SIR HENRY WRIXON'S NOVEL. Jacob Shumate, Book review by 1903.

                                                 Sir Henry in his office library Raheen Kew. Vic.

The Australasian (Melbourne, Saturday 15 August 1903)

Sir Henry Wrixon's Novel.

Jacob Shumate 

(Or The People's March, A Voice From The Ranks) 

An author, whether he is concerned with social problems or his visit to throw his message into the form of fiction. Numbers of people will read a novel who would close the door to a more austere form. 

Sir Henry Wrixon has elected to do this in order to bring before the community a picture of democracy and democratic public life as it has presented itself to him during his long career in Victoria, and his choice can be thoroughly justified. 

To a large extent Jacob Shumate may be accepted as giving the real experiences of the writer, but had he confined himself to writing his reminiscences he would not have appealed to so large a body of readers as he is now likely to secure, and he would not have had the freedom which he enjoys when he attributes sentiments and opinions to different people. 

Probably a just criticism would be that he has not trusted to fiction sufficiently. There is so little fiction, that from the standpoint of a novel the book is soon felt to be a make-believe. 

But readers have to thank Sir Henry Wrixon for an interesting and often vivid narrative of the experiences of a candidate new to public life; of the incidents that befall him; of the difficulties that beset his path; of the people he meets with. 

The whole gives us, what the author desires to set forth, a lively view of the working of democracy in a new country.

Of the people who are depicted, it may be said that every candidate comes across them, one and all. Very odd some of them are, and of the oddities we have careful studies.

Those who know anything of a political canvass will meet with familiar figures at every page, and will enjoy meeting them also.

"Among the many persons sketched in these pages," writes Sir Henry Wrixon, "there will be found neither great names nor great villains. 

The only excuse that the writer can offer for the absence of characters so useful to the dramatic force of a story is that he has not, in fact, found either heroes or villains in his every-day experience of democratic institutions; and he has sought throughout to be above all things a truthful chronicler of what he has observed." 

Sir Henry has good-naturedly closed his eyes to a few men who have had their day on the political stage; men who could easily have been posed for the wicked parts in the play; and, on the other hand, he finds a very complete hero in Edward Fairlie Frankfort, the young University professor, with whose political fortunes the book is concerned. 

His ideas are exalted, his principles are those of the high-toned, philosophical, but cautious radical whom Sir Henry Wrixon has always dearly loved. The author has had evident delight in fashioning the character, and in no situation in which he is placed would Sir Henry Wrixon himself have desired to act differently from the Frankfort decision.

Frankfort is installed as professor of sociology in the city of Miranda, in the province of Excelsior, and it will be noted that the coincidence that occurs between Monmouth and Macedon repeats itself in Miranda and Melbourne. 

He becomes known as an advanced and earnest social teacher, and he is invited to stand for the constituency of Brassville, the electors of which are utterly disgusted with the sitting member, Mr. Ebenezer Meeks, because the last loan bill was allowed to pass without any provision for the £250,000 reservoir to which the district considered itself entitled. 

Ebenezer had also fairly enraged the local temperance party by voting for the transfer of a license from a bush shanty to a palace hotel. But all the communications from Brassville conclude, as did the letter from Frankfort's banker uncle, "Of course you go hammer and tongs for the reservoir." 

That the candidate will work night and day to secure the expenditure of £250,000 in the district is assured us as a matter of course. Indeed, nothing is brought home to the reader more thoroughly than the perils that face our local democracy through the local scramble for public works, and through the electioneering power of the ever-growing mass of the public servants in their organised associations. 

Sir Henry Wrixon bears willing witness to the patriotism and to the humanitarian aspirations of the people, and also to the personal honesty of the representatives as a body. But every district demands its share of the scramble, and its just share looms very large in the local imagination, and the member who will not, or cannot, strike log-rolling bargains, is apt to go to the wall.

Such is the fate that awaits poor Ebenezer Meeks. Meeks was very willing to log-roll, but he was jockeyed. The district can be corrupted in this way, and though the member does not pocket cheques, he often has to pocket his convictions. 

If any innocent mortal should suppose that Sir Henry Wrixon has put too much "local works" colour into his picture, he may be reminded of the statement just made by the Premier of an adjacent state:—

"I am besieged for money wherever I go. This district has very little claim on the Government. Their member constantly votes against it." Sir Henry Wrixon could not make any one of his characters talk more plainly of a demoralising practice that borders on corruption.

The letters, appeals, and articles come as a shock to Frankfort. "Could it be, here, on the very threshold of his public career, his prospects of usefulness in public life depended on a reservoir? 

All his knowledge, ability, aspirations, ideals, prospects mixed up in some way with the reservoir? No, that was too absurd." However, it is so. 

Frankfort has to study the reservoir question, and he soon discovers that the work is a melancholy, palpable job; that it will never pay interest, and that it will be inevitably thrown on the hands of the Government. 

However, he can canvass the constituency before making up his mind about the undue pressure. He goes on with his canvass because the opportune failure of the proposed £10,000,000 loan sets the reservoir question aside for the time being. The interest of the book lies in the people Frankfort meets, and in the demands they make. 

Quiggle, the electioneering agent, is capitally drawn, with his cheery manner, his constant advice, "Keep her free, sir; keep her free," meaning that the candidate should never commit himself to a refusal, and his ready undertaking to give the pledges Frankfort could not.

Any demand made by an elector Quiggle can explain is right, and one that really ought to be granted. On outside subjects there is a bewildering if charming variety of opinion. 

In every hut and shanty, in every homestead men and women are to be found, thinking and theorising, spinning out devices of the brain, to cope with the questions of life. 

"Thinking has become democratised. It used to be the privilege of the few. Now it is the recreation of the many. If our civilisation fails it will not be for want of advice." 

Frankfort visits Mother Dole, who keeps a refreshment shanty, "because," as Quiggle explains, "though she can't vote herself she makes the others vote, and as she tells them, too." Mother Dole is emphatic on the woman's right question.

 "If I've got to get my dray along the bog road there I put a team of bullocks till't. If I mixed them, half heifers and half steers, the dray would get stuck there, stuck there, well, till I'd begun to say my prayers." 

A delightful conversation follows on these lines. But Mrs. Quiggle—for the agent has a wife as bright as himself—puts the issue this way.

 "Only married women should have the franchise. What a single woman wants is not a vote but a husband. She ain't a real woman if she is satisfied with a vote." 

While a third speaker declares, "You and your friends quite overlook the obvious fact that if every woman is entitled to one vote, the woman who is a mother is entitled to two. She has performed a service, perhaps at the risk of her life, which is not only useful to the community, but essential to its existence. Is she to get nothing for this from the state that she builds up?" 

Jacob Shumate, whose name, oddly enough, is given to the book, is known to all politicians. He is disappointed in life, he has been fed by the radical press. He is shrewd, lean, and discontented. 

His fixed idea is that the people have been robbed of the land, though the land laws are the direct making of the people. 

He strongly objects to the Government helping to extirpate the rabbits:—"Fifty-three families in this district are supported by trapping rabbits, and others are employed by the wire-fencing; but surely, Mr. Shumate, you would not preserve the rabbits merely to bleed the land-owners?"  

