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Page 1 of 11924 · PDF PAGE 7
…g less than a column, the full history and record of this sinister author. Throughout the course of these attacks, and afterwards, Mr. Crowley worked steadily, writing 600,000 words, in circumstances of extreme difficulty and hardship, and completed the first draft of his autobiography in September 1923. It is Mr. Crowleys magnum opus, and one of the most human and illuminating records ever written. It is that independent statement of positive truth which Newman rightly declared to be the only possible and proper defence against a vast mass …
1924 · PDF PAGE 9
Crowley was expelled from Italian territory and deported to Tunis, despite a petition to Signor Mussolini, signed by all the leading citizens of Cefalù, protesting against such action. No reason was given for this expulsion, nor was any charge preferred, but your editor is doubtless correct in claiming the event as the reward of his lies. The result was to reduce Mr. Crowley, who was convalescent at the time from a long and dangerous illness, to absolute destitution. At seven days notice he was torn from his family, his library, and all the re…
1924 · PDF PAGE 10
… of the Sunday Express, who had initiated this campaign of calumny by printing, under his own name, a grossly vituperative review of Mr. Crowleys novel The Diary of a Drug Fiend. His article misrepresented the moral purpose of that work, as recognised in numerous reviews of it by men of letters in reputable journals : it was an orgie of salacity and, in essence, a lie. I placed a copy of this statement before the editorial board of the Sunday Express, pointing out that the assertion that Mr. Crowley had served a prison sentence (in America o…
1924 · PDF PAGE 2
tional articles in which it claimed, from a motive of public duty, to reveal the truth about the life and work of Aleister Crowley, explorer, drama- tist, poet, philosopher and artist. These articles were a mass of lies. Not only were they wholly false in spirit the essential truth, in every matter of importance, being simply suppressedbut, except for such statements as were harmless in themselves or trivial, they were wholly false in the letter also. Two of these lies are so indefensible in point of fact, and so repugnant to every principle …
1924 · PDF PAGE 11
…tever its explan- ation, compels me to bring the essential issue to your notice in this more public matter. Your editor asserts that Mr. Crowley has served a prison sentence in America for pro- curing young girls for infamous purposes. The truth is that Mr. Crowley has never been so much as accused of any crime before any court in any country in the world. Now no honest person can pretend for a mo- ment that any legal process is needed in order to expose the absoluteness of this particular lie. A criminal conviction is a matter of public record…
1924 · PDF PAGE 6
…b- jected by a newspaper editor to public foul-play of the most atrocious and murderous kind. 5. At the beginning of July 1922while Mr. Crowley was still living in London, and months before this campaign of lies was mooted he signed a contract with his publishers for the writing and production of his autobiography. This was commenced in London, and was well under way, when at the end of October, Mr. Crowley left England for his home in Sicily. A fortnight later the Sunday Express commenced its campaign of lies by printing a biography 6
1924 · PDF PAGE 4
…absolute right of truth and justice to be instantly vindicated in the matter must be repugnant to your sense of honour. Not only has Mr. Crowley not served a prison sentence in America as a white slaver, but he has never been even accused of any crime before any court in any country in the world. The statement made in the Sunday Express is thus an absolute lie ; your editor knows that it is a lie ; and you, my Lord, are in a position to satisfy yourself conclusively that it is a lie. I submit, that as proprietor of the Sunday Expressone of the…
1924 · PDF PAGE 14
12. Your editormerely for the purpose of striking a foul blow at Mr. Crowleyhas singled out from among his colleagues three ladies who have been noble and unselfish enough to renounce their professional careers in order to help in his work. These ladies are not British subjects, but your editor has identified them quite clearly to their professional, family, and private circles in England and America. He has been vile enough to accuse them, without one conceivable atom of justification, of practising public prostitution in foreign cities. Wh…
1924 · PDF PAGE 12
…sible and unscrupulous, devoid of any proper regard for truth, fair play, or public morality. Considering the circumstances in which Mr. Crowley was placed at the timecircumstances 12
1924 · PDF PAGE 13
…is own, undertake a protracted news- paper campaign of libel. It is your wealth, in particular, that he relies on when he challenges Mr. Crowley to fill his pockets by means of an action at law. It is your capital, in various kinds, that he uses in order to collect anonymous gossip, purchase slanderous interviews, and give to his calumnies a world-wide publicity. You cannot avoid moral responsibility for his dis- honourable abuse of the power which you have put into his hands. If you could not prevent his infamous libels, you are bound to redre…
1924 · PDF PAGE 8
…owing it to be known that his silence is enforced and not voluntary. 6. When the issue of the Sunday Express for November 26 reached Mr. Crowley in Sicily, he at once wrote to you himself. He pointed out that he was materially defenceless, at the time, against attacks in London, however false. He urged you, in your own interest no less than his, to insist on that measure of fair play which it was clearly in your power to give, and asked for an independent inquiry into the charges. The letter was forwarded to you by his pu- blishers, but neither…