,,rebecca ,,jarrett4 ,,by ,,josephine ,e4 ,,butler4 8,woe unto you1 scribes and ,pharisees1 hypocrites6 for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin1 and have omitted the weightier matters of the law1 judgment1 mercy1 and faith40--,,matthew xxiii4 #bc4 8,and the ,pharisees and scribes murmured1 saying1 ,this ,man receiveth sinners1 and eateth with them40--,,luke xv4 #b4 ,tenth ,thousand4 ,,london3 ,,morgan ,,and ,,scott1 7,,office ,,of 8,the ,christian107 #ab1 ,,paternoster ,,buildings1 ,e4,c4 ,and may be ordered of any ,bookseller4 ,a ,,cheap ,,edition ,,for ,,distribution ,,is ,,in ,,preparation4 ,price #a;d42 or #gs4 per #ajj4 ,illustration3 ,fleuron ,,rebecca ,,jarrett4 ,the trial is over4 ,our tongues are now loosed2 and we can speak4 ,and we will speak4 ,the whole nation will speak1 ,i doubt not1 for ,william ,stead1 about whose noble sacrifice of himself there is only one opinion4 ,it is not needful for me to add my mite of testimony to the character of that man1 whom ,i am proud to have called my friend for many years4 ,what ,i have to do is to speak of ,,rebecca ,,jarrett4 ,i am prompted to do so by my love and pity for her2 and also in response to multitudes of letters pouring in upon me1 from men and women alike1 expressing an opinion of her differing very much from that given in all the 8leaders0 of the ,london ,press on the morning after the verdict4 ,and now ,i am about to speak the exact truth4 ,i shall not attempt to clear her from the blame which attaches to her on account of her wavering in regard to truth under the cross-examination1 nor for the distinct falsehood which she uttered when pressed about her past life4 ,all ,i wish to do is to present the exact truth about her1 in justice to herself1 and to ,mr4 ,stead1 for whom she acted2 and also to give some incidents of personal history1 which may tend not only to palliate these departures from truth of which she was guilty1 but to show that the situation in which she was placed was pathetic--even tragic--and one from which there was1 humanly speaking1 no escape4 ,i accept gladly such an amount of contempt1 or half-scornful pity1 as has been publicly expressed for myself on account of my having been duped1 as is supposed1 by this poor woman4 ,while sitting in the ,court during the ,judge's summing up1 and observing how for the moment all alike--the good1 bad1 and indifferent--who were present1 as well as the outside world1 had for the time rounded upon this poor woman2 and how she was made1 so to speak1 the residuary legatee of all the errors and mistakes committed by the other prisoners in the dock2 and observing that this poor creature--the 8fallen woman0--was made the scapegoat1 the convenient burden-bearer1 upon whose shoulders execration1 and blame1 and contempt might be heaped ad libitum without protest from any--,i thought1 ,what a picture this is of the condition of the world at large6 ,down all the ages1 since that hour when ,christ and the outcast woman were face to face in the ,temple1 and every man in the surrounding crowd was pointing the finger of scorn at her1 the world has continually been pointing the finger at this typical figure of woe1 as the scapegoat upon whom1 justly or unjustly1 the sins and miseries of society must be heaped4 ,the question has always been1 8,what shall we do with her80 ,never till this last 8new era0 has dawned upon us1 has it been asked1 8,what shall we do with him80--him1 her companion in sin4 ,and now at last this woeful figure stands forth1 perhaps for the first time in the world's history1 as a fellow-worker in a great and noble cause for the emancipation of women from galling slavery to vice and to the hard judgment of men4 ,my thoughts were many and deep3 but a great calm pervaded my soul2 for above all the scorn and contempt expressed for that woman1 in which ,i was glad to be to some extent included--above all the wrangling and injustice of that ,court--,i saw1 as on a throne of light1 the figure of her ,saviour and mine2 and ,i recalled that scene when ,he1 sitting at the dinner-table of ,simon the ,pharisee1 was judged with the same worldly-wise pity and scorn which was now falling upon ,rebecca and me4 ,simon1 the gentleman1 the man of the world1 the righteous man1 said1 8,this man 7,christ71 if he were a prophet 7or even if he were a man of any common sense or knowledge of the world71 would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth ,him2 for she is a sinner40 ,i heard the whispers near me1 8,if ,mrs4 ,butler had not been such a fool1 she would have known what kind of woman this is1 and would never have trusted her40 ,and ,i was well content4 ,it is very probable that if that poor woman of the city1 who was a sinner1 who washed the feet of ,jesus with her tears1 had been called a few weeks later into a ,court of ,law in ,jerusalem1 and been placed for one long day and-a-half face to face with a sharp and clever ,attorney-,general1 to answer concerning her past life1 she also might have stumbled and wavered1 in order to save other poor sinners like herself1 whom she would have necessarily involved in any full revelation of her past4 ,and yet all the time she loved ,god2 and her sins1 which were many1 were forgiven her4 ,i shall give a brief sketch of the life of ,,rebecca ,,jarrett1 without entering into the details of its darkest incidents1 which have been already sufficiently dragged to light at the ,old ,bailey4 ,i think that1 after reading it1 any impartial person1 knowing anything of our poor human nature1 will say that1 if she misled ,mr4 ,stead1 as the verdict of the ,jury declares1 she did not mislead him intentionally4 ,she was put in an exceptionally difficult position for a person of her poor education and miserable antecedents4 ,her head ached and her brain reeled under those long hours of cross-examination1 and her memory 7never a good one7 often failed her2 but ,i1 who knew her most intimately1 here record my profound and unshaken conviction that throughout her heart was true--true to the cause which she had learned to love as we do--true to me1 and true to ,mr4 ,stead1 whom she had heartily desired to help in the work which she had learned to see to be necessary4 ,the public has not had a fair chance of judging of the whole case1 the newspaper reports having been imperfect1 and in many cases one-sided4 ,it is no pleasure to me or to my fellow-workers to speak ill of ,mrs4 ,armstrong and ,mrs4 ,broughton2 but in justice to ,rebecca1 the extraordinary nature of their evidence ought to be recalled4 ,mrs4 ,armstrong stated1 under cross-examination1 8,if ,i said that1 then1 at ,bow ,street1 ,i told a lie40#a ,she accused her little daughter of having told a lie2 she accused ,mrs4 ,broughton of having told a lie4 ,footnote #a3 ,with regard to failure of memory1 it will be remembered that the newspaper reports stated that ,mrs4 ,armstrong1 when under cross-examination1 contradicted her own previous evidence six times1 besides contradicting her husband1 her daughter1 and ,jane ,farrer4 ,mr4 ,stead cross-examined ,mrs4 ,armstrong somewhat closely as to what specific statements1 or allusions1 or clue of any kind1 there were in the 8,lily0 paragraph of the ,pall ,mall ,gazette article1 which first kindled her suspicions1 and led her to conclude that her child was the victim referred to4 ,stead's avowed object in this was to show the ,jury that unless ,armstrong had really sold her child1 and had therefore a guilty conscience1 it was strange for her to alight on the 8,lily0 paragraph as referring to herself and her daughter4 ,thereupon the ,judge stopped ,stead with this remark3--8,i suppose you will contend by and by that this child was sold1 and that1 knowing that1 you took it to rescue it from evil4 ,i suppose that is the story that will be told2 but it does not appear to me that the question of what passages caused her to identify #8,lily' as her daughter will help the defence you must by and by set up40 ,now1 it must be obvious to every impartial person that if ,stead could have shown by the witnesses' evidence that there was not sufficient in the article to justify her in assuming 8,lily0 was her daughter unless she had a guilty knowledge of the transaction described1 he would have rebutted one of the charges brought against him4 ,and yet the ,judge checked the examination6 ,the ,judge waited until this point had been further pressed upon ,armstrong by ,stead1 and then remarked to ,stead3--8,i think you have got enough now to enable you to urge upon the ,jury that the conduct of ,mrs4 ,armstrong was not consistent with that of an honest and affectionate mother40 ,all this seemed to have slipped out of the memory of the ,judge when he pleaded so tenderly for these witnesses1 saying that there were certainly some discrepancies in their evidence2 but what could they expect from poor ignorant women under severe cross-examination8 ,the same leniency was not asked for by the ,judge in the case of ,rebecca1 whose 8discrepancies0 were of a somewhat different nature from those of the witnesses above named4 ,now1 regarding that terrible falsehood of which so much has been said--and which1 as ,rebecca said1 was forced out of her by the ,prosecution1 in order to discredit the whole of her evidence--,i must give a few words of explanation1 such as they are4 ,the motive for that lie was one which ,i have heard several good men say almost forces one to respect the poor woman4 ,it will be recollected that certain companions of her former life--men--had come down to ,winchester1 and during a period1 from a fortnight