Josephine E. Butler : an autobiographical memoir

V

JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER

I

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All rights reserved

^osepbtne B. Butler

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR

EDITED BY

GEORGE W. AND LUCY A. JOHNSON
With Introdtation by

JAMES STUART, M.A., LL.D.

SECOND IMPRESSION

BRISTOL
J. W. ARROWSMITH, n QUAY STREET

LONDON
SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & COMPANY LIMITED

1909

PREFACE.

IT is very difficult worthily to record the
history of one of the noblest women who ever
lived, but, having been asked by the Ladies'
National Association for the Abolition of
Government Regulation of Vice to prepare a
Memoir of Mrs. Josephine Butler, we have tried
to tell her life story as far as possible in her own
words, by means of extracts from her writings,
with just sufficient thread of explanation to
hold them together. The present volume is
therefore to a large extent an autobiography,
taken chiefly from her Recollections of George
Butler, and from Personal Reminiscences of a
Great Crusade ; but selections have also been
given from most of her principal publications,
so as to give some idea of her extensive literary
work. We have not included any private
letters, as it was her strongly expressed wish
that these should not be published.

Many of the quotations have been abridged,
but they have not otherwise been altered,
except in a few cases where dates, etc., have
been corrected. We have however ventured,

vi . PREFACE.

for the sake of securing a continuous narrative,
occasionally to combine passages taken from
different sources.

As this volume is intended to give an
account of Mrs. Butler's own life and work, it
has not been possible fully to sketch the
history of the movement, with which her name
was specially identified, or to allude to many
of those associated with her in that movement,
whose labours she so heartily appreciated, and
whose friendship she so greatly valued.

We are much indebted to the editors of
Josephine E. Butler : Souvenirs et Pensees
(Saint-Blaise, Foyer Solidariste, 1908), having
in many cases used the same extracts as
are given in that volume. We have also
to thank Mrs. Butler's representatives and
various publishers (Horace Marshall & Son,
Macmillan & Co., and others) for permission
to quote from copyright works.

G. W. J.
L. A. J.

May ist, 1909.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I.
DILSTON

Page

ix

OXFORD

CHELTENHAM

CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER IV.
LIVERPOOL .....

CHAPTER V.
EDUCATION OF WOMEN .

CHAPTER VI.
WOMEN'S REVOLT ....

CHAPTER VII.
COLCHESTER ELECTION .

CHAPTER VIII.
APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA

CHAPTER IX.
MISSION TO CONTINENT .

CHAPTER X.
THE FEDERATION ....

CHAPTER XI.
GOVERNMENT BY POLICE

CHAPTER XII.

REPEAL

. 17

44

. 56

• 74

. 87

. 98

. 113

. 128

. 148

. 165

. 170

viii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII. paKt

WINCHESTER . . . . . . . 1 86

CHAFER XIV.
INDIA 204

CHAPTER XV.
GENEVA ........ 217

CHAPTER XVI.
PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES .... 232

CHAPTER XVII.
THE STORM-BELL 244

CHAPTER XVIII.
TWO CONFERENCES .... . 263

CHAPTER XIX.
MEMORIES ..... . 274

CHAPTER XX.
THE MORNING COMETH ...... 2QO

APPENDIX ........ 3M

PORTRAITS.
JOSEPHINE BUTLER, circa 1852 . Frontispiece

GEORGE BUTLER ... • 72

JOSEPHINE BUTLER, circa 1876 . • 144

GEORGE BUTLER .... . . 196

JOSEPHINE BUTLER, IQOO ..... 2QO

INTRODUCTION.

JOSEPHINE BUTLER was one of the great
people of the world. In character, in work
done, in influence on others, she was among
that few great people who have moulded the
course of things. The world is different
because she lived. Like most of the very
great people of the world, she was extremely
cosmopolitan. She belongs to all nations and
to all time. The work she did, the people
she influenced, prove this. Her Voice in the
Desert has been translated into most languages
of Europe, and has spoken like the voice of a
compatriot to the people of every land.
She was a great leader of men and women,
and a skilful arid intrepid general of the battles
she fought. As an orator she touched the
hearts of her hearers as no one else has done
to whom I have listened. She aimed at a
perfectly definite object, but round that
object there gathered in her mind many
others, all converging to the same end. She
left behind her wherever she went new
thoughts and new aims and new ideals.

Around her central thought grew up many
others, and a host of good works have been
left in many countries as living memorials of
her influence. She thus not only led a great

x INTRODUCTION.

crusade, but she helped to raise the characters
of the individuals engaged in it.

But while I write of her public work, it
would be but half the truth unless I said a
word about her personally. She was at home
in every class of society. She was very
beautiful, and of a very gracious presence,
and the impression made by first seeing her
and hearing her voice has, I expect, been
forgotten by none who ever met her. She
was of a very artistic temperament. She was
a good painter, an extremely good musician.
She was a bold rider, and active, though
always of a somewhat weak health. Her
industry and application was unbounded.
She was very full of humour, and, while
deeply in earnest, had the faculty of being
at times charmingly gay. She dressed with
great taste and simplicity. She, above all
things, loved her home and her husband, and
that love was wholly returned.

I have said she was extremely cosmopolitan,
and all who have known her know how true
that is. At the same time she was a great
lover of her own country, and particularly
of the borderland between England and
Scotland, where she was born, and where she
now lies buried in the churchyard of
Kirknewton, where many of her ancestors lie.
For she came of an old Border family ; and
bravery, and the alertness of battle, and the
power of self-sacrifice, and the indignation
against wrong which characterised her, came
to her, perhaps, partly through her descent.

She was a great reader of the Bible, and
a humble suppliant before the throne of God..

INTRODUCTION. xi

But, while her own beliefs were clear and
definite, she had no narrowness in her views,
and the very names of those who have been
her foremost supporters show how wide her
sympathies were, and how acceptable she
was to people of all creeds, as well as of all
politics and of all climes.

She had to endure much, especially in the
early stages of her crusade — the averted
glances of former friends, the brutal attacks
of ignorant opponents — but the inspiration
of a mighty purpose enabled her to rise above
all that, and to preserve a serenity of mind
and of manner through it all.

And now, what is the sum of it all ? It
seems to me to be this, that we must all be
glad that she lived. We are each of us
individually better, and the world as a whole
is better, because she lived ; and the seed
that she has sown can never die.

JAMES STUART.

Josephine l£, Butler.

CHAPTER I.

DILSTON.

JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH GREY was born at Milfield
Hill, in the county of Northumberland, on April
I3th, 1828. She was the fourth daughter of John
Grey, and of his wife Hannah Annett. In her
Memoir of John Grey of Dilston, she writes thus
of her birthplace and family.

It seems to me that any life of my father must
include, to some extent, a history of the county
in which he was born, lived and died. He loved the
place of his birth, sweet Glendale. His affections
were largely drawn out to that Border country ;
not only to the living beings who peopled it, but to
the scenes themselves — the hills, the valleys, and
the rivers. All through his life there will be found
evidence of the heart-yearnings towards them; and
these are shared by his children, to whom there
seems no spot on earth like Glendale. This attach-
ment to our native country is perhaps stronger
among us than among some families, because for so
many generations back we were rooted there.
Greys abounded on the Borders ; they were keepers

2 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1828.

often of the Border castles and towers, living a life
not always very peaceful in regard to their Scottish
neighbours.

Glendale is rich in romantic associations : every
name in and around it brings to the mind some
incident of war, or lover's adventure, or heroic exploit
recorded in English ballads, or sung to sweet Scottish
tunes, or woven later into the poems of Sir Walter
Scott. It is a very beautiful range of hills which
skirts Glendale to the west ; their very names,
Yeavring Bell, Heathpool Bell, Newton Torr,
Hetha, Hedgehope, and Cheviot — were delightful to
my father's ear. Directly in front of our old home,
Milfield Hill, lies the scene of innumerable fights
between Scotch and English, Milfield Plain, and
from its windows might have been seen the famous
battle of Humbledon Hill.

Flodden Hill, about a mile north of Milfield Hill,
hides beneath its soil traces of the great battle of
1513 : broken pieces of armour of men and horses
were sometimes dug or ploughed up, and brought to
the house, to be treasured up as relics. Many a
time did my father recite to his children every
incident of that battle, as he rode or walked with them
over Flodden, sometimes resting at the " King's
Chair," or by " Sybil's Well." His memory was so
good that he could go through almost the whole of
Marmion, and other poems relating to that woeful

day,

When shivered was fair Scotland's spear,
And broken was her shield.

His dislike of the Stuarts was great, but he would
tell, with a sorrowful sympathy, how the " flowers of

1828.] DILSTON. 3

the forest," the noble youth of Scotland, " were
a' wede away."

After the battle of Flodden the Border warfare
degenerated into a system of recriminative plunder,
which continued till comparatively recent times.
It is only a few generations back that our Northum-
brians used to watch the fords all night long, with
their trained mastiffs, to prevent the Scotch from
carrying away their cattle. At one of the early
meetings of the Highland Society at Kelso, my father
said : " There was a time, and that at no distant
period, when, had it been possible for such animals
as we have seen to-day to exist, it would have
required the escort of our honourable Vice-
President, Sir John Hope, and his cavalry in
bringing each lot to the show-ground, to secure
it against the chance of being roasted among
the heather of the Highlands or boiled in the
pots of Cumbeiland."

But the time carne for this fair Border country to
wake up to new life. Probably no part of England
has undergone so rapid a change as Northumberland
has done in the last eighty or ninety years. The
half -barbarous character which I have been describing
clung to the people long after it had given place to
civilisation elsewhere. The soil and climate were
rugged, and resisted for a long time the first efforts
at cultivation ; but its inhabitants, rugged too,
were energetic, and the impulse once given, it
required not many years to place Northumberland
at the head of agricultural progress.

The part which my father had in bringing about
this great change in Northumberland, and in the

4 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1828

progress of agriculture generally, was not incon-
siderable. How great the change must have been,
in a short time, those of us can imagine who have
witnessed the rich harvests of the last twenty years,
and the merry harvest-homes on Tweedside and
Tillside. Not less striking, perhaps, was the change
brought about later on the banks of the Tyne. When
he migrated thither in 1833, Tyneside, which is now
so richly cultivated, presented in many parts miles
of fox-cover and self-sown plantations of fir and
birchwood.

John Grey was born in August, 1785. He was the
son of George Grey, of West Ord, on the banks of the
Tweed, and of his wife, Mary Burn. He himself
thus writes of his ancestry, in answer to a question
addressed to him by a friend.

" He [an antiquarian] imagines that he brings the
Greys down from Rollo, whose daughter Arietta
was mother of William the Conqueror ; but I think
their Norman origin is doubtful. Undoubtedly,
however, they were derived from a long line of
warriors, who were Wardens of the East Marches,
Governors of Norham, Morpeth, Wark, and Berwick
Castles in the old Border days, and were also dignified
by great achievements in foreign wars. Sir John
Grey, of Heaton, 1356, was valorous in the army of
Henry V, and gained, or had conferred on him,
castles in Normandy, and the title of Tankerville,
which is now an offshoot of the old stock. His
figure is given as a knight of great strength and
renown, and he was distinguished by the capacious
forehead which is said to have marked the race
through all ages ; see the late Charles Earl Grey for

1833.] DILSTON. 5

its full development. [The writer was not less
remarkable for this feature than any who bore the
name.] A son of Sir John Grey, Governor of Mor-
peth Castle 1656, gave offence by a marriage with a
buxom daughter of a farmer, at Angerton. In the
records it is shown that he had an annuity from
the family estate at Learmonth. From this offshoot
comes our degenerate tribe ! "

My mother's parents were good people, descended
from the poor but honest families of silk-weavers,
driven out of France by the revocation of the Edict
of Nantes. They were in the habit of opening their
hospitable doors to everyone in the form of a
religious teacher, of whatever sect, who happened to
pass that way. One of my mother's earliest memories
was of being lifted upon the knee of the venerable
John Wesley, a man with white silvery hair and a
benevolent countenance, who placed his two hands
upon the head of the golden-haired little girl and
pronounced over her a tender and solemn benediction.

In 1833 John Grey was appointed to take charge of
the Greenwich Hospital estates in his native county,
and moved to a new house built for him at Dilston,
in the vale of the Tyne.

Our home at Dilston was a very beautiful one. Its
romantic historical associations, the wild, informal
beauty all round its doors, the bright, large family
circle, and the kind and hospitable character of its
master and mistress, made it an attractive place to
many friends and guests. Among our pleasantest
visitors there were Swedes, Russians and French,
who came to England on missions of agricultural

6 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1833.

or other inquiry, and who sometimes spent weeks
with us. It was a house the door of which stood wide
open, as if to welcome all comers, through the live-
long summer day (all the days seem like summer
days when looking back). It was a place where one
could glide out of a Iow3r window and be hidden in a
moment, plunging straight among wild wood paths
and beds of fern, or find oneself quickly in some
cool concealment, beneath slender birch trees, or by
the dry bed of a mountain stream. It was a place
where the sweet hushing sound of waterfalls, and
clear streams murmuring over shallows, were heard
all day and night, though winter storms turned those
sweet sounds into an angry roar.

I have thought that the secret of my father's con-
sistency lay in the fact that his opinions had their
root very deep in his soul and affections, that they
were indigenous, so to speak, not grafted from with-
out. God made him a Liberal, and a Liberal in the
true sense he continued to be to the end of his life.
In conversation with him on any public questions,
one could not but observe how much such questions
were matters of feeling with him. I believe that his
political principles and public actions were alike the
direct fruit of that which held rule within his soul —
I mean his large benevolence, his tender com-
passionateness, and his respect for the rights and
liberties of the individual man. His life was a
sustained effort for the good of others, flowing from
these affections. He had no grudge against rank or
wealth, no restless desire of change for its own sake,
still less any rude love of demolition ; but he could
not endure to see oppression or wrong of any kind

1833.] DILSTON. 7

inflicted on man, woman, or child. " You cannot
treat men and women exactly as you do one pound
bank-notes, to be used or rejected as you think
proper," he said in a letter to The Times, when that
paper was advocating some ill-considered changes,
beneficial to one class, but leaving out of account a
residue of humble folk upon whom they would entail
great suffering. In the cause of any maltreated or
neglected creature he was uncompromising to the
last, and when brought into opposition with the
perpetrators of any social injustice he became an
enemy to be feared. Some who remembered him in
early manhood have described his commanding
presence when he stood forth on public occasions as
the champion of Liberal principles, " unsubdued by
the blandishments of his partisans, and unabashed
by the rancour of his opponents." There was seldom
to be found a flaw in his argument or a fault in his
grammar on those occasions, when " he carried con-
fusion and dismay into the enemy's camp." Yet the
force which his hearers acknowledged lay in his love
of truth, his clearness of judgment, and the known
innocency of his life, rather than in rhetoric. The
true key to an occasional bitterness against those
whom he thought wrong-doers lay also in his great
sensitiveness to wrong done. There was no self-
satisfaction in his denunciation of evil ; the con-
templation of cruelty in any form was intolerable to
him. He would speak of the imposition of social
disabilities of any kind, by one class of persons en
another, with kindling eyes and breath which came
quickly ; but he always turned away with a sense of
relief from the subject of the evil-doers, or the evil

8 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1833.

done, to the persons who suffered, whose position his
compassionate instinct would set him at once to the
task of ameliorating. His children remember the large
old family Bible, which he used punctually to bring
forth every Sunday afternoon and peruse for hours,
and his appeals to them to listen to the grandeur of
certain favourite passages, which he often read aloud.
The Book of the Prophet Isaiah was a great favourite,
and his love for such words as the following, which
he often quoted, was an index of the complexion of
his mind : "Is not this the fast that I have chosen ?
to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy
burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that
ye break every yoke ? "

The Greys were a loving family, but of all the
family Josephine's life-long favourite was her sister
Harriet, afterwards Madame Meuricoffre. In her
she realised the perfect fulfilment of Christina
Rossetti's lines —

There is no friend like a sister
In calm or stormy weather ;
To cheer one on the tedious way,
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down,
To strengthen whilst one stands.

My sister Harriet and I were a pair, in our family
of six daughters and three sons. We were never
separated, except perhaps for a few days
occasionally, until her marriage and departure from
her own country for Naples. We were more, I may
venture to say, than many sisters are to each other ;
we were one in heart and soul, and one in all our pur-
suits. We walked, rode, played, and learned our
lessons together. When one was scolded, both

1840.] DILSTON. &

wept ; when one was praised, both were pleased.
In looking back to those early days, the character-
istics which stand out the most in my memory are
her love of free outdoor life, of nature, and of
animals. It may be said that these are common to
most country-born children, but they were very
strongly marked in her.

Among the many good dogs who were personal
friends in our family was one, Pincher, whom she
loved much. She was sometimes missing when
lesson hours came round, and would be found in
Pincher's kennel, quite concealed from view, holding
pleasant converse with her dear dog. A tragic
event occurred. Twelve of our father's sheep were
found one early morning cruelly worried and bleed-
ing to death in the field. Suspicion fell on Pincher,
although there were other dogs of the agents and
farmers about, who were much more probably the
criminals ; but their masters preferred to impute
the crime to our dog. Pincher was tried, condemned,
and executed, he, poor dog, wagging his tail to the
last, and offering his paw, in sign, my sister said
through her tears, of forgiveness of his murderers.
She was heart-broken, and cried herself to sleep
many nights after, her persuasion of the injustice
of the sentence making her sorrow very bitter.
Trifling incidents often rest in the memory when
important things are forgotten. I recall, some time
after this, that when we were in the schoolroom,
drilled by a strict governess in close attention to
our books, the silence was nevertheless broken by
my sister's voice asking suddenly, and with a
pathetic earnestness, " Miss M , had Pincher a

10 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1840.

soul ? " " Silence ! " was the reply. " Attend to
your books ! No silly questions ! " But this same
question has arisen many a time in the hearts of
both of us, when we have witnessed the death of
those dear companions, and seen the dumb and
almost awful appeal in their dying eyes, fixed upon
those whom they loved with a love which seemed
out of all proportion to the limitations of their being.
The desired solution of the child's question, " Had
Pincher a soul ? " was a momentous one for her ;
but the child's heart was then, as often, little
understood.

Her interest in animal life was not restricted to
the nobler beasts. She made collections of creatures
as low in the scale as newts and frogs and other
aquatic and amphibious beings, declaring that they
also were worthy of affection. We had our little
beds side by side, and above them there was a shelf
on which she arranged these creatures in rows of pots
and jars filled with water. An accident occurred
one night — the shelf gave way and emptied its burden
of pots and jars and water and creatures into our
beds. The incident rather damped my ardour in
the pursuit of this branch of natural history, I believe,
but not so with her. I recollect how tenderly she
gathered up the newts, frogs, &c., and replaced them
in fresh water, hoping they had got no harm. We
had many pets — ferrets, wild cats from the woods,
and owls. Some of the latter were magnificent
people, with their large eyes and look of profound
wisdom worthy of the classic attendant of Pallas
Athene. Ponies also we had. On one of these, a
beautiful snow-white pony called Apple Grey, many

1840.] DILSTON. 11

of us had our first lessons in riding. My sister's
ideal at one time of the vocation, which she would
choose above others, was that of a circus girl, and in
the hope of possibly realising some day that ideal, she
began early to practise equestrian exercises. Putting
off her shoes, she would leap on to the unsaddled
back of Apple Grey, and standing up, guiding her
only by the bridle, would essay to trot and then to
canter round the fields. By perseverance, and after
many falls, she had attained to some degree of
excellence in these gymnastics, when her thoughts
were turned in other directions than that of the
vocation of a circus girl.

She wrote some years later of the death of this
dear pony : " Poor old Apple was shot to-day by the
side of her grave in the wood. They say she died in
a moment. Papa could not give the order for execu-
tion, but the men took it on themselves, as she could
scarcely eat or rise without help. It was the kindest
thing to do. Think of the gallops and tumbles of
our young days, and all her wisdom and all her
charms ! Emmy and I have got a large stone slab,
on which Surtees the mason has carved, ' In
memoriam, Apple/ and I shall beg a young weeping
ash from Beaufront to plant on her grave.

Her right ear, that is filled with dust,
Hears little of the false or just

now, and if she is gone to the happy hunting grounds,
so much the better for her, dear old pet."

We had our sorrows ; clouds sometimes seemed
to darken our horizon ; and we would speak to-
gether in whispers of some family grief which was

12 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1840.

not wholly understood by us, or of certain things in
the world which seemed to us even then to be not
as they should be. We had a handsome brother,
John, who used to entertain us in a gentle way with
stories of the sea, which we loved to hear ; and who
on one occasion returned home with his pockets
filled with young tortoises for us. He died at sea.
We were awed by the grief of our father and mother.
We reminded each other of Mrs. Hemans' Graves of
a Household —

He lies where pearls lie deep ;
He was the loved of all, yet none
O'er his low bed may weep.

Later our eldest sister married and went out to
China. Her letters from the Far East were read
aloud in the family, and our curiosity and interest
were immensely stirred by her descriptions of that
country, of storms at sea, of the customs and ways of
the people, of her visit to the house of a great Man-
darin, &c. China seemed then much farther away
than it seems now.

Living in the country, far from any town, and, if
I may say so, in the pre-educational era (for women
at least), we had none of the advantages which girls
of the present day have. But we owed much to our
dear mother, who was very firm in requiring from us
that whatever we did should be thoroughly done,
and that in taking up any study we should aim at
becoming as perfect as we could in it without
external aid. This was a moral discipline which
perhaps compensated in value for the lack of a great
store of knowledge. She would assemble us daily
for the reading aloud of some solid book, and by a

I840.J DILSTON. 13

kind of examination following the reading assured
herself that we had mastered the subject. She urged
us to aim at excellence, if not perfection, in at least
one thing.

Our father's connection with great public
movements of the day — the first Reform Bill, the
Abolition of the Slave Trade and Slavery, and
the Free Trade movement — gave us very early an
interest in public questions and in the history of
our country.

For two years my sister and I were together at
a school in Newcastle. My sister did not love study,
and confessed she " hated lessons." The lady at the
head of the school regretted this. She was not a good
disciplinarian, and gave us much liberty, which we
appreciated, but she had a large heart and ready
sympathy. In spite of the imperfectly learned
lessons, she discerned in my sister some rare gifts —
a spark of genius (a word which would have been
strongly deprecated by my sister as applied to
herself) ; and used furtively to gather up and preserve
(we discovered afterwards) scraps of original writings
of my sister, and copy books full of quaint pen-and-
ink drawings. She also appropriated, and would
privately show to friends, a book, a History of the
Italian Republics, on the margins of which throughout
my sister had illustrated that history in a most
original and humorous manner.

The following extract from one of Josephine
Butler's last letters, written to friends in Switzerland
in 1905, tells how her " travail of soul " on behalf
of oppressed womanhood began at an early age
when she was only seventeen.

14 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1845.

My father was a man with a deeply rooted, fiery
hatred of all injustice. The love of justice was a
passion with him. Probably I have inherited from
him this passion. My dear mother felt with him,
and seconded all his efforts. When my father spoke
to us, his children, of the great wrong of slavery, I
have felt his powerful frame tremble and his voice
would break. You can believe, that at that time
sad and tragical recitals came to us from first sources
of the hideous wrong inflicted on negro men and
women. I say women, for I think their lot was
particularly horrible, for they were almost invariably
forced to minister to the worst passions of their
masters, or be persecuted and die. I recollect the
story of a negro woman who had four sons, the sons
of her master. The three eldest were sold by the
father in childhood for good prices, and the mother
never knew their fate. She had one left, the
youngest, her treasure. Her master, in a fit of
passion, one day shot this boy dead. The mother
crawled under a ruined shed of wood, and with her
face to the earth she prayed that she might die.
But first she prayed, for she was a Christian, that she
might be able to forgive her cruel master. The
words, "Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you," sounded in her heart ; and she cried to heaven,
" Jesus, help me to forgive ! " And so she died, her
poor heart broken. I remember how these things
combined to break my young heart, and how keenly
they awakened my feelings concerning injustice to
women through this conspiracy of greed of gold and
lust of the flesh, a conspiracy which has its counter-
part in the white slave owning in Europe.

I845-] DILSTON. 15

Something of her struggles at this period is shown
in the following memories, recorded in 1900.

My early home was far from cities, with parents
who taught by their lives what true men and women
should be. Few " priests or pastors " ever came our
way. Two miles from our home was the parish
church, to which we trudged dutifully every Sunday,
and where an honest man in the pulpit taught us
loyally all that he probably himself knew about God,
but whose words did not even touch the fringe of my
soul's deep discontent.

It was my lot from my earliest years to be haunted
by the problems which more or less present them-
selves to every thoughtful mind. Year after year
this haunting became more tyrannous. The world
appeared to me to be out of joint. A strange intui-
tion was given to me whereby I saw as in a vision,
before I had seen any of them with my bodily eyes,
some of the saddest miseries of earth, the injustices,
the inequalities, the cruelties practised by man on
man, by man on woman.

For one long year of darkness the trouble of heart
and brain urged me to lay all this at the door of the
God, whose name I had learned was Love. I dreaded
Him — I fled from Him — until grace was given me to
arise and wrestle, as Jacob did, with the mysterious
Presence, who must either slay or pronounce deliver-
ance. And then the great questioning again went up
from earth to heaven, " God ! Who art Thou ?
Where art Thou ? Why is it thus with the creatures
of Thy hand ? " I fought the battle alone, in deep
recesses of the beautiful woods and pine forests

16 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1845.

around our home, or on some lonely hillside, among
wild thyme and heather, a silent temple where the
only sounds were the plaintive cry of the curlew, or
the hum of a summer bee, or the distant bleating of
sheep. For hours and days and weeks in these
retreats I sought the answer to my soul's trouble
and the solution of its dark questionings. Looking
back, it seems to me the end must have been defeat
and death had not the Saviour imparted to the child
wrestler something of the virtue of His own midnight
agony, when in Gethsemane His sweat fell like great
drops of blood to the ground.

It was not a speedy or an easy victory. Later
the conflict was renewed, as there dawned upon me
the realities of those earthly miseries which I had
realised only in a measure by intuition ; but later
still came the outward and active conflict, with,
thanks be to God, the light and hope and guidance
which He never denies to them who seek and ask and
knock, and which become for them as "an anchor
of the soul, sure and steadfast."

Looking my Liberator in the face, can my friends
wonder that I have taken my place, (I took it long
ago) — oh ! with what infinite contentment ! — by the
side of her, the " woman in the city which was a
sinner," of wrhom He, her Liberator and mine,
said, as He can also say of nr*, " this woman hath not
ceased to kiss My feet."

CHAPTER II.

OXFORD.

No record of Josephine Butler's life would be at all
true or complete which did not include some account
of her husband. His strong and gentle spirit greatly
influenced and aided her in all her public work, not
only with whole-hearted sympathy, but with active
co-operation whenever he had leisure from his other
duties. The following pages are taken from her
Recollections of George Butler.

In visiting some great picture gallery, and passing
along amidst portraits innumerable of great men — of
kings, statesmen, discoverers, authors or poets — I
have sometimes been attracted above all by a por-
trait without a name, or without the interest attaching
to it of any recorded great exploit, but which, never-
theless interests for its own sake. Something looks
forth from those eyes — something of purity, of
sincerity, of goodness — which draws the beholder
to go back again and again to that portrait, and which
gives it a lasting place in the memory long after many
other likenesses of earth's heroes are more or less
forgotten. It is somewhat in this way that I think
of a memorial or written likeness of George Butler, if
it can but be presented with a simplicity and fidelity
worthy of its subject. His character — his single-
mindedness, purity, truth, and firmness of attachment

17 3

\

18 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1845.

to those whom he loved — seem to me worthy to be
recorded and to be had in remembrance.

M. Fallot, in the Revue du Christianisme Pratique,
sketches in a few words the character of the revered
teacher of his youth, Christophe Dieterlin, whose
mortal remains rest beneath the hallowed soil of the
Ban de la Roche, in the Vosges, surmounted by a
rock of mountain granite — a suitable monument for
such a man. When his pupil questioned him con-
cerning prayer, he replied : " The Lord's Prayer is
in general sufficient for me. When praying in these
words, all my personal preoccupations become mingled
with and lost in the great needs and desires of the
whole human race." " He was a Christian," says
M. Fallot, " hors cadre, refractory to all classification,
living outside all parties," a child of Nature and a son
of God. These words might with truth t>e applied
to the character of George Butler. It would be
difficult to assign him a definite place in any category
of persons or parties. He stands apart, hors cadre,
in his gentleness and simplicity, and in a certain
sturdy and immovable independence of character.

George Butler was born at Harrow on the nth of
June, 1819. He was the eldest son of a family of ten
— four brothers and six sisters. Nothing very re-
markable in the way of hard study or distinction
can be recorded of him during his school career.
When questioned in later life concerning any
excellency he attained there, he would answer,
reflectively, that he was considered to be extremely
good at " shying " stones. He could hit or knock
over certain high-up and difficult chimney-pots with
wonderful precision, to the envy of other mischievous

1845-] OXFORD. 19

boys, and I suppose to the annoyance of the owners
of the chimney-pots. His father, tfreJDean of Peter-
borough, wrote to me in 1852 : " Your references to
George's early days make me feel quite young again.
He certainly was a nice-looking boy, and had a pretty
head of hair ; at least I thought so, and the remem-
brance of those nursery days is pleasant to me. But
oh ! those early experiments in the science of pro-
jectiles upon the chimney-pots of the Harrovian
neighbours — why remind me of them, unless you are
yourself possessed of the same spirit of mischief ? "
But school life was not all play for George Butler.
He showed an early aptitude for scholarship, gaming
among several prizes that for Greek Iambics. In the
autumn of 1838 George went up to Trinity College,
Cambridge. During the year he spent at Cambridge
the sense of duty and of responsibility for the use
of opportunities and gifts which he possessed lay
dormant within him. Those who loved him best
often thanked God, however, as he did himself in
later life, that he had escaped the contamination of
certain influences which leave a stain upon the soul,
and sometimes tend to give a serious warp to the / /
judgment of a man in regard to moral questions. A
remarkable native purity of mind, and a loyal and
reverent feeling towards women, saved him from
associations and actions which, had he ever yielded
to them, would have been a bitter memory to such a
man as he was. In the interval between leaving
Cambridge and going to Oxford he spent several
months in the house of Mr. Augustus Short (after-
wards Bishop of Adelaide). It was while under his
roof that he imbibed a true love of work, and learned

20 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1851.

the enjoyment of overcoming difficulties, and of a
steady effort, without pause, towards a definite goal.

One of his life-long and most valued friends,
the Rev. Cowley Powles, writes : " It was, I think,
in 1841 that Butler got the Hertford Scholarship.
I remember meeting him just after his success had
been announced. I was coming back from a ride, and
he stopped me and said : ' I have got the Hertford.'
The announcement was made in his quietest voice,
and with no elation of manner, though his counte-
nance showed how much he was pleased. Never was
there a man with less brag about him." In 1843
George Butler took his degree, having obtained a
first class. He kept up his connection very closely
with Oxford for four years, making use of the
time for various studies, and taking pupils or reading
parties during the long vacations. In 1848 he was
appointed to a Tutorship at the University of
Durham, which he retained for a little more than two
years. It was during the latter part of his residence
there that I first made his acquaintance.

The following, written after our engagement,
shows his extreme honesty of character, while it
indicates in some faint degree his just and unselfish
view of what the marriage relation should be ;
namely, a perfectly equal union, with absolute free-
dom on both sides for personal initiative in thought
and action and for individual development.

" I do not ask you to write oftener. I would have
you follow the dictates of your own heart in this ;
but be always certain that whatever comes from
you is thrice welcome. I write because I feel it to
be necessary to my happiness. I have lately written

i85i.] OXFORD. 21

to you out of the fulness of my heart, when my soul
was deeply moved to strive after a higher life. But
often my letters will be about trifling matters, so
that you may be tempted to say, ' Why write at
all ? ' Yet, after all, life is largely made up of
trifles. Moreover, I do not wish to invest myself in
borrowed plumes. I do not want you to find out
later that I am much like other people, perhaps even
more commonplace than most. I would rather your
eyes were opened at once. I cannot reproach myself
with ever having assumed a character not my own to
you or to anyone. Such impostures are always too
deeply purchased by the loss of self-respect. But
I fear that you may have formed too high an estimate
of my character — one to which I can never come up ;
and for your sake I would wish to remove every veil
and obstacle which might prevent your seeing me
just as I am. If I were only to write to you when
my better feelings were wrought upon, you might
think me much better than I am, so I will write to
you on every subject and in every mood. Those lines
which I sent to you gave no exaggerated picture.
I have often felt in a very different spirit to that in
which we should say ' Our Father/ The praying
for particular blessings, which is enjoined by the
words of the Lord Jesus, ' Ask, and ye shall receive/
has appeared to me at times as derogatory to the
omniscient and all-provident character of God.
Can He, I have thought, alter the smallest of His
dispensations at the request of such a weak and
insignificant being as I am ? This vain philosophy,
the offspring of intellectual pride, has had more to do
with blighting my faith than wilful sin or the world's

22 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1851.

breath ! But though I have ' wandered out of the
way in the wilderness/ I do not despair of taking
possession of the promised land. You say you can
do so little for me. Will it be little, Josephine, if,
urged by your encouragement and example, I put off
the works of darkness and put on the armour of light ?
Blessings from the Giver of all blessings fall upon
you for the joy you have given to me, for the new life
to which you have called me ! I should think it
undue presumption in me to suggest anything to
you in regard to your life and duties. He who has
hitherto guided your steps will continue to do so.
Believe me, I value the expression of your confidence
and affection above ' pearls and precious stones ' ; but
I must not suffer myself to be dazzled, or to fancy
that I have within me that power of judging and
acting aright which would alone authorise me to point
out to you any path in which you ought to walk.
I am more content to leave you to walk by yourself
in the path you shall choose ; but I know that I do not
leave you alone and unsupported, for His arm will
guide, strengthen and protect you. I only pray,
then, that you may be more and more conformed to
the image of Him who set us a perfect example, and
that He will dispose my heart to love and admire
most those things in you which are most admirable
and lovely."

During the years 1848-49 the Dean of Peter-
borough frequently wrote to his son expressing his
desire to see him turning his mind towards the
ministry — hoping that he would decide on taking
orders. The Dean was sincerely convinced that
there was nothing which ought to make his son

1851.] OXFORD. 23

hesitate to take so serious a step, and that the duties
of a clergyman would have a beneficial effect on his
character, tending to his highest good and happiness.
That, however, was far from being his son's view of
the matter. While appreciating his father's motives
in urging him in this direction, and replying in
general terms with a gentle courtesy, he seems to
have felt convinced that it was impossible for him
to follow his advice in the matter. Finally he wrote :
" I thank you, my dear father, for your welcome
letter. I think I have already told you that I have
no internal call to, nor inclination for, the Church.
On the contrary, I should feel I was guilty of a wrong
action if I embarked in any work or profession for
neither the theoretical nor the practical part of
which I had any taste. And if this be true of
ordinary professions, is it not so in a tenfold degree
in the case of the Church ? I feel at present no
attraction towards the study of dogmatical theology,
or any branch of study in which a clergyman should
be versed ; and I cannot get over the scruples I have
against such a step as you advise. I am at present
engaged, usefully I hope, in a place of Christian
education, closely connected with a cathedral church,
with abundant opportunities of adding to my stock
of knowledge in various subjects, as well as of
imparting to others what I know. I do not see, at
present, any necessity for planning any change in my
mode of life."

How was it then, it may be asked, that he did
actually elect to become a clergyman some six years
later ? The answer is, he had gradually become
convinced that the work of his life was to be

24 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1851.

educational, and the desire arose in his mind to be
able to stand towards the younger men or boys who
should come under his care in the position of their
pastor as well as their teacher. He weighed the
matter gravely for a long time before becoming a
clergyman ; but after having taken the step, he never
repented of having done so. To the end of his life,
however, his character continued to be essentially
that of a layman. In 1851 he wrote : —

" You know that I don't like parsons ; but that
is not to the point. If I should ever take orders,
I don't mean to be a mere parson ; for if I were like
some of them whom I know I should cease to be a
man. I shall never wear straight waistcoats, long
coats and stiff collars ! I think all dressing up and
official manner are an affectation ; while great
strictness in outward observances interferes with the
devotion of the heart ; and though it may indicate
a pious spirit — and therefore deserves our respect — it
shows, as I think, a misconception of the relation in
which we stand to God, and of the duties we owe to
man. It seems to me, after all, that being a good
clergyman is much the same thing as being a good
man. I have a longing to be of use, and I know of no
line in which I can be more useful than the edu-
cational, my whole life having been turned more or
less in this direction. It is a blessed office that of a
teacher. With all its troubles and heart-wearyings
and disappointments, yet it is full of delight to those
who enter upon it with their whole heart and soul,
and in reliance upon our great Teacher. I know of
no occupation which more carries its present reward
with it."

1852.] OXFORD. 25

Our marriage took place on the 8th of January,
1852, at Dilston. Shortly afterwards we settled at
Oxford, which became our home for five years. In re-
viewing the work done by George Butler in the course
of his educational career, one cannot but be struck
by the fact that he was somewhat in advance of his
time. There are men theoretically in advance of
their times, who do good service by their advocacy of
progressive principles in writing or in speech. With
him it was more a matter of simple practice. He
perceived that some study useful or necessary for
the future generations, and in itself worthy, had
scarcely an acknowledged place in the curriculum of
the schools and universities, or that some new ground
necessary to be explored was still left untrodden ; and
without saying much about it, without any thought
of being himself a pioneer in any direction, he
modestly set himself to the task of acting out his
thoughts on the subject. His absolute freedom from
personal vanity withheld him from proclaiming that
he was about to enter on any new line, and at the
same time enabled him to bear with perfect calm, if
not with indifference, the criticisms, witty remarks
and sometimes serious opposition which are seldom
wanting when a man or woman ventures quietly to
encroach upon the established order of things in any
department of life. At Oxford he was the first who
brought into prominence the study of geography.
His geographical lectures there were quite an inno-
vation, creating some amusement and a good deal
of wonder as to how he would succeed. It was a
subject which had hitherto been relegated in an
elementary form to schools for boys and girls, and

23 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1852.

was unrecognised, except by a very few persons, as
the grand and comprehensive scientific study which
it is now acknowledged to be.

At Oxford the subject was entirely new, at least
to the older members of the university, who, how-
ever, to their credit, came to the lectures, and
listened with teachable minds to truths novel to
them concerning the world they were living in. We
drew large illustrative maps for the walls of the
lecture room. I recall a day when I was drawing
in a rough form an enlarged map of Europe, including
the northern coast of Africa and a part of Asia Minor.
It happened that several fellows and tutors of colleges
called at that moment. I continued my work while
they chatted with him on the curiosity of his intro-
duction in Oxford of so elementary a study. The
conversation then turned on letters we had just
received from Arthur Stanley and Theodore Walrond,
who were visiting Egypt. " Where is Cairo ? "
someone asked, turning to the map spread on the
table. I put the question to an accomplished
college tutor. His eye wandered hopelessly over the
chart. He could not even place his hand on Egypt !
I was fain to pretend that I needed to study my
performance more closely, and bent down my head
in order to conceal the irreverent laughter which
overcame me.

George Butler was one of the first, also, who
introduced and encouraged the study of Art in Oxford
in a practical sense. In the winter of 1852-53 he
obtained the permission of the Vice-Chancellor and
Curators to give a course of lectures on Art in the
Taylor building. These lectures were afterwards

I853-] OXFORD. 27

published by J. W. Parker, under the title of
Principles of Imitative Art. While promoting the
study of Art in Oxford, working with pupils, and
examining in the schools, he undertook to write a
••eries of Art criticisms for the Morning Chronicle and
afterwards for another paper, visiting for this
purpose the galleries and yearly exhibitions in
London. This he did for a year or two.

" It was amusing," he wrote to his mother, after
his first visit in this capacity to the Society of
British Artists, " to see the ' gentlemen of the press '
(of whom I was one !) walking about dotting down
observations. I travelled up to town with Scott,
the architect, who has engaged me to attend a
meeting of his workmen, and give them an address
on ' Decorative Art and the Dignity of Labour.'
Josephine and I are both engaged in copying some
drawings by Turner in the Taylor Gallery."

Indefatigable in his efforts to master any subject
which attracted him, he was also equally ready
and anxious to impart to others any knowledge
he had thus gained. He found time among his
other occupations to make a very thorough study
of some ancient Oscan inscriptions, with en-
gravings of their principal monuments, which he
found in the Bodleian Library. He became much
interested in that portion of history — almost lost
in the mists of the past — which is illustrated by
the marvellous records and monuments of Oscan,
Umbrian, and Etruscan life in the great museum at
Bologna. He worked at and completed, during one
of the long vacations, a series of enlarged copies in
sepia of the small engravings and prints of these

28 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1853.

monuments in the Bodleian. These enlargements
were suitable for wall illustrations, for a set of lectures
which he afterwards gave on the " Ancient Races of
Italy." It was very pleasant to us when we visited
Florence together, some years later, to see the
originals of some of the Cyclopean ruins of which we
had together made large drawings, those gigantic
stones of all that remains of the ancient Etruscan
walls of Fiesole, up to the lovely heights of which
we drove one clear, bright winter's day.

I have many other memories of our life at Oxford
— some very sweet, others grave. I recall with special
pleasure our summer evening rides. During the first
two years we spent there my father kindly provided
me with a horse, a fine, well-bred chestnut. My
husband and I explored together all the rising grounds
round Oxford. Behind our own little garden there
were tall trees where nightingales sang night and day
for a few weeks in spring. But it was in the Bagley
Woods and in Abingdon Park that those academic
birds put forth all their powers. We sometimes rode
from five in the afternoon till the sun set and the
dew fell, on grassy paths between thick undergrowths
of woods such as nightingales love to haunt, and from
vvhich issued choruses of matchless song.

Our Italian studies were another source of enjoy-
ment. Dante Rossetti was then preparing matter
for his book, Dante and His Circle, by carefully
translating into English the Vita Nuova and lyrical
poems of Dante, together with other sonnets and
poems written by some of his predecessors, such as
Cavalcante, Orlandi and Angiolieri of Siena. Mr.
Rossetti sent to us occasionally for criticism some of

I853-] OXFORD. 29

his translations of the exquisite sonnets of Dante, the
English of which he was anxious to make as perfect
as possible. We had visited Rossetti's studio at
Chelsea, where he had shown us his portfolios of
original sketches for his great paintings, besides many
unfinished drawings and pathetic incidents expressed
in artist's shorthand — slight but beautiful pencil
designs. My husband's critical faculty and classical
taste enabled him to return the sonnets submitted
to his judgment with occasional useful comments.
There was little to find fault with in them, how-
ever.

Aurelio Saffi was at this time in exile and living
in Oxford. He had been associated with Mazzini
and Armellini in the Triumvirate which ruled in
Rome for a short period, and was parliamentary
deputy for his own native town of Forli. He was
a cultivated and literary man, with a thorough
knowledge of the Italian poets. As an exile his
material means were at that time very slender.
My husband sought his acquaintance, and invited
him to give a series of evening lectures on Dante
in our own drawing-room. These were attractive to
some, and increased the personal interest felt in Saffi
in the university. Twenty-seven years later, having
returned to Italy from exile, Saffi was presiding at a
great congress in Genoa where we were. He alluded,
with much feeling, to the years he had spent in
Oxford ; and turning to my husband, who was near
him, he said : " It is twenty-seven years to-day that,
an exile from my native land, I had the happiness of
being received in your house at Oxford, and I have
never forgotten, and shall never forget, the hospitable

30 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1853.

and gracious reception given to me by you and your
worthy companion. The times are changed ; a long
interval has elapsed, and it is to me a great joy
to-day to greet you once more, and on my native
soil."

But this pleasant life at Oxford had its shadow
side. I had come from a large family circle, and from
free countiy life to a university town — a society of
celibates, with little or no leaven of family life ; for
Oxford was not then what it is now under expanded
conditions, with its married fellows and tutors, its
resident families, its ladies' colleges, and its mixed,
general social life. With the exception of the families
of a few heads of houses, who lived much secluded
within their college walls, there was little or no home
life, and not much freedom of intercourse between
the academical portion of the community and others.
A one-sidedness of judgment is apt to be fostered by
such circumstances — an exaggeration of the purely
masculine judgment on some topics, and a con-
ventual mode of looking at things.

In the frequent social gatherings in our drawing-
room in the evenings there was much talk, sometimes
serious and weighty, sometimes light, interesting,
critical, witty and brilliant, ranging over many
subjects. It was then that I sat silent, the only
woman in the company, and listened, sometimes with
a sore heart ; for these men would speak of things
which I had already revolved deeply in my own mind,
things of which I was convinced, which I knew,
though I had no dialectics at command with which to
defend their truth. A few remarks made on those
evenings stand out in my memory. They may seem

I853-] OXFORD. 31

slight and unimportant, but they had a significance
for me, linking themselves, as they did, to long trains
of thought which for some years past had been
tending to form my own convictions.

A book was published at that time by Mrs. Gaskell,
and was much discussed. This led to expressions
of judgment which seemed to me false — fatally false.
A moral lapse in a woman was spoken of as an
immensely worse thing than in a man ; there was no
comparison to be formed between them. A pure
woman, it was reiterated, should be absolutely
ignorant of a certain class of evils in the world,
albeit those evils bore with murderous cruelty on
other women. One young man seriously declared
that he would not allow his own mother to read such
a book as that under discussion — a book which
seemed to me to have a very wholesome tendency,
though dealing with a painful subject. Silence was
thought to be the great duty of all on such subjects.
On one occasion, when I was distressed by a bitter
case of wrong inflicted on a very young girl, I
ventured to speak to one of the wisest men — so
esteemed — in the university, in the hope that he
would suggest some means, not of helping her, but
of bringing to a sense of his crime the man who had
wronged her. The sage, speaking kindly however,
sternly advocated silence and inaction. " It could
only do harm to open up in any way such a question
as this. It was dangerous to arouse a sleeping
lion." I left him in some amazement and dis-
couragement, and for a long time there echoed in my
heart the terrible prophetic words of the painter-poet
Blake — rude and indelicate as he may have been

32 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1853.

judged then — whose prophecy has only been averted
by a great and painful awakening —

The harlot's curse, from street to street,
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.

Every instinct of womanhood within me was
already in revolt against certain accepted theories
in society, and I suffered as only God and the faithful
companion of my life could ever know. Incidents
occurred which brought their contribution to the
lessons then sinking into our hearts. A young
mother was in Newgate for the murder of her infant,
whose father, under cover of the death-like silence
prescribed by Oxford philosophers — a silence which
is in fact a permanent endorsement of injustice — had
perjured himself to her, had forsaken and forgotten
her, and fallen back, with no accusing conscience,
on his easy, social life, and possibly his academic
honours. I wished to go and speak to her in prison
of the God who saw the injustice done, and who cared
for her. My husband suggested that we should
write to the chaplain of Newgate, and ask him to
send her to us when her sentence had expired. We
wanted a servant, and he thought that she might
be able to fill that place. She came to us. I think
she was the first of the world of unhappy women of
a humble class whom he welcomed to his own home.
She was not the last.

A travelling circus came to the neighbourhood.
A young woman who performed as an acrobat some-
how conveyed to us her longing desire to leave the
life in which she was plunged, the most innocent part
of which was probably her acrobatic performances.

I853-] OXFORD. 33

She had aspirations very far beyond what is usually
expected from a circus woman. She wanted to
serve God. She saw a light before her, she said, and
she must follow it. She went secretly to churches
and chapels, and then she fled — she did not know
where — but was recaptured. It was a Sunday
evening in hot summer weather. I had been sitting
for some time at my open window to breathe more
freely the sultry air, and it seemed to me that I heard
a wailing cry somewhere among the trees in the
twilight which was deepening into night. It was a
woman's cry — a woman aspiring to heaven and
dragged back to hell — and my heart was pierced with
pain. I longed to leap from the window, and flee
with her to some place of refuge. It passed. I
cannot explain the nature of the impression, which
remains with me to this day ; but beyond that
twilight, and even in the midst of the pitiful cry,
there seemed to dawn a ray of light and to sound
a note not wholly of despair. The light was far off,
yet coming near, and the slight summer breeze in
those tall trees had in them a whisper of the future.
But when the day dawned it seemed to show me again
more plainly than ever the great wall of prejudice,
built up on a foundation of lies, which surrounded a
whole world of sorrows, griefs, injustices and crimes
which must not be spoken of — no, not even in
whispers — and which it seemed to me then that nc
human power could ever reach or remedy. And
I met again the highly-educated, masculine world
in our evening gatherings more than ever resolved
to hold my peace — to speak little with men, but much
with God. No doubt the experience of those years

4

34 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1853.

influenced in some degree my maturer judgment of
what is called " educated public opinion."

My motive in writing these recollections is to tell
what he was — my husband — and to show how,
besides all that he was in himself and all the work he
did, which was wholly and especially his own, he
was of a character to be able from the first to correct
the judgment and soothe the spirit of the companion
of his life when " the waters had come in even unto
her soul." I wish to show, also, that he was even
more to me in later life than a wise and noble sup-
porter and helper in the work which may have been
called more especially my own. He had a part in
the creation of it, in the formation of the first
impulses towards it. Had that work been purely a
product of the feminine mind, of a solitary, wounded
and revolted heart, it would certainly have lacked
some elements essential to its becoming in any
way useful or fruitful. But for him I should have
been much more perplexed than I was. The idea of
justice to women, of equality between the sexes, and
of equality of responsibility of all human beings to
the moral law, seems to have been instinctive in him.
He never needed convincing. He had his convictions
already from the first — straight, just and clear. I did
not at that time speak much, but whenever I spoke to
him the clouds lifted. It may seem a little strange to
say so, but, if I recall it truly, what helped me most
of all at that time was, not so much any arguments
he may have used in favour of an equal standard,
but the correctness with which he measured the men
and the judgments around him. I think there was
even a little element of disdain in his appreciation of

1853-1 OXFORD. 35

the one-sided judgments of some of his male friends.
He used to say, " I am sorry for So-and-So," which
sounded to me rather like saying, " I am sorry for
Solomon," my ideas of the wisdom of learned men
being, perhaps, a little exaggerated. He would tell
me that I ought to pity them. " They know no
better, poor fellows." This was a new light for me.
I had thought of Oxford as the home of learning and
of intellect. I thought the good and gifted men we
daily met must be in some degree authorities on
spiritual and moral questions. It had not occurred
to me to think of them as " poor fellows ! " That
blessed gift of common sense, which he possessed
in so large a degree, came to the rescue to restore for
me the balance of a mind too heavily weighted with
sad thoughts of life's perplexing problems. And then
in the evenings, when our friends had gone, we read
together the words of Life, and were able to bring
many earthly notions and theories to the test of what
the Holy One and the Just said and did. Compared
with the accepted axioms of the day, and indeed of
centuries past, in regard to certain vital questions, the
sayings and actions of Jesus were, we confessed to
one another, revolutionary. George Butler was not
afraid of revolution. In this sense he desired it,
and we prayed together that a holy revolution might
come about, and that the Kingdom of God might be
established on the earth. And I said to myself : " And
it is a man who speaks to me thus — an intelligent,
a gifted man, a learned man too, few more learned
than he, and a man who ever speaks the truth from
his heart." So I was comforted and instructed. It
was then that I began to see his portrait given, and

36 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1856.

I see it still more clearly now as I look back over his
whole past life, in the I5th Psalm : " Lord, who shall
dwell in Thy tabernacle ? Or who shall rest upon
Thy holy hill ? Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt
life, and doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh
the truth from his heart. He that hath used no
deceit in his tongue, nor done evil to his neighbour,
and hath not slandered his neighbour. He that
setteth not by himself, but is lowly in his own eyes,
and maketh much of them that fear the Lord. He
that sweareth unto his neighbour, and disappointeth
him not, even though it were to his own hindrance."

