defence of my conduct. I will only say this. To have given my real name and address would have been to ensure the appearance of a Canon (as I was at that time) of the Church of England in the dock of a police court and it was most clearly my duty to prevent, by any means in my power, the occurrence of a catastrophe so unedifying. A clergyman who gets himself into a false position must always bear in mind the fact that he is a member of a body the maintenance of whose good fame is of inappreciable importance to mankind. It is surely more to be desired that one clerk in holy orders should fail to purge his individual offence than that the cloth he wears should be brought into disrepute. He who, in such circumstances, boldly takes a falsehood upon his conscience does well, Chloë, and not ill. But why should I waste my time and breath in self-justification? It is not
