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evolution and ethics and other essays-第51部分

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as a condition of their appointment。 Thus; to all appearance; the
army; as a legal person; is identical with Mr。 Booth。 And; in that
case; any 〃trust〃 ostensibly for the benefit of the army iswhat
shall we say that is at once accurate and polite?

I conclude with these plain questionsWill Mr。 Booth take counsel's
opinion as to whether there is anything in such legal arrangements as
he has at present made which prevents him from disposing of the wealth
he has accumulated at his own will and pleasure? Will anybody be in a
position to set either the civil or the criminal law in motion against
him or his successors if he or they choose to spend every farthing in
ways very different from those contemplated by the donors?

'276' I may add that a careful study of the terms of a 〃Declaration of
Trust by William Booth in favour of the Christian Mission;〃 made in
1878; has not enabled persons of much greater competence than myself
to answer these questions satisfactorily。*

                 I am; Sir; your obedient servant;
                                     T。 H。 Huxley。

    * See Preface to this volume; pp。 ix…xiii。

On December 24th a letter appeared in the 〃Times〃 signed 〃J。 S。
Trotter;〃 in which the following passages appear:

〃It seems a pity to put a damper on the spirits of those who agree
with Professor Huxley in his denunciation of General Booth and all his
works。 May I give a few particulars as to the 'book' which was
published in Canada? I had the pleasure of an interview with the
author of a book written in Canada。 The book was printed at Toronto;
and two copies only struck off by the printers; one of these copies
was stolen from the printer; and the quotation sent to you by
Professor Huxley was inserted in the book; and is consequently a
forgery。 The book was published without the consent and against the
will of the author。

'277' 〃So the quotation is not only 'a bitter; overcharged anonymous
libel;' as Professor Huxley intimates; but a forgery as well。 As to
Mr。 Hodges; it seems to me to be simply trifling with your readers to
bring him in as an authority。 He was turned out of the army; out of
kindness taken on again; and again dismissed。 If this had happened to
one of your staff; would his opinion of the 'Times' as a newspaper be
taken for gospel?〃

But in the 〃Times〃 of December 29th Mr。 J。 S。 Trotter writes:

〃I find I was mistaken in saying; in my letter of Wednesday; to the
'Times' that Mr。 Hodges was dismissed from the service of General
Booth; and regret any inconvenience the statement may have caused to
Mr。 Hodges。〃

And on December 30th the 〃Times〃 published a letter from Mr。 Hodges in
which he says that Mr。 Trotter's statements as they regard himself
〃are the very reverse of truth。I was never turned out of the
Salvation Army。 Nor; so far as I was made acquainted with General
Booth's motives; was I taken on again out of kindness。 In order to
rejoin the Salvation Army; I resigned the position of manager in a
mill where I was in '278' receipt of a salary of 'Pounds' 250 per
annum; with house…rent and one third of the profits。 Instead of this
Mr。 Booth allowed me 'Pounds' 2 per week and house…rent。〃



                 VI

The 〃Times;〃 December 26th; 1890

Sir;I am much obliged to Mr。 J。 S。 Trotter for the letter which you
published this morning。 It furnishes evidence; which I much desired to
possess on the following points:

   1。 The author of 〃The New Papacy〃 is a responsible; trustworthy
person; otherwise Mr。 Trotter would not speak of having had 〃the
pleasure of an interview〃 with him。

   2。 After this responsible person had taken the trouble to write a
pamphlet of sixty…four closely printed pages; some influence was
brought to bear upon him; the effect of which was that he refused his
consent to its publication。 Mr。 Trotter's excellent information will
surely enable him to tell us what influence that was。

   3。 How does Mr。 Trotter know that any passage I have quoted is an
interpolation? Does he possess that other copy of the 〃two〃 which
alone; as he affirms; were printed?

'279' 4。 If so; he will be able to say which of the passages I have
cited is genuine and which is not; and whether the tenor of the whole
uninterpolated copy differs in any important respect from that of the
copy I have quoted。

It will be interesting to hear what Mr。 J。 S。 Trotter has to say upon
these points。 But the really important thing which he has done is that
he has testified; of his own knowledge; that the anonymous author of
〃The New Papacy〃 is no mere irresponsible libeller; but a person of
whom even an ardent Salvationist has to speak with respect。

            I am; Sir; your obedient servant;
                                T。 H。 Huxley。

'I may add that the unfortunate Mr。 Trotter did me the further service
of eliciting the letter from Mr。 Hodges referred to on p。 277which
sufficiently establishes that gentleman's credit; and leads me to
attach full weight to his evidence about the third barrel。'

     January; 1891。

'280'


                  VII

The 〃Times;〃 December 27th; 1890

SIR;In making use of the only evidence of the actual working of Mr。
Booth's autocratic government accessible to me; I was fully aware of
the slippery nature of the ground upon which I was treading。 For; as I
pointed out in my first letter; 〃no personal habit more surely
degrades the conscience and the intellect than blind and unhesitating
obedience to unlimited authority。〃 Now we have it; on Mr。 Booth's own
showing that every officer of his has undertaken to 〃obey without
questioning or gainsaying the orders from headquarters。〃 And the
possible relations of such orders to honour and veracity are
demonstrated not only by the judicial deliverance on Mr。 Booth's
affidavit in the 〃Eagle〃 case; which I have already cited; not only by
Mr。 Bramwell Booth's admission before Mr。 Justice Lopes that he had
stated what was 〃not quite correct〃 because he had 〃promised Mr。 Stead
not to divulge〃 the facts of the case (the 〃Times;〃 November 4th;
1885); but by the following passage in Mr。 Hodges's account of the
reasons of his withdrawal from the Salvation Army:

〃The general and Chief did not and could '281' not deny doing these
things; the only question was this; Was it right to practise this
deception? These points of difference were fully discussed between
myself and the Chief of the Staff on my withdrawal; especially the
Leamington incident; which was the one that finally drove me to
decision。 I had come to the conclusion; from the first; that they had
acted as they supposed with a single eye to the good of God's cause;
and had persuaded myself that the things were; as against the devil;
right to be done; that as in battle one party captured and turned the
enemy's own guns upon them; so; as they were fighting against the
devil; it would be fair to use against him his weapons。 And I wrote to
this effect to the 〃General〃 (p。 63)。〃

Now; I do not wish to say anything needlessly harsh; but I ask any
prudent man these questions。 Could I; under these circumstances; trust
any uncorroborated statement emanating from headqua
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