THE SALVATION ARMY 



289 



Hodeslea, Eastbourne, Dec. 8, 1890. 



Attacking the Salvation Army may look like the advance of 

 a forlorn hope, but this old dog has never yet let go after fixing 

 his teeth into anything or anybody, and he is not going to begin 

 now. And it is only a question of holding on. Looking at 

 Plumptre's letter exposing the Bank swindle. 



The Times, too, is behaving like a brick. This world is not 

 a very lovely place, but down at the bottom, as old Carlyle 

 preached, veracity does really lie, and will show itself if people 

 won't be impatient. 



No sooner had he begun to express these opinions in 

 the columns of the Times than additional information of 

 all kinds poured in upon him, especially from within the 

 Army, much of it private for fear of injury to the writers 

 if it were discovered that they had written to expose abuses ; 

 indeed in one case the writer had thought better of even 

 appending his signature to his letter, and had cut off his 

 name from the foot of it, alleging that correspondence was 

 not inviolable. So far were these persons from feeling hos- 

 tility to the organisation to which they belonged, that one 

 at least hailed the Professor as the divinely-appointed re- 

 deemer of the Army, whose criticism was to bring it back 

 to its pristine purity. 



To his Elder Son 



Hodeslea, Eastbourne, Jan. 8, 1891. 



Dear Lens — It is very jolly to think of J. and you paying 

 us a visit. It is proper, also, the eldest son should hansel the 

 house. 



Is the Mr. Sidgwick who took up the cudgels for me so 

 gallantly in the St. James' one of your Sidgwicks ? If so, I wish 

 you would thank him on my account. (The letter was capital.)* 

 Generally people like me to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for 



* Mr. William C. Sidgwick had written (January 4) an indignant 

 letter to protest against the heading of an article in the Speaker, " Pro- 

 fessor Huxley as Titus Oates." "To this monster of iniquity the 

 Speaker compares an honourable English gentleman, because he has 

 ventured to dissuade his countrymen from giving money to Mr. Wil- 

 liam Booth. . . Mr. Huxley's views on theology may be wrong, but 

 nobody doubts that he honestly holds them ; they do not bring Mr. 

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