The winter floods which so often surrounded Oxford
during the years of which I am writing are probably
remembered with a shudder by others besides
myself. The mills and locks, and other impediments
to the free flow of the waters of the Isis, were, I
believe, long ago removed, and the malarial effect
of the stagnation of moisture around the city ceased
with its cause. But at that time Oxford in winter
almost resembled Venice, in its apparent isolation
from the land, and in the appearance of its towers
and spires reflected in the mirror of the floods.
" It rained," wrote George in January, 1856, " all
yesterday, and to-day it is cold and damp. Indeed,
immediately after sunset the atmosphere of Oxford
resembles that of a well, though that is scarcely
so bad as the horrible smell of the meadows when
the floods are retiring. Then one is conscious of a
miasma which only a strong constitution can long
resist."

My health failed. I became weak and liable to
attacks of chills and fever. We drove out occasionally

1856.] OXFORD. 37

to the heights above Oxford, to reach which we were
obliged to pursue for some distance a road which
resembled a sort of high level or causeway (as in
Holland) with water on each side. Looking back
from the higher ground, the view of the academic
city sitting upon the floods was very picturesque.
Indeed, the sound of " Great Tom " knelling the
curfew from his tower had a very musical and
solemn effect as it came over the still waters, re-
sembling a little in pathos the sound of a human
voice giving warning of the approach of night ; or,
like Dante's Squilla di lontana —

The distant bell
Which seems to weep the dying day;

but poetry and sentiment could not hold out against
rheumatic pains and repeated chills.

I spent several months of that year — 1856 — in
Northumberland with our children, my husband
joining us after he had completed his engagements
as a public examiner in London. His letters, during
the few weeks of our separation, seemed to show a
deepening of spiritual life — such as is sometimes
granted in the foreshadowing of the approach of
some special discipline or sorrow. He seems to have
felt more deeply during this summer that he must
not reckon on the unbroken continuance of the
outward happiness which had been so richly granted
to us.

To Mrs. Grey. OXFORD, June 6th, 1856.

" I am glad to feel that my treasures are in such
good hands and life-giving air. I hope their presence

38 JOSEPHINE E.

at Dilston will contribute to the assurance that
marriage is not a severance of family ties, but that
both Josephine and I revert with the fondest
attachment to old scenes and dearly loved friends
at Dilston."

To his wife- June, 1856.

" I am grieved to hear of your sufferings ; but you
write so cheerfully, and express such a loving con-
fidence in One who is able to heal all our sicknesses,
that I dare not repine. However sad at heart I may
sometimes feel about you, I will try to bring myself
face to face with those mighty promises which are
held out to those who ' rest in the Lord and wait
patiently for Him.' And then I hope we shall still
be able to go hand in hand in our work on earth."

To his wife. juiy ^th, 1856.

" I have been reading Tennyson's ' Maud,' and
correcting my review of it for Fraser's Magazine.
Reading love stories which end in death or separation
makes me dwell the more thankfully on my own
happiness. It is no wonder that I am sanguine in
all circumstances, and that I trust the love and care
of our Almighty Father, for has He not blessed me
far beyond my deserts in giving me such a share of
human happiness as falls to the lot of few ? Yet He
has given us our thorn in the flesh, in your failing
health, and our uncertain prospects. But these shall
never hinder our love ; rather we will cling to that
more closely as the symbol and earnest of the heavenly
love which displayed itself in that wondrous act — on

1856.] OXFORD. 39

Calvary — which the wise men oi this world may deem
of as they will, but which to us will ever be the most
real of all realities, and the sure token of our recon-
ciliation with God.

" I think we are well fitted to help each other. No
words can express what you are to me. On the
other hand, I may be able to cheer you in moments
of sadness and despondency, when the evils of this
world press heavily upon you, and your strength
is not sufficient to enable you to rise up and do any-
thing to relieve them, as you fain would do. And
by means of possessing greater physical strength,
and considerable power of getting through work,
I may be enabled to help you in the years to come, to
carry out plans which may under His blessing do
some good, and make men speak of us with respect
when we are laid in our graves ; and in the united
work of bringing up our children, may God so help
us that we may be able to say, ' Of those whom
Thou gavest us have we lost none/ "

While exercising much self-denial and reserve in
making such extracts as the above, I give these few
as affording glimpses of his inner mind and deep
affection ; for his character would be very in-
adequately portrayed if so prominent a feature of
it were concealed as that of his love for his wife, and
the constant blending of that love with all his
spiritual aspirations and endeavours. That love was
part of his being, becoming ever more deep and
tender as the years went on. I have spoken of the
strength and tenacity of his friendships. These
qualities entered equally into his closest domestic

40 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1856.

relations. In the springtime of life, men dream,
speak, write and sing of love — of love's gracious
birth and beautiful youth. But it is not in the
springtime of life that love's deepest depths can be
fathomed, its vastness measured, and its endurance
tested. There is a love which surmounts all trial
and discipline, all the petty vexations and worries,
as well as the sorrows and storms of life, and which
flows on in an ever deepening current of tenderness,
enhanced by memories of the past and hopes of the
future — of the eternal life towards which it is tending.
It was such a love as this, that dwelt and deepened
in him of whom I write to the latest moment of his
earthly life, to be perfected in the Divine presence.

On joining us at Dilston, an arrangement was made
with the vicar of the parish of Corbridge (in which
Dilston was situated) that he should take his duty,
occupying his house for the autumn, during his
absence from home. Dissent prevailed largely in
the neighbourhood. But during the time that he
acted as the clergyman of the parish the church was
well filled. Many Wesleyans came, who had not
before entered its doors, as well as several families
of well-to-do and well-instructed Presbyterian
farmers — shrewd people, well able to maintain their
ground in a theological controversy. They were
attracted, no doubt, partly by the relationship of
the temporary minister to my father, who was so
much beloved and esteemed throughout the county,
and a constant worshipper in the village church,
and partly by the simple Christian teaching for which
they thirsted, and which they now found. There
was little real poverty. We visited the people

1856.] OXFORD. 41

sometimes together, and their affections were
strongly gained.

Our return to Oxford was not auspicious. The
autumn fell damp and cold. It was decided that
I should go to London to consult Sir James Clarke,
on account of what seemed the development of a
weakness of the lungs. I recall the tender solicitude
which my husband showed for me on the journey,
and also the kindness of the venerable physician.
I was scarcely able to rise to greet him when he
entered the room. At the close of our interview he
merely said, " Poor thing, poor thing ! You must
take her away from Oxford." We proposed to
return therefore at once to make necessary prepar-
ations for the change, when he interposed, " No, she
must not return to the chilling influence of those
floods, not for a single day."

This was no light trial. Our pleasant home must
be broken up ; all the hopes and plans my husband
had cherished abandoned ; the house he had taken
and furnished at some expense as a Hall for un-
attached students thrown on his hands. To carry
it on alone, to be separated for an indefinite time from
each other, was scarcely possible. There seemed for
the present no alternative. He accepted calmly,
though not without keen regret, what was clearly
inevitable. The difficulties of our position were for
a time increased by a serious reverse of fortune
experienced by my father, who had always been
ready to aid on occasion the different members of the
family. There had occurred a complete collapse
of a bank in which he was a large shareholder. The
loss he sustained was great. The spirit in which he

42 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1857.

bore the trial raised him still higher in the estimation
of those who already so highly valued and admired
him. Trouble followed upon trouble for a time,
and my husband suffered all the more because of
some inward self-reproach for having failed to exercise
sufficient providence and foresight in the past. His
greatest anxiety was for me ; but that happily was
gradually lightened as time went on.

Through the kindness of his friend, Mr. Powles, my
husband was called to take temporarily the charge of
a chapel at Blackheath, in the summer of 1857, which
gave him useful and congenial ministerial work while
continuing his literary pursuits. He had gone on in
advance to arrange for our removal to Blackheath.

To her husband. St. Barnabas Day,

June nth, 1857.

God bless you to-day and always, and make you
a " Son of Consolation " to many in the time to come,
as you have been to me. Earthly success is no
longer our aim. What I desire above all for you is
the fulfilment of the promise : " They that are wise
shall shine as the light, and they that turn many to
righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." I had

an encouraging conversation yesterday with ,

which fell in with the train of my thoughts regarding
you and myself. She said she had seen many cases
in which individual chastening had preceded a life of
great usefulness, though the subject of the chastening
had thought at the time that his life was passing
away, wasted or only spent in learning the lesson of
submission. She thought that those to whom the
discipline of life comes early rather than late ought

1857.] OXFORD. 43

to thank God ; for it makes them better able to
minister to others, and to walk humbly with their
God. May that be the case with us. The little boys
remembered your birthday before they were out of
bed this morning, and have made an excursion to
Nightingale Valley in honour of it.

CHAPTER III.

CHELTENHAM.

IN the autumn of 1857 my husband was invited to
fill the post of Vice-Principal of the Cheltenham
College. He accepted the invitation, and we went to
Cheltenham the same year. He here entered upon
his long course of assiduous and untiring work as a
schoolmaster — a work which covered a quarter of a
century, beginning at Cheltenham in 1857, and con-
tinued at Liverpool from the winter of 1865-66 until
1882. We gained much at Cheltenham in an im-
proved climate, and in the cessation of material
difficulties and anxieties. We lived in a large house,
in which, for some years, we received a number of
pupils. It was characteristic that it should have
supplied some of the best athletes of the College, and
many successful competitors in the school games, in
feats of strength, activity and skill. My husband
considered physical training to be an essential part
of the education of youth.

Our summer vacations continued to be spent
largely at Dilston ; we went however one year to
Switzerland with our eldest son. We visited Lucerne
and its neighbourhood, and afterwards the Rhone
Valley, Chamounix, and the great St. Bernard,
passing a night at the hospice, where we profited
much by our intercourse with the beautiful dogs, one

44

i86i.] CHELTENHAM. 45

of whom, a veteran called Bruno, the forefather of
many a noble hound, attached himself to us, and
made himself our cicerone among the rocks in the
desolate surroundings of the monastery. Another
summer excursion was, with two of our children, to
the Lakes of Killarney, including a visit to my
brother, Charles Grey, who lived then in a house of
Lord Derby, at Ballykisteen, in the " golden vale "
of Tipperary. In both these years my husband
brought home many sketches. The grey rocks
skirting the borders of Killarney lakes, with their
richly-coloured covering of arbutus and other
flowering trees and evergreens, were tempting
subjects for water-colours.

My father had been a friend of Clarkson, and a
practical worker in the movement for the abolition
of the slave trade. When the War of Secession in
America broke out, my husband's sympathies were
warmly enlisted on behalf of those who desired
the emancipation of the slaves, and he perceived
that that was indeed the question, the vital question
of justice, which lay at the root of all that terrible
struggle. This was one of several occasions in our
united life in which we found ourselves in a minority ;
members of a group at first so insignificant that it
scarcely found a voice or a hearing anywhere, but
whose position was afterwards fully justified by
events. It was a good training in swimming against
the tide, or at least in standing firm and letting the
tide go by, and in maintaining, while doing so, a
charitable attitude towards those who conscientiously
differed, and towards the thousands who float
contentedly down the stream of the fashionable

46 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1861.

opinion of the day. In this case the feeling of
isolation on a subject of such tragic interest was often
painful ; but the discipline was useful, for it was our
lot again more emphatically in the future to have
to accept and endure this position for conscience'
sake.

I recollect the sudden revulsion of feeling when the
news was telegraphed of the assassination of President
Lincoln ; the extraordinary rapidity of the change
of front of the " leading journal ; " and the self-
questionings among many whose intelligence and
goodness had certainly given them the right to think
for themselves, but who had not availed themselves
of that right. I remember the penitence of Punch,
who had been among the scoffers against the
abolitionists of slavery, and who now put himself
into deep mourning, and gave to the public an
affecting cartoon of the British Lion bowed and
weeping before the bier of Lincoln. A favourite
scripture motto of my husband's was, " Why do ye
not of yourselves judge that which is right ? " But
he was not argumentative. He loved peace, and
avoided every heated discussion. His silence was,
perhaps, sometimes not less effectual by way of
rebuke or correction of shallow judgments than
speech would have been. Goldwin Smith, one of
the few at Oxford who saw at that time the inner
meanings of the American struggle, paid us a visit.
It occurred to us, while listening to some pointed
remarks he was making on the prevalent opinion
of the day, to ask him to write and publish something
in reply to the often-repeated assertion that the
Bible itself favours slavery. " The Bible," he replied,

1863.] CHELTENHAM. 47

" has been quoted in favour of every abomination
that ever cursed the earth." He did not say he
would write ; but the idea sank into his mind, and
not long after he sent us his able and exquisite
little book, entitled Does the Bible sanction Slavery ? —
a masterly and beautiful exposition of the true spirit
of the Mosaic law, and of the Theocratic government
and training of the ancient Hebrew people in relation
to this and other questions. This book was naturally
not popular at the time, and I fear it has long been
out of print. (It was published in 1863.)

In this connection it is interesting to record, that
two other notable books owed their inspiration in a
large measure to Josephine Butler. The Patience
of Hope, by Dora Greenwell, published in 1859, was
dedicated to J. E. B., with the inscription — A te
principium, tibi desinet (from thee begun with thee
my work shall close). Te sine nil altum mens in-
choat (without thee nothing high my mind essays).
Frederic Myers, who had been at school at Chelten-
ham College, in his Fragments of Inner Life* tells
how " Christian conversion came to me in a potent
form — through the agency of Josephine Butler, nee
Grey, whose name will not be forgotten in the annals
of English philanthropy. She introduced me to
Christianity, so to say, by an inner door ; not to its
encumbering forms and dogmas, but to its heart of
fire. My poems of St. Paul and St. John the Baptist,
intensely personal in their emotion, may serve as
sufficient record of those years of eager faith." St.
Paul, published in 1867, was dedicated to J. E. B.,
with the inscription — rj *<** rfv e/ti}*' Y^X9?" o0e/Xo»
(to whom I owe my very soul). In 1869 Myers

* Fragments of Prose and Poetry, by Frederic W. H. Myers.
1904 (Longmans, Green & Co.), p. 22.

48 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1864.

gave up a Lectureship at Trinity in order to devote
himself to the promotion of the higher education of
women, and he was one of the small band of university
men, who worked hard with Josephine Butler and her
colleagues on the North of England Council, to which
we shall refer later on.

Among the public events which interested us most
during these j^ears was the revolution in Naples,
the change of dynasty, and Garibaldi's career.
Our interest was in part of a personal nature, as my
sister, Madame Meuricoffre, and her husband were
in the midst of these events. She had succeeded
Jessie White Mario in the care of the wounded
Garibaldians in the hospitals, and was personally
acquainted with some of the actors in the dramatic
scenes of that time. Having told her that my
husband had set as a subject for a prize essay — to be
competed for in the College at Cheltenham — " The
unification of Italy," my sister mentioned it to
Garibaldi, in expressing to him our sympathy for
him and his cause. He immediately wrote a few
lines, signing his name at the end, to be sent, through
her, to the boy who should write the best essay on
the subject so near to his heart.

A part of the summer holidays of 1864 were spent
at Coniston in the house of Mr. James Marshall,
which he lent to us. His sister, Mrs. Myers, had
been our kind and constant friend at Cheltenham.
It was a beautiful summer. We had returned to
Cheltenham only a few days when a heavy sorrow
fell upon our home, the brightest of our little circle
being suddenly snatched away from us. The dark
shadow of that cloud cannot easily be described.

1864.] CHELTENHAM. 49

I quote part of a letter written some weeks after our
child's death to a friend.

CHELTENHAM, August, 1864.
These are but weak words. May you never
know the grief which they hide rather than reveal.
But God is good. He has, in mercy, at last sent
me a ray of light, and low in the dust at His feet
I have thanked Him for that ray of light as I never
thanked Him for any blessing in the whole of my
life before. It was difficult to endure at first the
shock of the suddenness of that agonising death.
Little gentle spirit ! the softest death for her would
have seemed sad enough. Never can I lose that
memory — the fall, the sudden cry, and then the
silence. It was pitiful to see her, helpless in her
father's arms, her little drooping head resting on
his shoulder, and her beautiful golden hair, all stained
with blood, falling over his arm. Would to God
that I had died that death for her ! If we had been
permitted, I thought, to have one look, one word
of farewell, one moment of recognition ! But
though life flickered for an hour, she never recognised
the father and mother whom she loved so dearly.
We called her by her name, but there was no answer.
She was our only daughter, the light and joy of our
lives. She flitted in and out like a butterfly all day.
She had never had a day's or an hour's illness in all
her sweet life. She never gave us a moment of
anxiety, her life was one flowing stream of mirth
and fun and abounding love. The last morning she
had said to me a little verse she had learned some-
where—

5

50 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1864.

Every morning the warm suu

Rises fair and bright ;
But the evening cometh on,

And the dark, cold night.
There is a bright land far away,
Where 'tis never-ending day!

The dark, cold night came too soon for us, for
it was that same evening, at seven o'clock, that she
fell. The last words I had with her were about a
pretty caterpillar she had found ; she came to my
room to beg for a little box to put it in. I gave
it her and said, " Now trot away, for I am late for
tea." What would I not give now for five minutes
of that sweet presence ? The only discipline she
ever had was an occasional conflict with her own
strong feelings and will. She disliked nothing so
much as her little German lessons. Fraulein
Blumke had called her one day to have one. She
was sitting in a low chair. She grasped the arms
of it tightly, and, looking very grave and
determined, she replied, " Hush, wait a bit, I am
fighting!" She sat silent for a few moments, and
then walked quickly and firmly to have her German
lesson. Fraulein asked her what she meant by saying
she was fighting, and she replied, " I was fighting
with myself" (to overcome her unwillingness to go
to her books). I overheard Fraulein say to her in
the midst of the lesson : " Arbeit, Eva, arbeit ! "
To which Eva replied with decision, " I am arbeiting,
Miss Blumke, as hard as ever I can."

One evening last autumn, when I went to see her
after she was in bed and we were alone, she said :
" Mammy, if I go to heaven before you, when the

1864.] CHELTENHAM. 51

door of heaven opens to let you in I will run so fast
to meet you ; and when you put your arms round me,
and we kiss each other, all the angels will stand still
to see us." And she raised herself up in her ardour,
her face beaming and her little chest heaving with
the excitement of her loving anticipation. I recall
her look ; not the merry laughing look she generally
had, but softened into an overflowing tenderness of
the soul. She lay down again, but could not rest,
and raising herself once more said, " I would like to-
pray again " (she had already said her little prayer) ;
and we prayed again, about this meeting in heaven.
I never thought for a moment that she would go
first. I don't think I ever had a thought of death
in connection with her ; she was so full of life and
energy. She was always showing her love in active
ways. We used to imagine what it would be when
she grew up, developing into acts of mercy and
kindness. She was passionately devoted to her
father, and after hugging him, and heaping endearing
names upon him, she would fly off and tax her poor
little tender fingers by making him something — a
pincushion or kettle-holder. She made him blue,
pink, white and striped pincushions and mats, for
which he had not much use. But now he treasures
up her poor little gifts as more precious than gold.
If my head ached, she would bathe it with a sponge
for an hour without tiring. Sweet Eva ! Well
might the Saviour say, "Of such is the Kingdom of
Heaven." She was so perfectly truthful, candid
and pure. It was a wonderful repose for me, a
good gift of God, when troubled by the evils in the
world or my own thoughts, to turn to the perfect

52 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1864.

innocence and purity of that little maiden. But
that joy is gone now for us. I am troubled for my
husband. His grief is so deep and silent ; but he is
very, very patient. He loves children and all young
creatures, and his love for her was wonderful. Her
face, as she lay in death, wore a look of sweet, calm
surprise, as if she said, "Now I see God." We stood
in awe before her. She seemed to rebuke our grief
in her rapt and holy sleep. Her hair had grown
very long lately, and was of a deep chestnut brown,
which in the sun flashed out all golden : —

Hair like a golden halo lying

Upon a pillow white ;
Parted lips that mock all sighing,

Good night — good night !
Good night in anguish and in bitter pain ;
Good morrow crowns another of the heavenly train.

This sorrow seemed to give in a measure a new
direction to our lives and interests. There were
some weeks of uncomforted grief. Her flight from
earth had had the appearance of a most cruel
accident. But do the words " accident " or
" chance " properly find a place in the vocabulary
of those who have placed themselves, and those dear
to them, in a special manner under the daily provi-
dential care of a loving God ? Here there entered
into the heart of our grief the intellectual difficulty,
the moral perplexity and dismay which are not the
least terrifying of the phantoms which haunt the
" Valley of the shadow of Death " — that dark passage
through which some toil only to emerge into a
hopeless and final denial of the Divine goodness,

1864.] CHELTENHAM. 53

the complete bankruptcy of faith ; and others, by
the mercy of God, through a still deeper experience,
into a yet firmer trust in His unfailing love.

One day, going into his study, I found my husband
alone, and looking ill. His hands were cold, he had
an unusual paleness in his face, and he seemed faint.
I was alarmed. I kneeled beside him, and, shaking
myself out of my own stupor of grief, I spoke
"comfortably" to him, and forced myself to talk
cheerfully, even joyfully, of the happiness of our
child, of the unclouded brightness of her brief life
on earth, and her escape from the trials and sorrows
she might have met with had she lived. He
responded readily to the offered comfort, and the
effort to strengthen him was helpful to myself.
After this I often went to him in the evening after
school hours, when, sitting side by side, we spoke
of our child in heaven, until our own loss seemed to
become somewhat less bitter.

The following is from a brief diary ol the close of
that sad year —

October ^oth. — Last night 1 slept uneasily. I
dreamed 1 had my darling in my arms, dying ; that
she struggled to live lor my sake, lived again a
moment, and then died. Just then I heard a
sound, a low voice at my door, and I sprang to my
feet. It was poor Stanley (our second son), scarcely
awake, and in a fever. I took him in my arms, and
carried him back to his bed, from which he had come
to seek my help. In the morning he could not
swallow, and pointed to his throat. Dr. Ker came
and said he had diphtheria. My heart sank. I

54 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1864.

wondered whether God meant to ask us to give up
another child so soon.

His illness was very severe, and for some days he
hovered between life and death. But we were spared
the added sorrow we dreaded. When he was
sufficiently recovered, it was thought better that I
should go with him abroad, to escape the winter's
cold, and for a change of scene from that house
round which clung the memory of such a tragic
sorrow. My husband and other sons came to London
with us, and a pleasant and able courier was engaged,
who accompanied me and my little convalescent to
Genoa, where we had been invited by kind relatives
living there.

At the end of this visit it was arranged that
I should accompany my sister to Naples, when
we learned that the railway and roads were
flooded, and that travelling by land would be
difficult and even dangerous. Being unwilling
to give up the long-cherished hope of a visit
to my sister's home, I proposed that we should
go by sea. My sister, though fearing a sea voyage
for me in winter, assented to the arrangement,
and as the weather was then very calm we
started with good hopes. I had not, however,
realised the gravity of the shock which my health
had sustained before leaving England.

On this voyage she was taken very seriously ill,
nigh unto death. " I was kneeling," writes her
sister, " and rubbing her hands and feet, trying to
warm them ; and while my imagination was realising
all the terrors, my heart was praying desperately to

1864.] CHELTENHAM. 55

God that He would make a way of escape, that He
would work a miracle for us. And He did. The
three boys went away and all prayed to God to save
her. After a time I felt a hand on my shoulder.
It was the captain. He said : ' I saw the other
mail vessel coming north, and I have signalled her.
If she sees us you shall go on board and return to
Leghorn. Make haste ! ' I drew a long breath and
said : ' Thank God, I think we are saved ! ' I felt
the horror melting away in a measure, and hope
springing up. We rolled her up, and I went for the
weeping children, and found the kind young Sicilian
officer comforting them. I thanked him. He said,
in Italian, something about the love of Christ, so
kindly. I had said very little about her. People
must have been impressed with her look, and thought
her dying, to take such extreme measures as to stop
the two Government steamers on the high seas. "

CHAPTER IV.

LIVERPOOL.

IN the winter of 1865 my husband received one day
a telegraphic message from Mr. Parker, of Liverpool,
asking him if he would be willing to take the
Principalship of the Liverpool College, vacated by
the retirement of Dr. Howson, who became Dean of
Chester. He accepted the invitation as providential,
and went to Liverpool to see Mr. Parker, the
directors of the college, and others interested in
the choice of a new principal. There was no-
hesitation about the matter, and he was shortly
afterwards elected. Our removal to Liverpool took
place in January, 1866.

Liverpool is one of the largest seaports of the world.
No greater contrast could have been found than it
presented to the academic, intellectual character of
Oxford, or the quiet educational and social
conditions at Cheltenham. Its immense population,
with a large intermingling of foreign elements, its
twelve miles of docks lined with warehouses, its
magnificent shipping, its cargoes and foreign sailors
from every part of the world and from every nation
of the earth, its varieties in the way of creeds and
places of worship, its great wealth and its abject
poverty, the perpetual movement, the coming and

1866.] LIVERPOOL. 5T

going, and the clash of interests in its midst — all
these combined to make Liverpool a city of large
and international character, and of plentiful
opportunities for the exercise of public spirit and
catholic sentiment. The college shared the
characteristics of the city in the midst of which it
was set. Among its eight to nine hundred pupils
there were Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Negroes,
Americans, French, Germans, and Spaniards, as
well as Welsh, Irish, Scotch and English. These
represented many different religious persuasions.
A man of narrow theological views would scarcely
have found the position as head of such a school
agreeable. Firmness and simplicity of faith, truth,
charity and toleration, were qualities which were
needed in the administrator of such a little world of
varied international and denominational elements.
The principalship must be held, by the rules of the
college, by a member of the Church of England, and
the directors had been happy in finding churchmen
who were willing to accept the conditions presented,
and able to work well in the midst of them. There
were, as pupils at the college, the sons of two half-
civilised African kings, Oko Jumbo and Jah-Jah.
Their fathers having been old and sworn enemies,
the two little fellows began their school acquaintance
with many a tussle true to the inherited instinct.
They were good boys, however, and one of them —
afterwards a convinced and consistent Christian —
became a missionary among his own countrymen,
in spite of much opposition and even persecution,
it was said, from his own father.

When we came to Liverpool in 1866, and my

58 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1866.

husband and sons began their regular life at the
College, going there early and returning in the
evening, I was left many hours every day alone,
empty-handed and sorrowful, the thought continually
returning, " How sweet the presence of my little
daughter would have been now." Most people, who
have gone through any such experience, will under-
stand me when I speak of the ebb and flow of sorrow.
The wave retires perhaps after the first bitter weeks,
and a kind of placid acquiescence follows. It may be
only a natural giving way of the power of prolonged
resistance of pain. Then there comes sometimes a
second wave, which has been silently gathering
strength, holding back, so to speak, in order to
advance again with all its devouring force, thun-
dering upon the shore. But who can write the
rationale of sorrow ? And who can explain its
mysteries, its apparent inconsistencies and un-
reasonableness, its weakness and its strength ? I
suffered much during the first months in our new
home. Music, art, reading, all failed as resources
to alleviate or to interest. I became possessed with
an irresistible desire to go forth and find some pain
keener than my own, to meet with people more
unhappy than myself (for I knew there were
thousands of such). I did not exaggerate my own
trial. I only knew that my heart ached night and
day, and that the only solace possible would seem to
be to find other hearts which ached night and day,
and with more reason than mine. I had no clear
idea beyond that, no plan for helping others ; my
sole wish was to plunge into the heart of some
human misery, and to say (as I now knew I could)

i866.] LIVERPOOL. 59

to afflicted people, " I understand : I too have
suffered."

It was not difficult to find misery in Liverpool.
There was an immense workhouse containing at that
time, it was said, five thousand persons — a little town
in itself. The general hospital for paupers included
in it was blessed then by the angelic presence of
Agnes Jones (whose work of beneficence was recorded
after her death) ; but the other departments in the
great building were not so well organised as they
came to be some years later. There were extensive
special wards, where unhappy girls drifted like
autumn leaves when the winter approached, many
of them to die of consumption, little cared for
spiritually ; for over this portion of the hospital
Agnes Jones was not the presiding genius. There
was on the ground floor a Bridewell for women, con-
sisting of huge cellars, bare and unfurnished, with
damp stone floors. These were called the " oakum
sheds," and to these came voluntarily creatures
driven by hunger, destitution, or vice, begging for a
few nights' shelter and a piece of bread, in return for
which they picked their allotted portion of oakum.
Others were sent there as prisoners.

I went down to the oakum sheds and begged
admission. I was taken into an immense gloomy
vault filled with women and girls — more than two
hundred probably at that time. I sat on the floor
among them and picked oakum. They laughed at
me, and told me my fingers were of no use for that
work, which was true. But while we laughed we
became friends. I proposed that they should learn
a few verses to say to me on my next visit. I

60 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1866.

recollect a tall, dark, handsome girl standing up in
our midst, among the damp refuse and lumps of
tarred rope, and repeating without a mistake and in
a not unmusical voice, clear and ringing, that
wonderful fourteenth chapter of St. John's Gospel —
the words of Jesus all through, ending with, " Peace
I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
She had selected it herself, and they listened in perfect
silence, this audience — wretched, draggled, ignorant,
criminal some, and wild and defiant others. The
tall, dark-haired girl had prepared the way for me,
and I said, " Now let us all kneel, and cry to that
same Jesus who spoke those words " ; and down on
their knees they fell every one of them, reverently,
on that damp stone floor, some saying the words
after me, others moaning and weeping. It was a
strange sound, that united wail — continuous, pitiful,
strong — like a great sigh or murmur of vague desire
and hope, issuing from the heart of despair, piercing
the gloom and murky atmosphere of that vaulted
room, and reaching to the heart of God.

But I do not want to make a long story of this.
The result of my visits to the hospital and quays and
oakum sheds was to draw down upon my head an
avalanche of miserable but grateful womanhood.
Such a concourse gathered round our home that I had
to stop to take breath, and consider some means of
escape from the dilemma by providing some practical
help, moral and material. There were not at that
time many enlightened missions or measures in the
town for dealing with the refuse of society. There
was the Catholic Refuge of the Good Shepherd, some

i866.] LIVERPOOL. 61

way in the country ; an old-fashioned Protestant
Penitentiary, rather prison-like in character ;
another smaller refuge; and, best of all, a Home
recently established by Mrs. Cropper. But it must
not be supposed that the majority of my oakum
shed friends were of a character to seek such asylums.
Many of them — and especially the Irish Catholics —
prided themselves on their virtue ; and well they
might, considering their miserable surroundings —
girls who for the most part earned a scanty living by
selling sand in the streets (for cleaning floors) , or the
refuse of the markets to the poorest of the population.
Usually they were barefooted and bonnetless. The
Lancashire women are strong and bold. The
criminals of the oakum sheds and prison, sent to
" do a week " or a month there, had most frequently
been convicted of fighting and brawling on the quays
and docks, of theft or drunkenness. There was stuff
among them to make a very powerful brigade of
workers in any active good cause. But there were
others — the children of intemperate and criminal
parents — who were, humanly speaking, useless, not
quite " all there," poor, limp, fibreless human weeds.
These last were the worst of all to deal with. I had
the help at this time of a widowed sister who was
visiting Liverpool, and who, in spite of very delicate
health, threw herself heroically into the effort to help
this work without a name which came upon us. We
had a dry cellar in our house and a garret or two, and
into these we crowded as many as possible of the
most friendless girls who were anxious to make a
fresh start. This became inconvenient, and so in
time my husband and I ventured to take a house near

62 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1866.

our own, trusting to find funds to furnish and fill it
with inmates. This was the " House of Rest,"
which continued for many years, and developed,
about the time we left Liverpool, into an incurable
hospital, supported by the town. It was there that,
a little later, women incurably ill were brought from
the hospitals or their wretched homes, their beds in
hospital being naturally wanted for others.

A few months later, encouraged by the help
offered by a certain number of generous Liverpool
merchants and other friends, we took a very large and
solid house, with some ground round it, to serve as
an industrial home for the healthy and active, the
barefooted sand girls, and other friendless waifs and
strays. We had a good gathering of friends and
neighbours at a service which my husband held at
the opening of the industrial home. His " dedication
prayer " on that occasion was very touching, and
full of kindness and heart-yearning towards the poor
disinherited beings whom we desired to gather in.
This house was very soon filled, and was successfully
managed by an excellent matron, a mother. Besides
the usual laundry and other work, we were able to set
up a little envelope factory in one of the spacious
rooms. This work called out some skill and nicety,
and interested the girls very much. Several trades-
men and firms bought our envelopes at wholesale
prices, and we also supplied some private friends
disposed to help us. As chaplain, friend and
adviser in these two modest institutions, my husband
showed the same fidelity and constancy which he did
in every other seriously accepted or self-imposed
duty. He often said that it was a rest and

i866.] LIVERPOOL. 63

refreshment to him to visit our poor people in the
evening, and more especially on Sunday. In the House
of Rest were received " incurables " so-called (of whom
not a few recovered). There was a very peaceful
atmosphere in that house answering to its name — a
spirit of repose, contentment, and even gaiety among
the young inmates, scarcely clouded even by the
frequent deaths, which came generally as a happy
and not unexpected release, and were regarded by
the living as a series of fresh bonds between the
family in heaven and that on earth.

Drink was the great, the hopeless obstacle which
I found among them. It was on this side that they
would lapse again and again. Though it involved
no change in my own habits, I thought it was best to
take the pledge. I joined the Good Templars, who
had many lodges in Liverpool.

Shortly before the creation of these two homes, we
had a visit from my sister, Madame Meuricoffre.
She and her husband, with their dear little girl,
Josephine, had come from Naples to England, and
had paid a visit to our father in Northumberland,
They had, a short time before, lost a beloved child,
their little Beatrice, during an outbreak of the cholera
in Naples. The surviving little girl seemed to droop
after the death of her companion. She (little
Josephine) took ill on the way from the north, and
before they reached Liverpool this darling of her
parents had gone to join her beloved sister in the
presence of God. The parents came to us in deep
sorrow, bringing with them the earthly remains of
their child.

My sister joined me in my visits to the sick,

64 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1866.

criminal, and outcast women of Liverpool. We
visited the wards of the great hospital together.
The strong sympathy of her loving nature quickly
won the hearts of desolate young girls, while she
greatly strengthened me in the hope that we might
be able to undo some of their heavy burdens.

Among the first who came to us to our own house,
to die, was a certain Marion, who seemed to us a
kind of first-fruits of the harvest, in the gathering in
of which we were to be allowed in after years to
participate. The first time I saw her was in a
crowded room. Her face attracted me : not
beautiful in the common acceptation of the word,
but having a power greater than beauty ; eyes full
of intelligence and penetration ; a countenance at
once thoughtful and frank, with at times a wildly
seeking look, as if her whole being cried out, " Who
will show us any good ? " She was ill, her lungs
fatally attacked. I went up to her, and with no
introduction of myself said, " Will you come with
me to my home and live with me ? I had a daughter
once." She replied with a gasp of astonishment,
grasping my hand as if she would never let it go again.
I brought her home, my husband supported her
upstairs, and we laid her on the couch in the pretty
little spare room looking on the garden. She lived
with us, an invalid, three months, and then died.
It was difficult to suppress the thought, " If she had
not been so destroyed, what a brightness and
blessing she might have been in the world."
Untaught, unacquainted with the Scriptures till she
came to us, she mastered the New Testament so
thoroughly in that brief time that her acute

1866.] LIVERPOOL. 65

questions and pregnant remarks were often a subject
of wonder to my husband, who spent a portion of
almost every evening with her in her room,
conversing with and instructing her. Some of the
intellectual difficulties which assail thoughtful
students occurred to her. I witnessed many a severe
struggle in her mind. She would often say, " I
will ask Mr. Butler about it this evening." But
her questions were sometimes such as cannot be
answered, except by God Himself to the individual
soul. This she knew, and through many sleepless
nights her murmured prayers were heard by her
attendant, " preventing the night watches." My
husband said her remarks concerning the nature of
a true faith sometimes strikingly resembled portions
of the writings of a well-known modern philosophical
thinker, which she had never read, for she had
read nothing. I speak of her intellect, but her heart
was yet greater. What capacities for noble love,
for the deepest friendship, had been trampled under
foot in that dear soul.

A well - known divine came to visit us, and
hearing of our poor invalid, kindly offered to see
and converse with her. My husband and I agreed
that we would say nothing to our friend of Marion's
past life, for we thought that, saintly man though
he was, he probably had not faith enough to do
justice to her and to himself in the interview if he
had this knowledge. (There are few men whose
faith comes up to that measure.) When he joined
us again downstairs his face was radiant, and he
spoke, not of any teaching or comfort which he might
have conveyed to her, but of the help and privilege

6

66 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1866.

it was to himself to have held communion during a
short half hour with a dying saint, so young, yet so
enlightened, and so near to God.

I recall the day of her death. It was a cold,
snowy day in March. In the morning my husband
went to see her early, before going out to his college
work. She could scarcely speak, but looking
earnestly at him said, as if to reward him for all
his painstaking instructions, and guessing what he
wished to know, " Yes, God is with me, sir ; I have
perfect peace." Her long death-struggle lasting
twelve hours, joined with the peace and even joy of
her spirit, was very affecting. Though it was
bitterly cold, she whispered, " Open the windows,
for the love of God." Her long black hair, thrust
wildly back, was like the hair of a swimmer, dripping
with water, so heavy were the death -dews. She
became blind, and her fine intelligent eyes wandered
ever, with an appealing look, to whatever part of
the room she thought I was in. Towards sunset
she murmured, " Oh, come quickly, Lord Jesus."
During that long day she continually moved her
arms like a swimmer, as if she felt herself sinking
in deep waters. Then her poor little head fell
forward, a long sigh escaped her parted lips, and at
last I laid her down flat on her little bed. My
husband and sons returned from college, and we all
stood round her for a few minutes. She had
become a household friend. She looked sweet and
solemn then, her head drooping to one side, and
with a worn-out look on the young frail face, but
a look, too, of perfect peace.

A few days before her death I telegraphed, at her

1866.] LIVERPOOL. 67

request, to her father, who had had no tidings of
his lost child for five years. He was an extensive
farmer, well to do and honourable, living in a
beautiful district in the midland counties. We
were surprised, on his arrival, to see a very fine-
looking country gentleman, as one would say,
reminding us, in his noble height and figure and
dignified presence, a little of my own father. He
carried with him a valise and a handsome travelling
rug. We took him to her room and retired. Their
interview was best witnessed by God alone. After
two hours or so I opened the door softly. He was
lying on a couch at the opposite side of the room
from her in a deep sleep, tired probably more by
strong emotion than by his journey. She raised her
finger for silence, and with the look and action of a
guardian angel whispered, " Father is asleep."

After her death her poor mother came to attend
her funeral. I had filled Marion's coffin with white
camelias, banking them up all round her. With
her hands crossed on her breast, and dressed as a
bride for her Lord, she looked quite lovely. I found
the mother alone, kneeling by the coffin in an agony
of grief and of anger. She said (her body rocking
backward and forward with emotion), " If that man
could but see her now ! Can we not send for him ? "
And she added, " Oh, what a difference there is in
English gentlemen's households ! To think that
this child should have been ruined in one and saved
in another ! " Yes, it might have been good for
" that man " to have been forced to step down
from his high social position and to look upon her
then, and to have known the abyss from which she

68 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1866.

had been drawn, to the verge of which he had led
her when she was but a child of fifteen.

Marion had " prophesied " to me, before she died,
of hard days and a sad heart which were in store for
me in contending against the evil to which she had
fallen a victim. I recall her words with wonder and
comfort. She would say, " When your soul quails
at the sight of the evil, which will increase yet
awhile, dear Mrs. Butler, think of me and take
courage. God has given me to you, that you may
never despair of any."

Snow lay thickly on the ground when we laid her
in her grave in the cemetery. When we came back
to the house I was trying to say something comforting
to the mother, when she stopped me and said,
" My heart is changed about it all. The bitter
anger won't come back, I think ; and what has taken
it all away was the sight of Mr. Butler standing by
the grave of my child, and the words he spoke.
Oh, madam," she said, " when I looked at him
standing there in the snow, dressed in his linen robe
as white as the snow itself, and with that look on
his face when he looked up to heaven and thanked
God for my daughter now among the blessed, I
could hardly refrain from falling on my knees at his
feet, for he seemed to me like one of the angels of
God ! I felt happy then, almost proud, for my
child. Oh, madam, I can never tell you what it was
to me to look on your husband's face then ! My
heart was bursting with gratitude to God and to him."

There were others about the same time whom we
took home, who died in our own house, and were laid
in graves side by side in the cemetery. Of one I

I866.J LIVERPOOL. 69

have a clear remembrance, a girl of seventeen only,
of some natural force of character. Her death was
a prolonged hard battle with pain and with bitter
memories, lightened by momentary flashes of faint
hope. She struggled hard. We were called to her
bedside suddenly one evening. She was dying,
but with a strong effort she had raised herself to a
sitting position. She drew us near to her by the
appeal of her earnest eyes, and raising her right hand
high with a strangely solemn gesture, and with a
look full of heroic and desperate resolve, she said,
" / will fight for my soul through hosts, and hosts,
and hosts ! " Her eyes, which seemed to be now
looking far off, athwart the hosts of which she spoke,
became dim, and she spoke no more. " Poor brave
child ! " I cried to her, " you will find on the other
shore One waiting for you who has fought through all
those hosts for you, who will not treat you as man
has treated you." I cannot explain what she meant.
I have never been quite able to understand it ; but
her words dwelt with us — " through hosts, and hosts,
and hosts ! " She had been trampled under the feet
of men as the mire in the streets, had been hustled
about from prison to the streets, and from the
streets to prison, an orphan, unregarded by any but
the vigilant police. From the first day she came to
us we noticed in her, notwithstanding, an admirable
self-respect, mixed with the full realisation of her
misery. And that sense of the dignity and worth
of the true self in her — the immortal, inalienable
self — found expression in that indomitable resolution
of the dying girl : "I will fight for my soul through
hosts, and hosts, and hosts ! "

70 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1868.

In the following winter my father died. On the
23rd of January, 1868, we were summoned by a tele-
graphic message from my sister, Mrs. Smyttan, who
had lived with him during the last years of his life.
But none of us saw him alive again. The end had
been sudden, but very tranquil. His health was
excellent to the last. On the morning of January
23rd, as he was passing from his bedroom to his
study, he sat down, feeling faint, and raising his
forefinger as if to enjoin silence, or intent upon a
voice calling him away, he died without a struggle,
and apparently without pain, in the eighty-third
year of his age.

The family group which was gathered in that house
of mourning was incomplete, for many were far away.
One of the sisters wrote to the absent ones :

" Two days after our dear father's death there was
such a storm of wind for twenty-four hours as I
scarcely remember. The house shook and heaved,
and the sky was as dark as if there were an eclipse.
The river roared and the windows rattled. We all
cowered over the fire, and talked of him and of old
days, trying to free ourselves from the sad, restless
impression produced by the storm. We heard a
crash, and on going upstairs found the window of the
room where he lay blown in, the glass shivered about
the floor, and the white sheet which had been thrown
over the kingly corpse blown rudely away. There
was something so irreverent about it, pitiful and
weird-like ; but he was not disturbed by it — he was
beyond all storms, in an infinite and everlasting
calm. He looked so grand, and lay in such a majestic
peace. His forehead, so high and broad and smooth,

i868.] LIVERPOOL. 71

his soft grey hair smoothed back. I was much struck
by the powerful look of his square jaw, and the union
of tenderness and strength in the whole outline of his
head and face. I felt almost triumphant about him ;
and yet how sorrowful such moments are, even when
one can look back with thankfulness. The sorrow is
not for one's own loss only ; the presence of death
in one so dear brings one for a moment into close
relation with all the sorrows of earth. When Jesus
wept at the grave of Lazarus it was not for Lazarus
and his sisters only. He saw then and felt all the
bereavements which would bow down the hearts of
men to the end of time."

The company of voluntary followers to the grave
was a very large one, all on foot. Around the tomb,
where he was laid by the side of our dear mother,
there stood a large and silent gathering of children
and grandchildren, friends, servants, tenants and
others. As we passed along the vale of Tyne on our
way back to Lipwood we were much impressed by the
outward results — in the high cultivation and look of
happy prosperity of the country — of a long life use-
fully spent. And this feeling was shared by all the
dwellers there, who, equally with ourselves, could
mark in all around them the impress of his mind and
hand. But only those who had had the happiness of
his friendship and confidence could know, with his
children, how much of strength and sweetness
seemed to be gone away from earth when that great
heart had ceased to beat.

One of the most prominent characteristics of our
family life during all these years at Liverpool was

72 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1868.

that of our common enjoyment of our summer tours.
There were circumstances which made our annual
excursions more than the ordinary tours of some
holiday-makers. In the first place, many of my own
relatives were settled in different parts of the Con-
tinent, thus giving us a personal connection with those
places. In order to pay a visit to the homes of some
of them it was necessary to cross the Alps, while other
near relatives lived in France and Switzerland.

It sometimes happens that the ordinary English
traveller knows little of the general life of the people
among whom he travels, of the history of the country,
its politics, its social condition and prospects. He is
content to gather to himself enjoyment from the
beauties of Switzerland or the Tyrol, or Italy, while
knowing little of the dwellers in those beautiful lands.
A wider and a richer field is open to those who care to
seek and explore it. My husband was not content
without making himself acquainted, to a considerable
extent, with the contemporary history of the coun-
tries through which we passed. His aptitude for
languages aided him in intercourse with people of
different nationalities ; so that our family relation-
ships abroad, and our friendships with many public
men, as well as humble dwellers in continental
countries, gave to our visits there a varied interest.
These vacation tours were to us like sunlit mountain
tops rising from the cloud-covered plain of our
laborious life at Liverpool. Moreover, the en-
thusiasm which he had, and which was shared by his
sons, for geographical and geological research, to-
gether with our modest artistic efforts, added greatly
to the interest of our travels. It was felt to be

<C TlinmjiKon, Photo.

i868.] LIVERPOOL. 73

unsatisfactory to attempt to draw mountains and
rocks without knowing something of their geological
construction. During a visit which Mr. Ruskin paid
us at Liverpool, he was turning over a portfolio of
drawings done by my husband, and held in his hands
for some time two or three sketches of the Aiguilles
towering above the Mer de Glace, and other rocks
and mountain buttresses in the neighbourhood of
Chamounix. He said it gave him pleasure to look
at those (he being a keen observer and student of
mountain forms everywhere). " Your outlines of
these peaks, Mr. Butler," he said, " are perfectly
true : they are portraits. Very few people are able
or care to represent the forms so correctly. For the
most part artists are more anxious to produce an
effective picture, than to give precisely what they see
in nature."

Our sons inherited their father's out-door tastes.
Our summer tours were therefore a source of the
keenest enjoyment to us all. We saved up our
money for them, worked towards them, and looked
forward to them as a real happiness.

CHAPTER V.

EDUCATION OF WOMEN.

AMONG the subjects concerning which my husband
advanced with a quicker and firmer step than that
of the society around him in general, stands that of
the higher education of women. It may be difficult
for the present generation to realise what an
amount of dogged opposition and prejudice the
pioneers of this movement had to encounter only
some twenty -five years ago. We have made
such rapid strides in the direction of women's
education, that we almost forget that our ladies'
colleges, higher examinations, and the various honours
for which women compete so gallantly with men, are
but of yesterday. Miss Clough called at our house
in Liverpool one day in 1867, to ascertain the state
of mind of the Principal of the Liverpool College in
regard to the beautiful schemes, which were even then
taking shape in her fruitful brain for the benefit of
her fellow- women. I think she was heartily glad to
find herself in a house where not a shadow of
prejudice or doubt existed, to be argued down or
patiently borne with until better days. My husband
even went a little further, I believe, than she did
at that time, in his hopes concerning the equality
to be granted in future in the matter of educational

74

1867.] EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 75

advantages for boys and girls, men and women. An
active propagandist work was started soon after
by James Stuart, of Trinity College, Cambridge,
who made Liverpool his head-quarters during his
first experiment in establishing lectures for ladies,
which developed into the University Extension
Scheme. It was arranged that the first course
should embrace four of the most important towns
of the North of England, constituting a sort of
circuit. It seemed desirable that a man of
experience and weight in the educational world
should inaugurate this experiment by a preliminary
address or lecture, given to mixed audiences, in each
of these four towns. My husband undertook this
task. His first address was given at Sheffield,
where he was the guest of Canon Sale, who approved
heartily of the movement. Without unnecessarily
conjuring up spectres of opposition in order to
dismiss them, he carefully framed his discourse so as
to meet the prejudices of which the air, at that time,
was full. It was generally imagined that a severer
intellectual training than women had hitherto
received would make them unwomanly, hard,
unlovely, pedantic, and disinclined for domestic
duties, while the dangers to physical health were
dolorously prophesied by medical men and others.
In concluding his inaugural address, my husband said :
" A community of women, established purposely to
educate girls and to train teachers, was not known in
Christendom till the institution of the Ursulines by
Angela da Brescia, in 1537. So unheard of at this
time was any attempt of women to organise a
systematic education for their own sex, that when

76 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1867.

Franchise de Saintange undertook to found such a
school at Dijon she was hooted in the streets, and
her father called together four doctors learned in
the laws, ' pour s'assurer qu'instruire des femmes
n'etait pas un oeuvre du demon.' Even after he
had given his consent, he was afraid to countenance
his daughter, and Fran9oise, unprotected and unaided,
began her first school in a garret. Twelve years
afterwards she was carried in triumph through the
streets, with bells ringing and flowers strewed in
her path, because she had succeeded. Her work lived
and grew because it was right. So take courage,
ladies, struggling now at this day for the right to
cultivate to their full extent the faculties and gifts
which God has bestowed upon you. You must fight
your own battles still. At all times reforms in the
social position of women have been brought about
by efforts of their own, for their own sex,
supplemented by men, but always coming in the
first instance from themselves."

The visit of Miss Clough to the Butlers, already
referred to, led to the formation at the end of 1867
of the North of England Council for promoting the
Higher Education for Women, a body representing
associations of school-mistresses in several large
northern towns. Josephine Butler was President o?]
this council from 1867 to 1873, and Miss Clough was
Secretary for the three first strenuous years of its j
existence. The first work of the Council was to
organise lectures for women, which had already been
begun by Mr. Stuart, to whose genius the inception
of the University Extension Movement was due. Mr.
Stuart's first course on astronomy was given, in the
autumn of 1867, in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds

1868.1 EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 77

and Sheffield, and was attended altogether by five
hundred and fifty women. These lectures were
followed by other similar courses organised by the
Council, and the idea rapidly spread. In 1868 Mr.
Stuart gave his first lectures to working-men at Crewe.
These two independent tributaries, lectures to women
and lectures to working-men, combined into one
stream, which grew into the University Extension
system first adopted by the University of Cambridge
in 1873. The North of England Council was one of
the bodies which memorialised the University, at
the end of 1871, in favour of the lecture system being
taken up and put on a permanent basis by the
University. Their memorial urged the proposal not
only on behalf of women, but also on behalf of
working-men, who had alike shown their desire
for higher education by attending in large numbers
the lectures already given.