to three weeks1 had haunted our neighbourhood and shaken ,rebecca's nerves and feelings exceedingly by their threats4 ,these were her former friends and companions of many years past1 bound to her1 as she was to them1 by ties of natural affection1 which are often exceedingly strong among the most criminal classes4 ,the very fact that they are themselves the pariahs of society sometimes increases that strong affection4 ,in ,rebecca that affection resembles almost the fierce love of the tigress for those whom her natural instinct leads her to defend4 ,the following are the facts1 which contrast curiously with the hypothesis of the ,attorney-,general1 distinctly stated in ,court1 that 8the man ,sullivan was a myth40 ,the man ,sullivan1 with others1 believing ,rebecca to be in a good position1 probably making money--and fearful that her breach with them1 which she had declared to them must be final1 would lead to inconvenient consequences to themselves--used threats which1 doubtless1 they might have carried out had they had the opportunity4 ,after a time ,i reluctantly appealed for protection to the ,winchester police1 who acted most kindly towards us1 watching these men1 and keeping a kind of guard over ,rebecca4 ,the annoyance continued1 however1 for some time2 and she became sad and troubled in appearance4 ,she came to us one day and said1 8,i have made up my mind2 ,i can bear it no longer4 ,they are my old friends1 and ,i am grieved for them2 ,i want them to turn over a new leaf and be good men4 ,will you let me send all my girls from the cottage for the forenoon to the ,house of ,rest1 so as to leave me quietly alone in the cottage8 ,i will then ask my old friends in1 and have it out with them40 ,i agreed1 though not without some fear1 for ,i had learned to understand the conflicting motives which worked in poor ,rebecca's mind--the intense love for her old friends and relatives1 opposed by the inward vow never to return to them1 and to break with all her past sinful life and companionships4 ,she carried out her plan1 however4 ,the men came in1 and sat on chairs placed for them opposite to her4 ,she spoke to them long and earnestly4 ,she pleaded with them for their own souls' sake2 she told them of what ,god had done for her2 she showed them in the cottage the proofs of the kind of life she was now living1 and of the mission she was carrying out1 under our auspices4 ,they could not mistake the character of that little home of peace and love--the ,bibles and hymn-books lying about1 the texts on the walls1 the neatness1 the evidences of industry1 the cheap contrivances to make the poverty of the place even tasteful and attractive4 ,the men were touched for the moment4 ,they saw the reality of what she had stated to them concerning her change of life4 ,they left her quietly1 but not before she had renewed to them her solemn promise never to bring them into trouble2 and this time the promise was made1 not as formerly1 but in the name of the ,god whom she had learned to love1 and as a ,christian and a changed woman4 ,the men were understood to receive her assurance as a proof of the sincerity of her change of heart1 their natural feelings being1 8,oh1 now that you have turned a good woman1 of course you will show us up40 ,it must be apparent how solemn were the feelings in ,rebecca's heart of the obligation never to harm them by any revelation made by her or step taken by her4 ,they afterwards went back from their better state of mind1 and renewed their persecution3 and this it was that decided us to send ,rebecca away for a time from ,winchester4 ,a proof of my confidence in her may be seen in this--that ,i refused to give up the mission work and the cottage so long as there was a hope of her returning to it4 ,i kept a place open for her2 and it was not true1 as ,inspector ,borner endeavoured to represent it in ,court1 that she had fled from fear of discovery1 and that the cottage had been hastily closed4 ,it was not given up for some three or four weeks later2 and ,rebecca herself wrote a letter from ,jersey giving detailed advice as to what she thought we had better do1 namely1 to send 8,katie0 to one situation1 8,emily0 to another1 and so on3 and then1 as she said1 8,shut up the cottage until better times40 ,bearing in mind ,rebecca's solemn promise1 made as a reformed woman and a ,christian1 and then following her to the witness-box on the first day of cross-examination1 we can see how terrible was the position in which she was placed4 ,she was ignorant of the old and well-known method of prosecuting ,counsel1 to take a poor man or woman whose life has been a bad one1 all through the past years1 and drag out of him or her confessions which the questioner knows well how to use4 ,the questioner knows perfectly well that there are points at which the wretched witness will hesitate1 and that he has probably grave reasons for concealing certain facts about which he is asked2 and so possibly a falsehood is forced out1 and then the prosecutor1 in a tone of high and outraged virtue1 points out that not one single word of all that that perjured witness says can now be believed4 ,we1 ,rebecca's friends1 saw the device in advance2 we saw the fatal snare laid for her3 but she1 poor soul6 did not4 ,she answered truly as far as she could1 until it came to the giving of an address which would have involved others in trouble4 ,then there flashed across her the promise made in her evil days1 and the promise made later from better motives1 under her new character4 ,there rose afresh in her mind the desire that those to whom she had given her promise should see that a reclaimed woman would not break her word4 ,she was standing between two oaths--the first1 made to her old friends2 the second1 made in the witness-box1 to speak 8nothing but the truth40 ,reader1 were you ever in such a position8--between two solemn promises1 both of which you desired to keep1 but which were opposed the one to the other8 ,if you ever were1 you can feel for this weak young convert to truth1 and you can pity her weakness4 ,yes1 she told a lie4 ,she looked across the ,court at me with an expression on her pale face which ,i shall never forget4 ,that night1 on returning to her lodgings1 she spent several hours on her knees1 weeping as if her heart would break2 no word of consolation availed for her4 ,it was in vain to try to comfort her4 ,she cried1 and screamed to ,god1 8,o ,god1 ,i have told a lie2 ,i have perjured myself in the witness-box2 ,i have lied before the world2 ,i have ruined this cause1 and ,i have got all my kind friends into trouble6 ,and yet1 ,o ,god1 ,thou knowest why ,i did it--oh1 ,thou knowest why ,i did it4 ,look into my heart2 ,thou knowest why ,i did it60 ,she was very stupid--very blundering4 ,what she ought to have done was1 on the first day of cross-examination to refuse1 as she did on the second day1 to give any evidence at all concerning years long passed1 which had nothing whatever to do with the case of ,eliza ,armstrong4 ,she was not sharp enough to see that4 ,meanwhile1 ,inspector ,borner had been sent down by the ,government to the places mentioned1 and came back with the triumphant news that she had given a false address4 ,in the witness-box1 on the second day1 poor ,rebecca1 seeing the snare into which she had fallen1 in a voice full of pain1 said to the ,attorney-,general3 8,you forced that lie out of me2 you make people tell lies40 ,then she took up the attitude which she ought to have assumed at first1 of a distinct refusal to say one other word concerning her past life4 8,if you want to know about that10 she said1 8you have got to find it out for yourself40 ,during the whole of that day she was cross-examined2 she suffering in health1 her head aching1 and her brain reeling4 ,any one who has ever been1 for only a quarter of an hour1 under the ruthless cross-examination of a ,government ,prosecutor1 knows something of what it is4 ,with all the desire in the world to speak the exact truth1 one feels one may be any moment tripped up1 especially by the repeated demand to answer1 8,yes or ,no20 a demand which sometimes cannot possibly be obeyed consistently with truth4 ,i do not attempt to deal in detail with the discrepancies between the evidence given by ,rebecca1 concerning her account given to ,mr4 ,stead of her transaction in ,charles ,street1 and ,mr4 ,stead's own account of that given in the ,pall ,mall ,gazette4 ,i must say that those discrepancies do not seem to me so very extraordinary as the ,judge or the ,attorney-,general appeared to believe them to be4 ,let us recall the circumstances4 ,i saw ,mr4 ,stead frequently during the time of his 8descent into hell40 ,i say now1 as ,i have said before1 that that man combines the deepest tenderness of a compassionate woman with the manly indignation and wrath of a man--a father1 whose feelings are outraged by crimes committed against innocent maidens1 the helpless1 and the young4 ,at the time that he was making his investigations1 those who saw him were sometimes almost afraid for his reason4 ,he scarcely slept4 ,we know what his nights were1 when he1 a pure-minded man1 nurtured in the most refined and sternly ,christian home1 was going through the agony of visiting the infamous houses of the ,west ,end1 where the leaders of the conspiracy of gold and lust reign triumphant4 ,he was night after night seeing sights which made his brain reel and his heart bleed4 ,at times he was tempted to give up all faith in ,god1 in justice1 in the atoning sacrifice1 and the love of ,christ4 8,it is a sham10 he would cry1 8a