A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF EDWIN JAMES BRADY - Mallacoota ...

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Finally he begged and borrowed enough money to pay to most pressing bills and
resolved to make a new start in life after a trial which would have broken a lesser
man. He confessed to a son: “It is not pleasant being broke at 68 and having to make
a new start, but it will be done now, regardless of aught else.” 1
The inner resources which had kept Brady going – his faith in human nature, in the
basic goodness of life – were never more evident than at this time. He had for years
treasured and stored manuscripts, letters and early editions of Australian writers,
meaning always to sort and catalogue them when time was found. He was a real
bower-bird when it came to this type of accumulation and had many boxes and cases
filled with this valuable material. Now he sold this – solid and tangible evidence of
past friendships and achievements – for very low prices, mainly through J.K. Moir, in
Melbourne but also through others who approached him, including Harry Chaplin and
Tyrrell. Early Lawson, Daley, Quinn, Brennan and early paintings and drawings were
disposed of cheaply, only a small part thus far reaching public libraries. He expressed
his bitterness often to his correspondents, especially Moir, Mendelsohn and Holburn.
He condemned the slowness of returns for literary effort, calling Australia “The Land
of Lots of Time” 2 and decrying once again the preoccupation of the country’s
inhabitants with “sport and social vanities” and warning that “we haven’t ever
developed national serious-mindedness for which in the end we must pay” 3 – a theme
still being sung, as in Donald Horne’s The Lucky Country. As if to highlight this
point he received at this time a letter from the publishers of Burke’s Landed Gentry
requesting details of his family for inclusion (at a fee, of course). He spoke
disparagingly of “Sir Barnard’s Stud Book”.
In a rational and strong-willed manner Brady sat down to take stock of himself and
determine the reasons for his failure. Always of a scientific bent and fairly well-read
in psychology, he now attempted to use this knowledge to advantage. His suggested
lines of treatment make interesting reading. He determined to concern himself in the
future with certain areas of personal achievement:
1. Cultivation of will-power.
2. Complete abstention from alcohol.
3. Physical Health.
4. Mental clarity and correct reasoning.
5. Sex-control.
6. Toleration – belief in good.
7. Constant occupation.
8. Sublimation in service and artistic and cultural effort.
9. Effort, patient effort, to co-ordinate ideas and express them.
10. The Right Books.
11. The elimination of all ideas of Violence, Retribution or Revenge upon individuals
or Society.
12. Avoidance of morbid or despairing thoughts – the Clean Slate – Hope, Courage,
Faith and a new beginning.
These with God’s Blessing and every adventitious aid possible will lead to
complete regeneration, happiness, tranquillity, harmony and possibly a literary
success.
‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’. ‘Let him that is without
sin cast the first stone’. 4
1 Brady to his son Hugh, 20.4.1937, in National Library.
2 Brady to J.K. Moir, 26.11.1937, in La Trobe Library.
3 Brady to J.K. Moir, 26.11.1938, in La Trobe Library
4 Untitled notes, dated only 1937, among microfilmed letters of Brady’s in Mitchell Library.