

meaning Liberals or perhaps even theoretical Socialists who could not bring

themselves to be involved with, say, the Clarion vans.

215 "stragem lsicl"

A typesetter’s error; the manuscript, page 528, shows Tressell spelled

the word correctly.

193
215 "the arbitration of the Bankruptcy Court."

Writing in Q, Barbara Weiss describes bankruptcy as "a necessary
refuge for the marginal entrepreneurs of capitalism" (65). See also her book

The Hell of the English: Bankruptcy and the Victorian Novel.

Ch. 21 "The Reign of Terror. The Great Money Trick"

With the first part of the title, Tressell is of course comparing the
constant fear of being sacked with the horrors perpetrated by Robespierre and
his followers. The kind of psychological violence we see in this chapter--a tool
of intimidation, akin to the cracking of a whip--served the capitalists well.

The second part of this chapter title refers to one of the most popular, best
known, parts of _ILTP. Ball mentions a dramatization, done in 1953, of this
scene (Damned 215-l6); put on at Brighton, this Trades Council sponsored
performance is called "the greatest success of Tressell on stage." John
Nettleton calls "the Great Money Trick"--"Das Kapital, simplified into the
working men’s understanding" and reports that "these few pages are still done
at branch meetings and . . . at building sites whenever they’re rained off . . . .
I know lads who have got that off by heart" (Alfred 9). Elsewhere, it is

referred to as "a classic of British socialist literature" (Papers 36).

194
218 "called by Christians the 'Battle of Life'"

Tressell is referring to a theme that was popular in the Christian
literature of the time; a kind of militancy characterizes some versions of
Christianity. Consider, for example, these lines from the popular hymn
"Onward Christian Soldiers" who are encouraged to go "marching as to war,"
and cheered on by the chant "forward into battle, see His banners go." The
whole ideological structure of the Salvation Army fits into this pattern of
images. Frank Charles Thompson’s The New Chain-Reference Bible (first
edition 1908) offers a KJV text to which has been appended an incredible
range of materials. One of these, the "Complete System of Biblical Studies,"
lists over 4000 topics and terms; here I found the outline for a thematic study
on the "Battle of Life"; it includes such sub-categories as "Ancient Heroes,"
"The Spiritual Conflict," "The Soul’s Enemies" and "Weapons and Armor of the

Saints."

220 "'. . . down on the Grand Parade . . .'"

The street called the Grand Parade is in St Leonards, and as it crosses
into Hastings it becomes Eversfield Place; Tressell seems to use the entire sea-
front (without having it a sea-front) as Mugsborough’s Grand Parade. Since

Tressell’s time there has been reconstruction of this area, but almost all of the

195

Victorian buildings remain.

223 " 'order themselves lowly and reverently towards their betters' "

Christian schools teach humility to serve the status quo--not a true
spiritual humility but a kind of obsequious grovelling which easily came from

the low self-esteem with which workers viewed themselves and their children.

224 "'It gives me the pip . . .'"

ED: Applied vaguely (usually more or less humorously) to various

diseases in human beings.

224 "'this 'ere Socialist wangle'"

From _(fl, noted as printers’ slang (1888)--"to accomplish something in
an irregular way of scheming or contrivance; to manipulate"; the note fi'om
1881 accredited to Jacobi’s Printer’s Vocabulary says that the word connotes
"arranging or ’faking’ matters to one’s own satisfaction or convenience." This
is at least the second instance of Tressell’s use of a term from the printers’

trade. See note above, page 39.

196
225-26 "Gwen opened his dinner basket and took from it two slices of

hread...."

The description of Owen about to "teach" is allusive of Christ in at least
three ways: first, the homely manner of the teaching is similar to Christ’s
manner as depicted in the Gospels; additionally, the removal of the bread
from the basket, and the breaking and distributing of it, reminds us at once of

the feeding of the multitude and of the last supper.

227 "'keep watch at the gate in case a Slop comes along?”

From OED: Nineteenth-century slang for policeman.

229 "he would call out the military and have them shot down like

dogs. the same as he had done before at Featherstone and Belfast."

In 1893, at F eatherstone, the Miners’ Federation organized their first
major strike; 400,000 workers participated. During the strike, soldiers shot
and killed two miners and 16 people were injured. Liberal Home Secretary--
later Prime Minister--Herbert Asquith ordered the action (film 36). In a
similar action, in 1907, striking workers in Belfast were "shot down by troops"

(36).

197
230 "Trim your fee-bil lamp me brither-in" etc.

These lines are from the last verse and the chorus of the hymn, "Let the
Lower Lights Be Burning." The lines quoted here do not exactly match those
I have located, which I reproduce here:

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother:
Some poor sailor tempest-tost
Trying now to make the harbor,

In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower lights be burning!
Send a gleam across the wave!

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman;
You may rescue, you may save.

(Sankey Gospel Hymns 29)

Ch. 22 "The Phrenologist "

Phrenology, the belief--for a time considered a science--that it was
possible to discern human character and faculties by observing the peculiarities
of head shape, permanent bumps, etc, was very popular in the nineteenth
century. References to it are common in the literature of the time; it
frequently plays a part, for example, in Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes
mysteries (which Ball reports Tressell enjoyed). Here, the chapter title
provides a sarcastic reference to yet another attempt on Slyme’s part to

ingratiate himself with Ruth.

198
2 35 " 'My wandering boy' was followed by a choice selection of

popular songs. . . ."

"My wandering boy," is actually the first line of a hymn "Where is my
Boy Tonight," (km 75; Sankey Gospel Hymns 450). The other songs
mentioned here are listed in m (77) as among the popular songs Tressell
refers to. London m quotes two lines from "The Honeysuckle and the
Bee": "Yew aw the enny, ennyseckle, Oi em ther bee,/Oi’d like ter sip ther

enny from those red lips, yew see."

236 "they suggested that she was cross-cut"

Neither in OED nor EDD as slang. Literally, to crosscut is to cut
against the grain; perhaps by extension here it means not behaving in a

"womanly" manner, i.e., not responding to flirtatious overtures.

236 "They knew that the doctors at the Hospital made a practice of

using the free patients to make experiments upon."

In Gaskell’s Mary Barton, John Barton speaks of his treatment in an

I"

infirmary: there be good chaps there to a man, while he’s wick [alive]
whate’er they may be about cutting him up at after’." London, expressing a

less positive view about how the poor might be treated while alive, observes:

199

They feel, themselves, that the forces of society tend to hurl them
out of existence. We were sprinkling disinfectant by the
mortuary, when the dead wagon drove up and five bodies were
packed into it. The conversation turned to the ’white potion’ and
’black jack,’ and 1 found they were all agreed that the poor
person, man or woman, who in the Infirmary gave too much
trouble or was in a bad way, was ’polished off.’ That is to say, the
incurables and the obstreperous were given a dose . . . and sent
over the divide. It does not matter in the least whether this be
actually so or not. The point is, they have the feeling that it is so,
and they have created the language with which to express that
feeling--’black jack,’ ’white potion,’ ’polishing off.’ (Abyss
Chapter IX)

237 "Like most other Christians he believed in . . ."

(ll "taking thought for the morrow"--see Matthew 6:34, "Take
therefore no thought for the morrow . . ."; (2) "lay up . . . as much
treasure on earth"--see Matthew 6:19-21, quoted in note for 211 above; 13)
"Besist not evil"/'If a man smite thee .." --see Matthew 5:39, "But I say
unto you, that ye resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also"; (41 "If one take thy coat . . . " --see
Matthew 5:40, "And if any man . . . take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke
also; (5} "Lord. Lord"- "do not" the things He said" --see Luke 6:46, "And

why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

200
240 “Yesterday I took him with me to the Monopole Stores'"

1 cannot locate an exact reference for the "Monopole Stores," however,
the O_EQ lists two helpful definitions, which it is particularly interesting to
consider together: 2 "An emporium. 3 "An unlawful convention; a conspiracy.
See fl; "Shops and Shopping," for a comprehensive discussion of shops. On
George Street in Hastings, near the corner of High Street, there is still a store,

The Emporium.

Ch. 23 "The '0pen-Air'"

Such open air meetings as this chapter describes were popular with the
non-conformist sects. They have twentieth century parallels in the tent-
meetings and revivals held by primitive Methodists and Baptists, among
others. One might consider the "crusades" held by evangelist Billy Graham to
be part of this tradition, which has as its primary purpose the conversion of

the "unsaved."

242 "the greater number of them were members of some sick benefit

club"

"Fraternal groups and workingmen’s clubs contracted with a medical

201

practitioner to treat all members who paid the subscription fee (typically

Sixpence to one shilling a quarter)" (E 491).

244 "Happy Britain" and "England for the English"

The Robert Tressell Papers writers identify Frankie’s recommendation
as "in other words, Blatchford’s Merrie England and Britain for the Brigala"

(34).

245 "This is the status of the maiority of the 'Heirs of all the ages'

under the present system. "

The "Heirs of all the ages" quote is from line 178 of Tennyson’s

"Locksley Hall" (1842): "I the heir of all the ages, in the foremost files of time."

245 "the iury had returned the usual verdict. 'Temporary Insanity'"

London observes:

such verdicts are crimes against truth. The Law is a lie, and
through it men lie most shamelessly. For instance, a disgraced
woman, forsaken and spat upon by kith and kin, doses herself
and her baby with laudanum. The baby dies; but she pulls
through after a few weeks in hospital, is charged with murder,
convicted, and sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude.
Recovering, the Law holds her responsible for her actions; yet,

202

had she died, the same Law would have rendered a verdict of
temporary insanity. (Abyss Ch. XXII)

246 "Looking out into the unfathomable infinity of space. Gwen

wondered . . . ."

Owen’s musings here reflect concerns that characterize the late
nineteenth century. One need not to have been a Socialist in order to harbor
doubts like those Owen describes. The whole century saw a gradual but
steady decrease of faith in traditional representations of authority. Most
pertinent here are the losses to orthodox Christian faith/its view of the world
brought on by German higher criticism, by Darwin’s theories, and by Bishop

Colenso’s writings--to name a few.

246 "An infant crying in the night." etc.

These lines, quoted from Tennyson’s In Memoriam, conclude section 54
of that poem. Tennyson has been describing immortality, which he ends by
calling "my dream," then he observes that for all his dream, he is but "an infant
crying in the night," and so forth. Owen, who has been "supposing that bodily
death were not the end," recalls Tennyson’s reflections along similar paths.

Ball, by the way, notes that Tressell quotes from In Memoriam but does not

203
specify the quotation (Damned 62).

246 "happiness such as it had never entered into the heart of man to

conceive?"

Cf. I Corinthians 2:9 ". . . Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for

them that love him."

247 "Be not deceived: God is not mocked!"

Galatians 6:7. The entire verse reads, "Be not deceived; God is not

mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

247 "I heard the voice of Jesus say." etc.

One source notes that "the passage quoted is identical to Sankey’s
original" (fipaps 75) but my research indicates that, while the hymn has
appeared in a collection edited by Sankey, it was authored by Bonar and
Havergal (see Sankey Gospel Hymns 461). The lines quoted here appear as

verses three and four, and compare exactly to the hymn, except for variations

204

in punctuation.

247 "The individual . . . was a tall. thin man"

This description of Hunter echoes the one that appears first on pages

31-32.

248 "There was also a shabbily dressed. semi-drunken man . . ."

This description of the semi-drunk duplicates the one that appears first

on page 196.

249 "'Head out the 17th and 18th verses of the XVIth chapter of

Mar Ill

Except for minor differences in punctuation, the version of these verses

that follows matches the KJV rather than the Standard Version of 1901.

250 " 'perhaps you can drink deadly things without suffering harm' "

Ball reports an encounter in Tressell’s life which this incident is based

on (Damned 94-95).

205
250 "a song called 'Gh. that will be Glory for me!"

One source argues that the hymn here referred to is probably "That
Will be Heaven for Me" (Papers 75), and such a hymn does appear in one

Sankey collection (Gospel Hymns 444).

250 "a working-man member of the P.S.A."

That is, of the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon (EELS 93). An 1891 source,
describing the various manifestations of social work done by the church, speaks
of "adult schools in the morning and pleasant meetings in the afternoon on
Sunday for working men at the church" (Woods 160). The same group is
mentioned again in RTP (491-92; 626). The narrator describes this kind of
’religious’ working man as "ignorant, shallow-pated dolts, without as much

intellectuality as an average cat" (RTP 191).