"Why not, sir? If you will only count all the value grasped by the land-owner on the unearned increment, as was set out by John Stuart Mill, you will see that the rabbits make a very moderate levy indeed on behalf of the community at large."  

"Still, as a thinking man, you will not say that the prosperity of the country would be increased by the destruction of any kind of wealth."  "Pardon me, sir, but I do say it," Jacob Shumate replied.

And he proceeds to argue the proposition in the terms with which our local radicals have been duly supplied. What Shumate argues for is a Government grant to the Red Parrot Exportation Company, for the catching of the parrots will employ thousands, and the industry will be novel and honest. 

A kindred spirit is Karl Brumm, the German selector:—"Quiggle tells me that you favour the decimal system?"  "What intelligent man does not? Only there, too, people will miss the point. It should be a duodecimal system. You can take an even quarter, half, or three-fourths of twelve, but you cannot of ten. Yet people do not notice these simple fundamental things.

"The selector who gives his vote to the member who will help to get him his title deeds without his complying with the conditions, and the local land officer who touts for sham testimonials, the railway guard who is a political boss as local president of the Train and Rail Workers' Association, Mr. Seeker, the secretary of the great State Workers' Association itself, and his mode of operation, all appear on the scene. 

And the volumes are studded with valuable obiter dicta. Thus we have the opinion of Ernest Hooper, the state school teacher, on religion in schools. He insists on opening with a devout prayer, in which all sane men can join, and an inspiriting hymn. But he holds that "religious teaching by a state teacher would be of little value.

 This teaching is a very difficult matter in our times. The danger is obvious. When children grow up and find that some things taught them by rote as facts are not really facts, they are very apt to think that all they have learned is much the same, and that religion generally is a make-believe.

"The curious can make many guesses at the political characters introduced. Some of them are sufficiently obvious. Two of them — Mr. Dorland, the founder of the University in which Frankfort is a professor, and Jortin, a large manufacturer, are avowedly American types, and they and the University and currency episodes in which they figure might have been omitted with great advantage as irrelevant, and as unduly swelling the size of a work, the huge proportions of which are its great drawback. 

The author's friends, who will wish the book to be the success its merits deserve, must regret that it was not cut down by some judicious editor by at least one half. 

After a failure in Parliament and a defeat at an election, when he repudiates the reservoir, Frankfort marries the daughter of the big local land-owner, and settles down in life and becomes the local member again. 

But the individual fictional part of the work, as we have said, is very small. There is a final chapter, in which the future of the province of Excelsior is sketched. 

The most important paragraph reads:—"The problem of combining state industries with political independence, it was not given to the present generation of Excelsior to solve. They tried experiments. 

The more the Government drifted under the Socialist impulse into industrial undertakings, the more helpless it got politically, and the more true political life withered.

How it will ultimately work out experience, not speculation, must reveal. Either it will result in the full Socialist ideal, with the loss of political independence, or the individuality of the people will assert itself, and private enterprise and self-reliance will live again. "No doubt this is a true statement; no doubt also we are at the parting of the ways.

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                                                       Lady Wrixon Miss Wrixon and doggo.

The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954)

Sat 4 Jan 1913, Page 4

NEW BOOKS.

Frankfort, or Politics Among the People, by Sir Henry Wrixon, K.C. (London: Macmillan and Co.)

Sir Henry Wrixon has published what may be regarded as a revised and elaborated edition of his previous political study, “Jacob Shumate.” The learned author makes no pretence to artistic work as a novelist, and his object is not to furnish an example of literary style. 

He is an experienced observer of political Vanity Fair; he has first-hand knowledge of its motive forces, private or public, and he chooses the most popular form of presenting his thoughts and conclusions.

The characters are numerous, and for the most part represent types familiar in our own community. The author does not develop them according to the methods of most modern fiction. 

They are not left to reveal themselves by their own acts and words, and they do not betray their strength or weakness through the medium of ingenious dramatic situations. 

After the manner of a kindly guide, philosopher and friend, he appears to conduct his reader on an inspection of his creations; explaining their peculiarities and political views, occasionally passing judgment on their personal and political merits. 

Very often the characters have little or no connection with the story; they are needed merely to make the political gallery the more representative.

Of necessity these methods are fatal to economy of material and directness of treatment. The narrative expands amazingly. It carries the weight, too, of many aphorisms, proverbs, quotations and lecturettes—all very interesting in themselves, but detrimental to the progress of the story.

As the object of the book is to illustrate the practical working of present-day politics and indicate political tendencies, these things are comparatively unimportant.

The hero — Edward F. Frankfort — is a Scotchman born of English parents, who by spare living and high thinking earns an education and is admitted to the bar. After a little press work in the old country he leaves for the colony of “Excelsior,” there to make his career. 

He is a young man of high principles and self-reliance. He is ambitious and believes in facing the battle of life like a man “the very opposite of a more recent gospel for the poor, which professes to abolish the need for struggle by making all comfortable upon the dead level of the plain beneath.”

It is not long before he is a candidate for the suffrages of “Brassville.” The main object of that constituency is to secure Government loan moneys to the amount of £500,000 for the construction of a reservoir. 

Incidentally the greater part of Brassville’s politics seems to consist of personal greed, trickery and selfishness. The reservoir business is a job. Still it is necessary for the local member to support it with enthusiasm. 

Frankfort’s conscience rebels. All his closest and most influential friends want the reservoir, right or wrong; his public career depends upon its advocacy. Just as he is about to announce his decision against the project the Government loan fails; other subjects arise, and he wins his election.

Frankfort’s career as a member serves to introduce a series of everyday happenings, all designed to show the state of practical politics.

“What was wanted of a politician now was not to die for his country, but to live for his constituency.” In Excelsior “there was a broad and generous sentiment against any severe exaction of efficiency from your brother man, live and let live. 

If the public were inconvenienced at times that was considered a lesser evil than would be the enforcement of a stern discipline upon the workers who served the public.” Reliance upon the Government gradually became more pronounced. 

When the secretary of the State Workers’ Union wrote to his member his letter came not as the appeal of a suppliant, but the claim of an attendant. On receiving it the member was reminded of “the old system of guilds, under which powerful corporate bodies established monopolies and taxed the rest of the people to support them.”

There was a leaning also towards Socialism. As one of the characters observes, “the people are to give up freedom for a full belly, or at least the promise of it, from the Government.” “The taking over by the Government of a fresh industry was always hailed as the true remedy for the depression in it.” 

Perhaps the most suggestive of the political essays with which Sir Henry Wrixon interleaves his story is that relating to “the caucus.”

“The fact is,” he observes, “that Parliaments have had their day. A fatal blow was struck at Parliamentary institutions when representation glided down into delegation, when men were returned to Parliament not to give their judgment upon public questions according to their principles avowed to their constituents, and accepted generally by them, but to carry out the instructions given from time to time from outside. 

This is the chief factor in the change in the nature of Parliamentary government which the present generation is witnessing. It is true that this change is only one feature in a general movement upward, or at least onward, which we see to be in progress; and which appears to involve as a part of it the decay of Parliaments. They are no longer the popular ideal, nor are they acclaimed by the masses as the people’s champions. 

