"If there is no Christian Mission Society of enrolled members, then there are no objects of the trust. The trusts are purely religious, and trading is entirely beyond its purposes. Booth can [305] 'give away' the property, simply because there is no one who has any right to prevent his doing so. "Ernest Hatton." It is probably my want of legal knowledge which prevents me from appreciating the value of the professed corrections of Mr. Hatton's opinion contained in the letters of Messrs. Ranger, Burton, and Matthews, "Times," January 28th and 29th, 1891. The note on page 301 refers to a correspondence, incomplete at the time fixed for the publication of my pamphlet, the nature of which is sufficiently indicated by the subjoined extracts from Mr. Stead's letter in the "Times" of January 20th, and from my reply in the "Times" of January 24th. Referring to the paragraphs numbered 1, 2, at the end of my letter XI., Mr. Stead says:-- "On reading this, I at once wrote to Professor Huxley, stating that, as he had mentioned my name, I was justified in intervening to explain that, so far as the second count in his indictment went--for the Eagle dispute is no concern of mine--he had been misled by an error in the reports of the case which appeared in the daily papers [306] of November 4, 1885. I have his reply to-day, saying that I had better write to you direct. May I ask you, then, seeing that my name has been brought into the affair, to state that, as I was in the dock when Mr. Bramwell Booth was in the witness-box, I am in a position to give the most unqualified denial to the statement as to the alleged admission on his part of falsehood? Nothing was heard in Court of any such admission. Neither the prosecuting counsel nor the Judge who tried the case ever referred to it, although it would obviously have had a direct bearing on the credit of the witness; and the jury, by acquitting Mr. Bramwell Booth, showed that they believed him to be a witness of truth. But fortunately the facts can be verified beyond all gainsaying by a reference to the official shorthand-writer's report of the evidence. During the hearing of the case for the prosecution, Inspector Borner was interrupted by the Judge, who said:-- "'I want to ask you a question. During the whole of that conversation, did Booth in any way suggest that that child had been sold?' Borner replied:-- "'Not at that interview, my Lord.' "It was to this that Mr. Bramwell Booth referred when, after examination, cross-examination, [307] and re-examination, during which no suggestion had been made that he had ever made the untrue statement now alleged against him, he asked and received leave from the Judge to make the following explanation, which I quote from the official report:--