Latter-Day Pamphlets

1. The Present Time: A World in Crisis, Drowning in Imposture.

These days of universal death must be days of universal new-birth, if the ruin is not to be total and final!

A New Era of Despair. The mid-19th century marks a "New Era" characterized by "endless calamity, disruption, dislocation, confusion worse confounded." This period, exemplified by the 1848 European revolutions, reveals a profound "universal Bankruptcy of Imposture," where traditional authorities, from Popes to Kings, are exposed as "Sham-Kings" and "Play-actors." The world is forced to confront the hollowness of its institutions.

The Reforming Pope's Unintended Consequences. The unexpected rise of a "Reforming Pope" who declared the New Testament his rule of governing, inadvertently ignited a chain of events. His call for veracity exposed the inherent falsity of the Papacy, leading to insurrections in Sicily and, by "sympathetic subterranean electricities," explosions across Europe. This demonstrated that once the "law of veracity" is acknowledged, few human institutions can withstand its scrutiny.

Anarchy and the Decline of Leadership. The ensuing chaos saw "immeasurable Democracy rise monstrous, loud, blatant, inarticulate as the voice of Chaos." Kings fled, and the populace took government upon themselves, resulting in "open 'kinglessness,' what we call anarchy." This era is marked by a lack of true leadership, with "young men, and almost children," taking command, while mature men, hardened by "sceptical egoism," offer no noble guidance.

2. Democracy and Universal Suffrage: A Flawed Illusion of Governance.

Your ship cannot double Cape Horn by its excellent plans of voting.

Voting Cannot Alter Eternal Laws. The widespread belief that "Democracy" and "Universal Suffrage" can solve all social woes is a dangerous delusion. Just as a ship cannot navigate Cape Horn by voting, but by conforming to the "adamantine rigor by the ancient Elemental Powers," so too must nations align with the "Eternal Laws of Nature." Voting, if it contradicts these laws, leads only to destruction.

America: Anarchy Plus a Street-Constable. The United States, often hailed as a "Model Republic," is merely an "anarchy plus a street-constable." Its success is attributed to inherited English institutions and vast "waste lands" that allow populations to live "without Government" for a time. However, this temporary prosperity masks a deeper spiritual void, where "no great human soul, what great thought, what great noble thing that one could worship... has yet been produced."

The Universe is a Monarchy. The fundamental truth is that "The Universe itself is a Monarchy and Hierarchy; large liberty of 'voting' there... but with conditions inexorable and immeasurable annexed to every exercise of the same." To believe that human laws can override divine, natural laws is a "scandalous blasphemy." The "ballot-box" cannot raise the "Noblest" to power; it is merely "excellent for keeping the ship's crew at peace under their Phantasm Captain."

3. The Peril of Misguided Philanthropy and Model Prisons.

Pity, yes: but pity for the scoundrel-species?

Rose-Water Reform. A significant portion of society, particularly the "humane and noble-minded," attempts to cure the world's miseries through "philanthropic movement" and "rose-water" methods. This approach, however, is a "sad error," as it fails to recognize that misery stems from "folly, into sin against the Supreme Ruler," and cannot be remedied by indiscriminate charity. Such "indiscriminate mashing up of Right and Wrong" only makes matters worse.

Model Prisons: Palaces for Scoundrels. The "Model Prison" exemplifies this misguided philanthropy, offering "ne-plus-ultra of human care and ingenuity" to criminals. These establishments, cleaner and more comfortable than many a Duke's mansion, house "the Devil's regiments of the line." The notion that "love" and the abolition of punitive measures like the tread-wheel can reform "miserable distorted blockheads" is a "hopeless forevermore" project, a "falsest of problems."

Justice, Not Sentimentality. True reform demands "Justice, Justice," not "sugary disastrous jargon of philanthropy." The "Benevolent-Platform Fever" that promotes "Paradise to All-and-sundry" is a "torpid blasphemy against the gods." Instead of coddling scoundrels, society must recognize that "scoundrel is scoundrel" and that "just hatred of scoundrels" is the "backbone of any human religion whatsoever." The "supreme scoundrel" deserves a "coalshaft," not a statue.

4. Downing Street's Bureaucracy: A Symbol of National Incompetence.

What England wants, and will require to have, or sink in nameless anarchies, is not a Reformed Parliament... but a Reformed Executive or Sovereign Body of Rulers and Administrators.

Red-Tape and Ineffectuality. The "red-tape" establishments of Downing Street—Colonial, Foreign, and Home Offices—are universally criticized for their "ineffectuality," "blind obstructions, fatal indolences, pedantries, stupidities." These offices, meant to govern an empire of "one hundred and fifty Millions," are perceived as a "world-wide jungle of red-tape," a "mystery, a kind of Heathen myth" that nobody truly understands.

The Irish Giant of Despair. The most pressing issue is the "Irish Giant, named of Despair," advancing upon London, laying waste to English cities. This crisis, born from "the rot of the potato," cannot be fed with "red-tape" but demands real action. The current "Phantasm Governor of England" is deemed a "tolerated Solecism," incapable of addressing the nation's vital needs, instead focusing on trivial foreign affairs.

The Disease of Insufficient Intellect. The core problem in these offices is "insufficient Intellect," leading to two fatal vices:

• Work is "ill done," delayed, neglected, and committed to incompetent hands.
• The work itself is "quite the wrong kind of work," meddling with matters that should be decided locally or are entirely superfluous.
  This "Pedant darkness, which asserts and believes itself to be light," is the "most formidable" enemy, leading to a "monstrous agglomerate of inanities" instead of luminous governance.

5. The Tyranny of Talk: Why Eloquence Without Action is Ruinous.

Eloquent unperformed speech, in Parliament or elsewhere, is horrible!