The Council also interested itself in the question
of examinations for women, and in 1868 presented
the following memorial to the University of Cam-
bridge, signed by five hundred and fifty teachers, and
three hundred other ladies :

" We, the undersigned, being either connected with
or engaged in the education of girls, desire to bring
under your consideration the great want which is
felt by women of the upper and middle classes,
particularly by those engaged in teaching, of higher
examinations, suitable to their own needs. The
Local Examinations, to which by a Grace of the
Senate, passed April, 1865, girls under eighteen have
now for three years been admitted, have proved of
the greatest advantage in stimulating and steadying
the work in Girls' Schools. Students above eighteen
are not, however, admissible to these examinations,
nor are they of a sufficiently advanced character to
meet the wants of such students, especially of those
who have adopted, or wish to adopt, teaching as a
profession. We therefore beg that, taking into

78 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1868.

consideration the grave necessities of the case, you
will be pleased, either by extending the powers of
the Syndicate for conducting the Local Examinations,
or in some other way to make provisions for such
examinations as shall adequately test and attest the
higher education of women."

Josephine Butler by her personal efforts obtained
many of the signatures to this memorial, and herself
went to Cambridge in support of it. Miss Clough
wrote of this expedition that " the charm Mrs.
Butler put into all the details she gave, showing the
desire of women for help in educating themselves,
made the subject, which might have been considered
tedious, both interesting and attractive, and thus
drew to the cause many friends."*

To friends in the North. June, 1868.

One of our friends at Cambridge amused himself
with counting up the number of gentlemen who
talked privately and kindly to me about it — there
were forty-eight. So you see there is a great deal of
sympathy there. It is not so easy for me to tell you
what I felt, as what actually happened. I felt the
reality of the good that must come from this move-
ment. It would have pleased you, I feel sure, as
it pleased me, to see the grave and kindly tone of
these dons. I was talking to one elderly Professor
with grey hair and a somewhat stiff expression, and
I happened to speak of the struggle which the lives
of many women of the middle classes is, and of the
gratitude we felt when men of weight and real
goodness came forward to help us, and this elderly
don was deeply moved. The tears came into his

* Memoir of Anne J. Clough, by Miss B. A. Clough, 1903
(Edward Arnold) p. 129.

i868.] EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 79

eyes, and he could scarcely answer me. He said :
" I fear we get selfish here, and forget how much there
is of work and sorrow in the world outside of us."
Professor Maurice came to my room one day and
talked a long time to me. He said at leaving :
" If there is anything else which you and your friends
think Cambridge could do to be of use, I trust you will
suggest it ; it does us more good than it does to any-
one else." I trust that a time is coming when
barriers between men and women and one class and
another may give way before the influence of true
Christian charity, and a desire to help and be helped.

The memorial met with a ready response from the
University by the establishment in the following
year of the Examinations for Women, which a few
years later were called the Higher Local Examina-
tions, and were open to men as well as women.

" These two things — the organisation in the
northern towns of lectures given, by University men,
which led to University Extension, and the establish-
ment of an examination for women which led to the
Cambridge lectures, and so to Newnham College —
were the Council's most striking achievements ;
but it had a hand in various other important educa-
tional enterprises."*

For instance the Council worked hard, and with
some success, in endeavouring to induce the Endowed
Schools Commissioners to secure that some part of
the endowments of Public Schools should be devoted
to the education of girls. " Mrs. Butler made an
able as well as a zealous President of the Council,
and while she herself took an active part in almost
everything that was undertaken, she also did good
service in kindling the enthusiasm of others by her

* Ibid. p. 131.

80 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1868.

eloquence and enthusiasm."* Although she retired
from the Presidency in 1873 on the ground of ill-
health, she attended its last meetings at York in
1874, when she read a paper on Economic Science as
a 'part of the Education of Girls. In that year the
Council was dissolved, having finished its pioneer
work, and feeling that the movement could hence-
forth be carried on by other organisations, which
had by that time come into existence.

In 1868 Josephine Butler published her first
pamphlet, The Education and Employment of Women.
Starting with the census figures of 1861, she meets
the old argument that woman's sphere is the home,
and only the home, by pointing out that the propor-
tion of wives to widows and spinsters over twenty
was only about three to two (in 1901 the proportion
was even less), and that over three million women
were earning or partly earning their living. This
number had risen in 1901 to over four millions.
She refers to the miserable wages received by women
workers, from the teaching profession downwards,
due in part to the comparatively low state of educa-
tion among girls, and in part to the restrictions upon
their employment in various directions, both causes
being ultimately traceable to the fact that " they are
unrepresented, and the interests of the unrepresented
always tend to be overlooked." Hence she pleads
for the higher education of women and the removal
of all legal and other restrictions upon their employ-
ment. She incidentally urges the mixed education
of boys and girls. As against the argument that the
more extended employment of women would injure
men, she prophesies, in the words of F. D. Maurice,
" Whenever in trade or in any department of human
activity restrictions tending to the advantage of one
class and the injury of others have been removed,
there a divine power has been at work counteracting
not only the selfish calculations, but often the

* Ibid. p. 135.

1869.] EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 81

apparently sagacious reasonings of their defenders."
Surely this prophecy has been fulfilled, as it appears
from the Report of the Poor Law Commission
recently issued, that, taking a wide outlook of the
whole industrial situation, there has been no tendency
in the past twenty years for women workers to
displace men. (Pp. 322-5.)

In 1869 Josephine Butler edited and wrote an
introduction to a volume of essays on Woman's
Work and Woman's Culture. The essays were by
Frances Power Cobbe, Jessie Boucherett, George
Butler, Sophia J ex-Blake, James Stuart, Charles H.
Pearson, Herbert N. Mozley, Julia Wedgwood,
Elizabeth C. Wolstenholme, and John Boyd-
Kinnear. In her introductory essay she lays stress
•on the fact that any disabilities, from which women
suffer, cause injury and loss to men, no less than
to women themselves. She admits that woman's
sphere is home, but she wishes the home idea to be
realised in wider spheres than within the four walls
of a single household. She pleads that to grant the
demands of women for higher education, and for
unrestricted liberty to engage in any employment,
will tend to the restoration of true home ideals ; first
through the restored dignity of women, and secondly
through the opening out and diffusion of the home
influence and character into the solution of social
problems, by the relegation to women of some of
the more important work of dealing with our vast
populations. This she illustrates in the following
passage.

In the present pretty general realisation of the
futility, if not the positive harm, of many forms
of private philanthropy, and the often-repeated
deprecation of meddling individuals, who pauperise
the community by their old-fashioned, lady-bountiful
way of dispensing alms and patronage, we do not

7

82 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1869.

perhaps quite foresee the reaction which is setting in,
with a tendency so strong in the opposite direction
that it brings us into the danger of once more missing
the philosophy of the whole matter. The tendency
at present is to centralisation of rule, to vast combina-
tions, large institutions, and uniformity of system.
I have a doubt about any wholesale manipulation
of the poor, the criminal, scholars in schools, etc.
I believe it to be so far from being founded on a
philosophical view of human nature and of society,
that if carried to extremes the last state of our poor
will be worse than the first. For the correction of
the extreme tendencies of this reaction, I believe
that nothing whatever will avail but the large
infusion of home elements into workhouses, hospitals,
schools, orphanages, lunatic asylums, reformatories,
and even prisons ; and in order to attain this there
must be a setting free of feminine powers and
influence from the constraint of bad education, and
narrow aims, and listless homes where they are at
present too often a superfluity. We have had
experience of what we may call the feminine form of
philanthropy, the independent individual ministering,
of too mediaeval a type to suit the present day.
It has failed. We are now about to try the masculine
form of philanthropy — large and comprehensive
measures, organisations and systems, planned by
men and sanctioned by Parliament. This also will
fail if it so far prevail as to extinguish the truth to
which the other method witnessed in spite of its
excesses. Why should we not try at last a union
of principles which are equally true ? " It is not
good for man to be alone " was a very early

1869-] EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 83

announcement in the history of the world. Neither
is it good for man to work alone in any matter
whatsoever which concerns the welfare of the great
human family ; and the larger the work be which he
undertakes, unassisted by her whom God gave to
him for a helpmate, the more signal will be the
failure in the end.

We quote another passage from this essay to show
how here, as always, she founded herself on the
appeal to Christ as the highest authority in matters
of principle and of action.

The author of Ecce Homo has set the example to
those to whom it did not occur to do so for themselves,
of venturing straight into the presence of Christ for
an answer to every question, and of silencing the voice
of all theologians from St. Paul to this day, until
we have heard what the Master says. It may be
that God will give grace to some woman in the time
to come to discern more clearly, and to reveal to
others, some truth which theologians have hitherto
failed to see in its fulness ; for from the intimacy
into which our Divine Master admitted women with
Himself it would seem that His communications of
the deepest nature were not confined to male
recipients ; and what took place during His life
on earth may, through His Holy Spirit, be continued
now. It is instructive to recall the fact that the
most stupendous announcement ever made to the
world, the announcement of an event concerning
which the whole world is divided to this day, and
which more than all others is bound up with our
hopes of immortality, the resurrection of Christ,

84 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1869.

was first made to women. Nor can we wonder,
looking back over the ages since then, and seeing
how any truths asserted by women, not at once
palpable to the outward sense or provable by logic,
have been accounted as idle tales, that of the first
apostles it should have been said, " The words of the
women seemed unto them as idle tales," when they
declared that Christ was risen. Among the great
typical acts of Christ, which were evidently and
intentionally for the announcement of a principle
for the guidance of society, none were more markedly
so than His acts towards women ; and I appeal to
the open Book, and to the intelligence of every
candid student of Gospel history, for the justification
of my assertion that in all important instances of
His dealings with women His dismissal of each case
was accompanied by a distinct act of Liberation.
In one case He emancipated a woman from legal
thraldom. His act no doubt appeared to those who
witnessed it as that of a dangerous leveller, for while
He granted to the woman a completeness of freedom
from the tyranny of law which must have electrified
the bystanders, He imposed upon the men present,
and upon all men by implication, the higher obliga-
tion which they had made a miserable attempt to
enforce upon one half of society only, and the breach
of which their cruel laws visited with terrible severity
on women alone. They aU went out convicted by
conscience, while the woman alone remained free ;
but, be it observed, free in a double sense — free alike
from the inward moral slavery, and from the harsh,
humanly-imposed judgment. The emancipation
granted to another in the matter of hereditary

1869.] EDUCATION OF WOMEN. 85

disabilities was signal. In a moment He struck
off chains which had been riveted by the traditions
of centuries, and raised her from the position,
accepted even by herself, of a " Gentile dog " to one
higher than the highest of the commonwealth of
Israel. In another case His " Go in peace," and
words of tender and respectful commendation to one
who had been exiled from society, contrasted
solemnly with His rebuke to His self-satisfied host,
who, while firmly holding his place among the
honoured of this world, marvelled that Christ
should not seem to be aware what manner of woman
it was who touched Him. To another, before ever
she had spoken a word, He cried, " Woman, thou art
loosed!" and to objectors He replied, "Ought not
this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom
Satan hath bound lo these eighteen years, be loosed
from this bond on the Sabbath day ? " The
tyrannies and infirmities from which He freed these
persons severally were various and manifold, and
this does but increase the significance of His whole
proceeding towards them. Search throughout the
Gospel history, and observe His conduct in regard to
women, and it will be found that the word liberation
expresses, above all others, the act which changed
the whole life and character and position of the women
dealt with, and which ought to have changed the
character of men's treatment of women from that
time forward.

While in His example of submission to parents,
of filial duty and affection, in His inculcation of
the sacredness of mairiage, and of the duty of
obedience to laws which ought to be obeyed, His

86 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1869.

righteousness far exceeded the righteousness of the
Pharisees of His own or of the present day, it seems
to me impossible for anyone candidly to study
Christ's whole life and words without seeing that the
principle of the perfect equality of all human beings
was announced by Him as the basis of social philoso-
phy. To some extent this has been practically
acknowledged in the relations of men to men ; only
in one case has it been consistently ignored, and that
is in the case of that half of the human race in regard
to which His doctrine of equality was more markedly
enforced than in any other. It is no wonder that
there should be some women whose love for this
Saviour exceeds the love which it is possible for any
man to feel for Him, and that, retiring from the
encounter with prejudices which are apt to lurk even
in the minds of the most just and most generous
of men, they should be driven to cast themselves
in a great solitude of heart before Him, for He onfy
is just, He only is holy, He only is infinitely tender.

In the same year, 1869, Josephine Butler published
the Memoir of John Grey of Dilston, a most interesting
biography of a good man, who faithfully served his
native county throughout his life, and took a keen
interest in all the stirring political events of the first
half of the last century. An Italian translation of
this Memoir was published in Florence two years
later.

CHAPTER VI.

WOMEN'S REVOLT.

WE now come to the period when Josephine Butler
began the great work of her life, the crusade against
the State regulation of vice. This system had its
rise in France, being brought into operation in Paris
by Napoleon on the eve of the establishment of the
French Empire in 1802. Other continental countries
followed the example of France, and several attempts
were made to introduce the system into England,
but without success until 1864, when a temporary
Act was passed " for the prevention of contagious
diseases at certain naval and military stations."
This Act was renewed in 1866, and was further ex-
tended (to eighteen towns) in 1869. In other
countries the system was " suffered to crouch away
in the mysterious recesses of irresponsible police
regulations." England was the only country which
had " had the courage or the audacity to launch the
system in all its essential details in the form af a
public statute."* This, which at first seemed a
triumph for regulationists, proved the very reverse,
since the publicity thus given to the matter was the
starting-point of a fierce opposition begun in England,
and afterwards spreading to the Continent, until it
undermined the very foundations of the system. It
is not indeed yet destroyed in continental countries, for
it is hard to pull down structures which have stood
firm for a century, but it is everywhere discredited ;

* The Laws in force for the prohibition, regulation or licensing
of vice in England and other countries. By Sheldon Amos, 1877
(Stevens and Sons), pp. 1 5 and 227.

K7

88 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1869.

and this has come about chiefly through the heroic
labours of Josephine Butler and her fellow- workers.
In one of her early speeches she tells of her first call
to this work.

I first became acquainted with this system as it
existed in Paris. I was one of those persons — they
were few, I believe — who read that very brief debate
in the House of Commons in 1866, when Mr. Henley
and Mr. Ayrton alone, but clearly and boldly,
entered their protest. It was in that year that the
knowledge first broke upon me that this system,
which I had so long regarded with horror, had actually
found a footing in our England. It seemed to me
as if a dark cloud were hanging on the horizon,
threatening our land. The depression which took
possession of my mind was overwhelming. A few
days ago I found a record of those days in an old
manuscript book long laid aside. In turning over
its leaves I found a note of that debate in the House,
the date, and a written expression, which I had since
forgotten, of a presentiment which at that time
filled my mind, that in some way or other I should
be called to meet this evil thing face to face — a
trembling presentiment, which I could not escape
from, that, do what I would, I myself must enter
into this cloud. I find there recorded also a brief
prayer, beseeching that if I must descend into
darkness, that divine hand, whose touch is health
and strength, would hold mine fast in the darkness.
I can recollect going out into the garden, hoping-
that the sight of the flowers and blue sky might
banish the mental pain ; but it clung too fast for a
time for any outward impression to remove it, and

1869.] WOMEN'S REVOLT. 89

I envied the sparrows upon the garden walk because
they had not minds and souls capable of torment
like mine. But now, when I look back, I see that
the prayer has been heard, the divine hand has
held mine, often when I knew it not. And, friends,
God can give more than power to bear the pain;
there is a positive joy in His service, and in any
warfare in which He, who conquered sin and death
and hell, goes before us, and is our rereward.

Before the Act of 1869 was passed, Daniel Cooper,
Secretary of the Rescue Society, aided by a few
friends, took active steps to protest against these
laws ; but, as he afterwards wrote, he " felt an
almost utter despair in seeing that, after putting
forth our pamphlet and writing thousands of letters
imploring our legislators, clergy, principal public
men and philanthropists to look into the question,
such a stoical indifference remained. We felt, on
hearing of your Association, that Providence had well
chosen the means for the defeat of these wicked Acts.
The ladies of England will save the country from this
fearful curse, for I fully believe that through them
it has even now had its death-blow." Dr. Worth and
Dr. Bell Taylor of Nottingham also raised their voice
against the system early in 1869, and they, with the
Rev. Dr. Hooppell and Francis Newman, took part in
the first public demonstration against the Act, on the
occasion of the Social Science Congress meeting at
Bristol in October, 1869, when the National Anti-
Contagious Diseases Acts Association was formed.

The appeal to take up this cause reached me first
from a group of medical men, who (all honour to
them) had for some time been making strenuous
efforts to prevent the introduction in our land of
the principle of regulation by the State of the social

90 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1869.

evil. The experience gained during their efforts
had convinced them that in order to be successful
they must summon to their aid forces far beyond the
arguments, strong as these were, based on physio-
logical, scientific grounds. They recognised that
the persons most insulted by the Napoleonic system
with which our legislators of that day had become
enamoured, being women, these women must find
representatives of their own sex to protest against
and to claim a practical repentance from the Parlia-
ment and Government which had flung this insult in
their face.

It was on landing at Dover from our delightful
summer tour in -1869, that we first learned that a
small clique in Parliament had been too successfully
busy over this work of darkness during the hot
August days, or rather nights, in a thin House, in
which most of those present were but vaguely
cognisant of the meaning and purpose of the proposed
constitutional change.

During the three months which followed the
receipt of this communication I was very unhappy.
I can only give a very imperfect impression of the
sufferings of that time. The toils and conflicts of
the years that followed were light in comparison
with the anguish of that first plunge into the full
realisation of the villainy there is in the world, and
the dread of being called to oppose it. Like Jonah,
when he was charged by God with a commission
which he could not endure to contemplate, " I fled
from the face of the Lord." I worked hard at other
things — good works, as I thought — with a kind of
half-conscious hope that God would accept that

1869.] WOMEN'S REVOLT. 91

work, and not require me to go further, and run my
heart against the naked sword which seemed to be
held out. But the hand of the Lord was upon me :
night and day the pressure increased. From an old
manuscript book in which I sometimes wrote I quote
the following : —

September, 1869. — " Now is your hour, and the
power of darkness." O Christ, if Thy Spirit fainted
in that hour, how can mine sustain it ? It is now
many weeks since I knew that Parliament had
sanctioned this great wickedness, and I have not yet
put on my armour, nor am I yet ready. Nothing so
wears me out, body and soul, as anger, fruitless
anger ; and this thing fills me with such an anger, and
even hatred, that I fear to face it. The thought of
this atrocity kills charity and hinders my prayers.
But there is surely a way of being angry without sin.
I pray Thee, O God, to give me a deep, well-governed,
and lifelong hatred of all such injustice, tjnranny and
cruelty ; and at the same time give me that divine
compassion which is willing to live and suffer long
for love to souls, or to fling itself into the breach
and die at once. This is perhaps after all the
very work, the very mission, I longed for years
ago, and saw coming, afar off, like a bright star.
But seen near, as it approaches, it is so dreadful, so
difficult, so disgusting, that I tremble to look at it ;
and it is hard to see and know whether or not God
is indeed calling me concerning it. If doubt were
gone, and I felt sure He means me to rise in revolt
and rebellion (for that it must be) against men, even
against our rulers, then I would do it with zeal,
however repulsive to others may seem the task.

92 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1869.

Appeals continued to pour in. I read all that was
sent to me, and I vividly recalled all that I had
learned before of this fatal system and its corrupting
influence in continental cities — the madness and
despair into which it drives the most despised of
society, who are yet God's redeemed ones, and the
blindness and hardness of heart which it begets in all
who approach it in its practical administration, or
in any way except in the way of uncompromising
hostility. And the call seemed to come ever more
clearly.

So far I had endured in silence, I could not bear
the thought of making my dear companion a sharer
of the pain ; yet I saw that we must needs be united
in this as in everything else. I had tried to arrange
to suffer alone, but I could not act alone, if God
should indeed call me to action. It seemed to me
cruel to have to tell him of the call, and to say to
him that I must try and stand in the breach. My
heart was shaken by the foreshadowing of what
I knew he would suffer. I went to him one evening
when he was alone, all the household having retired
to rest. I recollect the painful thoughts that seemed
to throng that passage from my room to his study.
I hesitated, and leaned my cheek against his closed
door ; and as I leaned I prayed. Then I went in,
and gave him something I had written, and left him.
I did not see him till the next day. He looked pale
and troubled, and for some days was silent. But
by and by we spoke together about it freely, and
(I do not clearly recollect how or when) we agreed
together that we must move in the matter, and that
an appeal must be made to the people. (Already

1870.] WOMEN'S REVOLT. 93

many members of both Houses of Parliament,
bishops and responsible officials had been appealed
to, but so far in vain.) I spoke to my husband then
of all that had passed in my mind, and said, " I feel
as if I must go out into the streets and cry aloud, or
my heart will break." And that good and noble
man, foreseeing what it meant for me and for himself,
spoke not one word to suggest difficulty or danger
or impropriety in any action which I might be called
to take. He did not pause to ask, " What will the
world say ? " or " Is this suitable work for a woman ? "
He had pondered the matter, and looking straight, as
was his wont, he saw only a great wrong, and a deep
desire to redress that wrong — a duty to be fulfilled in
fidelity to that impulse, and in the cause of the
victims of the wrong ; and above all he saw God,
who is of " purer eyes than to behold iniquity," and
whose call (whatever it be) it is man's highest honour
to obey ; and his whole attitude in response to my
words cited above expressed, " Go ! and God be
with you."

I went forth, but not exactly into the streets, to
cry aloud. I took the train to the nearest large
station — Crewe — where there is a great manufactory
of locomotives and a mass of workmen. I scarcely
knew what I should say, and knew not at all what
I should meet with. A friend acquainted with the
workmen led me after work hours to their popular
hall, and when I had delivered my message, a small
group of leaders among the men bade me thrice
welcome in the name of all there. They surprised
me by saying, " We understand you perfectly.
We in this group served an apprenticeship in Paris,

94 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1870.

and we have seen and know for ourselves the truth
©f what you say. We have said to each other that
it would be the death-knell of the moral life of
England were she to copy France in this matter."

From Crewe I went to Leeds, York, Sunderland
and Newcastle-on-Tyne, and then returned home.
The response to our appeal from the working-classes,
and from the humbler middle class in the northern
and midland counties and in Scotland, exceeded
our utmost expectations. In less than three weeks
after this first little propagandist effort, the working-
men of Yorkshire, recognised leaders in political and
social movements, had organised mass meetings,
and agreed on a programme of action, to express the
adhesion of the working-classes of the north to the
cause advocated.

Meanwhile the Ladies' National Association for the
repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts had been
formed towards the end of 1869, and on the last day of
that year their solemn protest appeared in the Daily
News. This protest is here given in full, because from
it can be sufficiently gathered the nature and scope of
the Contagious Diseases Acts, and also because it
sums up the objections which were then and have
ever since been raised by those who have strenuously
opposed the regulation of vice involved in those
Acts, and in the similar systems in operation in other
countries ; objections based upon the two funda-
mental principles of an equal moral standard for men
and women, and of the equal treatment of men and
women by the law of the land.

" We, the undersigned, enter our solemn protest
against these Acts, (i) Because, involving as they
do such a momentous change in the legal safeguards
hitherto enjoyed by women in common with men,

i3/o.] WOMEN'S REVOLT. 95

they have been passed not only without the know-
ledge of the country, but unknown in a great measure
to Parliament itself ; and we hold that neither the
Representatives of the People nor the Press fulfil the
duties which are expected of them, when they allow
such legislation to take place without the fullest
discussion. (2) Because, so far as women are
concerned, they remove every guarantee of personal
security which the law has established and held
sacred, and put their reputation, their freedom, and
their persons absolutely in the power of the police.
(3) Because the law is bound, in any country pro-
fessing to give civil liberty to its subjects, to define
clearly an offence which it punishes. (4) Because it
is unjust to punish the sex who are the victims of a
vice, and leave unpunished the sex who are the main
cause both of the vice and its dreaded consequences ;
and we consider that liability to arrest, forced
medical treatment, and (where this is resisted) im-
prisonment with hard labour, to which these Acts
subject women, are punishments of the most de-
grading kind. (5) Because by such a system the path
of evil is made more easy to our sons, and to the whole
of the youth of England, inasmuch as a moral re-
straint is withdrawn the moment the State recognises,
and provides convenience for, the practice of a vice
which it thereby declares to be necessary and venial.
(6) Because these measures are cruel to the women
who come under their action — violating the feelings
of those whose sense of shame is not wholly lost, and
further brutalising even the most abandoned. (7)
Because the disease which these Acts seek to remove
has never been removed by any such legislation.
The advocates of the system have utterly failed to
show, by statistics or otherwise, that these regulations
have in any case, after several years' trial, and when
applied to one sex only, diminished disease, reclaimed
the fallen, or improved the general morality of the
country. We have on the contrary the strongest

36 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1870.

evidence to show that in Paris and other continental
cities, where women have long been outraged by this
system, the public health and morals are worse than
at home. (8) Because the conditions of this disease
in the first instance are moral not physical. The
moral evil, through which the disease makes its way,
separates the case entirely from that of the plague, or
rather scourges, which have been placed under police
control or sanitary care. We hold that we are bound,
before rushing into experiments of legalising a re-
volting vice, to try to deal with the causes of the evil,
and we dare to believe, that with wiser teaching and
more capable legislation, those causes would not be
beyond control."

Over one hundred and twenty names were attached
to the Protest when it first appeared, but the number
very soon reached two thousand, including those of
Josephine Butler, Harriet Martineau, Florence
Nightingale, Mary Carpenter, Mary Priestman,
Agnes McLaren, Ursula Bright, Margaret Lucas, all
the most prominent women in the Society of Friends,
and many others well known in the literary and
philanthropic world. A friendly Member of Parlia-
ment wrote : " Your manifesto has shaken us very
badly in the House of Commons ; a leading man in
the House remarked to me, * We know how to manage
any other opposition in the House or in the country,
but this is very awkward for us — this revolt of the
women. It is quite a new thing ; what are we to do
with such an opposition as this ? '

Since some have supposed that the opponents of the
Acts objected to any measures for the diminution of
the special diseases in question — because forsooth !
that would involve an interference with God's method
of punishing sin — it may be well to point out that
Josephine Butler took a very different line in her first
pamphlet on the subject, An Appeal to the People
of England, by "an English Mother," published
early in 1870. In this she first goes over the whole

1870.] WOMEN'S REVOLT. 97

ground of objections to the arbitrary and compulsory
character of the Acts in a masterly and moving
argument ; and then proceeds to plead earnestly for
a better and humaner way of dealing with the matter,
and in the forefront of her proposals she places the
provision of the most ample free hospital accommo-
dation, worked on an absolutely voluntary basis, and
as far as possible by woman doctors ; and she argues
from experience that this would be more likely, than
any compulsory system, to lead to a decrease of
disease, while at the same time affording more hope
of moral influences prevailing, and leading to re-
formed lives, as well as cured bodies.

CHAPTER VII.

COLCHESTER ELECTION.

AMONG our first and best helpers in our own town
was my cousin, Charles Birrell, a Baptist minister,
who had a church in Liverpool. There existed a
strong friendship between him and my husband.
Mr. Birrell was a gifted man, of a dignified presence,
and a beautiful countenance ; he was refined and
cultivated, and was eloquent in speech. He was
elected in 1871 to be President of the Baptist
Union, in which he pleaded our cause. He had been
ill, but came to our meeting at Liverpool. Early in
1870 I find in my book of scanty records — written
at the time for my own use alone — the following : —
Thank God, all doubt is gone ! I can never
forget Charles Birrell's prophetic words at our meet-
ing yesterday concerning the future of this work.
He rose from his sick bed to speak them, and stood
there, a witness for God, pale and ill, but with a holy
joy in his whole countenance, seeing God rather than
the people around him, and sending us forth to our
work with confidence. Then my husband's bene-
diction ! The words of those two — their prayers,
their counsels — must never be forgotten. God sent
them to us to dispel all lingering doubts or hesitation
— kind, pure-hearted, unworldly men, messengers of
hope and assurance ! And now it is revolt and

98

iSyo.J COLCHESTER ELECTION. 99

rebellion, a consecrated rebellion against those in
authority who have established this " accursed thing "
among us. We are rebels for God's holy laws.
"What have I to do with peace" any more? It is
now war to the knife. In a battle of flesh and blood
mercy may intervene and life may be spared ; but
principles know not the name of mercy. In the broad
light of day, and under a thousand eyes, we now take
up our position. We declare on whose side we fight ;
we make no compromise ; and we are ready to meet
all the powers of earth and hell combined.

She addressed many meetings this year besides
those mentioned in the last chapter, travelling for the
purpose over 3700 miles before the middle of June ;
and when the North of England Council held its
meetings in that month she expressed a wish to
resign the Presidency of that body, in order to
reserve her strength and energies for her new work
(her resignation however did not take effect, as
stated on a previous page, until three years later).
Her wish to resign is explained in the following
speech.

I proposed at our meeting yesterday to resign the
office of President of this Council, as soon as it may be
convenient to the Council to allow me to do so. It is
not because I am not deeply interested in the cause
which this Council represents. I may say I am more
deeply interested in it than ever, for I see in the
education of women one of the most ready and
necessary means of freeing poorer women from the
awful slavery of which I have seen so much lately.
Nor do I undervalue the higher culture of the in-
dividual as a means towards the attainment of the

100 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1870.

highest personal happiness. The strangely provi-
dential guidance of all our schemes has lately been
deeply impressed on my mind. We started our
educational schemes, I believe, in an honest and
humble spirit, and they appeared to us the readiest
path towards aiding our fellow-women — the dis-
tressed, the needy, and the wasted ; and I believe
our labour has not been in vain. But in this, as in all
our work on earth, we needed further enlightening
and teaching. Looking back on my own experience
of the past year, it appears to me as if God in His
goodness had said to me, " I approve your motive
and your work ; but you are trying to lay on the top-
stone while there is an earthquake shaking your
foundations. You must first descend to the lowest
depths before you can safely build up." And then
He showed us a plague spot. He showed us a
deadly poison working through the wholesale,
systematic, and now legalised, degradation of women.
He showed us the ready elements for a speedy over-
throw of society, which the educated would not be
able to stem. Not that our work in the cause of
education has in any sense been a failure — far from
it ; but we need a still larger infusion into these noble
schemes for educating the masses of the spirit of self-
sacrifice, even of martyrdom. We need to have our
hearts still more deeply penetrated with pity, and to
be more resolutely bent on making all our practical
efforts tend to the revival of justice, and of a pure
and equal moral standard and equal laws. While
therefore I continue to regard the cause of education
as a most sacred cause, I come to the present meeting
with a sad heart ; and I only propose to relinquish

1870.] COLCHESTER ELECTION. 101

the office I now hold because I feel that God has
called me to a more painful one. All members have
not the same office ; all are not called to descend to
the depths of woe, and to cast in their lot among
wretched slave-gangs, in order to help the slaves to
carry the weight of their chains, if not to break
them away. This work, I think, is mine ; but there
is other work not less holy, which aims not less
directly at a future emancipation. But while I feel
all the greater dependence on, and deeper gratitude, to
you my fellow- workers in this Council and others,
for the work you are doing, and for the work you will
do, in the cause of humanity, I am obliged to confess
to you that, for my own part, I fear I may not in
future be able to give the needful time to this work,
nor to bring to it the . igour and spirit which it de-
mands and deserves. I wish to leave this work in
abler and freer hands. It has my deepest sympathy.
It points perhap= to the most important of all the
means by which we hope, against hope, to undo the
heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free, and
inaugurate a purer and sounder national life. To
keep pace however with this portion of the great
work, one requires to have the head and heart
tolerably free, and that cannot be the case with one
who is called to deal with the most miserable, to walk
side by side, hand in hand, with the outcast, the
victim of our social sins, whose name one scarcely
dares to name in refined society. I have great hope,
I am full of hope for the education cause, and for the
anti-slavery cause, in which we are engaged. Never-
theless one's very soul grows faint before the facts
of 1870, and though that faintness of soul may

102 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1870.

complete one's fitness to be a fellow-sufferer with the
slave, it does not increase one's fitness for a work
which requires intellectual energy.

Ths National Association, which was daily in-
creasing in vitality and in boldness of operation,
effectually prevented the further extension of the
system we opposed, and by means of successful
contests at by-elections — pre-eminently that of
Colchester in October-November, 1870, where the
Government candidate, Sir Henry Storks, was
defeated on this one question by over 400 votes —
forced the Government to look seriously into the
matter. I give some prominence to this hotly-
contested election at Colchester, as it proved to be
somewhat of a turning-point in the history of our
crusade. A public meeting had been arranged for in
the theatre. I was with our friends previous to this
meeting in a room in a hotel. Already we heard
signs of the mob gathering to oppose us. The
dangerous portion of this mob was headed and led on
by a band of keepers of houses of prostitution in
Colchester, who had sworn that we should be defeated
and driven from the town. On this occasion the
gentlemen who were preparing to go to the meeting
left with me all their valuables, watches, &c. I
remained alone during the evening. The mob were
by this time collected in force in the streets. Their
deep-throated yells and oaths, and the horrible words
spoken by them, sounded sadly in my ears. I felt
more than anything pity for these misguided people.
It must be observed that these were not of the class
of honest working people, but chiefly a number of

1870.] COLCHESTER ELECTION. 103

hired roughs and persons directly interested in the
maintenance of the vilest of human institutions.
The master of the hotel came in, and said in a whisper,
" I must turn down the lights ; and will you, madam,
consent to go to an attic which I have, a little apart
from the house, and remain there until the mob is
quieter, in order that I may tell them truly that you
are not in the house ? " I consented to this for his
sake. His words were emphasised at the moment
by the crashing in of the window near which I sat,
and the noise of heavy stones hurled along the floor,
the blows from which I managed to evade. Our
friends returned in about an hour, very pitiful objects,
covered with mud, flour, and other more unpleasant
things, their clothes torn, but their courage not in the
least diminished. Mr. James Stuart, who had come
purposely during the intervals of his duties at Cam-
bridge to lend his aid in the conflict, had been
roughly handled. Chairs and benches had been
flung at him and Dr. Baxter Langley; and a good
deal of lint and bandages was quickly in requisition ;
but the wounds were not severe.

I should have prefaced my recollections of this
election conflict by saying that on our first arrival in
Colchester we went, as was our wont, straight to the
house of a Quaker family. Mrs. Marriage, a well-
known member of the Society of Friends, received
us with the utmost cordiality and self-posesssion.
At her suggestion we began our campaign with a
series of devotional meetings, gathering together
chiefly women in groups, to ask of God that the
approaching events might be over-ruled for good,
and might open the eyes of our Government to the

104 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1870,

vital nature of the cause for which we were incurring
so much obloquy. Among the women who helped
us most bravely were Mrs. King and Mrs. Hampson ;
there were also many others.

I may be excused, perhaps, for mentioning an
amusing incident of the election. I was walking
down a by-street one evening after we had held
several meetings with wives of electors, when I
met an immense workman, a stalwart man, trudging
along to his home after work hours. By his side
trotted his wife, a fragile woman, but with a fierce
determination on her small thin face ; and I heard
her say, " Now you know all about it ; if you vote
for that man Storks, Tom, I'll kill ye!" Tom
seemed to think that there was some danger of her
threat being put in execution. This incident did
not represent exactly the kind of influence which we
had entreated the working women to use with their
husbands who had votes, but I confess it cheered
me not a little.

To her sons.

COLCHESTER, Nov., 1870.

I have tried several hotels ; each one rejects me
after another. At last I came to a respectable
Tory hotel, not giving my name. I had gone to bed
very tired, and was dropping asleep, when I heard
some excitement in the street, and a rap at my
door. It was the master of the hotel. He said,
" I am sorry, madam, I have a very unpleasant
announcement to make." " Say on," I replied. He
said, " I find you are Mrs. Josephine Butler, and the
mob outside have found out that you are here, and

1870.] COLCHESTER ELECTION. 105

have threatened to set fire to the house unless I send
you out at once." I said, " I will go immediately.
But how is it that you get rid of me when you know
that though I am a Liberal I am practically working
into the hands of Colonel Learmont, the Conservative
candidate ? " He replied, " I would most gladly
keep you, madam ; undoubtedly your cause is a
good one, but there is a party so much incensed
against you that my house is not safe while you are
in it." He saw that I was very tired, and I think
his heart was touched. He said, " I will get you
quietly out under another name, and will find some
little lodging for you." I packed up my things, and
he sent a servant with me down a little by-street
to a small private house of a working-man and his

wife. Next day I went to the C Inn, the

head-quarters of our party. It was filled with
gentlemen, in an atmosphere of stormy canvassing.
The master of the inn whispered to me, " Do not let
your friends call you by your name in the streets."
A hurried consultation was held as to whether our
party should attempt to hold other public meetings
or not. It seemed uncertain whether we should get
a hearing, and it was doubtful, if I personally
would be allowed by the mob to reach the hall
where we had planned to hold a women's meeting.
Some of the older men said, " Do not attempt it,
Mrs. Butler ; it is a grave risk." For a moment a
cowardly feeling came over me as I thought of you
all at home ; then it suddenly came to me that now
was just the time to trust in God, and claim His
loving care ; and I want to tell you, my darlings,
how He helped me, and what the message was which

106 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1870.

He sent to me at that moment. I should like you
never to forget it, for it is in such times of trial that
we feel Him to be in the midst of us — a living
Presence — and that we prove the truth of His
promises. As I prayed to Him in my heart, these
words came pouring into my soul as if spoken by
some heavenly voice : "I will say of the Lord, He
is my refuge and my fortress : my God ; in Him
will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the
snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under
His wings shalt thou trust : His truth shall be
thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid
for the terror by night ; nor for the arrow that
flieth by day ; nor for the pestilence that walketh
in darkness ; nor for the destruction that wasteth
at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand ; but it shall
not come nigh thee. Because thou hast made the
Lord, which is my refuge, thy habitation ; there
shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague
come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His
angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy
ways." (Psalm xci.) Are they not beautiful words ?
I felt no more fear, and strong in the strength of
these words I went out into the dark street with
our friends.

The London Committee had commissioned the
two Mr. Mallesons to come down to help us. I like
them much, they are so quiet and firm. Someone
had also sent us from London twenty-four strong men
of the sandwich class as a body-guard. I did not care
much about this " arm of flesh." It was thought

1870.] COLCHESTER ELECTION. 107

better that these men should not keep together or
be seen, so they were posted about in the crowd near
the door of the hall. Apparently they were yelling
with the regulationist party, but ready to come
forward for us at a given signal. The two
Mr. Mallesons managed cleverly, just as we arrived,
to mislead the crowd into fancying that one of
themselves was Dr. Langley, thus directing all their
violence of language and gestures against themselves.
Meanwhile Mrs. Hampson and I slipped into the
hall in the guise of some of the humbler women
going to the meeting. I had no bonnet or gloves,
only an old shawl over my head, and looked quite a
poor woman. We passed safely through crowded
lines of scoundrel faces arid clenched fists, and were
unrecognised. It was a solemn meeting. The
women listened most attentively while we spoke
to them. Every now and then a movement of
horror went through the room when the threats and
groans outside became very bad. At the close of
the meeting some friend said to me in a low voice,
" Your best plan is to go quietly out by a back window
which is not high from the ground, while the mob
is waiting for you at the front." The Mallesons and
two friendly constables managed admirably. They
made the mob believe I was always coming, though
I never came. Mrs. Hampson and I then walked
off at a deliberate pace from the back of the hall,
down a narrow, quiet, star-lit street. About thirty
or forty kind, sympathising women followed us,
but had the tact to disperse quickly, leaving us alone.
Neither of us knew the town, and we emerged again
upon a main street, where the angry cries of the mob

108 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1870.

seemed again very near. I could not walk any
further, being very tired, and asked Mrs. Hampson
to leave me, and try to find a cab. She pushed me
into a dark, unused warehouse, filled with empty
soda-water bottles and broken glass, and closed
the gates of it. I stood there in the darkness and
alone, hearing some of the violent men tramping
past, never guessing that I was so near. Presently
one of the gates opened slightly, and I could just
see in the dim light the poorly -clad, slight figure
of a forlorn woman of the city. She pushed her way
in, and said in a low voice, " Are you the lady the
mob are after ? Oh, what a shame to treat a lady
so ! I was not at the meeting, but I heard of you,
and have been watching you." The kindness of
this poor miserable woman cheered me, and was a
striking contrast to the conduct of the loughs.
Mrs. Hampson returned saying, " There is not a
cab to be seen in the streets." So we walked on
again. We took refuge at last in a cheerfully
lighted grocer's shop, where a very kind, stout
grocer, whose name we knew — a Methodist —
welcomed us, and seemed ready to give his life for
me. He installed me amongst his bacon, soap and
candles, having sent for a cab ; and rubbing his
hands, he said, " Well, this is a capital thing ; here
you are, safe and sound ! " We overheard women
going past in groups, who had been at the meeting,
and their conversation was mostly of the following
description : " Ah, she 's right ; depend upon it,
she 's right. Well, what a thing ! Well, to be sure !
I 'm sure I '11 vote for her whenever I have a vote ! "
I have now got to my lodgings in the working-man's

1871.] COLCHESTER ELECTION. 109

house, which are very small, but clean. I hope
to be with you on Saturday. What a blessed
Sunday it will be in my quiet home.

My husband had personal friends in the Govern-
ment, and on most questions he sympathised with
their policy ; it was the more painful therefore to
have to maintain a prominent position personally
in the perpetual attack and protest on this question.
He was often reminded by cautious friends of the
very distant prospect of any possible retirement
from school work which he must now contemplate,
so far as that retirement (or promotion of any kind)
depended on the goodwill of those then in power.
He perfectly understood this from the first, and his
experience for many years from this time was that
of an ever receding prospect in that direction. He
continued to speak and write for the just cause
whenever opportunity presented itself, patiently
wearing his harness as a laborious schoolmaster for
twelve long years after this date. Though it was
a trial to him to be at variance in any way with
personal friends or public men whom he regarded
with esteem, yet it was not possible for him to set
motives of policy or his own private interests above
fidelity to a cause and a principle which he considered
vital.

In March, 1871, I was called to give evidence
before the Royal Commission which had been
appointed. I was not fully aware until recently,
when looking over his letters, how his tender solici-
tude for me had followed me in all my endeavours,
in every varying circumstance. His duties at the

110 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER [1871.

Liverpool College forbade him accompanying me
to London on this occasion ; and even if this had
not been the case, he would not have been allowed
to remain with me during the examination in the
House of Lords. He had, unknown to me, written
to the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Massey,
commending me to his kindly consideration. For
it was a formidable ordeal, being, as I was, the only
woman present before a large and august assembly
of peers, bishops, members of Parliament, represen-
tatives of the military and naval services, doctors,
and others ; my questioners being in a large majority
hostile, and the subject serious and difficult. On
the morning before I was called I received a number
of letters, addresses of sympathy, and notices of
united prayer for my support from associations of
working-men in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle,
Leeds, Birmingham, and many other towns.

Several of these letters from working-men were
published under the title of Vox Populi.

To her husband. March> ^

It is over. It was even a severer ordeal than
I expected. It was distressing to me, owing to the
hard, harsh view which some of these men take of
poor women, and of the lives of the poor generally.
They had in their hands and on the table everything
I have ever written on the subject, and reports of
all my addresses, marked and turned down ; and
some of the Commissioners had carefully selected
bits which they thought would damage me in

1871.] COLCHESTER ELECTION. Ill

examination. Frederick Maurice was not present,
I am sorry to say ; but Mr. Rylands, Mr. Mundella,
and above all Sir Walter James, I felt, were my
friends. The rest were certainly not so. To compare
a very small person with a great one, I felt rather like
Paul before Nero, very weak and lonely. But there
was One who stood by me. I almost felt as if I
heard Christ's voice bidding me not to fear. I
handed to the Chairman a large packet of the letters
and resolutions from working-men. He said, " We
may as well see them ; for no doubt that class takes
some little interest in the question." I should think
so ! Let them wait till election times, and they will
see ! ^^One of the Commissioners asked, " Are these
bond-fide working-men ? " I replied, " Yes, and
well-known men. There is more virtue in the
country than you gentlemen in high life imagine."
He then asked, " If these laws were put in operation
in the north, do you believe they would be forcibly
resisted ? " I replied, " I do."

To her husband. ^^ ^

I shall be so glad to get back to you, and to
breathe fresher air. I am sure your prayers have
been heard in regard to my evidence before the
Commission. I don't think I did justice to the
Commissioners in my first letter to you. I was so
tired and depressed and dissatisfied with myself after
the long ordeal, that I saw it all through rather a
dark medium. But now I am full of thankfulness
to God. I think I may quote to you what Mr.
Rylands said to-day to Mr. Duncan McLaren and

112 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1871.

others : "I am not accustomed to religious phrase-
ology, but I cannot give you any idea of the effect
produced except by saying that the influence of the
Spirit of God was there. Mrs. Butler's words and
manner were not what the Commission expected ;
and now some of them begin to take a new view
of what they have hitherto called the ' religious
prejudice.' ' He added that Lord Hardwicke came
to speak to him afterwards, and that he seemed
moved, and said, " If this is a specimen of the
strength of conviction in the country on moral
questions, we must reconsider our ways." I tell
you all this, dear husband, that we may learn more
and more to wait upon God, who hears prayer.
I spent yesterday with dear Fanny in her rooms.
Home to-morrow.

CHAPTER VIII.

APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA.

JOSEPHINE BUTLER'S publications in 1871 included
Sursum Corda, the substance (much expanded) of
a speech delivered at the annual meeting of the
Ladies' National Association, two Addresses delivered
at Croydon and at Edinburgh respectively, and The
Constitution Violated, the most solid and weighty of
all her utterances on the Contagious Diseases Acts.
The main argument of the last mentioned work is
given in the following pages.

The enactments called the Contagious Diseases
Acts, passed respectively in 1866 and 1869, may be
regarded from several points of view. With their
medical aspect and the statistical consideration of
their results on public health it is not my intention
to deal. It has been dwelt on by other people and
in other places fully.

The moral side of the question is undoubtedly the
most important, and has been dwelt upon by the
religious portion of the community, almost to the
exclusion of others, although it may be truly said
that it of necessity includes all others.

There is however one aspect of the question
which has not been sufficiently set forth, that is, the
constitutional aspect, including the effect which such

9

114 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1871.

legislation must have on our social and moral life
as a nation, from a political point of view.

I am convinced that the people of this country are
as yet but very partially awakened to the tremendous
issues involved in the controversy before us, con-
sidered as a matter of consitutional rights ; therefore
it is that I venture, though I am no lawyer, to bring
before them its extreme importance under that
aspect. For this time of agony for the patriot, who
can in any degree foresee the future of that country
which violates the eternal principles of just govern-
ment, drives many of us, unlearned though we be,
to search the annals of our country, to enquire into
past crises of danger, and the motives and character
of the champions who fought the battles of liberty,
with that keenness and singleness of purpose with
which, in the agony of spiritual danger, the well-
nigh shipwrecked soul may search the Scriptures of
God, believing that in them he has eternal life.

On the occasion of an infringement of a consti-
tutional principle by Parliament itself, a century
ago, Lord Chatham, when urging the House of Lords
to retrace this fatal step, used the following words :
" If I had a doubt upon this matter, I should follow
the example set us by the most reverend bench, with
whom I believe it is a maxim, when any doubt in
point of faith arises, or any question of controversy
is started, to appeal at once to the greatest source
and evidence of our religion — I mean the Holy
Bible. The Constitution has its political Bible also,
by which, if it be fairly consulted, every political
question may and ought to be determined. Magna
Charta, the Petition of Rights, and the Bill of

1871.] APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA. 115

Rights form that code which I call the Bible of the
English Constitution." *

In following out this advice of Lord Chatham, it
is to these authorities that I wish to appeal in
determining the exact nature of those principles of
the Constitution which I assert have been violated.
I am aware that in doing so I may incur criticism on
account of my ignorance of legal terms and defini-
tions, and on account of unskilfulness in the arrange-
ment of the matter before me. I shall be satisfied
however, if I succeed in commending my subject to
those to whom I particularly address myself — I mean
the working men and working women of England.
Neither they nor I have had a legal training, but we
may alike possess a measure of that plain English
common sense which, to quote again Lord Chatham's
words, is " the foundation of all our English juris-
prudence," which common sense tells us that " no
court of justice can have a power inconsistent with,
or paramount to, the known laws of the land, and
that the people, when they choose their represen-
tatives, never mean to convey to them a power of
invading the rights or trampling upon the liberties
of those whom they represent." t Further on in this
essay I shall show that Parliament, in making the
Contagious Diseases Acts, has invaded and trampled
on the liberties of the people.

Among the clauses in Magna Charta, there is one
upon which the importance of all the others hinges,
and upon which the security afforded by the others

* Speech of the Earl of Chatham on the exercise of the judi-
cature in matters of election, 1763.

f Lord Chatham's Speeches.

116 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1871.

practically depends. This clause, and the supple-
mentary clause which follows it, have been those
whose subject has formed, more than any other,
matter and occasion for the great battles fought for
English liberty and right since the charter was
signed by King John.

They are the thirty-ninth and fortieth clauses of
King John's Charter, and the twenty-ninth of that
of King Henry III, and are as follows : —

39. NO FREEMAN SHALL BE TAKEN, OR
IMPRISONED, OR DISSEISED, OR OUTLAWED, OR
BANISHED, OR ANYWAYS DESTROYED, NOR WILL WE
PASS UPON HIM, NOR WILL WE SEND UPON HIM,
UNLESS BY THE LAWFUL JUDGMENT OF HIS PEERS,
OR BY THE LAW OF THE LAND.

40. WE WILL SELL TO NO MAN, WE WILL NOT
DENY TO ANY MAN EITHER JUSTICE OR RIGHT.

" These clauses are the crowning glories of the
great charter." * Mr. Hallam calls them its " essen-
tial clauses," f being those which " protect the
personal liberty and property of all freemen, by
giving security from arbitrary imprisonment and
spoliation." J The same high authority observes
that these words of the great charter, " interpreted
by any honest court of law, convey an ample security
for the two main rights of civil society." The
principles of this clause of the great charter, which,
if we look backwards, are lost in antiquity, were
subsequently confirmed and elucidated by statutes

* Creasy, English Constitution, p. 148.
f Middle Ages, chap, ii, p. 324. J Ibid.

1871.] APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA. 117

and charters of the reign of Henry III and Edward
III entitled " confirmationes cartamm." " The
famous writ of Habeas Corpus was framed in con-
formity with the spirit of this clause ; that writ,
rendered more actively remedial by the statute of
Charles II, but founded upon the broad basis of
Magna Charta, is the principal bulwark of English
liberty, and if ever temporary circumstances, or the
doubtful plea of necessity, shall lead men to look on
its denial with apathy, the most distinguishing
characteristic of our constitution will be effaced." *
The same powerful testimony is given by De Lolme,
Guizot and De Tocqueville.

It is precisely these very clauses, thus endearingly
eulogised by these great historians and lawyers of
various nations, which stand violated both in letter
and in principle by the Contagious Diseases Acts.

It is not requisite for my purpose to enter into a
critical examination of each of the words and phrases
of the great clause of Magna Charta referred to, nor
even to quote a selection of comments on these words
and phrases from the voluminous writings which
exist on the subject. There are two expressions
however, as to the meaning of which I shall make
a few remarks. The first, as bearing more particu-
larly on the subject in hand, viz. the phrase " or any-
ways destroyed," and the second, the words " by the
law of the land," in order that I may with respect
to these words correct a misunderstanding which may
arise in the mind of a reader who reads them without
the light of those subsequent comments and charters
which have elucidated Magna Charta.

* Ibid

118 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1871.

