the newspaper attack and the subsequent correspondence to my friend Mr. Kingsley. He exclaimed: 'Oh, you did not answer those letters, I trust?' I assured him that I had always refused to give the advice asked for by letter, and had invariably returned fees when enclosed. 'Thank God for that!' he exclaimed with an energy that amazed me; and he then related to me a very painful experience of his own, saying: 'Let me warn you, never answer a newspaper attack. There are some newspapers that delight in getting hold of a scandal or whatever may make their paper sell, and are utterly unscrupulous as to the means by which such a purpose is accomplished. You have no chance against such corrupt speculation; your only weapon is silence and your own established character.'
On February 19, 1871, under the auspices of the Sunday Lecture Society, I gave an address, 'On the Religion of Health,' to a large appreciative audience in St. George's Hall. The same year a small meeting was held in the drawing-room of 6 Burwood Place, to consider the important subject of a steady and wide diffusion of sanitary knowledge among all the people. There 'The National Health Society' was formed, for which Mr. Prout Newcombe (who was present) shaped the stamp of the society, with its motto, 'Prevention is better than cure.' This society, which established its first office in Berners Street under the intelligent secretaryship of Miss Toulmin Smith, continues its enlarging sphere of usefulness under the able management of Miss Fay Lankester.
