The weather prophets declared that it was to be one of the driest and hottest summers on record; and, for once, the prophets seemed in a fair way to be justified. The strain of the long, bright, rainless days began to tell upon Londoners. Two or three terrific thunderstorms shook the nerves of the feeble. Sundry earthquake shocks, though remote from these islands, imparted a sense of apprehension, and concurrently with these stern manifestations of Mother Nature, there were other hints of dread events--suggestive of a moral cataclysm, a war of classes, a volcanic outburst that would rend the bounds of social life. In this state of disquietude, sensational revivalism moved many neurotic persons to grotesque manifestations in the name of religion. And, on the other hand, it was well known that vice was rampant in every class of society, the eagerness of the pleasure-seekers for some new excitement, however vulgar or debasing, assuming the proportions of a mania. “Scenes” in Parliament were of almost weekly occurrence, and signs of hysteria became manifest, even in the speech and conduct of men who held office as cabinet-ministers or as judges. Though the Government was tottering to its fall, the Opposition, torn with internal jealousies, was not in a position to take advantage of its opportunities. Difficult problems of international law had arisen, but the Attorney-General, who had for some time been suffering from a mortal disease, was practically unavailable as an adviser, while the second law officer, Sir John Westwood, was said to still be incapacitated by what eminent doctors described as complete “nervous breakdown.” In the midst of this debilitated condition of political and social life, there was one movement which day by day seemed to gather strength and audacity. The London Emigration League still stood forward to claim attention and collect funds. White-washed, in a sense, by the verdict at the Central Criminal Court, the Leaguers of London, as they were now generally called, published appeals to the charitable, and organised marches and demonstrations, which, without committing actual breaches of the law, made known the ever-increasing numbers of the League, and its strangely cosmopolitan membership.