251 "the latter accordingly stepped into the centre of the ring and

held forth as follows"

(I) "Put off to some more convenient time", see Acts 24:25--"And
as he [Paul] reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,
Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a

convenient season, I will call for thee."; (2) "being often reproved . . .

206
hardens his neck", Proverbs 29:1 (3| "he suddenly cut off . . . without

remedy". also see Proverbs 29:1--"He, that being often reproved hardeneth
his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." For another
version of this kind of testimony, see the character Snobby Price in Shaw’s

Major Barbara who testifies at the Salvation Army headquarters.

Ch. 24 "Bath"

While the 1914/1918 editions of RTP maintained this chapter, they did
so with several alterations. Editor Jessie Pope’s changes included deleting "all

that matter about Ruth’s intrigue with Slyme" (Damned 210).

252 "artisans and labourers out of employment"

In this movement from a general observation of a scene to the
particular focus on Newman and Linden as a part of this miserable group, the
reader sees Tressell’s characteristic rendering of the particular in the universal.
This situation--the state of the unemployed men--is one more piece in the

puzzle of "interlocking exploitation" that Tressell portrays (see Williams intro

to Mitchell xii).

207
253 "Slyme also expressed his regret that he had no money with him.

at the corner of the next street Newman--ashamed of having asked--

wished them 'good night' and went away."

The narrator means us, of course, to contrast the "Christian" Slyme’s
lack of charity with the teachings of Christ--which are, by the way, so

admirably lived out by Owen and Philpot.

254 "he could see Mr. Bushton in the act of kissing and embracing

Miss Wade. the young lady clerk."

Eileen Yeo has written about Tressell’s view of women (see "Women and
Socialism in Tressell’s World" Alfred 79-92); she does not, however, mention
this incident. While it is admittedly brief, it is yet important inasmuch as it
illustrates another way that Rushton exploits his employees. Not surprisingly,
it also illustrates Rushton’s hypocrisy--he is a married man and a member of

the Church of the Whited Sepulchre.

254 "This man looked about sixty-five years of age. and was very

shabbily dressed."

In Latham and his son, Tressell provides the reader with another

example of exploitation in trades outside of those Tressell mainly focuses on;

208

here, again, the reader can observe the pattern preparing to continue into the
next generation. Finally, the reader can see that, despite the particularity of
Tressell’s portrait, the situation he describes is diffused throughout the

working class.

256 "The atmosphere was . . . foul with the sickening odours of the

poisonous materials."

The Decorator indices in my possession make it clear that workers were
aware of such job-related dangers as white-lead poisoning. London describes
several cases of white-lead poisoning in chapter xxi "The Precariousness of

Life" in The Abyss.

259 "The baby was left at home alone. asleep in the cradle."

In Round About a Pound a Week, Pember Reeves cites this case:

A mother, the breadwinner for three young children, earned 12S.
a week for work which took her from home in the early morning
and again in the evening. During two daily absences, which cost
her 2S. weekly in fares, she was obliged to leave her baby lying in
its perambulator.

When an education officer discovered this practice, he insisted that the mother

had to arrange for childcare; this in turn depleted the small income she was

able to gain.

209

260 "Some of the seats in the public bar were occupied by women. "

Tressell here reveals some of his attitudes about women; it is clear from
the narrator’s comments that he does not quite approve of the women being at
the bar. When we consider that they provide the backdrop for Ruth Easton’s
unwilling presence, as well as for the chapter’s ending catastrophe, that
disapproval becomes even clearer. In this brief sketch, we can see a
progression that focuses on age, beginning with the girls who work at the
neighborhood steam laundry, moving on to the more mature women
accompanied by their husbands and to the gypsy-looking women (flower
hawkers), extending to the middle-age of the two prostitutes who are "there
only on sufferance" and to the old, drink-sodden women who sit in the bar
alone. It seems, then, that Tressell here, as with the workers, is interested in
showing the stages of degradation through which a human may pass. I would
just add that his moral disapproval of the prostitutes fails to recognize the

extent to which they, too, are victims of the present system.

260 " 'The Garden of Your Heart' "

Mentioned in Papers list of songs and hymns (77).

210
261 "She also promised Buth to introduce her . . . to Mr. Partaker"

If we consider the narrator’s observations about this lodger’s having
moved with the Crasses (despite the relative inconvenience for him of their
new location) and put that together with his name (given Tressell’s penchant
for aptly-named characters) I think it is safe to assume that Mr. Grass is being
cuckolded. Additionally, this suggests Mrs. Crass’s willingness to participate in

the brutalization of Ruth, which we see in her later drunkenness.

265 "However. it came to pass that . . . the only infidels present were

those who were conducting the meeting"

The "it came to pass" is an example of Tressell’s use of recognizably
(KJV) biblical language. When he uses such language (indicating his
familiarity with the main text of Christianity) and juxtaposes it with his
characterization of the "Christians" as actual infidels, it strengthens his

authority as a critic who is playing on his enemies’ field.

267 "It took a very long time to get this iacket off . . . ."

Of this moment in RTP, Miss Pope wrote to Grant Richards, "my idea is

to make Ruth resent Slyme’s advances on the night when she returns"

(Damned 210); I provide here, from the 1914 edition of the book, Miss Pope’s

211

altered ending for the evening.

While he was helping with the jacket, Slyme suddenly took her in
his arms and kissed her repeatedly.

There came a cry from the cradle, and at the sound a shudder
went through Ruth’s limp and unresisting form. She wrenched
herself free from his passionate embrace, and struck at him so
furiously that he recoiled before her and retired upstairs
trembling and disconcerted.

The following week the Eastons’ room was once again to let.

(RTP 1914 edition 208)

Ch. 25 "The Ghlong"

In "The Ragged-Arsed Philanthropists," Raymond Williams refers to this
chapter, one of the so-called "teaching chapters," as "the most radical
innovation in this work . . . which [does] what to this day the fiction text-books
tell you you can’t do." Tressell breaks the rules of fiction when he provides for
his readers "a figurative demonstration of an analysis of the social order which

leads to certain clear conclusions about it" (Alfred 29).

269 " 'But while 'e was standin' on the platform at Monte Carlo

Station waitin' for the train. a porter runned into 'im with a barrer

2 l 2
load 0' luggage. and 'e blowed up.”

In his description of Rev. Belcher as a dangerously over-full balloon,
Tressell has foreshadowed this ending. Rev. Belcher provides a fanciful, but
ironically appropriate, image for the gross over-consumption and materialism

of the capitalist class.

271 "gone on the razzle"

From OED possibly akin to "razzle dazzle," noted as slang of US origin
(c. 1890’s), "used to express the ideas of bewilderment or confusion, rapid stir
and bustle, riotous jollity or intoxication, etc." One usage example from 1899

9"

is "Dick, who is still on the ’razzle dazzle .

272 "As they worked. the thorns . . . caught and tore their clothing

and lacerated the flesh of their half-frozen hands."

Not only does this section provide a bit of realism that only a worker
could feelingly portray, but also it describes the workers in such a way as to

evoke Christ.

273 "The wind was not blowing in sudden gusts. but swept by in a

strong. persistent current that penetrated their clothing and left them

2 l 3
trembling and numb with cold."

As with the thorns, the particular details here and in the sentences that
follow demonstrate a knowledge of the exact nature of suffering that only a

worker would know.

274 "'We'd do the same if we was in 'is place. and so would anybody
else.‘ said Slyme. and added sarcastically 'Gr p'raps you'd give all the

soft iobs to other people and do all the rough yerself!"

Slyme here gives voice to a claim made elsewhere by the narrator; it is
the system itself which corrupts and which demands that its players think of
themselves first. Putting these words in the mouth of the "Christian" Slyme
also serves Tressell’s purpose of demonstrating the failure of such Christians to
decompartmentalize their life and their faith. For what Slyme sarcastically
describes here is of course just what Christ would say they should do; despite

his much speaking, Slyme hasn’t quite learned the Golden Rule.

276 "'It's all bogy'."

According to Partridge, may be cognate with bogus; also used to mean

"a mistake, a blunder," but this usage is linked with the military.

2 14
277-78 "underneath is a card with a tex out of the Bible--'Christ is the

'ead of this 'ouse: the unknown guest at every meal. The silent

listener to every conversation'."

Though its contextual irony remains unimpaired, this is not, as Dick
Wantley thinks, a biblical text. It remains a popular pious commonplace, even
today in some circles. Tressell would certainly have known that this was no
biblical text; thus, the situation also reveals the biblical illiteracy of the typical

worker, which parallels his political illiteracy.

281 "ridiculing the foolishness of 'them there Socialists'. whom they

called 'The Sharers Gut'."

Here, as elsewhere in the text, Tressell wants to address popular
misunderstandings of socialism. In his preface, he anticipates any objection to
his novel on the grounds that plenty of socialist literature exists; despite the
abundant literature, he says: "a very brief conversation with an average anti-
socialist is sufficient to show that he does not know what Socialism means."
Here, Tressell is speaking to the notion that the socialist agenda included the

"sharing out" of private property.

283 "This isn't an argument against Socialism--it's an argument

2 15
against the hypocrites who pretend to be Christians--the people who

profess to "Love their neighbors as themselves". . . "Bearing one
another's burdens" . . . "Give to everyone who asks . . ." . . . "Give . . .

cloak to the man who takes . . . coat."

Owen alludes here to several biblical passages: see Mark 12:31 "And the
second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is
none other commandment greater than these."; Galatians 6:2 "Bear ye one
another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ"; Matthew 5:42 "Give to him
that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou
away"; Matthew 5:40 "And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away

thy coat, let him have thy cloke also." NB: "cloke" is the King James spelling.

283 "'They have arranged 'The Battle of Life' system instead!”

See note above at 218.

284 "Socialism can only be practiced by the Community"

Community, its importance and its presence or absence, recurs as a
theme in much literature that focuses on the working class. It is a concern
common both to Socialism and to Christianity, which are in their ideologies (if
not in their manifestations) systems based on solidarity and cooperation. In

RTP, this focus on community represents a crucial distinction between

216

Socialism and Christianity-Capitalism. At its best, true to Christ’s teachings,
Christianity could only be practiced by the community; wed to capitalism, it
lacks the necessary compassion. Socialism, similarly needs to be located within
a community to realize its teachings. See Raymond Williams’ Keywords entry
"Community"; the question of the importance of community is also taken up
by much of the Condition of England fiction. For example, it appears
explicitly in Sybil: "There is no community in England; there is aggregation,
but aggregation under circumstances which make it rather a dissociating than

a uniting principle" (64; Bk. 11, Ch. 5).

284 " 'While the money system lasts we are bound to have poverty and

all the evils it brings in its train'."

Another example of the way that Tressell’s framing of statements evokes
not only Socialist but also Christian teaching. In Christian teaching, a system
that relies on and elevates the pursuit of money, as capitalism does, can lead
only to evil: see I Timothy 6:10, the often-misquoted "the love of money is the
root of all evil.". Tressell, with his high degree of biblical literacy, would
almost certainly think of this verse as yet another precept that the "Christian"

masters ignore so that they may continue their alliance with the money system.

217

284-85 "'I rise to a pint of order'. said Easton.

'And I rise to order a pint.' cried Philpot."

Humor is one of Tressell’s strengths as a writer; here, he interrupts a
fairly lengthy harangue with a few paragraphs of rowdy interruptions.
Raymond Williams surely had such moments as this in mind when he
observed of RTP:

. . . there is no finer representation, anywhere in English writing,
f a certain rough-edged, mocking, give-and-take conversation

between workmen and mates. This humour, this edge, is one of
the most remarkable achievements. (Writing 254)

292 ""Bevouring' is a good word.‘ said Philpot . . ."

Philpot is right. In fact, excessive (and often illegal or unethical)
consumption describes the actions of many characters in the RTP. Consider,
for example, the Rev. Belcher’s pursuit of food and money; Rushton and
Hunter’s willingness to take every advantage of their positions, by taking
furnishings from houses they are working on, and by their consumption of
their workers. Perhaps the most apt example of the way capitalism leads to

the devouring of others is seen in the ghoulish fight for the corpse in Chapter

X.

2 l 8
293 "'All those who really seek to 'Love their neighbour as

themselves'. or to return good for evil . . . and all those who refrain
from doing to others the things they would not like to suffer

themselves . . .