As to the first phrase, Blackstone, as well as other
writers, gives a very wide signification to this word
" destroy," and in general terms it may be said
that they agree in understanding that these words
of the charter sternly forbid any proceeding on the
body of an accused person unless after trial by jury.
If it were possible for me here to describe in detail
that proceeding which the Acts in question sanction
upon the body of a person suspected or accused,
who has been condemned without any jury trial, no
further words of mine would be needed to convince
my readers that this proceeding comes within the
scope of that word " destroy." The expression in
Magna Charta, " We will destroy no one unless by
the judgment of his peers," is by the great lawyers
interpreted to mean that no proceeding of any kind
whatever of a compulsory nature shall be permitted
on the person of anyone except after jury trial.
Blackstone and others, to make the matter more
plain, minutely define those cases in which alone
this prohibition of Magna Charta may be set aside,
viz. in the punishment of young children by their
parents, and of pupils by their masters, but even these
were to be kept within the bounds of decency and
humanity. I will only quote the words of De Lolme*
on this subject : " Thus it was made one of the
articles of Magna Charta, that the executive power
should not touch the person of the subject, but in con-
sequence of a judgment passed upon him by his
peers ; and so great was afterwards the general
union in maintaining this law, that the trial by jury
which so effectually secures the subject against all

* De Lolme on the Constitution, p. 354.

1871.] APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA. 119

the attempts of power, even against such as may be
made under the sanction of the judicial authority,
hath been preserved till this day."

The words " by the law of the land " have been
taken by some not to refer to jury trial. Attempts
have been made to justify illegal proceedings by this
interpretation. This has given rise to arguments
and enactments, by means of which the relation of
these words to jury trial has been settled beyond
dispute. And it is these arguments and enactments
which, as much as anything else, have thrown light
on the ancient institution of jury trial, and have
confirmed, as a lasting and inalienable part of the
Constitution, this ancient " law of the land." One
of the most marked discussions on this subject,
ending with the establishment of the principle which
we have laid down, that jury trial is the one
constitutional form of trial recognised in Magna
Charta, took place in the reign of Charles I, when
Judge Selden, at the time of the arrest of the five
members, made a famous speech, pleading for the
release of Sir E. Hampden from illegal imprisonment,
on the ground that these words, " by the law of the
land," showed that it was illegal to imprison him
by any other method than that of jury trial.

We who have combined to oppose this legislation
maintain that this Act is unconstitutional, because
it submits a case, in which the result is to the party
concerned of the most enormous consequence, to
trial without jury. We are well aware, while making
this statement, that there is a class of cases in
England which at this present time are tried without
a jury. But these cases are what are called " minor

120 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1871.

cases." Now we maintain that a woman's honour
is a point of very grave importance to her, and that
no State can thrive in which it is not regarded as a
very sacred question. And we maintain that a case
which is to decide as to the question of a woman's
honour is by no means, nor by any stretch of
language or imagination, capable of being called
a " minor case." We therefore maintain that this
law, which places the determination of the fact as to-
a woman's honour solely in the hands of a single
justice of the peace, is as great an infringement
of constitutional right as if the determination of the
fact as to whether a man were guilty of murder or not
were placed in the hands of a single justice of the
peace. We maintain absolutely that to deprive of
jury trial a woman whose honour is the subject in
question is a breach of the English Constitution,
as fundamentally expressed in that clause of Magna
Charta, of which we have already pointed out
the importance : " We will condemn no one except
by the judgment of his peers."

In answer to our objections to these Acts, it is
utter vanity and folly in anyone to plead that they
apply only to women who are prostitutes. Can it
be supposed that there is any man in England so-
foolish as to think that the safeguards of English
law exist for the sake of the guilty only ? They exist
for the sake of the innocent, who may be falsely
accused, as well to protect them when accused,
as to lessen the chances of unjust accusation. And
can it be supposed that we are so blind as ever to be
able to fancy that it is impossible that under this law
an innocent woman may be accused ? On the

1871.] APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA. 121

contrary, it is obvious that the question of a woman's
honour is one in which mistaken accusations are
peculiarly likely to occur.

For the rich and great there may be little danger
in dispensing with jury trial in this particular
instance. As there are classes in society whose
position and wealth place them above any chance
of being erroneously accused of theft, so there are
classes whose position, wealth and surroundings
place the women belonging to them equally above
any chance of being erroneously accused of being
prostitutes. To this fact we may probably trace the
apathy and indifference of so many of the upper
classes to the passing of the Contagious Diseases
Acts, and the urbanity with which they assure us
that our fears are ungrounded, and that the operation
of these Acts can seldom err. Again we must quote
the words of Junius : " Laws are intended not to
trust to what men will do, but to guard against
what they may do." But at the same time can we
accept the assurance that the action of the officials
who carry out these Acts will never be in error ?
We certainly cannot. Ladies who ride in their
carriages through the streets at night are in little
danger of being molested. But what of working
women ? What of the daughters, sisters, wives of
working men, out, it may be on an errand of mercy,
at night ? And what most of all of that girl whose
father, mother, friends are dead, or far away, who
is struggling hard in a hard world to live uprightly
and justly by the work of her own hands, — is she
in no danger from this law ? Lonely and friendless
and poor, is she in no danger of a false accusation

122 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1871.

from malice or from error, especially since one
clause of the Act particularly marks out homeless
girls as just subjects for its operation ? And what
has she, if accused, to rely on, under God, except that
of which this law has deprived her, the appeal to be
tried " by God and my country, by which she is
understood to claim to be tried by a jury, and to have
all the judicial means of defence to which the law
entitles her." *

We have been reproached for making this question
a class question. We accept the reproach, if reproach
it be, because we say that it is a question for the poor
rather than for the rich. It was not we who
initiated this distinction, but the majority of the
upper classes soon taught us that they considered
it no question of theirs. They told us plainly that
the subject was too unpleasant to be treated as one
of public interest. But while with this plea they
endeavoured to silence us, we found that they
generally lent the weight of their influence, and
not always apathetically or ignorantly, to the
promotion of this legislation. To them this legisla-
tion involved no present and immediate diminution
of freedom for themselves, and they seem to have
been blindly ignorant, or selfishly forgetful, that
their children and children's children would be,
as well as the children of the poor, inheritors of the
fatal consequences of violated liberties, and that
the chains which they now weave for others will in
time entangle themselves. But when we turned
to the humbler classes we found that they knew
that it is a question for them, and that they, more

* De Lolme, p. 171.

1871.] APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA. 123

intelligent in this than the upper classes, knew that
it was also a question for this whole country of
England, whose political liberty depends on the
preservation of the rights of all. " The trial by jury
ever has been," says Blackstone,* " and I trust ever
will be, looked upon as the glory of the English
law. It is the most transcendent privilege that any
subject can enjoy or wish for, that he cannot be
affected in his property, his liberty, or his person
but by the unanimous consent of twelve of his
neighbours and equals, a constitution that I may
venture to affirm has, under Providence, secured
the just liberties of this nation for a long succession
of ages."

I cannot therefore but regard the present as a
crisis as great as any crisis through which this nation
has ever passed. This country was once called on
to decide whether it would permit the king, for his
satisfaction, to override this thirty-ninth clause of
Magna Charta, and it decided most emphatically
that he should not. It is now called on to decide
whether it will permit Parliament itself, for the sake
of the lusts of certain men, to override this same
clause. It remains for the people of England to
decide this question, and a very solemn choice is
given to you, my countrymen, at this moment :
Are these men to have protection in their vices,
or will you retain your liberties ? If any of my
readers then came to the consideration of this
matter with the idea that there might be something
to be said for this law medically, and that though
there might be something undefinedly wrong in it,

* Blackstone, book iii, p. 378.

124 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1872.

yet it embodied at least a benevolent intention,
let him then remember that he has, at the
next election, to answer for himself and his
country: Shall we have liberty in lust, or shall
we have political freedom ? We cannot retain
both.

Early in 1872 the Home Secretary, Mr. Bruce,
introduced a Bill to repeal the Contagious Diseases
Acts, and to substitute provisions dealing with the
subject in a different manner. Some opponents of
the Acts at first were inclined to accept this compro-
mise, but Josephine Butler issued a Letter on the
subject of Mr. Bruce s Bill, and a leaflet entitled,
A Few Words addressed to True-hearted Women, in
which she closely examined the measure, and showed
that it was really open to the same moral and other
objections that had been raised against the Acts
which it was intended to replace. The agitation
against the Bill, which was thus roused, led to its
ultimate withdrawal. In this year also she published
another pamphlet, The New Era, dealing with the
fight against the regulation system in Berlin, the
lessons to be learned from past failure, and the
source from which hope for the future was to be
derived.

The repealers at this period took part in several
by-elections, notably that at Pontefract, when
scenes of greater violence than those at Colchester
occurred, showing the fierce feelings roused by this
moral controversy. We cannot attempt to record
the whole course of the seventeen years' struggle,
to notice the separate leagues and societies formed
to oppose the Acts, the large number of public
meetings, petitions to Parliament, and other active
measures taken by the Abolitionists ; but some idea
of the vigour of the fight may be gathered from the
fact that in one year, 1873, over two hundred and

1872.] APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA. 125

fifty public meetings were held, besides fifteen
important conferences, at most of which Josephine
Butler took a leading part.

In spite of great encouragements now and again,
we were from year to year forced to confess that the
prospect of victory was much more distant than we
at first imagined. Looking back over those years,
we can now see the wisdom of God in allowing us
to wait so long for the victory. For the mere
legislative reform, or rather undoing and repairing,
which was our immediate object, was but a small
part of the great and vital movement which it was
His design to create and maintain for the purifying
of the nations ; and if we had obtained a speedy
triumpl: there would not have been that great
awakening of consciences which we have witnessed,
resulting in practical and lasting reforms. At times
the struggle between opposing principles was very
severe ; and hostile criticisms, censures — public and
private — accusations, invective, and bitter words
fell upon us at certain crises as thickly as the darts
of Apollyon on Christian's armour at the entrance
of the dark valley. Motives of the worst kind were
sometimes imputed, among the most frequent being
that of a lurking sympathy, not with the sinners
alone, but with their most hateful sins. A certain
class of our enemies thought themselves happy, it
seemed, in inventing a dart which they believed
would strike home in our own case ; they sought
diligently to spread an impression that some tragic
unhappiness in our married life was the impelling
force which had driven me from my home to this

126 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1873.

work, and coarse abuse was varied by hypocritical
expressions of pity and sympathy.

But they were the most unworthy alone — the lewd
fellows of the baser sort naturally — by whom this
kind of scourging was inflicted or attempted. It
only had the effect of strengthening our indifference
to all selfish, impure, and interested opposition, and
of deepening our thankfulness for the good gifts of
peace and unity of heart in our home. Such mani-
festations however taught us much of the deeper
meanings of these " signs of the times." Much more
serious practically was the opposition of honourable
opponents, men of education, high character and
honesty, who in some cases had openly given their
names in favour of a principle and a measure which
happily many of them learned to regard later with
suspicion and abhorrence.

On May 2ist, 1873, the first debate and division in
Parliament took place on our question, which had
been courageously and ably pioneered in the House
of Commons by William Fowler, a member of the
Society of Friends, and which afterwards (when Mr.
Fowler lost his seat for Cambridge) was taken in
hand with equal ability and courage by Sir Harcourt
Johnstone. My husband congratulated me and
himself heartily on the division. The majority
against us was 137, yet he could rejoice ! And
justly so, for in counting up our probable friends in
the House we had not dared to hope that we should
have as many as those who actually voted for us,
viz. 128.

It was on this occasion that old Mr. Henley spoke
in the House of Commons the following solemn

1873.] APPEAL TO MAGNA CHARTA. 127

words (respect for his personal character caused
members on both sides of the House to listen in
perfect silence, a silence so great that though his
voice was feeble all he said was distinctly heard) :
" It is complained," he said, " that this agitation is
carried on by women ; but we cannot shut our eyes
to the fact that women are most affected by this
legislation. We men do not know what women
suffer. Unless they tell us, we cannot know. In
this matter women have placed their feet upon the
' Rock of Ages,' and nothing will force them from
their position. They knew full well what a cross
they would have to bear, but they resolved to take
up that cross, despising the shame. It was women
who followed Christ to His death, and remained with
Him while others forsook Him, and there are such
women amongst us now."

In a division on the question of Women's Suffrage,
which occurred about this time, Mr. Henley, who had
till then been opposed to granting the parliamentary
franchise to women, voted in favour of it, and spoke
a few very touching words. He told me, that the
experience he had now had of the injustice, which
Parliament (not excluding the good men in Parlia-
ment) is capable of inflicting on women, had convinced
him that they (women) must labour for and obtain
direct representation on equal terms with men.

CHAPTER IX.

MISSION TO CONTINENT.

ON the 25th of June, 1874, a few friends of the
Abolitionist cause met to confer together at York.
All were filled with a profound sense of the solemnity
of the purpose which had brought them together.
It was a time of deep depression in the work. Those
who were present fully recognised the powerful array
of organised forces against which tiiey had to con-
tend ; they were filled with a kind of awe in the con-
templation of those forces, and the magnitude of the
difficulties with which they were called to grapple.
At the same time everyone of the groap seemed
animated by a deep and certain conviction that the
cause would triumph. The circumstances under
which this conference took place were such as to call
strongly for the exercise of that faith which alone can
animate reformers to contend against a sudden
increase of an evil, at whose destruction they aim.
The voice of the Abolitionist had for a time been
partially stilled by the clash of parties in the General
Election. For a time even the most energetic
workers were unable to see what steps for the con-
tinuance of the work could most effectively be taken.
Having hitherto felt themselves engaged in a battle
for the abolition of the State sanction of vice in Great
Britain only, they had become aware that a large

128

1874]. MISSION TO CONTINENT. 129

and powerful organisation on the Continent was
seeking to increase the efficacy of the vice regulations,
and for that purpose was appealing confidently to
England to take the lead in organising, under all the
Governments of Europe, an international scheme for
the application of these regulations to every country,
and to every seaport throughout the world. After a
period of silence for united prayer, the Rev. C. S.
Collingwood, Rector of Southwick, Sunderland,
addressed the little group around him in words
which have never been forgotten by those who passed
through the trial of faith of that year — words which
were assuredly inspired by God, and were His
message to us at that period of anxious suspense.
In the course of the speech he said : " Our ceasing
to be heard in Parliament for a time, or in the Press,
or by public meetings, means necessarily so much
clear gain to the other side. We have a most solemn
charge, and cannot even maintain our ground except
on the condition of ceaseless warfare. Much of the
hostile pressure comes from abroad, and we shall do
well to consider the propriety of carrying the war into
the enemy's country by establishing relations with
leading and earnest opponents of the regulation of
sin, say in France, Belgium, Prussia, Italy, etc., and
stimulating opposition in these countries, and perhaps
holding our own international congress. There can
be no doubt that in all the countries subjected to this
degrading system a few sparks would create a great
fire of indignation and revolt against the immoral
system. When Granville Sharp, in 1772, obtained
the famous decision that a slave is free as soon as he
touches English territory, he did not think it one of

10

130 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1874.

the first steps towards the general abolition of the
slave trade, and of slavery everywhere ; but it was
so. And thus, when some noble ones among us
raised a cry of horror and indignation on finding that
supervised vice had presumed to desecrate our
English soil they little guessed how far their voices
would reach, nor what the work was upon which they
unwittingly were entering, nor what the victories
which they were to achieve. But they have already
been able to produce great effects in Africa, Australia,
and the United States ; and, though still unsuccessful
at home, we and they believe that the opposition
which has commenced in England will obtain its
utmost success here, and that a force of public opinion
and true sentiment is being slowly generated, which
will cross all lands and seas, and in its progress sweep
away everywhere the monstrous organisation of vice,
against which we lift our voices to-day."

These words found an echo in the breasts of all
present, and from that conference all departed feeling
that a new era was dawning upon the whole move-
ment, which could only lead to the final triumph of
the cause of justice and morality far beyond the
limits of our own country.

Before separating, the conference passed a simple
resolution, accepting Josephine Butler's proposition
to open correspondence with opponents of the
Regulation system abroad. This opening of corre-
spondence " was in its beginning an apparently feeble
— as it was indeed a laborious — undertaking, carried
on somewhat in the vague and in the dark." The
results however were so far encouraging that later
in the year she resolved to undertake a personal

1874.] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 131

mission to the Continent. Shortly before her
departure a meeting of women to wish her " God
speed " was held at Birmingham, chiefly promoted
bv the Society of Friends. Mrs. Richardson, of
York (who, like her sister, Mrs. Kenway, of Bir-
mingham, was one of Josephine Butler's oldest and
dearest fellow- workers), wrote of this meeting : "I
desire that you may be reminded of the meeting
which took place immediately before her departure,
and to which all then present, and she herself, largely
attributed the remarkable success which was per-
mitted to attend her labours, believing it to have been
the direct answer to earnest prayer offered up there,
and from many other friends elsewhere who were with
us in spirit that evening. The meeting was called
for the express purpose of united prayer to God on
Mrs. Butler's behalf — that He would guide and pro-
tect her on every hand, and prosper the work upon
which she was about to enter. . . . After the
reading (of Psalm xci), Mrs. Wilson offered prayer
for God's presence and blessing on the meeting, that
it might tend to the help and strength of Mrs. Butler,
and of all present. Mrs. Butler then gave a little
account of how this widening prospect of the work
had grown upon her. The necessity of seeking the
sympathy and co-operation of other countries had
been brought forcibly before her mind at the time of
a conference at York in June, when this feature of the
subject had taken great hold of the meeting ; and
knowing that it could, for obvious reasons, be more
successfully carried out if universally adopted, she
reminded us that those who were promoting the
hateful system of regulated vice in continental
nations were watching with anxiety the action of
England in this direction, and rejoicing to see that it
was beginning to take deep root here, and that
whereas amongst them it was a police regulation only,
here Parliament had seen fit to make it the law of the
land. Mrs. Butler expressed her conviction that it

132 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1874.

must be made known abroad that many in England
had determined, by God's help, to bring to an end
the entire system, and desired the sympathy and
co-operation of those in other countries, who, she
knew, had long groaned in secret under the burden
of an evil which they felt powerless to grapple with.
From that time Mrs. Butler had increasingly felt that
the task must devolve upon herself of setting a spark
to the smouldering embers, and in connection with
this prospect the words of the Scriptures had con-
stantly been before her mind : ' I have set before thee
an open door, and no man can shut it.' She be-
lieved the time had now come when she must give
herself up to this new branch of the work."*

Josephine Butler herself wrote to a friend con-
cerning this meeting : —

As we sat, during those calm silences which I so
much love in Friends' meetings, when God seems
even more present than when any voice of prayer is
breaking the hushed stillness, I did not think any
more of the cold winter, long journeys, cynical
opposition and many difficulties I knew I was going
to meet. I knew that God is true, and that certainly
I should be able to trample on the lion and adder.
My thoughts were carried far beyond this near future,
and a vista seemed to rise before me of the years to
come — of some great and marvellous and beautiful
manifestation of the power of God, of gathering hosts,
an exceeding great army, before whom will melt
away the monstrous wickedness which men of the
world believe to be indestructible, and of the redemp-
tion of the slave.

* The New Abolitionists [by James Stuart], 1876 (Dyer
Brothers), pp. 8-10.

1874.] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 133

She left England in December, accompanied by
one of her sons, and joined later by her husband and
other sons and Mr. Stuart. Some idea of the extent
and nature of her work during this journey through
France, Italy and Switzerland may be gathered from
the following letters.

To Mr. Stansfeld. December, 1874.

I think I told you that I spent a part of my last
afternoon in Paris, at the Prefecture of Police. The
memory of that interview is so exceedingly painful
to me that I feared I should be unfitted for my work
if I dwelt upon it. I was struck by the grandeur of
the externals of the office, and by the evidence of the
irresponsibility and despotic sway over a large class
of the people possessed by the man Lecour. I
ascended a large stone staircase, with guards placed
at intervals, and many people coming and going,
apparently desiring audiences. The Prefect's outer
door is at the top of the staircase, and over it, in con-
spicuous letters, are engraved the words : " Arrests —
Service of Morals " (the arrests being of women only).
In looking at these words the fact (though I knew it
before) came before me with painful vividness, that
man in this nineteenth century has made woman his
degraded slave, by a decree which is heralded in
letters of gold, and retains her in slavery by a violent
despotism which, if it were applied to men, would
soon set all Paris, and not merely a few of its buildings
in flames. The words " Service des Moeurs " is the
most impudent proclamation of an accepted falsehood.
Too clearly and palpably is the true meaning of it
"Service de Debauche " ; and M. Lecour's conversation

134 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1874.

throughout showed and confirmed most powerfully
the fact (though he himself may be blind to it) that
3t is immorality, not morality, for which his office
makes provision. I was kept waiting some time in
the handsomely furnished room of the Prefect while
he finished his interviews with people who had pre-
ceded me. While seated by the fire, with the news-
paper in my hand which had been given to me by a
liveried servant, I heard the whole of the conversa-
tion (it was impossible not to hear it) which passed.
It left a very sorrowful and terrible impression on my
mind. An elderly man was there, who appeared to
be pleading the cause of a woman, perhaps a near
relation, or in some way dear to him. M>Lecour
spoke of the woman as one whom he had full power
to acquit or to condemn, and there was a lightness in
his tone which contrasted strikingly with the troubled
gravity of the other, who more than once interrupted
the volubility of the Prefect with the words, spoken
in a voice of sullen, repressed emotion, " But you have
accused her." I thought of the words, " Whose soever
sins ye remit, they are remitted ; and whose soever sins
ye retain, they are retained." Such a power in a merely
human, but most awful sense, is possessed by that
irresponsible ruler of the women of Paris ; but his
credentials are not divine. As I left his place
I felt oppressed with a great sadness, mingled
with horror ; and, in thinking of M. Lecour, I
recalled the words about " man, drest in a little brief
authority," who "plays such fantastic tricks before
high heaven as make the angels weep " ; and not
only that, but as make women die, cursing God, in
horror and despair.

1874.] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 135

To Mr. Stansfeld. ANTIBES, December, 1874.

I should like our friends to know how much the
little faithful band of sympathisers in Paris recognise
our mission as from God. There has lately been a
great religious movement in France, as in some parts
of England. Meetings for prayer are still held con-
stantly. It seems also that there was among some a
feeling of suspense, of expectation, almost of dis-
comfort, in the belief that action, and aggressive
action, ought to follow, and must follow, the deepen-
ing of spiritual life and the clearer apprehension of
their personal relations with the Father in heaven.
They have been feeling it is not enough to meet and
pray, and to try for themselves to draw ever nearer
to God. There must be a deeper meaning in this
spiritual awakening ; there must soon be a call to
battle. Thus then without knowing what had been
passing in Paris, and ignorant of the fact of a religious
awakening, I spoke to them what I felt, and said that
the only meaning of our being on earth at all was to
be combatants ; that the only condition of our
spiritual health is war, unceasing war, against the
whole kingdom of Satan, and against all evil things.
I found some of these good men pondering these
matters, and I began to see the connection in their
minds between this call to oppose the evil round them
and the previous movement. They saw, and con-
fessed that the deepened personal life of the soul
meant increased responsibility, and they recognised
the guidance of God in this second call ; and as the
path became clearer to me I saw how " God leads the
blind by a way they know not of."

136 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1874.

From her sister. NAPLES, New Year's Eve,

Midnight, 1874-1875.

" BELOVED OF MY SOUL,

" I want to spend this solemn hour with you. My
heart is overflowing with gratitude to Him whose
cross you bear. This year, which you told me began
with such discouragement, and with the revelation
of such new, untold horrors that you would not
repeat them, has finished gloriously with the carrying
of the standard of the fiery cross over the sea and
into another land ; and you — it is as if (no, there is
no if about it) God surrounds you with His shield.

" Everyone out of England to whom I told your
mission said you would be insulted and outraged
in Paris, and could not do any good.

" Even people who believe in your mission told
me of the way irreverent Frenchmen turn to ridicule
anything spoken with a foreign accent ; spoke of the
dangers you would incur, and the impossibility of
your making any impression. When they talked
thus I smiled and said, ' Wait and see : this is of
God, and He will justify His handmaid.' I felt so
clearly that God gave it you to do ; and whatever
the world may think, God knows what He is about.

" He is not an idealised Joss, who lives in churches.
He is present among us. He can manage even the
Paris police. How He laid your enemies under your
feet ! Sometimes I got frightened because of your
weak chest, and the bitter weather, and I longed to
be with you, that I might at least run about after you
with spirit-lamp and tea-caddy, or muscat wine,
cloves and sugar to cheer you. Two days ago I got

1875.] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 137

your first letters to your dear husband, which he
sent on to me. It must not happen that you do not
get here. With all you have to do, it seems cruel to
bring you so far ; but it would be sweet that you
should once be in my dirty Naples, and dear George
also. I recall all his kindness and goodness, since old
Oxford days, until that crowning goodness of
receiving us with our dead treasure as his guests, the
pretty guest chamber ready for her, in spite of all
the unhealed wounds the sight must have opened
in your hearts. All that comes up, and we long to
have you as our guests, to repay the kindness.
" Your mission is too high and holy to be under-
stood ! Is it not wonderful how people go on
thinking it lovelily humble and sweetly meritorious
to go on picking off a bad-smelling leaf here and there
from the upas tree, instead of taking the Sword of
God and striking at its very tap root — nipping here
and there the results of its growth, instead of cutting
off the source of its life ? "

To her husband. NAPLES, January i^th, 1875.

We have had an excellent meeting here. The
circumstances which led to it were very affecting,
and I must tell you all when we meet. You know
that my one object in coming here was to see my
darling Hatty, and to rest awhile with her in her
beautiful home. I neither planned nor expected a
continuance of my mission here ; but God ordered
it otherwise, and without our seeking it at all, the
work came to us. Two gentlemen called and gravely
desired to learn whether I would address a company

138 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1875.

of friends on the subject of our mission, if they under-
took the arrangements. I was much touched and
somewhat surprised. I said I could not refuse their
request. They then asked me to accompany them
to the office of the English Consul, to ask him to
preside at the meeting. We parted at the Consul's
door, they to get circulars of invitation printed, and
to make other arrangements, and I to confer with
Hatty about the ladies who would be most likely to
support us. In every step however the initiative
was taken by others, and we only followed the
guidance which was so distinct, that we could have
no doubt at all about the Voice, saying, " This is
the way; walk ye in it." How often have I longed
to have Hatty, my childhood's beloved companion,
associated with me in this holy work. You can
imagine how sweet it is to me ; and how full, and
tender, and penetrating are her sympathy in, and
her understanding of, the whole matter. The
children are very good, Thekla a most lovable little
maiden. Our days are very pleasant. Hatty takes
me in her carriage the most beautiful drives. The
first evening the sunset was lovely. Capri and Ischia
were bathed in a sweet, pale rosy light, and the
feathery cloud resting on Vesuvius was reddened
and golden, and all these were again reflected in
the smooth, pale blue waters of the bay. I wish
every moment that you were here.

At the meeting we had no expressed opposition,
but I was aware of an opposing current of thought
and opinion in the room, which we were able to trace
to its source, namely an English doctor. I thought he
looked ominous as he entered with a great bundle

I875-] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 139

of the Lancet under his arm, and I observed him
whispering impatiently to his neighbours on each
side as I spoke. It almost makes one smile to see that
miserable Lancet brought forward as an authority
in a great moral and humanitarian question like
this. You can believe that Hatty and I returned to
the house with our hearts full of thankfulness to
God, and having arrived there that the word of
command, "Tea, Giovanni," was given with more
thirsty eagerness than usual. Hatty says she
believes Giovanni thinks our afternoon teas are a
species of " culto," which we " pagani " observe with
great solemnity and punctuality. It was an after-
noon meeting, as you will see. I should tell you
that a resolution was passed, of sympathy with the
worK and the workers. Our friends here look
anxiously to what may be done in Rome, and think
that if some of the deputies and leading men would
take up the question, and then send an invitation
to them in Naples to co-operate with them, it would
give the best chance for practical results here.

To her sister. TURIN, January 2,gth, 1875.

I live over again in thought the sweet days I
spent with you. I look back upon that time as
something sacred ; but it leaves a blank in my heart.
I realise more than before what a loss it is to us to be
so far and so long separated, and I feel more than
ever the tenacity of early affection, and the ties of
kindred. Ah ! how often I lie awake at night
thinking of those hours we spent together. It was
a sunshine and happiness to prepare me for the hard

UO JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1875.

work which was to follow ; and which is a suffering
piece of work, though full of interest and hope.
Going from city to city, tired and weary, always
to meet with sharp opposition and cynicism, and
ever new proofs of the vast and hideous oppression,
is like running one's breast upon knife points, always
beginning afresh before the last wound is healed.

You understand, don't you ? I utter this little
cry to you, but I am not despondent. This is really
only physical weakness, I think, for I have to praise
God for good work accomplished, and for souls
inspired to work. " I know that my Redeemer
liveth." The hour of our redemption has struck !
I say " our" for we have not only remembered those
that are in bonds, as being bound with them, but
actually suffered with them in spirit for long, long
years. This may be but the beginning of the break-
ing of our bonds, and to our finite minds the Deliverer
may seem long in coming. To the Lord a thousand
years are but as one day, and one day as a thousand
years ; but the time is coming — is coming most
surely. One thing we know, and that is, that all
this cruelty and sin, this blinding and misleading
of souls, this selfish profligacy, this slaughter of the
innocents, this organised vice, this heavy oppression,
this materialism which sets the body above the soul,
profaning the sacred name of science, and making
of her a "procuress to the lords of hell" — all this
we know is hateful in the eyes of the Holy God, and
we know that it must perish before the light of His
countenance, when the arm of the Lord shall be
revealed, and when His own arm shall bring salva-
tion. Even out of the depths therefore we will

1875-] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 141

praise Him, and rejoice for the day that is coming.
Be strong in faith, my dear one ; do not despair
even for those poor captured victims, from their
childhood forced into sin and shame, whose
sorrowful sighing seems for a time to rise in vain
to heaven. Can we love them so much, and
doubt that God loves them far more than we ?
Our utmost pity is but a drop compared with
the ocean of His pity for them. I feel a kind of
triumph in that beautiful arrangement by which
He has chosen the weak things of this world to
confound the strong. It matters nothing at all what
we are, provided we are but entirely willing to be
made the instruments of His will, His agents in this
world. I do not think we know the meaning of the
word strength until we have fathomed our own utter
weakness. I sometimes think of the lines about the
" Steadfast Prince "—

To these my poor companions seem I strong,

And at some times, such am I, as a rock

That has upstood in middle ocean long,

And braved the winds and waters' angriest shock,

Counting their fury but an idle mock :

Yet sometimes weaker than the weakest wave

That dies about its base, when storms forget to rave.

I from my God such strength have sometimes won,

That all the dark, dark future I am bold

To face — but oh ! far otherwise anon,

When my heart sinks and sinks to depths untold

Till being seems no deeper depth to hold.

Did I tell you how I had been pleasantly haunted
"before I left home by the words, " Behold, I have set
before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."
I often used to wake up suddenly at night with a fear

H2 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1875.

lest I had been presumptuous to think of such a
mission as this ; and then these words would again
and again sound in my soul, and almost in my ears,
as if an angel had spoken them. Yes, it is true, if
that hand opens the door, not all the powers of earth
nor of hell can prevail to shut it.

To her sister. LAUSANNE, February i^th, 1875.

My work is over in Switzerland. A hard ten
days' work rather. My evenings are rather lonely,
and the cold at times is bitter ; at Chaux-de-Fonds
it was really cruel. But it is over ; and I can only
see the good part of it now. At several places com-
mittees have been formed. Switzerland has re-
sponded wonderfully. Let us thank God ! As in
Italy a man was found to devote his life wholly to
the work, so in Switzerland a man has come forward
ready for any service — it is M. Humbert. Is it not
touching to see how God prepares hearts ? I have
asked him to meet me in Paris, that we may try and
find a man in France also who will give his life to
the cause. I got your precious telegram to-day.
It seemed to bring a breath of southern warmth into
the cold. There is a terribly sharp wind to-day.
I long to hear from you again, for I feel as if I had
found you again after many days. We shall now,
though parted for long, weary seasons, work in heart
and in prayer at least together ; hope, believe to-
gether, and together "watch for the morning." I
wrote my last letter home in one of those large
Swiss railway carriages, with tables and chairs, and
a nice fire in the corner. I was alone, and piled logs

1875-] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 143

of wood on my fire, and was quite warm, and at ease.
They fence out the cold perfectly in the houses here.
It is only out of doors that one feels it. The scenes
on the Jura reminded me of pictures of the winter
retreats of chamois, or of bear-hunting in Norway.
Those enormous pines, such as George drew, look so
handsome with their loads of newly-fallen snow and
pendants of icicles, like jewels, in the sunlight.
I was asked to go to Bienne and Basel, but I could
not stay. I regret most of all not going to Zurich.
There is life there, and it will join us, I am sure.
But I feel I ought not to delay longer here. Our
meeting here was a most excellent one of men and
women in a church. Mr. Buscarlet spoke after I had
spoken ; he had in his hand a copy of the Edinburgh
Daily Review, which he had just received from
Scotland, and out of which he read, translating it
as he went on, part of the speech of Mr. Stansfeld at
Edinburgh, and giving the statistical proofs, so ably
stated by him, of the physical failure of these laws.
It was listened to with great interest. After every
meeting in Switzerland some practical step has been
agreed upon, and I have confidence that the separate
efforts will develop ere long into a connected,
organised work. It has been agreed that the speech
made by Professor Aime Humbert, at Neuchatel,
shall be printed and widely circulated. This is being
put in hand at once. I was glad to hear a citizen of
Berne say, with grave conviction, that he believed
the greatest obstacle they would have to contend
against in Germany would be from the German
habit of judging, which denies to woman her place as
man's equal, makes her the mere house-wife and

144 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1875.

child-bearer, and gives her no voice at all even in
these matters, which concern women most terribly
and closely This, he said, would be a dead weight ;
but they must fight against it, protest against it ;
for it was upon this equality and the equality of the
moral standard for both sexes that the whole reform
we seek must rest for its success. I was glad to
hear this sentiment from a German-speaking Swiss,
and to hear the same conviction, in other words,
strongly expressed by others. Another Swiss gentle-
man said it seemed to him that it would be around
this question that the great battle of the " droit de
Tindividu," the principle of personal responsibility
and freedom, would be fought in Europe — that right

^

which the party of privilege, the absolutists, on the
one hand, and the socialists on the other, destroy or
deny. I had a most pleasant evening at the Bus-
carlets'. I love Madame Bridel. She has written
to her son-in-law, M. E. de Pressense.

To Joseph Edmondson, and other friends.

PARIS, February, 1875.

I write to you, dear friends, who may care to
read this letter, a last letter before leaving France,
and I want to tell you once more how wonderfully
God has worked in this matter. I am filled with awe
and gratitude when I think of it. I see His hand in
all, and I think your prayers have followed and
surrounded me : were it not so, I should hardly know
how to account for many extraordinary interpositions
when I was in extremities, and the kindness I have
met with in every place. It is a touching history,

If. S. Mendelssohn, Newcastle, circa 1876.
144

I875-] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 145

and I now want to beg my friends in England not
to be wanting in faith any more concerning this
foreign work. I felt last autumn that most of my
friends agreed to this part of the work because I
wished it, rather than because they saw for them-
selves that it was a logical sequence to, and a
necessary expansion of, our home work. Oh, if
they could only see how hearts on the Continent
are leaning towards England in this matter ! We
all fancied that our England was the only country
which felt rightly, the only people which had
groaned as just and good people under this evil and
tyranny. It is not so. In no place which I have
visited have I found a complete acquiescence in
the evil, and in every place there has been, at one
time or other, some active opposition breaking out
here and there. But the evil has been too strong,
and Governments have been too strong. Protests
however have been made in almost every city at
some time or other. Good and noble souls have
laboured in secret, heroically, to try to undermine
the system, and some have suffered persecution and
contempt for the cause. I tell you all this because
I want you to see, as I do, how providentially it
seems that the open appeal to international effort
should have come from England now. I want you
to see how God has been training us, not for our
battle in England alone, but for this battle of
principles all over Europe. I am convinced that
we should be simply fools if we were to be contented
with achieving our own repeal victory. What do
those English people, who care only for the interests
of England, suppose would happen if we were to get

ii

146 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1875.

repeal ? Would they go back to their politics, their
homes, their families, and be in no more danger ?
Not a bit of it. If we left the Continent unmoved
and unhelped, we should not be safe for a year on
our own soil. Whence did this particular evil come
to us ? Did it not come from the Continent ? And
what would hinder the infection from again invading
us ? But when once the open conflict is begun
abroad, the case will be altered.

To her husband. PARIS, February, 1875.

It was a relief and rest to me, after seeing many-
sad places, to pay a visit to the " Maison des
Diaconesses," and to see the good work done there —
the schools, hospital, and refuge. I dined with the
deaconesses, and afterwards one of them took me to
see the poor girls they rescue from misery and vice.
They were all assembled, and this deaconess said
to them, in a sweet, gentle voice, " I want you to look
at this dear lady, my children. Yes, look at her
well, for she is your friend, and perhaps you may
never see her again. She is our friend ; she has come
to Paris to say that our bonds shall be broken."
And then she continued, speaking almost as a person
speaks in a dream, and very solemnly, " Our bonds
shall be broken. A time shall come when vice shall
no more be organised and upheld by the law, to
crush us down to hell. You understand what I
mean, my children. Ah, you understand too well F
She has come to Paris to oppose the great machinery
which makes it so easy to sin, and so hard to escape.
She brings you a message from Jesus to-day, my

1875-] MISSION TO CONTINENT. 147

children, and asks you to love Him, and to look
forward in hope. For our bonds shall be broken —
ours ; for we are sisters, we suffer with you."

She explained further to them, very delicately
and solemnly, till one saw they began to feel they had
a part with us in the good war. I said a few words,
and then we all sang a hymn together, about our
bonds, being broken, at the end of which this
deaconess played a few notes on her harmonium,
on which she had accompanied us, in which there
came a minor tone of sadness for one moment,
which seemed to express the hidden agony of the
heart so well known to us, while we spoke only
of hope to the poor girls.

CHAPTER X.

THE FEDERATION.

THE year 1875 has few clear recollections for me
personally, in direct connection with our cause.
Six years of work, and more especially the winter
months spent in very difficult work on the Continent,
had over-taxed my strength. My health gave way,
and was only restored by several months of rest,
during which I heard only the distant echoes of the
conflict, while I remained at home.

During this autumn Une Voix dans le Desert
was ably edited by M. Aime Humbert, and brought
out in French and German, and widely circulated.
It consisted of my addresses given on the Continent
during the previous winter. These addresses,
spoken in French, were never published in English,
but were translated year by year into other languages
— Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish,
Norwegian and Russian. The following letter refers
to this work.

To M. Humbert. 1875.

I feel with you every day that some such voice is
needed just now. It would perhaps have been
better had we been able to bring out a complete
book as our first, a book which should contain all
the scientific and juridical arguments, as well as a

148

1875-] THE FEDERATION. 149

complete review of historical facts relating to this
subject. But such a complete book is at this
moment impossible. I therefore beg you to
communicate what I now say to Messieurs Sandoz
and Fischbacher (publishers). We want statistics and
facts — yes, — but would English statistics and facts
alone, drawn from a limited experience, be much or
generally valued in other countries ? I think not, if
they stood alone. Facts from a larger area we must
have later, and we shall have them, for, thank God,
they stand as indestructible witnesses everywhere
of the folly and futility of the attempt to regulate
vice. How much more powerful, how overwhelming
in fact, would it be for our opponents, and how
strengthening for our cause, if we could show facts
and statistics gathered from every country, and over
a larger period of time. This is precisely what we
are now aiming at. We have received all the most
recent reports from Italy, France, Germany, and
other countries. On every hand there is confession
of the failure of regulation. Mireur, Jeannell,
Diday, Depres, Pallasciano, Huet, Crocq, all confess
to hygienic failure. The proposals of some of these
men to ensure future success (a success which they
confess they have never yet ensured) are of such a
wild and ghastly nature, that one has only to read
their books to see that the beginning of the end is
at hand. From out these statistics there appear,
here and there, deeply pathetic facts, such as these :
that four-fifths of the poor girls subjected to this
tyranny (according to one writer) are orphans ;
many are foreigners in the country of their
enslavement ; many are young widows. Does not

-•

150 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1875.

our God, who is the God of the Fatherless, of the
Widow, and of the Stranger, take note of these
things ? You see that in a year or two we shall have
a mass of evidence against this system which will
give the doctors and materialist legislators a hard
task to refute. I care little that men accuse me,
as you say, of mere sentiment, and of carrying away
my hearers by feeling rather than by facts and logic.
Even while they are saying this they read my words,
and they are made uncomfortable ! They feel that
there is a truth of some sort there, and that sentiment
itself is after all a fact and a power when it expresses
the deepest intuitions of the human soul. They
have had opportunity for many years past of looking
at the question in its material phases, of appreciating
its hygienic results, and of reading numberless books
on the subject — statistical, medical, and administra-
tive. Now for the first time they are asked to look
upon it as a question of human nature, of equal
interest to man and woman ; as a question of the
heart, the soul, the affections, the whole moral being.
As a simple assertion of one woman speaking for
tens of thousands of women, those two words
" we rebel " are very necessary, and very useful for
them to hear. The cry of women, crushed under
the yoke of legalised vice, is not the cry of a
statistician or a medical expert ; it is simply a cry
of pain, a cry for justice, and for a return to God's
laws in place of these brutally impure laws invented
and imposed by man. It is imperfect, no doubt, as
an utterance, but the cry of the revolted woman
against her oppressor, and to her God, is far more
needful at this moment than any reasoned-out

1875-] THE FEDERATION. 151

argument. I think therefore, and my husband
agrees with me, that it is better to publish the
Voice in the Wilderness simply as the utterance of a
woman, and to do it quickly. It will rouse some
-consciences, no matter how imperfect men may find
it. On the eve of a war it may be said that the
sound of the trumpet is imperfect because it only
calls to the battle, and that we want to see the
troops, their arms, and the strength of muscle on
cither side. Yet the call to battle is needed ; the
close grappling with the foe will follow. It is only
when the slave begins to move, to complain, to give
signs of life and resistance, either by his own voice,
or by the voice of one like himself speaking for him,
that the struggle for freedom truly begins. The slave
now speaks. The enslaved women have found a voice
in one of themselves, who was raised up for no other
end than to sound the proclamation of an approaching
deliverance. Never mind the imperfection of the first
voice. It is the voice of a woman who has suffered,
a voice calling to holy rebellion and to war. It will
penetrate. Then by and by we shall come down on
our opponents with the heavy artillery of facts and
statistics and scientific arguments on every side.
We will not spare them, we will show them no
mercy. We shall tear to pieces their refuge of
lies, and expose the ghastliness of their covenant
with death, and their agreement with hell. We and
our successors will continue to do this year after }7ear
until they have no ground to stand upon.

Shortly after her return to England she had given
an account of her mission, at a conference held in

152 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1875.

London, " in the course of which she showed that her
own work abroad had had very little of a creative
character, but had rather served to bring out and
give expression to sentiments and convictions already
existing in the various countries she had visited."
It was resolved at this conference to form a federation
of the friends of the movement in all countries.
" The British, Continental and General Federation
for the Abolition of Government Regulation of
Prostitution " was formally constituted at a meeting
in Liverpool on March igth, Mr. Stansfeld being
chosen as President, Mr. W. Crossfield as Treasurer,
and M. Aime Humbert, of Neuchatel, as Continental
Correspondent. Mrs. Butler was appointed Hon.
Secretary, with Mr. H. J. Wilson as co-Secretary pro
tern, (he was succeeded a few months later by Mr.
Stuart, who this year became Professor Stuart).
The heavy work of correspondence connected with
the starting of the Federation, added to the fatigues
of the preceding winter's work on the Continent,
proved to be too much for her bodily strength, and
she was compelled to give up all work for several
months. The work however experienced no check,
for during these months Mr. Wilson in England and
M. Humbert on the Continent, by their untiring
energy and earnestness, succeeded in gaining many
adherents to the Federation, which was thus early
put on a firm foundation.

In the following April the late Rev. J. P. Gledstone
and Mr. H. J. Wilson started on a journey to the
United States, where they met many leaders of the
old anti-slavery party and other kindred spirits,
whom they enlisted into sympathy and co-operation
with the Federation. Writing to Josephine Butler
twenty years later, Mr. Gledstone recalled the
occasion of their starting on this journey : "It was,
I remember, a cold, stormy Thursday in April, 1876,
when you persisted in accompanying Mr. Wilson and
me to the river, to see us on board the Adriatic. The

1876.] THE FEDERATION. 155

anti-regulation struggle has seen some uncommon
things ; I think so now, as I recall your slender form
seeking shelter from the keen wind that swept through
the little tug that conveyed us to the huge steamer
lying in the middle of the Mersey — two strong men
sent out on their mission and cheered to it by one
woman ! "

This year Josephine Butler published anony-
mously, for the Social Purity Alliance, The Hour
before the Dawn : an Appeal to Men. A French
translation of this pamphlet was published the same
year in Paris. Her name appeared on the title-page
of the second edition, issued six years later. Its
sustained eloquence and passionate, pathetic appeal
combine to make it one of the finest of all her
writings. It reveals the profoundest sympathy for
all men, as well as women, who have sinned and are
struggling to rise again. To such she preaches a
gospel of hope, and shows that though the past is
irreparable, there is always an available future. We
can only give one extract, selected because of its
autobiographical interest.

I look back to the years when my soul was in
darkness on account of sin — the sin, the misery and
the waste which are in the world, the great and sad
problems of life, the prosperity of evil-doers, the
innocent suffering for the guilty, the cruelties, the
wrongs inflicted and never redressed, and the
multitudes who seem to be created only to be lost.
A great cloud gathered over me. Anger, fear,,
dismay filled my heart. I could see no God, or such
as I could see appeared to me an immoral God. Sin
seemed to me the law of the world, and Satan its
master. I staggered on the verge of madness and
blasphemy. I asked, " Does not God care ? Can

154 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1876.

God bear these things ? He is silent, the woe
deepens, and the question is still sent up from genera-
tion to generation, Hath God not seen ? Will He
not help ? Does He look down from His eternal
calm of heaven an indifferent spectator ? Can it be
that the Eternal rests content that any human beings
whom He has created should perish for ever ? That
men should destroy themselves in spite of God is a
terrible thought, but not so terrible, not so fatal to
hope, to love, and to faith as the thought, full of
deadly poison, that God cares not — that the heart of
Him who redeemed us is cold, when my own is filled
with an agony of compassion. This bitter thought
taking possession of my soul, did not beget de-
spondency, or lassitude, or indifference, leading
me to close my eyes and fold my hands ; but it
stirred up the rebel within me. I could not love
God — the God who appeared to my darkened
and foolish heart to consent to so much which seemed
to me cruel and unjust, and removable by an act of
His power. I was like one who is leaning over a great
gulf, whence none who fall into it ever return. " In
my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me."
The pride and rebellion gave way before deep and
heavy sorrow ; and then all the sorrow gathered
itself up into one great cry. I asked of the Lord one
thing — that He would take of His own heart and
show it to me ; that He would reveal to me His one,
His constant attitude toward His lost world ; that
as I had shown Him my heart He would show me His
heart, so much of it as a worm of the earth can com-
prehend and endure, so much of it as the finite can
receive from the Infinite (for to know His love for the

1876.] THE FEDERATION. 155

world and His sorrow for the world, as they are,
would break any human heart. I should, in the
moment of such a revelation, expire at His feet : a
man cannot so see God and live). Deep calleth unto
deep ; His own helpful spirit, out of the depths of my
heart, making supplication for me with groanings
unutterable, calling to the deep heart of Christ,
awakened echoes there which called back again to
mine.

Continuing to make this one request through day
and night, through summer and winter, with patience
and constancy, the God who answers prayer had
mercy on me. He did not deny me my request —
that He should show me of His own heart's love for
sinners, and reveal to me His one, His constant
attitude towards His lost world ; and when He. makes
this revelation He does more — He makes the en-
quiring soul a partaker of His own heart's love for the
world. The doubt, the dark misery growing out of
the contemplation of the sorrows of earth and the
apparent waste of souls are no longer able to drive me
into sullenness and despair, for I have found the door
of hope. I do not say — for I speak neither more nor
less than I have learned of God — that the perplexity
is solved, that the sorrow is gone. Sorrow is with
me still, the enduring companion of my life. I do
not pretend to be able to explain the secrets of God
and the great problems of life with any clearness of
speech to satisfy another. But I have found the door
of hope. He has the key of all mysteries, and we are
then nearest to the solution of every painful mystery,
when we have drawn nigh and heard from Him the
secrets of His heart of love. Now I know when my

156 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1876.

heart is strangely stirred by the sight of a vast
multitude in some great city that my heart's yearnings
over them are but the faintest shadowings of His
heart's yearnings over them ; that my love, which
would embrace them all, is but as a drop of water ta
the ocean of His love, which would embrace them all.
But in vain ! Words are not found in which to
express what it is which Christ may reveal to the soul
which has waited on Him in determined love and
grief, with this one request, " Show me Thy heart's
love for sinners, and Thy one, Thy constant attitude
towards Thy lost world." Seek it, friends, and you
shall know how far it solves the sorrowful problems
of earth, though you too may find it to be among the
things which it is not possible or lawful for a man to
utter. Where, where in heaven or on earth, if not
here, will you find an answer alike to the great
questions of life which vex your heart, and to the
problem of yourself, that single being, so fearfully
and wonderfully made ?

In the late autumn of 1876 a newspaper war
suddenly broke out in France kindled by numerous
cases of arbitrary and cruel action on the part of the
Police des Mceurs, and frequent arrests both of men
and women for resisting or even speaking against
that force. As a result the Paris Municipal Council,
which was opposed to the system, appointed a
commission of enquiry, and the commission invited
certain persons from different countries who had
studied the question to give evidence before it.
Mr. and Mrs. Butler, Mr. Stansfeld and Professor
Stuart were invited from England, and they went to
Paris for this purpose in January, 1877.

1877.] THE FEDERATION. 157

The members of the commission were not wholly
of one mind on all points, and it was rather a severe
exercise of brain and memory to meet and satisfy
the various questions of a company of quick-witted,
logical Frenchman. It was an exercise however,
which left one feeling stronger and happier, because
of the sincerity of motive which we felt animated
the questioners.

Some days after giving our evidence a great
meeting was held in the Salle des Ecoles, Rue d' Arras.
The hall was densely crowded. There was a consider-
able proportion of " blue blouses," working men from
St. Antoine and Belleville quarters, students from
the Latin quarter, and some members of the
Chambers and of the Senate, besides Municipal
Councillors. There was also a good attendance of
women. The several addresses given were listened
to with extraordinary attention and interest, and in
a quietness which was remarkable considering the
mercurial and excitable nature of a portion of that
audience. So keen was the sympathy (having its
roots deep in bitter experience) of the poorer part
of the audience, especially the working men, that it
was necessary in some degree to restrain all that it
might have been in our hearts to say on the injustice
and cruelty of the system of which the victims were
drawn so largely from their own ranks.

Another large meeting was held in the Salle de
la Redoute, which was crowded with respectable
working women. With the memory of all I had seen
and heard in Paris of the condition of the honest
working woman, hunted from street to street and
from room to room by the police, and looking at the

158 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1877.

troubled and earnest faces all turned towards me, I
could not refrain from uttering these words : " The
foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests,
but the honest workwoman of Paris has not where to
lay her head." Many burst into tears, or hid their
faces in their hands. In coming out from the meeting,
several poor girls came to me, their faces swollen with
weeping, and said, " Ah, madam, how true those
words were about the foxes ! "

The Federation had met for its first annual
conference in London in 1876, and from that time
it has held annual conferences in various cities
abroad or in England ; the meeting every third year
being called a congress, and being of a larger and more
important character. The first congress, at Geneva,
is described in the following letter.

To a relative. GENEVA, September, 1877.

