,,address1                              
,,delivered ,,in                        
,,craigie ,,hall1 ,,edinburgh1          
,,february #bd,,th1 #ahga4              
,,by                                    
,,josephine ,e4 ,,butler4               
,,printed1 ,,by ,,request1 ,,for        
,,private ,,circulation ,,among         
,,friends ,,in                          
,,scotland4                             
,,price ,,one ,,shilling ,,per ,,dozen4 
,to be had at the ,central ,office1     
#bhj1 ,south ,hill1 ,park ,road1        
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,,address4      ,once when ,i was in    
,paris1 ,i saw in a gallery a picture1  
which taught me  a lesson4 ,it was a    
picture of ,saint ,marguerite1 as the   
representative of  purity4 ,she was very
 frail and youthful-looking1 but1       
nevertheless1 was  seen advancing in the

 attitude of a conqueror1 trampling upon
 a hideous  dragon4 ,the contrast       
between the gentle lady1 in her pure    
white dress1  and the disgusting        
creature beneath her feet1 was striking4
 ,the dragon1  the embodiment of some   
foul impurity1 wickedness1 and cruelty1 
was  enraged at its conqueror1 but      
terrified too1 wallowing on the ground1 
breathing forth fire and venom1 as      
hideous a monster as you can  conceive4 
,st4 ,marguerite had no look of fear1   
nay1 not even of disgust1  on her calm  
face1 which was turned straight         
heavenward2 and her fair  feet1 stepping
 with a conqueror's tread on the rough  
scales of the  prostrate monster1 were  
not the least soiled by his vileness1   
but  remained as white as her heart was 
pure4 ,this picture carried my  thoughts
 away to many a struggle which the world
 has witnessed between  good and evil1  
and it taught me to remember that when  
,god sends forth  his messengers to     
combat impurity in its most hideous     

forms1 these  messengers1 weak though   
they be1 need never doubt his power to  
keep them  unharmed4 ,there is no evil  
in the world so great that ,god cannot  
raise  up to meet it a corresponding    
beauty and glory1 which will blaze it   
out  of countenance4 ,but mark me1      
friends1 in order to escape unhurt1 we  
must  oppose and tread upon the evil4   
,if we merely look on at this unclean   
monster1 wondering at him1 amazed1 we   
shall be the worse for it4 ,it is  the  
very pain and vigour1 and humble trust  
in ,god1 induced by  opposition1 which  
enable us to rise above hurtful         
influences4 ,it is  possible to rise    
above all such hurtful influences1 above
 the horror and  disgust1 and to attain 
to a region in which pure and elevating 
thoughts  alone prevail4 ,this is of    
,god's goodness1 who gives us armour    
fitted for  the battle4    ,i was asked 
this morning when it was that my        
thoughts were first  directed to this   
subject concerning which we are met     

together4 ,as ,i am  here among friends 
and fellow-workers only1 ,i may answer  
this question1  which is personal to    
myself4 ,it is many years ago that ,i   
first became  acquainted with this      
system as it existed in ,paris4 ,i was  
one of those  persons--they were few1 ,i
 believe--who read that very brief      
debate in the  ,house of ,commons in    
#ahff1 when ,mr4 ,henley and ,mr4       
,ayrton alone1 but  clearly and boldly1 
entered their protest4 ,it was in that  
year that the  knowledge first broke    
upon me that this system1 which ,i had  
so long  regarded with horror1 had      
actually found a footing in our         
,england4 ,it  seemed to me as if a dark
 cloud were hanging on the horizon1     
threatening  our land4 ,the depression  
which took possession of my mind was    
overwhelming4 ,a few days ago ,i found a
 record of those days1 in an old        
manuscript book long laid aside4 ,in    
turning over its leaves1 ,i found a     
note of that debate in the house1 the   