Tressell’s writing evidences a comprehensive grasp of biblical themes
and language patterns; he seems, however, especially keen in his grasp of the
Gospels. See Mark 12:31 "And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than
these"; Matthew 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you . . ." (with an echo of Romans 12:17
"Recompense to no man evil for evil"); Matthew 7:12 "Therefore all things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for

this is the law and the prophets."

294 "'. . . the workers subsist on block ornaments . . .'"

ED: slang for "blocker," which is in turn defined as colloquial for "a
small piece of meat placed for sale on the butcher’s block, as opposed to the

’joint’ hung on hooks" and of course not within the reach (so to speak) of the

working class shopper.

2 19
296 " 'What about all the money what's in the Post foice Savings

Bank. and Building and Friendly Societies?‘ said Crass."

"Post Office Savings Bank" Qfl: In the UK, one of four types of
institutions for "encouraging thrift by receiving small deposits at interest."
Especially a "bank having branches at local post offices where sums within
fixed limits are received on government security" and on which sums interest
is paid. "Friendly Society" O_ED_: "Originally, the name of a particular fire
insurance company. In later use, one of numerous associations, the members
of which pay fixed contributions to insure pecuniary help in sickness or old

age, and provision for their families in the event of death."

298 "'They're devils! They know that whilst they are indulging in
pleasure of every kind--all around them men and women and little

children are existing in want or dying of hunger."

An oblique reference to the parable of Dives and Lazarus; see note at

300 below. Thus, also, the devils in this hell Tressell depicts for us.

299 " 'Even Watt and Stevenson merely improved upon steam engines

and locomotives already existing'."

That is, James Watt (1736-1819) the Scottish inventor. And for

220

"Stevenson," Tressell must have in mind George Stephenson (1781-1848) the
English inventor and founder of railroads. Both men, by the way, are
mentioned with reverence by Samuel Smiles in his Self-Help--a work which

Tressell elsewhere ridicules. See note below at 492.

300 ". . . their 'betters'--who did nothing but the thinking--went

clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptously every day."

See Luke 16:19--"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in
purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day." This alludes to the
parable of Dives and Lazarus; Tressell uses it on more than one occasion, and
it is also a recurring allusion in SE] and in Mary Barton. Mrs. Gaskell in
particular draws attention to its use in Mary Barton; when John Barton,
having returned from London, remarks of the rich "They are having their
good things now, that afterwards they may be tormented," the narrator next
comments: "Still at the old parable of Dives and Lazarus! Does it haunt the
minds of the rich as it does those of the poor?" (114; Ch. IX). By way of
contrast, Angela Messenger, the wealthy protagonist of Besant’s All Sorts and
Conditions of Men, observes that her sympathies have always been with Dives,
who, because of his affluence, "must have been so flattered and worshipped

before his pride became intolerable" (327; Ch. XXXVIII).

22 1
300 "'Gf course.’ said Slyme. 'It says in the Bible that the poor shall

always be with us.'"

See note above at 27. Slyme is assuming that the permanent status of
the poor is a result of divine will, not of human selfishness. This conveniently
takes responsibility away from him, so long as he doesn’t stop to think of some
of those troublesome remarks Jesus made--and which Tressell completely

comprehends.

300 "'I don't want to be henlightened into Barkness!’ said Slyme.

piously. "

Note Slyme’s equation of the present (Capitalist) system with spiritual

(Christian) truth.

Ch. 26 "The Slaughter"

A dramatic chapter heading, which takes its cue not from the relative
calm of the workers’ dismissal from their job, but from the ramifications of this
layoff: "the impending want, the privation and unhappiness that they . . .
would have to suffer . . . ." (303). One of the skirmishes in the Battle of Life,

which will end by wounding some of the participants mortally.

222
303 " . . . the young lady book-keeper . . . paid her the sum that

Hunter had represented as her wages . . . ."

Hunter, the Sunday School superintendant at the Shining Light Chapel,
is stealing from Mrs. White--a widow, and thus a type of woman frequently

cited in the Bible as particularly worthy of pity and care. See James 1:27.

304 "Misery was wandering about the house and grounds like an evil

spirit seeking rest and finding none."

See note at 118 above.

305 "'There it stands!.' said Harlow. tragically. extending his arm
towards the house. 'There it stands! A iob that if they'd only have let
us do it properly. couldn't 'ave been done with the number of 'ands
we've 'ad. in less than four months: and there it is. finished. messed

up. slobbered over and scamped. in nine weeks'."

Harlow’s regret for the poor quality of the work sounds a Morrisian
theme. And, of course, the rapidity of the job’s completion also means less

income from the job. So they’ve been forced to do work they cannot be proud

223

of, and have been paid poorly for doing it, and have been employed for a
shorter amount of time than they know they should be able to expect.
Harlow’s observations give voice to the alienation of the workers in the present

system: one which denies them both psychological and physical nourishment.

305 " [Philpot] filled a small medicine bottle . . . with turpentine
from the tank. He wanted this stuff to rub into his shoulders and

legs . . . ."

An OED usage note for "turpentine" c. 1859 remarks "Its great use
among house painters, under the cant name of ’turps’ is to thin and assist the
drying of oil paints." Philpot is here relying on its folklore capacity for

relieving rheumatism. And what other recourse has be?

305 " . . . Gwen wrote the two gates. Gn the front entrance 'The Cave'

and on the back 'Tradesmens Entrance'. in gilded letters."

Thus, with Owen’s carefully-lettered signs, the class distinctions are put
into place. The Cave, the scene of the workers’ labors, meals, jokes, and
arguments is now transformed to the place where they are welcome, if at all,

through the designated (back) entrance.

224

306 "'But of course it don't matter so much about the basement
[being cold and damp] sir. because it's honly the servants what 'as to

useit.sir...

Crass nicely provides an illustration for one of the narrator’s frequent
claims: that the workers don’t even value their own children’s comfort or
future. In this case, Crass is excusing as understandable the wretched

condition of the servant’s quarters--even though Crass’s daughter is in service!

Ch. 27 "The March of the Imperialists"

The chapter title offers another example of Tressell’s ironic perspective;
the unemployed labourers whose procession opens the chapter are as rightly
imperialists as Linden is logically a Tory. Both support the present system
against their own best interests. The @ usage notes for "imperialist" offer

some interesting insights drawn from contemporary sources:

1899 G. WYNDHAM in Daily News 23 Jan. 7/5 An Imperialist is
a man who does accept the fact that his country is a part, is,
indeed the head and heart of an Empire scattered the whole
world over.

1899 Westm. Gaz. 26 Jan. 2/2/ An Imperialist is one who . . .
does not hesitate to do what is necessary to provide for the
defence and development of the Empire.

225
1899 J. L. WALTON in Contemp. Rev. Mar. 306 The

Imperialist feels a profound pride in the magnificent heritage of

empire won by the courage and energies of his ancestry, and

bequeathed to him subject to the burden of many sacred trusts.
For additional information, see "Empire and Imperialism" in VB. Raymond
Williams discusses the evolution of "Imperialism" in Keywords; of particular
note here, given Tressell’s ironic perspective, is Williams’ observation that

"there was . . . a sustained political campaign to equate imperialism with

modern CIVILIZATION . . . and a ’civilizing mission’" (131).

309 "It was an unusually fine day for the time of year. and as they
passed along the Grand Parade-which faced due south--they felt quite

warm."

The Pike’s Hastings and St. Leonards Directory, 1902, (Papers) shows
Grand Parade as a street between the St. Leonards Pier and the Hastings Pier,
facing, of course, on the sea. Tressell in this reference, as elsewhere in the
novel, leaves out the sea; here, he simply notes that the street faces "due

south."

309 "the Man of Sorrows. who had not where to lay His head."

See Isaiah 53:3, " . . . a man of sorrows . . . " and Matthew 8:20, ". . .

the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." In this allusion, Tressell

226

draws the parallel between Christ and the disenfranchised workers; the
parallel thus drawn also creates a great gulf between Christ and the wealthy

(see note at 300 above).

309 "None of these black-garbed 'disciples' were associating with the
groups of unemployed carpenters. bricklayers. plasterers. and

painters....

In foregrounding the carpenters Tressell again, more subtly, draws the

lines of affiliation and of conflict.

309 "When they were about halfway down the Parade. iust near the

Fountain. . . ."

This fountain has almost certainly been moved; the only fountain

currently on the Parade is surely of modern construction, down near an

Italian restaurant, nearly to the Old Town.

312 Jim Scalds

This name is not listed in the DNB, nor in the Dictionary of Labour

227
Biogyaphy, nor in the Biographical Dictionary of Modern British Radical_s.

Neither have I located it in any labour party histories. Possibly a Tressell-
coined pseudonym, though his practice elsewhere in the novel (as with Samuel
Smiles, the Duke of Wellington, or the Marquis of Salisbury) is to use the real

names of real historical figures.

Ch. 28 "The Week before Christmas"

Christmas plays an important structural role in the novel, punctuating
the narrative action at mid-point and at conclusion. It at once symbolizes the
best and worst of Christianity; the celebration of the Workman of Nazareth’s
humble birth is juxtaposed with the celebration of capitalism, a feast from
which the workers and their families are largely forbidden. The VB entry on
Christmas is instructive:

During the latter half of the nineteenth century, the greater
availability of goods contributed to an increased
commercialization of Christmas. Abundance at Christmastime,
particularly in England, was a reflection of greater prosperity and
boosted national pride. . . . Christmas . . . offered an

opportunity for celebration God, the home, and the nation at the
same time. (154)

313 "' . . . I'll bring my Pandoramer.’"

For a biographical reference, see Ball (Tressell 53 ff) for the adventures

228

of the "South Coast Amusement Co." For more on "pandoramer," see the note

at Ch. 29 below.

313 " . . .a selection of popular songs. including 'The Gld Bull and
Bush'. 'Has Anyone seen a German Band?'. 'Waiting at the Church'.
and finally . . . 'Goodbye. Mignonette' and "I wouldn't leave my little

wooden hut for you'."

References like these highlight the music that captured popular
attention. The Robert Tressell Papers includes a chapter on "Songs and
Hymns" which suggests that Tressell might have developed a familiarity with
these and other popular songs from the polyphones in the pubs, or from
fairground organs, or from any one of several centers of entertainment

available to him in the Hastings/St. Leonards area.

315 "'I've been thinking we might get up a bit of a subscription for

'em.' "

This is one of many examples where Philpot and Owen demonstrate
real Christian charity; the many examples where Slyme or Hunter manage to
duck the issue provide a savage counterpoint, and one that plays a strong

thematic role in the novel.

229

317 "The Newmans lived in a small house the rent of which was six

shillings per week and taxes. To reach the house . . . ."

See both London’s Abyss and Pember Reeves’ Round About a Pound a

Week for similar accounts.

316 ". . . a culture-ground for bacteria and microbes. The maiority of
those who profess to be desirous of preventing and curing the disease

called consumption . . . .

All references to consumption bear a specific autobiographical

connection to Tressell’s life. See the 1B entry on Tuberculosis.

317 ". . . in repayment of a 'sub' he had had during the week."

An 1886 OED usage note makes sense: "to pay a portion of wages

before all are due." That is, an advance on one’s paycheck.

320 " . . . Gwen decided to give him an old set of steel graining combs

ED: "Tool[s] resembling a comb, used by housepainters for graining";

230

i.e., for "imitating, by means of painting, various kinds of rare woods . . and
likewise various species of marble" (from P. Nicholson Practical Builder 1823).
In this act, as well as in his attitude on the job, Owen does far more than
Rushton to see to it that Bert receives anything like an apprentice’s training in

a skilled craft.

320 "...I got ...atourChurchMission'all...."

This reference to a Mission Hall indicates that Crass’s church affiliation
is low rather than high; he is certainly not a member of the Church of the

Whited Sepulchre.

Ch. 29 "The Pandorama"

James Kennedy describes this chapter as "the most comic in the novel,"
and erroneously notes that it was deleted from the 1914 edition (see Appendix
B). Pandorama, he claims, is:

Bert White’s humorous name for his portable cyclorama. The fun is the

blending of ’Pandora’ (her box) and ’panorama,’ the usual name for his

picture-showing machine, but also a lower-class locution (c.1889) for

’paramour,’.

Kennedy credits J. Redding Ware’s Passing EngSsh of the Victoriafin Era: A

Dictionary of Heterodox Eng1i_sh, Slang and Phrase for these insights (286).