I can only give you a brief sketch of the past
week ; full reports will be published. The anxiety
which we could not but feel went on augmenting up
to Friday. On Friday we began to see daylight, and
all has ended well. Many of us are tired and stupe-
fied for want of sleep, but at the same time inwardly
giving thanks to God.

This Congress has been a wonderful event. There
were 510 inscribed members, besides the numerous
public which attended the meetings. It is, they say,
the largest Congress that has ever been held in
Geneva. On the first days people continued flocking
in from all nations. There were Greeks who came
from Athens, and Russians from St. Petersburg

1877-] THE FEDERATION. 159

Moscow. There were Americans, Belgians, Dutch,
Danes, Germans, Pomeranians, Italians, French and
Spaniards. Sefior Zorilla, the late President of the
Spanish Cortes, spoke on Wednesday, and was
nominated as one of a committee to consider what
action should be taken in Spain. On Sunday, in the
cathedral, Pastor Rcerich preached a powerful
sermon to a very large congregation on the question
before the Congress, and in all the churches we and
our work have been prayed for.

We always anticipated that when the final reso-
lutions should come to be voted upon then would be
the real war, and so it was. When the voting began,
our faithful bands of ladies worked and watched in
their different sections quite splendidly. First we
had a considerable conflict in the Social Economy
Section. Then came the voting in the Legislative
Section, in the smaller hall of the Reformation,
which was densely crowded. Professor Hornung
presided. The discussion lasted three hours. Some
lawyers were present, who are now busy in the
prospect of the revision of some parts of the penal
code of Switzerland, notably a young jurist, an able
man who spoke well, but as a downright opponent.
There followed a stormy scene, which the President
with difficulty controlled. People of many different
languages stood up at the same moment, each with a
finger stretched out, demanding to speak. " Je
demande la parole " sounded from all sides of the

room. Mr. A , the young jurist, made the

President indignant by asserting that a resolution
drawn up by him was not juridique. Seeing that
vt. Hornung is Professor of Jurisprudence at the

160 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1877.

Geneva University, and possesses the very highest
reputation, this was rather strong, and I do not
wonder it irritated him. But it did good, for it
stimulated him to come out on the last day of the
Congress with a splendid judicial speech, by far the
best and clearest utterance of the kind I have ever
heard in any country. We shall translate and
circulate it. Hornung is a delightful man. He has
that good gift of God, an enlightened intellect, as well
as a pure heart, together with great refinement and
gentleness of manner. At one o'clock, when we were
all feeling the need of food, and our throats were dry
with the dust of the room, an Italian advocate got up
and declared there had not yet been enough discus-
sion of each point. The chairman was aghast. He
had expected the voting to be got over just at that
moment. A kind of barking, House of Commons
•cry arose of " Vote, vote ! " while the President stood
open-mouthed, attempting to read the resolutions so
as to be heard. A sort of stampede seized some of
the German and Swiss members, and they made for
the door. Half the meeting would have gone out,
and so damaged the worth of the voting. So I
ventured to shut the door and set my back against
it, declaring that no one should have any food until
he had voted ! This half startled and half amused
the assembly, and they all sat down again obediently.
After another half-hour of discussion, it was agreed
that we should meet again for a final voting at half-
past six the next morning.

On the same day the resolutions of the Moral
Section were passed very satisfactorily. Then came
the Hygienic Section. The discussion here was so

I877-] THE FEDERATION. 161

long that it was also adjourned until an evening hour.
At eight o'clock that evening we all went to the hall
of the Hygienic Section, and there sat crowded
together, or stood, amidst a scene of intense interest,
till midnight. Dr. Bertani of Rome took a leading
part. Our ladies all went to the meeting ; but they
had been up so early, and had worked so hard all day,
that by n.o p.m. this is the scene which one of my
sons described as having observed at the back of the
hall, " a long row of ladies all sound asleep " ; but they
had appointed a watcher — Mrs. Bright Lucas — who sat
at the end of the row, and whom they had charged
to keep awake, and to give them the signal when-
ever voting began on each clause of the resolution.
Mrs. Lucas was wide awake, with eyes shining like
live coals ! We had prayed that God would direct
this meeting, and it was wonderful and beautiful to
see how the truth prevailed. Dr. de la Harpe, the
President, acted well throughout. At the end I
shook hands with him and Dr. Ladame, thanking
them for their excellent words. Dr. de la Harpe
replied, "You owe us nothing; it is you and your
friends who must be thanked, who have brought us
so much light."

At the end of the Congress all the resolutions came
out satisfactorily. We owe a good deal of this result
to Professor Stuart's tact and patience in talking to
the different presidents individually. We think our
resolutions are on the whole excellent as a state-
ment of principles — clear and uncompromising ;
and shall we not thank God for this ? His hand has
been over us for good all this time, convincing men's
hearts and consciences, and controlling their words

12

162 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1877.

and actions. The earnest daily prayers offered up
have not been in vain. These resolutions will be
sent to every Government and to every municipal
council throughout Europe. They have been tele-
graphed to the English press in extenso. My son
George was charged with the work of telegraphing,
and had necessarily to exercise much alertness and
activity. M. Humbert is impressed with the ex-
cellence of whatever work he undertakes.

In the Legislative Section we had an energetic
discussion over the seduction laws of different
countries, and the recherche de la paternite, subjects
not immediately in our programme, but closely
touching it. The discussion became so hot, that it
seemed difficult for some of the members to remain
calm at all. Signora Mozzoni, a delegate from
Milan, burst into tears over it, and one or two of our
good gentlemen lost their tempers a little. One
cannot wonder, for this is one of the important
questions upon which people of different nations and
creeds hold very different views. Miss Isabella Tod
and Mrs. Sheldon Amos took a line on the point of
the age to which protection should be given, in which
I could not quite follow them, and I felt obliged for
once to oppose my own countrywomen. Professor
Hornung was pleased with what I said, as it seems it
accorded with the views of most continental jurists.

The young advocate who had opposed us called
yesterday to say that he had come round to our
views, chiefly influenced by that desperate little
impromptu legal discussion among the ladies. He
had imagined, he said, that we were a number of
" fanatical and sentimental women," but " when he

1878.] THE FEDERATION. 163

heard women arguing like jurists, and even taking
part against each other, and yet with perfect good
temper, like men (!), he began to see that we were
grave, educated, and even scientific people ! " He
came afterwards to every meeting, and, as he said,
weighed all our words.

I think I have not mentioned the resolutions at
the Section of Bienfaisance, under good Pastor
Borel's presidency. Those also were very satis-
factory.

Josephine Butler published in 1878 a biography of
Catharine of Siena. A French translation of this was
published nine years later at Neuchatel. Mr. Glad-
stone wrote to George Butler, expressing his intense
interest in the book, and adding : " It is evident that
Mrs. Butler is on the level of her subject, and it is
a very high level. To say this is virtually saying all.
Her reply (by anticipation) to those who scoff down
the visions is, I think, admirable." We give but one
quotation.

Here I must pause to speak of that great secret of
Catharine's spiritual life, the constant converse of
her soul with God. Her book, entitled The Dialogue,
represents a conversation between a soul and God,
mysterious and perhaps meaningless to many, but
to those who can understand full of revelation of
the source of her power over human hearts. All
through her autobiography (for such her Dialogue
and Letters may be called) no expressions occur more
frequently than such as these : " The Lord said to
me," &c. ; " My God told me to act so and so " ;
" While I was praying, my Saviour showed me the
meaning of this, and spoke thus to me." I shall not

164 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1878.

attempt to explain, nor shall I alter this simple form
of speech. It is not for us to limit the possibilities of
the communications and revelations, which the
Eternal may be pleased to make to a soul, which
continually waits upon Him. If you are disposed,
reader, to doubt the fact of these communications
from God, or to think that Catharine only fancied
such and such things, and attributed these fancies to
a divine source, then I would give you one word of
advice, and one only : go you and make the attempt
to live a life of prayer, such as she lived, and then,
and not till then, will you be in a position which will
give you any shadow of a right, or any power, to
judge of this soul's dealings with God.

CHAPTER XL

GOVERNMENT BY POLICE.

IN 1879 her writings included two pamphlets,
Government by Police and Social Purity, the latter
being an address delivered at Cambridge. This
year the Federation held its Conference at Liege. A
bright and vivid account of the meetings at Liege,
from the skilful pen of Madame de Horsier, is given
in the Reminiscences of a Great Crusade, which shows
that these annual gatherings of crusaders from
various countries were not wholly devoted to serious
discussions of a painful subject, but became occasions
for true human fellowship (even touched with gaiety)
between persons of divers tastes and experiences.
The account concludes thus : " And now, little
town of Belgium, sitting on the banks of the Meuse,
surrounded with green hills, let me take one parting
look at you ! We have only known you a few days,
and now you live in our memories a luminous point
in the past. Many of us arrived within your walls
strangers to each other, and have parted friends ;
some arrived sorrowful, discouraged, asking what
would be the end of all this ? They return peaceful,
and fortified with the conviction that work is happi-
ness, and conflict a duty. Manet alta mente
repostum."

The agitation in Paris against the Police des
m&urs, referred to in the last chapter, had been
continued, and led this year to the resignation of
M. Lecour, who was appointed chief " bell-ringer "
of Notre Dame ; and this was followed by further

165

166 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER [1879.

enquiries and newspaper revelations, and the subse-
quent resignation of the Prefect of Police and other
members of his staff, and later of the Minister of the
Interior, In these events M. Yves Guyot and other
members of the French branch of the Federation
took a prominent part. Early in 1880 Mr. Alfred
Dyer and Mr. George Gillett visited Brussels to
investigate cases of English girls, many of whom
were minors, alleged to be detained in the licensed
houses of that city against their will, and with the
connivance of the police. Some of these girls were
rescued, and being brought to England, were placed
under the care of Josephine Butler.

Another of the poor refugees helped by Pastor
Anet to escape from Brussels came to our house
in Liverpool. She appeared to be in pain, and on
being questioned she replied that she was suffering
from unhealed stripes on her back and shoulders
from the lash of this tyrant.

I drew from her, when alone, the story of her
martyrdom. The keeper of this house in Brussels,
enraged with her because of her persistent refusal
to participate in some exceptionally base proceedings
among his clients, had her carried to an underground
chamber, whence her cries could not be heard. She
was here immured and starved, and several times
scourged with a thong of leather. But she did not
yield. This poor delicate girl had been neglected
from childhood. She was a Catholic, but had had
little or no religious teaching. She told me, with
much simplicity, that in the midst of these tortures
she was " all the time strengthened and comforted
by the thought that Jesus had Himself been cruelly
scourged, and that He could feel for her."

1880.] GOVERNMENT BY POLICE. 167

Before her capture she had one day seen in a
shop window in Brussels an engraving of Christ
before Pilate, bound and scourged. Some persons,
no doubt, may experience a little shock of horror at
the idea of any connection in the thoughts of this
poor child between the supreme agony of the Son
of God and her own torments in the cellar of that
house of debauchery. We often sincerely mourn
over these victims as " lost " because we cannot reach
them with any word of love or the " glad evangel."
But He " descended into hell," into the abode of
the " spirits in prison," to speak to them ; and I
believe, and have had many testimonies to the fact,
that He visits spiritually these young souls in their
earthly prison many a time, He alone, in all His
majesty of pity, without any intervention of ours.

Josephine Butler published in May a statement
making definite charges of gross ill-treatment of
young girls in Brussels, and these charges were
substantiated in a deposition on oath, made in
response to a formal application from the Belgian
authorities, under the Extradition Act. Some
months later she sent a copy of her deposition to the
editor of Le National in Brussels, intending it merely
to be used in connection with evidence, which he had
to give before a Commission then sitting on the
subject. He however published it in Le National,
and it created a great sensation throughout Belgium.

To her sister.

You can imagine that on first hearing of this
I felt a little troubled, and as if I had been " given
away." Also persons friendly to us, such as Lam-
billon, Hendrick and others, who had given us

168 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1880.

information from a good motive, were angry at
seeing their names published as having had any
knowledge whatever of these evil things ; and I was
pained to think of their pain.

I was pondering all this one evening, when I
suddenly recollected that on New Year's Day of
this year, and for many^days after, I had taken upon
me to make a special and definite request to God
for light to fall upon these " dark places of the earth,
wherein are the inhabitants of cruelty." Some
strong influence seemed to urge me to make this
request. I used to kneel and pray, " O God, I
beseech Thee, send light upon these evil deeds !
Whatever it may cost us and others, flash light into
these abodes of darkness. O send us light, for
without it there can be no destruction of the evil.
We cannot make war against a hidden foe. In the
darkness these poor sisters of ours, these creatures
of Thine, are daily murdered, and we do not know
what to do or where to turn, and we find no way by
which to begin to act. Send us light, O our God.
even though it may be terrible to bear." I had
made a record of this petition, and then I had
forgotten it. But not so our faithful God. His
memory is better than mine ! He did not forget,
and He is now sending the answer to that prayer.
Then I thought of the words, " O fools, and slow
of heart to believe." Here is the very thing I had
asked for, brought about in a way I had not
dreamed of.

One consequence of these revelations was the
dismissal of M. Lenaers, the Chief of the Brussels

i88o.] GOVERNMENT BY POLICE. 169

Police des maeurs, followed by the resignation of his
principal subordinate. Another consequence was
the formation of a strong committee in London for
the suppression of the white slave traffic. The
proposals of this committee in regard to legislation
were ultimately adopted in that portion of the
Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885, which deals
with offences connected with other countries. The
matter was still further advanced many years later,
largely owing to the efforts of Mr. W. A. Coote, by
the Governments of Europe signing the International
Convention for the suppression of the white slave
traffic, 1904. This Convention has no doubt done
something towards the suppression of this traffic,
but as Josephine Butler frequently pointed out, and
as was emphasised in the discussions at the Con-
ference of the Federation in 1908, there is a grave
risk, that in those countries, in which the authorities
still license immoral houses, the police will not
honestly and thoroughly endeavour to prevent the
traffic upon which the profits of those houses so
largely depend.

CHAPTER XII.

REPEAL.

IN the spring of 1882 George Butler resigned the
Principalship of Liverpool College, and three months
later Mr. Gladstone appointed him to a Canonry at
Winchester. This year Josephine Butler published
The Life of Jean Frederic Oberlin, the gentle and
beloved Pastor of the Ban de la Roche (1740-1826),
who not only ministered to his people in things
spiritual, but also in things material, teaching them
to make roads and to grow potatoes. Like John
Grey, he changed the whole aspect of the country
side, and in his old age his great services were
recognised by the award to him of the gold medal
of the Royal Agricultural Society of France, and by
the King bestowing on him the dignity of Chevalier
of the Legion of Honour. The following passage
illustrates the great principle of his life — ora et
labora.

In our own busy and exciting times, when
competition (even in good works) is apt to distract
and disturb the heart and the brain of the followers
of Christ, to the detriment of calmness and depth,
we all require to be reminded of the one and only
source of true life and power. Our young, hard-
worked ministers, and many other Christian workers,
both old and young, engaged in the multitudinous
active duties which they are required in these days
to fulfil to the last tittle, and in favour of which

170

1882.] REPEAL. 171

they too often postpone even the work of waiting
upon God, know by bitter experience the deadening
effect on the soul of the enforced whirl of active
engagements — benevolent, pious, and laudable as
these may be. But by whom are these chains
enforced, to the disadvantage of the spiritual life ?
By the tyrant society — even a Christian society,
which can in its turn become tyrannical. It would
be better to rebel somewhat against this tyranny,
to resist the pressure of over-work, and to determine
to be often alone with God, even if our hours with
Him appeared to rob earth of a small particle of our
poor services.

Bernard of Clairvaux, when engaged in a
correspondence with persons and orders throughout
the whole of Europe, battling single-handed with an
amount of work which might overwhelm any
modern Secretary of State, found that on the days
when he spent the most time in prayer, and in
listening to the voice of God and the teachings of
the Spirit, his letters were the most rapidly written
and persuasive, and his active work the most
promptly and successively accomplished. His many
schemes, evolved from his own ingenious brain,
widened into or were lost in the far greater plan
and purpose of God ; anxiety was allayed ; power —
the power of the Holy Spirit, to which he had
opened his heart — flowed forth, and was felt in every
word he wrote or spoke, and in his very presence
and looks.

Oberlin reserved stated hours for private prayer
during the day, at which times none, as a rule, were
permitted to interrupt him. These hours came to be

172 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1882.

known to all his parishioners, and it was usual for
carters or labourers, returning from the fields with
talk and laughter, to uncover their heads as they
passed beneath the walls of his house. If the children
ran by too noisily these working people would check
them with uplifted finger, and say, " Hush ! He is
praying for us." At times his soul was moved to
an agony of intercession for his people ; he travailed
in birth for them. Sometimes he was in darkness
on their account. His natural kindness to all
becoming, under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
a constant and yearning desire for their salvation,
he would spend hours on his knees pouring out his
soul in prayer for them with " strong crying and
tears." He felt the awful nature of the responsi-
bility of one who is called to be an overseer of the
flock of God, and who must give an account of the
souls committed to him. " Oh, my people, my
people, my children, my friends ! " he would cry in
his prayers — apostrophising them, and pleading
with them as well as for them, though he was alone
with God.

In 1883 Josephine Butler published the remarkable
story of The Salvation Army in Switzerland, telling
how the workers of the Army in Geneva had attracted
some of the poor slaves of the State-protected
houses, who " escaped or succeeded in obtaining
release, and once more in the light of day, they
listened to the glad tidings of salvation ; " and how
the keepers of these houses, " like the sellers of the
shrines of Diana, fearing that the hope of their gains
was threatened," secured bands of roughs, who
disturbed the Army's meetings, until at last the
authorities, being unable or unwilling to keep order,

1883.] REPEAL. 173

expelled Miss Catherine Booth and Miss Charles-
worth from Geneva as disturbers of the peace !
Later Miss Booth was imprisoned at Neuchatel,
but was released after a trial at which the illegality
of her treatment was exposed. She was however
shortly after expelled from the Canton ; but despite
persecution the Army has since prospered in
Switzerland.

The next two letters refer to Mr. C. H. Hopwood's
resolution condemning the compulsory examination
of women under the Contagious Diseases Acts,
which could not be moved, being crowded out by the
debate on the Address.

To her son Stanley. February zjth, 1883.

We have had some hard work lately. Father
and I went to Cambridge for a quiet Sunday. It
was bright and pleasant there, and the Fellows'
garden was beginning to put on its spring clothing.
Then we came up to London to prepare for the coming
on of our question in the House. A Member of
Parliament, whom we met at Cambridge, told us
that the amount of pressure brought to bear at this
moment by the country was, he thought, " unprece-
dented in the history of any agitation." Our friends
are active in every nook and corner of the country :
even from remote villages petitions come pouring in.
Also many single petitions, such as from Cardinal
Manning and the Moderator of the Free Church of
Scotland. Mr. Hopwood told us that several M.P.'s
came to him yesterday, and said they must vote
with us, though before they had been hostile. " It
is a strange thing," said one, " that people care so much
about this question. All my leading constituents
have urged me to vote with you." One of our

174 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1883.

strongest opponents, a military man, said to him,
" Well, you have had extraordinary support from
the country ; it is evident that yours is the winning
side."

I was in the Lobby a few days ago, and saw a
petition lying in someone's hand, on the back of
which was written : " Petition from 1553 inhabitants
of West Ham." You know that these are poor
working fathers and mothers, some of whom have
lately had their children stolen. They have had less
than a week to collect these names. These silent
figures are eloquent. There is a distinct change of
tone in the House, and your father and I believe
that it dates from the time that we came forward
publicly to confess God as our leader. Our cause
was openly baptised, so to speak, in the name of
Christ, and our advance has been steady ever since.
Also I thought I saw what I never observed before
in the sceptical and worldly atmosphere of Parlia-
ment, i.e. signs of a consciousness of a spiritual
strife going on. Some members spoke to us of the
spiritual power in our movement, while on the other
hand there is a seething and boiling of unworthy
passions, such as would appal one if one did not
remember that it was when the great Incarnation
of purity drew near to the " possessed " man of old
that the " unclean spirits " cried out.

To return to my story. Some of our friends in
Parliament telegraphed to us at Cambridge that no
debate would come on, on account of the arrears
of talk on the Address. This is disappointing.
Mr. W. E. Forster's management of Irish affairs
necessitates much discussion.

1883.] REPEAL. 175

We have arranged for a great meeting for prayer.
We shall hold it close to the House of Commons
during the whole debate, if there is one, and all
night if the debate lasts all night. We have invited
about twenty of our best friends in the House to
join us. This meeting has been advertised in
The Times, The Standard and Daily News. Some of
our parliamentary friends counselled this course,
saying that it was well that all the world should
know with what weapons and in whose name we
make war, even if they scoff at the idea, as of course
many do.

To her son. February 28th, 1883.

We went to the House at four o'clock yesterday.
Justin McCarthy was speaking. There was still to
the last a chance of Mr. Hopwood's resolution
coming on, but perhaps not till midnight. I did
not remain in the Ladies' Gallery, but came and went
from the prayer-meeting to the Lobby of the House.
We saw John Morley take the oath and his seat.
The first thing he did after taking the oath was to
sit down by Mr. Hop wood and say, " Now tell me
what I can do to help you to-night, for the thing
our Newcastle electors were most persistent about
was that I should oppose this legislation." I then
went to the Westminster Palace Hotel, where we
had taken a large room for our devotional meeting.
There were well-dressed ladies, some even of high
rank, kneeling together (almost side by side) with
the poorest, and some of the outcast women of the
purlieus of Westminster. Many were weeping, but
when I first went in they were singing, and I never

176 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1883.

heard a sweeter sound. There were some cultivated
voices amongst them, and the hymns were well
chosen. I felt ready to cry, but I did not ; for I
long ago rejected the old ideal of the " division of
labour," that " men must work and women must
weep." A venerable lady from America rose and
said, " Tears are good, prayers are better, but we
should get on better if behind every tear there was
a vote at the ballot box." Every soul in that room
responded to that sentiment. I never saw a meeting
more moved. The occasion and the circumstances
were certainly pathetic. As we continued to pray
we all felt, I think, a great pity come into our
hearts for those men who were at that moment in
the House so near to us, who wield so great a
responsibility, and so many of whom will have a
sad account to give of their use of it.

Charles Parker told me next day that at that
time several M.P.'s were walking about the Lobby,
and that two young men, not long in Parliament,
said to him, " Have you heard, Parker, that the
ladies were to hold a prayer meeting to-night to
pray for us ? But I suppose it is given up, as this
debate is to be postponed." Mr. Parker, better
informed, said, " On the contrary, that is just what
they are doing now, praying for us. It throws a
great responsibility on us." The young men, he said,
looked very grave. Father had to return home,
I went back to the House, while other women
remained and continued their intercessions. All
Westminster was wrapped in a haze, out of which
glared only the great light on the clock tower. I
walked through the mist, feeling rather sad, and

1883.] REPEAL. 177

wondering how much longer this horrible yoke
would remain fastened on the neck of a people who
wish to get rid of it, and how long women will be
refused a voice in the representation of the country.
I climbed up the wearisome gallery stairs, and from
the grating saw a crowd of our gentlemen friends from
the country sitting in the Strangers' Gallery opposite.
How patiently they sat through those long hours.
Some of them had come even from Scotland for
the purpose. Father had gone home, but just above
the clock I saw George, and tried to catch his eye,
but he, believing that I was at the other meeting,
did not look towards our gallery or see me. I sat on
till midnight for the chance of our resolution coming
on. By and by Mr. Hopwood asked the Speaker's
leave to make a statement. He then made a very
good speech, explaining, rather to the country than
to the House, how it was he was prevented from
bringing on his resolution, and saying that
Parliament and the Government should have no
peace on the question, for the country was aroused,
and nothing could lessen their present determination.
He called them to witness to the needless waste of
lime there had been in talking and recriminations
before midnight. Mr. Trevelyan told me he thought
our opponents had purposely prolonged the debate
on the Address.

I must tell you that just in the second hour of
our prayers your telegram was handed to me. I
thought it was some business, and was pleasantly
surprised when I saw it was from St. Andrews, so
far off, and yet it brought you so near, and just at a
moment when it was peculiarly precious to me.

13

178 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1883.

After another half hour at the meeting, I
returned once more to the Lobby of the House,
and found some of our friends waiting about. They
took me out on the terrace along the river front. The
fog had cleared away, and it was very calm under
the starlit sky. All the bustle of the city was stilled,
and the only sound was that of the dark water
lapping against the buttresses of the broad stone
terrace, the water into which so many despairing"
women have flung themselves.

I forgot to tell you that before the debate-
began I ventured into the circular hall or lobby next
to the House itself, having caught sight of the-
venerable face of old Mr. Whitwell. He remembered
me, and shook hands. I stood near him in a corner,,
as if he had taken me under his protection. The-
first word he said to me was, " Has it ever struck you
that there is no one thing in the whole of Christ's
discourses to which He has given such emphasis
as that of the certainty of prayer being answered ?
Now you may be sure our persevering prayers will
be answered in this matter." I saw several other
friends, among them your member, Mr. Williamson,,
who said, " Tell your son that I have presented his
petition from St. Andrews, and that I support the-
prayer of it with all my heart." I am glad to tell
you Albert Grey and Robert Reid, father's old pupil
at Cheltenham, are with us on the question. I met
Cardinal Manning in the Lobby, and had a pleasant
talk with him. He is much in earnest about all good
movements. He has been ill, and looked even thinner
than a spider ! He said he would do all he could for
us, through his influence, on the Irish Catholic vote-

1883.] REPEAL. 179

On April 20th Mr. Stansfeld moved the resolution
condemning compulsory examination, which Mr.
Hopwood had been prevented from bringing on in
February, and it was carried by 182 votes to no.
In accordance with this resolution, the Government
suspended the operation of the Acts in the following
month.

To her sister in Naples.

WINCHESTER, April, 1883.

Some day I trust I shall be able to tell you in
detail of the events of the last few days. I longed
for your presence during the debate ; it was for us a
very solemn time. All day long groups had met for
prayer — some in the houses of M.P.'s, some in
churches, some in halls, where the poorest people
came. Meetings were being held also all over the
kingdom, and telegraphic messages of sympathy
came to us continually from Scotland and Ireland,
France, and Switzerland and Italy. There was some-
thing in the air like the approach of victory. As men
and women prayed they suddenly burst forth into
praise, thanking God for the answer, as if it had
already been granted. It was a long debate. The
tone of the speeches, both for and against, was
remarkably purified, and with one exception they
were altogether on a higher plane than in former
debates. Many of us ladies sat through the whole
evening till after midnight ; then came the division.
A few minutes previously Mr. Gerard, the steward of
the Ladies' Gallery, crept quietly in and whispered
to me, " I think you are going to win ! " That
reserved official, of course, never betrays sympathy

180 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1883.

with any party ; nevertheless, I could see the
irrepressible pleasure in his face when he said this.

Never can I forget the expression on the faces of
our M.P.'s in the House when they all streamed back
from the division lobby. The interval during their
absence had seemed very long, and we could hear
each other's breathing, so deep was the silence. We
did not require to wait to hear the announcement of
the division by the tellers : the faces of our friends
told the tale. Slowly and steadily they pressed in,
headed by Mr. Stansfeld and Mr. Hop wood, the
tellers on our side. Mr. Fowler's face was beaming
with joy and a kind of humble triumph. I thought of
the words : " Say unto Jerusalem that her warfare is
accomplished." It was a victory of righteousness
over gross selfishness, injustice, and deceit, and for
the moment we were all elevated by it. When the
figures were given out a long-continued cheer arose,
which sounded like a psalm of praise. Then we ran
quickly down from the gallery, and met a number of
our friends coming out from Westminster Hall.

It was half-past one in the morning, and the stars
were shining in a clear sky. I felt at that silent hour
in the morning in the spirit of the Psalmist, who said :
" When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion
we were like unto them that dream." It almost
seemed like a dream.

When Mr. Cavendish Bentinck was speaking
against us I noticed an expression of pain on Mr.
Gladstone's face. He seemed to be pretending to read
a letter, but at last passed his hand over his eyes and
left the House. He returned before Mr. Stansfeld made
his noble speech, to which he listened attentively.

1883.] REPEAL. 181

Later in the year she referred to this victory in
a speech at Birmingham, which was printed under the
title The Bright Side of the Question, and from which
we quote the two following paragraphs.

I will say then to the women here one word.
Dear women, I recall a scene ; you will understand
me. The night of the memorable debate in April,
lasting many hours, there were meetings of women
not far from the House of Commons — a crowd of
women upon their knees through a great part of the
night. I crept out of the House of Commons, where
I was in the Ladies' Gallery, and joined those meet-
ings for a few moments. It was a sight I shall never
forget. At one meeting there were the poorest, most
ragged and miserable women from the slums of
Westminster on their knees before the God of hosts,
with tears and groans pouring out the burden of
their sad hearts. He alone knew what that burden
was. There were mothers who had lost daughters ;
there were sad-hearted women ; and side by side with
these poor souls, dear to God as we are, there were
ladies of high rank, in their splendid dresses —
Christian ladies of the upper classes kneeling and also
weeping. I thank God for this wonderful and
beautiful solidarity of the women of the world before
God. Women are called to be a great power in the
future, and by this terrible blow which fell upon us,
forcing us to leave our privacy and bind ourselves
together for our less fortunate sisters, we have passed
through an education — a noble education. God has
prepared in us, in the women of the world, a force for
all future causes which are great and just.

We shall not stop, our efforts will not cease

182 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1883.

when this particular struggle is at an end. God has
called us out, and we must not go back from any
warfare to which He shall now call us in the future.
We praise, we thank Him for what He has done
already for us, and for what He is going to do, for we
shall one day have a complete victory. We can echo
the words of that which is written : " My soul doth
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God
my Saviour, for He hath regarded the low estate of
His handmaidens." And remember, women, if we
are faithful unto death, from henceforth all men shall
call us blessed. Yes, generations to come, your
children and your children's children will call you
blessed, because you have laboured for purer morals
and for juster laws.

The actual repeal of the laws was retarded, and we
began to feel in 1885 that we must make strenuous
efforts. There had been on several occasions solemn
meetings of a devotional character on the question,
notably one which lasted several days, and where all
the churches were represented. This was promoted
by the Society of Friends. An " All Day of Prayer "
was called in February, 1885. A paper was issued
in advance, giving the subjects to which each succeed-
ing hour would especially be devoted.

During the year which followed this meeting
James Stuart worked with all his heart and might in
Parliament for the success of our cause. I believe
that the Cabinet were rather surprised when a petition
was presented to them by him, signed by two hundred
Members of Parliament on both sides of the House,
adjuring the Government to give immediate attention

1885.] REPEAL. 183

to this question, as the patience of the people of
England had been sufficiently tried.

At the General Election this year, Josephine
Butler issued A Woman's Appeal to the Electors,
some extracts from which are here given.

By whom are we in future to be governed ?
Women are asking this question on the eve of the
approaching elections, even more anxiously, I
believe, than men ; more anxiousty, because they
themselves are still denied the right and power of
-expressing by their votes their opinion of the candi-
dates who are crowding forward asking to be allowed
to represent them in Parliament, and to have a share
in making the laws by which they and their children,
their households, and even their nurseries, are in future
to be influenced for good or for evil. As a woman,
I am deeply thankful that at last the question of
private and personal character is coming to the front
in the selection of our representatives. I hope the
day is past in which it could be said or believed that
it was possible for a man who was corrupt in his
private life and character to be a useful, just, or
beneficent ruler. Who can reckon up the miseries,
the wrongs, the soul murders, and the destruction
of young lives which have been going on for years
past, owing in a great measure to the shameful state
of our laws on questions bearing on morality, that
shameful state being obstinately maintained year by
year by men in Parliament whose very presence there
is a block to all good and pure measures ?

I would suggest that each candidate should be
asked questions in some such form as the following : —

184 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1885.

(1) Will he vote for the total repeal of the C.D..
Acts?

(2) Is he prepared to vote for a parliamentary
enquiry into the reason why the prosecution of
Mrs. Jeffries was dropped, and why Inspector
Minahan was dismissed from the police force ?

(3) Is he prepared to vote for, or to ask a question
in Parliament on the subject of a parliamentary
enquiry as to the circumstances which have induced
the prosecution by the Treasury of Mr. Stead, Mr.
Booth, and their assistants, to whose labours the
Criminal Law Amendment Act has been mainly due ;
while no prosecution has been undertaken by the
Treasury against any single one of the real offenders,
whose crimes these persons have done so much to
expose ?

We may, and do hope for a purer Parliament, if
the electors will wake up to the tremendous issues
now before this country, issues immeasurably
greater than those depending on the triumph of this
or that political party ; but when we shall have
secured a purer Parliament, the struggle for a
purified nation and a saved people will only be at its
beginning. Unless God by the might of His Holy
Spirit works powerfully and widely in the hearts of
our people — in our own hearts, each one of us — we
shah1 not be saved as a people in the mighty shaking
of the nations which is at hand. The diseases of our
own hearts and of our social system, if but slightly
healed, will break forth again ; moral corruption will
set in again like a flood-tide ; the noble watchwords
of to-day will become the rotten and wretched
Shibboleths of to-morrow ; we shall have " a name

1886.] REPEAL.

to live while we are dead." For my part, I have not
an atom of faith in any reform, moral, social, or
political, which has not at its root a real repentance
before God, a ruthless banishing from the heart and
life by individuals of all that is opposed to justice,
purity, and holiness, and a quickening of every
power of the soul by the breath of the Spirit of God.
Christian politicians, lovers of our country, let us,
while we work, also pray — unitedly pray — that God
will arise and, taking our nation in hand, will chasten,
train, and mould it for the carrying out of His own
purposes in the future of the world.

The actual repeal of this legislation was carried in
April, 1886. My husband and I were at the time
staying with my sister in Naples. It was a great joy
to us to receive a telegram on April i6th, signed by
Mr. Stuart and Mr. Stansfeld, saying : " The Royal
Assent has this day been given to the Repeal Bill."
I thanked God at that moment that Queen Victoria
had washed her hands of a stain which she had
unconsciously contracted in the first endorsement of
this legislation.

CHAPTER XIII.

WINCHESTER.

WE again visited Grindelwald (in 1885), where we
had the joy of meeting once more the Meuricoffre
family. We had magnificent weather, favourable
to mountain and glacier excursions. The nights
were especially beautiful towards September, when
there was a fine display of autumn meteors. It was
my turn on this occasion to be obliged to hurry home,
leaving my husband for a little longer enjoyment of
the mountains. I was called home in order to advise
in the matter of the action of our poor protegee,
Rebecca Jarrett, who had been engaged by Mr.
Stead to help him in his difficult researches. Two
years previously we had opened at Winchester, as
we had done at Liverpool, a little House of Rest,
which served as a shelter for poor girls and young
women who were recognised failures, morally and
physically. Some were sick, rejected by hospitals
as incurable ; others friendless, betrayed and ruined,
judged for one reason or another not quite suitable
for other homes or refuges. We also took into the
House of Rest however a few persons of more mature
age, not invalids, who had fallen into trouble and
misfortune, and who sometimes became excellent
helpers in our work. Among these latter was the
woman I have mentioned, who had put behind her

186

i886.] WINCHESTER. 187

and abjured her miserable past, and who showed
much intelligence and tenderness as our aid in the
work of rescue. The task however to which she was
invited in London was of a different kind, and too
heavy a responsibility for her. Hence the summons
I received to come home and support her, and also
in part to answer for her conduct, as she had been
Jiving with us.

It will be remembered that Mr. Stead and Rebecca
Jarrett were tried on a charge of abduction, and
sentenced to imprisonment. At the trial this poor
woman, being cross-examined about her past life,
told an untruth, and this was used by the prosecuting
counsel as discrediting her whole evidence, with the
result that the case against her and Mr. Stead
was greatly damaged. Early in 1886 Josephine
Butler published the story of Rebecca Jarrett, in
order " to present the exact truth about her in justice
to herself, and to Mr. Stead, for whom she acted ;
and also to give some incidents of personal history,
which may tend not only to palliate these departures
from truth, of which she was guilty, but to show that
the situation in which she was placed was pathetic —
even tragic — and one from which there was, humanly
speaking, no escape." She tells how before the
trial some old associates, fearing what Rebecca might
reveal concerning them, had gone down to her at
Winchester, and pursued her with appeals and
threats ; and how she, after earnestly entreating
them to lead a better life, had given them a solemn
promise that she would not get them into trouble ;
and then how, under severe cross-examination in
the court

She answered truly as far as she could, until it
came to the giving of an address which would have

188 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1886.

involved others in trouble. Then there flashed across
her the promise made in her evil days, and the
promise made later from better motives, under her
new character. 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 word. She was standing between two oaths —
— the first, made to her old friends ; the second,
made in the witness-box, to speak " nothing but the
truth." Reader, were you ever in such a position —
between two solemn promises, both of which you
desired to keep, but which were opposed the one to
the other ? If you ever were, you can feel for this
weak young convert to truth, and you can pity her
weakness. Yes, she told a lie. She looked across
the Court at me with an expression on her pale face
which I shall never forget. That night, on returning
to her lodgings, she spent several hours on her knees,
weeping as if her heart would break ; no word of
consolation availed for her. It was in vain to try to
comfort her. She cried, and screamed to God, " O
God, I have told a lie ; I have perjured myself in the
witness-box ; I have lied before the world ; I have
ruined this cause, and I have got all my kind friends
into trouble ! And yet, O God, Thou knowest why
1 did it — oh, Thou knowest why I did it. Look into-
my heart ; Thou knowest why I did it ! "

To a friend. April loth, 1886.

Last Sunday we had a delightful day at Pozzuoli,
where Sir William Armstrong is establishing great
ironworks for making ironclads for the Italian
Government. He has sent out from England some

i886.] WINCHESTER. 189

forty or fifty picked men. They are all Northum-
brians, and choice men in every respect for bodily
strength and high character. They are also tried
and skilled workmen. Mr. Stephen Burrowes, my
sister's helper in her work for the sailors, suggested
that a Workmen's Rest or Home for our English
workmen and others should be established at once at
Pozzuoli. Our party went in five or six open
carriages to Pozzuoli — all the Meuricoffre family and
others of the Swiss and Protestant community of
Naples. Our dedicatory service presented a curious
combination of associations of different centuries and
various countries. The spot where we assembled
was close to the ruined Temple of Serapis. It was
also in the near neighbourhood of the large Roman
amphitheatre of the times of Tiberius. Before us
was the sea, its gentle waves beating on the shore —
the shore, as you know, where St. Paul first landed in
Europe, a prisoner, on his way to Rome. Opposite
was Baise, where Nero held his infernal court — itself
lovely and peaceful in appearance — and Capri, the
sharp outline of whose steep rock, whence Tiberius
used to fling his slaves headlong into the sea as an
after-dinner amusement, stood clear against the pure
blue sky. This whole neighbourhood has all its old
entrancing charm still, and that wonderful beauty
which made it of old the last resort of people satiated
with every other form of luxury. It was the ideal of
a summer Sabbath evening. My husband offered up
a dedicatory prayer, invoking the blessing of God on
the design which we had come to inaugurate, on
every workman who should work there, and on the
dear Meuricoffres and all who work with them for the

190 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1886.

good of the people around them. He alluded in his
prayer to the advent in that very place of the great
apostle of the Gentiles, charged with the precious
gift for Europe — the Gospel of our salvation. Then
we sang hymns, some of the old favourites of the
English workmen. It was strange to hear those
familiar songs, pronounced with the strong Nor-
thumbrian guttural, ascending from the ruins of the
Temple of Serapis — a blending of associations past
and present, heathen and Christian, ancient and
modern. When the men found out that my sister
and I were Northumbrians they could scarcely
suppress their joy ; and after that, whenever she or
I made a remark, however trivial, they cheered.
Most of them came from Blyth and Morpeth They
were chiefly Wesleyans, and politically supporters of
Thomas Burt, M.P. Our drive home in the evening
was delicious beyond description. It was perfectly
calm, with a lovely sunset, the trees already flashing
into their summer tints, and the air full of that most
delightful scent of the early orange and lemon blossom
which comes out while the trees are still covered with
their golden fniit. It was a memorable day for us, as
a pleasant family gathering and full of Christian hope.

This summer George Butler was very ill for
several weeks with rheumatic fever. On his partial
recovery, he was advised to try the baths at Hom-
burg, and from thence they travelled to Aix-la-
Chapelle and to Switzerland, where he became
seriously ill again, and had to remain till December.

I must now record a passage of my own personal
experience at this crisis, which will be variously

1886.] WINCHESTER. 191

interpreted by any who may read it, but which I
shall state with all simplicity for the encouragement
at least of those who believe and know that there is
a " God in heaven Who heareth prayer." 1 had
passed a sleepless night, in vain attempts to soothe
the sufferings and allay the fever of my dear invalid,
myself weak and exhausted, and now full of pain.
The night was long, dark and cold, both spiritually
and materially. Towards morning he fell into a
troubled sleep. I went softly into a little ante-room,
leaving the door open between. A feeling of despair
came over me. My own strength was failing, and
he was worse. Who would now minister to him, I
asked, and was there to be no end to these repeated
and heart-breaking disappointments ? When Elijah
fled into the wilderness, and gave himself up to
bitter thoughts, in the depths of his discouragement
the voice came to him, questioning, " What doest
thou here, Elijah ? " bidding him arise out of his
depression. So to me it seemed at that moment
that a voice came — or rather, I would say, a light
shone — into the very heart of my darkness and
despair. The promises of God in the Scriptures,
with which I had been familiar all my life, came to
me as if I had heard them for the first time. I fell
on my knees and kept silence, to hear what the Lord
would say to me ; for, for my own part, I had
nothing to say. My trouble was too heavy for speech.
" The prayer of faith shall save the sick." " Call
upon Me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver
thee." " Is this true ? " I exclaimed. Yes, I knew it
was true. It seemed to become a very simple matter,
and grace was given to me, in my pain and weakness,

192 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1886.

to say only, " Lord, I believe." The burden was
removed. I returned to my husband's room, and
sat silent for a while until he moved, and the day
broke. I brought him his breakfast, and said to
him confidently, " You are going to be better to-day,
beloved." He smiled, but did not speak. Two
hours later our kind doctor came. He took his
temperature and felt his pulse, and with a sigh of
relief he said, " Well, dear Canon, a wonderful thing
has happened. A great change has come. You
are much better."

A lady told me later that at a party of friends in
Berne, Dr. Demme had spoken of this recovery,
and said that it had been very remarkable, — a
" Divine interposition " in answer, as he believed,
to prayer : he added that my husband had had
inflammation of both lungs and pleurisy, as well as
the serious heart attack, adding, " any one of which
was enough to kill most men."

After my husband's serious illness in 1886, I had
resolved in my own mind never again to be absent
from him for more than a few hours, if possible,
during our united lives. I refused all invitations to
attend meetings in London or elsewhere, sometimes,
I fear, to the surprise as well as the regret of my
fellow-workers in public matters. My choice was
however deliberate, and I have never had cause to
regret it. He had, I thought, sufficiently suffered
by my frequent absences from home, during many
years of our married life, while engaged in opposing
a great social wrong, and he had borne this trial
without a murmur. He was now advanced in years,

1887.] WINCHESTER. 193

and less strong, and these things seemed to me to
constitute a most sacred claim to my personal and
constant devotion to him. Never, except for a day
or two during the serious illness of a dear sister, did
I consent to be separated from him. Even on that
occasion I was told by those at home that he seemed
to feel my absence sadly, and that at the sound of
a footstep or wheels on the drive, he would go to the
window to see if by any chance it was his wife who
had returned, though he knew that it was scarcely
possible.

In this period of quieter life, Josephine Butler by
no means rested from literary work, or from active
interest in the abolitionist cause. Besides a large
amount of correspondence, chiefly connected with the
work of the Federation, she issued in 1887 two
pamphlets, The Revival and Extension of the Aboli-
tionist Cause, and Our Christianity tested by the Irish
Question. In the first she refers to the C.D. Laws
then in force in many of the Colonies and in India,
and to the traffic in women which the system had
facilitated. These Laws were shortly after repealed
in most of the Crown Colonies and in India.

In the Irish pamphlet she shows how in the
attempt to rule Ireland by a succession of Coercion
Acts the same constitutional principles had been
violated as in the case of the Acts against which she
had so long fought. She traces the long sad story of
England's treatment of the sister isle, the real and
solid grievances, which had naturally led to the
demand for Home Rule.

Certain classes of persons in England have always
maintained that successive Irish leaders and patriots
were mere mischief makers, the cause and not the
exponents of the prevailing discontent. If their

M

194 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1887.

mouths could be stopped, they imagine, there would
be no more disaffection in Ireland, or such as there
was would be easily repressed. This was their
manner of judging of Flood, of Grattan, of Curran,
of O'Connell. They could not learn, and are as far
from learning to-day as ever, that you cannot heal
the broken heart of Ireland by gagging those whom
she sends over here to plead for her. They were
relieved when the prison doors closed upon one after
another of Ireland's patriotic but unhappy sons ;
they were hopeful of quieter times when O'Connell
died, worn out and sad. As one of their own poets
said, " They broke the aeolian harp, and then wrote
an epitaph on the wind ; " the wind which gave
voice to the harp, a voice sometimes sad and low,
and wailing, sometimes giving forth a shriek full of
agony and vengeance. They imagined it was dead.
Such has ever been the manner of looking at national
griefs by people who lack sympathy with all aspira-
tions after self-government, freedom, and the man-
hood of a nation, and who believe you can beat the
souls of men into submission by physical force.
They bring out their handcuffs and their cannon ;
they create the silence of desolation, and then they
call it peace.

In order to give a complete idea of my husband's
kindliness of nature, and to fill in some characteristic
touches of his home life, I must speak of our affec-
tionate companions — our dogs. Our first dog friend
was Bunty (the origin of the name is obscure). He
lived with us many years at Liverpool, and came
with us to Winchester. He was a dog of excellent

1887.] WINCHESTER. 195

parts ; not of pure breed, chiefly otter hound. He
had beautiful eyes, full of human expression. He had
a strong sense of humour. It is generally said that
dogs hate to be laughed at. This was not the case
with Bunty. He could bear to be laughed at,
would enter into the joke, and, so to speak, turn the
laugh against himself, by behaving in a manner
which he well knew would excite laughter. He
shared many pleasant holidays with us. He died
in 1883. My husband had the free hand of a sculptor.
A few things which he carved in stone were worthy
of preservation, among them a perfect likeness of
this good dog in an attitude of watchful repose.
Beneath he carved the words — API2TOY KYNO2
2HMA. " Some of my friends," he wrote, " find
a difficulty in believing that I carved Bunty's like-
ness in stone. Froude says, some centuries hence,
when the monument is disinterred and its inscription
discovered, some Dryasdust will start a theory that
a Greek colony once inhabited the Close." Bunty's
successor was Carlo, a handsome thoroughbred
retriever, quite black, with shining curls — a sensible,
gentlemanlike dog, excellent in his own special art
of retrieving birds, and an uncompromising guard
and watchdog. His attachment to his master,
whom he outlived for two years, was profound.
This poor dog was very wretched and melancholy
when his master left his home for the last time and
returned no more. He would seek him in every
corner of the house, and along the riverside where he
had been accustomed to walk with him or watch him
fishing ; and returning, would rest his chin on the
arm of his master's empty study chair, as if waiting

196 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1888.

for the familiar hand to pat his head. His dumb
grief was very touching.

In May, 1888, Josephine Butler started The Dawn,
a quarterly sketch of the work of the Federation,
and in the pages of this periodical she continued to
speak words of encouragement and warning to her
friends for over eight years, after which its issue
ceased. She and her husband attended the Con-
ferences of the Federation at Lausanne in 1887, and
at Copenhagen in 1888 ; and to the end of his life,
notwithstanding his increasing weakness, they were
able to enjoy together peaceful visits to relatives in
Switzerland and Italy. It was on their way home
from one of these visits, that George Butler died in
London on March I4th, 1890. Two years later
Josephine Butler published her Recollections of
George Butler, from which we have already quoted so
much, and from which we must now make one more
quotation.

We read in the Gospels that the disciples of Christ
found themselves one dark evening separated from
the Master, " in the midst of the sea " ; that He saw
them from the shore " toiling in rowing, for the
wind was contrary." Such is sometimes the position,
spiritually and morally, of one who has up to a
certain point " fought a good fight and kept the
faith," but against whom arise contrary winds and
buffeting waves ; one for whom " fightings without
and fears within " have proved too severe, and who
is now " toiling in rowing," with faint heart and
gloomy outlook — the presence of the Master no
longer realised to reassure and guide. " Old Satan
is too strong for young Melancthon," said one of the
reformers of the sixteenth century, and the same

Canon Butler and his retriever Carlo, in the garden,
at The Close, Winchester.

1890.] WINCHESTER. 197

enemy has proved many a time since then too strong
for much humbler workers. The problems of life at
times appear so perplexing as to be incapable of any
solution. The lines of good and evil, of right and
wrong, light and darkness, appear blurred ; and the
weak and burdened spirit loses the hold it had
retained hitherto of the highest standard, fidelity to
which alone can bring us again out of darkness and
trouble into light and hope.

Moses for the hardness of the people's hearts
allowed a relaxation of the severity of the original
law given from on high, and so suffered the moral
standard to be lowered in some of the most im-
portant relations of life. There was a time when it
seemed to me that hearts are harder now than even
in the old days, and when the stern ethics of Christ —
the divine standard — seemed to become impossible
as a matter of practical enforcement. Horribly per-
plexed, I was tempted to give up the perfect ideal.
It is in this way, I think, through lack of faith, that
compromises creep in among us — compromises with
error, with sin, with wrong-doing, unbelief taking
root first in the individual soul, and then gradually
spreading until a lower standard is accepted in family
life, in society, in legislation, and in Government.
And at last, as even in our own land, we may see
publicly endorsed and signed what the Hebrew
prophet calls " a covenant with death " and an
" agreement with hell." Such an acceptance and
public endorsement of a compromise with evil pro-
claims the failure of faith of a whole nation, and the
beginning of a " downgrade," in which virtue is
regarded as no longer possible for man.

198 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1890.

To speak of clouded moments of one's own life
involves no small effort. But in justice both to my
husband and to the movement I have tried to serve
I. am impelled to do so. There are some people who,
if they remember at all that moral uprising against
national unrighteousness in which we took part, still
regard it as an illusion, and its advocacy as a " fad,"
or even as a blot on an otherwise inoffensive career —
something which must always require explanation or
apology. But there are others who understood
from the first its true meaning and far-reaching issues,
and who have perhaps imagined that an unbroken
consistency of action, based on an immovable
strength of conviction, must at all times have
characterised any man or woman destined to take a
representative part in it. A sense of justice forces
me to confess that the fact (in regard to myself) was
not always as they imagined ; for there was a time
when I resembled the faint-hearted though loyal
disciple, who, when venturing to walk on the waters,
in an evil moment looked away from Christ and
around upon the weltering, unstable floor on which
he stood, and immediately began to sink. When
moreover the sense of justice of which I speak
regards one who was and is dear to me as my own
soul, then I am doubly forced to speak, and to give
" honour to whom honour is due " by telling of the
wisdom which God gave him in encouraging and
supporting through a few troubled years the tried
and wavering advocate of a cause in which both
faith and courage were put to a severe test.

