ixiv. Ihe Hevlew of Reviews. 



All this nu-aiis that he had iiiadf a place for iiiinself in the hearts ol the people, fromi which he 

 I'ould not Ix; dislodged. Both high and low respected him as a man who would not, indeed, could 

 not, use opportunities that oame in his way simply to advance his personal interests. 



He WMS a giant in reform. His personal goodness, his sense of justice, liis passion for righteous- 

 ness, made him a deadly foe in any combat with wrong that he entered. \\'hen he set out to fight 

 he carried no hamper, and went in with the single purpose of slaying the wrong he attacked. Because 

 his vision of the ideal was so clear, he could not stay at half measures. To him wrong was a thing 

 not to be compromised with, but destroyed. Needless to say, he had to resort to extraordinary means 

 .sometimes to accomplish his ends; Ijut he never shrank from any ordeal, however severe. This was 

 made evident in his attack on the hideous crime of child procuration which had assumed proportions 

 in London that were appalling. He demonstrated, with the aid of some godly women friends, and 

 some of the most irreproachable men in I,ondon, that it was ridiculously easy to purchase for 

 inunoral ])urposes ciiildren of tender yeai.s. It was necessary, in order to prove his accusa- 

 lio'iis to the hilt, to s:how that it was possible to do this. Not one breath of per.sonal 

 s<;andal could ever attach to him in his pursuit of the hideous evil; but, through 

 defective and biassed justice, whirh could not see that the .saUation of thousands of 

 innocent girls depended on his crusade, and that his personal character could not be 

 impeached, he was charged by his countr\ with having commit'tL'd a tecJinical breach of 

 the law, and, to Hngkind's shame, be it .said, sentenced to prison for three months, which was re- 

 duced to two on fhe initiartive of the (Jueen. Although treated as a first-class prisoner, the reproach 

 \o England was just the SHme, especially as no effort was made to hound down the brutal 

 monsters that trafficked in childhood's innocency. But, as an immediate result of what 

 he did, the age of consent was immediately raised. One can sc.arcely credit that a 

 .\Iell)ouriie newspaper, in an otherwi.se complimentary sketch of his carei'r. should style this righteous 

 crusade as " an early blunder." It was a magnifictMit work, imdertakt-n in the public's interest, and 

 \Ir. Stead was jirobably the onl\ man in the Kingdom who w.is jdiieky enough to face it and lo <'arry 

 it through. 



When seizt-d with the necessity of seeing .m\ thing tlu'ough to the vnd. nothing 

 could prevent him from doing it. Person. d or hnanei.d lass did not enter into his 

 consideration. This was n'otably the ca.se in the Hin-r War. He wins one of tho.se 

 whii said that it was a monsitrous crime, and kejrf up his ojipositiou to it long after 

 iiianv of his (;ompatriots had. through weariness at the futility of their opj)osition, 

 fallen silent. What he endured in <'onnection with this, none but his intimates will ever kimw. In a 

 country that boasts of i'reedom of speech, of tolerance and respect for others' opinions. Mr. Stead 

 suffered calumny and bitter invective, scorn and derision, that would ha\e driven most men to di.straction 

 or .ililivion. But lie stixxl against the storm unmo\<'d. and s\ibsciiuent e\i-nls ha\'e jirdAed that he was 

 right. 



He had the vision of a seer. He was a modern-day iiroplu't, .nid those wlio Inng for the 

 realisation of loftiest ideals, national ,ind per.sonal, will sorely miss him. To him the question. " 1> 

 it right?" was paramount. "Is it expedient?" knew no place in his Ix^iiig. 



No .stronger advocite of universal iieace lived. He ihd more than any other man to make ilu' Ha-ue 

 < "onvention a reality, although, as it was con.'^tituted. it did not cxame up to his ideal. W.ir, to !iini. 

 was a grand mistake, a proof of national madness, and yet ,it the same time he had no false ide.i^ 

 of the means necessary to preserve the Empire under ])r<'.sent conditions. It was this clear-headed 

 perception of things that made him insist upon the " Iwn keels to one" stand. ird in connection wiili 