The popular feeling is trending more and more from Parliament towards some outside, direct, executive authority which is to do what the people want quickly, and to alter what is done as readily when they direct. 

The outcome of this trend is seen in some of the most democratic communities, where, though Parliaments are retained, the desired legislation is first settled in secret at the caucus of the dominant party and afterwards presented to the Legislature only to be passed into formal law.”

The book is a conscientious attempt to represent fairly all sections of opinion. It is characterised by a broad, genial tolerance. No piece of political quackery is too foolish to represent honestly for what it is worth, and no political puppet is too insignificant to be heard and considered on his merits. 

There is a delightful, good feeling towards even our old friend “Jacob Shumate” the Socialist cobbler, who had “honesty for a dozen men but not sense enough for one.”

As for the hero, his high principles cost him very dearly. Through his attitude on the great reservoir question, when it was resurrected at the next election he lost his seat, and, what was infinitely worse, some good friends and a charming heiress whom he loved with all his heart.

Sir Henry Wrixon’s book merits the study due to the work of a high-minded, cultured and experienced observer of public events.

Link to: 

 Sir Henry Wrixon Colonial Conference 1895

 Sir Henry Wrixon "Socialism: being Notes on a Political Tour" 1897

Sir Henry Wrixon "Men at home. "Punch". 1903.

Sir Henry Wrixon Pattern Nation 1906

Sir Henry Wrixon. The religion of the common man 1909.

SIR HENRY WRIXON "The Pattern Nation" 1906

 

The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic.) Sat 17 Nov 1906 Page 47 

SIR HENRY WRIXON ON SOCIALISM.

"The Pattern Nation"

Sir Henry Wrixon, President of the Legislative Council of Victoria, has written an admirably clear and suggestive examination of socialism, under the title "The Pattern Nation" (Macmillan and Co. Ltd.).

Prolixity is the fault of most books on socialism, but Sir Henry has thought out the subject so thoroughly that, in a little volume of 170 pages, he presents as complete a view of the question as anyone need desire. 

He has carefully marshalled his facts and arguments, and selected his illustrations, the result being a well-reasoned, popularly written, and convincing treatise on what has already become the one absorbing political question of the day. 

A change in the whole structure of society so stupendous as is involved in socialism could never be carried if it were submitted in its entirety to a direct vote of the people, or their representatives. The common sense of the community would unhesitatingly reject such a monstrous and revolutionary scheme. 

But, as Sir Henry Wrixon well points out, the danger is that so much of it may be carried in instalments or piecemeal that the adoption of these must inevitably follow. 

One of the most original features of the book is the distinction drawn between socialists and the semi-socialists — the latter being the larger class, who are in favour of what is called gradual nationalisation of industry. 

This policy of bringing under the control of the Government more and more of the functions of production, distribution, and exchange must necessarily pave the way for complete socialism, as it will gradually weaken and destroy individual initiative and enterprise, and force an ever-increasing number of people into the position of state employés.  

The result of complete socialism will be the destruction of the liberty for which the more advanced divisions of mankind have struggled for the last thousand years; and the substitution for it of tyranny as oppressive as that of the Russian autocracy. 

What sort of government would be the industrial despotism of democracy that would follow upon the establishment of socialism? It would, as Sir Henry Wrixon shows:—"Spring from the same source and be aided and moulded by the same influences as now produce the city boss in the United States. 

These are the practical examples of the consequences that follow, when, in the most advanced democracy, the political authority takes in hand the management of industrial affairs. The style of work to be done; the largesses to be distributed; the wire-pulling necessary to maintain the socialist autocracy: will be of the same kind, only more extensive and demoralising in their scope and operation. 

It would be the lowest type of the spoils system, controlling the common funds, allotting work, pleasant and unpleasant, to competing citizens; appointing the vast army of industrial officials, granting concessions, enforcing duties, remitting penalties—these functions, and such as these would represent a lower strata of public affairs than even that reached under the city boss in America.

"Such a system would be destructive, not only of freedom, but of civilisation. Invention and industrial enterprise would cease; capital would disappear; production would dwindle; national bankruptcy would be inevitable; the population would diminish, and what was left would soon be face to face with starvation.

These direful consequences would be first felt among the dense populations of Europe. In a thinly-peopled country like Australia they would be longer in coming, but come they would, unless a determined stand is made by the electors against the first insidious approaches of the socialistic policy. 

The Commonwealth general election is the first occasion on which the issue has been directly raised in a British community, and much will depend on how it goes. Everyone who has anything to lose should not neglect to vote in favour of the anti-socialist candidates. 

Sir Henry Wrixon has done good service by his impartial and dispassionate analysis of the socialistic problem. His excellent little book ought to be read by all who wish to understand the subject. (Melville and Mullen.)  

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The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842–1954)

Saturday 17 November 1906

THE PATTERN NATION

Sir Henry Wrixon, K.C., of Victoria, finds that there is a certain problem in practical politics which must be solved somehow, and he sets himself in "The Pattern Nation" (Macmillan and Co.) to consider the difficulties in the way of the solution.

The problem is: What will the poor do with the rich? It will arise when political control will be in the hands of the majority, on the principle that all men are equal, whilst the industrial and social sides of life are still governed by conditions and methods that are rooted in the fact that men are unequal.

Obviously, if the people who have seized the political machine use their power to equalise the conditions of social and industrial life, they must revolutionise the world as we know it. What will they do with the rich?

If they adopt the idea that property is not the natural result (as it has been the natural cause) of civilisation, but that it is merely the harvest of robbery in the past and the temptation to further robbery, they will make short shrift of the holders of property of whatever kind.

Not, indeed, that one need fear the application of the crude methods of "reform" which marked the rise and progress of the French Revolution, for the simple reason, if for no other, that the "reformers," being in unchallenged possession of the legislative and executive machine, can effect the desired end by methods which are free at least from the reproach of personal violence.

Thus, they could abolish proprietorship in land by the simple but effectual process of taxation, leaving out for a moment the holders of small estates, so that their proposals will have full support to the beginning; but determined always to bring the minimum lower and lower until finally private property in land is abolished.

We see indeed the beginnings of this process in the progressive land tax which the socialists propose in our Federal Parliament. It would be fatal to this proposal’s chance of success if its authors were openly to declare that they want to do away with all private ownership of land. 

By so doing they would startle the comfortable folk who vote Labour at the elections. So they declare their aim to be the breaking-up of big estates for the benefit of people who want to go on the land. That is always a popular cry. 

If the socialists are successful, however, and the thin end of the wedge is introduced, it will not be long before the scope of the Act is increased, and farmers and other small holders will find that they must share the fate of the big estates. All kinds of property will in time be penalised in similar fashion if the socialists once got unchecked control of the political machine. 

Sir Henry Wrixon imagines a Pattern State, in which old conditions have been superseded by a socialist rule. In these circumstances a start is made with reforms which appeal to humanitarian sentimentalism, such as State employment for the unemployed, the whittling away of hours of labour, old-age pensions, free education, and so forth.

Upon this the axiom is laid down that the wants of all men must be supplied by somebody, and before long the conclusion is arrived at that this "somebody" must be private property and the private employer.