horrible sham1 the whole of our professed ,christianity and civilization40 ,he felt as a man walking on the thin crust of a burning volcano1 which might at any moment break under the feet of our people and let them down into the gulf beneath4 ,his eyes were like burning coals within his brain4 ,he had to pass rapidly from one part of his work to another with scarcely any interval of rest4 ,he himself has confessed he did not take notes at the time of his conversation with ,rebecca4 ,an interval of some weeks passed before he wrote the story1 which he1 however1 confidently believed he was writing truly as from ,rebecca's lips4 ,rebecca herself1 true as steel at her heart1 was1 as ,mr4 ,stead has said1 8muddled and confused in brain40 ,the troubles and long illnesses of her past life have not left her with the best of memories or the clearest power of expression4 ,between those two there arose some confusion in the recital of certain facts2 but to me it appears that these facts were not vital to the case4 ,she distinguished between the terms 8brothel0 and 8bad house10 and ,mr4 ,stead did not4 ,mr4 ,stead stated that she told him a certain house was a brothel4 ,in the witness-box she said1 8,no1 it was not2 but it was a #8bad house4'0 ,the one term in her mind represented a house where immoral persons reside for immoral purposes2 the other more of the character known in ,france as a house of assignation4 ,but the lines between the two expressions were not to her so distinct as they might seem to the learned ,judge2 nor1 indeed1 are they at all clearly defined by the police in their occasional raids upon the vices of the poor1 and their more than occasional overlooking of the houses of ill-fame to which rich and high-placed profligates resort4 ,the police apply these terms with remarkable freedom1 in accordance with certain principles which guide them in their official action4 ,while ,rebecca was speaking1 in answer to the ,judge1 of her old friend ,broughton1 she had1 ,i believe1 before her mind the promise she told us had been made to 8,nancy10 that she would not get her into trouble4 ,this accounts for her evidence against ,nancy having been softened down in the ,court1 and thus not wholly agreeing with the description of her former friend which she had given to ,mr4 ,stead4 ,here1 again1 the motive of regard enters for her former friends and companions whom she desired to spare4 ,no one can say1 who saw her under that fearful day of cross-examination1 that ,rebecca tried to shelter herself4 ,she was forced in the most cruel manner to speak of her past life1 and of incidents and shameful things in it which had no bearing whatever on the present case4 ,but she did not shrink from what affected herself4 ,her wavering began and ended where loyalty to her old friends came in4 ,in the month of ,may1 while talking to ,rebecca of the way in which ,god had drawn her out of her wretched life1 ,i asked her several questions1 and she replied1 8,i will write some day for you a little history of my life in my poor way40 8,this is just for yourself10 she said4 ,she did so2 and turning over my papers to-day ,i find an old copy-book in which there is the following record in her own handwriting1 and with her own poor defective spelling and grammar4 ,i give it as it is3-- 8,,the ,,history ,,of ,a ,,rescued ,,woman4 8,,isaiah lix4 #a4--#8;,behold1 the ,lord's hand is not shortened1 that it cannot save2 neither his ear heavy1 that it cannot hear4' 8,,isaiah liv4 #g1 #h4--#8;,for a small moment have ,i forsaken thee2 but with great mercies will ,i gather thee4 ,in a little wrath ,i hid my face from thee for a moment2 but with everlasting kindness will ,i have mercy on thee1 saith the ,lord thy ,redeemer4' 8,rebecca ,jarrett was born of respectable parents1 her father being a good tradesman2 but through his excessive drinking brought on failure of business1 and early death of the father1 the mother having to struggle hard with seven children4 ,rebecca being the youngest1 and the only daughter1 as would be expected1 the mother lavished a good share of her love and care on her4 ,this daughter lived at home with her mother till the age of fifteen1 being brought up in a private school2 but the chief thing was neglected in the bringing up of this daughter--the name of ,jesus was never mentioned1 nor a prayer thought of by this loving mother for her family4 ,so ,rebecca was brought up in ignorance of her ,redeemer and ,saviour4 8,at the age of fifteen she entered into service1 but only stopped one month in her first place1 remaining at home again for seven weeks4 ,then she was taken into a good family as housemaid1 being tall of stature2 and after living there for five months 7she was then a little over fifteen7 she came in contact with one of the gentlemen visitors1 who by flattery and presents led her to meet him in the evening unknown to her mistress4 8,on a ,good ,friday she went for a day's holiday to her home4 ,after having tea with her mother and brothers1 she left that home1 not to enter it again for some years2 for that evening1 as she was returning home to her master's house1 she was met by this deceiver and led away from the path of virtue4 ,by making some excuses for her absence she was taken back to her place1 but still carrying on this sin till she could hide her state no longer4 ,she was bound to leave her place4 ,from there she went to ,southampton1 where she was met by this gentleman1 who accompanied her to ,st4 ,helier's1 ,jersey1 where she was left alone by him to get over her trouble under the care of a ,frenchwoman4 8,in ,january a little girl was born4 ,she was then taken to ,fairfield1 in ,derbyshire1 with her child1 where she lived for two years with this man as his mistress1 till another child was born4 ,he then took her to ,manchester and placed her in a house of ill-fame to get a living for herself and her two children1 which she did for twelve months1 carrying on a sinful career and giving way to drink and all kinds of vice4 8,she afterwards met with an accident from a fall1 by which she sustained the injury to her hip which lamed her for life4 ,she was laid up for a considerable time in an infirmary4 ,on leaving the infirmary1 she found that her two children had been taken away from her2 the father claimed one1 and the other died4 ,this loss of her children broke that young woman's heart4 ,the one was put away in some school which she could not trace4 ,they kept it from her1 as they said she was leading a bad life1 and was1 therefore1 not a fit mother to have the charge of her children4 ,about that time she was advised to go into a ,home2 but her heart was turned to bitterness on finding herself scorned by all who knew her1 and the one thing she had been longing for and living for1 she had been deprived of--to hear the voice of her children4 ,one fond word from them would have woke up her mother's heart within her1 and made her try to do better4 ,to feel their little arms around her neck once again1 and to hear them call her #8mother' once again6 ,though they were the children of sin1 yet she had a mother's love for them2 but they were gone from her for ever4 8,some kind hands were put out to help her then1 but she refused all help1 and returned with her mother to ,london1 where she drowned her sorrow in drink4 ,she afterwards made several attempts to begin again a respectable life1 but fell from one sin to another4 ,she then met with a man who took her about as his wife4 ,he was a commercial traveller1 but he could not give her the peace and rest which her heart was longing for2 and from this time she entered still further into sin by taking four more of her poor sisters1 to join her in her sinful career of life4 ,oh1 my kind friends1 where was ,god during all this time not to awaken her up8 ,why was her heart so hardened not only for herself1 but to lead her younger sisters into sin8 8,it would have been well if her sins were ended here2 but they did not4 ,for after awhile a larger house was taken1 and more poor girls were taken in4 ,what horror to think that she was the cause of many of those poor girls being introduced into a life of sin and vice2 some of them leaving their homes--father and mother1 perhaps1 far away in the country2 some led away by false deceivers1 who1 to gain their purpose1 bring them to these houses4 8,the girls thus brought in are led to believe they are being taken to some of their friends1 and when they enter they find the house filled with poor unfortunates2 and then with drink they are soon overpowered1 and the seducer gains his purpose4 ,after this the poor girls mostly feel there is no rise for them now2 they dare not let their friends know what has happened2 so they stop where they are1 and give themselves up to an evil life4 ,the great condemnation is for that landlady to encourage such sin4 ,such is the history of ,rebecca ,jarrett4 8,once a poor girl came from ,exeter1 and having lost her situation1 came to ,rebecca to live where she was4 ,she afterwards caught cold2 but no notice was taken of it1 till at last the doctor was sent for4 ,inflammation of the lungs was pronounced to be very bad1 till she found she could not get over it4 ,she then thought of her ,sunday-school and her aged parents4 ,she asked ,rebecca to pray2 but no one in that house knew how to pray1 and could not do so4 ,her parents were sent for from ,exeter2 but she was dead when they came4 ,she died the same morning1 and with no prayer offered up for her4 ,rebecca cannot now bear to think of the day when that father and mother came to witness that loved