A deeply-rooted faith — a personal, and not merely
a traditional faith — in the central truths of Christ,

1890.] WINCHESTEP. 199

and moral strength, the fruit of that faith, were in
him united with other qualities which were needful
for the task he so well fulfilled. Others whom I
have known — teachers and fathers in God — have had
this moral and spiritual faith in a high degree,
together with an eloquence and power in argument
to which he had no pretension. But lew — it seemed
to me at least — possessed such patience as he had,
such long-suffering, such a power of silent waiting,
such a dignified reserve, and such a strong respect
for individuality as to forbid all probing of inner
wounds, or questioning of motive or action, even in
the case of one so near to him as myself. He had
great delicacy and refinement in dealing with the
bitterness or petulance of a soul in trouble. He
had great faith in his fellow-creatures. And these,
together with his unfailing love, like the sun in the
heavens surmounting the hours of cold and darkness,
gradually overcame the mists which had wrapped
themselves round the heart and obscured the
spiritual vision of her for whom he never ceased to
pray.

At this time his voice, when simply reading the
words of Christ at family prayers, used to sound in
my ears with a strange and wonderful pathos,
which pierced the depths of rebellious or despairing
thought. At times his attitude — probably uncon-
sciously to himself — assumed in my eyes an
unaccustomed and almost awful sternness. Some-
times my unrest of mind found vent in words of
bitterness (which however only skimmed the surface
of the inward trouble), and I waited for him to
speak. Then he seemed to rise before me to a

200 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1890.

stature far above my level, above that of other
men, and even above his own at other times, while
he gently led me back to great first principles and
to the Source of all Truth, presenting to me,
in a way which I could sometimes hardly bear,
the perfection and severity of the law of God, and
our own duty in patient obedience and perseverance,
even when the ascent is steepest, and the road
darkest and longest. He very seldom gave me
direct personal advice or warning. He simply
stood there before me in the light of God, truthful,
upright, single-minded ; and all that had been
distorted or wrong in me was rebuked by that
attitude alone ; and a kind of prophetic sense of
returning peace, rather than actual peace, entered
my soul, and my heart replied, " Where you stand
now, beloved, I shall also stand again one day,
perhaps soon, on firm ground, and in the light of
God." And my soul bowed in reverence before him,
although never could he bear any outward
expression of that reverence. It seemed to hurt him.
He would gently turn away from it. He spoke
firmly when he differed from any doubtful sentiment
expressed or argument used. His simple " no," or
•' I think you are wrong," were at times more
powerful to me, than the most awful pulpit
denunciation or argumentative demonstration of
my error could have been ; and then, even if he
condemned, his love and reverence never failed.

He knew the Psalms almost by heart, and the
inspired words which he always had so ready were
more potent for me, when spoken by him, than
any other thing. His religion, and his method of

1890.] WINCHESTER. 201

consoling, were not of a subtle or philosophical
kind ; and he was all the better a comforter to me
because he did not — perhaps could not — easily enter
into and follow all the windings of my confused
thinkings and doubtings and revolted feelings.
Strong swimmer as he was, I felt in my half-drowned
state his firm grasp, and his powerful stroke upon
the waters as we neared the land ; and when by his
aid my feet stood once more upon the solid rock,
I understood the full force of the grateful acknow-
ledgment of the Psalmist, " Thou hast kept my feet
from falling, and mine eyes from tears."

I have not up till now dwelt upon the wrongs
and sorrows which we were forced deliberately to
look upon and measure, nor shall I do so. Could I
do so, my readers would not wonder at any suffering
or distress of brain caused by such a subject of
contemplation. Dante tells us that when, in his
dream, he entered the Inferno and met its sights and
sounds, he fell prone " as one dead." I once replied
to a friend, who complained of my using strong
expressions and asked the meaning of them, as
follows : " Hell hath opened her mouth. I stand
in the near presence of the powers of evil. What
I see and hear are the smoke of the pit, the violence
of the torture inflicted by man on his fellows, the
cries of lost spirits, the wail of the murdered
innocents, and the laughter of demons." But these,
it will be said, are mere figures of speech. So they
are, used purposely to cover — for no words can
adequately express — the reality which they symbolise.
But the reality is there, not in any dream or poetic
vision of woe, but present on this earth ; hidden

202 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1890.

away, for the most part, from the virtuous and the
happy, but not from the eyes of God. Turning from
the contemplation of such unspeakable woes and
depths of moral turpitude, it was a strength and
comfort beyond description, through the years of
strife, to look upon the calm face of my best earthly
friend. It was a peace-imparting influence. And
now that I walk alone and look only at his portrait,
even that seems to take me into the presence of
God, where he now dwells among the " spirits of
just men made perfect," and to whisper hope of the
approaching solution of the great mystery of sin
and pain.

I often recall an incident, which occurred at
Winchester in the cathedral, a trifle in itself, but
which dwells in my memory as an illustration of
the help he gave to me spiritually in time of need.
It was during the service on Sunday. I suddenly
felt faint, the effect of a week of unusual effort and
hard work. Wishing not to disturb anyone or make
a scene, I took the opportunity, when all heads were
bowed in prayer, to creep down from the stalls as
silently as possible, past the tomb of William Rufus,
and down the choir, holding on when possible by
the carved woodwork of the seats. A moment more,
and I should have dropped. I could scarcely steady
my steps, and my sight failed, when suddenly there
passed a flash of light, as it seemed, before my eyes,
something as white as snow and as soft as an angel's
wing ; it enveloped me, and I felt myself held up
by a strong, loving arm, and supported through th*
nave to the west door, where the cool summer
breeze restored me. It was my husband. He was

1890.] WINCHESTER. 203

in his own seat near the entrance to the nave, and
his quick ear had caught the sound of my footstep.
Quite noiselessly he left his seat and took me in his
arms, unobserved by anyone. The flash of light
(the angel's wing) was the quick movement of the
wide sleeve of his fine linen surplice, upon which the
sun shone as he drew me towards him.

CHAPTER XIV.

INDIA.

JOSEPHINE BUTLER'S constant advocacy of Women's
Suffrage is illustrated by the following short speech
given at a conference in the City Temple on July
2Oth, 1891.

I told your chairman that I would come forward
just to tell you that I cannot say anything. Still
perhaps I may be able to put one little thought
before you. I am sorry that fear and timidity are
growing up again, and that a fresh conspiracy of
silence threatens us.

God gives us a phraseology, a pure and chaste
and holy indignation, which makes it possible for
us to go to the bottom of these things without
offending the chastest ear. For twenty-one years
I have worked with my dear fellow - workers in
a public manner against these hateful laws, which
one of the resolutions pronounced and which I
pronounce as accursed. During these twenty-one
years there was one thing which made our battle
harder than it would have been. We have had to
fight outside the Constitution. We have been
knocking at the door of the Constitution all these
years, and there are men who even now tell me
that they would give us anything in the way of
justice except the parliamentary vote. We have

204

1892.] INDIA. 205

been talking about certain Members of Parliament
who are not fit to occupy that position. Give the
women a vote, and see what will be the result. In
all my work my one strength has been the strength
of the Almighty, sought and won by constant
prayer; and the prayer which I now offer in my
secret chamber is that the veil may be taken away,
and the selfishness — the perhaps unconscious
selfishness — may be removed from the hearts of men
who deny women equality, and keep them outside
the Constitution. Think what we could do in the
cause of morality, think of the pain and trouble
and martyrdom that we might be saved in the future,
if we had that little piece of justice.

The same question is dealt with in a letter written
in the following year to a meeting in London of the
World's Women's Christian Temperance Union.

We may pray and we may preach about these
things, and we may raise our voices to some little
extent during the excitement of a contested election ;
but that is not enough. My friends, we must have
the suffrage. It is our right, and it is cruel, and a
continued injustice, to withhold it from us. It has
lately been said that the women generally of the
country have not shown any desire for the suffrage.
Some years ago I can assert that the women of the
country showed a very great desire for it. Men do
not know that at the bottom of that desire, under-
neath many other good motives, there lies a bitter-
ness of woe which is the most powerful stimulus
towards the desire for representation in the
Legislature. I am sometimes afraid that one of

206 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1892.

these days some other terrible injustice may be
enacted in Parliament through which women will
again suffer as they did under those laws I have
alluded to. Perhaps it might not be an altogether
bad thing, if it caused women to utter once more
the bitter cry to which none of our legislators could
pretend to be deaf. But have we not, as it is,
sufficient trouble, and misery, and degradation
among our own sex to make us utter even now the
bitter cry — a cry however at the same time of hope,
courage and confidence ?

In June, 1893, Josephine Butler published The
Present Aspect of the Abolitionist Cause in relation to
British India : a letter " giving a recital illustrative
of the truth that a golden thread of Divine guidance
runs throughout the lives and work of those who give
themselves to the cause of truth, leading them out
of every labyrinth of difficulty towards the goal at
which they aim." She tells how information having
been received from various sources that the Regula-
tion System had been continued in several of the
Indian Cantonments, notwithstanding the repeal of
the Contagious Diseases Act in 1888, and official
denial having been made of the allegations to this
effect, the British Branch of the Federation decided
to make a thorough investigation of the actual state
of affairs, which was carried out in the early part of
1892 by two American ladies, members of the
World's Women's Christian Temperance Union,
Mrs. Andrew and Dr. Kate Bushnell.

The wonderful manner in which Providence
answered our wish and prayer to find suitable
instruments for so serious an investigation I shall
now relate. In the year 1878 I was staying with my

1893.] INDIA. 207

sister, Madame Meuricoffre at her country home on
the borders of the Lake of Geneva. One exquisite
summer evening we sat together, with another
friend, on the shore of the lake. The water and the
snow - capped mountains were lighted up with
gorgeous tints of rose and amber from the setting sun.
In such an hour of calm repose it is sometimes
granted to us to see with greater clearness the past,
the present and the future of God's dealings with us,
and of any work to which we have been called. My
mind had long been troubled by the thought of the
growing and gigantic nature of the Abolitionist work
in the various countries of the world, and of the need
and lack of women workers. I knew that women
must always continue to be at the heart and in the
forefront of the work in order to ensure success.
I saw around me hundreds of true and faithful
women whose hearts were deeply stirred on the
question. But where were those, I asked, who
would form the powerful phalanx needed for the one
object of continued attack on and resistance to that
masterpiece of Satan, official or State recognised
and regulated prostitution ?

These thoughts I expressed to my sister and my
friend. It was one of those moments in which,
whether in sadness or perplexity, or passive waiting
for light, it is sometimes given to us to realise, as with
the disciples at Emmaus, that " Jesus Himself drew
nigh." We were asking ourselves : " Whence shall
this army of women come ? Where shall we find
them ? What will be the sign of their fitness for
this work ? " We sat some time in silence ; and then
I recollect there came to me one of those moments

208 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1893.

of re-assurance and hope, which are sometimes
granted during such silence of the soul. I somewhat
dimly recall now that there came before my mind's
eye a host of women presenting themselves from
different quarters of the globe, speaking different
languages, and possessing various gifts, but all
having the special call and the necessary qualifi-
cations for this great conflict. It reminded me of
the incident recorded in Swiss history, during one
of Switzerland's brave struggles in defence of her
freedom ; that occasion, I mean, when a great white
mist covering the mountains in the early morning
rolled upwards, and disclosed to the astonished gaze
of the invading army entrenched in the valley a
long procession of angels, clad in white, descending
the mountain side ; an apparition which so alarmed
the enemy that it is said they lost nerve, turned, and
were defeated. This was but a stratagem devised by
a number of shrewd peasant women, inhabitants of
the mountain villages, who dressed themselves in
white and slowly descended the mountain, thus
working upon the superstitious fears of the enemy.
So the white-robed army appeared to my mental
vision on this occasion. The mists cleared away,
and the hosts were descending to the plains to engage
in this great spiritual conflict. It was one of those
mental pictures which do not fade, a prophetic
thought, the fulfilment of which I have been led to
remark year by year as noble women of different
lands have from time to tune appeared just as they
were wanted in this cause. Since then I have not
doubted as to the advent of the women workers who
would be needed in great crises, and especially when

J893-J INDIA. 209

the physical forces of the pioneers become exhausted
and they must contemplate passing on and leaving
the work to other hands. I shall give in the un-
studied language in which Dr. Kate Bushnell and
Mrs. Elizabeth Andrew recounted it to me, their own
narrative of their call to this work. Dr. Kate
Bushnell writes : —

" One hot summer day, while searching my Bible
for light, I turned first as by accident to Joseph's
dream. As it did not interest me, and seemed
inapplicable to my need, I turned the pages quickly,
and my attention was next arrested by the account
of Belshazzar's dream, and Daniel's interpretation.
This seemed to me as foreign to my expectations of
help as the other, and turning the leaves over to the
Gospel of St. Matthew, I read there that 'when Herod
was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in
a dream to Joseph in Egypt.' My feeling was that
I had been baffled in my search for consolation and
lielp in the sacred pages. Being very weary, I threw
myself on my couch, thinking of the darkness of
Egypt in my own plans. I said to the Lord that
I was so stupid in understanding His guidance, that
I thought He might have to send me the instructions
I needed through a dream, and to guide me at times
as He did His simple children of old. I fell asleep
almost instantly, and dreamed that I felt myself
tossed on the billows of the Atlantic on my way to
England to see Josephine Butler." [At this time we
had never met nor corresponded. — J.E.B.J " It
became plain to me that she had something for me
to do. It was one of those brief, refreshing periods
of unconsciousness, from which I awoke almost

15

210 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1893.

instantly, but with a strong impression that I must
write to Mrs. Butler. This I did, telling her that I
came to her much under such an impulse as urged
Peter to go to Cornelius, and that I was deeply im-
pressed that she could counsel me as to my future
course. She replied, giving me a brief account of
the situation in India, telling me that she and some
of her friends had been earnestly praying that God
would raise up an English-speaking woman to go to
that country, and make careful enquiry into the
condition of things there, with a view to ridding that
conquered people of the oppressive tyranny and
shame imposed upon them by the Army authorities,
who she had reason to fear had never carried out the
will of Parliament in abolishing the system of
regulation. This letter I showed to Mrs. Andrew,
and we took counsel together. Mrs. Butler had
asked me to come over to England, if possible, that
we might talk face to face on this matter. Mrs.
Andrew was then on the eve of starting for England,
and very soon after my decision was taken to-
join her and to begin our world's tour together,
taking in the special Indian work, if after full con-
sultation with Mrs. Butler this should seem
advisable."

Similarly Mrs. Andrew told how she had received
inspiration for this special work from reading Mr.
Stead's Life of Josephine Butler — when " the Spirit's
voice whispered to me, ' You have not worked, you
have not loved as she has worked and loved.' '
The pamphlet proceeds to tell the story of these
ladies' investigations, and the wonderful way in which
they touched the hearts and won the confidence

1894-] INDIA. 211

of the poor Indian women. They found that
all these women, " whether of high or of low caste,
Hindoo or Mohammedan, and of whatever nation-
ality, whether brought up in virtue and afterwards
betrayed, or brought up from infancy in vicious
surroundings," felt a deep sense of the degradation
of their position ; and that " the fire of their hatred
and indignation all centred upon the heart of the
regulations, the examinations, and the violation of
womanhood which these examinations were felt to
be." Mrs. Andrew and Dr. Kate Bushnell gave
evidence before a Departmental Committee as to the
action of the Cantonment officials, and the truth of
their reports was amply substantiated by the further
evidence which the Committee obtained in India.
The Report of this Committee led to the passing, in
1895, of an Act which prohibited all examination
or registration of women in the Indian Canton-
ments.

Josephine Butler in 1894 published The Lady of
Shunem, a series of Biblical studies, " addressed to
fathers and mothers, more especially to mothers.""
We give three extracts from this volume.

Is it not a thought, a fact which should wake up
the whole Christian world to a truer and clearer
view of life as it is around us, that the first record
of a direct communication from Jehovah to a woman
is this of His meeting with the rejected Hagar, alone
in the wilderness ? It was not with Sarah, the
princess, or any other woman, but with Hagar, the
ill-used slave, that the God of Heaven stooped to
converse, and to whom He brought His supreme
comfort and guidance. This fact has been to me a
strength and consolation in confronting the most
awful problem of earth, i.e. the setting apart for

212 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1894.

destruction, age after age, of a vast multitude of
women — of those whom we dare to call lost — beyond
all others lost — hopelessly lost. We ourselves, by
our utmost efforts, have only so far been able to
save a few, a mere handful among the multitude ;
and of the others, unreached by any divinely-
inspired human help, we are apt to think with dark
and dismal foreboding. We forget that though
they may be quite beyond the reach of our helping
hands, they are never beyond the reach of His
hand — His, who " being put to death in the flesh "
was " quickened by the Spirit, by which also He went
and preached to the spirits in prison."

Into the vilest prison-houses of earth (I believe)
He descends alone many a time, to save those souls
buried out of the sight and ken of His servants and
ministers, even as He — He alone, unaccompanied
by any chosen ministers — descended into Hades
and " preached the Gospel also to those that are
dead," that they who have been " judged according
to men in the flesh " may " live according to God
in the Spirit."

That God should permit evil seems to some minds
as immoral as that He should Himself create
and dispense it. This portion of the subject is
surrounded with difficulty and mystery. It leads us
back to the great unanswered question concerning
the origin of evil. Nowhere would a dogmatic
utterance of any kind be more out of place and
presumptuous than here.

The glimpses of truth, the broken lights which
we possess concerning the divine government of

1894-] INDIA.

the world, come to us often as a succession of
paradoxes, among which however the humble
seeker finds at last the truth which satisfies the heart
and fortifies the spirit, if it does not seem exactly to
fit in with our poor logic. God certainly suffers
His children, even His highest saints, to fall now
and again under the power of some of those evil
things which we recognise as having been introduced
into the world as the attendants of sin and death.
He allows sickness to visit them. In the prolonging
of such visitations however He is, I believe, some-
times only patiently waiting for the sufferer to claim
deliverance ; and it is frequently a long time before
His child recognises the fact that he may glorify
God by giving Him the opportunity of rebuking his
disease as much as he is doing by an unquestioning
submission. " Wilt thou be made whole ? " is often
His question to a sufferer, as to the cripple at the
Pool of Siloam, as if He would say, " I am ready to
rebuke the oppressor and to heal thee, when thou
art ready to take this blessing."

Those who are tempted to be angry with God
for allowing misfortunes and evils to fall upon us,
or who meet these in a spirit only of a sullen
acquiescence, have not yet fully realised that it is
only through conflict and through trial of our
integrity that we can become in the highest sense
sons and daughters of God. Christ Himself was
" made perfect through suffering." There are
persons who seem to think that God could, if He
pleased, by a single act of His will, by a wave of
His hand, cause all evil to cease out of the universe
this very day, this very hour. Whether He can do

214 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1894.

so or not is beyond our power or province to know
or to enquire. But it is evident to one who studies
humbly His Word and His Providence in the light
of His Spirit, that God has been pleased to submit
Himself for a season to a certain limitation of His
power ; and we may be sure that this is for an end
that will be much more excellent and glorious than
we can now conceive of, when the work of grace in
the salvation of the world is fully accomplished.

" He could not there do many mighty works,
because of their unbelief." Here we have a clearly
confessed limitation of His power, while at the same
time the words point to that blessed truth and marvel
of the appointed working together of God's will
and man's will, the union of the divine and the human
for the fulfilment of His loving purposes, and the
final triumph of good over evil. If the above words
be true that " He could not," is not the converse true
also, that He could, and that He can, do many
mighty works because of the faith He finds in
man ? It would seem that God needs the faith of
man as an allied spiritual agency, for the constant
generating of the force by which He will finally
" subdue all things unto Himself," when the rebel
power, the opposing will, will exist no more.

It is a wonderful and solemn thought that we,
who believe in Him, we fathers and mothers, who
have the strongest of all human motives to exercise
the faith which He loves and approves, can supply
to our God the conditions which He has told us He
needs, and which He claims of us, in order to save
not only our own children, but whole generations
to come, who shall be fellow-workers with Him

1895-] INDIA. 215

in bringing in the reign of righteousness on the
•earth.

I thank God that I long ago got far beyond
being taunted with youth, and suspected of an
enthusiasm which is a mere ardour of the blood,
untried by experience of life. The sweet visions of
my early youth, when I used to sit under the shade
of the trees in my father's home, and read of the holy
martyrs and dream of a golden age, are nothing
•compared with the hope and enthusiasm which God
gives me now, and which He has continued to give
me while health failed, and some present hopes were
blighted, and my way began to be strewn with the
graves of those I loved, and I trod the lonely path
of widowhood, and the world's worst evils continued
to glare in my eyes. I have had sharp, deep wounds,
and long conflict of soul ; but now ought not I, if
anyone ought, to tell out the hopes which God gives
me, and to speak of the ever-widening horizon which
I see illumined by His redeeming love ?

Keturn unto thy rest, O my soul ;

For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

The following paragraph is part of an interview
given in Wings, the official organ of the Women's
Total Abstinence Union, January, 1895.

I have often had occasion, in the course of many
years of arduous work, again and again to meet
groups of my fellow-workers, especially on the
Continent, who have confessed themselves subjected
to periods of deep depression and disappointment.
Having gone through the same experience myself,

216 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1895.

and having been driven back upon God again and
again, when everything seemed dark and hopeless,
He has taught me some precious lessons which I have
been called to impart sometimes to others. The
central truth to which I have learned to hold fast is
this truth — that death must precede resurrection ;
that in every cause which is truly God's cause
failures and disappointments are not only familiar
things, but even necessary for the final success of the
cause. It is the lesson of the Cross. That scene on
Calvary was for the moment, or seemed to be, the
wreck of all the hopes of the followers of Christ. The
spirit of the poor disciples walking on the road to-
Emmaus who said, " We trusted that it had been He
who should have redeemed Israel," is a true picture
of the experience probably of every true reformer.
But when God has Himself led us into some of His
secrets, and the inner meaning of His providential
guidings, we no longer despond ; for we come to know
that it is a law in the Kingdom of Grace that death
must precede resurrection. " Except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ;
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." For many
years past therefore I have been able, by God's
grace, not only to acquiesce in apparent failure time
after time, but even in a measure to rejoice, knowing
that the way is thus being prepared, both in our own
hearts and in the outward circumstances, for a more
complete victory in the end.

CHAPTER XV.

GENEVA.

A Doomed Iniquity was the title of a pamphlet issued
by Josephine Butler in 1896. It embodied an
authoritative condemnation of State Regulation of
Vice from persons of very different trains of thought,
in France, Germany, and Belgium, who regarded the
question from various points of view — scientific,
political and religious — but all agreed in proclaiming
the complete failure and injustice of the system, " of
which they have had a far longer experience than we
in England had." The first was from Dr. Charles
Mauriac, who at one time strongly defended the
system, but had now published a book on the
hygienic aspect of the question, in which he declared
that the old coercive method was " breaking to
pieces on all sides like a worm-eaten building on the
point of falling to ruin," and advocated a new
method " which will emancipate woman from the
last remnants of slavery, and render her free, as men
are, to enter a hospital and to leave it without con-
straint whenever it seems good to her." The second
was from Herr Bebel, the leader of the Socialist party
in Germany, who pointed out the failure, cruelty and
injustice of the system — a flagrant injustice which
was " only possible because it is men alone who
govern and who make the laws." The third opinion
was given in a memorial to the Pope, from the
Belgian Society of Public Morality, signed by all the
Catholic bishops of Belgium, and others including
the Prime Minister, praying his " Holiness to con-
demn, with an authority which is recognised by the

217

218 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1896

whole world, this system so fatal to the well-being of
souls, and so dangerous to the social order."

Herr Bebel's statement had been written to a
Swiss friend, for use in the struggle at Geneva,
referred to in the following letters, when a blind
popular vote endorsed the recognition by the ad-
ministration of " tolerated houses." It is worth
noting that eleven years later the Federal High Court
of Switzerland pronounced the establishment of such
houses in Geneva to be illegal : " comme contraire
aux bonnes moeurs," adding, " le fait qu'il serait
autorise par 1' administration ne saurait lui enlever
ce caractere."

To various friends.

GENEVA, March 2$th, 1896.

I have been called to witness a dark page in the
history of human life. It is pain to me to have to
record it ; but its lessons are needful and solemn,
and I wish I had a voice to reach to the end of the
civilised world, that those lessons might be heard.
How many years we have had the hard task imposed
on us of trying to show people — good people — the
horrible principles embodied in the State regulation
of vice, and the results which must necessarily follow
— and they would not, will not believe us.

I must tell you first the dark side, and we must
not shrink from letting it be known far and wide ;
and then I will go back and record the events of the
last fortnight, among which you will find many things
which will make you glad, as they have made us glad,
in the midst of so much horror. Well you already
know the result of the Popular Vote. We had 4068
as against 8300 — a crushing defeat. But presently I
must explain to you how the people were misled by

1896.] GENEVA. 219

the Government ; so that this cannot be quite truly
said to be the verdict of the people, though to all the
world it seems so. It will be and is a great triumph
for our adversaries everywhere. As M. Ador said
(one of our friends in the Grand Council), it is (he
believed) the first time in the history of the world
when a moral question of such import has been sub-
mitted to the verdict of the people, and their verdict
is in favour of continued legalised vice ; and it is the
first time that the popular vote has been taken on
the basis of the " Droit d'lnitiative," a recent
law in Switzerland from which much good was
•expected.

The horrors revealed last week, and especially
those of Sunday night, have however so far ex-
ceeded the dismay caused by the immense majority
against us, that I must speak first of those. And
you will not wonder when I say that I am glad, as
many others are, that the gates of this Inferno were
thrown open, and that the results of a hundred years
of Government organised and protected vice have
been for once fully revealed. In a meeting on
Monday of our gentlemen (who now number some
hundreds of really convinced and militant aboli-
tionists) they asked me some questions about our
English battle, and in answering I said, " Gentlemen,
you are able to face the truth, which is that Geneva is
governed by the brothel keepers (tenanciers) . They are
the masters of the city, the masters of the situation.
It is they, with their following, who have now given
a mandate to the Council of State and the Grand
Council, to strengthen their position, and to plant
more firmly than ever in your midst government by

220 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1896.

tenanciers." They all agreed. " It is true, it is true,"
they cried. " It is of no use to disguise it."

Sunday morning — the voting day — rose bril-
liantly, a blue sky without a cloud, and the most
brilliant sunshine. Mme. de Gingins and I went to-
an early service in a Free Church, where most of our
friends go. They sent me a message to speak a few
words. (All scruples about women speaking in
churches vanished like a slight cloud before the mid-
day sun in the presence of such a solemn day for the
people, when all the faith and courage and patience
of women were as much wanted as those of men.)
There was great life in that morning service, at the
end of which most of us had the Sacrament together,
in almost absolute silence. I should rather have
liked that we had all received it standing, with a
drawn sword in one hand, as the old crusaders did !
The spirit of war however was there, as well as the
Master's benediction : " My peace I give unto you."
On the way home we elected to take a drive all round
the city, Mme. de Gingins and I in her carriage, which
waited for us. The streets were already (at 10 a.m.)
very crowded, but the people were quiet, it being so-
early. I looked with sympathy at the faces of
numbers of poor and honest-looking workmen, who
seemed to be anxious.

Oh, I never saw anything like the beauty of the
Rhone that day, rolling its magnificent waves and
curling, dancing waters along (the waters about which
Ruskin has half a chapter of eloquent description).
The main colour is a clear sapphire blue, shading off
into sky blues, purples and pale rose colours, and
flecked with streaks of golden sunlight. Geneva is a

1896.] GENEVA. 221

beautiful city, and the birds were singing, and the
young leaves appearing on the avenues of trees.

At 5 p.m. we went, by the invitation of M. Favre,
to his house, where he had invited all the leading
abolitionists to assemble to hear the result of the poll,
and, if necessary, to stay all night — sixty or seventy
of us ! — because it was well known if we had had a
victory the vengeance of the tenanciers' mob would
have made it perilous for any of us to pass through the
streets.

I shall never forget that memorable evening and
night. M. Favre is the most prominent man of
Geneva, belonging to the old nobility. His house is
just a little removed from the town, on a little rising
ground whence you see all Geneva lying like a map
before you. It is one of the fortresses of the old
nobles, before the Reformation, and it was there that
some hundreds of Huguenot refugees from France
were harboured by an ancestor of M. Favre in the
times of Louis XIV. There is a huge stone archway
by which you enter a great courtyard, whence stairs
ascend in the open air to different parts of the
fortress. It is all of solid rock and stone ; no mob
would have a chance to enter, and here the refugees
of March 22nd, 1896, were received. When we first
went about fourteen of us had dinner, and food was
kept going in the dining-room till midnight for all the
abolitionist presidents at the different urns who kept
dropping in till 10 p.m. Those, who came from the
country arrondissements, of course got in rather
late, some of them having narrowly escaped rough
handling. M. Bridel came last, and they telephoned
for news of him, but no answer came. His wife was

222 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1896,

very pale and anxious, but at last he appeared. The
voting in his quarter had continued late. Last of
all, M. de Meuron came from La Fusterie, where
all the votes had been collected and counted, and
where the final result was given out. It was a great
shock and grief to all, and hard to bear. About forty
or fifty men (who had been at the urns all day) were
assembled in that room, with their dusty boots
(having had no time to change) and their tired faces,
and stood for nearly an hour in groups in that large
room of the Huguenot fortress discussing all the
circumstances. As I looked at their good faces and
heard their words, I felt more encouraged than I have
ever yet been in Geneva. These were the men who
make corps d'elite, who lead forlorn hopes, and
who by this very defeat and disaster are welded into a
more complete and convinced body of combatants
than could ever have been formed by a victory, and I
felt the strong brotherhood which had grown up among
them in a short time. There were Democrats and Con-
servatives, Protestants, Catholics and Freethinkers,
but all " straight men," honest, and in great earnest.
When they had conversed some time, afterwards
they proposed that we should resolve ourselves into a
committee, which we did, forming a circle. That
consultation was wonderfully practical, and to the
point. Slowly, but surely, a spirit of resoluteness,
and even encouragement, took the place of the first
feeling of dismay. It was a memorable assembly ;
I shall never forget it.

Then we began to feel and to hear from our
fortress the beginning of the demoniacal orgies of
that night. M. Favre made M. and Mme. de Meuron

1896.] GENEVA. 223

stay all night, and a few others, as the threats of the
mob were rather alarming. We all stayed till nearly
midnight. We had among our faithful following a
number of humble men and women, who came in
now and again to report on what was passing, and
next day the worst they had told us was more than
confirmed. When the result of the poll was known,
the leading tenanciers, with their banners and
following, forced their way into the large Church of
the Fusterie, at the entrance of which the final result
of the voting had been made known, and then began
scenes and processions which had been organised
beforehand. It is a pain to write of it ; but it is well
that the worst should be known, well that the
Genevese should have had the awful revelation of the
vileness of what they have been harbouring in their
midst. You may know perhaps, that every house
of debauchery under Government sanction and pro-
tection is obliged to hang up a red lamp over the door,
as a guide to visitors. So that now, and especially
since Sunday night, that powerful institution which
now rules Geneva is designated as the " Lampe
rouge." They had organised processions in case of a
victory, with designs and red lamps. They marched
through the whole city, a mass of devilry and obscenity
which, I suppose, could hardly be seen anywhere else,
except perhaps in Paris. Soldiers had been posted
all about the Fusterie, but nevertheless the " red
lamps" rushed into the church and marched round
it inside, locking the gendarmerie out. The latter
could not even succeed in forcing their way round the
outside of the church, so dense was the crowd..
Inside it seems the "red lamps" held a sort of service-

224 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1896.

to the devil — tramping, swearing, and singing songs of
the utmost blasphemy and obscenity. Having "con-
secrated " their red lamps in the large church, they
went on to all the other churches, and filled the air in
front of each with their blasphemies. Then branches
of the procession went running to the different places
which they hated most, and where they hoped to find
some abolitionists — first to the Young Men's Christian
Association, but they had an avant-courrier in the
person of one of our scouts, who ran faster and told
that the " red lamps " were coming, so that all the
men assembled in that building had just time to get
out and disperse, and only windows were left to be
battered in. They went to our Federation office, but
it was locked up and all dark — M. Minod being with
us in the Huguenot fortress. Then a number of them
made a furious rush to the Eaux Vives, to break into
M. de Meuron's house, but it was also locked up and
not a soul in it. They demonstrated furiously in
front of it. So through the long hours devilry reigned
in this city, which on that early Sunday morning had
looked so fair. It was an open and impudent
saturnalia, flaring its open shame before the eyes of
all, "La Lampe rouge" carried everywhere, like a
divinity, and the decent part of the population
cowering before it, or getting out of sight.

In one matter the kind prayers of our friends
were answered. Just about midnight, when we in
the fortress wanted to get home, and anxieties were
felt as to our getting back without being attacked, a
tremendous rain fell for about an hour, though till
then the sky had been clear. It seemed sent by God.
It damped the unholy ardour of the followers of the

1896.] GENEVA. 225

" Lampe rouge," and drove many of them into
their retreats, so that at that hour we were able to
get home without being recognised, as there was
darkness as well as heavy rain. I do not think there
was much bodily injury. At one moment, in front of
the Fusterie, one of our presidents at the urns was
knocked down in the crowd, and seemed likely to be
trampled, and a student of the university drew his
sword (one of those swords concealed in a walking
stick) to defend our friend. A great commotion
followed, and the student was arrested. There was
a great deal of violence, but no serious hurt. The
*' red lamps " finally assembled before the office of the
Genevois, and the editor was called to harangue them.
I think he felt a little ashamed of the devilry he had
helped to call up, and begged them to keep quiet and
go to bed, assuring them that " pietism," i.e. Chris-
tianity, was killed for ever in Geneva from that night.
Oh ! shade of Calvin !

Now to explain in a degree the great majority
against us. I sent you some of the voting papers.
Is it any wonder that such a paper should puzzle the
ordinary elector ? You know how stupid electors
often are. I doubt if our own people in England
would all have voted right if the question had been
put to them in that complicated form. If the ques-
tion had been, " Do you desire the abolition or the
maintenance of the maisons tolerees ? " every man,
woman, and boy would have understood, because the
maisons tolerees are as much in evidence and known
as the cathedral or the market-place. But the
question put before the electors was " (i) Do you
approve of the projet de loi de I' initiative ? Yes or

16

226 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1896.

no. (2) Do you approve of the projet de loi of the
Government ? Yes or no." You can see what a
throwing of dust in their eyes this was. Working
men were asking, What does it mean ? — honestly-
asking ; and you know that during the past five
weeks our party were not allowed to hold meetings to
instruct the people. Every meeting was broken up
by the " Lampes rouges," and finally every hall and
room was closed against us by a police order. At-
tempting to speak in the streets or roads, our friends
were stoned and assaulted, and silenced by noise.
Freedom of public meeting and freedom of speech no
longer exist in Geneva. You will see that stated in
the Press which is favourable to us again and again.
If we had had those liberties it is believed that we
might have had a majority of votes. Working
women told us that their husbands were good men,
but meant to abstain from voting altogether, because
they did not clearly understand the questions.
Many hundreds abstained altogether. Then, thirdly,
the Genevois had worked so hard, and others too
(of the Government), to tell the people that we had
deeply injured La Patrie, and troubled Geneva, and
spoiled the prospects of the Exhibition — that
foreigners had done this, i.e. Vaudois, Bernese,
Germans, etc., and that all the agitators were paid by
an English lady, who had been sent from London
with hundreds of pounds in her pocket. The poor
people were misled by this kind of stuff. When one
considers all these traps and deceptions put before
them, to say nothing of the drink, one almost
wonders that there were found 4000 who voted for
abolition.

1896.] GENEVA. 227

To various friends. April 'jth, 1896.

We have been gaining true adherents every day
since the 22nd, persons who have been moved by the
force of circumstances and by their own conscience
openly to join the Abolitionists. Among these are
several professors of the university. I think I did
not explain in my last that one cause of our having
such a minority of votes is as follows : Party politics
rule at Geneva. The appearance of a new party
in the State, a party of Justice and Morality,
displeased the Conservative, the Democratic, and the
Radical parties alike. The Democratic especially, as
they are the majority, and most of our abolitionist
friends are Democrats. The " National party," which
is above mere petty party politics, was of course a
stone of discord thrown among them, which disgusted
them much ; and several voted against us on the
22nd out of sheer anger and revenge. Yet the truth
is working, and some are even now repenting of their
vote, while several abstained at the last moment.

On Monday morning, after Sunday night's
horrible scenes, I walked along in the sweet sunshine
to our office to see how things looked, and there I
found a group already of distinguished men
gathered round M. Minod's large table, who had
just come in one by one to relieve their hearts and
consult together. We can recollect when we in
England had the same experience in the midst of
general or party politics. We were not agreeable
to either side in Parliament. Troublesome " faddists "
they called us, and an occasion of trouble and
division among the different political parties. In

228 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1896.

two great elections at least we troubled the
Government considerably by the confusion we
brought into the Liberal camp. In fact we were
obliged to make ourselves disagreeable in order to be
listened to at all, and at last we prevailed. I told
a good deal of this to our Geneva friends, who are
much reproached for sounding a note in the political
circles which is neither of one side nor the other,
but altogether a new note. I recalled Christ's
words, " I am not come to bring peace on earth,
but a sword."

Another encouragement is the coming out of so
many doctors. A few weeks ago we did but know
of one who was favourable ; but only four days before
the election thirty-three doctors made up their
minds, and even had their names printed as adherents
to our principles, on large pink and blue placards,
which were stuck all over the walls of Geneva.
Then we were much encouraged by the bearing of
the students of the university, and other young
men. Those students had several meetings of their
own, called with a serious purpose, and not prompted
from the outside. One of them reported to me a
final meeting they had among themselves for voting.
Eighty-five per cent, of the students present declared
themselves strongly in favour of Abolitionist
principles. One young man was courageous enough
to get up and protest that an early introduction to
vice was a sign of manliness, adding that many of
the virtuous students were weak fellows, etc. ! The
eighty-five went for him like a pack of young hounds
after some noisome wild animal, with howling and
fury. The misguided young man judged it best

1896.] GENEVA. 229

to get out of the room, which he did very rapidly
indeed. Of course there is a certain youthfulness
about these manifestations, but it rejoiced our hearts
to see so many of the young population inspired
with just and generous principles. The youths of
the " Etoile " too, who are of a humbler class in
society, were intelligently and ardently on our side.
These poor fellows, with some of the university,
formed themselves into a kind of body-guard to
follow and quietly surround M. de Meuron, Bridel
and others when they tried to hold meetings, and to
stand between them and the showers of stones and
dirt thrown at them. It was kind of them, poor
boys ! God will not forget it.

One of the things which made the most
impression on me of all in Geneva was M. Favre's
prayer at a great gathering of the most earnest,
recently-awakened people. Was it a prayer ?
Yes — partly, and yet at times it was like a confession
made to us, to Switzerland, to the world. He spoke
as a prophet, in broken sentences, and out of a heart
bowed down under a sense of guilt and deep
responsibility, with a great need pressing on him to
" cry aloud " as Jeremiah used to do. And he did
not beat about the bush as people too often do in
their prayers and confessions. He said quite simply,
in a voice shaken with emotion, " Oh, how heart-
less and cruel we have been, we Christians, all these
years since 1875, when God sent His gentle messenger
to us, of whom we heard with coldness and
disapproval. How cruel we have been ! O God !
we have left this little handful of despised
Abolitionists these twenty years, unhelped and

230 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1896.

unheeded ; left them without a word of sympathy
and without friends, a little band, as we thought,
influenced by some fanciful motive. All these years
we have passed them by. Forgive us, O servants of
God, forgive us ! We have spoken of the higher
life and of consecration, and we have believed that
we were serving God by dwelling on the heights,
separated from the mass of sin and sinners below us ;
and now we see our error, and we mourn. Now we
see who Thy faithful ones are, O God — these humble
and just ones who have sown in tears these long
years, and whom Thou wilt recognise when they
shall be called home bearing their sheaves with them,
while we — O brothers, let us fall down in the dust
before Him." And so he ended, as Daniel in his
great prayer of intercession, "O God, we have sinned
and our fathers have sinned. O God, forgive;
O God, hear; O God, hearken and do." I have not
got the words exactly (it was in French), but this is
the sense ; and I listened almost in awe, as others
did. It was the cry of distress, of a heart pent up
with the bitterness of repentance ; a noble utterance
as of a true soul bowed in sackcloth and ashes.
Therefore I am glad, glad, glad that all this has
happened, for how can repentance and new life
ever come to the careless, and to the most reckless
sinners, unless it first comes to the " household of
God ? "

I must not omit to tell you of my visit to M. Favon.
On the Saturday evening, the day before the voting,
Madame Ruchonnet came from Cully to go with me to
see him. He is, you recollect, our great opponent,
editor of the Genevois. He received us with much

1896.] GENEVA. 231

courtesy, and even gentleness, as if grateful for our
visit. We had a long conversation, for about an hour.
One thing in our conversation opened my eyes a little
more on the situation. He said : " But, ciear lady,
what an awful thing, what a tyranny beyond all
other tyrannies it would be, should your party
triumph, to have a renewal of the ancient sumptuary
discipline, of the prying into the secrets of every
household and of family life ! It would be the most
wicked of tyrannies." I was astonished, and with
difficulty persuaded him that such a thought was as
detestable to us as to him ; that we had historical
evidence (in the Pilgrim Fathers) of the folly and
futility, as well as shame, of attempting to reach
private immorality by the law, which means neces-
sarily by police and the most hateful espionage. I
was thankful in my heart that since the beginning of
our crusade I had been convinced in my conscience
and understanding of the folly, and even wickedness,
of all systems of outward repression of private im-
morality, for which men and women are accountable
to God and their own souls ; but not to the State.

CHAPTER XVI.

PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES.

THE year 1896 was marked by the publication of
Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade, in which
Josephine Butler gives a vivid history of the first
ten years of the strenuous fight against the Contagious
Diseases Acts. She hoped to be able to continue
the history in a subsequent volume, but ill-health
prevented the fulfilment of this design.

In the following year the question of the health
of the Indian Army came very prominently again
before the public eye. The passing of the Act of
1895, which absolutely prohibited the compulsory
examination of women, had been followed by a
marked increase of disease, perhaps largely due to
the fact that the new measure had been accompanied
by the closing of the special hospitals in many of the
Cantonments, so that no opportunity was afforded
of testing the effect of substituting the voluntary
system of hospital treatment (always advocated by
Josephine Butler and her fellow workers) for the
old compulsory system. But, whatever the cause
may have been, the statistics were such as to produce
a panic among persons, who were not accustomed to
study statistics, and did not therefore realise that
figures relating to a few years may often deceive,
and that a true judgment can only be gained by care-
ful comparison of facts and figures spread over long
periods. The panic was so great that a Departmental
Committee was appointed at the India Office to
enquire into the matter ; and the Government
received several memorials on both sides of the

1897-] PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES. 233-

question. One of the memorials, praying for the
reintroduction of the regulation system, was signed
by women, including princesses and other ladies of
title. This roused Josephine Butler to issue a
passionate and powerful pamphlet, Truth before
Everything.

My own countrywomen have been the first in the
world to set their seal to the infernal doctrine of the
necessity of vice, and to proffer to our Imperial
Government before the whole world, what Lady
Frederick Cavendish rightly styles their " counsels
of despair." The scene has changed indeed ; we
accept the fact, and look it full in the face. For
my own part, I do so without alarm for our cause,
and scarcely even with surprise, although my heart
is wounded with a sense of shame, and I mourn for
those whose eyes are blinded to the truth. Men and
women alike in the most exalted social classes
frequently possess extraordinarily little knowledge
of the conditions of life among the poor, and conse-
quently little sympathy with the humbler people
who are the most liable to surfer under grievances
imposed officially, over and above the hardships
incidental to their condition. High rank itself tends
to confuse and obscure the mental vision on a subject
concerning which, of all others, we need to know the
instincts and convictions of the people, and to make
room for the expression of the great heart of toiling
and suffering humanity, which still so largely beats
true among us, and in all lands.

The Government however did not reintroduce the
old regulation system, but while they expressly laid
down that no registration, and no periodical and

234 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1897.

compulsory examination of women should be per-
mitted, they suggested that the special diseases in
question should be made notifiable and dealt with
in the same manner as other contagious diseases.
Accordingly a new Cantonment Act was passed in
the same year, and new Cantonment Regulations
made, under which women suspected of being diseased
may be expelled from the Cantonments, unless they
submit to medical treatment. Abolitionists have
always objected to these Regulations, which are still
in force, with some later modifications, because they
appear capable of being worked in such a way as to
involve indirectly, but no less truly, the whole
method of compulsion, which was inherent in the
old system, and because the Act of 1895, which
expressly prohibited registration and examination,
has been repealed.

In May, 1897, Josephine Butler contributed to
Wings a short article on the "Joy of God," part of
which is here given.

Jesus spoke much of His joy in His last wonderful
conversation with His disciples : " That my joy may
be in you, and that your j oy may be full " ( J ohn xv, 1 1 ) .
His joy is His Father's joy. I do not believe that
that joy is ever interrupted. It flows on like a mighty
river, like God Himself, its source — infinite, un-
ceasing, unfathomable joy ; and Jesus offers us to
be sharers in it. It is not possible that the joy
of God can be interrupted by the works of the devil,
by his apparent present victories. God's joy
continues, eternal like Himself, through all the evils
and sorrows and horrors of earth, and of the kingdom
of darkness, for He sees beyond all. He knows that
the end will be victory. Jesus feels for His people's
sufferings, and suffers with them; nevertheless

1897-1 PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES. 235

His joy is not diminished. It seemed to me one
day, as if for a moment I saw the Divine face
looking down at all that is taking place in these days,
and (if I dare to express it) it seemed as if there were
tears in those Divine and pitying eyes : yet all the
time there was a smile upon the lips, for while He
pitied He knew what the end would be, and He
smiled.

It was a half-waking vision I had when I was
recovering from illness at Lausanne. I felt as if
the obstacles in the way of all our efforts for reforms
and for blessing were like huge high walls blocking
the way and darkening the daylight on every side.
But as I looked, and as I felt the pitying, smiling
face of God, and all these walls got lower and lower,
till they were quite low, and above and around
them all was God's great sky, His open, clear, and
glorious heavens, I sprang on the top of one of these
low walls (like some of the low vineyard walls in
Switzerland), and I shouted for joy and victory !

Later in the year she contributed a series of articles
to Wings, which were republished under the title,
Prophets and Prophetesses : some thoughts for the
present times. A French translation of this was
also issued. The rest of the present chapter contains
extracts from this volume.

How greatly are prophets and prophetesses
needed in these days, days in which the air is filled
with a confusion of voices — some of them mocking
voices, some of them wailing and sorrowful voices —
when false prophets abound, lying spirits, demon
worshippers and materialists. The promise stands

236 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1897.

in the Scriptures of God that He will send true
prophets and prophetesses in the latter days. Where
are they ? Why is that promise not abundantly
fulfilled ? It will be fulfilled if we, who believe His
word, combine to ask its fulfilment. The word, to
prophesy, is best translated by the learned as "to
show forth the mind of God " on any matter. What
a high gift ! What a holy endowment this, to be
enabled to show or set forth to man the mind or
thought of God ! In order to attain to that gift,
the soul must live habitually in the closest union
with God, in Christ, so as to realise the prayer of the
saint who cried, " Henceforth, 0 Lord, let me think
Thy thought and speak Thy speech." Many even of
our holiest men and women live too active, too
hurried a life, to be able to enter deeply into the
thought of God, and thence to speak that thought to
the thirsty multitudes who are dimly seeking after
Him, and in their hearts crying, " Who will show us
any good ? "

That women as well as men were destined by God
to be prophets was fully acknowledged by St. Paul,
by his acts as well as his words. He gave careful
directions as to how women were to appear as
prophetesses, so as to avoid the malicious criticism
of the enemies of the new-born faith, ever on the
watch for some ground of accusation against the
Christians. It is an astonishing and a melancholy
thing that the churches and their ministers, and the
Christian world in general through all these genera-
tions, should apparently have ignored or made light
of the following blessed fact, the fact that on the day
of Pentecost, the great day when the Holy Spirit

1897.] PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES. 237

was poured forth on that multitude of all peoples
and nations gathered in Jerusalem, when the New
Dispensation was inaugurated in which we now live,
the Apostle Peter, in his magnificent first Pentecostal
sermon, proclaimed the actual fulfilment on that day,
and for all the days to come, of the promise of the
prophet Joel, " I will pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy ;
and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will
pour out of my Spirit." " This has come unto you,"
said St. Peter, " which was spoken by the Prophet
Joel." Is it possible that the Church has ever
fully believed this, has ever truly heard or understood
this mighty utterance from heaven, recorded first
in the Hebrew Scripture, and again at the great
inauguration of the Dispensation under which we
are now living, a Dispensation of Liberty, Life,
Impartiality, Equality, and Justice, in which there
is, or should be, " neither male nor female, neither
Jew nor Greek " ?

When Kepler, the great astronomer, was congratu-
lated on the wonderful discovery he had made — in
what are now called Kepler's Laws, on which Newton
based his own still greater discoveries — he (Kepler),
full of Christian humility, replied, " I have only
thought God's thoughts after Him." We need, and
we ask of God, prophets and prophetesses, seers,
who will see as God sees, and who will judge of all
things in the light of God. They will be very
unpopular, these seers, if they are faithful. Many
of the humbler people will hear them gladly, but the
world will not love them. Quite the contrary.
Conventional morality does not like to be disturbed ;

238 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1897.

the respectable as well as the disreputable
prejudices of ages are hard to root up.

Never did the world and the Church need seers
more than at the present time. Looking at any of
the great questions before us now — the relations of
nation to nation, and of the Anglo-Saxon race to
the heathen populations of conquered countries ;
questions of gold-seeking, of industry, of capital
and labour, of the influence of wealth, now so great
a power in our country and its dependencies ;
questions of legal enactments, of the action of
Governments, and innumerable social and economic
problems — we may ask, How much of the light of
heaven is permitted to fall on those questions ?
How many or how few are there among us who ask,
and seek, and knock and wait, to know God's thought
on these matters ? The few, who do so, cease to
accept as a guide a daily newspaper, or the opinion
of the Press generally, or the verdict of any class,
theological, social, or political ; nor even are they
satisfied to set their minds at rest by an appeal to
the best and wisest of the servants of God. But
in their measure they follow in the steps of the
prophets of old. It is in the solitude of the soul,
alone with God, that His thoughts are revealed.
It is in great humility, in separation from the spirit
of the world, in asking and receiving His spirit,
" the spirit of truth," which " shall guide us into
all truth," that we learn to think His thoughts.

It requires much courage to be alone with God, to
elect to retire for a time, and even for long times,
and to listen to His voice only. It requires more
courage than is needed to meet human opposition

1897-] PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES. 239

or to battle with an outward enemy, and is altogether
different from worship in the congregation with
others around us. Let anyone who doubts this
make the trial, in humble determination, " I will
not let Thee go except Thou bless me," until Thou
admittest me to die inner sanctuary of Thy
presence, and speakest to me. For it is then
that the keen searchlight of His presence reveals
the innermost recesses of the soul, so that the creature
who has been bold enough to seek such a solitary
interview with the Creator shall fall on his face,
as Daniel did, in self-abasement : " I Daniel fainted,
and was sick certain days." It is then that all
which is of self, all subtle egotism — the egotism
which takes such a multitude of forms — is searched
and hunted out of the soul. It cannot live in His
presence. The praise of man becomes as dust
beneath the feet, and the soul trembles even to
receive any honour of men, or to be recognised in
this world as of any worth.