Once the determination has been made to make this "somebody" bear the burden of State charity and State activities generally, then, in Sir Henry’s opinion, socialism is established. 

The State taxes private property, which means that the majority taxes the minority; the State assumes more and more generally the position of employer, which means that the majority has decided to abolish the private employer.

According to our author, Australia is now in the semi-socialist period; but the signs are not wanting that if the socialist campaign at present being waged is crowned with success, or anything like success, at the elections, the full rigour of the socialistic ideas will be felt before long in the Commonwealth.

Sir Henry Wrixon’s book, all the more valuable because of its dispassionate tone, may be read with particular interest and profit at the present crisis.

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Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885–1954)

Saturday 21 September 1907 Page 49

THE PATTERN NATION 

A new edition of "The Pattern Nation" by Sir Henry Wrixon has been published by Messrs. Macmillan. It is identical with that reviewed in these columns some time ago, except for a preface and an addition to the title.

In the preface Sir Henry Wrixon deals with the criticism that his work is destructive and negative, that he condemns socialism without offering a substitute. In reply he argues that as socialism is a definite and organised proposal, a book devoted to exposing some of its fallacies is justified and required.

To make the scope of the book clear to the reader, he gives this second edition a fuller title — "The Pattern Nation; or Socialism, its Source, Drift and Outcome." 

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Wellington Times (NSW : 1899–1954)

Thursday 24 January 1907

THE SOCIAL UNREST.

SIR HENRY WRIXON AND 'THE PATTERN NATION.'

THE POWER OF THE POOR.

In The Pattern Nation, published by Macmillan and Co., Sir Henry Wrixon adds another to the attractive books in which he has placed his mind before the public of Australia and the world. It is a lengthy pamphlet, running to 172 pages, undivided into chapters, a frank consideration of the social problem as it presents itself to one who has thought long over it from the standpoints of law, politics, and administration.

The subject is so interesting, and the treatment is so masterly, though inconclusive, that we give a series of extracts rather than an ordinary review.

The problem, as Sir Henry phrases it, is

“What will the poor do with the rich?”

“This,” he says, “arises when, on the political side of life, lawful government by the majority of the people becomes an established fact, in vindication of the principle that men are equal; while the industrial and social side of life is still left to be controlled by methods that have for their foundation the fact that men are unequal, and that their rewards in life are to be unequal also.”

All this “is but a new manifestation of the old problem between the rich and the poor which fills so many pages of history; only, the question now is, not what the rich will do with the poor, but what the poor will do with the rich. And this does involve the fate of our present civilisation; for if the socialist scheme of life, which is clearly avowed by its authors, is carried out, our present form of civilisation must pass away. We are told we shall have a better one. All that we can be sure of is, that we cannot maintain that one which we have now.”

The Domination of the Wage Earners.

“This domination of the wage earners will be the great factor of our age. In due time it will be uniform in its effect over our civilisation. The idea that some Western peoples will accept and some reject it, owing to racial and other differences, will prove imaginary. 

For the wants, the grievances, and the object of the masses are substantially the same in all our Western peoples; and the differences in nationality will be found less potent in dividing them than will the community of feeling and needs among the poor be in uniting them. There will soon be a sameness in the people’s politics the Western world over. The wage earners are of one brotherhood.”

This has most beneficent results in some directions. “All must rejoice at two at least of the results that follow from this uplifting of the poor. One is, that they will be cared for with a thoroughness and an earnestness that, such is the imperfection of mankind, they never would have been were it not that now even the self-interest of men prompts loyal efforts to improve their lot.”

“The other valuable result is that, under the people’s rule, the people are governed in peace, and with such wisdom as each community may have at its hand. This is a great thing in times when the only way of ruling the people is through themselves. You solve the question of how to govern the people by the people governing you. But there is a settled government. Thus far have things grown, that there is no other solid basis of human rule now left in our civilisation.”

The Rise of the ‘Boss’.

On the other hand, the new system has a most selfish side. “The elector, instead of being taken out of himself and taught to venerate himself as a trustee for his country, becomes absorbed in the struggle for his share in the good things going; while the representative, who has to live too, forgets the general interests of the general public — further, perhaps, than at present — in satisfying the clamorous wants of the most active section of his supporters. Politics, from being the work of looking after the nation, becomes the work of taking care of yourself. Instead of the statesman, you have the ‘Boss,’ and instead of the elevating spectacle of a people’s election for the high purposes of national life, you have the debasing wire-pulling of the ‘machine.’

Socialism v. Freedom. 

Still more important is the essential antagonism of the old and new ideals — “If you maintain the freedom of industry and its reward, private property, you cannot have the social plan of life. But if you undermine the freedom of industry and the institution of property, you cannot get on without it.”

“This much may be said, whether the socialistic scheme is good or bad, and whether it is coming upon us, or whether it is not. For it may be coming, and at the same time it may be a mistake. The history of man would not be the blurred page it is if all his social movement had been under wise direction.”

Sir Henry Wrixon is at his best in defining what is and what is not socialism... “When under the free system you abolish all class privilege, when you educate all, when you protect the rights of labour, when you exempt the poor from undue burdens, when you leave the course open for all to enter, you do all that you can to give men an equal opportunity — if you leave them free to run the race at all. If you do leave them free to run this race and the best man to win, then you are not a socialist, and no amount of clearing the course and giving all an equal chance will make you one.”

Human Nature’s Veto.

“The chief thing, and the crucial fact, for the socialistic scheme to face, [is] the power of self-interest upon men, [which] still remains the same as it ever was. It has the same effect upon men, whether singly or in masses, that it had at the dawn of history. It is still the main-spring of human nature.”

Paying the Bill.

“If you start with the principle that people must have things right about them, so long as there is somebody else to pay the bill, you enter upon a course of action under which you may hope to supply the needs of those who want but you may be certain that you will exhaust the resources of those who have.”

Semi-Socialism’s Issue.

The gradual increase of civil servants, the socialisation of monopolies, and other stages of semi-socialism will finally be known in practice... “Its leaders seek to combine the comfort of socialism without its discipline, with the freedom of individualism, without its spur, competition. They glory in the beneficence of the socialistic state, but do not face its responsibility, and denounce the tyrannical, capitalist system, while they live on the fruits of its industry.”

A Better Path.

The author’s path of development would be different — “Without dogmatising upon the new methods which the enlarged experience and growing improvement of the wage-earners may in time point out to them, we may safely say that the true goal for labour to have worked towards is to rise from the condition of wage-earners to that of profit sharers, but preserving at the same time, individual freedom. 

And this would have been its natural destiny had not its energies been turned aside by the plausible but enervating principles of paternalism.”

The Sacrifice of Freedom.

“Socialism begins with democracy; but it cannot stop there. On the contrary, its trend is round again to despotism... The popular feeling has been so engrossed with the cause of social amelioration, and especially with the passion for equality, that it waxes cold on its old love of liberty.”

The Fate of Our Civilisation.

“Things change more quickly in our time, and the present century will see either socialism discredited or Europe declining. A social system, the foundation of which is the sacrifice of freedom for ease, contains within itself the conditions of decay.”

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The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854–1954)

Saturday 3 November 1906

NEW BOOKS.