daughter dead in that house4 8,you can guess what were the feelings of ,rebecca1 who had led her into sin1 when she saw the look of that father and mother1 who knew that she had helped their daughter to her sinful career4 ,what sharp remorse1 and what despair she felt6 ,will ,god ever forgive her8 ,for that one soul did she not deserve to be cast down in her sins8 ,but she did not listen to the voice of ,god even then1 her heart was so hardened2 she still went on in her sins4 8,i fancy ,i can hear you say1 #8,it was time she was cut down1' but ,jesus ,christ did not think so4 ,she was taken from ,london to ,northampton by a man1 leaving her house in the care of her mother and brothers1 who had come to live with her4 ,she had been a week at ,northampton1 when she was down ill of bronchitis4 ,the doctor came and ordered her to keep her room4 ,she was left a great deal alone at that time4 ,and now it was that ,god began to awaken her from the sleep of death in which she had been for thirteen long years1 #8having her understanding darkened1 being alienated from the life of ,god through the ignorance that was in her1 because of the blindness of her heart2 who1 being past feeling1 had given herself over to lasciviousness1 to work all uncleanness with greediness' 7,eph4 iv4 #ah74 #8,behold1 these three years ,i come seeking fruit on this fig tree1 and find none3 cut it down2 why cumbereth it the ground8 ,lord1 let it alone this year also' 7,luke xiii4 #g74 8,rebecca was very ill1 and no one to look to her1 except the landlady of the lodging1 who belonged to the ,salvation ,army2 and by her speaking to the ,captain of the ,northampton ,corps1 unknown to ,rebecca1 she came to visit her4 ,rebecca was extremely rude to her at her first and second visits1 but in consequence of her loving care and attention to her while she was so ill1 she allowed her to come often2 but she would not listen to the message of salvation which the ,captain wished to give her4 8,still this noble woman would not be daunted in the work for her ,master4 ,she got ,rebecca to go and live with her in her own house1 and as she found that talking was of no use1 she just lived her life of a good ,christian before ,rebecca1 which made a great impression on her2 so that at last she consented to come up to ,london to ,mrs4 ,bramwell ,booth's ,refuge4 8,she got very unsettled again1 and longed to go back to her old home2 but dear ,mrs4 ,booth prevailed with her1 though it sometimes took many hours' pleading and praying for her3 and even then she was not saved4 ,but the great conflict had begun4 ,she was rescued the #bast ,december4 ,in the following ,january1 while at ,mrs4 ,booth's1 she came across some of her old companions1 who pressed her to go home1 with the excuse that her mother was ill and the house going out of order4 8,on the #adth ,january they noticed her packing her box1 and began to question her about the meaning of it2 and she told them she was going back home again4 ,mrs4 ,bramwell ,booth spent the whole of the morning1 and the next day1 pleading with her2 but it seemed of no use4 ,in the afternoon the kind friends still would not give her up4 ,dear ,mrs4 ,booth1 ,miss ,sapsworth1 and all of them1 kneeled around her as a last resource4 ,they gave her into ,god's hands1 and asked ,him not to let her go1 for the sake of her own soul1 and for the sake of the poor girls whom she had kept in her house4 8,the conflict was great1 for ,rebecca had to give up her home and relatives1 and to cast herself1 entirely dependent1 on the hands of strangers4 ,but ,god was strong to deliver1 and ,he helped the kind friends2 for at five o'clock that day1 after seven hours of prayer and pleading1 ,god gave the victory1 and ,rebecca fell down at the feet of ,christ ,jesus and acknowledged her misery and sin4 ,and ,he who had watched over her during all these years of sin took her that night and washed her in his own precious blood from every stain4 8,after this ,rebecca was taken ill1 and had to go to hospital4 ,mrs4 ,booth thought it was best for her to leave ,london1 as she had a bad hip1 and they sent her to ,mrs4 ,butler's hospital ,home at ,winchester to rest for a time1 and get her away from all her friends in ,london2 as her own mother and brothers would be looking to her for support1 and the man she had lived with1 and others1 were doing all they could to get her to come back4 ,this made her new course of life very difficult4 ,she was more than two months in the hospital 7,house of ,rest71 but was often wavering and unsettled in mind40 ,rebecca goes on to tell of a deepening of the work of grace in her own soul2 especially speaking of a day in ,april1 when1 after many hours of inward conflict1 she rose from her knees with a beaming face4 ,she then continues3-- 8,till then ,rebecca had always had the idea when she prayed that she was speaking to ,god1 but that ,he was far away from her2 but on this day in ,april it was different4 ,she felt as if she had that day met with ,jesus1 and she has kept closer to ,him since that day4 #8,god be thanked1 that ye were the servants of sin1 but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you4 ,being then made free from sin1 ye became the servants of righteousness' 7,rom4 vi4 #ag74 8,after staying awhile longer in the ,winchester ,house of ,rest1 ,god put it into ,miss ,humbert's heart to go out into the streets at night and seek those poor fallen girls4 ,so on the first ,saturday night after this ,miss ,humbert took ,rebecca with her to try and undo some of the evil she had done1 by speaking to her poor lost sisters in the streets and in the public-houses4 7,rebecca1 who had been very lame from hip disease1 recovered the power of walking somewhat suddenly during a time of earnest prayer that ,god would heal her completely2 and after this she walked without fatigue for many hours a day in her mission work47 ,twelve of those girls were spoken to on the first night of the mission1 and on the following ,monday were visited in their homes2 and from that time ,rebecca went on working for her poor sisters4 8,a cottage1 to which we gave the name of #8,hope ,cottage1' was got for her1 so that ,rebecca could take her poor sisters home with her when she rescued them2 and1 thank ,god1 one was rescued from a bad house after two years of a sinful life1 even before they had got the furniture into the cottage4 ,a week later another was brought in who had been leading a sinful life fourteen years4 ,she was broken down in body2 but ,god called her at the eleventh hour to give up all sin1 and give herself to ,him4 ,another and another was got in2 and then some of these rescued ones went down to ,portsmouth and visited over forty houses of ill-fame4 ,they got their poor sisters to come home with them to their lodging1 and gave them tea1 and afterwards spoke to them about ,god4 ,they might have got some of these poor girls to have stopped altogether if they had only had a place to bring them to4 ,some under the age of fourteen were carrying on the life of prostitution1 sometimes in company with men over forty years of age--old enough to be their grandfathers4 8,you1 dear friends1 who read this history will hardly realize it is true2 but you have a living witness of the truth of it4 ,this is not written in order to speak of the sinful past2 but to encourage ,christian friends to help the poor rescued ones on their new life--for the struggle is hard4 ,no one knows but those who have gone through it4 8,i would like to say it was not the being shut up in a ,home for a length of time that won ,rebecca1 or brought her to ,god4 ,it was the love and kindness of those around her4 ,if love and kindness will not bring them to ,god1 no locking up in a ,home will4 ,often on our visits we hear the girls tell us they have been in such and such a ,home2 and when they get out they have again sunk as deep in sin4 ,dear friends1 speak to these poor creatures1 and tell them you love them1 and let them see that you love them2 and then they will believe in ,god's love4 ,i write this from my own experience2 this is how ,i was won for ,jesus by my friends in ,winchester and ,london3 not by preaching to1 but by their love for me--a poor1 miserable sinner1 scorned by all men40 ,to this account of herself ,i must add--what ,rebecca cannot so well tell--some details of the work she did in ,winchester4 ,it was from my observation of her1 and her influence amongst the most degraded of men and women1 that ,i conceived the idea of a little ,mission ,school of reclaimed women1 who might be trained to go forth to seek and save the lost of their own sex4 ,so far as we were able to carry out this idea1 we found it wonderfully fruitful2 and ,i do not mean to lose sight of it on account of a temporary check4 ,rebecca's influence here was something extraordinary4 ,her love and pity for the worst sinners were genuine and unbounded4 ,she shrank from nothing that might have been repulsive or difficult to a more refined or less loving nature4 ,she went straight into the worst and lowest dens of infamy1 choosing frequently for her most arduous work the ,saturday night1 when drunkenness most prevails4 ,she would stand in the midst of a den full of men and women of the lowest type1 get them down on their knees1 pray with them and for them1 and teach them to pray2 and when other persuasions failed1 she related to them what she herself had been1 and what ,god had done for her4 ,the reality of what she thus recorded struck home2 many faces turned to her in wonder1 and the fact that she had been one of themselves and now