Born Again

In Short

Alfred W. Lawson’s Born Again is a speculative, philosophical novel that follows John Convert, a world traveler who stumbles into the subterranean ruins of Sageland, an advanced ancient civilization guided by "Natural Law." Educated by Arletta, a surviving Sageman, Convert is urged to shed his primitive animal instincts and embrace reason, physical perfection, and selfless love. Returning to modern society, he embarks on a radical crusade against religious dogma, social inequality, and capitalism. Though rejected, imprisoned, and ultimately executed by a corrupt world, Convert’s unwavering sacrifice exposes humanity's flaws and leaves an enduring blueprint for spiritual and social rebirth.

The Story

The narrative begins with a dedication to an impoverished street beggar whose selfless act of giving his last dime to a crippled stranger serves as the emotional foundation for the story: even in a flawed world, humanity retains a spark of unselfish love.

The protagonist, John Convert, introduces himself as a man born at sea who has spent his life traveling the globe. After surviving a series of extraordinary events, Convert finds himself exploring a massive, crumbling stone structure. Stepping through a broken doorway, he enters a vast, luminous underground park lit by sunbeams compressed into the very fabric of the architecture. There he meets Arletta, an exquisite woman from Sageland—an ancient, highly evolved society that flourished over four thousand years ago before a massive catastrophe destroyed it.

Arletta informs Convert that he is the reincarnation of her former companion and leader. However, she severely critiques his current state, viewing modern humans as "Apemen"—savage, flesh-eating cannibals ruled by animal passions, greed, and superstition. She introduces him to the tenets of Natural Law, a rational philosophy founded by the ancient leader Sage. Under Natural Law, supernatural religions are exposed as falsehoods, health and beauty are mandatory social duties, and all individuals live selflessly for the collective good of humanity. Through aromatic flower beds that nourish the body and elevate the mind, Arletta physically and mentally revitalizes Convert. She shows him a vision of his past noble self and tasks him with returning to the surface to lead humanity toward a new era of enlightenment.

Convert falls deeply in love with Arletta and begs to remain with her, but she sternly reprimands him for his selfish desire to shirk his duty. Realizing he must sacrifice his personal happiness for the greater good, Convert accepts his mission.

Upon returning to the surface world, Convert experiences a period of illness and memory loss, waking up in a hospital where he is misdiagnosed by arrogant doctors. Once his mind clears, he sets out to practice what he was taught. Reentering high society at the opulent Waldoria Hotel, he openly denounces the wealthy parasites who live off the labor of the working class. To prove his commitment to physical labor and equality, Convert takes a job as a humble street-sweeper, earning the mockery and contempt of his former aristocratic acquaintances.

Convert begins preaching Natural Law, attracting both devoted followers and fierce enemies. He reunites with Arletta’s surface reincarnation—a wealthy socialite who loves him but remains deeply attached to her Christian faith and upper-class status. She begs Convert to abandon his radical crusade, offering him her hand in marriage and a million-dollar dowry. Convert faces an agonizing choice between immense wealth and the woman he adores, or his sworn duty to regenerate mankind. Standing firm in his principles, he rejects the money and comfort. Shortly thereafter, Convert is falsely accused of a high-profile murder. Unwilling to compromise his ideals, he is condemned to death. Facing the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison with absolute composure, Convert spends his final hours reflecting on his journey, forgiving his executioners, and offering a series of maxims to guide future generations toward enlightenment.

How It Unfolds

An encounter with nobility The author observes a starving street beggar give his only dime to a crippled, blind stranger, illustrating that even the most downtrodden humans possess a spark of divine, unselfish love.

Discovery of the underworld John Convert wanders through a ruined stone monument and unexpectedly enters a vast, sunlit underground paradise featuring lush gardens and advanced architectural marvels.

Lessons in Natural Law Convert meets Arletta, a surviving Sageman who scolds him for humanity’s barbaric habits—such as meat-eating and religious superstition—and instructs him in the principles of reason, physical culture, and universal love.

The call to duty When Convert begs to stay in Sageland out of love for Arletta, she shames him for his cowardice, inspiring him to embrace his reincarnation as a leader and return to the surface to reform mankind.

Confronting modern hypocrisy Reentering society, Convert critiques the moral decay of the wealthy elite at the Waldoria Hotel and scandalizes high society by taking a job as a street-sweeper to glorify honest labor.

The ultimate temptation Convert’s beloved offers him marriage and a million-dollar fortune if he will abandon his radical preaching, but he refuses to betray Natural Law for personal gain.

Martyrdom at Sing Sing Wrongfully convicted of murder, Convert calmly accepts his execution by electrocution, using his final days to pen a lasting philosophical manifesto for the future of humanity.