"The Pattern Nation," by Sir Henry Wrixon.

(Macmillan and Co.)

Philosophical, rather than strictly practical, is the examination into the trends and tendencies of Socialism which Sir Henry Wrixon discusses in this interesting and, in many ways, suggestive essay on modern political economy.

To his arguments there is no definite concrete application, local or otherwise, though for his illustrations he draws, of course, upon the experiences of the United States and other democratic Governments.  

His theme is the ultimate development of the present state of society in a highly civilised community, whether it will evolve into “freedom, with the struggle for life,” or “Socialism, with promised ease and comfort.”

The free Democracy represents a progressive movement that is political in its scope and aims, and which, while pursuing the social amelioration of the people, seeks to do it through themselves, and has for its foundation principle, before all things necessary for true popular progress, freedom and the natural individuality of man.

The other, which may be termed the Democracy of Socialism, cares for political power, and prizes it chiefly as an instrument by which to promote social equality and the industrial relief of its citizens, which it holds can only be achieved by changing the present constitution of society, which it terms “capitalistic,” and constituting it anew under the benevolent despotism of Socialism.

The foregoing sentences outline the attitude which Sir Henry Wrixon takes up. He presupposes a nation which has accepted Government interference and control to the extent of, say, Australia, a condition which he describes as semi-Socialism, and then follows out the train to which such surrendering of the rights of individualism must, in his opinion, inevitably lead, to the consummation of a complete Socialistic community, and the danger of decadence and risks of retrogression attendant thereon.

There is much close reasoning in the pages, and a thoroughly able survey of the circumstances of the future. Naturally, the survey is that of a man who views with dislike the prospect of a thorough-paced Socialistic State, though at the same time he regards that State as the logical outcome of the present-day rise of the worse-off classes, unless wiser counsels prevail and the Democracy accept a more stable condition of discipline.

Sir Henry Wrixon is not an alarmist, flying off at heady denunciations of an improbable perversion of ethics and morals when the Socialists shall have power. His monograph is, on the contrary, temperate and well considered, the work of a man of culture, to whom the respect of his most pronounced political opponents is undoubtedly due.

Sir Henry Wrixon Colonial Conference 1895

Sir Henry Wrixon "Socialism: being Notes on a Political Tour" 1897

Sir Henry Wrixon "Men at home. "Punch". 1903.

SIR HENRY WRIXON'S NOVEL. Jacob Shumate, Book review 1903

Sir Henry Wrixon. THE RELIGION OF THE COMMON MAN. Book reviews 1909   

Sir Henry Wrixon. THE RELIGION OF THE COMMON MAN. Published Book reviews 1909

                                                                    Sir Henry Wrixon

 The Argus (Melbourne), Saturday 20 February 1909, Page 6:

"RELIGION OF THE COMMON MAN."
SIR HENRY WRIXON'S NEW BOOK.
How the plain man of average intellect and no wide knowledge of philosophy may arrive at belief in a God who ought to be worshipped is what Sir Henry Wrixon, President of the Legislative Council, endeavours to explain in his latest book, The Religion of the Common Man (London: Macmillan).
It is undoubtedly a book for the many. There is practically none of it beyond the comprehension of any person of ordinary educational attainments. The language is generally simple — the technical jargon of the schools being carefully eschewed — the reasoning is clear enough to leave no doubt of the points the writer intends to make, and the whole subject is treated in a thoroughly popular manner.
Another quality which will be appreciated by the everyday reader is what we may describe as the lay standpoint of the author. His attitude is that of the inquiring layman. He displays no trace of that clerical tone, that ex cathedra priestly polemic, which so often repels the “common man” in the treatises of trained theologians.
Yet to the making of the little work, it runs to no more than 187 small octavo pages of large print, have evidently gone many years of thought and study in metaphysics, ethics, and theology, besides the special labour of sifting and condensing ideas for the book itself. 
In fact, the chief merit of the book lies in the skill with which Sir Henry Wrixon has translated into the language and thoughts of ordinary educated men the conceptions and the arguments of experts in philosophy and religious lore. Though the reasoning is not novel, the presentment is not only fresh but laudable.
The “common man” for whom the book is written will find it both interesting and suggestive. Even though he may not agree wholly with the author’s views, he must at least acquire as he reads a better understanding of, and a greater respect for, the religious faith of the worshipping deist or theist of every creed. 
The book is not an apology for any particular form of religion, but a defence of the fundamental religious postulate, axiom, premise or conclusion — call it what you will — that there is a supreme moral Deity, the creative and informing intelligence upon which both the physical and moral universes ultimately depend.
Sir Henry Wrixon contends, in spite of the apparent domination at the moment of “the materialistic hypothesis of science,” with its chain of purely mechanical causes, that “man remains the religious animal that he ever was, and the moral and spiritual principle in his nature imperatively demands relations with his Maker.” He wishes to find an answer to the all-important question whether all these religious aspirations are really but vain illusions.
The question is a vital one to him, because he regards the outlook for both our civilisation and the individual man as dreary and unsatisfying if religion is to lose its hold upon men. 
“Civilizations,” he contends, “cannot start afresh in matters of faith any more than in other conditions of national life. As for the individual man, his needs remain as much as ever a part of his nature, the want of some support on which to stay himself in this life, and also the rest for his soul demanded by his spiritual aspirations. These cannot be satisfied by a philosophy of negation or incredulity, which proposes to wave aside the claims of the human soul and the needs of man in the stress of life by telling him not to mind them.”
Sir Henry Wrixon makes much of the new and large idea of “design” in the universe — not the old, narrow idea, which was pitted against natural selection and other established generalisations of science, but an idea of intelligent purpose operating through such laws to the fulfilment of some divine, far-off event. He insists that this idea of an intelligent, purposive being, presiding over the whole universe of human experience, is also in harmony with the needs of individual human nature.
That the fundamental tenet of religion cannot be fully explained or demonstrated Sir Henry Wrixon frankly admits, but he asks, does it make any greater demand upon faith than the ultimate assumptions and theories of science?
A passage bearing upon this point may be quoted: — 
“The common man admits that the ultimate postulate upon which his faith rests is insoluble by mere reason. And if the other mysteries of Nature, if the problems of science were capable of clear intellectual definition the common man confesses that it would be an argument against his faith, that it alone was, in the last resort, faced by an enigma. But in every science, as well as in religion, you come to a point where you can only stop and wonder. … 
In secular science man can only do his best with his mental faculties, and go as far as they will carry him, groping a little further, perhaps, where speculation may give him a helping but uncertain lead. 
But in regard to religious faith when the reasoning powers of man direct him towards Deity, he finds his nature gifted with natural impulses, inherent instincts, all ready to catch up and respond to the conclusion which his intellect was pointing to. 
While the spiritual power would be imperfect without the intellectual basis, the intellectual process is completed, and made effective by the spiritual capacity with which man is naturally gifted, and which he finds ready, and adapted to follow the lead which his intellect gives. 
We have a better justification for the conclusions of our intellect in religion, and more reason to trust them than we have in general science.”
Generally speaking, Sir Henry Wrixon is cautious in his statements and in the illustrations which he adduces to fortify his arguments, but we note on page 125 a passage which presumes telepathy as a fact of experience.
 “It is a matter of experience,” he says, “that mind communicates with mind, owing to some mysterious influence, when the two minds are apart from one another, and notwithstanding any material obstacles which may intervene.” We doubt whether the majority of men of science would admit that this is “a matter of experience.” 
Again, we question whether it can be shown, as stated on page 82, that the teaching of the Buddha seems “to assume the existence of the Deity, though not to enforce it.” Yet again we hardly think modern scholars in Hebrew history would endorse the assertion on page 90 that the Jews of to-day “worship the God of Israel in just the same fashion, so far as principles and belief go, as did their remote ancestors 3,000 years ago.” These statements, however, do not, it must be admitted, materially affect the arguments of the book.