231

I take no issue with Kennedy’s research, but would counter that if this
chapter is comic, the humor is of a black type, and serves as a counterpoint to
what we see elsewhere in the novel as simply tragic. Consider, for example,
these examples from Bert’s narration: ”’Next we see the hinterior of a
Hindustrial ’Ome--Blind children and cripples working for their living.’" "”Ere
we see a lot of small boys . . . bein’ served out with their Labour Stifficats,

"I

which gives ’em the right to go to work and earn money . . . .

322 " by way of ulster . . . ."

OED: "A long loose overcoat of frieze or other rough cloth, frequently
with a waistbelt." The Ulster overcoat was introduced in 1867; the abbreviated
name was in common use from 1879 on. The children, of course, possess no

such substantial outerwear.

322 "A. the district visitor who gave it to her mother had remarked .

Tressell provides his own assessment of the district visitors’ work; see

RTP 365, Ch. 36.

232

325 "'we arrives safely at . . . Berlin . . . in time to see a procession of

unemployed workmen being charged by the military police.‘ "

With examples such as these, Tressell extends the range of working-

class concerns beyond England’s national boundaries.

326 "'Early Morning in Trafalgar Square' . 'Ere we see a lot of
Englishmen who have been sleepin' out all night because they ain't

got no 'omes to go to.'"

London reports that spending the night out in this way is described as
"carry[ing] the banner" (76); according to his report, to refer to this as "sleepin’
out all night" is less than accurate. Policemen on patrol watched specifically
for any vagrants sleeping, and would rouse them up and send then on their
way:

When I was a youngster I used to read of homeless boys sleeping
in doorways. Already the thing has become a tradition. As a
stock situation it will doubtlessly linger in literature for a century
to come, but as a cold fact it has ceased to be. Here are the
doorways, and here are the boys, but happy conjunctions are no
longer effected. The doorways remain empty, and the boys keep
awake and carry the banner. (76)

233
326 "Thirteen millions of people in England always on the verge of

starvation. "

See 45, above, and 511, below. Less than 1/3 of the population of 1901
England lived in poverty; but, the population had increased more than 300%
between 1801 (11 million) and 1901 (37 million). This does in fact come to

more than 12 million in poverty (VB "Poverty").

327 beano

From "bean feast," the OED verifies this as "an annual dinner given by
employers to their work-people." Apparently Rushton and the others weren’t
quite as generous as it seemed, since these workers had been kicking in money

for several months toward the costs of the Beano.

Ch. 30 "The Brigands Hold a Council of War"

In this chapter, the Town Council prepares to pervert Socialism, just as
they have perverted Christianity; they will use its name but not its teachings
nor its true goals. Like most wars, this one will be partly fought with

propaganda and misinformation, which will perpetuate stereotypes and keep

234

the town from their own best interests.

333 "The three local papers were run by limited companies."

Sweater and Grinder own not only the means of production vis a vis

labor, but also vis a vis information.

335 "it hasn't been all lavender"

According to the EDD, a phrase "to lie in lavender" signified a "snug"

and comfortable position.

Ch. 31 "The Beserter"

By his desertion, Slyme allies himself yet more clearly with the

exploiters rather than with the exploited.

Ch. 32 "The Veteran"

This brief chapter lets the reader catch up with the peripheral action

affecting Jack Linden and his family; by calling attention to Linden’s military

service, Tressell can also get a jab in at the system which rewards its young

235

soldiers mostly with rhetoric and medals, and which forgets its old soldiers
completely. London has much to say on this theme as well; references are

scattered throughout Abyss, but see ch. VII "A Winner of the Victoria Cross."

338 "The pay was eighteenpence a day . . . ."

Eighteen pence was a pathetic amount; based on six days of work, he
would have brought home 108 pence--not even 1/2 pound for the week.

London discusses the earnings of sandwich men (134).

Ch. 33 "The Soldier's Children"

As with chapter 32, this chapter’s title highlights that the wretched state
of affairs the reader will encounter have befallen the children of a soldier--a

servant of the state, and here, one who had given "the supreme sacrifice."

340 "one might have thought that the Tory Millennium had arrived"

This reference to the millennium mixes conservative politics and biblical
literalism. Some interpret Revelation 20:1-5 to mean that Christ will reign on
the earth for 1,000 years; the reign, of course, to be characterized by great

happiness and prosperity for the virtuous.

236
340 "Gnce . . . she was paid six shillings: but it took her four and a

half days . . . . The lady who bought this blouse . . . paid three

guineas for it."

Three guineas would have equalled more than Q shillings; so, Mary

Linden’s share of this fruit of her labor was 1/ 10th of the profit.

Ch. 34 "The Beginning of the End"

While the immediate reference is to the increasing seriousness of
Owen’s tuberculosis, as the first sentence of the chapter’s final paragraph
makes clear, the entire chapter portrays various ways that things are falling
apart: the increasing irregularity of available work, with its effects on the
families and the small business men who rely on their trade; the strife among
the workers as the competition escalates for every hour’s work; the
disintegration of the Linden family, with the elders sent off to the workhouse,
and with young Mrs. Linden’s breakdown; the cases of desperate acts and
death from destitution that are reported by the local police; and the chapter’s

final scene in which Owen is graphically reminded of his own mortality.

348 "cancer is not supposed to be an infectious disease"

By the time of RTP’s composition, epidemiological knowledge was

237
greatly increased. And a man so well-read as Tressell seems to have been
would likely have been aware of advances in scientific theory. Still, it is worth
remembering that the nineteenth century had been characterized by
"outbreaks of infectious disease . . . this was a period of frightening epidemics."
And that communicable diseases generally were "continually present in the
urban communities of the Victorian period" (T_V(_3 vol II, 628). This is on the
literal level; on the symbolic level, it was probably too tempting to imagine

Crass as being struck down by his own greed. The way that Tressell follows

up the consequences of Crass’s act would support this view.

348 "the town Befuse Bestrnctor"

OED: "Refuse consumer or destructor, a furnace in which refuse of
various kinds is burned." A usage note from the 1895 Daily News, August 3

reports "The burning, fiery furnace was simply . . a refuse consumer."

352-3 "While Nora was getting ready to go with the boy. Gwen made
him sit on a chair. and having removed the boot from the foot that
was bleeding. washed the cut with some warm water and bandaged it

with a piece of clean rag . . ."

Another of many occasions when Owen’s actions remind the reader of

an action taken by Christ. Here, the servant role offered in an act of

238

compassion evokes Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet on the night he was

betrayed (see John 13:1-17).

354 "The 'table' consisted of an empty wooden box . . . to prevent the

neighbours from thinking that they were hard up . . ."

Arthur Morrison uses a similar device in Tales of Mean Streets; both are
reminiscent of real-life circumstances described in Round About a Pound a
Waek, where M. Pember Reeves writes of the carefully planned front windows
she observes in the poor section of town; see pages 5-6 in the chapter "The

District."

Ch. 35 "Facing the 'Prohlem '"

In this chapter, Tressell outlines and criticizes the various responses
made by Mugsborough to the problem of local poverty. A 1987 Hastings 8c St
Leonards Observer article, looking back on 1908, gives testimony to the
problem. Among the facts there noted: that "more than 1000 men and women
were registered with the Distress Committee-~the equivalent of being
unemployed today"; that "a large number of hawkers were prosecuted in an
attempt to free the town centre from obstruction"; that "Chief Constable
James and a detachment of police stopped 40 hunger marchers from Bexhill

from going to the sea front and diverted them to Boscobel Road, where they

239

were given a ’frugal’ meal of bread and cheese"; that the number of inmates at
the Hastings workhouse and the number of vagrants in town rose compared to
the previous year (Dobson). Tressell illustrates some of the town’s responses
in this chapter; I characterize these responses as effectively shaming, blaming,
or using the impoverished townsfolk. For example, those unemployed who
choose to make their discomfort known publicly by hanging out at the Grand
Parade Fountain are told that they are ruining the town’s image--police are
then assigned to guard the fountain and to scatter the unemployed. The
district visitors’ tactics insure that the women and children of the poor will
remain slovenly--for the visitors will not assign help to those who look clean.
Rummage sales, soup kitchens, labour yards, and cast-off boot collections all,
as Tressell describes it, make use of the poor as a dumping ground for things
no longer good enough for the well-off. And the benefactors are often able to
turn a profit from these charitable efforts. Tressell’s indignation on this topic

is great, and his focus on it will continue into the two following chapters.

361 "Another ssuggeted that it was a Bivine protest against the
growth of Bitnalism and what he called 'fleshly religion'. and

suggested a day of humiliation and prayer."

The reference to ritualism indicates a fear of the High Church party,

with their tendency toward more Roman Catholic styles of worship/liturgy.

240

The "fleshly religion" reference evokes historical meanings like this one,
reflected in an QE_Q usage note: "The religion of Mahomet is fleshly, consisting
in natural delights and corporal pleasures." But also, one QSQ definition of
"fleshly" offers rich possibilities for irony: "Pertaining to, concerned with, or
influenced by the present life and considerations connected with it; worldly."
Given Tressell’s comment just after this, the ironic reading is impossible to

resist.

361 rag-and-bone man

Tressell’s observation, more than anything, is meant to indicate the
general quality of the materials donated to these Jumble Sales. See Henry
Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor for an account of the rag-

and-bone men and the kinds of materials they gathered.

361 "much cry and little wool"

The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs provides a note for the
expression "Great cry and little wool," where the earliest recorded usage is
1475. Most of the entries make reference to Satan shearing a hog, and
getting for his efforts lots of noise but not much wool; i.e., great expectations

and small outcome.

241
362 "Church of the Whited Sepulchre"

Church--i.e., of England. At once more traditional and more
fashionable than the Shining Light Chapel. For the significance of its name--
savagely highlighting its hypocrisy--see Matthew 23:27. "Woe unto you,
Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s

bones, and of all uncleanness."

362 Sawney Grinder. secretary of GBS

Nephew to Amos Grinder (367), Sawney (which means "wheedling")

receives 100 pounds per year for his services. This is easily double the

workmen’s wages, and amounts to 1/3 the total OBS budget (365).

364 "pettifogging"

From OED, under "pettifogger," "A petty practitioner in any

department; a tyro; an empiric, pretender."

242
Ch. 36 "The G.B.S."

This chapter continues the themes of the preceding one, providing a
closer examination of the organization which receives much of the town’s
donations. While Tressell does recognize that some of the members of the
OBS are well-intentioned and charitable in the best sense of the word, he does
not hold back from describing the majority of the OBS as like "a vile and
loathsome mass of hypocrisy, arrogance, and cant" (366). This chapter is
important thematically in that it illustrates the interconnecting webs of control
in Mugsborough; the familiar characters like Sweater, Rushton, Didlum, the
Grinders, Rev. Bosher, Mrs. Starvem mix with less-well-known figures such as
Lord and Lady D’Encloseland, Lady Slumrent and the various well-to-do
"imbecile" ladies of the town. Thus arrayed against the workers are the
representatives of capital: the bosses, the wealthy, the leaders of church and
state, the ruling class. The writers of The Robert Tressell Papers identify the
Hastings and St. Leonards Charity Organization Society, known as the C.O.S.,

as the model for Tressell’s O.B.S. (55).

370 "eat the crumbs that fall from his table"

See Matthew 15:27

243
Ch. 37 "A Brilliant Epigram"

The chapter heading refers to the Mugsborough papers’
characterization of a statement made by the campaigning Sir Graball
D’Encloseland: "None should have more than they need, whilst any have less

than they need!"

372 "Who the bloody 'ell was 'e?" they said. " 'E was not a
Gentleman! "E was only a workin' man the same as themselves--a

common carpenter! "

See Matthew 13:55--"Is not this the carpenter’s son?" and verse 57,
"And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, ’A prophet is not

without honour, save in his own country . . . .

372 Consumption: Its Causes and Its Cure

Consumption, according to VB, ranks as the 19th century’s "leading
cause of death." And "although romantically associated with creative genius
[consumption] struck hardest among those subject to malnutrition, crowded

dwellings, and ill-ventilated workplaces" ("Tuberculosis").

244
374 "a hard saying”

Characteristic of jesus—-See John 6:60 "Many therefore of his disciples,

when they had heard this, said, this is an hard saying . . . "

375 "And Jesus called a little child . . . depth of the sea." llThen shall
lie say . . . as ye did it not to one of the least of these. ye did it not to

Me.”

For the sources of this long series of Biblical quotes, see Matthew 18:2,

4-6, 10. See Matthew 25: 41-45.