The People

• John Convert: The narrator and protagonist, born at sea and raised as a world traveler. Initially an ordinary man burdened by the flaws of modern society, he discovers he is the reincarnated soul of an ancient Sageman leader. Transformed by the teachings of Natural Law, he evolves from a cynical wanderer into an unyielding, selfless reformer who willingly chooses martyrdom over personal wealth and ease.
• Arletta: An immortal, highly evolved woman from the ancient underground civilization of Sageland. Brilliant, beautiful, and deeply rational, she serves as Convert's teacher and spiritual guide. She holds a mirror to humanity’s savagery, demanding that Convert rise above primitive desires to fulfill his duty to mankind.
• Arletta's Surface Reincarnation (The Heiress): A wealthy, deeply religious woman whom Convert encounters back in modern society. Though she loves Convert and recognizes their profound spiritual connection, her devotion to conventional religion, social standing, and luxury ultimately prevents her from accepting his radical mission.
• Mrs. Snipe: A wealthy, status-obsessed patron at the Waldoria Hotel who represents the vanity and prejudice of the ruling class. She is horrified when Convert advocates for the dignity of manual laborers and proudly becomes a street-sweeper.

In Its Own Voice

"So I warn the exquisite literary critic and the over-polished individual who prefer fancy phrases to logical ideas, that this work may somewhat jar their delicate senses of perception."

John Convert introduces his memoir with an upfront warning about his straightforward, unadorned writing style.

"Stop... you must not allow malice to enter your mind against any living creature, no matter how beastly or brutal it may be."

Arletta reprimands Convert when he expresses bitter contempt for the degradation of modern society, reminding him that reformation requires love rather than hatred.

"The light you observed in the hallway before entering here is merely compressed into the material of which the walls are composed and as long as that remains light will shine from it."

Arletta explains the advanced scientific principles of Sageland, where natural sunlight is captured and stored within solid building materials.

What It's Really About

At its core, Born Again is a passionate philosophical treatise dressed as a speculative romance. Alfred W. Lawson uses John Convert’s journey to wage a sweeping critique of early 20th-century industrial civilization. The novel attacks the hoarding of private wealth, the exploitation of the laboring class, and the hypocrisy of organized religion, proposingA radical re-incarnation narrative merges utopian social critique with high melodrama, tracing one soul's journey through lost ancient wisdom, modern urban corruption, and the ultimate test of principle.

In Short

Alfred W. Lawson's Born Again is a speculative philosophical novel that follows John Convert, a man who discovers the ruins of an ancient, advanced civilization called Sageland. Guided by the luminous Arletta, Convert learns the principles of Natural Law—a rational doctrine rejecting organized religion, meat-eating, and economic greed in favor of physical culture and selfless love. Transferred back to modern society, Convert struggles to preach this utopian doctrine in a corrupt Gilded Age New York. Blending sci-fi romance, socio-economic satire, and radical ethics, the novel endures as an idiosyncratic monument to early twentieth-century utopian thought.

The Story

The narrative begins with narrator John Convert reflecting on his unusual origins, having been born at sea to emigrating parents. After a life of world travel and hardship, Convert finds himself exploring a gigantic ruined edifice of stone. Beyond its shattered marble hallways lies an impossible subterranean paradise lit by stored sunlight. Here he encounters Arletta, a surviving representative of the ancient Sagemen. Arletta informs Convert that his soul once animated a great leader of her people four thousand years ago, but has now been reborn in the inferior, passion-driven body of an "Apeman"—the modern human race.

Arletta introduces Convert to the philosophy of Natural Law, which holds that humanity must shed superstition, greed, and animal passions to achieve perfection. She shows him how the Sagemen mastered solar energy, weather control, and physical health through temperance, exercise, and a diet of flower aromas rather than the flesh of slaughtered animals. Through sweeping visions, Arletta exposes the degraded state of modern civilization, condemning its religions as fraudulent and its economic systems as brutal exploitation. Though Convert falls deeply in love with Arletta, she admonishes him to cast aside personal desires and live entirely for the uplifting of humanity.

When Sageland finally crumbles, Convert awakens in a modern hospital, his memory temporarily clouded, being treated for typhoid fever by arrogant physicians whose methods he openly disputes. Upon regaining his full faculties and release, he finds himself in turn-of-the-century New York City. Struck by the contrast between ancient Sageland and modern capitalism, he views the luxurious guests at the elite Waldoria Hotel as parasitic non-producers who live off the back-breaking labor of workingmen. To put his principles into practice, Convert takes a job as a humble street-sweeper, proudly embracing manual labor despite the intense mockery of high-society acquaintances like Mrs. Snipe.

Convert re-establishes contact with a wealthy society woman who is the modern reincarnation of Arletta. Though she admits her love for him, she remains bound by conventional religious beliefs and social status. She presents him with an agonizing ultimatum: abandon his radical crusade of Natural Law and marry her—backed by a fortune of one million dollars—or part forever. Refusing to sell his soul or betray his duty to humanity, Convert rejects the money and the marriage. Soon after, he is wrongfully accused of a murder committed in the Seraglio Apartments. Refusing to compromise his ethics, he is sentenced to death. On the morning of his electrocution at Sing Sing Prison, Convert writes his final words, expressing no fear of death but only sorrow that his work for humanity is cut short, while the public daily newspaper details his steadfast refusal to compromise.

