The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-09

of the half-crazed Cuvenanters burning
 withing him. arose to such heights of
 frenzied oration that Alton turned to
 leave the shop, Stay wee, bairn," called the bookseller in calmer voice
 and mood There Is a Roman history for
 you In that you will see what the Cause
 is and how they that seek their own are
 not worthy of it."
 Alton took the book and found in it the legends of Lucius Junius Brutus, or
 Cocles and Scaevola. He read of the se- | cession of the plebes to Mons Sacer and
 Of the gladiators' war. He thought then that he had discovered what the Cause
 was and saw in these tales of antique
 heroism and patriotic self-sacrific the reflection of it's genius. He forgot for a
 while his own selfish longing and sor | rows
 It was about this time that Crosstn-
 wait began to talk with Alton about the Cause. Crossthwait and Sandy were friends and fellow workers for the "Peo- ple's Charter" They took Alton to the
 homes of the working people and showed
 him the conditions under which they liv
 ed. All England at that time was smolder- ing, like a volcano. beneath the surface
 with the idea of 'the Cause" The failure of the Chartist movement-its failure of
 accomplishment in the manner in which
 it's misguided guides sought to carry it l out-is a matter of history. The results of the moyement-resuts along calmer
 and saner Thesis also a matter of his tory.
 Alton had poetic vein in him and would scribble verses. Mackaye took him to task for this. Aye" grumbled 1 the old man, sing away; get yourself
 with child and pretty fancies and grand
 words and go to hell for it." ''To hell, MT Mackaye?" Aye, to very real l hell, the hell on earth of being a fun
 key and a humbug, wasting Gods gifts on your own lusts and pleasures. Now
 look here" The old man pointed down a narrow and dirty lane of tenements.
 There's not a soul down that yard | that's not either a beggar. drunk l ard, thief or worse. Write your poetry about that. Say you saw the mouth of hell and the two pillars thereof at the v | side and the pin palace on the other Write about that"
 And Alton did begin to write poetry which he drew from the depths of the | conditions, as they were in those days | of the London poor, poetry which soon attracted attention and made him, as it were the laureate of the great un
 washed He became a cockney poet and a successful one. Yet publishers were afraid to publish his poetry. Mackaye told him to go down to Cambridge and see his cousin George. the rich uncles son, and see if that young man could help him to get a volume published. As Alton had lost his job at the tailor ing establishment for refusing to take
 work home. he had plenty of time on his hands Also he had no money, and he was obliged to walk to Cambridge. It was his first journey and for the first time he saw Gods green earth as
 God made it. Cousin George~rece
 the young man kindly, and saw at once that there was something in him. George was an inordinate self-seeker
 but he recognized genius. George and Alton were not entire strangers to each
 other. On the first holiday Alton had ever taken he had walked with his cousin--who made a point of patroniz-
 ing him on infrequent occasions--to tha Dulwich art gallery. There, as Alton
 had stood entranced before Guido's won-
 derful painting of S. Sebastian, a cler- gryman and two ladies had come that
 way, and one of the young ladies.
 scarcely more than a girl, seeing the young man stand so rapt before the
 picture, said to him, You seem much
 interested in that picture.' "Yes, but
 what is it?" said Alton She told him
 and the clergyman and his other com
 panion took part in the conversation. When they had gone, My, my, that l Is the trick. is it?'' said George, who
 had not been noticed by the strangers
 strike an attitude before some picture
 and dean and his, daughters will come and speak to you. How will this do?' and George struck such an absurdly
 exaggerated attitude that Alton, vexed