date1 and a written expression1  which  
,i had since forgotten1 of a            
presentiment which at that time filled  
my mind1 that in some way or other ,i   
should be called to meet this evil      
thing face to face--a trembling         
presentiment1 which ,i could not escape 
from1 that1 do what ,i would1 ,i myself 
must enter into this cloud4 ,i find     
there recorded also a brief prayer1     
beseeching that if ,i must descend  into
 this darkness1 that divine hand1 whose 
touch is health and  strength1 would    
hold mine fast in the darkness4 ,i can  
recollect going  out into the garden1   
hoping that the sight of the flowers and
 blue sky  might banish the mental pain1
 but it clung too fast for a time for   
any  outward impression to remove it2   
and ,i envied the sparrows upon the     
garden walk1 because they had not minds 
and souls capable of torment  like mine4
 ,but now1 when ,i look back1 ,i see    
that that prayer has been  heard--the   
divine hand has held mine--often when ,i

 knew it not4 ,and1  friends1 ,god can  
give more than power to bear the pain2  
there is a  positive joy in ,his        
service1 and in any warfare in which ,he
 who  conquered sin and death and hell  
goes before us1 and is our reward4      
,in ,england the aspect of the question 
before us1 which affects most  strongly 
the masses of the working-class         
electors1 is the constitutional  aspect4
 ,even apart from the moral             
considerations involved1 which are by   
far the most important1 the working men 
will wage war to the death  against this
 legislation1 on account of its         
unconstitutional character2  and it is  
not1 you may suppose1 as a merely       
theoretic iniquity which  these         
practical men oppose it4 ,it comes home 
to them very closely2 they  see at once 
the dangers which threaten their own    
homes first1 and the  whole commonwealth
 ultimately1 through the admission of a 
principle into  our penal legislation   
which is directly and violently opposed 

to the  principles of the ,english      
constitution4 ,their instincts on this  
subject  are more keen than are those of
 the upper classes2 this keenness of    
perception arises mainly from the fact  
that they1 not being sheltered by  rank1
 position1 or wealth1 have no guarantee 
of liberty1 and of penal  justice1      
except what is found in the bulwarks of 
that constitution which  these ,acts of 
,parliament have broken down4    ,i will
 presently briefly recount to you the   
main features of those just  criminal   
laws which ,englishmen have lived under 
hitherto4 ,scotch laws  differ1 ,i      
believe1 in many respects from ,english 
laws2 and it may be  that there is not  
among ,scotch working men that deep     
attachment to the  ,constitution which  
,i find in the ,english1 though ,i      
believe the ,scotchman  has quite as    
strong a passion for freedom1 and would 
be found to be  stronger on the moral   
argument4 ,it is well that we should    
understand  clearly the illegal         

character of the ,acts we oppose4 ,i    
have been the  more deeply impressed    
with the importance of this aspect of   
the matter1  by reading the almost      
universal and powerful testimony of our 
great  lawyers and historians to the    
danger of introducing1 in any single    
instance1 a lax1 vicious1 or unjust     
principle into our criminal code1  and  
to the moral and social evils which such
 an introduction necessarily  involves4 
,niebuhr1 ,de ,tocqueville1 ,guizot1    
,hallam1 ,lieber1 ,creasy1  ,mackintosh1
 ,blackstone1 and a host of others1 have
 again and again  pointed out that upon 
the justice and purity of the penal     
legislation of  a country the political 
wellbeing of that country mainly        
depends4 ,the  consideration of this    
subject has induced in me the deep      
conviction that  public worship and the 
teaching of the ,bible in a country     
where laws are  corrupt1 and freedom    
insecure1 will do little more than to   
keep  conscience alive in a remnant as  

it were1 a minority of protestors1      
becoming yearly more saddened and more  
feeble amidst the corruption of  social 
life through the sure and subtle        
teaching of the laws and public         
institutions2 it will do little more    
than create an antagonism in the  whole 
of society1 between ,christianity and   
the educational influence of  public law
 and custom4 ,the purity of our laws1   
then1 is of the very  highest importance
 in every aspect1 political1 social and 
moral4 ,again1  if any great            
purification of our laws is to be       
brought about1 as ,i trust  it is to be 
brought about1 at this anxious crisis of
 our nation's  history1 ,i1 for my part1
 am deeply convinced1 it cannot be      
achieved  except through a mighty       
awakening of the conscience of the      
people--through a baptism into fresh    
spiritual life--through a great         
stirring up of hearts to prayer and to  
action4 ,day by day1 as ,i work in  this
 cause1 it is more deeply impressed on  