How It Unfolds

The subterranean discovery After surviving unknown perils, John Convert penetrates a colossal fallen stone edifice to discover an illuminated mammoth park hidden within. There he meets Arletta, who reveals that Convert's soul belonged to an ancient Sageman now reincarnated in a modern "Apeman" body.

Education in Natural Law Arletta instructs Convert in the foundational truths of Natural Law, demonstrating how her people harnessed solar rays and nourished themselves through fragrant plant fumes. She harshly critiques modern humanity's religious superstitions and carnivorous diet, urging Convert to reject selfishness and adopt universal love.

The grand tour of human degradation Through extraordinary technological visions, Arletta takes Convert on a twenty-four-hour survey of the modern globe, leaving both disgusted by human greed and brutality. Arletta commands Convert to return to the world to preach social regeneration rather than pursuing his personal romantic devotion to her.

Return to the modern city Awakening in a hospital treated by incompetent doctors, Convert recovers his identity and enters Gilded Age New York. Appalled by the gilded extravagance of the Waldoria Hotel, he rejects capitalist parasitism and deliberately takes work as a public street-sweeper to honor physical labor.

The ultimate temptation and sacrifice Convert meets the reincarnated Arletta, who offers him her hand in marriage and a million-dollar dowry if he will abandon his radical crusade. Convert refuses to compromise his solemn oath to humanity, choosing poverty and duty over wealth, which ultimately leads to his wrongful conviction and execution at Sing Sing Prison.

The People

• John Convert starts as a weary, worldly wanderer who discovers he harbors the reincarnated soul of an ancient utopian leader. He wants to prove worthy of his higher calling, struggling against his inherited "Apeman" passions to become a selfless champion of humanity. Though mocked by high society and faced with execution, he remains unyielding in his ethical duty to the end.
• Arletta (of Sageland) is an ancient, highly evolved woman who serves as Convert's teacher and spiritual guide. She wants humanity to abandon its animal instincts, religion, and greed in favor of Natural Law. She stands as an unbending moral standard, scolding Convert whenever he succumbs to selfish romantic devotion or despair.
• Arletta (of New York) is the wealthy, modern incarnation of Convert's ancient companion. She loves Convert deeply but wants him to conform to societal norms and relinquish his radical crusade. Her adherence to conventional religion and social standing prevents her from accepting his mission, leading her to issue the tragic ultimatum that separates them.
• Mrs. Snipe represents the superficial arrogance of the wealthy elite at the Waldoria Hotel. She wants to maintain strict class distinctions and is horrified when Convert takes up street sweeping, quickly ostracizing him from polite society.

In Its Own Voice

"So I warn the exquisite literary critic and the over-polished individual who prefer fancy phrases to logical ideas, that this work may somewhat jar their delicate senses of perception."

Before introducing his protagonist, the author directly cautions readers that his prose favors philosophical utility over stylistic refinement.

"They are a race of tail-less monkeys and filthy beasts with myself included," responded I, with vehemence, and then I began a tirade of abuse against the entire human family.

After witnessing the state of modern world affairs alongside Arletta, Convert falls into a fit of self-loathing regarding his own species.

"The laborer furnishes the capitalist with money, houses, clothes, eatables, service and then the weapons and power to keep him enslaved."

In the closing epigrams, the text lays bare its core socio-economic critique of class exploitation.

What It's Really About

At its heart, Born Again is a passionate argument against institutionalized religion and unbridled capitalism. The novel posits that humanity's suffering stems from a departure from "Natural Law"—a rational, evolutionary ethic that prioritizes collective well-being, physical vitality, and absolute unselfishness over individual wealth. By contrasting the enlightened Sagemen with modern "Apemen," Lawson questions whether technological advancement without moral and physical evolution is merely disguised savagery. The plot continuously tests whether a single individual can maintain absolute moral integrity when offered the ultimate rewards of money, status, and romantic fulfillment, ultimately concluding that true human progress requires total self-sacrifice.

Why Read It Today

Born Again offers a fascinating, unvarnished look at early twentieth-century American reformist thought. Readers interested in speculative fiction, utopian literature, and historical social critiques will appreciate its unique blend of re-incarnation lore and radical economic commentary. Reading the book feels like encountering an urgent, eccentric manifesto wrapped in the conventions of Victorian melodrama; the narrative moves rapidly from soaring philosophical lectures to sharp observations of class prejudice.

Prospective readers should be prepared for its distinct stylistic challenges. The narrative relies heavily on long expository dialogue, explicit moralizing, and a didactic tone that prioritizes ideas over subtle character development. The prose is straightforward and occasionally archaic, reflecting the period's earnest, unpolished reformist literature. Furthermore, the text expresses harsh views on modern society, religion, and human nature through its pseudo-scientific framework of "Apemen" versus evolved beings. Yet for those intrigued by idiosyncratic visionaries and uncompromising political parables, Lawson's work remains a captivating, sincere artifact of an era striving to imagine a better world.