👇                               Sir Henry Wrixon, Lady Wrixon, Miss Wrixon & doggo

 Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954) Sat 27 Feb 1909    "THE RELIGION OF THE COMMON MAN."

"The Religion of the Common Man," by Sir Henry Wrixon, is a small volume of less than two hundred pages. It treats an engrossing subject and is certainly written in an engaging manner.
Sir Henry, like Lord Avebury and men of that type, takes a serious view of mortal life; not necessarily gloomy, but deliberately and thoughtfully serious. Already Sir Henry has several volumes to his credit, all of which have received considerable attention, and one, "The Pattern Nation", much criticism of varied shades of opinion.
It would indeed be well for mankind if the reflections which the author attributes to the "Common Man" were more widely diffused than is quite apparent at present.The first three chapters are of rather a discursive nature, though it is difficult to see how that could be avoided in dealing with a theme like this. In these chapters Creation, as it appears to man, and matter, force, and motion are reviewed, and the cogitations of the Common Man are interpreted by the author. He is said to see purpose and design in everything.
In Chapter IV. the reader is called upon to contemplate "mind," "instinct," "moral sense" and "conscience." Scientists, philosophers, and theologians, from Confucius to Darwin, are quoted in support of a moral law, or inward indicator, pointing out the right and the wrong. This has been attested in nations great and small in every state of civilisation.
This Sir Henry thinks points to the conclusion "that there is an Intelligence behind it, animating and directing the whole." Such conclusion, he says, does not prove "religion," but it lays a foundation for it.
In his appeal to history he refers to Assyria, Egypt, India, Persia, in regard to their conceptions of the "Great Spirit," and to the Jewish and Christian religions with their concepts of God. All this cannot be a figment of the imagination or a mere fancy come among men to mislead them.
It is interesting to note Sir Henry's deductions from a contemplation of astronomy. The Common Man accepts at the hands of the astronomer what he can never comprehend. The astronomer tells him that the light of a certain star requires two thousand years to reach this planet. The scientist tells him of "generating impacts that should follow each other a hundred million times a second." It is possible to believe, but never to adequately comprehend, such problems.
The line of argument here is akin to that of Professor Henry Drummond, in his "Natural Law in the Spiritual World." 
After stating the difficulties of human existence, showing how necessary they are, and how they may be considered as a partial explanation of the mystery of life, the author says: — "If we knew certainly about God and a future existence, it would be impossible to retain interest in the little affairs of this life." Absolute knowledge is not possible; faith and hope are.
In a recent address the Rev. R. J. Campbell, in reply to the oft-repeated demand, "Why does God permit so much evil?" said "Why do we?" Sir Henry takes the same ground, pointing to the evils of mankind, and saying they are mostly of man's making. 
The deliberate use of that great God-given implement, free will, could quickly end much of the misery and crime so apparent in human society.
This little book is no theological treatise; it is an honest, earnest endeavour to induce the Common Man to scrutinise the ways of life, to see a great, loving Father behind it all, rather than blind unfeeling force; and in Faith and Hope to await the issue lying beyond the boundary line.The publishers are Macmillan and Co., London.
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The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947)Sat 27 Feb 1909Books.
"The Religion of the Common Man," by Sir Henry Wrixon, Macmillan and Co.
By the “Common Man” the author means “a man of average intellect and ordinary information, as he muses upon and wrestles with the problem of his existence here and his future destiny; and seeks to discover if not a complete solution of that problem, light at least enough to guide him on his earthly journey.”
This definition is intended, on the one hand, to exclude “philosophers and theologians”; and on the other hand to exclude “speakers at Sunday gatherings in parks.” Very fairly the author might have said of himself: “I am a specimen of the Common Man.” He writes without the vulgarity of the Sunday park speaker; and also without the exactness and polish of the philosopher and the scientist. 
He writes in the spirit of one who cherishes a sincere faith; and therefore the tone of the book throughout is most excellent. Indeed it is a remarkable book, the reading of which perchance would be of more benefit to the Sunday park speaker on the one hand and to the philosopher, scientist, or theologian on the other hand, than to the “Common Man” whose thoughts are admirably herein written down. 
It is because the author writes as a “Common Man” that we should spare him in criticism for the indefinite use of terms. He speaks of “the revelations of science,” whereas science never reveals anything; “the truth of religion,” “the truths upon which religion rests,” “the truth of religion,” “the foundation facts of any science,” “authority in matters of faith,” “revealed religion,” “moral sense,” “moral faculty,” “the existence of evil,” and “spiritual principle,” as if we all very well know the meaning of these terms when not one of them has any meaning at all.
Some notably faulty examples of interpretation might be given. If it is a fact that “the heart has a natural instinct for communion with its Creator” — a statement more than once repeated — that should go a long way towards answering the question, here discussed — namely, “Is there a God whom men ought to worship?” But that really is not the question. The dispute is not as to whether there is a sovereign power in the universe, but whether there is a God at all answering to what is so called orthodox teaching.
It is not correct to say that we owe the idea of “the unity of Deity” to the proclamation made on Mount Sinai. This proclamation did not extend to the “oneness” of God; it was intended to point out to the Israelite that only Yahweh was to be his God. Nor is it right to say that unless we accept this or that theory about God “a life devoted to virtue and self-sacrifice would be the most meaningless and unaccountable thing in God’s creation.” It would be nearer the truth to say that without an elevating theory of God, a life of virtue and self-sacrifice is impossible.
These faults are almost inseparable from the thinking and writing of the “Common Man”; but such inaccuracies not infrequently confuse the uncommon man of the lower grade, leading him to reject all because some things are in error. Some parts of the little book are very good indeed. On pages 8, 9, 10, and 11 may be found some telling observations on the religious education of children. 
The pages devoted to the task of pointing out signs of the superhuman in nature, and the mysteries of organised life, are equal to the best work of the uncommon man of the higher grade. We should like to give a column of comment; meanwhile we heartily commend the little book; it will bear reading more than once; it is a book to be studied.
👇The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931)  Sat 6 Mar 1909 THEOLOGY OF TO-DAY.THROUGH NATURE TO GOD.
"The Religion of the Common Man." By Sir Henry Wrixon, K.C. London: Macmillan & Co.
Matters affecting theology are now freely discussed by laymen of all classes; and their interest is of such large moment that it is not surprising that there should be a continually growing literature on the subject from the pens of men who are neither ministers of the Gospel nor lecturers in theological academies.
The present author states the object of his work as being to record “the reflections and conclusions of a man of average intellect and ordinary information as he muses upon and wrestles with the problems of his existence here and his future destiny, and seeks to discover, if not a complete solution of that problem, light at least enough to guide him on his earthly journey.” 
The problem is faced in a broad spirit, and the pages betoken a sincere desire to present the thoughts which are influencing many a “common man.” Religion, it is stated, has reality behind it, and is indestructible in the heart of man. It is because of this that “it survives the attacks of foes and the mistakes of friends, and also the revelations of science” … It remains to-day still a living force among us, responding to a natural instinct of the heart for communion with its Creator, and supplying a needful support to mankind in the stress of life.
The author, however, believes that the days of prophets lie in the past, and that the world has reached a stage of development in which each man is his own prophet. “If the masses are to be inspired they must get the inspiration from themselves.” Although this is the case, it is contended that the problems which lie at the base of religious beliefs are not less difficult now than they were found to be by the philosophers of every age.
From self-observation and the study of nature the common man finds himself continually brought to the conclusion of the reality of Deity. A moral sense, an ideal of what ought to be done simply because it is right, the feeling of self-condemnation if the wrong course is chosen, these are factors in general experience which have to be accounted for.
“Our common man thus from these lines of observation and reflection, the abounding evidence of purpose and arrangement, denoting intelligence behind the screen of creation; the mind of man, circumscribed though it be, yet so amply fitted to his needs in this life, together with the marvel of instinct and the moral sense, with its sublime inspirations in the heart of man, demanding some source from on High — from these lines of thought our common man, we say, is led to believe that there is a God.” 
The book is written in a pleasing style and treats the subject thoughtfully and reverently.
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Leader (Melbourne, Vic. : 1862 - 1918, 1935)  Sat 6 Mar 1909 