Ch. 38 "The Brigands' Cave"

The setting of the Cave for this meeting provides a late answer to the
question posed by the workers at the novel’s opening-why do the owners call
it the Cave? As Tressell has it here, it is a cave of thieves; not really so far off
from the "cesspool" definition suggested by Harlow. And, by the way, Tressell
cannot resist illustrating, through the conversations that take place, that these

brigands are incredibly ignorant.

245

381 '0yley Sweater"

Must be a relative of Adam Sweater; one of many examples of nepotism

in Mugsborough, he’s the Borough Surveyor.

382 "'Moorish,‘ explained Mr. Sweater with a smile." "'That clock

there is in the same style.”

These references to the Moorish room, and to the clockcase sold by
Mary Linden to Didlum provide painful examples of the exploitation of the
working class. This exchange also illustrates the way in which the ruling class
receives much more from what it takes from the workers than it gives the
workers for their labor. This selection, from Engels’ The Condition of the

Working Class in England, Ch. XII "Attitude of the Bourgeoisie" is stingingly

apt:

The vampire middle classes first suck the wretched workers dry
so that afterwards they can, with consummate hypocrisy, throw a
few miserable crumbs of charity at their feet. And then they have
the effrontery to appear before the world as paragons of charity.
It never occurs to these pharisees that they are only returning a
hundredth part of that which they have previously taken away
from the broken-down workers whom they have ruthlessly
exploited.

246
Ch. 39 "The Brigands at Work"

It is instructive to consider the use of the term "work" in this chapter’s
title: here is the only work done by the Brigands--is it useful to the community
as a whole? is it creative of anything beautiful or useful? is it constructive of
good for society? Remembering that Tressell characterizes them as thieves, we

of course know the answer to these questions.

391 "a red tie"

A symbol of political radicalism; from OED, under "red" (Adj I def 4), a

usage note from 1895 reflects an interesting perspective on sartorial choices:

"A . . . revolutionary poet . . . in a flannel shirt and no tie--or else a red one."

393 "--and each member singing a different tune."

Which indicates, of course, that despite their earnest desire to close with

the doxology, they are not truly familiar with it. Perhaps their desire stems

from untheological roots?

247
Ch. 40 "Vive La System!"

Tressell presents his reflections on the System here as though it really
were a living entity. He speaks of the System as "having the keys" to the
warehouses of life’s necessities; of the System as preventing people from
working; of the System as subject to questions and capable of responses.
Tressell even goes so far as to describe the System as god-like, and to describe
the workers as worshipping it, as offering up their children to it, and as
proclaiming "May the System live forever! Cursed be those who seek to
destroy the System!" While his rhetoric in this chapter is quite dramatic, his
illustrations elsewhere in the novel show that a charge of melodrama would be
unfair. Tressell’s choosing to phrase the chapter title in French, the language

of Revolution against the ruling class, highlights the irony.

393 "There was only one hope. It was possible that . . . these
miserable wretches would turn upon their oppressors and drown

both them and their System in a sea of blood."

One of the issues of conflict for the Socialist movement in the 19th
century: moral force vs. physical force. See E.P. Thompson’s discussion of

"Practical Socialism" in part three of his William Morris: Romantic to

248

Revolutionary 1955, revised 1976.

401 "The incentive was not to make good work. but to make good

profit. "

Another Morris-inflected observation that illustrates the way that the
present system can do nothing other than devalue the workers’ contributions

in favor of cash.

402 ". . . in addition to the ordinary profit on the sale of the paper--
about two hundred and seventy-five percent--the firm made seven and

sixpence on this transaction."

This kind of detail, this kind of "inside" information, really provides one
of RTP’s distinctive touches. It doesn’t stay on the surface of the issues, but
infuses the issues with these small details which bring the economic arguments

to life.

Ch. 41 "The Easter 0ffering. The Beano Meeting"

The Easter Offering actually takes up very little of the chapter’s

business, but its point, nevertheless, is sharp. It provides another example of

249

the way the lives of the "Christians" in Mugsborough are lived, not by the
standard "to whom much is given, much is expected," but rather "to whom
much is given, they expect much more." The Beano meeting, which is
covered in painful detail, offers perhaps some comic relief; more to the point,
it goes some way toward illustrating how this group of workers would be hard

pressed to organize themselves.

405 "improvers"

ED: "A person who works at a trade under an employer for the

purpose of improving his or her knowledge or skill, and accepts the

opportunity of such improvement wholly or in part instead of wages." Not, of

course, that there would have been much opportunity to improve skills under

such bosses as Misery.

410 "he was took before the beak"

OED: sb.3, slang "A magistrate or justice of the peace."

412 a man with a red tie

See note, above, 391.

250
Ch. 42 "June"

june marks a transitional period from the slack time of the winter and
exceptionally cold spring into the (expected) boom time of the upcoming
summer. The chapter touches on the fortunes of the main characters during

this time.

4 14 "allotments"

A kind of public garden opportunity; Harlow pays 15 shillings/annum

for his plot (416). Hastings still has these.

418 "The doctor had been to see her once or twice and had

prescribed--rest. "

Like Owen, Mary Linden is unable to have what she needs to be healthy.

Ch. 43 "The Good 0ld Summer-Time"

The song of this name was a hit in 1902 (Cohen-Stratyner) so Tressell
doubtless had it in mind. This is of course an ironic chapter title, reflected by

the chapter’s opening sentence; the description of the mood and temper of the

251

workplace which takes up the chapter clarifies the level of stress and anxiety
that reigned on the job. This anxiety was due not only to the "terror of the

sack" but also to the dangerous work conditions under which the men labored.
422 "Trades Union rules were a dead letter in Mugsborough"

"Dead letter," of course, in the sense of a letter that will never reach its
destination. Ball offers support for this view of trades union support in
Hastings when he describes the "non-industrial South coast regions," as "at that
time much behind the industrial centres" in the "tradition of trade unionism"
(Damned 121); he also quotes from a 1922 Painter’s journal article in which
the South of England is described as having "the unenviable reputation of

being a drag on the forward Movement" (122).

423 " . . . the stewed tea or the liquid mud that was sold as coffee at

cheap 'Workmen's' Eating Houses."

London describes tea sold in a London coffeehouse as "slops," saying
that "it resembled tea less than lager beer resembles champagne" (57). Of
coffee, he reports "you will have brought you something in a cup purporting

to be coffee, and you will taste it and be disillusioned, for coffee it certainly is

not" (149).

252

425 "A reign of terror-the terror of the sack"

The use of the phrase "reign of terror" evokes the French Revolution;
Tressell several times alludes to this class struggle. His awareness of class
structures and inequities, as well as his grasp of British, continental, and

American working-class movements, is noticeable throughout the novel.

426 "He . . . just stood there like a graven image"

Rushton is thus likened to the forbidden object of worship--see Exodus
20:4 for the injunction, part of the Ten Commandments. It would not be
straining to suggest that Rushton does indeed exert a god-like measure of

control over the workers’ lives.

428 "Time Sheet of Work Done by in the Employ of Rushton

& Co."

Tressell’s reproduction of such documents as this is part of the authority
with which he speaks; the practice also ties the narrative closely to the
historical moment of its setting; most importantly, it illustrates how the labor
of these workers was commodified under the present system. Peter Miles
notes that "utilizing graphics" as Tressell does here "recalls the familiar model

signs and lettering displays of the [painter’s] bible" (11)

253

430 "Claude Duval"; "0range Blossoms or some halfpenny paper";

"the Marquis of Lymeiuice"; "Lady Sibyl Malvoise"

Such references to the literature of the popular culture of the time
authenticate the feel of the historical moment; they also provide a chance for

Tressell to exercise his sense of humor.

434 " . . . the hands were driven and chivvied . . ."

Perhaps related to "chivie"--OED--"fearful trembling." That is, the

workers were subjected to harassment such that they trembled, were fearful.

438-39 "These are only a few of the petty thefts committed by these
people. To give anything approaching a full account of all the rest

would require a separate volume."

Compare with john 21:25--"And there are also many other things which
jesus did, the which if they should be written everyone, I suppose that even
the world itself would not contain the books that should be written." Ball
assures us that Tressell’s accounts of the firms’"petty thieving and fiddling . . .

are all actual occurrences, and not at all unusual" (Tressell 111).

254
441 "And between the lot of them they made life a veritable hell for

themselves. and the hands. and everybody else around them. And the
mainspring of it all was--the greed and selfishness of one man. who

desired to accumulate money!"

I Timothy 6:10 is once again pertinent; even more worthy of note is
that the hell Tressell envisions encompasses not just the lives of the workers, as
we might imagine. Rather, it includes everyone’s life under the Present

System.

445 "They had very little sympathy for each other at any time."

This lack of class solidarity, notable among the workers of the south (it
comes up in Mrs. Gaskell’s North and South, for example) clearly amazed and
irritated Tressell. The community that exists in the novel among the Owen
family, Philpot, the Linden family (especially Mary) and the Eastons serves as a

balance for this political disconnectedness.

450 "We're not a lot of bloody Chinamen. are we?"

In the first decade of the twentieth century, the issue of Chinese labor

was a controversial one in England. Looking only at the economics of the

255

situation, mine owners in the Transvaal were anxious to import cheap labor,
effectively slaves, from China. And Tressell, who for a time lived and worked
in South Africa, would have been aware of this issue. Politically, the situation
was explosive in a number of ways; of most interest here is the view taken by
the workers. According to R.C.K. Ensor, writing for the Oxford History of
England series, workers spoke of the "Chinese labour scheme" disparagingly,
"always as ’Chinese slavery’." Ensor asserts that this scheme would reassert the
commodity—view of labor which workers were struggling to dismiss. See "The
Chinese in Britain 1860-1914" in C. Homes, ed. Immigrants and Minorities in
_So_ciety (1978) and also j.P. May’s "The British Working Class and the
Chinese," an unpublished M.A. Thesis from the University of Warwick (1973).
It is doubtful that in this instance Crass’s comment reflects anything
deeper than the notion that _th_ey are not slaves, for he thinks of "Chinamen" as
synonymous with "slaves." In this way, his comment here echoes his offended
denial of Owen’s assertion that "we are really worse off than slaves" (29). But
his comment also exemplifies his inability to see across boundaries of race to

common interests of class.

450 "why should we put up with a lot of old buck"

ED: Possibly a reference to the ashes used in the making of lye, which

were sometimes used as a form of manure. Many similar current usages

spring to mind.

256

450 "I never stands no cheek from no gaffers!"

ED: 3b "the foreman or overman of a gang of workmen."

453 "(Due of the worst iobs that he had to do was when a new stock of

white lead came in."

Concern with white-lead poisoning ran high among house painters and
decorators, as the indices for their professional journal indicates (see note
above at 172). For a boy like Bert to be subjected to such dangerous
conditions--conditions that will ruin his health--is of course part of the horror
of the Present System. In chapter XXI of A_byg, "The Precariousness of Life,"
London cites descriptions of the "typical dissolution" of those who work with
white lead. The descriptions include the onset of headaches, anaemia,

thinness, obscured vision/temporary blindness and finally convulsions and

death.

455 "began to put on side and to assume airs of authority."

ED: Possibly from 4a ("side") "haughty, proud."

257
459 "Nation's Drink Bill"

Tressell is clearly referring to some statistical report on total
expenditures on alcohol in England, and to attempts made to use these
statistics as a stick to beat the workers. See the Q entry on "Temperance",
which describes various attempts at political control of drinking in England.
Lilian Lewis Shiman’s Crusade Against Drink in Victorian England, 1988, does

not mention this term.

460 "0wen. being a teetotaler . . . ."

Ball reports that, unlike Owen, Tressell "liked a drink" but that "his

drinking was mostly confined to meetings with friends and other social

occasions" (Damned 62).

461 " . . . it was known that he was not a 'master's man' and that he
had declined to 'take charge' of iobs which Misery had offered to

him."

Ball notes this passage, and reports that Tressell himself "said that he
turned down offers of foremanship because. . . he didn’t want to become
deeply involved in ’business’ nor to have to act as spy upon the men" (Damned

117).

258

462 "Some people deny themselves . . . that they may be able to help
to fatten a publican. 0thers . . . to enable a lazy parson to live in
idleness and luxury; and others . . . in buying Socialist literature to

give away to people who don't want to know about Socialism."

Tressell’s ability to smile at Owen (and himself) while he is also
criticizing the participants and supporters of the Present System is one of his
strengths. He is earnest, but not so earnest that he cannot see his own

situation clearly.

462 "one Sunday morning towards the end of July. a band of about

twenty-five men and women on bicycles invaded the town."