my mind that we need a very  great      
reviving from on high4 ,since ,i came to
 ,scotland this thought has  never been 
absent from my mind for a moment1 night 
or day4 ,my soul  travails in pain up to
 this hour1 wishing and longing for that
  outpouring of ,god's ,spirit1 that    
breath of heaven which1 my friends1 ,i  
declare to you ,i believe to be our only
 hope1 in this our day1 of  preventing  
our country from entering upon the first
 step towards speedy  national decline  
and dissolution2 and it is a cause of   
grief and pain to  me that ,i can find  
no words in which to convey to you the  
strength of  that conviction which is   
laid upon my heart1 and of that motive  
which  impels me forward as by the force
 of an internal fire which burns        
without ceasing4 ,i resolved before     
coming here this evening that ,i would  
be bold1 and that1 though some here     
might perhaps think me fanatical1 ,i    
would tell you frankly out of my heart  
what ,i wish for1 what ,i think we      

need1 and more--what ,i believe ,god    
will grant us4 ,there is1 to my mind1 a 
cloud of blessing hanging over our land1
 which will not long remain a  little   
cloud1 but will cover the sky4 ,the     
enemy we have to contend  with is       
materialism1 productive of a despotic   
absolutism1 in one form or  other4 ,the 
evil we are combating has its root in a 
deep scepticism as to  the possibility  
of virtue1 and in the denial of eternal 
principles4  ,therefore it is that we   
can only combat it1 and its             
manifestations in  our laws and         
institutions1 by the power and ,spirit  
of ,god visiting once  more in an       
unusual degree this vexed land of ours4 
,before pointing out1 then1 the corrupt 
tendencies of some of our modern        
legislation1 ,i will sketch to you1 in  
the words of a great legal writer1  the 
main characteristics of just criminal   
jurisprudence1 begging you  never to    
forget that while the ,contagious       
,diseases ,acts have been  imposed upon 

us in the name of merely sanitary and   
economical  regulations1 they are1 in   
fact1 grave penal enactments--they have 
introduced a great and serious change   
into our criminal jurisprudence4  ,this 
legal writer says--8,the characteristics
 of a just1 fair1 and sound  penal trial
 7which characteristics are invariable  
in essence1 and hold  good for all time7
 are as follows3 ,no intimidation before
 the trial1 no  attempt by artifice to  
induce the prisoner to confess1 or      
criminate  himself2 the fullest possible
 realisation of the principle that every
  man must be held innocent until he is 
proved to be guilty2 bail2 a  total     
discarding of the principle1 that the   
more heinous the imputed  crime1 the    
less ought to be the protection of the  
prisoner1 but1 on the  contrary1 the    
adoption of the reverse2 a distinct     
indictment1 and the  acquaintance of the
 prisoner with it a long enough time    
beforehand to  give him time for        
preparing the defence3 the accusatorial 

process1 with  jury and publicity2      
counsel and defence for the prisoner2 a 
distinct  theory of evidence 7such as is
 defined by our statutes72 no hearsay   
testimony3 a verdict upon such evidence 
alone2 the accusation not to be  made by
 the executive40 ,now this definition of
 a just penal trial has  hitherto been  
strictly adhered to in every case of    
moral and legal guilt  involving severe 
penalties4 ,i could point out to        
you--7but you can see it  for           
yourselves7--how in every one of these  
particulars the ,contagious  ,diseases  
,acts depart from the characteristics of
 a fair1 just1 and sound  penal trial4  
,in the matter of mere economical laws  
there is no harm in  the fact of the    
accusation being made by the executive1 
indeed it is  needful--as for instance1 
when the policeman is the person who    
accuses a  cab-driver of driving        
recklessly2 but when it comes to a      
matter of such  awful seriousness as    
that of a woman's honour1 involving loss

