Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/125

 force in Great Britain. Publicly no man said a word in favour of Stranleigh; privately, many wished they had had a hand in his gold bag while it was being held open.

Blake, as an old pressman, wrote half a dozen letters in explanation, intended for publication, but Stranleigh refused to sign them, or allow them to be sent out.

"Don't you know a flood when you meet it?" he asked his secretary. "This is no 'Come-in-out-of-the-wet' shower. Any explanation I could send out would be discredited, and besides, I don't care a rap what people think of me. I have entered politics on a matter of principle. I'll do the best I can without flinching, and let the heathen howl.

"So, Blake, set out at once, and engage the biggest hall you can get hold of: the Crystal Palace, Albert Hall, Olympia, or anything that happens to be vacant next week. The writs may be out any day, and there's no time to lose. I'm going to deliver the best of those speeches, and I will tell the audience who wrote it, what I paid for it, and why. I'll tell them I want both cash and credit to go to the right man. Announce by big advertisements in the papers on both sides of politics that the Earl of