Ball, in a chapter that discusses the formation of the Hastings/St
Leonards SDF, mentions the
Clarion Scouts, one of those heroic and dedicated bands of
cyclists who toured the towns and countryside of Britain holding

socialist meetings and distributing literature and of whom Robert
gives a memorable little picture. (Damned 85)

462 "giving their leaflets to whoever would accept of them"

Echoes biblical language, and thus establishes a felt connection between

the Socialists and the early Christians: See Matthew 5:42 "Give to him that

259

asketh thee . . ."; Revelation 22:17 "And whosoever will, let him take the water

of life freely."

463 "LO0K 011T F0]! THE SIDCIALIST VAN"

Ball includes a photograph of the National Clarion Van, c. 1914

(Damned facing 106).

464 "someone threw the first stone"

The allusion is certain; see john 8:7 "He that is without sin among you,

let him first cast a stone . . . . " While this saying has come to act as a

metaphor, it was literal when Christ said it; it was similarly literal on the

occasion Tressell describes. Again, I suggest a parallel has been drawn

between these Socialists and the early evangelists.

466 "England Arise. the long. long night is over." etc.

Mentioned in the list of song-titles quoted in RTP (Papers 77).

467 "They made several converts. and many persons declared

260

themselves in favour of some of the things advocated . . ."

The tone of this chapter, as it closes, is reminiscent of many verses in
the book of Acts and in some of the epistles which report on the success or

lack of success of the early church. See Acts 17:32-34, for example.

467 "they were never able to form a branch of their society there"

According to Ball, an attempt was made to form a branch of the SDF in
Hastings sometime in the 1890’s; it evidently was unable to become well-

established and finally dissolved (Damned 82).

Ch. 44 "The Beano"

This chapter might be sub-titled: "The Philanthropists on Holiday" as
Tressell indicates in his opening observations. The juxtapositions in the
narrative are pointed and brilliant: as in paragraph 1, where the way that "a
little innocent merriment" enters into the workers’ lives is that "every now and
then there was a funeral." Mrs. Gaskell in Mary Barton describes a scene
where a starving worker has gone to a wealthy man’s house and is waiting in
the kitchen to speak with him; there is a situational allusion to Dives and

Lazarus in such scenes.

261
469 "Mr. Toonarf. an architect"

"Toonarf" is pretty clearly "two and a half"--the exact meaning of the

joke remains ambiguous. It perhaps has to do with the architect’s commission.

469-70 "To iudge from the mournful expression on the long face of
Misery . . . . the smoke of their torment. which ascendeth up for ever

and ever."

See Isaiah 34:10 "the smoke thereof shall go up forever."

470 "Next came the largest brake with Misery on the box."

It might be reaching to say that this is reminiscent of the book of
Revelation (Ch. 6, the four horsemen-~the trumpeting of the horn adds to the
effect). And yet, if we take into account the way the chapter ends, perhaps the
reach is not too great. Note the symbolic/allegorical feel here and at the

chapter’s end.

471 " . . . they found themselves journeying along a sunlit. winding

road...."

Tressell was, according to Ball’s report, very fond of escaping the town

262

for the country at any opportunity; citing Tressell’s workmate and friend,
Gower, Ball says "together they seem to have explored half of east Sussex.
The countryside, [Gower] says, delighted and restored Robert" (Damned 127).
Politically speaking, the contrast of the green and pleasant countryside with
the realities of the workers’ urban lives provides a sharp sense of the
transience of this experience. And too, the reality of nineteenth-century
urbanization was such that many of these workers no doubt came from a rural

heritage and are now dispossessed of their land.

471 "fields. some rich with harvest"

The wording echoes john 4:35 "fields . . . white already unto harvest,"
which, interestingly, appears together with some commentary from jesus about
wages and labor (verses 36-38). Politically, again, note that Tressell has it that
"some" fields are rich with harvest--even in the pastoral setting there are have’s

and have not’s.

474 "up to the knocker"

From OED, a slang phrase meaning "up to the mark," "in good

condition," "in the height of fashion."

263
479-80 "There was also a small number of Socialists . . . . These men

were all sitting at the end of the long table presided over by Payne."

The Socialists are seated at the head Carpenter’s table. Given Tressell’s

habit of pointing out Christ’s vocation as a working man, it is easy to see this

as an implicit linkage with Christ.

481 "know when to speak and when to keep silent"

Allusive of Ecclesiastes 3:7 --"a time to keep silence and a time to speak."

482 "Again. let us suppose . . ."

Echoes biblical language, in particular, the narrative form of the

parables of Christ. For example, "And he said to them, ’Suppose one of you

shall have a friend . . .’ " (Luke 11:5).

486 "There was a lot of what music-hall artists call 'business' "

The E entry for "music hall" notes that the comic song, "the hall’s most

distinctive idiom," was "much enlivened by the performer’s dynamic

engagement with the audience and the use of parody and double entendre"

(523). See Edward Lee Music of the People: A Study of Popular Music in

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Great Britain 1970 and Nicholas Temperley, ed. The Athlone History of Music

in Britain: The Romantic Age 1800-1914 1981.

491 "Even as sheep before their shearers are dumb. so they were not

permitted to open their months."

More examples of biblical allusions that parallel the workers with Christ.
See Isaiah 53.7--"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."; and Acts 8:32--which cites

this verse in reference to Christ.

492 "Self-Help by Smiles"

That is, Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) described by the DE; as "author
and social reformer." A prolific writer, he was especially fond of giving advice;
Self-Help, which grew out of a much and popularly repeated lecture, was a
huge success and saw reprinting in many languages. It advances the idea that
the working classes should improve themselves by seeking out "opportunities
of knowledge and culture" (324a)--a kind of pull yourself up by your
bootstraps philosophy. It is worth noting that Smiles "opposed Chartism . . .
[and] urged the social and intellectual amelioration of the working classes"

(323a). Asa Briggs, in his introduction to the centenary edition of Self-Help,

265

notes that, while Smiles began from a radical position, he later became "firmly
convinced that self-help was preferable to socialism" (14). Interestingly
enough, Robert Blatchford was one of Smiles’ admirers; he even wrote an
essay on Self-Help in which he "admitted that [while] many socialists spoke of
Smiles as ’an arch-Philistine’ and of his books as ’the apotheosis of
respectability, gigmanity13 and selfish grab’ . . ." he himself thought Smiles "’a
most charming and honest writer’" and the book in question "’one of the most
delightful and invigorating books it has been my happy fortune to meet with’."
He paid tribute to Smiles’s indifference to worldly titles, honour and wealth,
and declared that the perusal of Self-Help had often forced him "’to industry,

for very shame’."

492 "Most of them belonged to these P.S.As. merely for the sake of

the loaves and fishes."

An allusion, of course, to the miracle of the feeding of the five

thousand. See Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-34; Luke 9:12-17; john 6:5-14.

493 "Work, for the night is coming." "Turn poor Sinner and escape

Eternal F ire." "Pull for the Shore." and "Where is my Wandering

 

13That is, a nonce word from "gigman," a word coined by Carlyle to refer to
"one whose respectability is measured by his keeping a gig; a narrow-minded person
belonging to the middle class, who views ’respectability’ as the chief concern of life, a
’Philistine’. (OED)

266
Boy?"

All are noted in The Robert Tressell Papers chapter on songs and

hymns.

494 "in a moment, yea. even in the twinkling of an eye . . . "

A close paraphrase of I Corinthians 15:52: "In a moment, in the

H

twinkling of an eye . . . .

496 ". . . in their case an instance of hope deferred making the heart

sick."

See Proverbs 13:12: "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick . . . ."

Ch. 45 "The Great 0ration"

Raymond Williams called this chapter and the earlier chapter,"The
Oblong," Tressell’s teaching chapters; of this chapter in particular, Williams
said that its inclusion showed Tressell’s "remarkable courage as a writer." "It
shows" he asserted "both the need and the problem of that kind of serious
discourse." In the insertion of Barrington’s long speech, we see "both teaching

and the problems of teaching" ("Ragged-Arsed" 29). Furthermore, Williams

267

claims that Tressell, in including this kind of discourse within his narrative, has

tackled . . . not just the pity of [the workers’ condition]... but [has
halted] very deliberately along the way to see what is really involved in
making up your mind about it, setting your mind to it. It looks hard at
the obstacles, the barriers which are put up not only among those who
have a lot to lose but among those who have everything to gain (29-30).

502 "who read the announcement opposite"

Tressell here "reproduces" the document alluded to, which offers a fine
example of the kind of sign writing he would have done professionally. This
announcement of "Professor" Barrington’s "oration" operates on several levels.
Tressell’s work illustrates his admiration of (and talent for) sign-making; he
seems aware, too, of the way that the sign offers a commodity--in this case,
"The Great Secret, Or How To Live Without Work" and this reading fits in
with the whole picture of labor’s commodification in RTP-~the hands vs. the
brains. Additionally, Victor Paananen suggests, there is a mockery of the
professional, of the person with honorary titles--as here, "The Rev. joe Philpot
P.L.O. (Late absconding secretary of the light refreshment fimd)." The reader

may recall, too, that the reverends in the novel frequently abscond with funds.

506 "this opportunity of proclaiming the glad tidings of the good time

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that is to be"

Echoes biblical language; see Luke 4:18-19/Isaiah 61:1ff. One of the
allusions that links the mood of the evangelistic purpose of the early church

and the new mission of socialism.

508 "the words of the historian Froude."

That is, james Anthony Froude (1818-1894), called by the biographer
for the _D_Ifl "Carlyle’s chief disciple." He was also a friend of the Christian
Socialist Charles Kingsley, and in fact was later married to Mrs. Kingsley’s
sister. He wrote a very successful series on the history of England, greatly
influenced by Carlyle’s ideas about heroes; the biographer notes that while this

series demonstrates great prose, it is more dramatic than factual (DNB

679-87).

511 "It is an admitted fact that about thirteen millions of our people

are always on the verge of starvation."

See notes at 34 and 326 above.

269
514 "Such so-called 'instruction' is like the seed in the parable of the

Sower . . . ."

See Luke 8:5-8.

516 "In New Zealand. Australia. South Africa. Germany. Belgium.
Italy. Japan and some other countries some of the railways are

already the property of the State."

Labour did nationalize after World War II; in 1993, re-privatization of

firms is a seriously-discussed possibility.

516-22 "And for that disease there is no other remedy than the one I

have told you of . . . ."

Raymond Williams describes Barrington’s speech as "full of some

difficult socialist positions of that time, through mainly a typical early-

twentieth-century form of state socialism, with the notion of the industrial

army" ("Ragged-Arsed" 29).

520 "rack renting"

From the OED, the noun "rackrent" is defined as "A very high,

270

excessive, or extortionate rent’ a rent equal (or nearly equal) to the full value

of the land." To "rack" is simply to raise above a fair or normal amount.

522 "Such are the days that shall be!" etc.

Barrington is evidently here reciting a piece of revolutionary verse; I

have not yet been able to identify the lines.

526 "What need would there be for anyone to save?"

Situationally, this mirrors the Gospel ideal of not laying up treasures for

oneself--see Matthew 6:19.

529 "Each is a necessary and indispensable part of the whole"

I Cor. 12:12-26--and john Donne of course.

531 "There's Edison for instance."

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) has been, of course, the subject of

many books. One, Edison, His Life and Inventions by Frank Lewis Dyer and

Thomas C. Martin, was published in 1910--just before Tressell’s death. Ball

271

reports Tressell’s own fascination with inventions in One of the Damned;

Edison would likely have been of great interest to Tressell.

5 31 "How many soldiers would prefer money to the honour of

wearhg the intrinsically valueless Victoria Cross?"

The Victoria Cross, according to the _QQ: "A British military and naval
decoration bestowed for conspicuous bravery in battle." London m (68)
testifies to a sight that illustrates Barrington’s point with a different emphasis:
an 87 year old man who had been awarded the Victoria Cross is living on the
street. Such a man might well prefer the money to this token of his country’s

respect.

531 "filthy lucre"

See Titus 1:7.

533 "having nothing to lose-except their poverty. "

The language echoes the Manifesto of the Communist Party (English

edition, 1888): "The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains."

272

5 34 "fare sumptiously every day"

Directly from Luke 16:19, the story of the rich man and Lazarus:

"There was a certain rich man . . . [who] fared sumptuously every day."

534 "If any man will not work. neither shall he eat. "

See 11 Thessalonians 3:10--"If any will not work, neither let him eat."