 of  character1 which character is      
often1 to a poor woman1 her sole earthly
  property1 her only possession and     
capital2 involving1 moreover1 the       
penalties of personal assault1 of a     
nature inadmissible hitherto in law     
even in the case of proved outrageous   
guilt2 of imprisonment and of  public   
registration as an infamous person2 when
 it comes to this1 ,i say1  it is an    
awful thing to put the accusation in the
 power of the  executive--that executive
 being the secret police1 paid by the   
,state1 for  the sole business of       
detecting and hunting down suspected or 
unchaste  women4 ,again1 the evil is    
aggravated by the fact that no other    
witness  to the guilt of the woman is   
required1 except the government spy1 and
  that he1 by this law1 is not required 
to bring forward any overt act on  the  
part of his prisoner1 or one iota of    
positive proof1 but is only  required to
 believe and swear that the woman has a 
certain purpose or  intention4    ,if   

you doubt1 read the ,act carefully for  
yourself1 and read the accounts  of     
proceedings under the ,act4 ,again1 and 
this is all important1 the  denial of   
jury trial is cardinal to the very      
existence of these ,acts4  ,thus while  
to male criminals all the safeguards of 
penal law are  granted1 as indeed they  
ought to be1 women are deprived of every
 one  of these safeguards under these   
,acts4 ,now even supposing that none but
  the most guilty of the outcast class  
were brought under the ,acts1 the  ,acts
 still remain an extreme injustice1 and 
an aggression upon our  constitution1   
fraught with danger to the commonwealth2
 for1 as  ,chancellor ,hobart said1 8an 
element of license introduced into our  
criminal code is the first step towards 
the destruction of the liberty  for     
all40 ,i will not dwell on other points1
 as for instance the  enforced          
self-crimination of the women1 the      
dispensing1 often1 with the  formality  
even of a ,justice1 but will pass on4   

,my recent inquiries on these matters   
have made me very sorrowful1 as a  lover
 of my country1 and not only of         
womankind4 ,there are other ,acts of    
,parliament now in force1 and several   
others ,i fear about to be passed1  the 
tendency of which is in every case more 
or less unconstitutional1  and more or  
less demoralising1 using these words in 
a general sense4  ,this type of         
legislation seems to me to flow from one
 source4 ,i  scarcely know how to       
designate that source4 ,it is clumsy and
 despotic2  and1 though ,i have no doubt
 wellintentioned1 it tends to the steady
  increase of the criminal class1 by the
 rapid creation of new crimes1 new      
offences1 followed by new pains and     
penalties4 ,it tends to bring us back   
to the old pantheistic ,state worship1  
to the substitution of the will of  the 
,state for individual conscience1 and to
 that cruellest of all  tyrannies which 
,de ,tocqueville shadows forth in his   
pages on the  despotism of the future1  

the despotism which may exist with      
democratic  institutions4 ,this species 
of legislation assumes the right to     
coerce  human beings to any extent which
 may seem to minister to a given        
material end1 or to be temporarily      
expedient4 ,it is stringent1 punitive1  
and arbitrary4 ,it is unchristian in the
 sense that it practically denies  the  
possibility of moral renovation1 and    
cuts off the means of rising  from the  
stage of criminality to that of a       
reinstated membership of  society4 ,it  
deals out more and more punishment1 more
 and more penalties1  more and more     
espionage4 ,it1 in fact1 legislates more
 and more for  persons1 as if they were 
8physical facts10 and not 8moral        
agents40 ,it  defies the instinct of    
freedom in man1 and ignores the power of
 renewal  in human character4 ,the broad
 principles of our ,constitution are so 
glorious in their acknowledgment of the 
dignity and worth of human  beings1 that
 wherever this new legislation takes    

