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evolution and ethics and other essays-第52部分

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prudent man these questions。 Could I; under these circumstances; trust
any uncorroborated statement emanating from headquarters; or made by
the General's order? Had I any reason to doubt the truth of Mr。
Hodges's naive confession of the corrupting influence of Mr。 Booth's
system? And did it not behove me to pick my way carefully through the
mass of statements before me; many of them due to people whose moral
sense might; by possibility; have been as much blunted by the army
discipline in the '282' use of the weapons of the devil as Mr。 Hodges
affirms that his was?

Therefore; in my third letter; I commenced my illustrations of the
practical working of Boothism with the evidence of Mr。 Redstone;
fortified and supplemented by that of a non…Salvationist; Dr。
Cunningham Geikie。 That testimony has not been challenged; and; until
it is; I shall assume that it cannot be。 In my fourth letter; I cited
a definite statement by Mr。 Hodges in evidence of the Jesuitical
principles of headquarters。 What sort of answer is it to tell us that
Mr。 Hodges was dismissed the army? A child might expect that some such
red herring would be drawn across the trail; and; in anticipation of
the stale trick; I added the strong prima facie evidence of the
trustworthiness of my witness; in this particular; which is afforded
by the 〃Eagle〃 case。 It was not until I wrote my fourth letter to you;
Siruntil the exploitation of the 〃captains〃 and the Jesuitry of
headquarters could be proved up to the hiltthat I ventured to have
recourse to 〃The New Papacy。〃 So far as the pamphlet itself goes; this
is an anonymous work; and; for sufficient reasons; I did not choose to
go beyond what was to be found between its covers。 To any one
accustomed to deal with the facts of evolution; the Boothism of 〃The
New Papacy〃 was merely the natural and necessary development of the
Boothism of Mr。 Redstone's case and of the '283' 〃Eagle〃 case。
Therefore; I felt fully justified in using it; at the same time
carefully warning my readers that it must be taken with due caution。

Mr。 Trotter's useful letter admits that such a book was written by a
person with whom he had the 〃pleasure of an interview;〃 and that a
version of it (interpolated; according to his assertion) was published
against the will of the author。 Hence I am justified in believing that
there is a foundation of truth in certain statements; some of which
have long been in my possession; but which for lack of Mr。 Trotter's
valuable corroboration I have refrained from using。 The time is come
when I can set forth some of the heads of this information; with the
request that Mr。 Trotter; who knows all about the business; will be so
good as to point out any error that there may be in them。 I am bound
to suppose that his sole object; like mine; is the elucidation of the
truth; and to assume his willingness to help me therein to the best of
his ability。

   1。 〃The author of 'The New Papacy' is a Mr。 Sumner; a person of
perfect respectability; and greatly esteemed in Toronto; who held a
high position in the Army。 When he left; a large public meeting;
presided over by a popular Methodist minister; passed a vote of
sympathy with him。〃

'284' Is this true or false?

   2。 〃On Saturday last; about noon; Mr。 Sumner; the author of the
book; and Mr。 Fred Perry; the Salvation Army printer; accompanied by a
lawyer; went down to Messrs。 Imrie and Graham's establishment; and
asked for all the manuscript; stereotype plates; &c。; of the book。 Mr。
Sumner explained that the book had been sold to the Army; and; on a
cheque for the amount due being given; the printing material was
delivered up。〃

Did these paragraphs appear in the 〃Toronto Telegram〃 of April 24th;
1889; or did they not? Are the statements they contain true or false?

3。 〃Public interest in the fate or probable outcome of that mysterious
book called 'The New Papacy; or; Behind the Scenes in the Salvation
Army;' continues unabated; though the line of proceedings by the
publisher and his solicitor; Mr。 Smoke; of Watson; Thorne; Smoke; and
Masten; has not been altered since yesterday。 The book; no doubt; will
be issued in some form。 So far as known; only one complete copy
remains; and the whereabouts of this is a secret which will be
profoundly kept。 It is safe to say that if the Commissioner kept on
guessing until the next anniversary; he would not strike the secluded
'285' location of the one volume among five thousand which escaped;
when he and his assistant; Mr。 Fred Perry; believed they had cast
every vestige of the forbidden work into the fiery furnace。 On Tuesday
last; when the discovery was made that a copy of 'The New Papacy' was
in existence; Publisher Britnell; of Yonge Street; was at once the
suspected holder; and in a short time his book…store was the resort of
army agents sent to reconnoitre〃 (〃Toronto News;〃 April 28th; 1889)。

Is this a forgery; or is it not? Is it in substance true or false?

When Mr。 Trotter has answered these inquiries categorically; we may
proceed to discuss the question of interpolations in Mr。 Sumner's
book。

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

'On the 26th of December a letter; signed J。 T。 Cunningham; late Fellow of
University College; Oxford; called forth the following commentary。'

'286'



                VIII

The 〃Times;〃 December 29th; 1890

Sir;If Mr。 Cunningham doubts the efficacy of the struggle for
existence; as a factor in social conditions; he should find fault with
Mr。 Booth and not with me。

〃I am labouring under no delusion as to the possibility of inaugurating
the millennium by my social specific。 In the struggle of life the
weakest will go to the wall; and there are so many weak。 The fittest
in tooth and claw will survive。 All that we can do is to soften the
lot of the unfit; and make their suffering less horrible than it is at
present〃 (〃In Darkest England;〃 p。 44)。

That is what Mr。 Cunningham would have found if he had read Mr。 Booth's
book with attention。 And; if he will bestow equal pains on my second
letter; he will discover that he has interpolated the word 〃wilfully〃
in his statement of my 〃argument;〃 which runs thus: 〃Shutting his eyes
to the necessary consequences of the struggle for life; the existence
of which he admits as fully as any Darwinian; Mr。 Booth tells men
whose evil case is one of those consequences that envy is a
corner…stone of our competitive system。〃 Mr。  '287' Cunningham's
physiological studies will have informed him that the process of
〃shutting the eyes;〃 in the literal sense of the words; is not always
wilful; and I propose to illustrate; by the crucial instance his own
letter furnishes; that the 〃shutting of the eyes〃 of the mind to the
obvious consequences of accepted propositions may also be involuntary。
At least; I hope so。

   1。 〃Sooner or later;〃 says Mr。 Cunningham; 〃the population problem
will block the way once more。〃 What does this mean; except that
multiplication; excessive in relation to the contemporaneous means of
support; will create a severe competition for those means? And this
seems to me to be a pret
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