ardently desired their salvation1 seemed to have a power to win their hearts and to overcome their incredulity1 beyond any power which the words of a more blameless person might have had4 ,her influence was great with those low drunken men who abound in towns where the ,contagious ,diseases ,acts have been in force2 lazy scoundrels who disdain work1 and live upon the prostitution of those poor creatures 7formerly ,government prostitutes71 whom they tyrannize over1 and often treat most cruelly4 ,one of these1 who afterwards attended our meetings like a man 8clothed1 and in his right mind10 came lately1 on hearing of her visit to ,winchester1 to express his gratitude to her for what she had done for him4 ,a man and his wife1 who had kept a notorious house of ill-fame for a great number of years in ,winchester1 were persuaded by her to give up their house1 and induced even to co-operate with her in helping some of the inmates to a better life2 and they themselves1 yielding to her persuasion1 took rooms near her1 not far from the cottage4 ,their evil house was closed1 and remains closed to this day4 ,this place had withstood the repeated efforts of the police and of philanthropists2 and at last succumbed to the simple persuasions and strong love of this poor woman--the same who during the recent weeks has been made the object of the fullest vocabulary of scorn1 hatred1 and contempt4 ,the man and his wife1 above referred to1 hearing that ,rebecca was with us for a few days in the interval between the hearing at ,bow ,street and the trial at the ,old ,bailey1 came to us begging that they might 8just see her here for one moment to say1 #8,god bless you1'0 and added1 8for what should we have been but for her80 ,i must again mention ,mary ----1 to whom ,i recently referred in speaking at ,exeter ,hall4 ,she was a handsome woman1 of superior intelligence and nature1 who had lived in great sin1 and was bound in that life by affection to a man who1 though not worthy of it1 seemed to exercise a strange spell over her4 ,week after week1 ,rebecca pleaded with her in the streets1 with tears and most earnest entreaties2 and at last she prevailed4 ,the poor woman came1 suffering and ill1 to ,hope ,cottage1 too ill indeed to be properly received there2 but ,rebecca welcomed her1 and she was put into an upper room1 and nursed with the utmost tenderness and unwearying love by ,rebecca1 in circumstances which to most people would have been almost intolerable4 ,it was one of those cases in which the sufferer becomes a mass of corruption before death4 ,the inhabitants of the neighbouring cottages were so annoyed that they made a formal complaint3 in consequence of which it became necessary at last to remove her to the pest-house of the ,union1 where she died4 ,but during her sojourn with ,rebecca1 this poor ,mary ---- thought she was 8in heaven40 ,the love of the woman who did everything for her with her own hands1 although faint from the sickening odour of the wounds she had to dress1 won that poor soul4 ,she saw what the ,saviour of sinners was1 through the faint likeness of ,him reflected in this poor ,rebecca4 ,she accepted the message of salvation which ,rebecca brought to her4 ,we were obliged to take precautions1 and remove other inmates from the house4 ,rebecca felt constantly sick1 but never uttered the slightest expression of disgust2 and if her task was spoken of to her as a sacrifice1 she repudiated the idea1 and said1 8,oh no1 ,i would do anything for her2 ,i love her so much40 ,when these things passed before my mind in the ,law ,court1 during the five long hours of summing up1 in the course of which the most dishonourable epithets were applied to this 8disgusting and abominable woman10 ,i again recalled that scene in the ,temple1 where a sinful woman stood in the midst of a crowd of accusers2 and ,i thought1 ,if the ,lord ,jesus ,christ had entered that ,court of ,law1 and standing in the midst1 had said to all present1 from the highest to the lowest1 8,let him that is without sin among you cast the first stone at her0--would any have moved8 ,how many would have left the ,court8 ,how many would have remained8 ,rebecca ,jarrett's vindication has yet to come4 ,but it will come4 ,i wondered if such an act of self-sacrificing love could ever come even within the range of the imagination of many in that ,court2 and ,i remembered that there is a ,god in heaven1 who1 while man's condemnation was falling so crushingly on her1 was not and will not be unmindful of 8her labour of love40 ,the success of the mission on which ,i sent ,rebecca to ,portsmouth1 accompanied by two of her rescued friends1 who were being trained in the ,cottage1 has been testified to by others resident there1 who continued to write urging us to allow her to come again4 ,i take a few extracts from the little ,journal which she kept at that time at my request4 ,it is headed by the words1 8,is not the ,lord gone out before thee80 8,may #dth4--,took lodgings in ,portsmouth4 ,went to a ,salvation ,army meeting4 ,asked ,god for fresh courage for the work4 8,may #eth4--,a wet day4 ,plenty of work for us4 ,visited in ---- ----1 ,no4 #bg1 ,mrs4 ,s---- and three girls2 ,mrs4 ,p----1 ,no4 #bh2 ,mrs4 ,t----1 ,no4 #bi1 a ,roman ,catholic1 and three girls4 ,spoke to two2 one promised to come to us4 ,visited ,nos4 #ca1 #cg1 #ch1 #ci1 #dj1 #da1 #db4 ,no4 #dd1 full of girls4 8,may #fth4--,went visiting the #8bad houses' three hours in the afternoon4 ,katie and ,mrs4 ,s---- spoke to five2 and ,i and ,katie went for three hours at night to ,queen ,street4 ,stopped about nine girls4 ,spoke and prayed in the evening meeting of the ,salvation ,army40 ,the same kind of report follows of ,may #gth1 giving addresses of ten houses visited4 ,similar reports for following days4 ,at the end of the mission1 when they left ,portsmouth--where they were most lovingly helped by ,salvation ,army friends--some of these poor girls followed them to the station with grateful offerings of humble bouquets of flowers1 wishing them ,god-speed4 ,they quickly recognized those who really loved them4 ,my own relations with ,rebecca are illustrated by the following letter1 written by me to her at ,portsmouth4 ,i find it among her little treasures left behind with me3-- 8,,the ,,close1 8,may4 8,,my ,,dearest ,,rebecca1--,we have read with deep interest all your letters2 and our hearts are following you with love and earnest prayer4 ,i know the state of ,portsmouth must make your heart sick with sorrow to see vice reigning unrebuked1 and souls perishing unrescued4 ,the town is so large2 #8the fields are white to the harvest1 but the labourers are few4' ,don't let yourself run short of needful money1 my dear1 so long as you think you can usefully remain where you are2 for ,i am sure our ,god will supply me with the needful funds4 ,i deeply sympathize with your wish to go and preach ,jesus to your former acquaintances in ,london2 but you must come back here first1 dear ,rebecca4 ,the ,cottage and the work do not seem at all the same thing when you are away4 ,give my dear love to ,katie4 ,i am so happy in thinking of you4 ,every blessing be with you4 8,j4 ,e4 ,,butler40 ,the following is an extract from one of her letters to my friend and secretary1 ,miss ,humbert1 about the same time3-- 8,my heart is set upon the ,winchester work4 ,you have led me on wonderfully in ,god's service1 which ,i never could have done without your help4 ,we shall be at ,winchester at #c4db4 ,i have two girls1 ,i think1 coming2 one a little girl of #ad4b ,we are taking her from one of the worst streets here4 ,there are three sisters4 ,we have begged the mother to let them come home with us2 but they will only let this one come4 ,all three are living in sin4 ,and we have another1 ,i think1 of #bj years of age4 ,we believe we shall not come home empty-handed4 ,last night one of the poor girls brought me two lovely bunches of flowers and a nice geranium in a pot1 and she says she will come to ,winchester to me2 but she has got to sell her house4 ,i have a lot to tell you when ,i come home40 ,footnote #b3 ,in future ,rescue ,work of this kind1 we must1 if ,mr4 ,justice ,lopes rightly interprets the law1 be on our guard to obtain the formal consent of the father before any child is taken out of the life of sin4 ,we have always believed the mother's consent was enough4 ,as the summer went on1 ,rebecca expressed the feeling sometimes that some severe discipline was in store for her4 ,she wrote in ,july to ,miss ,humbert3-- 8,i feel there is some trouble coming4 ,i could wish now ,i had never left my home and undertaken this other affair4 ,i love you all very much4 ,do you think it would be best to shut up the ,cottage for a time8 ,i have left them no money2 for ,i had only #es4 ,if you will look at my books1 ,i only owe the baker for the bread2 he never brought his book4 ,i wish ,i had you with me this afternoon to hear your loving words4 8,your grateful1 rescued1 8,,rebecca40 ,the ,attorney-,general made much of the idea he had conceived1 which indeed has no foundation in fact--that ,rebecca undertook the work she did for ,mr4 ,stead1 because she knew that her whole future depended on her doing it4 8,she knew10 declared the ,attorney-,general1 8that she would lose her position with ,mrs4 ,butler20 her future with ,mr4 ,stead would be damaged2 her whole prospects in life ruined--unless she did this thing4 ,in this1 as in many other assertions1 ,sir ,r4 ,e4 ,webster is absolutely wrong4 ,rebecca had nothing either to gain or to lose by undertaking the work of ,mr4 ,stead4 ,the pressure