till circumstances most unexpectedly brought me to
England, and I tried Bentley, and found that his reader approved, but
wished me to change the name, as the first critic would say it was
uphill work to read it. Then let it be "Mr. Haliburton's Will." That
would clash with "Mrs Haliburton's Troubles." So the name was changed
to Hogarth, and the title became "Mr. Hogarth's Will." It was well
reviewed, and I got 35 pounds as my half-share of the profits on a
three-volume edition, besides 50 pounds from The Telegraph. But the
book was to have more effect in unexpected quarters than I could
imagine. When staying with my aunts in Scotland I had a letter from Mr.
Edward Wilson's secretary, saying that he had wished to write an
article for The Fortnightly on "The Representation of Classes," which
was his cure for the excesses of democracy; but, as he could not see,
and his doctor had forbidden him even to dictate, he had reluctantly
abandoned the idea. He had, however, heard that I was in Scotland, and,
though my idea was different from his, he believed that I could write
the article from some letters reprinted from The Argus and a few hints
from himself, and that I could adapt them to English conditions. I
gladly undertook the work, and satisfied Mr. Wilson. Just before I left
for Australia I went to Mr. Wilson's, and we went through the proofs
together. Mr. Wilson, being a wealthy man, did not ask any payment from
The Fortnightly, but he gave me 10 pounds and thanked me for stepping
in to his assistance when he needed it. He said that my novel had been
the subject of a great deal of discussion in his house. I asked, "Why?"
He replied, "The uncle and the nieces, of course." I thought no more of
it till the death of Mr. Wilson revealed that he had left his estate to
the charities of Melbourne. Then my brother told me that when he was in
England in 1877 Mr. Wilson had told him that it was seldom that a novel
had any influence over a man's conduct, but that reading his sister's
novel had set him thinking, and had made him alter his will. He did not
think it to the advantage of his nieces to be made rich, and he would
leave his money to Victoria and Melbourne, where he had made it. I was
the innocent cause of disappointing the nieces, for I think I made it
clear that the uncle did very wrongly. But when I see 5,000 pounds a
year distributed among Melbourne charities, and larger gifts for the
building of a new hospital, I cannot he