PREFACE.

In these answers to Objections, an instalment of his writings which are being posthumously published, George Barrett produced a propagandist work of very great value to the cause of Anarchism, and one which we may be assured will occupy an important place in its literature. The form itself is fortunate: the method of debate, the swift encounter of wits in the antagonism of question and answer, is an advantage vivid in its effect, rousing in some degree even to the apathetic; and few with these examples before them will lightly attempt to gainsay the extraordinary power, directness, and logic of Barrett in the field of controversy. The reader, friend and opponent alike, will be interested to note not only that each objection is fairly and squarely met, but that out of a variety of possible answers only the line of argument most vital to the issue is here put forward, briefly yet comprehensively, and with all the mathematical rigour of demonstration the author's mind required. We are left in no doubt as to where the weight of the answer lies, counter it if we can.

Barrett, however, is more than a clear and vigorous propagandist and disputant. His writings, while they teach and uniquely emphasise the teaching, are unceasingly a vibrant call to thought, they promote thought. Argumentatively none can be more finely satisfying, more conclusive than he. Nevertheless the thought somehow does not finally rest on that. By its aid we free ourselves possibly from a misapprehension or a prejudice, in itself a notable experience, a means of growth. Yet, exceeding this achievement, on which alone he is intent, the tremendous energy of Barrett's thought imparts its thrill, its impulse; there appears even to be something causative in it; it is as though a vista opens rather than that a scene closes, and a new world swims into our ken, amazing in its possibilities. We are stimulated not only