The Worship of Speech. Modern society, from schools to Parliament, prioritizes "eloquent speech" as the ultimate measure of human talent. This "prostrate respect to power of speech" is "incalculable" in its spiritual detriment, elevating "Stump-orators" and "windiest mortal[s]" to positions of influence, while true "Doers" remain hidden. This "sham-excellent speech" is a "mouthpiece of Chaos," leading to "asphyxia and death everlasting."

Literature as a Refuge for Talkers. For those not rich enough for Parliament or deterred by the professions, "Literature" becomes the "haven of expatriated spiritualisms," a "crowded portal" where "windy aspirations" and "frustrate human energies" are reduced to "vocable condition." This "Republic of Letters" is a "strange regiment" of "discharged play-actors, funambulists, false prophets," where the demand is still "Vocables, still vocables."

The Fatal Incontinence of Tongue. The true function of intellect is "not that of talking, but of understanding and discerning with a view to performing!" Unwise talk, especially "false speech," is "matchless in unwisdom" and "the chief destroyer of whatever good is born to us." It leads to a "lying thought" and a "false mirror of this Universe." The "Incontinence of Tongue" is a "Moloch, before whom young souls are made to pass through the fire," emerging "spiritually dead," capable only of "screeching and gibbering, words without wisdom, without veracity."

6. The Necessity of True Leadership: Governing by Wisdom, Not Votes.

The few Wise will have, by one method or another, to take command of the innumerable Foolish; that they must be got to take it.

Parliament's Inherent Limitations. Parliament, as a "Talking Apparatus," is inherently incapable of effective governance, especially when it attempts to be the "Sovereign itself." Its true value lies as an "Advising Body" to a real ruler. The "six-hundred and fifty-eight miscellaneous persons set to consult about 'business' with Twenty-seven millions mostly fools" can only produce "talk merely," not the "work of sovereignty."

The King Who Vanished. The "King present there, or no King?" is a crucial question. Since John Bradshaw declared Parliament itself King, the true "Sovereign Ruler" has vanished, leaving a void filled by "Phantasm Captains" and "Attorneyism." This absence of a genuine, wise leader, who can discern and enforce "God's Laws," condemns the nation to "No-Government which is called Anarchy."

The Rule of the Noble. True governance belongs eternally to the "Noble in the high place, the Ignoble in the low." This "god-made king," "eternally elected for it by the Maker Himself," is the "born enemy of Falsity and Anarchy, and the born soldier of Truth and Order." Such a leader, though rare and difficult to discover by "manoeuvring of ballot-boxes," is the "one salvation for the world," capable of rallying "whatsoever is wise and manful in England."

7. The Scourge of Jesuitism: Universal Falsity and Spiritual Death.

That to please the supreme Fountain of Truth your readiest method, now and then, was to persist in believing what your whole soul found to be doubtful or incredible.

Ignatius Loyola: The Poison-Fountain. The current age is defined as the "Age of Jesuitism," with Ignatius Loyola as its "Palinurus." His "singular gospel" teaches that "poor human symbols were higher than the God Almighty's facts they symbolised" and that "formulas, well persisted in, could still save us when the facts were all fled!" This "doctrine of devils" has poisoned the world, leading to a "universal death in the Devil."

The Apotheosis of Falsity. Jesuitism represents an "apotheosis of falsity," a "subtle quintessence and deadly virus of lying," where "God could be served more perfectly by taking the Devil into partnership." This has led to a state where "all men are become Jesuits! That no man speaks the truth to you or to himself, but that every man lies." This "amalgam of truth and falsity" is now the "universal faith and practice" of those who call themselves good.

Spiritual Mummyhood and Pig Philosophy. The consequence is a "spiritual mummyhood," where the "light of our inner eyesight is gone out." Men live in a "Universe of Incredibilities which are not even credited," their "religion" often taking "refuge in the stomach mainly," believing only in the "multiplication-table" and "purchased beef." This "Pig Philosophy" views the universe as an "immeasurable Swine's-trough," where "moral evil is unattainability of Pig's-wash," leading to a "world all bristling with insurrectionary pikes."

8. England's Path to Salvation: Work, Justice, and a Return to Veracity.

There much needs that God would mend all this, and that we should help him to mend it!

Draining the Stygian Quagmire. England faces a choice: "Change, with new wise effort... to true and wider nobler National Life; or Change, by indolent folding of the arms... in horrible anarchies and convulsions to Dissolution." The "tremendous cloaca of Pauperism" is the "corner where we must begin," demanding "Herculean labor and divine fidelity" to drain the "universal Stygian swamp" and regenerate society.

The Organization of Labor. The State's true function is to make "existence possible, existence desirable and noble, for the State's subjects." This requires the "Organization of Labor," transforming "Pauper Banditti into Soldiers of Industry." This process, starting with the most destitute, will extend to all levels of society, regimenting all forms of industry under "Industrial Colonels, Workmasters, Task-masters, Life-commanders, equitable as Rhadamanthus."

Reverence for Intellect and Truth. The ultimate salvation lies in a return to "veracities," recognizing that "Intellect is the real object of reverence." This means:

• Seeking out "men of talent" from all ranks, not just the privileged.
• Establishing a "Minister of Education" to train souls for wise command and obedience.
• Rejecting "fiction" and "idle falsity" in all arts and public life.
• Believing in "God Almighty's Facts" as the "one pabulum" for nourishment.
  This "Scavenger Age" must strip away the "garment of curses" and "poisoned Nessus'-shirt" of lies, allowing England to pursue its "eternally divine nature" tasks beyond mere money-making.

Last updated: December 29, 2025