254 LETTERS TO THE "TIMES." v 



to apportion the relative moral delinquency of the 

 parties. However that may be, the man was mor- 

 ally and legally bound to support his child, and 

 any one would have been justified in helping the 

 woman to her legal rights, and the man to the 

 legal consequences (in which exposure is included) 

 of his fault. 



The action of the " General " of the Salvation 

 Army in extorting the heavy fine he chose to im- 

 pose as the price of his silence, however excellent 

 his motives, appears to me to be as immoral as, 

 I hope, it is illegal. 



So much for the Salvation Army as a teacher 

 of questionable ethics and of eccentric economics, 

 as the legal adviser who recommends and practises 

 the extraction of money by intimidation, as the 

 fairy godmother who proposes to " mother " so- 

 ciety, in a fashion which is not to my taste, how- 

 ever much it may commend itself to some of Mr. 

 Booth's supporters. 



I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 



T. H. Huxley. 



