On Compromise

Morley, John, 1838-1923Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 340K words
Chapters: 35

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.On Compromise by John MorleyAuthor: Morley, John, 1838-1923,Language: English, Class: BJ: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Ethics, Social usages, Etiquette, Religion, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

On Compromise is an essay in ethical and political thought by the English statesman and writer John Morley (1838–1923), centering on the problem of compromise between personal conviction and public action. With the self-awareness of a Victorian intellectual, Morley examines the boundaries of concession on religious, political, and moral questions: when compromise is prudence and when it becomes an abandonment of principle. The book is closely argued and restrained in style—a serious discourse within nineteenth-century British liberal thought rather than light popular reading. This is Project Gutenberg's public-domain English electronic edition, suitable as reading material in intellectual history and the English expository essay. Its value lies not in conclusions but in a method of self-examination: how to keep one's judgment honest under the pressure of reality. It suits readers willing to read slowly and to work through arguments in long English sentences, and can be used for English-major extensive reading, thematic reading in intellectual history, or book-club discussion.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century British liberal thought and ethical questions
Upper-level English majors or readers who need to read English expository prose
Organizers preparing book-club discussions on the theme of “principle and compromise”
Reflective readers accustomed to slow reading and to working through arguments in long sentences

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for plot-driven stories or light entertainment
Beginners with weak English reading skills who struggle with long expository sentences
Practical readers expecting concrete action guides or conclusive recommendations

Reading tips

First read the table of contents and chapter titles to grasp the layers and progression of the book's discussion of compromise.
After each chapter, write the author's core argument in two or three sentences in English or Chinese, then check whether it holds up.
With long sentences, first identify subject, predicate, and contrastive relations; if necessary, use the opening and closing sentences of paragraphs to follow the logic.
Excerpt passages on conviction and public responsibility as quotation material for book-club discussion.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or an expository work?

It is an expository work, an essay in ethical and political thought discussing compromise between personal conviction and public action. It has no fictional plot or characters, so it is better approached along lines of argument than with the expectations of a story.

What English level does it roughly require?

The text is nineteenth-century English expository prose with long sentences and many abstract terms, close to upper-level English-major or academic reading level. Readers with a more basic level can first use a dictionary and grasp paragraph gist before moving into detailed argument.

What is special about this edition?

This is Project Gutenberg's public-domain English electronic edition, drawn from public-domain text, easy to obtain free of charge and to excerpt and quote. It contains no modern introduction or notes, so readers must supply background material themselves.

What background should one know before reading?

Familiarity with the basic outlines of nineteenth-century British religious and political debate helps but is not essential. More practical is first becoming familiar with how core concepts such as “compromise,” “conviction,” and “public responsibility” are used in the book, then reading alongside each chapter's argument.

Comments

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About the author

Morley, John, 1838-1923 Author

John Morley (1838–1923) was a British statesman, writer and biographer, though public information about the details of his life is limited. Thirty of his works are held in this collection, mainly in the fields of intellectual history and political biography. His three-volume Life of William Ewart Gladstone draws on detailed sources and a restrained style to trace the career of this British statesman, and is an important reference for understanding Victorian politics. He also wrote Diderot and the Encyclopaedists and Voltaire, studies of French Enlightenment figures and their thought. Essays in his Critical Miscellanies deal with the life of George Eliot and eighteenth-century France, showing his wide interests in literary criticism and historical writing. Overall, his work tends toward intellectual biography, with solid material and clear prose that is both scholarly and readable.