J G Ballard, in his 1977 short story The Index, told the story of one of the Twentieth Century’s most influential men: Henry Rhodes Hamilton … the only trace of whom left is the eponymous index.
For some reason G K Chesterton’s index for Eugenics and Other Evils reminded me of Rhodes Hamilton. Were the text of Chesterton’s book to vanish from the earth, you could do a good job reconstructing it from the tone and tenor of the index. Some selections:
F:
Fabians, and Socialism, 160
Feeble-Minded Bill, the, Eugenists and, 17, 18, 19, 20, 28, 51, 52
Feeble-mindedness, Dr. Saleeby on, 61 , hereditary, 62, 63
Flogging, revival of, 25
Foulon, and the French peasants, 103
Freedom, Christianity and, 10
Free-will disbelieved by Eugenists, 52
L
Law, the,
– and restrictions on sex, 10
– and the indeterminate sentence, 35
– and the lunatic, 31 et seq.
Libel, definition of, 28
– loose extension of idea of, 27-8
Liberty and scepticism, 148
– the eclipse of, 149 et seq.
– the Eugenist’s view of, 16
Lodge, Sir Oliver, and “the stud farm,” 13, 14
Lunacy, and Eugenic legislation, 17-20, 28, 29, 31 et seq.
– medical specialists as judges of, 40, 41
Lunacy Law, the old, 38
Lunacy Laws, the, extension of principle of, 17
Lunatic, the, and the law, 31 et seq.
Lunatics, difference between criminals and, 34, 35
P
Pagan slave, the, difference between Christian serf and, 102
Pearson, Dr. Karl, 50, 65, 181
Peasant art, comic songs as an instance of, 170
Persecution, author’s views on, 77 et seq.
“Platonic friendship,” 138
Politics in the Middle Ages, 92
Post Office, the State, 161 twin model of, 162
Precedenters, the, 17
Press, the, criticisms of, 73, 169
Prevention not better than cure, 55
Preventive medicine, fallacy of, 55
Prison system, the, 162
Procreation, prevention of, 138
Profiteering, author on, 124
“Proletarian art,” 169
Property, author’s views on, 160
Punishment, extension of, 25
Puritanical moral stories, immorality of, 126
Séamus Sweeney 