Moreover he is a priest as well as a literary man. As a literary man, I attack one who has not yet shown himself to have the slightest right to sneer at people who write--whatever their literary faults may seem to him--always on the side of good, with a belief in the saving power of the Christian faith, and in the same hope as that in which he writes. A million people read one of Miss Corelli’s books, and they pay her to do so. Two hundred people listen to one of Mr. Roget’s sermons, and he is paid to preach them. But do authors go down into Worcestershire and sneer at the sermon of the priest because his own congregation love to hear him? This is the first time in my life that I have ever answered any one who has written unkindly of me. And it will be the last. _Literary_ criticism is a thing done by specialists, and with every right on their side. _Literary_ criticism is in the main correct. When I publish a book, and a literary writer points out this or that fault, I am myself literary man enough to know that he has put his finger on the weak spot nine times out of ten. Then I try again. I have said this before. But mere unqualified contempt on the part of one who has not been able to qualify himself to express any contempt of value for public judgment deserves remark. And now it is necessary to say a word about this gentleman’s reprobation of the Bishop of London’s sermons about _When it was Dark_. It is not a nice thing to have to say, but this young clergyman is typical of a small tribe which make it necessary for me to say it. The obvious suggestion is that I went out of my way to induce the Bishop of London to advertise one of my books. That is not the case. I have never met the Bishop of London in my life. I have never even seen him. I have had one letter from him about my book, which I will not quote here, but which I will send Mr. Roget whenever he asks for it. It is the only communication I have ever had from him. Neither directly nor indirectly did I attempt to get the bishop to advertise me. Yet his lordship preached about the book six or seven times--once in Westminster Abbey. He advised his ordination candidates to read it, and in his addresses to these gentlemen--subsequently published in book form--the passage remains. The late Bishop of Truro advised the clergy to read it in several diocesan meetings. He also wrote a long signed article in a great London daily paper about my books, in which he said:-- “A story written by Guy Thorne, who has proved his gift and its purpose, may well touch the sore place of our race with a hand that is more human than statistics and more sympathetic than many organizations.” Dr. Gott is just dead as I write this. I have many letters from him. In one of them--which again I will not quote, but which I will send my critic for his private reading when he asks for it--his lordship said that the book had helped him greatly.