put upon her was far from being what the ,attorney-,general asserted it to be4 ,i said in my evidence in the ,court 7but it was not reported in any newspaper7 that ,rebecca had lived sufficiently long with me to have learned to share my convictions and wishes concerning the mass of criminal vice existing in ,london and other places4 ,many a conversation have we had together in my own room or elsewhere on this subject2 and in our prayers together we have asked ,god to let in the light upon this mass of wickedness1 hitherto carefully shrouded by the conspirators of greed and lust4 ,she had wept before me over the sufferings of the children2 and when it was told her that ,mr4 ,stead was about to take some desperate action to draw the veil aside and overcome the worst obstacle we had found opposed to us in the last fifteen years--namely1 the incredulity of good people as to the existence of these crimes--she was ready to do her little best to help in the great work4 ,we were as sisters together1 not 8employer and employed0--as reiterated by the ,attorney-,general and the ,judge4 ,she never received one penny of pay from me1 nor from any one here1 nor from ,mr4 ,stead4 ,i placed her here in the humble cottage1 and gave her work to do2 when her boots or her gown were worn out ,i may have supplied her with some of my own old clothing1 as she always wished to have a neat appearance3 and ,i can testify to the fact that the comforts and adornments of the cottage were of a very humble description2 the food was very plain1 and the economy exercised by ,rebecca was severe4 ,i have all her little account-books before me as ,i write2 and it is touching to me to mark her strict conscientiousness over every penny spent1 and her plans for saving1 even perhaps to the disadvantage of herself and her girls1 as much as possible4 ,she had nothing to lose or gain by undertaking the work for ,mr4 ,stead1 which proved to be too hard for her4 ,i had her with me for several hours previous to her going to ,london1 and we talked the matter fully over3 we asked ,god to guide us2 and to this hour ,i believe ,he did guide us1 in spite of our mistakes4 ,if ,rebecca had said1 on leaving the room that day1 8,mrs4 ,butler1 ,i cannot undertake this work10 ,i should have replied1 8,all right1 dear ,rebecca1 don't attempt it4 ,go back to your work at the ,cottage40 ,she would not have incurred one moment's displeasure from me2 and she knew it4 ,i here interpose a remark4 ,it may be asked1 ,what induced me to unite with ,mr4 ,stead in making use of so poor an instrument1 so young a convert1 and one with so terrible a past history1 for the difficult work for which we engaged her8 ,to this ,i reply that ,mr4 ,stead needed for his purpose an 8ex-brothel-keeper30 that was the character he told me he must have4 ,he had tried several1 who professed more or less of sincerity4 ,they each at the very outset got drunk1 and made off with the needful money he gave them to carry out his directions4 ,supposing that you who ask the question wanted for an end--which certainly was a holy1 though a desperate one--such a character as this1 where would you turn8 ,is such a person easy to find for such a work8 ,is it usual to find one who would have combined anything like a wish to serve a good cause with the experience of a disreputable past8 ,it must be obvious to you how difficult it was to find the person wanted4 ,i do not wish to make any excuse for my own share in the hardihood and imprudence to which ,i am ready to confess1 and of which ,i was guilty in asking ,rebecca to undertake this difficult work2 but in an exceptional enterprise we were forced to use exceptional means2 and ,i can echo the words of ,mr4 ,stead1 that even our mistakes and want of wisdom have been1 and will be1 overruled for the success of the great cause we have at heart4 ,supposing we had seen a house in flames1 and we knew that in that house were shut up a number of little children who must perish unless the doors were broken open4 ,the doors are barred3 no entrance can be effected except by a violent blow4 ,we seize the first instrument we find to our hand in the attempt to break open the door2 but the instrument is too feeble1 and breaks in our hands4 ,will you blame us because of that fact8--or will you not rather remember that one thought alone was present to our minds2 and that was the horrible fate that awaited those children1 and that our hearts were filled with the one absorbing desire to save them8 ,rebecca continued her ,mission work in ,winchester with success1 after the incident of the procuring of ,eliza ,armstrong1 up to the #aath ,july1 when she left ,winchester4 ,much was said in the ,court about the letter written by ,rebecca to ,broughton on the #ajth of ,june4 ,it seems to have perplexed many people3 to me it was quite clear4 ,my own friends at least will accept1 as worthy of credit1 what ,i have to say concerning this2 though ,i expect nothing but derision from the cynics who posed during the ,trial in pretended astonishment over the hypocrisy of the woman who professed a desire for the real good of a person who had sold her child4 ,i had followed ,rebecca's inmost thoughts and mind during all this period4 ,she felt that in acting the part imposed upon her1 she had1 perhaps1 done an unkind thing4 ,day after day her yearning after little ,eliza became more intense4 ,i said to her on one occasion1 8,you seem to have an extraordinary love for that child2 how is it80 ,she replied1 8,the child and ,i have gone through so much together--through such strange scenes3 and ,i do long to have her with me1 to act straight towards her and her poor mother1 and to show them what ,i really am1 and what ,i feel towards them40 ,i can attest that1 beyond all doubt1 poor ,rebecca dwelt night and day upon the thought of making the whole story 8end well40 ,she built a sort of castle in the air1 in which she continually dwelt4 ,her plan--her dream--was as follows3 ,to get the child from ,paris2 to have her with us here to train and teach her2 then a little later to take her herself to ,charles ,street1 ,london1 to present her to her mother and father1 and to ,mrs4 ,broughton1 and to make use of her own position towards her--as well as the child's well-being--to convince these poor people that she 7,rebecca7 was indeed a changed character2 and try to show them that1 low and sinful as she knew them to be1 the same ,saviour who had changed her could change them1 and enable them to live new lives4 ,we spoke together of a plan of inviting ,mrs4 ,armstrong to come and stay a few days at the ,cottage4 ,we would1 ,rebecca hoped1 induce her to give up the drink2 and we would show her the happy life of those who had really turned from their sins1 and were serving ,god4 ,the end in view1 in writing this letter and the subsequent postcards1 was the conversion of these poor souls4 ,yes1 in spite of all that the ,judge1 the ,attorney-,general1 the ,london ,press1 and ten thousand cynics may say1 this was the real and true feeling and purpose of ,rebecca's heart4 ,there are others1 besides myself1 who can testify to it4 ,the ,attorney-,general suggested that ,i am a weak and amiable person1 who could be made to believe anything by any poor wretch who chooses to 8pose0 before me as a 8,magdalen40 ,i have had a life-long experience of the most unhappy of my own sex2 compared with which the experience of the gentlemen in the ,court--even the most advanced in life--is that of mere children4 ,i cannot therefore be surprised at their crude judgments in the matter4 ,some of them expressed wonder at ,rebecca having a single kindly thought toward ,mrs4 ,armstrong4 ,how little do they know of human nature1 in its conflicts1 and wrestlings to free itself from sin1 in its flashes of generosity and high feeling1 even in its worst estate6 ,men of the world are wise1 no doubt1 in their generation2 but often blind to much which concerns the spiritual world and the deepest life of the human soul4 ,my astonishment was great1 as ,i sat in that ,court1 at their own confession of their deep ignorance of human nature4 ,that letter of the #ajth ,june1 then1 clumsily 7for ,rebecca is clumsy in all her ways and words7 expressed the desire of the writer to prepare the way for the interview with ,mrs4 ,armstrong and ,mrs4 ,broughton1 which was to be the beginning of a new chapter in the story2 and the beginning1 she hoped1 of blessing to their souls4 ,no opportunity was given me in the ,court of throwing any light on this part--or any part--of her actions1 although ,i was known to be her most intimate friend2 and we were told1 ad nauseam1 that the question of 8motive0 could not be in any way admitted4 ,what ,i here state is confirmed by the letters written later by ,rebecca to ,mrs4 ,bramwell ,booth1 in which were the following expressions3--8,her conscience reproached her10 she said1 8for leaving the child alone among a lot of foreigners40 8,i am a mother myself1 and have a mother's heart4 ,i loved this little one as a mother does40 ,and the little one loved her2 and would have been well cared for if she had been left in ,rebecca's hands4 ,i do not here enter into the details of the alleged 8abduction0 process1 of which we have heard enough and more than enough of contradictory statements and conflicting views4 ,among the incidents connected with the ,old ,bailey1 ,i will just mention1 however1 a conversation ,i had with ,mrs4 ,bramwell ,booth at the close of one of the most painful days in ,court4 ,i quote only from memory3 her words were true and wise words4 ,leaning sadly against