It is then also, that the great enemy of souls
essays to draw near, bringing all his forces to bear
on that divinely bold but humbled creature, and
seeking to wreck the blessing which he knows must
come of such an interview between Christ and a
human soul. It is then that he disputes every inch
of the ground sought to be won on that day by the
Saviour, and by the disciple whom His spirit has
stirred up to draw thus awfully near to Him. Jesus
was " led of the Spirit " into the wilderness to be
tempted of the Devil It is in the very heart of this
great dispute between our God and Satan, and in
such a solitude, that some of the deepest truths are

240 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1897.

learned, and that God speaks. Then the enemy
is defeated, and only the light is left, the light
which was sought and which reveals God's thought.
And what is the sequel of such an encounter ?
There are many who can bear witness that the enemy,
discouraged by the courage of the humble and
determined soul, departs never to return, and then
it pleases the Lord sometimes, in His great love and
pity, to grant to His child, in a measure, that
communion which the Hebrew saint had, with
whom God spoke face to face as a man speaks
with his friend.

We are not all called to be teachers, or to declare
aloud the mind of God ; not all called to prophesy.
But all are invited to draw near to Him, to come
nearer and nearer, and the humblest, the least
gifted or least intelligent, who will elect to receive ever
at first hand and from the fountain-head, and not
only from secondary sources, light, life and know-
ledge, becomes, whether he knows it or not, a
medium of spiritual life and true thoughts to others,
in proportion to the grace given to him.

" Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love Him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by His spirit ; for the
Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
God." These words are frequently understood to
be spoken of the other life beyond the grave, and of
the beauties and glories of our heavenly home, which,
as yet, no eye of those living on earth has ever seen.
This limited interpretation is not warranted by the

j897-] PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES. 241

latter half of the announcement, " But God hath
revealed them unto us by His Spirit." The illumina-
tion of the Spirit is not a promise of the future only ;
it is given here on earth to all who seek and wait for
it in truth and singleness of heart. We are living
to-day under the dispensation of the Spirit, and there
is no limit to the fulness of the promise to those who
ask.

Those things therefore, those hidden and deep
things of God which we cannot apprehend by the
natural eye or ear, and which cannot be conceived by
the highest and purest flights of imagination of one
whose thoughts do not yet flow in unison with God's
thoughts — those things may be revealed to us by
His Spirit ; and they are so revealed to those whom
from time to time He draws aside for solitary com-
munion with Him, and whom He may, if He wills,
appoint to speak His speech to all who will hear.
One needful condition for attaining to the seeing eye
and the hearing ear in the things of God is soul-
leisure, quietness, calm and concentration of spirit.
Earth's voices must be silenced for a time, that the
voice of God — the " still small voice " — may be
heard by the waiting soul. " In returning and rest
shall ye be saved. In quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength."

I seem to hear a deep sigh from the heart of many
a true servant of God, " faint yet pursuing," whose
soul is athirst for the Living God and for the calm
and the silence in which he may hear the Divine
voice, but who sees no way of escape from the
pressing claims of earthly duty. The case of such
i(\vhich has also been my own) calls forth my deepest

242 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER [1897.

sympathy. " With God all things are possible."
Cease from conflict with circumstances, from this
" toiling in rowing," from this breathless swimming
against the tide. Put the matter into His hands.
" There was silence in heaven about the space of
half an hour " at His command ; silence even of the
angelic voices. He can create a silence around you,
and trace a clear path for your feet to enter into the
Holy of Holies, where you shall find Him and hear
His voice.

But even then — perhaps you tell me — when the
pressure of earthly claims is lightened, and a season
is granted in which nothing from without holds you
back, and you enter alone into His presence, even
then it is found impossible to concentrate the mind,
to shake off outward anxieties and the intrusion of
restless thoughts concerning the work of your life.
The well by which you rest is deep and full, but you
have " nothing to draw with." The opportunity is
there, but the soul is dry, and the brain inexpressibly
wearied. Again, " with God all things are possible,"
and " all things are possible to him that believeth.""
Put this also into His hands — this incapacity for
rest, even when the hour of rest is granted. He
knows the deep desire of your heart to draw near to-
Him. Your desire for communion with Him is
prompted and created by His own desire to draw
near to you, to grant you the anointed eyes of a.
hnmble seer, and to impart to you His own deep
secrets of love.

But to many this thirst of the soul is unknown, or
once known is suffered to rest unslaked. Many
continue to postpone and to subordinate the claims

1897-] PROPHETS AND PROPHETESSES. 243

of the spiritual life to the constantly pressing claims
(sacred claims also) of their fellow creatures, and of
the good works in which they are engaged. At the
last, when earth's claims are fading and the spirit is
called into the presence of God, conscience will speak,
and the poor soul may reproach itself in the spirit of
the lament which Shakespeare put into the mouth of
Wolsey in his last moments : " O Cromwell, Crom-
well ! had I but served my God with half the zeal
that I have served my king ! " In the clearer light
of eternity all things assume their right proportion.
We have worked, we have slaved for duty, we have
worn ourselves out in the service of humanity.
That is good, that is noble ; yet an inward voice will
tell us in some silent hour that we should have worked
better and served humanity better had we possessed
the moral force to withdraw at times from life's
crowded avenues, had we firmly refused some of the
thousand claims which pressed upon us in order that
our speech and our action might have possessed
more of the Divine, more of " spirit and of life."

CHAPTER XVII.

THE STORM-BELL.

The Storm-Bell rings, — the Trumpet blows ;

I know the word and countersign ;
Wherever Freedom's vanguard goes,
Where stand or fall her friends or foes,

I know the place that should be mine. — Whittier.

THIS was the motto of the Storm-Bell, a periodical
in which Josephine Butler published her thoughts
month by month from January, 1898, to August,
1900. We give in this chapter some specimens of
these thoughts of hers.

Sir James Stansfeld, the dear friend and leader of
our cause, has passed over to the other side. There
are judgments on earth of men's acts, and there are
judgments in heaven. It is not improbable that the
parts of his life and character regarded as the least
praiseworthy on earth will appear up there as the
brightest parts of all. He had nothing to gain, and
much to lose by separating himself in a measure from
his colleagues in office, and setting aside chances of
brilliant promotion and political prestige in order to
descend with us into the inferno of human woe, to
bring a gleam of hope to that world of doomed
women, who more than all human sufferers are cast
out from the favour of earth and the light of heaven.
I have seldom met with a man who had so much of
the woman's heart in this matter. He had so deep a

244

1898.] THE STORM-BELL. 245

respect for womanhood, even at its worst, and so
much tenderness for the fallen, that — like another
great friend of Mazzini — he felt " instinctively the
impulse to lift his hat when he met one of that sad
sisterhood in the street, as a mark of his reverence
for her poor wrecked womanhood, which would not
have been ruined but for the co-operation (to use no
sterner word) of the stronger being — man.

When he first appeared for us in public, and for
years after, he was pretty well baited and abused in
newspapers of the Saturday Review type as a " fad-
dist," a champion of the " shrieking sisterhood," a
" friend," in fact, of " publicans and sinners." All
that is past for him. His record is in Heaven. He
does not need, he never needed, and never desired
the poor praise of men. The quality which stands
out the most prominently in my remembrance of him
is his courage, his dauntless hope and confidence of
final victory in a good cause. That cheerful con-
fidence, that pluck characterised him to the very last.
I wish there were more like him in this. I never
remember to have heard a word from him indicating
a feeling of depression about our work, not even at its
darkest times. Good workers in a good cause, even
when they know it to be God's cause, sometimes fall
into a minor key, and utter sad wails concerning the
gathering clouds, the dark outlook, and the power of
evil. I do not think, that with all his command of
speech, our friend would have known how to for-
mulate any such wail.

He was a born forlorn hope leader. No one is fit
or safe to lead, or even I would say to follow, in a
misunderstood and unpopular cause, or ever so

246 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1898.

humble a forlorn hope, who has not attained to so
much of self-control as to be able to close his lips if he
has reason to fear any utterance may be coming
forth from them which is not a note of victory.
Courage and faith are highly infectious. A sigh, or
a sad look, or a " but " from a leader is equally
infectious, and not in a good sense. Sometimes they
are disastrous. And after all what is this kind of
courage except moral faith ? It is that faith in God
and in His eternal promise which removes mountains,
and which sees hope in the darkest hour, and more
than hope — certainty of victory. The love of justice
and liberty was born in him ; it was in his bones, so to
speak. From his j^outh upward he was an uncom-
promising defender of those principles, which have
contributed to the true greatness of England ; and so
far he was, as he often said himself, a Conservative,
for he was jealous for the conservation of principles
and truths, which Tories and Radicals alike lose sight
of when personal and party ambition begins to take
the first place with them, to the exclusion of what is
nobler and worthier than one's wretched self or one's
poor party. He was also an international man in the
best sense. His friends, good men of other coun-
tries, felt the warmth of his friendship and the
soundness of his judgment to be untainted by narrow
or insular prejudices.

A great Spanish politician, Senor Emilio Castelar,*
published some thirty years ago a manifesto, in which

* Castelar gave his personal adhesion to the principles of our
abolitionist crusade in 1877, and one of his friends, Sefior Zorilla,
attended our first congress.

1898.] THE STORM-BELL. 247

he set forth the doctrines and principles of what he
considered a true and moderate Republicanism. He
expressed his belief that Democracy can never attain
to any lasting reforms and real progress unless it holds
in respect the best elements of national life — its
history, religious faith, and most honourable tradi-
tions ; and he therefore earnestly called upon the
Liberals of Spain (a minority impatient of the stag-
nation of life in their nation) to give up their position
of conspirators, to avoid all violence, and to seek
reform by organised and legal action, and so to
educate themselves and their countrymen for a
better state of government and national life. His
words and actions won for him and his group of
friends the title of Los hombres de manana, " the men
of to-morrow."

For the salvation of our country, and indeed of the
world, we need that there should arise amongst us
men of to-morrow, and women of to-morrow, that
there should be watchmen on all our watch-towers,
more than in times past, who will " watch for the
morning," and be able, with a clear and unfaltering
voice, to answer the cry of their brethren, " Watch-
man, what of the night ? " Such men and women
of to-morrow will possess a living, though often a
silent power, in the midst of all the noise and hurry
of our social and political life ; they will be not only
the party of true progress, but the party of true
conservatism, watchers for and guardians of the
preservation of precious principles which are con-
stantly threatened with destruction.

It is not enough to be wide-awake men of to-day.
There is an urgent need for some among us to look

248 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1898.

on in advance. We need seers as well as workers.
History teaches us how much we need them, and how
much of human suffering has been needlessly in-
flicted and prolonged by the want of such seers among
men. Especially is this evident in the moral and
political life of a nation. A leader in politics of the
early half of the century, speaking of a wrong to
which he wished to put his hand in order to remove
it, said, " We did not know, we did not perceive ; and
only now we are learning, and only now we begin to-
see." There is a deep sadness in this confession, even
when humbly and honestly made. It brings to our
minds the words, " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if thou
hadst known the things that belong to thy peace ;
but now they are hid from thine eyes." It is well
to ask ourselves truthfully before God, " How far
has such ignorance the character of moral guilt ? "
And it is well that we should realise that that moral
guilt of ignorance needs none the less to be repented
of and purged away because it is shared by thousands
and because it may even be chiefly laid to the charge
of generations gone by. Daniel the prophet was a
great patriot and a wise politician. His confession
was, We and our fathers have sinned ; and prophet-
like, and like a high priest of the people, he pleaded
with God, as if he himself bore on his shoulders alone
the guilt of the whole nation, in the past and the
present.

It is impossible for the Christian patriot to look
forward to the future of our English race, and even
into the next few years, without some misgiving.
The outlook also for the whole of Europe and of the
world seems charged with the clouds and portents-

THE STORM-BELL.

of a coming storm. " The morning cometh, and also
the night." The shadows of night will deepen, and
the darkness increase awhile, before the glad cry is
heard : " The morning cometh." " Now is come
the kingdom of our God and of His Christ." God
grant that heaven-taught spirits may again arise
among us, not only one here and there, but many,
like the stars appearing in the firmament as the
shadows of evening deepen into night. God has such
in preparation, I cannot doubt. They are arising —
the prophets and prophetesses, the seers of the
latter days. They are found and will be found
among those who elect to live in the silence very
near to God, and who realise in the most tenderly
human sense the saving friendship of Christ.

A mother writes : " I fear he is going to the bad.'"
This she says of her son, her only son, who has left
home to serve his country. " I fear he is going to
the bad, but I must," she says, " be like the woman
in the Bible, who came to Jesus to cast the devil out
of her daughter, and would not leave Him till He
did it." Yes, poor mother, you must, you must.
That is your only hope ; and you will conquer, only
hold on. A mother's love is most like the love of
God of any human love. He made the mother's
heart, and He knows it to its depths. Secrets have
been revealed to mothers which have not been
shared by any other human being. Your heart is.
fixed, trusting in the Lord. You shall not be
" afraid of evil tidings." If troubling reports reach
you, and if things seem to have come to the worst,
and friends speak coldly of your son, and shake their

•250 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1898.

heads (as even Christian friends will do) over your
hope and confidence, yet hold on. You have
suffered, they perhaps have not. They are
" miserable comforters," though they think they are
speaking truly, and for your good. Listen to the
voice of God only ; look into the face of Jesus only —
as she did, the Syrophenician mother, of whom the
disciples only said, " Send her away." Those, who
have never known a mother's woes, know little of the
consolations God has for mothers, nor of the secrets
which He reveals to them. " I have been with God
in the dark. Go, you may leave me alone ! " Thus
a mother spoke concerning her dead son, when
neighbours bewailed him as a lost soul. " I have been
with God in the dark," not in the light only, when
there is hope and outward evidence to cheer the heart,
but in the dark. It is in the dark that His light shines
the brightest. One hour with Him, alone, in the
dark, in the gloom of despair and helpless woe, has
taught me more than years when I walked in the light
of happy and hopeful circumstances. I fear nothing
now, for I have been alone with God in the dark.
Hold on, poor mother ! Christ has given us His word
of honour. That is enough for you and me.

A picture is now held up before the eyes of the
whole world of the consequences which may wait
upon an injustice inflicted on a single human being.
All eyes are fixed upon the bitter conflict raging
around the fate of that solitary prisoner in the Devil's
Island. A combination of unusual and wondrously
significant circumstances has caused this case to
become a cause celebre, engrossing the interest of

1898.] THE STORM-BELL. 251

the whole civilised world. We may thank God
indeed for the deep teachings of this terrible drama.
But let us think for a moment of the thousands who
have suffered as much, and more than this typical
victim ; of the crushed hearts of the host of women
and men whose martyrdom has been known to none
but God ; or if known or guessed, has been unheeded,
the sufferers being of humble rank, of character
suspect, friendless, poor, and uncared for. Their
cry has entered into the ears of the God of Sabaoth,
as much as the " sorrowful sighing " of those noble
prisoners of to-day. That great injustice, against
which the " elect spirits " of France are so nobly
protesting, could scarcely have been perpetrated
among a people trained in respect for justice, and in
a measure of self-restraint. It has beneath it a
foundation of stricken souls and outraged hearts.
It has been built up upon a Golgotha. Those who
have eyes to see are beginning to see that the smoke
of the impious sacrifice of even one of the humblest
and most insignificant of human beings may serve to
cloud the heavens, and to shut out the favour of
God from a nation ; and what must it be when that
one is multiplied by thousands ?

For thirty years past I have pleaded as well as I
could the cause of the outcast. The time may not
be long in which I shall be permitted to continue to
plead it in this world. Pardon me then, Christian
people — and all just men and just women, Christian
or not — for uttering this cry from the depths of my
soul at this close of the year, and approaching close
of the century. The happiest of women myself in
all the relations of life, God has done me the great

252 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1898.

favour of allowing me in a manner to be, for these
thirty years, the representative of the outcast, of
" the woman of the city who was a sinner." It is
her voice which I utter. Oh, hear it, I beseech you !
It is by right of the great sorrow with which God
pierced my heart long ago for His outcasts, that I
speak ; a sorrow which will never be wholly
comforted till the day when I shall see millions of
those cold, dead hands now stretched upon the
threshold of our social and national life lifted to the
throne of God in adoring and wondering praise for
His final deliverance. " Thy dead men shall live " —
all who have been done to death in sorrow and
anguish ; and God shah1 wipe the tears from all
faces. And even for the present, for the near future
there is hope, abundant hope, for Jehovah reigns,,
and the day of sifting has dawned.

My heart is often pained by hearing good women
reiterate the statement that " men cannot be ex-
pected to exercise the self-restraint which is expected
of women." They say, " Men cannot be strictly
virtuous ; we women do not know what they have to
overcome, nor the force of their temptations ; in
fact they must sin." And women, even Christian
women, whisper this the one to the other, even to-
their daughters, and so the low standard is per-
petuated. The women who foster this opinion seem
not to perceive that in announcing it they are
(unconsciously probably) bringing a terrible accusa-
tion against God. They are representing Him as not
only an illogical, but a cruel and unjust Being.
What are the facts ? God has created man with a

1899-] THE STORM-BELL. 253

conscience and with a will. He has given to man a
Law and has attached penalties to the breaking of
that Law ; and yet you say that He has so created
man that it is not possible for him to obey that Law.
If this doctrine is widely accepted by women, it is
no wonder that so many of them are atheists at heart.
How can you, how can I reverence such a God as
you represent Him to be ? You might as well ask
me to love and worship Baal or Moloch or Juggernaut
as such a God as that. But it is not as you say.
Look a little deeper.

It has been imposed upon me from time to time
•during my long life work to speak with men on this
point — not only with men of blameless life, but with
others who have fallen low. " Is it indeed the very
truth," I have asked, " that you absolutely cannot
resist temptation ? " And the answer has generally
been, if coming from an honest heart, " I could
resist if I determined to do so ; " or, " I could once

have resisted and overcome, but now " Ah,

there is the secret, the sorrowful truth ! After re-
peated and continual yielding, the will of man comes
to be broken down. There comes upon him that most
iatal of all moral diseases, the paralysis of the will ;
what he could do once he can no longer do. The
"will is as the citadel of a beleaguered city ; when the
citadel is taken the whole city yields, and then it may
"be and is true that there comes a time when the man
cannot any longer combat or resist.

Shall we then, in so terrible a case as this, seeing
such men and such women gliding down the slippery
incline, regard them as hopeless, as beyond recovery ?
Shall we go on repeating the fatalist's doctrine, which

254 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

we hear so much around us, that it cannot be helped,
it must be so, the man must go on sinning, he
cannot recover himself ? No, a thousand times no.
With God all things are possible. He can restore
power to the paralysed will, even as He can raise the
dead. He does it, and we have seen with our eyes
these His miracles of power and love.

And how, you ask me, by what means may such
a restoration be accomplished ? Replying from my
own experience, I would say it is brought about very
frequently by means of the divinely energised wills
of others — chiefly of those creatures so dear to God,
those mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and friends
who have, through the teaching of the heart and the
inspiration of God, learned and embraced that
holiest of all ministries, the ministry of intercession.
It has been said that the nearest, shortest way to a
man's heart is round by the throne of God. It is
true. Direct advice, counsel, and warning to those
who err may sometimes be effectual, and especially
with the young. But too often they are wholly
useless, and even excite antagonism. But the love,
the power, the promise of God never fail.

But you tell me, " Oh, I am not good enough to pray
for others, and to receive answers to my prayer."
This is a great mistake. What is our goodness to
God ? We are none of us good. Think of all the
people mentioned in the Gospels who sought after
Christ. What was it that brought them to His feet ?
It was not their goodness, but their great needs, wants
and desires, their miseries, their sicknesses, their
deep heart griefs, and the griefs and miseries of those
dear to them. Our only claim in coming to Him is

1899.] THE STORM-BELL. 255

that we need Him and want Him. There is none
other. It is written that God " turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friends." We learn
to know God in drawing near to Him on behalf of
others. We fathom the deeper treasures of His love
in pleading for those whom we love.

I hear people say sometimes, " But I have prayed
for So-and-so for weeks, for months, and I have
received no answer." This reminds me of a little
boy who made some childish request of God, and
ended his prayer by saying, " I will wait three weeks,
God, and no more." We limit God. We measure
the great work of His Spirit by the span of our little
lives. We must rise above that thought, with,
courage and patience, and persistent trust and
confidence, remembering that His years are not
limited. He has all eternity to work in, all eternity
in which to remember and fulfil our hearts' desires.

When the case is one the issues of which reach into
eternity, when it is the bringing from darkness into
light of an immortal spirit, when it is the training
and teaching of a soul, the correction of faults which
sometimes requires a whole life's discipline, or the
evolution of some great good from a family's or a
nation's griefs, then all childish impatience is out of
place, foolish, and fatal often to the very fulfilment
of that which is desired. " Though it tarry, wait for
it," said the seer, " because it will surely come."

But your sad hearts are asking still concerning the
wanderers whom you love. Is there no balm in
Gilead ? Is there no physician there ? There is,
there is. There is hope, not only for the weak and
erring, but for the criminal who has been guilty of

256 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

the moral death of another, for him on whose head
rests the guilt of cruelty and treachery. " Nazarene,
Thou hast conquered," were the last words of Julian
the Apostate, at the close of a lifetime of rebellion
and defiance. The Nazarene is a great conqueror.
The heart of the most scornful of the rebels against
God's holy laws may be broken, softened and laid
bare to the healing dews of heaven ; and his eyes
may be opened to see, like Hagar, close at hand a
well of water which he knew not of.

In speaking of life and love to some of the most
fallen and wrecked of men and women, it has some-
times appeared as if I were speaking into the ears
•of a corpse, of one in whom there remains no longer
any conscience or will to respond to the call of God.
Sometimes I have been answered by the wildest
blasphemies on the part of men, who later asked with
hungry eyes, " Tell me truly, is there any hope for
me ? " Love is not easily persuaded that the
moment of death has arrived. Love, like Rizpah,
watches with a constancy stronger than death by
the silent corpses of her dearly beloved and longed-
ior, with all her strength denying that they shall
be given as carrion to the wolves and the vultures.

Suffer me to recall an incident, one only. On
entering the ward of a large city hospital, reserved
for women of the lowest class, I met the chaplain
leaving the ward, his hands pressed upon his ears
in order to shut out the sound of a torrent of
blasphemy and coarse abuse, hurled after him by
one of the inmates to whom he had spoken as his
^conscience had prompted him, and under a sincere
sense of duty. I drew near to that woman. She

1899-] THE STORM-BELL. 257

was hideous to look at, dying and raging ; a married
woman who had had children and lost them, who had
lived the worst of lives, descending lower and lower.
She had been kicked (as it proved, to death) by the
man, her temporary protector. Her broken ribs
had pierced some internal organ, and there was no
cure possible. Though dying, she was hungry, as
indeed she had been for years, and was tearing like
a wild beast at some scraps of meat and bread
which had been given to her. An unseen power
urged me to go near to her. Was it possible for
anyone to love such a creature ? Could she inspire
any feeling but one of disgust ? Yes, the Lord
loved her, loved her still, and it was possible for one
who loved Him to love the wretch whom He loved.
I do not recollect what I said to her, but it was love
which spoke. She gazed at me in astonishment,
dropped her torn-up food, and flung it aside. She
took my hand, and held it with a death-grip. She
became silent, gentle. Tears welled from the eyes
which had been gleaming with fury. The poor soul
had been full to the brim of revenge and bitterness
against man, against fate, against God. But now
she saw something new and strange ; she heard
that she was loved, she believed it, and was
transformed.

I loved her. It was no pretence, and she knew it.
At parting I said, " I will come again," and she
gasped, " Oh, you will, you will 1 " I came again
the morning of the next day. The nurse told me
that she died at midnight, quiet, humble, " as
peaceful as a lamb," always repeating, " Has she
come back ? She will come again. Is she coming ?

18

258 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

Yes, she will come again." If I had been asked,
as I sometimes am, " But had she any clear perception
of her own sinf illness, did she understand, etc. ? "
I could give no answer. I know not. I only know
that love conquered, and that He who inspired the
love which brought the message of His love to the
shipwrecked soul knew what He was doing, and
does not leave His work incomplete.

It is told among the many beautiful incidents of
the early Church, that a young Roman soldier,
converted to Christianity, and received as a catechu-
men, awaiting baptism, was called to serve in the
field with the legion to which he belonged. The night
after a battle, he found himself lying under the
stars wounded and faint. Near him a fellow-
soldier in the same condition as himself was groaning
heavily. The night was cold, and his comrade's
wounds were exposed to the frosty air. " Take my
cloak," whispered Martin; and though in sore pain,,
and shivering himself, he folded his cloak tenderly
around his comrade and fell asleep. Then there arose
before him in his sleep a strange and beautiful vision.
He saw in the skies a number of angelic beings and
saints in light, in the midst of whom stood the
Saviour, clothed in " raiment white and glistening,"
and — strange ! — wearing on His kingly shoulders,
over the resplendent white, the poor, torn, blood-
stained cloak of a Roman soldier. As Martin gazed
in astonishment, the Saviour smiled, and turning to
His angelic attendants said, " Behold Me with the
cloak which Martin the catechumen hath given Me !
For inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the

1899.] THE STORM-BELL. 259

least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto
Me."

In one of the African provinces of Rome, partly
Christianised, there occurred in the second century a
sore famine. The inhabitants were driven to terrible
straits. In a certain town, it is recorded by one
of the old chroniclers, there lived a saintly bishop
— not one of " my lords " of modern times, dwelling
in a palace, but a humble shepherd or overseer of a
scanty flock gathered out of the heathen city in which
he dwelt. There lived in the same city a poor street
musician, called Xanthus, an ignorant fellow of no
good reputation. When the famine had endured
some months, and Xanthus' body presented the
appearancetof a walking skeleton, he saw, one evening
in the twilight, a female form at the corner of a
street, with the figure and bearing of a refined lady,
though closely veiled and wearing a poor, used, black
robe. She was holding out her hand for alms and
receiving none, and worn and faint she yielded to the
stress of hunger, and was about to accept the last
terrible resource of selling her own person to a
passer-by, who was apparently far above want.
Penetrated with a sudden feeling of pity and horror,
Xanthus interposed, and reverently begged the lady
to accept of such poor help as he could give her.
" Lady, I have little, but all I have shall be yours
until these times of tribulation are over." She moved
towards him without replying, her tears alone proving
her grateful acceptance of his aid. He led her back
to her abode, and from that time forward he worked
for her day and night, plying to the utmost his poor
skill as a musician, affecting a cheerful manner, and

260 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

adding to his fiddling various tricks and jokes to
arrest the attention of the citizens who crossed his
path. Every day he brought to the lady (for such she
was) his modest gains, finding her food, and waiting
on her, deeming it an honour that she should accept
the help of such a creature as he.

The famine over, she was restored to her former
position ; but Xanthus fell ill, and his music and
jokes were no more heard in the streets. Friendless
and forlorn, he lay dying, when the good bishop
above-named was visited in a dream by a heavenly
messenger, who bade him go to such a street and such
a house and find there a man called Xanthus, for
" the Lord would have mercy on him." Awaking
from his sleep, the good bishop obeyed. He entered
the place — more like a dog's kennel than a human
dwelling — where Xanthus lay. " Xanthus ! " he
cried, " the Lord Jesus Christ hath sent me to you
to bring you glad tidings." " How ! to me — to me —
your God has sent you to me ! No, there is a mistake.
I am the street-fiddler, Xanthus, the most miserable,
God-forsaken of men — a man who has done nothing
but ill all his life." Then the good bishop recalled
to the memory of Xanthus (this having been revealed
to him) the day when he turned back a tempted
fellow-creature from sin, and the weeks in which he
sustained her, at the cost of his own life ; and he
added, " The Lord bids me say to you, that, for this
cup of cold water you have given to one of His
redeemed creatures, you shall in no wise lose your
reward. Your sins are forgiven. Christ says to
you, ' This day you shall be with Me in paradise.' '
And so it came to pass that Xanthus died that day,

1899] THE STORM-BELL. 261

his poor heart, it is said, broken ; but not with
sorrow ; broken through excess of joy, through the
thrill of astonished gladness at the heavenly greeting,
and the wondrous announcement that the Lord of
Glory had deigned to notice and acknowledge the
one redeeming act of his life. " Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these My
brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

Not in the times of old, but quite lately, in Hyde
Park, Lopdon, on a sultry day in summer, there lay
under one of the trees a poor sheep, panting, dying
from the heat. By its side there kneeled a little ragged
boy, a street arab, his tears marking gutters in the
dust of his soiled face. He had run down to the water
again and again and filled his little cloth cap with
water, which he held to the mouth of the sheep,
bathing its nose and eyes, until it began to show signs
of returning life, speaking to it all the time loving
words such as his own mother may have spoken to
him. A gentleman walking near stopped, and
looking with amusement at the child, said, " You
seem awfully sorry for that beast, boy." The
cynical tone of the speaker seemed to grieve the
little boy, and with a flushed face he replied, in a tone
of indignant and tearful protest, " It is God's sheep."
The gentleman grunted and walked away. I felt
the presence there of One who said to that child :
" Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the
least of these My brethren, you have done it unto
Me."

If the spirit of that boy were fully shared by even
a fraction of our Christian population, the brutality
and sin of the vivisection of God's creatures would

262 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

soon become a forbidden and unknown thing among
us. Our Lord's words concerning the humblest of
the animal creation are no mere figure of speech.
He meant what He said. There is a penalty attached
to contempt for or oblivion of those words of His, as
of every other word He spoke. " Are not five
sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them
is forgotten before God." The price of a sparrow
was half a farthing, but in case one of four sold might
possibly be very small, ill-fed, and not worth its half-
farthing, a fifth was " thrown in " to insure the
purchaser from loss. Yet even the presumably
worthless fifth sparrow was " not forgotten before
God." When the prophet Jonah was in a bad
humour because his prophecy of destruction to
Nineveh had not been fulfilled, and his sheltering
gourd had withered, God said to him : " Thou hast
had pity on the gourd, which came up in a night,
and perished in a night : and should not I spare
Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than
sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern
between their right hand and their left hand ; and
also much cattle ?" " His mercies are over all His
works." He cares for every living thing.

CHAPTER XVIII.

TWO CONFERENCES.

AN International Conference was held in Brussels
in 1899, for the purpose of considering and promoting
international action for the preventive treatment of
venereal diseases. As the programme of the
Conference was expressly limited to the adminis-
trative and medical aspects of the question, and
took no account of matters of moral and social order,
the Abolitionist Federation declined to take any
part officially in the proceedings, although individual
members of the Federation accepted invitations to
attend. The results of the Conference were a
surprise to everyone, being in the nature of a
triumph for Abolitionist principles. The prophets,
who had been called together to bless the Regulation
system, found themselves almost with one accord
led by the spirit of truth to curse it. This Conference,
and the Conference of the Federation which took
place the same year at Geneva, were dealt with in
The Storm-Bell in three articles, which are here given
with some omissions.

It was very impressive to me and others to hear
a.t our Geneva Conference an account of the Brussels
Conference from Dr. Fiaux of Paris, who had
attended it, and who with others had nobly fought
the battle of the Abolitionists. His report was of
such a nature as to fill our hearts with thanksgiving,
wonder and praise. The Conference of Brussels, as

263

264 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

my readers know, was convened with the confessed
purpose of proposing an appeal to the European
Governments to establish a uniform system of
Regulation — of in fact patching up, if possible-
perfecting and making universal the unlawful and
degrading system which we oppose. The conveners
of the Conference were however, it seems, sincere and
open-minded men ; and the numerous medical and
other disputants, who came delegated from different
countries of Europe, and who were attached to the
evil system, regarding only the material and medical
side of the great question, appear to have been
shaken in their views, and to have been compelled,
even by the confessions of some leading Regula-
tionists, to see that their theories are untenable, and
that the system they have so many years upheld
is as it were hanging in rags, a miserable failure,
an old worn out and infected garment, into which
it is worse than useless to introduce patches of new
cloth.

Almost all the delegates, of whom the immense
majority were Regulationists, acknowledged during
the Conference that they had come there to learn,
implying that they had need of knowledge. There
seemed to prevail an open-mindedness, which had
not been anticipated. Some of the English medical
delegates, full of the old prejudices in favour of the
system of combined slavery and license, must have
gone home knowing more than they did before.
Finally two resolutions were passed. One of the
resolutions was in favour of an appeal to all the
Governments to take measures for the better protec-
tion of minor girls, in order to prevent their being

1899.] TWO CONFERENCES. 265

drafted into the service of organised vice ; and
another was to the effect that it is desirable that
doctors should be better educated in the matter
of the maladies in question. These harmless
resolutions were voted unanimously.

An observant delegate wrote : " We all have the
impression that the Regulationists now fully
recognise us (of the Federation) as a force which they
must in future reckon with." A clearer idea of the
influence, which was at work in winning for us this
victory, was granted to me while listening to
Dr. Fiaux's report at Geneva. He spoke of an
influence which hovered over the Conference from
the first day to the last ; an influence which
restrained, which prevented rash or erroneous
propositions, an influence which he believed to
proceed from the gradually increasing tide of
awakened and changed public opinion, and to which
he attributed a kind of spiritual force, a restraining
and guiding force. He asserted that it was felt
by all, that it tended to check all violence of
opposition, and disposed the minds of the delegates
to accept a position of enquiry, and to begin again
afresh the study of the question, rather than to hold
to the conservation of the system, in which they could
not any longer place absolute confidence. More
than once Dr. Fiaux endeavoured to describe this
influence, raising his hands above his head to
illustrate something which hovered over the assembly,
resting above it and making itself felt. Those of us,
who have asked that an influence above and beyond
all, that we ourselves by our utmost effort can
exercise, might come to our aid when the opposing

256 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

principles should thus meet in conflict, will under-
stand what all this means, and will give thanks.

We have often watched the light thistledown, the
winged seed, mount in the air and disappear, carried
by the breeze who knows where ? We only know it
will settle somewhere, drop, die, live again, and spring
up to bear in its turn " fruit after its kind." The
career of that special seed is denounced by
cultivators as mischievous. But there are good seeds
also with wings, which silently travel about the
world, plant themselves and bear fruit for which all
men bless them. It is of the latter kind that I want
to say a word.

I do not think that as yet any adequate
appreciation of the character of our last September
Conference in Geneva, and its results, has appeared
in our English Abolitionist Press. I should like, if
possible, in some degree to supply that omission.
That Conference has been spoken of in several
English reports as " a Conference of members of the
Federation." It was not exactly so. It would be
quite correct to say it was a Conference organised
by the Federation (and splendidly organised it was
by the brave little group of members of the Federation
in Geneva). But we have never yet had such a
crowded Conference organised by us, at which were
present so few members of the Federation. We were
a mere handful from England. Several of our allies
whom we generally see from other countries did not
appear, while many of our prominent members on
the Continent and in England were prevented from
coming by illness or other circumstances. Yet we

IS99-1 TWO CONFERENCES. 267

had crowded sessions every day and all day. The
striking feature of that Conference was the influx
to it of new adherents to our principles, many of
whom we had never seen, or never even heard of.
Adherents to our principles they were, but not
members of the Federation ; nor did they, with very
few exceptions, become there and then members of
the Federation. And herein lies the encouragement
of which I wish to speak. It is in connection with
this fact that I wish my English friends to take
courage and thank God with me. They flocked to
us — these new adherents to our principles from
France, from Belgium, from Germany, from Italy, etc.
There were among them persons of many different
creeds and opinions, and an extraordinary number
of leaders of the Press from different countries,
more especially of that enlightened Press minority
in France who fought so hard and so noble a battle
(in the Dreyfus case) in favour of justice. There
were with us also many distinguished ladies —
distinguished morally and intellectually — who for the
first time greeted us as allies. Those who were at the
public evening meeting in the Great Hall of the
Reformation must have been struck by the immense
variety of nationality, character, creed, and opinion
of those who took part in it ; and at the same time
by the perfect unity, heart, and downrightness of
that vast assembly in regard to the great question
of Justice for which the Federation labours. Many
were asking, " How has this come about ? What
energising and purifying wind has been blowing
through Europe to bear towards us this new
unexpected ' cloud of witnesses ' to testify that

268 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

truth gains ground in its own mysterious
way ? "

It seems to me that we — the Federation — are
like persons who, wishing to propagate some beautiful
flower, should have carefully laid out a garden,
hedged it round, dug it well, and then sown in it
abundantly the seed which was to produce the
beautiful flower. We took great pains with our
garden. We sowed our seeds in rows, neatly and
measuredly, perhaps a little formally. We arranged
with our under-gardeners, training them, and turning
them off. if they did not suit. Perhaps we pottered
a little sometimes, but always with the one desire at
heart of seeing some day a great harvest of this
beautiful flower — a flower of such pure colour, and
wholesome hygienic qualities. Sometimes we sighed,
in times of drought or of failure of " hands " for the
work. But lo ! a day came when the assembled
gardeners, coming together to reckon up the results
of their work, happened to look over the hedge,
and with astonishment noted that the country all
round, fields and hillsides, on which they had not
bestowed any personal labour, were ablaze with the
azure of the beautiful flower which they had
cultivated so carefully in their garden. They had
forgotten that seeds have wings, and that they could
silently distance the garden fence and fly afar.
So with the principles which we have cultivated.

There were at Geneva young men, pastors from the
French provinces, whose prayers at our morning
devotional meetings were an echo of the depths of
my own heart ; and there were young women,
some very young, looking in whose faces I asked

1899-1 TWO CONFERENCES. 269

myself, " How and where have these young people
learned that zeal for justice, that pity for oppressed
womanhood, and that grave view of life which we
of the Federation could however never, and less
now than ever, imagine to be the monopoly of
experienced workers ? "

The Conference of Brussels pre-eminently brought
to us the lesson of the " Winged Seed." The speech
of Dr. Fiaux, of Paris, who came from that
Conference to Geneva to tell us its results, was to
me full of teaching of which possibly the speaker
himself was not wholly conscious. It told of the
power and silent progress of a truth carried abroad
by the Spirit which " bloweth where it listeth."
The lesson of the " Winged Seed " goes far beyond
our own special crusade. We may apply it in the
darkest times. For Truth (like Love) cannot die.
Therefore we will take heart and labour on, though
the End is not yet.

A very friendly critic, in giving a report of the
Geneva Conference in September last, asked the
question, " Where was Mrs. Butler ? " when some
sentiment or proposition was announced which
seemed not quite in harmony with the principles of
the Federation. He added, " But doubtless her
silence was to be attributed to her desire to hold the
Federation together. She is naturally concerned
about the Organisation." I wish to answer the
question, and to rectify the mistaken impression.
I was absent from the discussion in question. I am
not able to listen to discussions from morning to
night, owing to diminished strength of body, and I

270 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

must leave matters in the hands of younger and
abler combatants. But on the other matter, my
supposed attachment to our organisation, I want to
say a word. I have no faith whatever in
organisations except so far as they are a useful means
for making known a truth or dispensing help to those
who need it, and when they are completely
subordinated to those ends. They are apt to become
a snare to those who invent them and work them,
unless great care is taken to revive continually
within them the life by which alone they can usefully
exist.

The history of the Jesuits and that of some other
great organised societies are monuments of the
idolatrous tendency in human beings, of their habit
of degenerating to the worship of some gigantic
and intricate earthly creation from that of the
Unseen, the Living God. Such organisations may
become in time the instruments of a propagandism
the very opposite of that proposed by their founders ;
and they may end by following in the stately march
of a cruel and murderous Juggernaut, crushing the
life out of men and women, and all bespattered with
the " blood of the poor innocents." Short of such
a ghastly development as this, vast organisations
(the leaders of which may come to be themselves
misled by pride or vanity, or the praise of man, to
imagine that the life is still in their wheels when it is
fast passing out from them) become effete, lifeless
and unfruitful. The more they are in evidence
before the world, the more showy they become, the
more do they lose real power. Their hold on God
is insensibly loosened, their members forget the

1899-] TWO CONFERENCES. 271

command to " call no man master." There creeps
in upon them frequently a tyrannising spirit. Their
leaders become a prey to the great delusion of the
Russian ecclesiastical tyrant, that uniformity is a
beautiful thing, and that it represents power.
Uniformity is not a beautiful thing. There is no
uniformity in God's creation, either in the natural
or the spiritual world. The insistence on uniformity
crushes out individuality and hinders initiative.
It clips the wings of the best human gifts and
capacities. It introduces the opposite of that
" glorious liberty of the children of God," which sets
each soul free to develop into that good thing which
He created it to become. " You shall all speak
alike, all work in the same way, all adopt the same
manner, and obey implicitly the same rule." This
command is itself paralysing to freedom and to
individual development and power. But when it
comes to, " You shall all think alike, all believe the
same things, all receive what your leaders teach,
and act in accordance with a uniform creed," then
there comes down a spiritual blight, which ultimately
leaves a body without a soul. It is best then that
such an organisation should break up and disappear.
If its existence is prolonged it may become the
tenement of a spiritual influence which is directly
evil, while still wearing the outward garb of what was
originally good.

But our humble Abolitionist Federation ! Is it
likely to incur such a fate ? No, I do not believe it
ever will, for up to now it has continued humble ;
moreover it has never been strongly centralised,
and never in any sense has it been tyrannised over by

272 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1899.

those who may be called its leaders. It is a union
of free workers, who are at liberty to work along their
own lines and in their own methods, in each country
and each group. I hope it will not surprise any of
my readers if I say that I should not grieve or be
greatly disturbed if our Federation were to break up
and fall to pieces to-morrow. Observe that I do not
here speak of the people who form it, of the friends and
fellow- workers of years past, as well as of welcome
new-comers whom I trust and love. These are the
life of the work. They are the living beings in whose
souls reside the deep conviction, the strength of
principle, and the unselfish purpose which have
carried on our propagandist work till now, and
which will continue to carry it on, with or without
any special organisation. These persons will always
have a warm place in my heart, for they have been
and are my revered " yoke-fellows " in a just and
holy cause ; and when their own life-work is over
they will bequeath to those who come after them
the spirit which alone has made our labours fruitful.
All my care is for the principle which we have been
called to proclaim, not for the machinery through
which the drudgery of the work has been facilitated.
God does not need our poor machinery. He can
create other methods of spreading a truth, if those
now existing had better come to an end.

There is a deep meaning in that mysterious vision
of Ezekiel, of the living creatures and the wheels.
They were together lifted up from the earth, and
guided through space wherever God willed ; the
wheels, wheel within wheel, an intricate mechanism,
moved upwards and onwards, with the ease and

J899-] TWO CONFERENCES. 273

power of a soaring eagle, because the Spirit was in
the wheels, the Spirit which was as lamps of fire
and as lightning. I have sometimes thought if the
Spirit had left those creatures and that mass of
wheels, with what a crash they would have come
down to the ground ! So long as we have that
Spirit, even our wheels will have life, and our humble
organisation will continue, as it has done till now,
to glide past all dangers, and to win true hearts to
our cause.

CHAPTER XIX.

MEMORIES.

WHEN I received the announcement of the passing
away, at ninety years of age, of Mr. Arthur Albright,
my thoughts were carried back to many years ago. I
felt a kind of peace in the thought that this brave
Christian has been permitted to live to such a ripe old
age. It is an encouragement to us ah1 to observe, as
we do in so many cases, that the most strenuous
workers for justice and truth, who have been fore-
most in the ranks of combatants for the right, are
often strengthened in body and in nerves to endure
for a greater number of years than others who perhaps
live more for themselves.

I have not seen Mr. Albright for very many years.
In the seventies I frequently met him at the annual
meetings of the Friends at Devonshire House. One
incident stands out very vividly in my mind, and I
may be permitted to recall it just in the manner in
which it comes back to me. In the earliest years of
our agitation for repeal (I think it was in 1870) I was
at Birmingham, where naturally my message was
received with unhesitating cordiality by leading
members of the Society of Friends. Among these
stood foremost Mr. Arthur Albright and his friend
and relative Mr. John E. Wilson, who have both now
gone to their rest. (My most intimate friends in the

274

i9oo.J MEMORIES. 275

whole matter were Mr. and Mrs. Kenway, in whose
house I always stayed in Birmingham.) After a
large meeting held there, there was a discussion as to
whether it would not be well at once to attack the
British stronghold of Regulation, viz. Plymouth,
where already that system had begun to bear its
corrupt and tragic fruits, there having been already
several suicides of poor girls forcibly brought within
its tyranny. These Quaker gentlemen put it to me,
Was I willing to go, because they felt that, at that
period of our crusade the cause must be presented
prominently as a woman's cause, and be represented
by women ? I answered, " Yes; probably it is
right to go." These gentlemen replied that they
would with pleasure charge themselves with any
expenses that the journey and the meetings might
involve. Well, I packed up my things, and with a
somewhat trembling heart, counteracted by the
supreme love of battle which was born in me, I went
with a few friends to the railway station to proceed
to Plymouth. There I was somewhat startled to
find myself closely followed on the platform by these
two friends above mentioned. Mr. Albright was tall,
straight, thin, and in figure as in principles, as firm
as a bar of iron. Mr. Wilson was also tall, broader,
and perhaps more imposing looking. I turned to
thank them for their kindness in coming to see me off.
The reply in a very gentle voice was, " Oh, we go-
with thee ; we could not leave thee alone." There
came, I recollect, to my heart quite a thrill at that
moment of admiration and gratitude. I thought to
myself, " This is true chivalry." These were respon-
sible business men, who had their duties every day in

276 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

Birmingham. I do not think that either of them
were great speakers. Mr. Albright was a silent man,
but his few words were weighty, and his convictions
were immovable ; he was one of those Quakers whom
the poet Whittier described as " a non-conductor
among the wires." They came with me to Plymouth,
together with other early friends of our cause. At the
great and stormy meeting which we had there they
stood by me, sat behind me when I had to speak, and
I felt that their presence was a tower of strength,
though they said so little. The day of our meeting
was a day of overpowering heat. The battle in
which we were engaged was equally hot, and the
Quaker calm of my kind friends was better to me
than even the breeze that blew through the open
windows. These may seem to be trifling remem-
brances, but, strange to say, such memories live
sometimes in the brain when greater things are
forgotten.

Long ago I asked a gift of God — companionship
with Christ. Shall I murmur because He, having
granted my request, grants it not in the way that I
expected ? I thought of Mary sitting at His feet,
hearing His word calmly, happy and wise ; but that
is not the companionship He grants me to-day (Good
Friday). To-day it is the companionship with Him
of the penitent malefactor, nailed to a neighbouring
cross. I cannot grasp His hand, nor sit at His feet,
nor lean on His breast as the beloved disciple did,
for I am bound hand and foot, stretched on my cross
till every nerve and muscle strains and aches. I can
only turn my head to that side where, the Lord hangs

igoo.] MEMORIES. 277

in pain also, so near that I can hear His breathing,
His sighs, the beating of His heart ; but separated by
the cross. The cross which brings me so near to Him
is the hindrance to a still nearer approach. I can
speak to Him in few and faint words from my cross to
His, but without the tranquil rest and consolation
which I once knew in His presence, and such as the
family of Bethany knew, whom He loved. But did
He not also love that dying malefactor ? and did
not those two, in some sense, resemble each other as
they hung there, a spectacle to men and angels,
more than Martha or Mary resembled Him as they
sat at His feet, or ministered to Him with busy
hands ?

I recall these things to sustain me in the midst of
mournful questionings. He has chosen the manner
of our companionship, and therefore it is dear to me.
No pleasant walks on the slopes of the Mount of
Olives, no evening converse or public teaching on the
shores of the lake or on the green hillside, no sweet
ministerings by the wayside or in humble dwellings
to His human needs. These are not His choice for
me. In the morning of life 1 chose for myself — I
chose the beautiful and good things set before me ;
and now in the evening, when the shadows are closing
round, He chooses for me. If I have worn a crown of
roses, shall I not gladly change it for one of thorns, if
it brings me nearer ? When my earthly paradise
faded, and its best human companionship was with-
drawn, and I was left alone, then my Lord remem-
bered my first request — for companionship with Him.
And how could He choose better than He had chosen
— to share His solitude, to know the sweet and awful

278 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

companionship of suffering, of darkness, of the vision
of the whole world's sin, for which He was wounded
to death, and of the slow hours counted in silent pain ?
I thank thee, O God !

The following message was written for the Con-
ference of the Federation held in Paris in June,
1900.

In the midst of all that is now being done to promote
a higher morality and to win men, our soldiers and
others, to accept the higher standard, there is still,
I think, a tendency to forget, or at least to feel less,
our responsibility towards the immediate and the
saddest victims of the social evil — the women, the
young girls of the so-called outcast class. May I once
more put in a plea for them ? Unable now to work
among them in any practical way, yet the thought of
them is ever with me. There are memories which
nothing can efface, forms which visit me again in the
night season, faces which look through the mists of
the past and seem to plead for some word from me,
some reminder addressed to our busy workers and
noble social reformers — a word to recall to them that
" we are still in bonds ; we are still in State prison-
houses, in beleaguered cities where a famine of all that
heart and soul crave, and the disease-impregnated
atmosphere are wearing us out and holding us until
the last breath of hope is extinguished and we die ;
and yet no sound of any relieving army reaches our
ears, no glad tramp of swiftly-flying horses bearing
our deliverers ; no cry from the watch - tower,
Relief is on the way ! We are here while you are
preaching purity, more manliness to men, more

MEMORIES. 279

courage to women, more love for humanity. Have
you forgotten us ? " From the Maisons tolerees of
Geneva, of Paris, of Berlin, from slave pens and
prisons all over the Continent comes this cry to those
who have ears to hear.

At the meeting of our Abolitionist Federation
about to be held in Paris will that voice be heard, or
will it be lost amidst the excitement of those days,
amidst the pressure of a thousand interests and the
voices of appeal from many workers in innumerable
good causes ? And yet a few streets distant there
are and will be abodes filled with human beings —
our sisters, driven outside the pale of all law, hemmed
round and crushed down by a cordon and by weights
of arbitrary police rules, slaves and prisoners to
whom no light comes, to whom no word of hope
penetrates. 'They have been so welded into a com-
pact class by human egotism that even the good and
kind among men and women are apt to forget that
they are no more criminal than others who are free,
and to look upon them as a peculiarly degraded
portion of humanity.

May I recall a few memories ? In Paris some
twenty or more years ago my husband and I, on our
way to an evening meeting, shortened our route by
going through an obscure by-street. As we passed
there darted out of the darkness a girl gaily dressed,
painted, but no fille de joie, no dressing or paint could
hide the marks of slavery and pain. She made for
me, she threw her arms round my neck, her cheek for
one moment pressed against mine, the tears coursing
down through the paint which hid the pallor under-
neath, and calling me by my name, she said (in

280 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

French), " We love you ! Oh, we love you ! " I had
no time to respond. She, seeing or feeling the
approach of a policeman or something, tore herself
away and darted back into the darkness. Like a
meteor out of the darkness this vision appeared, and
into the darkness it returned, leaving no trace behind.
I never heard of her again. I know nothing. Where
is that spirit now ? Where ? I ask it of God. She
told me she loved me (she and her doomed comrades).
Shall I ever have the opportunity of returning to her
those dear words ? We had been having meetings,
in which sympathy was expressed for these captives.
Some few of them, in spite of police surveillance, had
managed to creep into our meetings, and perhaps they
had read something in the newspapers.

Dare I to ask our friends who will assemble in Paris
to keep their ears open to this cry, and to remember
that there, close by, in the midst of all the charms of
the Exhibition, and the interest of social gatherings
and meetings on behalf of every good end, there, close
by, are crushed hearts and maddened spirits, whose
existence as an officially acknowledged social necessity
is a crime prophetic of woe for that charming city
en fete just now, but which must pass under a
cloud sooner or later, if for these and other slaves the
sword of justice is not unsheathed ?