539 "Socialism means Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind"

This language, of course, echoes the angels’ salutation to the shepherds,
as they announced Christ’s birth-~see Luke 2:14. And in so doing, it reiterates
the importance of Christmas to the narrative; more importantly, it implies that

Socialism is the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.

540 "It has been proved that if the soil of this country were
scientifically cultivated. it is capable of producing sufficient to
maintain a population of a hundred millions of people. 0ur present
population is only about forty millions. but so long as the land
remains in the possession of persons who refuse to allow it to be
cultivated we shall continue to be dependent on other countries for

our food supply."

273

The points Barrington raises here continue to be politically volatile in
1994. Frances Moore Lappe in Diet for a Small Planet and especially in Food
First traces the international implications of land ownership and the free

market economy.

541 "a mug's game"

I.e., a fool’s pastime. See note at 13 above.

Ch. 46 "The 'Sixty-Five'"

This events of this chapter evoke biblical scenes in several different
ways: while the events of the novel are by no means drawing to a close, I see
the train of events in this chapter as pulling the parallel lines that have been
drawn between workers and Christ to a point of convergence. As I note
below, the description of the long hill echoes Christ on the way to Calvary;
that this is happening on a Friday strengthens this image (by the way, Sept. 1
was on a Friday in 1905). Then, the ladder is a "scaffold" ladder, with the
obvious weight of meaning of "scaffold" as an elevated execution site--like a
cross. Additionally, in the opening paragraph, the descriptions of the "iron
bolts or rods passing through" the ladder and the iron band "twisted and
nailed . . . spirally" evoke, at the level of image, iron spikes/nails and the

spiralling, twisting crown of thorns. These, taken together with the other

274

items I’ve noted, create a scene undeniably, strongly, reminiscent of Calvary.

543 "the Refuge"

Given the narrative action that takes place here, it is significant that this
work site is called "the Refuge." Tressell’s familiarity with the Bible would
have guaranteed that the word would have resonance; consider the Psalm
(46:1) "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." In
some ways, then, this gives religious expression to the suicidal impulses felt by
Owen, and to the subconscious death wish expressed by the workers when
they refer to time as "the Enemy"--while wishing it would pass more quickly.
Too, this chapter provides a sort of thematic balancing weight for the

optimistic vision of the preceding chapter.

543 "passed through the streets of mean and dingy houses
. . . and began the ascent of the long hillJ . . . the sky was still

overcast with dark grey clouds."

The language evokes Christ’s walk to his crucifixion; think of the hills

and winding streets of the city of jerusalem, and in particular the hill of

Golgotha. See Matthew 27:45

275
549-50 ". . . the other three raised the top from the ground."

Another echo--Matthew 27:38 "Then there were two . . . executed with
him, one on the right hand, and another on the left." Barrington and Bundy
do not die, but they are endangered by the ladder and the visual image of the

three resembles the crucifixion scene.

550 Philpot "uttered no cry and was quite still"

Perhaps reminds us of the lamb before the slaughter, or of Christ
before Pilate (Matthew 27:14). Strictly speaking, however, the image does not

parallel Christ’s moment of death, as He did cry to God (Matthew 27:46).

Ch. 47 "The Ghouls"

Ghouls, of course, are supposed literally to feed on humans, especially
corpses. Ball asserts that Tressell "came to regard" society under the Present
System "as a kind of zoo, in which the wild animals were all loose and preying
upon the people. At its worst a form of cannibalism, as ironically advocated by
Dean Swift" (Tressell 117). Recall Philpot’s assertion that "devouring" was a

good word; recall the avid consumption portrayed throughout the novel.

276

552 " . . . that's old Snatchum the undertaker. 'E's smellin' round

afteraiob..."

In death, Philpot has become "a iob"--he is commodified, quite

literally.

561 "four-ale"

OED: That is, four-shilling ale.

561 "arf a dollar"?

ED: slang for a five-shilling piece; a crown.

566 "As for the bearers. they were all retired working men who had

come into their 'titles'."

Philpot had told his fellow workers that if they kept at it all their lives,
each one of them would "be given a title--’Pauper!"' (542). Philpot’s hasty,
disregarded funeral service, punctuated by Linden’s pauper’s burial, reflects a
fear that haunted workers and the poor. The fear haunted Tressell himself;

Ball reports a remark made by Tressell to Gower: "I’ve got to make some

277
money or I’ll die in the workhouse" (Tressell 82). Sadly, his fear was realized;

Robert Noonan died in a charity hospital in Liverpool, and was buried in a
pauper’s grave in that city in February 1911. See F.C. Ball’s One of the

Damned, Ch. 25 "A Pauper’s Death" for the details.

Ch. 48 "The Wise Men of the East"

A sarcastic reference to the visitors who came to see Christ; cf. Matthew
2:1. Obviously, these particular men are anything but wise, as their

conversations will illustrate.

567 Dauber and Botchit have a foreman "whose little finger was thicker

than Nimrod's thigh"?

The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs provides no clues about this
reference; it perhaps implies dishonest measuring, similar to the more familiar
image of the butcher with the heavy finger weighing down the scale that he

measures his customers’ meat upon.

278
568 "About the middle of 0ctober . . . ."

The narrative action is approaching the end of one year, the story

having opened in November of the previous year.

569 "...itwasnecessaryforhimtoresignhisseatandseekre-

election . . . ."

See Ball Damned Ch. 11 "Bread and Circuses 1906" for an account of

the Hastings politics that inspired this piece of narrative action.

570 "It was strange but true that a prophet never received honour in

his own land"

See Matthew 13:57; Tressell earlier used this allusion referring to the
secretary of the local Trades Council (see note above for page 372). Here,

Rushton’s use of the allusion can only be viewed ironically by the narrator.

570 "rather than allow the enemy to have a walk-over"

OED: "A race in which through absence of competitors the winner has

merely to ’walk over’; also in extended sense, a contest in which through the

inferiority of his competitors the winner has practically no opposition."

279
57 3 "They came from the neighbourhood of Seven Dials in London"

See Dickens’ "Seven Dials" in Sketches by Boz, 2nd series, 1837, which

describes this slum in the parish of St. Giles.

576 "Sir F eatherstone Blood"

This fictional character’s name obviously links the interests of
property/the ruling class with the oppression and murder of the working class

in the historical setting of the novel. See note above at 229.

578 "another Solomon in the crowd"

This reference to another biblical wise man is not particularly illustrative

of Tressell’s biblical knowledge, the name of Solomon having become

synonymous with wisdom.

578 tune of "Men of IIarlech"

Mentioned in The Robert Tressell Papers chapter on Songs and Hymns.

579 "The Philanthropists cheered themselves hoarse and finally took

the horses out of the traces and harnessed themselves to the carriage

280

instead."

Tressell has made reference earlier in RTP to workers evidently longing
to do just this--for example: "Their only regret was that there were no horses
attached to the motor car, because if there had been, they could have taken
them out and harnessed themselves to it instead" (RTP 379). And he will
make the reference again: ". . . they took the horses out [from Sweater’s
carriage] and amid frantic cheers harnessed themselves to it instead and
dragged it through the mud and the pouring rain all the way to ’The Cave’ . .
." (RTP 591). Ball cites a piece of political drama performed by local radical

Toby King as the inspiration for these scenes:

During the agitation for the reform of the House of Lords, he
had an inspiration which matched the occasion. He rigged out a
wagon and in it put half a dozen or so donkeys wearing coronets.
He then got some working-men to harness themselves in the
shafts and the townsfolk were treated to the spectacle of this
symbolic tableau drawn through the streets labelled ’House of

Lords’. (Damned 84)

582 "The fools . . . who fed them with words. who had led them into
the desolation where they now seemed to be content to grind out
treasure for their masters. and to starve . . . . It was as if a flock of
foolish hseep placed themselves under the protection of a pack of

ravening wolves. "

281
Alludes to the Hebrews’ exile in Egypt; consider Exodus 1:14 "And [the

Egyptians] made [the Israelites’] lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and
in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein
they made them serve, was with rigour." One of the many tasks performed by
the Israelites was the construction of "treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses"
(verse 11). The wolves/sheep image, as I observed earlier, appears frequently

in the New Testament.

583 Hastings: "on the Grand Parade. where several roads met"

Based on the c. 1902 map of Hastings and St. Leonards in the back of
The Robert Tressell Papers and on current-day Hastings-St. Leonards, this

probably refers to the area just down the hill from the Castle.

585 "The man with the scar . . . thrusting his hand into his trouser
pocket drew it out again full of silver coins. amongst which one or

two gold pieces glittered. "

The erstwhile socialist, now political rhetorician for Sweater, is described
in such a way as to remind us of judas; his comment later (588) "You may
choose to be a jesus Christ if you like, but for my part I’m finished"

strengthens this view.

282
587 "You know what the late Lord Salisbury said . . . : 'They don't

want libraries: give them a circus.”

A reference to the statesman, Robert Cecil, third Marquess of Salisbury
(1830-1903). Though Lord Salisbury is often quoted, I have not been able to
locate this particular quote. In this context, it is worth noting that Disraeli
spoke of Salisbury as "not a man who measures his words" but "a great master

of gibes and flouts and jeers" (quoted in Ensor 34 note 3)

588 "They are being beaten with whips of their own choosing and if I

had my way they should be chastised with scorpions!"

A vivid image borrowed from I Kings l2:11--". . . my father hath

chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

Ch. 49 "The Undesired"

The primary focus of this short chapter is the effect of Ruth’s baby’s
birth on mother and household. "The Undesired" can be seen primarily as the
new baby herself; additionally, Ruth now seems to conceive of herself as
undesired in the household, which is why she attempts the action described in

the next chapter.

283

595 "He was usch a picture of misery . . ."

Hunter is now not only a harbinger of misery to others, but has become

miserable himself.

Ch. 50 "Sundered"

In which the manifestations of guilt that have been haunting Ruth
Easton overwhelm her and take her into the depths of despair, where she acts.
As I have mentioned, jack London in m spends some time on a discussion
of suicide as a choice among the people he observed; some of these cases were
women in situations similar to Ruth Easton’s. See chapter XXII, "Suicide"
which is prefaced by this quote from Theodore Parker: "England is the

paradise of the rich, the purgatory of the wise, and the hell of the poor."

597 ". . . she thought she could discern a woman's figure in the

shadow of the piers of the gate opposite."

That is, a pier in the building trade’s sense, which is "a solid support of
masonry or the like designed to sustain vertical pressure" one example of
which is "each of the pillars or posts of a gate or door" (OED). A reference

like this, which is more specific than most of us would make, indicates

284

Tressell’s particular training and perspective.

598 " . . . Nora could not refrain from weeping also as she listened."

The scene here between Ruth Easton and Nora Owen is sensitively done
and illustrates a sense of community between these women; Mary Linden, too,
is part of this community which enfolds Ruth and cares for her. Though
Tressell has been taken to task for his traditional, paternalistic view of women
(see Eileen Yeo’s article,"Women and Socialism in Tressell’s World") he is

attuned in a strongly real sense to the psychological truth of these scenes.

601 " 'No.‘ replied Gwen. unable any longer to control his resentment

of the other's manner . . . . "

Again, Tressell’s portrayal of Owen’s response to and advice to Easton
illustrates a very progressive (for his time) view; remember, Hardy’s 13 had
provoked a considerable degree of outrage when it was published in 1891 and
Hardy’s readers had the literary preparation of Gaskell’s m (1853) to adjust
their perceptions. Tressell’s editor, jessie Pope, decided to delete the whole
Ruth Easton-Alf Slyme sub-plot and defended her decision on the grounds
that it was "written in a melancholy maudlin manner far below the standard of
other parts of the book." She asserted that "the public would [not] be offended

at the sordidness of the story." "I suppose," she observed to Grant Richards,

285

"they have put up with many worse ones" (Damned 210). It is probably worth
noting that she describes the interlude as "sordid" and its literary colleagues as

"worse" which may give us some idea of her feelings in the matter.

Ch. 51 "The Widow's Son"

The son in question is Bert White; by referring to him in this way,
Tressell alludes perhaps to the widow’s son whom jesus raised from the dead--
see Luke 7:12-14. To complete the parallels thus drawn, then, Owen would
play Christ to Bert’s widow’s son. Ball reports this as one of the situations in
the novel for which there is specific autobiographical origin; see Damned Ch.

18 (116-117).

