"Thursday.
"MY DEAR BROOKS,
"I have read with an amusement which I am sure you will not fail to
share, the shower of condemnation, approval, and remonstrance which by
your doings in Stepney you appear to have brought down upon your head.
The religious element especially, you seem to have set by the ears. I
sat within hearing of our premier bishop last night at dinner, and his
speculations with regard to you and your ultimate aims were so amusing
that I passed without noticing it my favourite entree.
"You will have observed that it is your anonymity which is the weapon of
which your antagonists make most use. Why not dissipate it and confound
them? A Mr. Brooks of unknown antecedents might well be supposed
capable of starting a philanthropic work for his own good; the same
suspicion could never fall on Lord Kingston Ross, a future marquis. You
will notice that I make no appeal to you from any personal motive. I
should suggest that we preserve our present relations without
alteration. But if you care to accept my suggestion I would propose
that you nominate me trustee of your society, and I will give, as a
contribution to its funds, the sum of five thousand pounds.
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