BY THE SAME AUTHOR. THE MOMENT AFTER: A Tale of the Anseen. In One Volume, crown 8vo. Athenæum. -It should be read-in daylight.' Guardian. Particularly impressive, graphic, and powerful.' Bristol Mercury.-'Written with the same poetic feeling and power which have given a rare charm to Mr. Buchanan's previous prose writings.' The story is Spectator. A remarkable little study. certainly an impressive one, more especially the story of the crime. Speaker. Few living authors could have imagined and written the narrative of Maurizio Modena as Mr. Buchanan has imagined and written it. "The Moment After" is as interesting as any of Mr. Buchanan's previous novels.' Academy. The dramatic and descriptive powers exhibited are of a high order.' Scottish Leader. One of the most weird and powerful imaginings of the author of the "City of Dream."' LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 21, BEDFORD STREET, W.C. 45-6-01 AND OTHER ESSAYS AND LETTERS BY ROBERT BUCHANAN 'In interiore homine habitat Veritas.'-AUGUSTINE. 'Sir To. Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be 'Clo. Yea, by Saint Anne-and ginger shall be hot i' the mouth too!' 'Leave nothing sacred-'tis but just The Many-headed Beast should know.'-TENNYSON. PREFACE. I MUST apologize to the serious reader for preserving, in the present permanent form, at the request of many correspondents, the following passing comments on public events and social phenomena. My aim is selfish, yet twofold. Firstly, these comments may be useful by-and-by to readers of my less desultory contributions to literature; secondly, I am enabled, in republishing them, to restore one or two passages which were too outspoken for the columns. of the daily newspaper of the period. From the first moment I began to write I have been endeavouring to vindicate the freedom of human Personality, the equality of the sexes, and the right of Revolt against arbitrary social laws conflicting with the happiness of human nature. Had I paused there, I might have secured the suffrages of a friendly minority. But, unfortunately, while defending Freedom on the one hand, I have been defending Society on the other, under the impression that social organization is not always, and not necessarily, tyrannical. From my point of view, the average Home is not invariably (what the gentlemen of the Hall of Science describe it to be) a Harem,' nor is the average Morality inextricably associated with 'the piggish virtues of the Georges.' I am, therefore, out of harmony with the minority as well as with the majority, and am little likely to find favour with either party: either the Convention |