606 "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children"

A Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act had been passed in 1889, but
its focus was authorizing the removal of children from their homes in cases
where cruel treatment was reported. See the VB entry on "Children" (142b-
l43c). See G.K. Behlmer’s Child [ibuse and Moral Reform in England, 1870-

1908. 1982.

608 " . . . the local branch of the Painters' Society. of which Gwen

286

wasthesecretary....

Ball reports "I can find no evidence that [Tressell] was himself a union

member" (Damned 120).

Ch. 52 " 'It's A Far. Far Better Thing that I Do. Than I Have Ever

Bone' "

An allusion to Dickens; a black humorous reference to Hunter’s suicide,
which, since it nearly severs his head, parallels the action of the guillotine.
Tressell is comparing Hunter’s act to that of Sydney Carton in Tale of Two
% (1859). Given the attention in RTP to the hands/brains dichotomy, it
must be significant that Hunter nearly severs his head with his own hands,

which have long since stopped functioning as "hands" in the artisan’s sense.

610 "artful dodging"

His choice of a chapter title must have put Tressell into a Dickensian
mood; here he alludes, of course, to the character ’the Artful Dodger’ in Oliver
Twist (1837-38). Referring to this other thief lets Tressell characterize the

Distress Committee in the same way he’s characterized the Town Council. Ball

287

cites Dickens as among Tressell’s favorite authors (Tressell 42-43) and one who

influenced Tressell’s own writing style.

Ch. 53 "Barrington Finds a Situation "

Barrington, after his articulate debut at the Beano and later in his Great
Oration, has come to the foreground of the narrative. The "situation" here
alluded to is not another job like the one he held at Rushton’s firm; his new

boss is altogether kinder and jollier.

615 " . . . their callous indifference . . . forced upon him the thought

that the hope he cherished were impossible of realisation."

Barrington, as the chapter opens a doubter at Christmas time, finds his

role in the community reaffirmed in his interactions with the children.

616 "like Joseph of old. his heart yearned over his younger brethren"

Tressell is alluding to the story in Genesis, and these words are an echo
of chapter 43 verse 30. The situation, in which the one brothernsuccessful
and well-fed--is confronted by his starving brothers is similar to the narrative

situation here.

288
Ch. 54 "The End"

Scenes at Frank and Nora Owen’s apartment frame one last look at the
hypocritical Church and all its local support: Sweater, Bosher, Grinder,
Didlum, Starvem, Dauber, Botchit, Smeeriton, Leavit, Rev. john Starr, and
Slyme. Standing there with them, still unaware of their perpetuation of the
system, those who are exploited: workers, the poor in ragged trousers. We see
here the interwoven strands in the web of exploitation that keeps the Present
System in place. Tressell does not want us to forget what Mugsborough is all

about.

623 "There was a lighted lamp on a standard . . . on the glass of this
lamp was painted: 'Be not deceived: God is not mocked.‘ Mr. Rushton

was preaching in the centre"

See Galatians 6:7 for the source of this situational irony; the remainder
of the verse goes like this: "for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also

reapf'

623-24 "And in the midst was the Rev. John Starr . . . ."

Unlike the late Rev. Belcher, or Rev. Bosher, or any of the street

preachers or church-goers we’ve seen, Rev. john Starr has always been

289

presented as a refined, intelligent, articulate man. He has not been held up
for the same kind of criticism, explicit or implicit, that the other religious
figures have been subject to. By his comments here, Tressell makes clear the
exact nature of his complaint; that john Starr was to be held accountable for
that which he advocated. Starr no doubt came to the Church of the Whited
Sepulchre like any Church of England parson, as an assignment from his
bishop. But he is nonetheless responsible for what goes on in that parish. He
is complicit, just as the larger Church is complicit, by his presence. Refined
and intelligent as he is, he is as Tressell says "by the mere fact of his presence
there, condoning and justifying" all the injustices and sins we have observed.
His character thus serves as a kind of reality check, lest readers think that only
gross stereotypes like Rev. Belcher are to blame. Additionally, it’s worth
noting how pastors would be funded in the future socialist state described by

Barrington above (537-38).

621 "I just wanted to see things for myself: to see life as it is lived by

the maiority. My father is a wealthy man."

jessie Pope found Barrington an unnecessary character and cut him
from the novel. Kathleen Noonan, the author’s daughter, was disappointed to
see this, "for he and Owen were a composite picture of Robert" (Damned 241).
Ball called Barrington "an autobiographical echo of part of Robert’s own

character and background" (211).

290
621 "'I shall be able to something to advertise the meetings.‘ he said.

'For instance. I could paint some posters and placards.”

Which is something that Tressell actually did; see Ball’s account of these

activities in Damned chapter 17 "Work with Local Socialists."

624-25 "Jesus said . . . ."

"Lay not up treasures . . . "--see Matthew 6:19-20; "Love not the world
nor the things of the world"--see Ijohn 2:15; "Woe unto you that are rich . .
."--see Matthew 19:24; "Be ye not called masters; for they bind heavy burdens .
. --see Matthew 23:4; "For one is your master, even Christ and ye are all

brethren"--see Matthew 23:8b/10.

625 " . . . they appeared to forget that Jesus said."

"Wherefore call ye me Lord, Lord . . . ."; see Luke 6:46; for the story of

the house on the sand, see Matthew 7:26-27.

627 "As he looked at this little helpless. dependent creature. he

realised with a kind of thankfulness that he would never have the

291

heart to carry out the dreadful proiect he had sometimes entertained

in hours of despondency."

Owen’s realization that he could never carry out his thoughts of murder

and suicide--stated plainly here--makes jessie Pope’s editing" decisions

especially difficult to understand.

629 "The lofty window at which they were standing overlooked

several of the adjacent streets and a great part of the town."

Tressell is beginning the narrative movement outward from Owen’s flat
to the town of Mugsborough and, in that movement, reminding us of the way
that town and the stories we have heard there provide just one example of the

working out of the Present System.

629 " . . . the shop formerly tenanted by Mr. Smallman. the grocer.

who had become bankrupt . . ."

A good example of the way that Tressell fills in small narrative details
that, taken alone, are not apparently significant but which, looked at
altogether illustrate the failure of the Present System. Historically speaking,

reforms in official policy meant that Mr. Smallman would not have had to fear

292

imprisonment; as a "small man" trying to operate with men like Grinder and
Sweater, he had learned that "bankruptcy had become a necessary refuge for

the marginal entrepreneurs of capitalism" (fl "Bankruptcy").

629 "In every country. myriads of armed men waiting for their
masters to give them the signal to fall upon and rend each other like

wild beasts."

The foreboding, almost prophetic, feeling expressed here was also
expressed in other novels of the Edwardian era. See Howard’s End and The

Shooting Party, for example.

630 "But from these ruins was surely growing the glorious fabric of

the Co-operative Commonwealth."

Given the extensive influence that William Morris had in Robert

Tressell’s life, it seems apt that the Socialist future is pictured as a fabric, and

one that is "growing"--organic, like so many of Morris’s designs.

630 "the risen sun of Socialism"

A photograph of a Clarion van, c. 1914, shows the word "Socialism" on a

293

fancy, scrollwork sign. just above the word there appears a rising sun
(Damned facing page 106). Linguistically and symbolically, the phrase
reminds us of the risen Son of God, and sets up Socialism as an alternative to
Christianity as the source of salvation and hope. The use of the phrase is in a
way the logical end of all Tressell’s highlighting of the shortcomings and

outright hypocrisies of the so-called Christians.

294
5. APPENDIX "Mugsborough"

Ball, in his chapter on the recovered manuscript, refers to this appendix
as "an unfinished fragment numbered separately," and says "it looked as

though Tressell had omitted it" (Damned 208).

632 "the gas company's retort houses"

According to the OED, a workplace wherein, "coal is heated for the
production of gas" (Sb. 2, def. 3). Ball describes these as "built almost in the
centre of the town . . . [and belching] smoke and the sickly smell of gas over

the populace" (Damned 32).

632 "the gas company's lime-sheds"

The QED offers for lime, sb 1, def 3, "The alkaline earth which is the
chief constituent of mortar; calcium oxide (CaO). It is obtained by submitting
limestone (carbonate of lime) to a red heat, by which the carbonic acid is
driven off, leaving a brittle white solid, which is pure lime (or quick-lime). It is
powerfully caustic and combines readily with water, evolving great heat in the

process, and forming hydrate of lime (slaked lime)."

APPENDIX A

295

A‘ppendfixl‘

The Progress of The Bagge_d Trousered Philanthropists:
A Selected Chronology

1902

1906

1911

1913

1914

1916

1918

19??

Robert Noonan moves to Hastings; begins work on his novel.

The approximate year in which the novel’s action is set,
according to Alan Sillitoe, in his introduction to the Monthly
Review Press edition of RTP. One piece of internal evidence
suggests 1905.

RN dies of tuberculosis in the Liverpool Royal Infirmary, having
left the MS in the care of his daughter Kathleen.

Kathleen shows the MS to her employer, who passes it on to
jessie Pope; 19 August, jessie Pope writes to publisher Grant
Richards rezRTP.

28 August, jessie Pope writes to GR, saying she has advised "Miss
Croker" (i.e., Kathleen Noonan) to accept an offer of 25 pounds
for the MS

29 October, jessie Pope writes to GR, saying that she finds the
story of Slyme’s seduction of Ruth a weakness in the plot; calling
it "maudlin," she says she would like to cut it from the story.

3 November, jessie Pope writes to GR, re: information from
Kathleen Noonan about her father’s life.

13 April, Grant Richards publishes abridged edition of RTP
(j essie Pope, editor); 1,752 copies sold in England, 1,650 in

British Colonies.

American edition published by Maynard Dominick of Stokes
(Swinnerton notes that Upton Sinclair recognized RTP’s quality).

Second, cheap edition of RTP published.
In May, further abridged edition published (11 fewer chapters).

GR gives MS to loyal secretary Pauline Hemmerde.

19??

1930-31

1940

1946

1955

1958

1959

1962

1965

1967

1980

1981

c.1991

296
PH sells the MS for 10 pounds.

First of many stage adaptations of RTP.
Penguin paperback of abridged RTP.

Original manuscript located "in a somewhat damaged condition"
(publisher’s foreward to ’55 edition); purchased by F .C. Ball for a
total of 73 pounds 10 shillings .

Lawrence and Wishart publish full text, restored as completely as
possible by F .C. Ball.

The manuscript is purchased by The National Federation of
Building Trades Operatives.

january. The NF BTO presents the MS to the Trades Union
Congress for keeping in the archives at the Congress House in
Great Russell Street

Monthly Review Press publishes first paperback of full text,
introduction by Alan Sillitoe.

Panther paperback.

BBC2 produces TV version of stage adaptation.

6 October. The Robert Tressell Workshop holds its premier
meeting: its goal, "to promote interest in and to research into the

life, times, and work of Robert Tressell" ("Report Back").

First Robert Tressell Lecture held by the Hastings 8c St Leonards
Branch of the Workers’ Educational Association

Grant aid is made available to the TUC from the National
Manuscripts Conservation Trust to facilitate the preservation and
microfilming of the MS

APPENDIX B

297

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alfred, David, ed. The Robert Tressell Lectures, 1981-88. Rochester, Kent:
WEA for Castle Hill, 1988.

Anglo, Michael. Penny DreadfulsJand Other Victorian Horrors. London:
jupiter, 1977.

Ball, F .C. One of the Damned: The Life and Times of Robert Tressell, Author
of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. 1973. London: Lawrence 8c
Wishart, 1979.

---. "A Short History of the Original Manuscript." Unpublished Notes
Accompanying the MS of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. Held
by the Trades Union Congress, Congress House, Great Russell Street,
London.

---. Tressell of Mugsborough. London: Lawrence 8c Wishart, 1951.

Beeching, Jack. "The Uncensoring of The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists."
Marxist Quarterly 11 (October 1955): 217-19.

Behlmer, G.K. Child Abuse and Morgl Reform in Engl_and, 1870-1908.
Stanford: Stanford UP, 1982.

Bell, Richard. "How I Got On." Pearson’s Weekly 15 Feb. 1906: n.p.

Besant, Walter. All Sorts and Conditions of Men. An Impossible Story. 1882.
St. Clair Shores: Scholarly Press, 1971.

Briggs, Asa. introduction to centenary edition. Self-Help with Illustrations of
Conduct 8c Perseverance. By Samuel Smiles. 1859. London: john
Murray, 1958.

---. "Cholera and Society in the Nineteenth Century." Past and Present 19
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