Literature.

THE RELIGION OF THE COMMON MAN.If it be true that there are times of ebb and flow in the religious faith of civilised humanity, that periods of fervid spiritual belief and of shallow apathetic scepticism alternate in the public mind, religion at the present time, judging by the loosened hold of the churches upon the mass of the people, would seem to be at the ebb.
Sir Henry Wrixon's book, "The Religion of the Common Man", dealing as it does with the foundations of religion and with problems that have engaged the minds of thinking men ever since we have any record of human thought, and treating them with a plainness and lucidity that will make it easily understood by the average intellect, is therefore a timely contribution to the subject. 
This is especially so in view of the fact that topics of inquiry which were once confined to the study of the theologian and the philosopher are now debated in the street and the market place.The author states that his object is "to record the reflections and the conclusions of a man of average intellect and ordinary information, as he muses upon and wrestles with the problem of his existence here and his future destiny, and seeks to discover, if not a complete solution of that problem, light at least enough to guide him in his earthly journey."
What the author has done is really to marshal in logical sequence, and with an understanding sympathy, the thoughts and conclusions of an ordinary man who starts out with an unbiased mind and a clear intellect on an investigation as to the bases of his religious belief, and who in the process makes himself familiar with what the great minds of the race have said on the subject. For, as the author himself remarks, "in the last resort all philosophy and all metaphysics must justify itself to the plain mind of mankind."
Sir Henry Wrixon touches on a pertinent point when he says that the difficulties of religion have been increased by the false positions which its friends have taken up in the past, and which have, one after another, to be abandoned before the onward sweep of knowledge. "It cannot be wondered at if this leaves the impression that the rest of what was taught in the name of religion will in time be as readily refuted as have been the false positions which have now been abandoned."
And in this connection he puts in a protest against the methods, too often employed now in the teaching of the young — the presentation of a series of narratives as actual facts, surrounded by all the authority of religion — which, when they are out of the schoolroom and begin to read and think for themselves, they find are generally regarded as mythical and legendary stories, embodying, no doubt, living truths, but in the garb of symbol, and not of fact.
The natural, though mistaken, conclusion of the young people is to settle down to the conviction, not only that the narratives are myths or mere legends, but that all they were taught as connected with them is equally illusory. There have been very good people who have maintained that if the obviously pictorial and symbolical narrative of the creation in Genesis were not literally true the whole fabric of Biblical truth must totter to ruin.
Our author says: — "No thinking person now holds that the Bible is literally inspired, or believes in the reality, as facts, of all the narratives which it contains." Yet there are a few belated survivals of a past age who still hold that belief, as witness the recent fulminations in a Collins-street meeting hall of a militant controversialist of the "old orthodoxy."
But man remains the religious animal that he ever was, and the moral and spiritual principle in his nature imperatively demands relations with his Maker. From the infancy of the race man has been ever seeking for light upon his own destiny — on the "whence and whither" — and ever struggling to wrest a response from the heavens to the promptings of that moral faculty which is a part of his nature.
"Are all those aspirations vain? Are these longings delusions?" he asks. "If so, then our existence here must be declared to be not merely perplexing, but unmeaning and futile. The problem of human life would become more inexplicable than ever, and the spectacle of a noble man devoting his life to virtue and self-sacrifice would be the most meaningless and unaccountable thing in God's creation."
The outlook of our civilisation, then, is dreary if its religion is going to lose its hold upon men. It has no newer development of Christianity to look to. It has not yet lived up to the standard which Christ set before mankind. It possesses the foremost religion of the world, and the alternative of casting it off is not some new faith, but a delusive Pantheism or a dreary Materialism.
Civilisations cannot start afresh in matters of faith any more than in other conditions of national life. As for the individual man, his needs remain as much as ever a part of his nature; the want of some support on which to stay himself in this life, and also the rest for his soul demanded by his spiritual aspirations. These cannot be satisfied by a philosophy of negation or of incredulity, which proposes to waive aside the claims of the human soul and the needs of man in the stress of life, by telling him not to mind them.
It is with earnestness, therefore, that the thinking man asks himself the question, "Is it indeed true that there is no God?"This is the problem which Sir Henry Wrixon sets before his common man, whose reasonings and momentous conclusions he follows and unfolds in the course of his investigations: — Whether it is a true conclusion that there is one stupendous power and intelligence, an infinite and independent essence, the source and preserver of all things; or whether the Universe is the product of, and is impelled by, the unconscious force of material powers, streams of blind impulse generating we know not how and tending we know not whither.
He recognises that the incomprehensible faces him as the ultimate phase of the existence of Deity, but experience has taught him that he must at times "believe" in things he cannot understand, only it must be something which his intellect recommends to him as a proper subject for faith.
Starting with the philosophic basis of his own existence, "I think therefore I exist," the investigator after a study of his own nature, and the observation of the world outside him, concludes that there is some Causing Power, some Intelligence, behind the manifold phenomena of life and nature. The mind, instinct, the moral sense, and conscience are made to complete the conviction.
Our common man thus, from these lines of observation and reflection — the abounding evidences of purpose and arrangement denoting intelligence behind the screen of creation — the mind of man, circumscribed though it be, yet so amply fitted to the needs of this life, together with the marvel of instinct, and the moral sense, with its sublime inspirations in the heart of man, demanding some source from on high — from these lines of thought our common man, we say, is led to believe that there is a God.
This conclusion certainly by no means involves all the postulates of religion, but it lays the foundation for them. The superstructure, as the author points out, is raised partly by deductions which naturally follow from the great fact, and partly by the spiritual instincts which are a portion of the nature of the common man.
In arriving at this conclusion Sir Henry Wrixon shows that the common man is acting in unison with the general belief of the great family of mankind in all its branches, and in every period of the world's history, and that this belief in a superior power has been acknowledged by the greatest intellects of the race. 
The world's great religions, its imperial thinkers, its wisest philosophers, its most renowned teachers, are all brought forward to testify to the universal belief in the existence of God, in the reality of the unseen, and in the immortality of the soul. And finally the Christian revelation about the Deity is adduced as the greatest fact in the spiritual history of mankind.
It is admitted that while the common man may find the central fact, he could not, as an intellectual process, define and prove all that is involved in the nature of the Deity. The idea is surrounded with much that passes his comprehension and by much that is quite inexplicable to him. But this is only what happens to him in regard to many other problems on mental and physical matters. The greatest thinkers have to confess that with them, as with the smaller men, knowledge begins and ends in wonder.
The weight of testimony may make a belief in the existence of Deity an irresistible conclusion. But the thinking man cannot stop short at this belief. There are other postulates arising from it which face the investigator, and about which there may be many perplexities. Under the heading of "Difficulties" some of these are discussed.The comparative insignificance of man in the material universe is met by the argument that in the mental and spiritual world vastness assumes a different aspect. 
Space and time, as far as we can grasp them, depend on conditions within our own minds. The operations of the spirit world are extant throughout all creation, and are not affected by the immensity of material nature nor the illimitableness of space itself. Distance and time and size have no longer to be contended with.
Connected with the triviality of mankind is another difficulty: "Why are we left in such obscurity about the unseen God and our future destiny?" It is admitted that this perplexity is not fully explainable, at least by the light of human reason.Yet there is not wanting a partial explanation, at least derived from the conditions of human life here, which suggests itself to the common man. 
It is obvious that it is the intention of the Creator that all forms of life in this planet (and probably wherever in His universe forms of life exist) should take the deepest interest in their present state of existence and should be devoted to the claims of that life in which they find themselves placed. This is shown by the instinct of living being one of the strongest planted in our nature. ... We have such an inherent love of and interest in life that we cling to it through all trials, and when of itself it would not seem worth living.
It being then the obvious purpose of the Creator that we should be devoted to the claims upon us of our life here, it would be inconsistent with this purpose if there was placed before men in the blaze of actual knowledge the view of God Himself, and of a further state of being to which men were hurrying through this short stage of existence. For then all interest in the affairs of this present world would be gone. Who would have energy to struggle on at his work here if he had direct knowledge of a wonderful future state immediately at hand?
Napoleon, as a young man, was absorbed in the politics of Corsica, and had there been no revolution in France, possibly might have remained so all his life. But while busied in writing that eager philippic, which, as a youth, he composed on the condition of his native island, if his future career had been revealed to him, would he have cared to finish his letter, or to further nurse his enthusiasm for Paoli?
Providence, in short, accords us only such knowledge of Himself, and such grounds of expectation as to our future destiny as is sufficient for the purpose of development and guidance here. Thus, it is that scope is given for the cultivation of faith and hope, the foundation principles of all religions.
And with regard to the still greater and more inexplicable problem of evil, whether it be the evil which men do, or the evil which men suffer, how is it reconcilable with the rule of a just and merciful God? While the difficulty is in no way shirked, it is dealt with in a way which, so far from destroying a belief in a righteous Providence, is made to support such a belief, to incline the investigator, not to atheism, but to religion.
To give to our present life a meaning intelligible to the moral sense there must be a life beyond. Notwithstanding the baffling problem of evil the purpose of the world points to just judgment and a beneficent Creator.
After all, the problems of the common man of the 20th century are those which exercised the mind of some of the master spirits of the race 2000 years ago and more, and which were resolved by them much in the same way as sincere thinkers resolve them to-day. But there are always thoughtless people, with no intellectual or religious anchorage, and who are blown about by every wind of doctrine, and for their benefit it is desirable to restate those ancient truths which are the heritage of the race, especially when they can be set forth in the light of any new thought or any fresh way of regarding an old thought.
It is this useful purpose which Sir Henry Wrixon has served in the sane and suggestive treatise under notice.
The Religion of the Common Man, by Sir Henry Wrixon, K.C., author of The Pattern Nation, &c., London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd.; Melbourne: Melville and Mullen.

