TO
MY JURY OF MATRONS:
| WINIFRED JOHNSTON | ELLA HEPWORTH-DIXON |
| CATHERINE WELLS | ANGELA MOND |
| BEATRICE SANDS | MARGARET POWYS |
| ANNETTE HENDERSON | FLORENCE FELLOWES |
| MARY LEVY | RAY ROCKMAN-BRAHAM |
| FLORENCE TRAVERS | MAUD PARRY |
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED,
IN THE KNOWLEDGE THAT—IN THE MAIN—IT HAS
THEIR SYMPATHY AND APPROVAL.
H. H. Johnston
POLING,
March, 1920
The earlier part of Vivien Warren's life and that of her mother,Catherine Warren, was told by Mr. George Bernard Shaw in his play,"Mrs. Warren's Profession," published first in 1898.
(Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant: 1. Unpleasant. Constable andCo., 6th Edition.)
I have his permission to continue the story from 1898 onwards. Tounderstand my sequel it is not necessary to have read the play whichso brilliantly placed the Warren problem before us. But as mostpersons of average good education have found Mr. Shaw's comediesnecessary to their mental furnishing, their understanding ofcontemporary life, it is probable that all who would be drawn tothis book are already acquainted with the story of Mrs. Warren, andwill be interested in learning what happened after that story waslaid down by Mr. Shaw in 1897. I would in addition placate hostileor peevish reviewers by reminding them of the continuity of humanhistories; of biographies, real—though a little disguised by thesauce of fiction—and unreal—because entitled Life and Letters, byHis Widow. The best novel or life-story ever written does notcommence with its opening page. The real commencement goes back tothe Stone ages or at any rate to the antecedent circumstances whichled up to the crisis or the formation of the characters portrayed.Mr. Pickwick had a father, a grandfather; a mother in a mob-cap; inthe eighteenth century. It is permissible to speculate on theirstories and dispositions. Neither does a novel or a biography endwith the final page of its convenient instalment.
When you lay down the book which describes the pathetic failure ofLord Randolph Churchill, you do so with curiosity as to what willbecome of Winston. With a pre-knowledge of the Pickwick Club, onemay usefully employ the imagination in tracing out the possiblecareers of Sam Weller's chubby little boys; grown into old men, andthemselves, perchance, leaving progeny that may have married intothe peerage from the Turf, or have entered the War Cabinet at thebeckoning of Mr. Lloyd George.
I know of descendants of Madame de Brinvilliers in England who havehelped to found the Y.W.C.A.; and collateral offshoots from theCharlotte Corday stock who are sternly opposed to the assassinationof