root1 it is obliged to  do so outside of
 the ,constitution1 so to speak1 or in  
direct violation  of its principles4 ,to
 the class of laws of which ,i speak    
belongs the  ,habitual ,criminals ,bill1
 which even now has begun to bring forth
 vicious  fruit1 to fill our streets    
with spies1 and to drive men to despair4
    ,again1 there is the ,pedlars       
,licensing ,bill1 which forbids a poor  
man to  get a license to sell anything  
who may have been formerly committed for
  a legal offence1 and which in fact    
says to a man1 8,you have sinned once1  
you shall not henceforward be allowed to
 pursue an honest trade40  ,pre-eminent 
among such legislation stand the ,acts  
against which we are  contending1 in    
this particular of branding those once  
fallen1 and  assigning them to the rank 
of professional and marked criminals4   
,but ,i must here point out very        
emphatically that the ,contagious       
,diseases  ,acts stand alone in one     
sense1 inasmuch as they embody a far    

deeper  iniquity than any of these other
 laws1 and directly violate the law of  
,god1 by offering protection to a vice  
which in opposition to that law  they   
pronounce to be necessary1 and inasmuch 
as1 while they cruelly  brand the class 
to whom they apply1 they at the same    
time give to the  awful traffic which   
this class pursues the dignity of a     
recognised1  legitimate1 and even       
protected industry4    ,it should be one
 of the aims of wise legislation to     
throw wide open the  door of recovery to
 the lapsed classes2 and motives even of
  self-interest should prompt           
legislators to endeavour to reinstate   
every  criminal who has endured his     
legal punishment4 ,the element1 which ,i
 have  tried to indicate1 embodied in   
some of our recent legislation1 tends to
  create a large class of criminals and 
outlaws1 of sullen and despairing       
people1 lost to self-respect1 and for   
ever hunted by a watchful police4  ,we  
are being hurried into fearful dangers4 

,it has appeared to me at  times as if  
we were smitten with a curse1 a judicial
 blindness1 which is  leading a         
,parliament1 nominally the most liberal 
we have ever had1 to  inaugurate a reign
 of materialism and despotism4 ,we know 
the effects of  the growth of a         
proletariate class in ancient ,rome and 
in other  countries4 ,we are rapidly    
creating at this moment a proletariate  
class1  and the creation of such a class
 ensures sooner or later the smothering 
of a nation in its own mud4 ,i hold in  
my hand an ,act of ,parliament1  called 
8,a ,bill for the better protection of  
infant life10 which to some  extent     
illustrates what ,i have been saying4 ,i
 do not wish to be  understood to       
condemn absolutely all such legislation1
 but it is  impossible not to be struck 
with the fact that this ,bill1 the      
8,habitual  ,drunkards ,bill10 and      
others which ,i have mentioned have not 
in them one  particle of prevention4    
,these ,acts of ,parliament assume that 

we are to  acquiesce in the present     
state of ,england as its normal state2  
they  assume that we are to continue to 
have so many thousands of paupers1 so   
many thousands of habitual criminals1 of
 outcast women1 of drunkards1  c41 c4   
,measures for dealing with these classes
 as they now exist may  be necessary2   
but1 while they are enacted1 common     
sense requires1 and  surely the country 
will demand1 that measures for          
preventing these  enormous evils shall  
at least keep pace with measures for    
regulating  them4 ,a measure1 for       
instance1 is passed for licensing       
baby-farming1 and  for punishing        
infanticide1 but nothing is done to     
increase the  responsibility of the     
fathers of illegitimate children1 and   
the seducers  of girls who are minors   
are still left unpunished by law4       
,little or  nothing has yet been done to
 lessen the temptations to drunkenness1 
while expensive provision is to be made 
for those who have become  confirmed in 

that vice4    ,now the spirit of the    
teaching of ,christ is the very opposite
 of that  which animates so much of this
 legislation4 ,it is said of ,god1 8,he 
giveth liberally and upbraideth not20   
but man gives grudgingly1  upbraiding   
all the time4 ,the ,christian religion  
teaches that we shall  forgive a fallen 
brother not once but many times1 and    
that forgiveness  shall be practically  
proved by granting an open path to      
recovery1 that  it shall not be a       
forgiveness followed by perpetual       
espionage1  suspicion1 and the ban of   
society fastened upon the once fallen   
for the  rest of their lives4 ,i am not 
insisting that the ,christian rule is to
 be  followed out to the letter in penal
 legislation1 but ,i maintain that      
legislation which violently adopts      
principles the very opposite of         
,christian comes from an evil source1   
and will be followed by disastrous      
consequences4    ,the principle of      
arbitrary compulsion embodied in some of