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Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1929) Wed 10 Mar 1909
THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.
What is “The Religion of the Common Man”? Sir Henry Wrixon, of Victoria, discusses this subject in a volume of nearly two hundred pages just published by Macmillan, London. Sir Henry lays it down that religion has reality behind it and is indestructible in the heart of man; hence it survives the attacks of its foes, and is still a living force. 
He then sets out to record the reflections and conclusions of “a man of average intellect and ordinary information” as he muses upon and wrestles with the problem of his existence here and his future destiny, and seeks to discover, “if not a complete solution of that problem, light at least enough to guide him on his earthly journey.
”This “common man,” not conversant with the lore or the metaphysics of the subject, and having no aid from revelation, meditates and reasons very lucidly, and with great acuteness, and arrives at the conclusion, from the history of belief, from Nature, and from conscience that there is a conscious, intelligent and beneficent Ruler of the Universe.
Sir Henry Wrixon does not shirk difficulties; on the other hand, he frankly recognises them in order that he may be able to conquer them as far as finite human knowledge can do. On some points, however, such as the problem of evil, he lands the “common man” in that hopeless perplexity which besets all who seek to find a solution. The book is full of references to the works of philosophers, and is an exceedingly thoughtful contribution to that speculative religious literature fascinating to so many men.
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 Bendigo Advertiser (Vic. : 1855 - 1918) Sat 13 Mar 1909    
"RELIGION OF THE COMMON MAN."WORK BY SIR HENRY WRIXON.
We have received through Melville and Mullen a book entitled The Religion of the Common Man, by Sir Henry Wrixon, K.C. 
This is a book dealing with the foundation principle of religion, namely, the fact of God. It is written in plain language for plain men. It does not profess to deal with anything new, but rather to “record the reflections and the conclusions of a man of average intellect.” 
It affords the ordinary reader an opportunity of studying these “reflections and conclusions” in words easily understood. The book is reverent and able, and indicates a wide range of reading, and a familiarity with the literature of the subject. In the ten chapters, covering 187 pages, the interest is maintained throughout. 
The average man may here read the discussion of a subject which has engaged the mind of man through ages, but which is usually clothed in abstruse and metaphysical language. It is a book for the people, and should prove of much interest, being the conclusions of an Australian publicist and statesman, who, having wrestled with the problems of his own existence and his future destiny, holds to the belief in God as the great reality behind religion. 
LINK TO Sir Henry Wrixon Colonial Conference at Ottawa 1895   Sir Henry Wrixon "Socialism: being Notes on a Political Tour" 1897Sir Henry Wrixon "Men at home. "Punch". 1903.Sir Henry Wrixon Jacob Shumate, Book review by 1903.              SIR HENRY WRIXON "The Pattern Nation" 1906