which I had so far treated the Committee, I was not disposed to
give its majority a second chance, or to lose the opportunity
offered me by the questions to fire an additional broadside into
the censorship. I pocketed my statement, and answered the
questions VIVA VOCE. At the conclusion of this, my examination-
in-chief, the Committee adjourned, asking me to present myself
again for (virtually) cross-examination. But this cross-
examination never came off, as the sequel will shew.


A RARE AND CURIOUS FIRST EDITION

The refusal of the Committee to admit my statement had not
unnaturally created the impression that it must be a scandalous
document; and a lively demand for copies at once set in. And
among the very first applicants were members of the majority
which had carried the decision to exclude the document. They had
given so little attention to the business that they did not know,
or had forgotten, that they had already been supplied with copies
at their own request. At all events, they came to me publicly and
cleaned me out of the handful of copies I had provided for
distribution to the press. And after the sitting it was intimated
to me that yet more copies were desired for the use of the
Committee: a demand, under the circumstances, of breath-bereaving
coolness. At the same time, a brisk demand arose outside the
Committee, not only among people who were anxious to read what I
had to say on the subject, but among victims of the craze for
collecting first editions, copies of privately circulated
pamphlets, and other real or imaginary rarities, and who will
cheerfully pay five guineas for any piece of discarded old