 our sanatory  ,acts is fraught with    
danger4 ,the medical and sanatory       
measures embodied  in such ,acts may in 
themselves be excellent1 but they are   
for the most  part grounded on opinion  
only--the opinion sometimes of a mere   
clique1--which opinion has none of the  
authority of those eternal  principles  
of right and wrong which are written    
within the human  conscience4           
,wherefore1 by the creation of a        
multitude of technical  crimes through  
the multiplication of these             
compulsory-sanatory and other  ,acts1   
the criminal class is enormously        
increased1 and to some extent the  mind 
is demoralised1 while the body may or   
may not be kept in health4  ,the        
forcible doctoring of the people1       
whether they will or no1 is1 as a       
matter of mere policy1 a most dangerous 
experiment4 ,the magisterial  powers now
 granted to ,state doctors1 the amount  
of domiciliary  visitation already      
legalised for police and medical men1 to

 which the  families of the poor have to
 submit1 are not likely to make the     
people  in love with the laws1 or to    
induce in them a readiness to help their
  operation2 and if the people at large 
do not cheerfully help the action  of   
any law1 that law must come to end      
either by dying a natural death or  by  
revolution4 ,much sullenness and        
revengefulness are even now being  bred 
in the minds of large sections of our   
working men by the action of  some of   
these stringent criminal-making laws2   
whereas it should be the  policy of a   
wise government to secure the           
co-operation of this vast and  powerful 
portion of our population in the        
maintenance of law and order4    ,there 
is another evil incidental to the       
enforcement of these multiplied         
enactments which are now so rapidly     
following one another4 ,all these  laws 
are administered by the central         
authority1 which1 from ,london1         
stretches its hand over the vast        

populations of our great cities4 ,this  
gradually increasing centralisation     
overrides municipal authority1          
represses corporate freedom1 and tends  
to deaden and stupefy the  political    
life and self-governing power of our    
great provincial  capitals4 ,the local  
self-government of our country has ever 
been the  object of the admiration of   
thoughtful foreigners1 who attribute to 
it  much of the manly character1 the    
respect for law1 and the readiness of   
resource in emergencies which           
characterise our countrymen4 ,but all   
these  things are struck at by this     
threatening imperialism1 which works the
  ruin of corporate freedom as much as  
that of individual virtue and  liberty1 
by treating the subject as a mere child 
or chattel1 and  imposing a uniform rule
 upon all alike4    ,the new forthcoming
 ,sanatory ,bill is one which ought to  
be jealously  watched by the people4 ,it
 seems likely to involve uniformity of  
prescription in matters where such      

uniformity is least wise1 and where  the
 power of self-regulation is most       
wholesome1 as well as to increase  the  
magisterial powers of ,state doctors to 
an extent hitherto unknown4    ,the     
influence of women and their faith in   
the recoverability of human  nature are 
needed in these legislative matters4    
,our male legislators are  apt to ride  
rough-shod over us in matters of        
domestic detail4 ,their  heavy-handed   
legislation is applied now not only to  
matters of imperial  interest1 but to   
everything which most nearly concerns   
our conscience  and feelings4 ,it seems 
to me that we women shall soon have to  
fight for  the last inch of ground left 
us2--not for our civil rights only1 but 
for  our hearths1 our homes1 our beds1  
our babies1 our very persons4 ,the      
crudeness of intellect of some of our   
young male legislators needs to be      
corrected by the wisdom of the          
thoughtful matrons of ,england4 ,a young
  ,m4,p4 said to me lately1 8,we shall  

