CRY OF THE OLD AND THE NEW CRUSADERS. 105

act as continental correspondent and representative of the Federation, was duly elected to that post M. Humbert, who is a learned and accomplished man, and whose character stands high in his own country and elsewhere, has held important Government appointments: he was for ten years Chancellor of the Swiss Federation, and he had already proved his zeal in our work by the active help he had given to Mrs. Butler before, during, and since her visit to the Continent. The work which has since been accomplished by M. Humbert, and of which some account will be given in a subsequent chapter, bears abundant testimony to his prudence and energy as an advocate of our cause, and to his great ability as an organizer and worker.

In his letter to Mrs. Butler, agreeing to act as representative of the Federation, M. Humbert says:"We accept,"-speaking for his wife, as well as for himself; and adds:-"God wills it' was the cry of the old crusaders, and it is still more appropriate as the watchword of a crusade which is wholly moral. I do not deceive myself concerning the difficulties which the work on the Continent presents. They are the greater because vice is not in every case organized by law. Our Governments are none the less responsible, however; I should even say they are more guilty, since it is by their orders, or by their permission, that, in order to organize vice, their administrations of police place themselves above the law."

During the meeting of the 19th March, a telegram was received from Rome announcing the unanimous adhesion of the Central Italian Committee to the Federation, and shortly after, one from Paris, of which the following is a translation :

"Appia. De Coppet. As soon as the Session of the National Assembly is over, we hope to form a Com

mittee which will put itself in communication with the Federation, to work for the destruction of legalised immorality. May God bless your generous efforts."

The Shield concludes its report of this meeting by saying:

"The expenses of the continental work of the Federation will be defrayed in part by the local committees that may be formed; but until the organization is complete, it is needful that the English friends of Repeal should provide funds liberally, and we trust all who can will contribute to this important development of our work."

"Association centuples your strength; it makes the thoughts of others your own, and the progress of others your own, while it elevates and sanctifies your nature through the affections and the growing sentiment of the unity of the human family. But you tell me you cannot attempt united action, distinct and divided as you are in language, customs, tendencies, and capacity.... The individual is too insignificant, and humanity too vast. The mariner of Brittany prays to God as he puts to sea: Help me, my God! my boat is so small, and Thy ocean so wide! And this prayer is the true expression of the condition of each one of you, until you find the means of infinitely multiplying your forces and powers of action."-MAZZINI.

OR some time after Mrs. Butler's return from

the Continent, and previously to the complete organization of the British and Continental

Federation, her own work was necessarily greatly increased. The labour of correspondence with persons in many parts of the world, and in different languages, was no slight task, and her strength proved insufficient for her prolonged labours. While pursuing her work of correspondence to a late hour one night, a feeling of sudden prostration which came upon her made it apparent that the over-taxed mental powers must have rest, and that some time of retirement from work would be required to enable her to return with renewed vigour to her post. The work, however, experienced no check. The breath of the Most High, which can "break the icebergs in pieces, and kindle a mighty conflagration," continued to keep alive and to fan into stronger life the spark already kindled. During the summer

months, when Mrs. Butler was unable to work, Mr. Henry Wilson, of Sheffield, proved himself to be a valuable lieutenant. He succeeded, by his earnest efforts, in interesting a great number of English friends in the work inaugurated on the Continent; his appeals for funds were generously responded to; and persons from many parts of the world continued, during the summer and autumn, to send in their adhesions to the Federation. Further allusion to these adhesions will be made in the course of the narrative.

After Mrs. Butler had left Italy, the first places in which there arose a spontaneous continuation of the work the inauguration of which has been already detailed, were Rome and Milan. In the latter city, in February, an address was given by Signor Brusco Onnis, in the Scuola Mazzini, of which the Libertà e Associazione of Milan gave the following report:

Signor Brusco went on to treat his difficult topic in carefully considered and delicate language. He began by answering the stupid and vulgar objection that would bid us abstain from the attempt to remedy an evil, on the ground that it has always existed; pointing out that evil only exists in order to be conquered and overcome, and that the struggle against it constitutes the sole source of human merit. He showed the injustice of inflicting the whole penalty of a sin committed by men and women upon women only, thereby affirming and sanctioning the slavery of woman, in defiance of the progress of civilization and the law of God. He asked how it was that medical supporters of the system confined their attention solely to the one point of individual infection, and entirely neglected the greater evil of the necessary degeneration of the race resulting from impurity, and concluded by an eloquent appeal to the working classes, and to the women of Milan, to associate their efforts with those of the association established in England to obtain the Repeal

THE ITALIAN PRESS ON THE ABOLITIONISTS' WORK. 109

of all laws regulating prostitution, suggesting that an association should be formed in Milan for the same purpose. The audience, which was very numerous, repeatedly signified their approval of the sentiments and principles expressed by the speaker."

The Emancipazione, of Rome, reproduced at the same date a letter to an English lady, written by the late Joseph Mazzini, in which he condemned our laws which legalize vice, as "an introduction of the worst feature of American slavery into England, by violating-in the case of the female population of her garrison towns— that sacred right over their own persons which English law had hitherto recognised even in criminals, and practically depriving them of that power of choice between good and evil which is the sole source of human responsibility;" and in which he enters his protest against 'all such laws, and the doctrine on which they are founded, not only in the name of true womanhood, but of true manhood.''

The same newspaper, the Emancipazione, continued weekly its advocacy of the cause, in a series of excellent and exhaustive articles. A significant and hopeful sign, and one which is never wanting where the principles of the abolitionists have taken root vitally, was not long in appearing in Italy, namely, the alarmed activity of the opponents of those principles. Some of the most distinguished medical men in Italy openly declared the regulation system a hygienic failure, and joined the ranks of the abolitionists; on the other hand, articles appeared weekly from the pens of doctors who boldly defended the existing laws. The Gazzetta di Milano, and the Diritto of Rome, became for some weeks the vehicles of the opinions of the opposing parties, which were fairly and fully presented to the country by each of these journals.

The definitive constitution of a Central Italian Com