As We Are and As We May Be


We Are and As We May Be, by Sir Walter Besant

Project Gutenberg's As We Are and As We May Be, by Sir Walter Besant This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: As We Are and As We May Be
Author: Sir Walter Besant
Release Date: November 28, 2004 [EBook #14191]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE ***

Produced by Bryan Ness, Keith M. Eckrich and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team

AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE
NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT & JAMES RICE.
Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, 2s. 6d. each.
READY-MONEY MORTIBOY.
THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY.
MY LITTLE GIRL.
WITH HARP AND CROWN.
THIS SON OF VULCAN.
THE MONKS OF THELEMA.
BY CELIA'S ARBOUR.
THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET.
THE SEAMY SIDE.
THE CASE OF MR. LUCRAFT.
'TWAS IN TRAFALGAR'S BAY.
THE TEN YEARS' TENANT.
*** There is also a LIBRARY EDITION of all the above (excepting the first two), large crown 8vo., cloth extra, 6s. each.
* * * * *
NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT.
Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, 2s. 6d. each.
ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. 12 Illusts. by BARNARD.
THE CAPTAINS' ROOM. With Frontispiece by E.J. WHEELER.
ALL IN A GARDEN FAIR. With 6 Illustrations by HARRY FURNISS,
DOROTHY FORSTER. With Frontispiece by CHARLES GREEN.
UNCLE JACK, and other Stories.
CHILDREN OF GIBEON.
THE WORLD WENT VERY WELL THEN. 12 Illusts. by FORESTIER.
HERR PAULUS: His Rise, his Greatness, and his Fall.
THE BELL OF ST. PAUL'S.
FOR FAITH AND FREEDOM. Illusts. by FORESTIER and WADDY.
TO CALL HER MINE. With 9 Illustrations by A. FORESTIER.
THE HOLY ROSE. With Frontispiece by F. BARNARD.
ARMOREL OF LYONESSE. With 12 Illustrations by F. BARNARD.
ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER. With 12 Illusts. by C. GREEN.
VERBENA CAMELLIA STEPHANOTIS. Frontis. by GORDON BROWN.
THE IVORY GATE.
THE REBEL QUEEN.
BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE. 12 Illustrations by HYDE.
IN DEACON'S ORDERS. With Frontispiece by A. FORESTIER.
THE REVOLT OF MAN.
THE MASTER CRAFTSMAN.
THE CITY OF REFUGE.
* * * * *
Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each.
A FOUNTAIN SEALED. With Frontispiece by H.G. BURGESS.
THE CHANGELING.
THE FOURTH GENERATION.
* * * * *
Crown 8vo., cloth, gilt top, 6s. each.
THE ORANGE GIRL. With 8 Illustrations by F. PEGRAM.
THE LADY OF LYNN. With 12 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN-HAMMOND.
NO OTHER WAY. With 12 Illustrations by CHARLES D. WARD.
* * * * *
POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo., 6d, each.
ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN.
THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY.
READY-MONEY MORTIBOY.
CHILDREN OF GIBEON.
THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET.
THE ORANGE GIRL.
* * * * *
Demy 8vo., cloth, 7s. 6d. each.
LONDON. With 125 Illustrations.
WESTMINSTER. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 130 Illusts.
SOUTH LONDON. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 118 Illusts.
EAST LONDON. With an Etched Frontispiece by F.S. WALKER and 55 Illustrations by PHIL MAY, L. RAVEN HILL, and JOSEPH PENNELL.
JERUSALEM: The City of Herod and Saladin. By WALTER BESANT and E.H. PALMER. With a Map and 11 Illustrations.
* * * * *
AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s.
ESSAYS AND HISTORIETTES. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s.
EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. Portrait. Cr. 8vo., cloth, 6s.
FIFTY YEARS AGO. With 144 Illustrations. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d
GASPARD DE COLIGNY. With a Portrait. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d.
SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON, Lord Mayor of London. By Sir WALTER BESANT and JAMES RICE. With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d.
THE ART OF FICTION. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 1s. net.
THE CHARM, and other Drawing-room Plays. By SIR WALTER BESANT and WALTER POLLOCK. With 50 Illustrations by CHRIS HAMMOND and A. JULE GOODMAN. Crown 8vo., Cloth, 3s. 6d.
LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C.

AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE
LONDON
CHATTO & WINDUS
1903

FOREWORD.
The reader of these Essays, which are not chronologically arranged, is asked to notice the date in each case affixed to them. Almost without exception, those passages which cannot fail to strike him as nearly exact repetitions, whether of argument or of example, will be seen to have been written at considerable intervals of time. A series of papers, composed in different circumstances, and with no design of collective re-issue in any particular form, will always present these repetitions; and they serve to emphasize the author's message. The lapse of time will also account for the apparent inaccuracy of a few statements, and for the fact that some of the occurrences alluded to in the future tense were accomplished during Sir Walter Besant's lifetime. 'As We Are and As We May Be' is the exposition of a practical philanthropist's creed, and of his hopes for the progress of his fellow-countrymen. Some of these hopes may never be realized; some he had the great happiness to see bear fruit. And for the realization of all