do no good at all until we make  poverty
 a crime2 disease is already made a     
crime in some cases1 and  poverty ought 
to be so also40 ,i did not answer him1  
but in my heart ,i  said1 8,thou fool60 
,such are some of the dangers before us4
 ,it has lately been suggested by       
several gentlemen who are alive to this 
subject1 that it may be  desirable and  
necessary to form some sort of a        
,covenant or ,league1 of a  wide and    
national character1 for the protection  
of freedom and virtue as  its general   
object1 and in particular to observe    
vigilantly1 and examine  strictly1 every
 proposal and act of the legislature1   
especially such as  emanate from certain
 favoured cliques or professions1 and to
 secure that  nothing passes into law   
which has not the sanction of the whole 
nation1  marked by open debate in       
,parliament1 and by a majority of votes 
in a  ,house where there is more than a 
mere fraction of members present4 ,it   
has been suggested that no penal        

measures1 involving extensive           
interference with the liberty of the    
subject1 or measures sanctioning  the   
erection of new tribunals for the       
assigning of grave and terrible         
penalties1 shall in future be enacted   
except where two-thirds1 or at  least   
some reasonably large proportion of the 
,house are present4 ,it is a  rule1 in  
many private and public associations1   
that no grave or  important changes or  
measures shall be made or enacted except
 in the  presence of a very large       
proportion of the members1 constituting 
a  quorum4 ,it would surely be a very   
right and natural demand on the part  of
 the people of ,england 7with the       
warning they have now before their  eyes
 of the secret passing of the           
,contagious ,diseases ,acts7 that       
,parliament should never again make any 
great change in our penal code1  or     
infringe upon constitutional principles1
 in the name of sanitary  improvements1 
medical necessities1 or any other thing1

 except by means  of such a             
parliamentary quorum as would satisfy   
the nation4    ,any national league1    
such as has been suggested1 for the     
defence of the  constitution1 of        
liberty1 and of morality1 would of      
course be composed  both of men and     
women4 ,women are becoming rapidly      
educated in all these  matters1 and     
their vigilance would naturally exceed  
even that of men1  for most of these    
threatening tyrannies fall first1 if not
  exclusively1 on women and children4   
,i know not what work ,god may have in  
store for us1 dear friends1 but  this ,i
 know1 that it is not for any small end 
that ,he has called our  ,association   
together1 a mighty band throughout the  
kingdom1 united with  one heart in the  
presence of a common danger4 ,he has not
 called up all  these rapidly-formed and
 grave friendships1 this loving         
co-operation and  powerful mutual help1 
for any end or aim inadequate to so     
great an  instrument4 ,i believe that   

the repeal of the ,contagious ,diseases 
,act1  which is our immediate object1 is
 only a small part of the work ,he has  
designed for us4 ,i know not what that  
work may be2 but this is sure1  that    
,god knows and that he is guiding us4 ,i
 believe that the materialism  of the   
day and the principle which opposes that
 materialism are about to  meet and to  
try their strength in a deadly          
encounter1 and that we have a  great and
 holy work before us4 ,we must be filled
 with high courage1  hope1 and stern    
resolve4 ,think what a machinery we have
 now for work6  ,our branch societies1  
our local secretaries1 our power of     
concentration  on a given point at a    
given moment1 our organisation          
generally1  resembles a great           
telegraphic system which is a swift and 
formidable  power4 ,but our power is not
 in the machinery2 it is in the living  
principle which runs like lightning     
through this great telegraphic  system4 
,i know there is abundant life in       

,scotland1 but ,i venture to beseech    
you1  friends1 on behalf of ,england1   
which needs your help1 as well as of    
your  own country1 to pray and seek for 
a redoubling of that life2 for surely   
,god is about to do great things4 ,the  
power of evil is very awful1 but        
greater is ,he who is with us than they 
who are against us4 ,all cannot  work   
actively for the ends we have in view1  
but all can pray1 and          8,more   
things are done by prayer than this     
world dreams of40                       
,a4 ,ireland and ,co41 ,printers1       
,manchester4                            
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,,transcriber',s ,,notes        ,typos  
fixed2 non-standard spelling and dialect
 retained4    ,enclosed italics font in 
underscores4