Reserve your judgment; I have no intention of standing forth as an
apostle; all I mean to do at first is to offer a free course of
lectures on a period of English literature. I shall not throw open
my doors to all and sundry, but specially invite a certain small
number of men, whom I shall be at some pains to choose. We have at
the works a foreman named Bower; I have known him, in a way, for
years, and I believe he is an intelligent man. Him I shall make use
of, telling him nothing of my wider aims, but simply getting him to
discover for me the dozen or so of men who would be likely to care
for my lectures. By-the-by, the man of whom I was speaking, the
father of Mrs. Ormonde's patient, lives in Lambeth; I shall
certainly make an effort to draw him into the net!'

'I shall be curious to hear more of him,' said Mr. Newthorpe. 'And
you use English literature to tune the minds of your hearers?'

'That is my thought. I have spent my month in Jersey in preparing a
couple of introductory lectures. It seems to me that if I can get
them to understand what is meant by love of literature, pure and
simple, without a thought of political or social purpose--
especially without a thought of cash profit, which is so
disastrously blended with what little knowledge they acquire--I
shall be on the way to founding my club of social reformers. I shall
be most careful not to alarm them with hints that I mean more than I
say. Here arc certain interesting English books; let us see what
they are about, who wrote them, and why they are deemed excellent.
That is our position. These men must get on a friendly footing with
me. Little by little I shall talk with them more familiarly, try to
understand each one. Success depends upon my personal influence. I
may find that it is inadequate, yet I have hope. Naturally, I have