MR TOOTH AND HIS ANTECEDENTS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—A report has appeared in one of your contemporaries stating that the Rev. Arthur Tooth became rich by rearing sheep in Australia before aspiring to the position of a priest, and suggest- ing that, having a good income to fall back upon, he has posed as a martyr in order to gain notoriety. As I am sure you would not wish a false report unfavourable to Mr. Tooth to remain uncon- tradicted, and as I can get no satisfaction for him in the ordinary way, may I beg the favour of your allowing me, through your columns, to give the above-mentioned report an unqualified denial. Mr. Tooth never made money by rearing sheep or by any other secular calling in Australia or elsewhere ; his whole life has been devoted to his education or to the work of the priesthood, with the exception of a short interval before his ordination, during which he visited Australia and other places, for the benefit of his health. Mr. Tooth's friends know that he is the last man to seek notoriety, and his enemies must give him credit for being actuated by conscientious motives.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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