268 LETTERS TO THE " TIMES " v 



be believed, when I say that nothing but a sense 

 of the great social danger of the spread of 

 Boothism could induce me to revive a scandal, 

 even though it is barely entitled to the benefit of 

 the Statute of Limitations. 



On the 7th of July, 1883, you, Sir, did the 

 public a great service by writing a leading article 

 on the notorious " Eagle " case, from which I take 

 the following extract : 



" Mr. Justice Kay refused the application, but 

 he was induced to refuse it by means which, as 

 Mr. Justice Stephen justly remarked, were highly 

 discreditable to Mr. Booth. Mr. Booth filed an 

 affidavit which appears totally to have misled 

 Mr. Justice Kay, as it would have misled any one 

 who regarded it as a frank and honest statement 

 by a professed teacher of religion." 



When I addressed my first letter to you I had 

 never so much as heard of the " Eagle " scandal. 

 But I am thankful that my perception of the 

 inevitable tendency of all religious autocracies 

 towards evil was clear enough to bring about a 

 provisional condemnation of Mr. Booth's schemes 

 in my mind. Supposing that I had decided the 

 other way, with what sort of feeling should I have 

 faced my friend, when I had to confess that the 

 money had passed into the absolute control of a 

 person about the character of whose administra- 



