Confessions of Aleister Crowley

62 And now, my lord, in medias res, Get rid of all your red Rad fleas. I had been invited to meet Gladstone in north Wales, refused to go and wrote him a poem. LINES ON BEING INVITED TO MEET THE PREMIER IN WALES, SEPTEMBER 1892 I will not shake thy hand old man, ....I will not shake thy hand; You bear a traitor's brand, old man, ....You bear a liar's brand. Thy talents are profound and wide, ....Apparent power to win; It is not every one has lied ....A nation into sin. And look not thou so black, my friend, ....Nor seam that hoary brow; Thy deeds are seamier, my friend, ....Thy record blacker now. Your age and sex forbid, old man, ....I need not tell you how, Or else I'd knock you down1, old man, ....Like that extremist cow. {120} 1. Mr. Gladstone was attacked by a cow in Hawarden Park in 1891. You've gained your every seat, my friend, ....By perjuring your soul; You've climbed to Downing Street, my friend, ....A very greasy poll. You bear a traitor's brand, old man, ....1You bear a liar's brand; I will not shake thy hand, old man, ....I will not shake thy hand. And I didn't. My life at Cambridge did nothing to make me think more deeply. With regard to foreign politics, the position was parallel. It was pure Kipling; but (in another watertight compartment) I was passionately enamored of the views of Shelley, though I did not correlate them with any practical programme. There was yet another compartment. Scott, Burns and my cousin Gregor had made me a romantic Jacobite. I regarded the Houses of Hanover and Coburg as German usurpers; and I wished to place "Mary III and IV" on the throne. I was a bigoted legitimist. I actually joined a conspiracy on behalf of Don Carlos, obtained a commission to work a machine gun, took pains to make myself a first-class rifle shot and studied drill, tactics and strategy. However, when the time came for the invasion of Spain, Don Carlos got cold feet. The conspiracy was disclosed; and Lord Ashburnham's yacht, which was running the arms, fell into the hands of the Spanish navy. This part of my mind did succeed in getting disturbed by the other parts. My reactionary conservatism came into conflict with my antiCatholicism. A reconciliation was effected by means of what they called the Celtic Church. Here was a romantic and mystical idea which suited my political and religious notions down to the ground. It lived and moved in an atmosphere of fairies, seal-