a window1 looking out on the ,court1 she said to me3 8,oh1 ,mrs4 ,butler1 how little do these men know of the lives of the very poor6 ,how little do they understand what it is for a poor creature to free himself or herself from vicious surroundings and the wretched past6 and how little do they know of ,god's patient dealing with such souls struggling out of darkness to light60 8,our heathen in ,england10 ,i replied1 8are in the position of the heathen converts to whom ,st4 ,paul wrote as #8dearly beloved in the ,lord1' and #8called to be saints4' ,yet shortly afterwards he has to instruct these same people in the first principles of morality4 #8,let him that stole steal no more4' ,men must be honest1 and work1 and not live by rapine4 ,he has to rebuke them both for vices and crimes1 such as incest1 and for drunkenness while partaking of the sacrament40 8,no10 she answered3 8our highly-placed1 worldly-wise gentlemen have no real experience of the ignorant1 wretched populations of heathen ,england2 else they would know that even when the heart of one of these is thoroughly turned to ,god1 perfectly sincere1 and meaning to lead a new life1 the conscience still is for long enough covered with the rust of past evil habits4 ,they are strangers--absolute strangers--to the ethics of ,christianity in which we1 more happily placed1 have been carefully trained from childhood4 ,the conscience1 even after conversion1 has to be trained and polished1 so to speak4 ,to us a lie1 or even the approach to prevarication1 is a thing which we carefully avoid and condemn in ourselves4 ,to them1 accustomed to lie1 cheat1 swear1 etc41 during their whole lives1 it is not so easy--even after the poor soul has come out into the light1 and is filled with the joy of salvation--to shake off the habits of falsehood and prevarication4 ,it is in vain to expect the full education of a trained ,christian in such converts drawn from the slums40 ,mrs4 ,booth continued3--8,i think they would judge differently of the sincerity of ,rebecca1 if they could have seen her as ,i have seen her in the first weeks after her rescue4 ,i have stood over her and wiped the great drops of perspiration from her forehead1 when for hours she has wrestled in a kind of death-grip with her old temptation--the love of strong drink4 ,once she had obtained a glass of spirits after some hours of depressing faintness and exhaustion through her self-imposed abstinence4 ,with this standing before her1 she prayed in an agony2 ,i watched her1 prayed with her1 and pleaded for her2 and she conquered1 and thrust it from her4 ,this may seem a little thing to persons who have never been slaves to drink2 but it is not a small thing2 it is a test of a real and desperate sincerity in one who has been a subject of that raging passion40 ,the following little note was written to me by ,rebecca in the ,old ,bailey1 and passed along to me3-- 8,,the ,,dock1 8,november #gth4 8,,dear ,,mrs4 ,,butler1--,i do thank you very much for your love and kindness to me during all this time of trouble2 and more especially for your confidence in me after all the terrible things you have heard said of me by the ,prosecution in this ,court4 ,i am not at all flinching from the punishment which will be put upon me4 ,god will be with me in prison1 and with all of us4 ,what we did was done for a good end2 and ,god will stand by us all4 ,but think of me2 pray for me4 ,you know how unwilling ,i was to do all that2 but ,i do not mind what people think of me4 ,god knows all about it4 ,remember me very kindly to ,canon ,butler1 and to all ,i know at ,winchester--,miss ,humbert1 ,mrs4 ,hillier1 ,mrs4 ,jones4 ,my love and deepest gratitude to yourself and your sister1 ,mrs4 ,meuricoffre4 ,god bless you4 8,from your ,,rebecca40 ,canon ,butler1 to whom she alludes with affection1 has often testified to his good opinion of her4 ,he writes of her thus1 in response to an application from a friend3-- 8,,the ,,close1 ,,winchester1 8,november1 #ahhe4 8,i hear that ,rebecca ,jarrett is likely to suffer from prison treatment4 ,i cannot refrain from expressing a hope that she maybe treated with all possible leniency during her imprisonment1 for the following reasons3-- 87#a47 ,she has suffered for some time from a weak hip1 which frequently troubled her when she was at the ,house of ,rest4 87#b47 ,because1 when she was at ,winchester1 her conduct was excellent1 both as matron of a small cottage with several girls under her charge1 and as an active agent in rescue work4 87#c47 ,because1 whatever may have been her faults1 ,i believe her to be a sincere convert1 and capable of being usefully employed for ,christian work4 8,,george ,,butler1 ,d4,d41 8,canon of ,winchester40 ,i brought ,rebecca home with me on the night of the #gth1 after the verdict4 ,on ,sunday1 the #hth1 we had a crowded meeting in our ,house of ,rest1 to express sympathy with her4 ,canon ,butler spoke on ,paul and ,silas in prison1 singing praises to ,god at the midnight hour4 ,rebecca said1 after the meeting3 8,don't trouble about me1 kind friends2 ,i don't mind the prison4 ,this is how ,i take it4 ,i have been a great sinner in the past2 and ,i take this going to prison as a chastisement for my past1 and not for what ,i did for ,mr4 ,stead1 which ,i did with a good motive40 ,when talking privately to ,miss ,humbert1 she said1 8,i have been so tired and knocked about4 ,i do feel ,i would like to be alone with ,god in the prison1 even if it was for a year40 ,i cannot help alluding1 with gratitude1 to the kindness and loyalty of several of the barristers in the ,court--for the most part young men--and to their personal courtesy to us2 to ,mr4 ,read1 who has twice been bail for ,rebecca2 and to other friends whom ,i might mention4 ,i am sure that fortnight in the ,old ,bailey was an educating time to many4 ,numerous great questions have been focussed in this bitter struggle2 amongst others1 the question of the gradual slipping away of some of our constitutional liberties1 over which many of us have mourned for years4 ,i made my protest publicly1 seven years ago1 against the withdrawal of the prisons of the country from local control1 and the centralization of their management in the ,home ,office4 ,i foresaw the tyranny which might henceforth be practised without hope of redress2 for now1 when an abuse arises1 or a prisoner is cruelly treated1 we can only appeal from the wrong-doer to the wrong-doer1 from the tyrant to the tyrant2 and we know by experience how little hope of justice we have when we appeal to the ,government against the wrong-doing of its own officials4 ,again1 ,i protested publicly against the institution of the ,public ,prosecutor4 ,i know that it is pleaded that there are occasions when such an institution is indispensable4 ,it may be so2 but ,i have observed for many years past on the ,continent--and now the same observation is beginning to hold for ,england--that in cases where any question affecting morality or the action of reformers of abuses is involved1 the ,government1 through its ,public ,prosecutor1 almost invariably sides with the vicious against the virtuous--almost invariably acts in the interests of that portion of society which seeks to hide abuses by a conspiracy of silence1 by which all hope of reform is barred4 ,we cherish the hope that1 in spite of the encroachment of principles foreign to the ,english sense of freedom1 the sacred institution of ,jury-trial will continue in its integrity1 and that ,english ,judges will continue to be impartial and just1 as in our past history they have for the most part been4 ,i can scarcely exaggerate the shock it was to my feelings1 as a humble watcher for many years for my poor country's good1 to hear that summing up of ,mr4 ,justice ,lopes on ,saturday1 ,nov4 #gth1 and the tone in which he repeatedly impressed on the ,jury that they had no alternative but to find a verdict of guilty against two of the accused4 ,he had previously ruled out any question of the mother's authority in disposing of her child1 and based the question entirely on that of the father2 and then1 again and again1 he reminded the ,jury1 that this being the case1 and it being clear that the father's consent had not been obtained1 they1 the ,jury1 could consequently pronounce but one verdict4 ,surely the country will be on its guard in future as to what may be expected whenever a ,government prosecution is heard of in connection with any question of this nature vital to the moral life of the people4 ,i was also surprised to hear the ,judge say more than once that he did not understand1 and was astonished at1 the interest which this case had excited in the country4 ,it is no defect of intellect which prevents the appreciation by the ,judge of the deep interest taken in this case by the thousands in our land who appreciate the vital principles involved in it4 ,it is the habit of men of the world to look at all things from the point of view of the conventional standard of society in which they move--a society which seems to be becoming yearly more corrupt4 ,i am much mistaken in my reading of physiognomy if the majority of those ,jurymen were not themselves surprised at the ,judge's summing up4 ,i believe them to be honest men1 who intended to be thoroughly just2 but they were placed in a difficult position1 the ground having been so narrowed on which they were to pronounce their verdict1 and having been forced to eliminate from their considerations all question of motive4 ,it is as true of human law as of ,divine law1 that 8the letter killeth1 but the spirit giveth