Had the letter of the Archdeacon been signed by the most obscure of names, the secretary of the Incorporated Society of Authors, Playwrights, Musicians and Continuity Fakers could hardly have declined to take upon it action of some sort. It was impossible for a Society whose business it is to keep unremitting watch over the welfare of (among other things) English letters—with a peculiarly sharp eye for the sinister activities of publishers and literary agents—it was impossible for such a Society to draw apart when its assistance was invoked in a matter so peculiarly within the sphere of its activities as a question of disputed authorship.
But when at the foot of this letter was found the signature of the universally-respected Archdeacon of Cricklewood and
