KevitK of Revitun, tO/i/06. 



Notable Books of the Month. 



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strument to bt- used in exposing the ramifications of 

 the criminal vice of London. But it was quite cer- 

 tain that if I did not move no one would do any- 

 thing, and the age of consent \vould remain at thir- 

 teen. After careful consideration of the evidence 

 on which the Bill was basetl, I saw that the only 

 chance of forcing the Bill thnmgh was by procuring 

 fresh evidence hot and strong from the subterranean 

 regions in which criminal vice has its haunts. To 

 procure this evidence I must descend myself into 

 the cloaca maxima of London's immorality, risking 

 life and reputation in order to save some of the 

 maidens sacrifict-d annually to that modern Mino- 

 taur, the Lust of London. It was this resolve that 

 brought me into contact with Dr. Temple. 



OAEDINAL. AEOHBISHOP AND BISHOP. 



Having decided that in order to know the facts 

 at first hand it was necessary for me to personate a 

 debauchee, prowling through haunts of vice in order 

 to procure innocent victims for his depraved passion, 

 I communicated my intention to Dr. Benson, then 

 Archbishop of Canterbury, to Cardinal Manning, and 

 to Dr. Temple, then Bishop of London. The way 

 in which each of these three eminent prelates re- 

 ceived the news was eminently characteristic of 

 their different characters. Archbishop Benson was 

 appalled. He admitted the gravity of the evil, the 

 impossibility of getting the Bill passed unless some- 

 thing desperate was done ; but he shrank back 

 aghast from my mode of procedure. He warned me 

 of the danger to my reputation, to my family, to the 

 Pall Mall Gazette, to my life, and e\en to my soul. 

 To all of this I listened with due respect and grati- 

 tude ; but when he had done I told him I had not 

 come for his counsel, but solely as a necessary mea- 

 sure of precaution against the evils he had described. 

 It was quite possible that I might be run in or get 

 into some trouble in the prosecution of mv secret 

 investigation. I had, therefore, told him beforehand 

 what I was after, in order that, if I were brought 

 into court, I might subpoena him as a witness to 

 prove the real object of mv actions. 



When I told my plan to Cardinal Manning, he 

 declared that he was satisfied there was no other 

 way by which the Bill could be passed. He gave me 

 his blessing, and promised to support me to the end 

 — a promise which he nobly fulfilled. 



DR. TEMPLE'S PROMISE. 



I did not go to Dr. Temple. I wrote to him, 

 asking for an interview\ He replied, saying that he 

 would come round and see me at the Pall Mall 

 Gazette office. Punctually he arrived, and was shown 

 into Milner's little room, which Milner always 

 vacated at midday, leaving it free for visitors. 

 " Well,' said he abruptly as I entered, " what do 

 you want w^ith me?" In a few rapid sentences I 

 told him my plan. He listened attentivelv, making ' 

 no remark. When I had finished he asked : " What 

 do you want me to do ?" " Xothing at present," T 



said ; " but there will be a great storm when I pub- 

 lish my report, and I have told you beforehand in 

 order that, if you agree with me, you may be ready 

 to back me up when the time comes.'' "All right," 

 he said, " you can depend on me," and, without 

 another word, he was off downstairs. The whole 

 interview can hardly have lasted five minutes. But 

 nothing could have been more practical. He did 

 not dissuade me, like Dr. Benson, or commend me, 

 like the Cardinal. He took in the whole situation 

 at a glance, recognised exactly where his aid was 

 wanted, decided to give it, said so, and was off. 



HOW IT WAS FULFILLED. 



My anticipation of a storm fell far short of the 

 tempest that burst forth when ' The Maiden Tri- 

 bute ' appeared. The report of the Secret Com- 

 mission, which every experienced police officer knew 

 to be a pale und<TStatement of the actual facts, was 

 denounced in the Press and by some of the Anglican 

 clergy as a monstrous exaggeration or a tissue of in- 

 ventions. Then it was that I had occasion to appeal 

 tij my prelates. .Acting on the advice of Cardinal 

 Manning, I challenged inquiry into the accuracy of 

 my statements, and the Archbishop, the Cardinal, 

 the Bishop, the Lord Mayor, Mr. Samuel Morley, 

 with the present Lord Chancellor as legal member 

 of the Commission, consented to sit at the Mansion 

 House to inquire into the truth of " The Maiden 

 Tribute." The Lord Mayor only attended the first 

 meeting. The others sat throughout the whole in- 

 quiry, and at its close handed to me a certificate cer- 

 tifying to the rectitude of my actions. 



No more painful task had ever come before these 

 high-souled, pure-minded men than to investigate 

 such a subject. Hut as representatives of the Chris- 

 tian Church and guardians of the moral life of the 

 nation they felt they dare not shrink from a duty as 

 plain as it was nauseous. 



A FRIEND STAUNCH AXD TRUE. 



Bishop Temple's staunchness stood an even 

 severer test. When the Act had been triumphantly 

 carried into law, despite the tion possumus of the 

 Prime Minister, I was prosecuted for what was ad- 

 mitted by my prosecutors to have been an uninten- 

 tional breach of the law committed at the very begin- 

 ning of my investigations. The jury found that I 

 had broken the law in this particular case, having 

 been misled by my agents, but that I had deserved 

 well of mv country by securing the passing of the 

 Law of Protection for young girls, which in their 

 opinion might be still further strengthened with ad- 

 vantage. That was the substance, although not the 

 actual wording, of their verdict. Through all the 

 trying time of the trial Bishop Temple stood by me 

 like the staunch friend that he was. He attended at 

 the Old Bailev to give evidence on my behalf. He 

 was not called, because judge and prosecutor united 

 in declaring that there could be no question as to 

 the excellence of my motives — as to which the 