life40 ,it is equally true that1 by a blind adherence to technical formalities1 administrators may find themselves acting in direct opposition to the spirit of the law1 while carrying it out in the letter4 ,mr4 ,auberon ,herbert justly remarks that the time for free discussion of the attitude of our judicial tribunals has come1 when the lay sense of justice and the legal sense of justice diverge4 ,we are a law-abiding people3 hence it is all the more easy for a ,judge1 by basing his decisions upon a merely technical idea of justice1 to overawe and unduly influence for a time the good and moral portion of the community1 so as to produce a temporary verdict outside the ,law ,courts which agrees with that inside in condemning those who have rendered the highest service to the nation by labouring to make the law more 8honourable40 ,but that verdict is only temporary4 ,the real1 well-considered verdict of the nation is yet to come4 ,present events are educating the people in regard to their own share of responsibility for the personal character and acts of our judges and magistrates1 as well as of our representatives in ,parliament4 ,william ,stead1 worn out and ill1 has written in a moment of depression words which ,i regret in his farewell leader in the ,pall ,mall ,gazette4 ,he speaks of having had a fair trial2 compliments the prosecution2 confesses himself to have been to blame2 hopes that nothing will be done to reverse the sentence4 ,against some of these expressions the country will loyally protest1 though we shall readily forgive our brave and beloved friend for having fallen momentarily into such a tone4 ,perhaps ,mr4 ,stead may think that he himself was courteously treated2 but what of the courtesy or even decent fairness shown in regard to ,rebecca1 upon whom the utmost of vituperation permissible in a ,court of ,law was vented8 ,in conclusion1 ,i think ,i scarcely need to say any word to those who have been my fellow-workers in the cause of ,purity for many years4 ,they1 ,i am sure1 rejoice1 as ,i do1 in the midst of all our trouble1 that this question has come fairly to the front1 and that it can never be thrust back again into darkness4 ,god is using the blindness of our ,government1 of the ,press1 and their supporters1 to bring about some great revolution for good which could not be born without agonizing birth-pangs4 ,no great thing has ever been done except through suffering4 ,the ,salvation ,army are not wrong in taking for their device the words--8,blood and ,fire40 ,revolutionists for ,god and for purity must be ready to go through blood and fire4 ,though for the moment hearts may fail1 and the wicked seem to triumph and sin to have the victory1 already we have our reward in many ways--in the passing of a better law1 and in the partial check given to the great machinery of criminal vice1 even without the action of the law1 by the publicity given to the machinations of the evildoers4 ,surely every one who can move1 speak1 write1 or pray1 will now haste to the rescue4 ,no reticence on the part of the ,public ,press1 or any other power1 will ever succeed in drawing the veil again over the horrors which have been once exposed1 nor in stifling the cry of the poor victims4 ,a young girl spoke to me a day or two ago1 having heard of the result of this trial4 ,with despair in her eye1 and bitter scorn on her lips1 she spoke in a low1 muffled tone1 and said3 8,i am sure ,god doesn't care a bit for girls4 ,whenever there is a chance of something being done for us1 and of these wicked men being punished1 then the ,government comes and stops it all2 and the good people are punished and frightened1 and all the work is put an end to2 and girls are as badly treated as ever4 ,god lets off the bad rich men so easily1 and doesn't care for us girls a bit40 ,i said to her3 8,stop1 child2 have a little patience1 and you will see40 ,but she only answered in the same low1 bitter1 scornful tone3 8,but we have waited so long--so long60 ,do not let this poor child's expression of despair be forgotten4 ,it is typical of what thousands are realizing1 more or less consciously to themselves4 ,but that ,god does not care is not true3 and we shall prove it6 ,if justice and judgment linger1 it is only that their triumph may be the more complete4 ,thousands of hearts and consciences will respond to the following words of ,rev4 ,,hugh ,,price ,,hughes3-- 8,while our ,government is squandering thousands in an attempt to ruin the one man to whom we owe a revolutionary improvement in the law1 they are doing practically nothing to stop the real evil4 ,the police of our great provincial towns are already effecting unprecedented moral improvements under ,mr4 ,stead's ,act4 ,but the #aj1jjj ,metropolitan policemen1 under the direction of the ,government1 have done nothing except allow ,mrs4 ,jeffries to escape1 rebuke ,minahan1 and prosecute ,mr4 ,stead4 ,all the journals which for fifteen years have never broken their conspiracy of silence1 except to advocate the obscene and iniquitous ,contagious ,diseases ,acts1 are now howling against ,mr4 ,stead4 ,to each of them1 as to ,judas ,iscariot of old1 it must be said3 #8,that thou doest1 do quickly4' #8,this is the hour and power of darkness4' ,now is the time to betray the cause of virtue4 ,stab away with your malignant and mendacious articles at the quivering hearts of pure women and good men4 ,hasten to fill up the measure of your iniquity4 ,jesus of ,nazareth1 the ,friend of sinners1 the ,protector of children1 has heard our prayers4 ,the night is far spent4 ,the long-expected day of ,purity and ,justice and ,brotherhood is at hand40 ,illustration3 ,logo ,london3 ,,morgan ,,scott1 #ab1 ,paternoster ,buildings4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,rebecca ,,jarrett4 ,,by ,,josephine ,e4 ,,butler4 ,,press ,,comments4 8,this little book is one which should be read by all who desire to know the truth about the recent trial at the ,old ,bailey4 ,feelings of respect and sympathy cannot fail to be called forth towards one so earnest-hearted and devoted as the writer40--,british ,women's ,temperance ,journal4 8,all fair-minded persons ought to welcome the account of ,rebecca ,jarrett's life1 just prepared by ,mrs4 ,josephine ,butler4 ,we venture to think that the perusal of this pathetic sketch will modify those hard and bitter feelings towards this woman1 which some good and sincere people think themselves justified in cherishing40--,the ,christian4 8,we beg our readers to purchase at once the little book which ,mrs4 ,josephine ,butler has just issued1 entitled #8,,rebecca ,,jarrett4' ,it is published at sixpence by ,morgan and ,scott4 ,it places ,rebecca ,jarrett in quite a new light1 and brings out the real character of the recent trial more clearly and fully than it has been brought out by anybody else40--,,rev4 ,,hugh ,,price ,,hughes in ,the ,methodist ,times4 ,illustration3 ,fleuron ,,now ,,ready4 ,,fourth ,,edition4 ,handsomely ,bound4 ,price ,six ,shillings4 ,,catharine ,,of ,,siena3 ,a ,,biography4 ,by ,,josephine ,e4 ,,butler1 ,author of the 8,memoir of ,john ,grey of ,dilston10 c4 ,,with ,a ,,portrait ,,engraved ,,on ,,steel4 ,,extracts ,,from ,,reviews4 ,the ,spectator says--8,mrs4 ,butler1 as we cannot but believe1 has achieved a great success1 and of the pages of this remarkable biography it is difficult to say whether they reflect more strikingly the aspects and events of the great century in which ,catharine lived and laboured1 or the personality of the saint herself40 ,the ,literary ,world says--8,the story of ,catharine of ,siena1 as told by ,mrs4 ,butler1 presents the saint in such a new light1 that it is well worth reading by those who would turn with weariness from the lives of the saints as told either by the ,bollandists or ,benedictines4 ,it teaches us that1 as one man in his time can play many parts1 so a life which we are tolerably familiar with in one aspect may be seen in a totally new light1 according as it is grouped with others or simply studied by itself4444 ,we are ready to admit that we have made a discovery in reading this life of ,st4 ,catharine1 and the discovery is all the more striking since ,mrs4 ,butler has apparently not sat down with any intention of rehabilitating the fair ,sienese saint40 ,the ,dundee ,evening ,telegraph says--8,we see in the beautiful character portrayed by the accomplished authoress of this volume a noble1 pure and devoted ,christian worker4 ,she visited the forsaken prisoner2 she brought comfort and hope to the lost and abandoned2 she visited the sick1 and in the hour when all human help fails and the fairest hopes of earth wither1 we see her holding before the plague-stricken dying people the sacred emblem of sorrow and of triumph1 and pointing undismayed to the unfailing refuge40 ,the ,freeman says--8,no ,christian reader will fail to be edified by the devout spirit and the profound sympathy with all that is noble and heroic in philanthropy1 which pervades both the biographer and the subject of the biography40 ,the ,christian says--8,we should be glad that all the women of ,england1 and especially the ,christian women1 should read this noble life40 ,,london3 ,,dyer ,,brothers1 ,,paternoster ,,square 7,,corner ,,of ,,rose ,,street74 ,may be ordered through any ,bookseller1 or will be sent post-free on receipt of the published price4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,typos fixed2 non-standard spelling and dialect retained4 ,used numbers for footnotes4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4 ,enclosed blackletter font in equals4