In the years past I visited sometimes houses of
ill-fame in my own country, where the law is with us
and not against us in entering such places. I recall
one day sitting in a room with some score of young
women of the unhappy sisterhood. They were
seated mostly on the floor around me, some with an
expression of weariness or indifference on their faces,

1900.] MEMORIES.

some hard, others gently inquisitive. I spoke to
them (do not be surprised, any friend who may read
this) of the sweetness of family life, of the blessing of
the love of a pure and chivalrous man, and of happy
married life, of the love of little children, the gaiety,,
the gladness they shed in the home, of the delight
even of the humblest household work in such con-
ditions in a home where true love reigns, and of the
affection between a true husband and wife, which
deepens and becomes more holy as life goes on. Was
it cruel ? It might seem so. But the effect was not
so. All round me there were heads bowed low ; nc
more hardness nor indifference, but tears dropping on
clasped hands and faces hidden on the shoulders of
their companions. The room seemed to be full of
the sound of sighing and sobbing ; it seemed to me a
wail — almost like the wail of lost spirits : " Too late !
too late ! That is not for us. Once we had now and
then such a dream, but now — nevermore ! " I
dropped on the floor to be nearer and in the midst of
them, and spoke words which I cannot remember,,
but to this effect : " Courage, my darlings ! Don't
despair ; I have good news for you. You are women,
and a woman is always a beautiful thing. You have
been dragged deep in the mud ; but still you are
women. God calls to you, as He did to Zion long
ago, ' Awake, awake ! Thou that sittest in the dust,
put on thy beautiful garments.' It may be that the
picture I have drawn is not for you, yet I dare to>
prophesy good for you, and happiness even in this
life ; and I tell you truly that you can become, in
this life, something even better than a happy wife-
and mother — yes, something better. You can help

282 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

to save others. You can be the friend and com-
panion of Him who came to seek and to save that
which was lost. Fractures well healed make us more
strong. Take of the very stones over which you have
stumbled and fallen, and use them to pave your road
to heaven. My beloved ones, I have come to tell you
of a happiness in store for you, greater than any
-earthly happiness."

Did I speak to them of their sins ? Did I preach
that the wages of sin is death ? Never ! What am
I — a sinner — that I should presume to tell them that
they were sinners ? That would have stirred an
antagonism in their hearts, a mental protest : " Per-
haps you are not much better than we. If you had
had to go through what we have gone through, if you
had been neglected, poor, betrayed, kicked about by

society " Ah, yes, I knew all that ; and I knew

that the vision of what they might have been had
stirred in every poor heart of them a sad, dreary sense
of loss — of irreparable loss — and a keen sense of shame
and of bitter regret that they were what they were.

And the seal set upon every such message was the
seal of the blessed name of Christ the Lord, the Lover
of the lost, the Friend of sinners ; of Him who
welcomed the sinful woman, the sister of those who
are called in police reports " habitual prostitutes,"
" abandoned women," " recalcitrants," " social
nuisances " ; of Him who accepted her tears, who
suffered her to kiss His feet ; of Him who said, " The
Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is
lost" ; the noble Shepherd who goes forth in search
of His lost sheep, following it over hill and dale, rock
and torrent, and through the wide, waste wilderness

1900.] MEMORIES. 283

— till when ? till He sees that that erring creature
does not want to be saved, is too stupid and silly and
perverse, too tainted with vice to be saved, and then
does He turn back and give it up ? No. It is
written : " He goeth after the sheep that is lost until
He finds it." How is it that the Chief Shepherd never
turns back (as we do) from the search after a lost soul,
or His vast lost humanity ? The answer comes to
me — because of His faith. He had faith in God the
Father, and He had faith also in that human nature
created by God. He sees what we cannot see — the
spark, all but extinguished, in the most wretched
soul of man or woman, which can be fanned into a
flame when the Divine breath breathes upon it.

We know that the words translated in our
Scriptures, " Have faith in God," are now more truly
translated, " Have the faith of God." In order to
follow our lost sheep until we find them — never
stopping short of that — it seems that we must have,
in some degree at least, the faith of the Son of God ;
His faith in the creative power of the Father of the
human race, who can create and recreate, and His
faith in the possibility of resurrection for every dead
soul.

Among those whom we call " lost women " I have
known better rescuers of other lost women than I
have known among the truest Christians who have
kept firmly in the paths of righteousness. There are
among them — perhaps not many, but some — whose
ardour and spirit of self-sacrifice in the work has
amazed us. Their own experience drives them on,
and once given and having accepted such a work,
they rise to a height, or rather, I might say, they

284 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

stoop to a depth, of self-abnegation which comes near
to the highest ideal of saintliness. '' We are poor
creatures," as one of them said ; " we have done-
badly. We can do little, but at least we may be of
use in raking a few of our dear fellow-sinners out of
the mud." And they have raked them out of the
mud — those lost diamonds in the dust, trodden under
foot. They have plunged into the dust heaps and
refuse of society, and brought out thence treasures
which, when cleansed — even as we all need to be
cleansed — become as the stars which shine for ever
and ever.

Is it any wonder that such memories visit one in
the night season, and that a prayer rises from the heart
that the God of Love may send a message of fire into
the hearts of our so-called purity workers, our higher
morality pleaders, a message which will not be
ignored or set aside, but which will compel them to
seek a way to the direct deliverance of these captives
and the breaking of their chains. And if these
workers feel that this work is not theirs, or that they
are not fitted for it, or called to it, then I pray that
God will prepare and call up a relief army, a forlorn
hope brigade from among the humble, the uneducated,
the poor and unambitious, who are not so " awfully
busy" with good works that they cannot turn aside to-
lift the wounded or carry the dead ; and that He will
give to this relief army to fight in this humble but
holy war with the inexpressible bravery, endurance
and self-sacrifice with which men are fighting to-day
in another war.

I know it will be said, as it is often said : " But
rescue work is such discouraging, such hopeless work.

MEMORIES. 285

It is far better to act on public opinion, to elevate the
morality of men, to educate the young in principles
of justice and purity, to strike at the root, at the
causes of prostitution. What you are counselling is
but ambulance work for picking up and helping the
-Bounded. Is it not far better to abolish war, which
necessitates ambulance work ? " All this is quite true.
I have preached it many a time myself. Neverthe-
less, while we are still in the midst of war can we, in
the name of pity, neglect our wounded and leave them
to die ? " This ought ye to have done, and not to
have left the other undone."

Moreover womanhood is solidaire. We cannot
successfully elevate the standard of public opinion
in the matter of justice to women, and of equality of
all in its truest sense, if we are content that a practical,
hideous, calculated, manufactured and legally main-
tained degradation of a portion of womanhood is
allowed to go on before the eyes of all. " Remember
them that are in bonds, as being bound with them."
Even if we lack the sympathy which makes us feel
that the chains which bind our enslaved sisters are
pressing on us also, we cannot escape the fact that
we are one womanhood, solidaire, and that so long as
they are bound, we cannot be wholly and truly free.
We continue to be dragged down from that right
place and influence which we aim at by the dead-
weight of this accursed thing in the midst of us.

This year (1900) Josephine Butler wrote two books
about the South African War. In the first, Native
Races and the War, she endeavours to prove that the
treatment of the native races of South Africa, though
it had " not yet in England or on the Continent been

286 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

cited as one of the direct causes of the war," really
lay " very near to the heart of the present trouble."
We suspect that the writing of this book was partly
due to the fact that her patriotic spirit recoiled at the
violent denunciations against England, especially
by continental writers, for having entered upon the
war from base and covetous motives ; but perhaps
she fell into the opposite extreme of exaggerating
the faults of President Kruger's Government. In
any case, whether or not she proves her thesis that
the native question had anything to do with the
origin of the war, all will agree with her view, that
" Great Britain will in future be judged, condemned
or justified according to her treatment of those in-
numerable coloured races, over whom her rule
extends ; " and that " race prejudice is a poison
which will have to be cast out if the world is ever to-
be Christianised, and if Great Britain is to maintain
the high and responsible place among the nations
which has been given to her." In Silent Victories
she does not deal with controversial questions, but
tells the simple story of humane and spiritual work
carried on amongst the troops by various religious
agencies, giving many pathetic incidents from
soldiers' letters from the front, which showed that
in the midst of the horrors of war silent victories
were won in many hearts, lifted from selfishness to
true manhood and brotherliness.

Tolstoi's latest novel, Resurrection, has been
reviewed by several well-known literary men on the
Continent. In reading their able articles I am
surprised by the absence in them of any full appre-
ciation of the vital chord which has been struck by
this master hand, on one side of the great question
of justice. The masculine reviewers (I speak of
continentals, not yet having read reviews which have

igoo.] MEMORIES. 287

appeared in England) seem to have missed in a
measure hearing the note which goes straight to-
every woman's heart. The book might be called
the amende honorable made by the masculine con-
science to the womanhood of the world, for the
centuries of wrong inflicted by the absence of the
recognition of an equal moral standard for the
sexes. It has brought hope to many, showing how
the truth is marching on, how the winged
seed has taken root, not only in obscure ground,
and in humble minds, but in the mind of a great
genius, whose voice has sounded aloud and afar the
justice of the movement, for which so many of us
have prayed and laboured, and the injustice under
which so many have suffered and died — their
sorrows and their death taken no account of because
they were the helpless victims of the tyranny appealed
against.

The Resurrection which Tolstoi pictures is the
resurrection of conscience in a man who arises to do
the whole of his duty towards a fallen woman, a
woman of the streets in fact, whose first seducer he
had been. The book is full of sad and tragic scenes,
depicted with the author's unrivalled power ; but
it stands for truth, for justice, for the right, and in
the hand of the giant Tolstoi, it is like a clarion
sounding the dawn of a new day. Millions will read
this book, appearing as it has done in several
languages at the same moment, an accomplished work
of art, a marvel of composition, of achievement,
even of translation, for it is translated into French
by a masterly pen. No man having read it can help
having heard the call of conscience.

288 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

Madame Pieczynska, who has lived in Russia and
Poland, wrote to me as follows : " For me this book
is a great event to be thankful for, even unto God.
I am told that it is received with enthusiasm in
Russia, though it has been mutilated by the censor
before being allowed to appear. I hope you will
share our impressions about it. To some the hero's
character will probably appear invraisemblable. Let
me assure you that it is nevertheless a true and not
exceptional type of the Slavian youth of the period,
more entire, more extreme in his tendencies, good
or bad, than English, French or Swiss men are.
The Slavian race is not as yet like those others at
the climax of civilisation. It is still growing,
ascending, shaping its characteristics, while the
•others are mature or even growing old. In Russia,
in Poland, there is not such a crowding of humanity ;
there is more room to expand, and to stretch out a
thought even to its last consequences. Hence we
have Nihilists, strange sects, and such men as
Nekhludow and Tolstoi, whilst in some countries
mediocrity reigns supreme, everyone elbowing his
neighbour closely, and allowing him no extraordinary
move, be it onward and upward, or downward.
The hero of Tolstoi will undoubtedly be called by
many an exalte, but none the less ' Truth will be
justified of her children.' '

Madame Pieczynska's words are true, for in spite
of the reserves and objections which will fill the minds
of many readers of Resurrection, it is good and right
that there should be foreshadowed for all men the
question which will have to be faced and answered
in the great Day of Judgment by all seducers,

MEMORIES. 289

cornipters and despisers of women. I will not
attempt to give the story, which has been reported
in many reviews ; but will only add that there are
sentences in the book, confessions of an awakened,
" resurrected " conscience, and recitals which no
Abolitionist among us could read unmoved, and
which, when once read, will not easily be forgotten.
It would be hopeless to endeavour to bring together
here in any adequate degree these remarkable
passages. The sister of the hero, a good, kind,
prosperous, society woman, asks him with sincerity :
" But do you believe it possible that a woman who
has lived such a life can ever again be really elevated,
morally re-instated, and restored to the nobility of
womanhood ? " She waits for a reply, imagining
that that question is the one which presses most on
her brother's mind, while he is thus determined to
sacrifice all for his former victim. His reply em-
bodies a thought, which rarely, if ever, occurs even
to the best of men. " That is not the question
which I have to answer. The question which I have
to answer is : Is there hope for me ? Can 1 be
rehabilitated, morally restored, and elevated to the
true dignity of manhood ? "

20

CHAPTER XX.

THE MORNING COMETH.

THE death of her brother-in-law, Tell Meuricoffre,
in the spring of 1900, and the death of his wife in
the autumn of the same year, were a great sorrow
to Josephine Butler, increasing the feeling of loneli-
ness that so often comes to the aged ; but amid all her
weakness and loneliness in these last years, hope,
illimitable hope, was the dominant note of her soul,
as she looked forward to the " smile and the ' good
morning ' with which God would greet her " on the
other side.

To the Editor of the Shield. April, 1900.

You ask me for a few words on the character and
career of my brother-in-law, the Chevalier Tell
Meuricoffre, who fell asleep on Thursday, March 22nd.
It would hardly be possible for me to write of him
impersonally, while even as a sister, to whom he was
very dear, it is not quite easy. But I will try. I
cannot speak of him in any direct connection with
the cause which your paper represents, for he never
came personally to the front in our work, though in
sympathy he was with us and with his dear wife, my
sister, who has been for several years a member of
our International Committee, and some of whose
published letters reveal a deeper insight than I have
ever observed in any other person into the intimate

290

Ktlintt & Fry, Plwtu 1900.
200

igoo.] THE MORNING COMETH. 291

relations of our question with the spiritual life of
individuals and nations. Mr. Meuricoffre's was a
very full, varied and most useful life. Swiss by
parentage, he was born and lived almost all his
life in Naples, where he fulfilled some of the highest
citizen functions in a manner to attract the esteem
of his fellow-citizens of every nationality and creed.
Now that he is gone a thousand testimonies are
pouring in to his sterling worth, and to the affection
he had inspired far and wide. He was the head and
support of the Swiss Protestant colony in Naples —
a very numerous society — and the promoter of count-
less good works, such as the International Hospital,
which he created for the reception of strangers
arriving in Naples, who did not find any such safe or
good treatment in the other hospitals of the city.
Truth, purity, uprightness, singlemindedness, and
a most munificent generosity were among his
characteristics. Noblesse oblige seemed to be his
motto. He did not let his left hand know what his
right hand did. Besides his public acts of benevo-
lence, he aided privately numbers of individuals
and families whose needs or misfortunes were a
secret to all except himself. He was the most open-
handed of men. He and my husband were great
friends, and in several points they resembled each
other. If the world were more largely peopled with
such men as these two, we should not have needed,
dear Editor, to maintain so continuous and arduous
a struggle as we have had for justice and mercy at
the hands of men. Mr. and Mrs. Meuricoffre used to
spend a part of each summer at their beautiful Swiss
home on the borders of the Lake of Geneva ; and

292 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1900.

it was here that many delightful family gatherings
took place, assembling from Italy, England and
France. We have golden memories of those times,
where we (from England) used sometimes to rest, in
order to prepare ourselves for approaching con-
ferences of the Abolitionist Federation in Switzer-
land. Some of your readers may remember Mr.
Meuricoffre's presence at the conference in Berne in
1896, and my sister's words spoken in the sacristy of
the large church at Colmar, the year before, when
she pleaded for the poor child victims in Italy.

The occasion of the Colmar meeting, referred to in
the above letter, is described in the following extract
from a journal kept by Josephine Butler in 1895.

This week at Colmar was altogether sweet. My
darling Hatty made a lovely impression on all our
friends. I shall never forget her words spoken at
a preliminary meeting in our salon at the hotel,
where arrangements for the week were discussed.
One saw there was a tendency, in the preparing of
certain resolutions, to drop to a lower standard in
the proclaiming of principles (in order to disarm
opposition, it was said). Her few words spoken very
gently, but firmly, led the whole company up to the
higher standard — that of Christ ; and our old and
valued friend, Professor Felix Bovet, thanked her
for recalling them to that standard. At one of our
early morning devotional meetings, which were held
in the sacristy of the large Protestant Church, her
voice went to my heart, and to that of many, as she
stood up and prayed for poor Italy, and for Naples

igoi.] THE MORNING COMETH. 293

especially, asking God to send some of His in-
spired teachers and workers there. But most of
all there dwells in my heart the memory of that
early morning when, before going to the sacristy,
I went to her room. I had been ill and exhausted
all the day before. She kneeled down, half dressed
as she was, and drew me down beside her, and putting
her arm round me, and drawing me close to her side,
she poured out her soul in such a loving petition for
me, weeping as she prayed, and yet with such firm
faith and loving assurance as people only have when
they feel God very near, and realise His will to
grant what is asked. Her voice sounded to me like
that of some ministering angel, pleading pleading
face to face with God — a voice trembling with
emotion and yet steadied by the sense of the dear
and awful presence of the Christ to whom she spoke.
And her prayer was large and far-reaching, em-
bracing those dearest to us, and " the little ones, the
lost lambs of Jesus." Wonderful strength and health
were given to me for the remaining days at Colmar.

In 1901 she published In Memoriam, Harriet
Meuricoffre, consisting mainly of letters from her
sister, which are written with a delicacy of literary
style, and reveal the extreme sweetness of her
character. The following extract from one of these
letters shows how these two sisters were more than
sisters — heart-friends : " How I wish I was near you ;
not that I could do anything, but I sometimes feel
as if my intense love for you might almost surround
you like the vapour which forms itself around the
human hand, and enables it to plunge into molten
metal at white heat, and not be scorched. I feel
sure that God will keep you all through these days,

294 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1901-

and give you strength for each hour. At what hour
have you meetings for prayer ? It is so sweet to
draw near to Him early in the morning before all the
rumbling, and shouting and dust come between
heaven and earth. Every morning, my best beloved,
I will be holding you up to Him, between six and
seven o'clock. Let a quick little thought of this
cross your mind while dressing. My whole heart
is with you, and will be, every day and all the
days."

In 1903 she published The Morning Cometh : A
Letter to my Children, under the pseudonym of
" Philalethes." This little book, like The Lady of
Shunem, is a Bible study, chiefly on those passages
which point to the larger hope and the restitution
of all things. We give three extracts from it.

I 've heard within my inmost soul
Such glorious morning news.

In the course of the last twenty years or so, and
especially in that of the last five or six years, a flood
of light has been poured upon the meanings of the
sacred writers, and most of all on the text of the
teaching of Christ and His Apostles. This light
has come gradually to me, and to many, like new
life. Up to the time that this light shone out fully,
it has seemed that we had all received only half a
gospel of glad tidings ; now it is a whole gospel, for
which thousands have been waiting ; and the joy it
brings is great, and will be greater, the more we enter
into and are made to understand the love of God and
His divine purpose for the salvation of all. " The
Larger Hope," as this new light is sometimes called,
and which might be called the Illimitable Hope, is

1903.] THE MORNING COMETH. 295

rapidly becoming more clearly seen and joyfully
accepted.

The unscripeural teaching concerning eternal
punishment has created thousands of atheists,
sceptics and defiant scoffers at Christianity, and has
made many just-minded and tender-hearted people
very unhappy, bringing the grey hairs of many in
sorrow to the grave — in sorrow for a lost world — or
a lost child (supposed through false teaching to be
lost, but not lost). Having conversed of late years
with a few of such sorrowful persons, and with some
who have been driven by false representations of the
character of God to the verge of a complete and final
rejection of all faith in Him, I have seen the relief
it has brought when the other side has been set
before them. I have seen countenances light up
as with a new hope, and the man or woman addressed
like one who has thrown off a burden of years, and
who now begins to breathe freely, delivered from an
intolerable oppression.

There is a story, told by an American poet, of an
explorer who was rowed down the River Amazon one
night from sunset to sunrise, the dark river gliding
with a serpent's stillness between forests of giant
trees wound round with snake - like creepers.
Suddenly at midnight a cry, a long despairing moan
of solitude arises, a cry so full of agony and fear, that
the heart of the traveller stands still as he listens.
The oarsman starts, drops his oar, crosses himself
and whispers, " The cry of a lost soul." " Nay, a
bird perhaps," the traveller says. " No, senor, not
a bird ; we know it well. It is the tortured soul of

296 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1903.

an infidel, an accursed heretic, that cries from hell.
Poor fool ! he shrieks for ever in the darkness for
human pity and for prayer. May the saints strike
him dumb ! Our Holy Mother has no prayer for
him ; for having sinned to the end, he burns always
in the furnace of God's wrath." The traveller made
no answer to the baptised pagan's cruel lie, which
lends new horror to the deepening shadows as the
boat's lamp burns dim, a*id the black water slides
along without a sound or a ripple. But lifting his
eyes to the strip of the starry heavens visible between
the dark walls of forest, he sees the cross of pardon
(the beautiful constellation, the Southern Cross)
lighting up the tropical sky, and he urges aloud his
strong plea : " Father of all, Thou lovest all ; Thy
erring child may be lost to himself, but never lost to
Thee. All souls are Thine. Through all guilt and
shame, perverseness of will and sins of sense Thou
forsakest not. Wilt Thou not, eternal source of good,
change to a song of praise the cry of the lost soul ? "
And a sense of peace and assurance fell upon the soul
of the traveller as the first streak of dawn summoned
all nature to her morning song of praise.

You and I have been together among the Alps,
in the early hours of the dawn, when all nature was
freshly baptised with the dew of the morning, and
such an exquisite purity was in the silent air, that
we seemed to be breathing the heavenly ether of a.
new-born earth. And we have together looked upon
those pure, snow-covered peaks, those fair sentinels
of heaven, in the evening glow, bathed in the rose
and gold of the setting sun ; appearing at the last

1905.] THE MORNING COMETH. 297

moment of farewell to the day, as if lighted by some
light from within themselves. At such times we
have felt that it was hardly possible to imagine
anything more beautiful, more awful in grandeur
and purity than this. May it be that we shall see
these same familiar features renewed in the times of
the new heavens and the new earth ? — all that
tends to decay and death, all storms, violence and
destructive forces done with for ever, and this
beautiful earth again such as we have seen it and
loved it at its best, but infinitely better and more
beautiful than its present earthly best. Its present
unrest, the violent and terrifying forces working
within its bosom are, it may be, the travail pangs
which will usher in the new earth.

To the Editor of the Shield.

January ist, 1905.

I feel impelled, in spite of much physical weakness,
to send a message of New Year's greeting, through
your organ, to such of my old friends and associates
in our Crusade who are still living, as well as to the
younger generation of workers, many of whom I have
never seen.

I believe we all realise that we are living in troubled
times, both as to our own land and to the world in
general. I do myself realise it deeply. Yet no note
of discouragement is allowed by " the God of Hope "
to sound in my soul. I say this emphatically — and my
friends may believe that this hope has not its source
in any natural buoyancy, for I am suffering much.
I should like just to reiterate the old everlasting

298 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1905.

truth that " Jehovah reigns." It is my belief
that His presence among us will be felt in proportion
as evil and perplexity increase on all sides. He hears
the bitter cry which is arising from earth. The
" distress of nations " spoken of in Scripture is His
distress who bore the sins and the griefs of the whole
world. Do not, dear friends, think of Him as far off,
and of His earth as a " God-forsaken planet." It is
still always His earth, and at a time when faith seems
to decay, He will arise in His majesty and love.
" He saw that there was no man, and wondered
that there was no Intercessor; therefore His own
arm brought salvation."

I am with you, my dear old and young companions
in arms — with you in spirit and in sympathy at this
season and always.

This year she was able to welcome a great moral
victory for the Abolitionist cause. For the Extra-
Parliamentary Commission, appointed by the French
Government in 1902, though originally not counting
more than three Abolitionists among its seventy
members, formally condemned the system of the
Police des mazurs. It remains however to be seen
what the French Chambers will do with the matter.

The following letter is a specimen of the touching
manner, in which she mourned the loss of her
friends, as one by one they passed away.

To a friend. March, 1905.

It would be difficult for me in my present circum-
stances of weakness to write, as it has been suggested,
the story of the life and work of my dear late
colleague, Margaret Tanner. Others, I trust, will

1905.] THE MORNING COMETH. 299

give the facts of her long and faithful career. But
I cannot refrain from writing to you a few words
from my heart, about her who has so lately been
called to her rest, and to the higher service which,
I believe, is granted in that rest to those who have
faithfully served God on earth.

She and I have been allied in work since the autumn
of 1869. It is a long retrospect, and many memories
crowd upon me as I look back on our special work of
the Ladies' National Association. We have always
worked in perfect harmony, although differing
markedly in natural character. To speak honestly,
as one conscious of faults, which were however
overruled (for we were educated in the work itself to
which we were called), I was too impetuous, impulsive
and sometimes rash. The keen sense of injustice
which possessed both her and me, was apt at times
to fill me with bitterness of soul. She, on the
contrary, was always calm, steady, equal, gentle —
a true representative of the Society of Friends.
I think I never heard her say an unkind word of
anyone, or pass a harsh judgment on persons who
were unjust and cruel, although abhorring the in-
justice and the cruelty. She was very humble, and
wonderfully self-effacing. With all her gentleness,
she had the utmost firmness, never wavering in the
least in principle ; and her grasp of principle and
her sense of justice were allied to a lifelong, tenacious
perseverance in duty, and in devotion to our cause
to the very end. She would say that she owed much
to me. Few people guess how much I owed to her,
to that firm, quiet individuality. She was full of
pity for the outcast and oppressed, and in this we

300 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1905.

were wholly one. Her memory is very sweet and
fragrant to me ; and I am full of a grateful remem-
brance of the influence which her character has had
on me.

I recall many visits I made to Durdham Park,
where she lived much, and worked with her sisters.
The drawing-room meetings we held there, and the
traditional beautiful hospitality of Friends, are a
bright and peaceful memory to me. There was
inspiration in those meetings, and they were fruitful
in practical results. Lastly, may I say that I noted
with reverent love the spiritual ripening of the
character of that dear friend, towards the close of her
long life of faithful labours. Her love for me was
deep and tender, and mine for her. The last time
I saw her, the light of Heaven was on her aged face,
which bore the marks of the patience which had had
its perfect work.

What follows is part of the message sent by
Josephine Butler on the occasion of the thirtieth
anniversary of the Federation, meeting at Neuchatel
in September, 1905.

The inception of our work, which has grown so
wonderfully, began very much earlier than anyone
knows. You will be surprised perhaps, when you
know all. What I have to tell you illustrates two
truths, which are, to my mind, confirmed by the inner
history of all vital evolutions of which we know any-
thing in the past history of the human race. The
first of these two truths or principles is, that in order
to produce a movement of a vital, spiritual nature

1905.] THE MORNING COMETH. 301

someone must suffer, someone must go through sore
travail of soul before a living movement, outwardly
visible, can be born. This was so in the greatest
movement of eternity — the evolution of the Christian
faith. To that end Christ suffered, as we know (in a
measure) to what a degree ; but the depth and
infinitude of His suffering we cannot know. It is
what the Greeks called " The unknown and unknow-
able agony." Scripture speaks of the " travail of His
soul." In an infinitely smaller measure I believe that
the evolution of any vitally good principle, or truth,
must be and always is preceded by suffering, by
travail of soul.* It is not all who join in the vital
movement who need to suffer ; by no means. Their
sufferings are less probably, as time goes on. The
truth visibly born into the world carries with it the
conviction and intellectual adhesion of a multitude of
good and just persons. There is still labour and
strain, and weariness and disappointment, and
inward conflict to be borne by those who join the
good cause ; but not often, I think, the long, silent
period of conception and child-bearing which precedes
the actual appearance of the living child in the world.
This has a close connection with much that Christ
said about the hidden life of the seed sown in the
Kingdom of God. The smallest of seeds, He said,
falls into the ground, remains long concealed there,
apparently dead, unseen by any. But in time it
appears an infant plant, and, as He said, becomes the
greatest of all trees, so that the birds of the air rest
in its branches.

The second truth which, I think, is illustrated by

* See pp. 13 — 1 6 supra.

302 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1905.

our experience is this : a movement which is of God,
of divine origin, and which is rooted in the will of
Him who is the God of Justice, is and must be pre-
ceded by prayer. It must have its origin in His own
inspiration. Therefore I feel that, in one sense, my
own answer to the question, " Was our movement a
Christian movement at the beginning ? " — my own
answer must be, " Yes, it was," but not in the sense in
which it is understood, or misunderstood, by some,
such as Dr. Fournier, who think that a number of
" women and clergymen," a great party of orthodox
Christians, sprang up in England, in the name of
religion, to lead this movement. It may seem a
paradox, but it must be stated truly to my inner
circle of friends, that this movement was born of God,
secretly inaugurated by years of silent prayer —
prayer offered in the name of Jesus ; and that at
the same time it was far from being a movement
patronised by Christians at first. Indeed the Christian
churches were only very slowly and gradually gained
to the condescension of looking at the question.
Bishops and clergy, and ministers of different
denominations poured upon our little early group all
the disdain they felt for us.

Our first years were a conflagration created by
the spark of wrath against injustice which our cry of
revolt had produced. Our vast populations of the
middle and working classes, especially the latter, rose
against the legislation we opposed, because it was
class legislation. This fact was the iron which
entered into the soul of our English people ; the fact
that men of the upper classes had broken down our
ancient safeguards, written in our Constitution since

1905.] THE MORNING COMETH. 303

the days of King John, in order that the sons of the
upper classes might benefit (as was supposed) by the
destruction of the daughters of the people. The
wrath of the common people quickly broke into a
flame which shook Parliament and our legislators,
and in time took hold of the churches, and which
turned our country into a veritable battlefield for
justice, apart from all religious considerations. I
allow that there were among our working men a few
groups of devout men, who held meetings quietly for
prayer about that question, especially in Scotland ;
but the great question always was that of justice and
class selfishness. There were also, I must recall,
individuals among the upper classes who were with
us from the first — rare spirits whose sense of justice
was outraged by this legislation — certain Members of
Parliament (of blessed memory), certain dignitaries
of the Church — such as Canon Fowle, who scandalised
the respectable community by preaching in his
Cathedral on several occasions against the Regulation ;
such as my revered husband and a few of his clerical
friends ; and one bishop, whose largeness of view, I
believe, was owing to his having been a colonial
bishop, accustomed to hear the enlightened views
of the poor heathen over whom he exercised his
pastoral functions.

Some of the prominent workers with us from the
first were Unitarians (including Sir James Stansfeld).
I suppose that these would hardly be considered to
be orthodox by evangelical Christians. We never
asked of our adherents what their religious views or
non- views were. We joined hands with all who came
to us, and there were many malcontents among these,

304 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1905.

^people who had been ill-used by society, poor
failures, people who had been deeply wronged and
who longed for retribution ; people whose woes cried
to heaven, even if they had never learned to send
the breath of prayer upwards to Him who bore all
our woes.

From the first we had the adhesion and support
of noble Jews. I may mention Samuel Montagu,
M.P. for Whitechapel, the Jews' quarter in London.
He, Montagu, is a " Hebrew of the Hebrews." He
gave us personal and political help. Some of the
members of the Montefiore family joined us. The
Chief Rabbi of London helped us. We had letters
of adhesion rapidly from Zadok Kahn, Grand Rabbin
of Paris ; from Astruc, Grand Rabbin of Brussels ;
and from Ben Israel, Grand Rabbin of Avignon.
Ben Israel sent to me and my husband a remarkable
book which he had written on the heroic and pro-
minent women, prophetesses and others, of the early
Hebrew times. His book showed an intelligent study
of the Hebrew Scriptures, and an innate and profound
respect for womanhood. These Hebrews whom I
have mentioned cannot certainly be ranked among
orthodox Christians ; yet we felt they were an added
strength to us.

I may mention that in 1875, when the first
British section of the Federation was formed, a dis-
tinguished Indian, Babu Keshub Chunder Sen, joined
us, and was elected a member of our first Inter-
national Committee. This committee was formed in
Liverpool, where we resided then, and on it were
placed men of various views, some of them decidedly
agnostic. Keshub Chunder Sen visited us in our

J905-] THE MORNING COMETH. 305

house in Liverpool, and our family were impressed
by the sublime calm and elevation of his spirit, in the
<leep conviction that good would triumph over evil.
He was not a Christian.

I think I have said enough to show that we
gathered all who desired justice, or who suffered
from injustice.

May I mention the order in which the tide of
divinely - inspired persons or societies gradually
gathered round us. This order, most curiously, is
precisely similar to that which existed in the case of
the great war in America against negro slavery, which
you know, was strongly upheld (I mean slavery was)
by many of the churches in America. Our first
adherents were of the Society of Friends, the Quakers,
that quiet and peaceful body of persons whose active,
practical help is always offered to suffering peoples all
through the world, in accordance with the rule of
George Fox, the founder of their sect, who established
the " Committee for Sufferings." It is the noble
obligation of this committee, which exists to this day,
to look abroad over all the sufferings of the world,
whatever they may be and in whatever land, and to
endeavour to alleviate those sufferings. These dear
people rallied to us very early. Among them my
heart urges me to mention a few of the individuals of
that body who joined us and aided us silently with
unspoken prayer, and outwardly with brave and
wonderful courage. I allude especially to my very
early comrades, Margaret Tanner and Mary Priest-
man. The former has recently entered into her rest ;
the latter is now old and infirm. You can picture
these two ladies and myself, sitting face to face, in

21

306 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1905.

gentle consultation. " What shall we do ? " One of
them replied, " Well, we must rouse the country."
Brave woman ! So gentle, so Quakerly, yet con-
vinced that we three poor women must rouse the
country. Indeed God does use the weak things of
the world to confound the strong. So we formed
gradually our " Ladies' National Association," the
mother, or rather the grandmother of all the societies
in which women worked. I should also like to record
the memory of several noted Friends in Birmingham,
who laboured for us, and some of whom are still alive.
I recall too the name of Edward Backhouse, of
Sunderland, a true prince of generosity, whose
powerful aid helped us through many difficulties in
the early days of our campaign. Mr. Thomasson
was a pillar of strength to us for many years. Their
names are written in heaven.

The religious societies who gave us adherents
gradually were, as I have said, first the Friends,
then the humblest communities, the Primitive
Methodists, the Bible Christians, the United Metho-
dists ; then the Wesleyans, who later became a
powerful aid to our cause, under the leadership of
the late Hugh Price Hughes, a fiery-hearted Welsh-
man, a convinced Abolitionist, and an eloquent
pleader for justice. Then followed, but slowly,
slowly, und with divided opinions, the Baptists and
the Congregationalists, among whom there were some
who remained blind to the meaning of our movement
for a very long time. The Scottish Churches slowly
followed, the narrowly Calvinistic character of some
of them tending to cramp their sympathies. Two great
leaders of the more enlightened part spoke valiantly

1905.] THE MORNING COMETH. 307

for us as early as 1869. I refer to Dr. Guthrie and
Dr. Duff, the well-known missionary to India.
Nevertheless some few years later, valiant corps of
Abolitionists were formed in Edinburgh, Glasgow and.
Bridge of Allan, men and women, especially women,,
who laboured with Scottish tenacity and perseverance
till quite recent years. I think I have said enough
on this subject in reply to the objection that we have
departed from our original position, or on the other
hand that we were a clique of pious people of no-
width of view.

May I add a few words to you, my friends, on a
subject which is, I am sure, stirring many hearts-
just now. You feel, I believe, as I do, that
Christianity, the true Church of Christ (I use the word
in its largest sense), is inclusive, and not exclusive.
When the disciples of Christ saw a man casting out
devils, who was not a member of their group, they
forbade him to do so. What did the Master say ?
" Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is fot
us." We have no intimation that this man ever
joined the circle of the disciples, and yet of him the
Master said : " He is for us." I have seen many just
men who give life-long labour to casting out the evil
spirits of tyranny, oppression and injustice ; and
of these, whatever their formula of belief may be,
the Judge of all will say, " Well done." There are
many outside the Christian pale in whom the Spirit
of Christ is working, and many of those who are nomi-
nally antagonists of Christianity have been thrown
into the position in which they are by the very force
of that Spirit within them which leads them to recoil
from the manifest unchristliness of the teaching

308 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1905.

of many of the churches and the intolerance of so-
called Christian governments. The true Church of
Christ is wider than all communions and creeds. In
some of those creeds our God has been so maligned,
so caricatured, may I say, that many have been
turned into rebels, or apparently rebels, whose hearts
are not really estranged from the true God. That
poor, unhappy and outwitted son of the Patriarch
Isaac, who had in an evil hour sold his birthright for
a miserable mess of pottage, cried with a loud and
bitter cry : " Hast thou but one blessing, O my
father ? Bless me, even me also, O my father ! "
Yes, the Eternal Father will bless the apparently
rejected son. There is more than one blessing for
the sons of men, however much they may have erred,
whose inmost hearts utter this bitter cry. The
Good Shepherd said : "I have other sheep which
are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and
they will hear My voice ! " There I rest.

You will pardon this expression of my heart's
conviction. I do not speak as an orthodox adherent
of any church, but as one whom sorrow and love
have taught that none of the great human family are
forgotten by Him who redeemed them, by the
Eternal Father whose name is LOVE.

The following is part of the reply written by
Josephine Butler to an Address sent to her from
those present at this Neuchatel Conference.

I should like, before concluding, to express in words a
thought which has come to me in my later experience.
In the sacred writings there is a scene recorded

1905.] THE MORNING COMETH. 309-

concerning the birth of Christ. The aged Simeon had
waited all his life for the advent of the promised
Messiah. He took in his arms the infant Christ, and
after proclaiming Him as the promised Saviour of the
human race to the end of time, he said to the mother
of the Babe, " A sword shall pierce through thy own
soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed." The sword-piercing of the heart of
womanhood has been, and will continue to be, in an
infinitely humble degree the revealer of the thoughts
of men. The sorrow of the holy mother of Christ,
the woman of the sword-pierced heart, is still bearing
fruit.

In going from city to city on the continent of
Europe, I have felt that I must needs meet this sword-
thrust with open arms, and the promised result has
followed. The thoughts of many hearts have been
revealed among the elite of earth, among whom I
include every creature of whatever rank, rich or
poor, whose regard is directed towards the light, who
desires justice and abhors injustice : the thoughts
of these begin to be expressed openly, in speech and
in action. On the other hand, the thoughts are
revealed of those who desire at all costs to hold fast
their base privileges, and to defend the means by
which these privileges are safeguarded. The
thoughts of these also take expression in speech and
in action. Silence and acquiescence are at an end.
It is now war to the death through the revelation and
outward expression of men's hearts for good and for
evil. The sword-pierced heart of holy motherhood —
a motherhood which lives by sympathy in many a
woman who is not actually a mother — will continue

•310 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1005.

to work in this mission of revealing, and we know on
which side will be the final victory.

When the question shall tc asked, " What of the
night, brothers ? What of the night ? " the answer
which I would leave with you, friends, is this :

The Angel of the Dawn alights,

The pale peaks glisten with His presence fair.

My last words to you, in case I may not be per-
mitted to remain long among you, will be words of
hope — all of hope. It cannot be said that now, aged,
and often in pain and in much weakness, it is any
natural buoyancy which upholds me. It is a granted
hopefulness. The " Angel of the Dawn " is ever pre-
sent. Deeply fixed in my soul is the conviction that
the power and love of God are about to be manifested
in proportion to the troubles of our times, and far
beyond them. Is He not the Creator of the universe,
of the myriads of the stars of heaven — God " once
manifested in the flesh " in the person of the Christ ?
Everywhere — east, west, north, and south — those
whose eyes are open see in this our day manifestations
of a spiritual power, of a loving, divine pressure on
the souls of men, of a holy compulsion bringing them
to a new consciousness, and drawing them irresistibly
to the source of Light and Life. I believe that every
effort, however humble, which is being made for the
triumph of good over evil will be found to be a con-
tribution towards the final victory, and towards the
fulfilment of the Divine promise that the " knowledge
of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover
the sea." I am emboldened, therefore, to hand on to
you this message of joyful and undying hope, from
" the God of Hope and of all consolation."

iqo6.] THE MORNING COMETH. 311

To a young worker in America.

February 26th, 1906.

You say that " many persons do not welcome new
recruits, lest they should make mistakes." ,, They will
no doubt make some mistakes, but they will learn as
we did by our errors. This brings me to express the
thought that has been uppermost in my mind for some
years past, viz. that the great hope for the future
movement is in the young manhood of our day — in the
generous heart of youth. Young women too must
and will come forward. But I press the fact of the
need of a great army of young men ; for the great evil
which we combat is the result of the egotism of men,
and of the deeply-rooted idea that the sin of impurity
is a greater sin in a woman than in a man. This
unequal standard is the devil's invention, and dates
from very early times, in spite of the severe and
sublime teaching in that matter of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.

It must be the part of the young manhood of our
days to make a place for womanhood, to restore them
to their rightful position before the law of God, and
before the laws of the land. And here I wish to
emphasise the fact, that it is not only the pure and
blameless of our youth who are called and who can
work effectually in this advance guard of the army
of the future. Let me tell you something of my own
long experience. I have seen young men whose lives
have been far from blameless, some in whose hearts
rankled an oppressive sense of the wasted past, even
a terrible remorse — I have seen such throw themselves
into the battle (not in a conspicuous position, to b<*

312 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER. [1906.

seen of men), in order to take a noble revenge against
their former selves, and die, if need be, as leaders
of a forlorn hope, making merely a bridge of their
own dead selves for worthier comrades to pass over
to victory.

So, I beseech you, let none of goodwill hold back.
" Many a wounded soldier hath won the day."
Society is in peril from dangerous wounds which will
not close until the young, the brave, the reckless,
for Christ's sake shall throw themselves into the
yawning gulf. Christ rejects none. It is to His
glory that He is able to furnish precious material
out of the very rubbish of the earth, that He should
gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be
lost, and direct to one holy end all these scattered
and desecrated energies.

Josephine Butler lived the last few years of her
life at Wooler, near to Milfield, the place of her
birth. There she died peacefully in her sleep, on
December 3oth, 1906, and was buried in the church-
yard of Kirknewton, where many of her ancestors
had been buried.

Surely we may say of her, but very slightly
altering the words of Bunyan : As she drew nigh
unto the beautiful Gate of the City, she asked,
" What must I do in the Holy Place ? " and the
shining Ones answered, " Thou must there receive
the. comfort of all thy toil, and have joy for all thy
sorrow ; thou must reap what thou hast sown, even
the fruit of all thy Prayers and Tears, and suffering
for the King by the way. There also thou shalt
serve Him continually, whom thou desired'st to
serve in the World, though with much difficulty
because of the infirmity of thy flesh. There thine
eyes shall be delighted with seeing, and thine ears

I906.J THE MORNING COMETH. 313"

with hearing the pleasant voice of the Mighty One.
There thou shalt enjoy thy friends again, that are
gone thither before thee ; and there thou shalt with
joy receive even every one that follows into the Holy
Place after thee." As she entered in at the Gate,
then I heard in my Dream that all the bells in the
City rang again for joy, and that it was said unto-
her, " Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

APPENDIX.

LIST OF JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER'S WRITINGS

The Education and Employment of Women. Pp. 28. (Macmillan)
London, 1868.

Introduction (Pp. Ixiv) to series of Essays on Woman's Work and
Woman's Culture. (Macmillan) London, 1869.

Memoir of John Grey of Dilston. Pp. 360. (Edmonston &

Douglas) Edinburgh, 1 869.
Revised edition of same. Pp. 310. (H. S. King & Co.)

London, 1874.
Italian translation of same. Florence, 1871.

An Appeal to the People of England on the Recognition and Superin-
tendence of Prostitution by Governments. By " An
English Mother." (Banks) Nottingham, 1870.

On the Moral Reclaimability of Prostitutes. (National Associa-
tion) London, 1870.
Italian translation of same. Rome, 1875.

The Duty of Women. Address at Carlisle. (Hudson Scott)
Carlisle, 1870.

Sursum Corda. (Brakell) Liverpool, 1871.

The Constitutional Iniquity of the C.D. Acts. Bradford, 1871.

Address in Craigie Hall, Edinburgh. (Ireland) Manchester, 1871.

Address at Croydon. (National Association) Lonuon, 1871.

Letter to the Order of Good Templars. (Brakell) Liverpool, 1871. (?)

Vox Populi. (Brakell) Liverpool. 1871.

The Constitution Violated. Pp. 181. (Edmonston & Douglas)
Edinburgh, 1871.

The New Era. Pp. 56. (Brakell) Liverpool, 1872.

Letter on the subject of Mr. Bruce's Bitt. (Brakell) Liverpool,
1872.

A Few Words addressed to True-hearted Women. 1872.

Legislative Restrictions on the Industry of Women. [By J. E. B.
and four others.] (Personal Rights Association) London,
1873- (?)

314

APPENDIX. 315

Letter to a Friend on recent Division in the House of Commons.

(Brakell) Liverpool, 1873.
Speech at Bristol to Vigilance Association. (F. Bell & Co.)

London, 1874.
Some Thoughts on the Present Aspect of the Crusade. (Brakell)

Liverpool, 1874.

Letter to the L.N.A. (Brakell) Liverpool, 1875.
Une Voix dans le Desert. (Sandoz) Paris and Neuchatel, 1875.
German translation of same. Neuchatel, 1875.
Italian translation of same. Rome, 1875.
Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Russian, Spanish and Dutch

translations of same. 1876 and later years.
State Regulation of Vice, Speech at Hull. 1876.
The Hour before the Dawn. [Anonymous.] (Triibner) London,

1876.

Second edition. By J. E. Butler. (Triibner) London,
1882.

French translation of same. (Grassart) Paris, 1876.
Discours prononce a I'h6tel Wagram. Paris, 1877.
Discours prononce dans la Salle de la rue d' Arras. Paris, 1877.
Discours prononce dans la Chapelle Malesherbes. Paris, 1877.
Discours prononce dans la Salle de la Redonte. Paris, 1877.
The Paris of Regulated Vice. (Article in Methodist Protest.)

1877-

Adieux a Geneve. Geneva, 1877.
Ceux qui prient. Paris, 1878.
•Catharine of Siena. Pp. 338. (Dyer Bros.) London, 1878.

French translation of same. Fontaines, 1887.
Government by Police. Pp. 64. (Dyer Bros.) London, 1879.
Social Purity. Pp. 48. (Morgan & Scott) London, 1879.

Dutch translation of same. La Haye, 1884.
Souvenir des reunions a Vevey. Fontaines, 1879.
Deposition regarding treatment of English Girls in Immoral Houses

in Brussels. (Printed for private circulation) 1880.
Extrait d'une lettre a I'occasion des investigations de M.X. &

Bruxelles. Neuchatel, 1880.

Discours au Congres de Genes : La traite des blanches. 1880.
Discours au Congres de Gf'nes : Des lois sur le vagabondage. 1880.
Discours au Congres de Genes : La provocation. 1880.
Discours prononce a I' issue du Congres de Genes. 1880.
Address at Tenth Anniversary of L.N.A. (Brakell) Liverpool,

1880.

A Call to Action. (Hudson) Birmingham, 1881.
Portions of Address at Conference of Women in Geneva. (Hazell,

Watson & Viney) London, 1881.

316 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER.

Letter to the Mothers of England. Liverpool, 1881.
French translation of same. Neuchatel, 1882.
Lettre d'une Mtre. Neuchatel, 1881.

Lettre a ses amis et compagnons d'auvre. Neuchatel, 1882.
Allocution dans la seance d'ouverture de la Conference de Neuchdtel.

1882.

Allocution a la Chapelle de la Place d'Armes. Neuchatel, 1882.
Discours d'Adieux a la Conference de Neuchatel. 1882.
Life of J. F. Oberlin. Pp. 190. (Religious Tract Society)

London, 1882.
The Salvation Army in Switzerland. Pp. 304. (Dyer Bros.)

London, 1883.

Dangers of Constructive Legislation in Matters of Purity. (Arrow-
smith) Bristol, 1883.

The Bright Side of the Question. (Arrowsmith) Bristol, 1883.
Questions morales. Lausanne, 1883.

Appel aux dames prcsentes au Congres de La Haye. 1883.
Discours dans la seance d'ouverture du Congres de La Haye. 1883.
Le point du jour. (Discours a la Haye) Neuchatel, 1883.
Allocution aux femmes de G-nes. Neuchatel, 1883.
The Principles of the Abolitionists. (Dyer Bros.) London, 1885.

French and German translations of same. Undated.
The Work of the Federation. (Federation Offices) London, 1885.
Marion, histoire veritable. Neuchatel, 1885.

German translation of same. Neuchatel, 1885.
Rebecca Jarrett. (Morgan & Scott) London, 1886.
L'ceuvre du relevement moral : Discours prononce a Naples.

Geneve, 1886.

Dutch translation of same. La Haye, 1886.
Danish translation of same. Copenhagen, 1887.
Our Christianity tested by the Irish Question. Pp. 62. (Fisher

Unwin) London, 1887.
The Revival and Extension of the Abolitionist Cause. (Doswcll)

Winchester, 1887.
Letter to International Convention of Women at Washington.

(Morgan & Scott) London, 1888.
Zwei Vortrage uber das staatlich regulierte Laster. Mulheim,

1888.

The Dawn. [Quarterly.] (Burfoot) London, 1888-96.
Woman's Place in Church Work. (Article in Review of thf-

Churches.) London, 1892.
Recollections of George Butler. Pp. 487. (Arrowsmith) Bristol,

1892.
Letter to World's Women's Christian Temperance Union. Bristol,,

1892.

APPENDIX. 317

St. Agnes. (]. Cox) London, 1893.

The Present Aspect of the Abolitionist Cause in relation to British

India. (Federation Offices) London, 1893.
French translation of same. Geneve, 1894.

The Lady of Shunem. Pp. 143. (Horace Marshall) London, 1894.
The Constitutional Iniquity. (Federation Offices) London, 1895.
Lettre a Madame Duplan. Lausanne, 1895.
Two Letters of Earnest Appeal and Warning. (Federation Offices)

London, 1895.

A Doomed Iniquity. (Federation Offices) London, 1896.
Address to L.N.A. (Arrowsmith) Bristol, 1896.
Personal Reminiscences of a Great Crusade. Pp. 409. (Horace

Marshall) London, 1896.
French translation of same. Paris, 1900.
German translation of same. Dresde, 1904.
Russian translation of same. Varsovie, 1904.
Truth Before Everything. (Dyer Bros.) London, 1897.
Lettre a une ami sur la lutte contre la reglementation dans I'Inde.

1897.
Letter to Conference in London. (Published in the Shield)

London, 1897.

French translation of same. 1897.

Some Lessons from Contemporary History. (Friends' Associa-
tion) London, 1898.

The Storm-Bell. [Monthly.] (Burfoot) London, 1898-1900.
Prophets and Prophetesses. (Mawson) Newcastle, 1898.

French translation of same. Neuchatel, 1898.
Native Races and the War. Pp. 152. (Gay & Bird) London,

1900.

Silent Victories. Pp. 87. (Burfoot) London, 1900.
Receiving. (Article in Wings.) London, 1900.
L' emancipation telle que j'e I'ai apprise. Neuchatel, 1900.

La cause de la femme et I'avenir du foyer. (Article dans la

Revue de Morale Sociale.) Geneve, 1900.
Souvenirs humblement recommandes aux amis de la femme reunis

a Paris. Geneve, 1900.
The three last-mentioned papers also appeared in English

in The Storm-Bell.
In Memoriam, Harriet Meuricoffre. Pp. 308. (Horace Marshall)

London, 1901.
Reflexions sur la Federation. (Article dans la Revue du

Christianisme Social.) 1902.
English translation published in the Shield.
The Mornina Cometh. By " Philalethes." Pp. 56 (Grierson)

Newcastle, 1903.

318 JOSEPHINE E. BUTLER.

Lettre aux Membres de la Commission administrative de la Federa-
tion. 1904.
English translation published in the Shield.

Du travail des femmes dans les fabriques. Neuchatel, undated.

Deux entretiens avec ses sceurs de la Suisse : La mission de I'heure
actuelle. Neuchatel, undated.

Un mot aux femmes. Geneve, undated.

Feuille volante de I' Association du Sou, No. 20. Geneve, undated.

The Social Purity Movement. Undated.

Many of the above publications are out of print, but some of
them may be obtained at the Offices of the Federation, 17 Tothill
Street, Westminster, S.W., or 3 Rue du Vieux -College, Geneva.

PRINTING OFFICE OF THK PUBLISHKK.

3 1970007183418

JAN 0 6 1986

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