* * * * *
I have now traced the main stream of the subject of this chapter, though
a good deal remains to be said on other effects of the agitation. I
have indicated that the actual proposals made by the Special Committee
under the inspiration of Mr. Wells, in so far at any rate as they were
controversial or controverted, were futile or impossible, and neither
led, nor in my opinion could have led, to any benefit to the Society or
to its objects. But it must not be inferred from this that the
intervention of Mr. Wells, viewed as a whole, was of this character. He
is a man of outstanding genius, and in so far as he used his powers
appropriately, his work was of enormous value to Socialism; and his
energy and attractive personality added radiance to the Society only
equalled in the early days when the seven Essayists were all in the
field and all fighting at their bravest. The new life in the Society
during those brilliant years was due to other factors as well as Mr.
Wells. Other Socialist Societies, in which he took no part, also
increased their numbers and launched out into fresh activities. But for
us Mr. Wells was the spur which goaded us on, and though at the time we
were often forced to resent his want of tact, his difficult public
manners, and his constant shiftings of policy, we recognised then, and
we remember still, how much of permanent value he achieved.
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