of Mrs. Percy of Aldershot, and warned the meeting against the insidious progress of the system in Switzerland. The close of his speech was received with a burst of acclamations, a very rare thing in this country. The meeting was well kept up, short speeches following one another in quick succession, until the room had to be vacated for another meeting. The result of these meetings was that many signatures were obtained of adherents to the Federation. "Similar religious meetings were held in Lausanne on September 24th and 25th, and thanks largely to the energy of Madame Merle d'Aubigné, of Geneva, the friends in Lausanne were able to hold meetings for men and for women on the 25th. Owing to the short notice given, the attendance was not so good as at Neuchâtel. A small ladies' committee already exists in connection with M. Borel's Refuge at Geneva, and this will serve as a nucleus for a larger committee on the whole subject. Political action is necessary as soon as possible, as there is at this moment a proposal before the Cantonal Council of State to introduce police surveillance of prostitution. The women's meeting was attended by Madame Bridel, Madame Duplan of Lausanne, Madame Merle d'Aubigné of Geneva, Mademoiselle Du Port, and other ladies from different towns on the lake; and by Mrs. Bunting, Miss Lidgett, and Mrs. Amos. The lastnamed lady explained the English Acts, and urged the ladies to active efforts. At the men's meeting, M. de Préssensé, of Paris, the well-known French Pasteur and Deputé (who is a member of the Council of the Federation), spoke. He expressed his surprise that the subject had not earlier attracted the attention of the Christian Churches. Bad as prostitution was in every way, the legalization of it was 'abominable.' He was awake, however, to the peculiar difficulties of the agitation against this vicious POLICE RULE ON THE CONTINENT. 171 system; and the conductors of it would find themselves opposed by all sorts of subtle devices and tortuous State-craft. It was a subject, however, on which the conscience of the people and of the churches must emphatically speak. He had already joined the Federation, and was willing to give all the personal assistance he could, in any way that might be suggested to him, to the movement. Professor Amos and Mr. Bunting spoke on the agitation in England and on the relation of the work of the Federation to the object of the religious meetings. M. Theodore Monod expressed his sympathy. M. Buscarlet, Presbyterian Pastor at Lausanne, called attention to the system of entrapping young Swiss girls under pretext of finding them places. At the close of the meeting several gentlemen expressed their concurrence and their thorough readiness to join the Federation and to form a committee. "There is one great difference between the English and the Continental modes of viewing laws affecting prostitution; namely, that in most Continental countries, including Switzerland, large and indefinite powers are understood to belong to the police, in dealing with this as with other matters, while in England the far greater regard for individual liberty causes the powers of the police to be more strictly limited and defined. It is quite possible on the Continent for a whole system of registration and of Maisons Tolérées to be introduced at the mere discretion of the police, without any law being made on the subject at all, or even in the face of a prohibitory statute. In this way the system has been introduced at la Chaux-de-Fonds, in one or two other places, and notably in Geneva; and it threatens to spread. In Geneva a law was passed some fifty years ago empowering the police to arrest and imprison the women without warrant or magistrate's sentence. But, owing largely to the efforts of Professor Hornung, a member of the Federation, who has written an important report on this subject, the law has been abolished and the operations of the police have been thereby not a little impeded. "A private meeting was held on September 27th, at the house of Madame Merle d'Aubigné, at which Professor Hornung, M. Borel, Professor and Mrs. Amos, and Mr. Bunting spoke. M. de la Harpe, President of the Theological College, acted as interpreter. Public opinion in Geneva requires a great deal of enlightenment. But it is believed that a considerable impetus has been given to the movement, and that committees will shortly be formed. Père Hyacinth expresses himself ready to give all the aid in his power. At the Conference alluded to, at which an Intercantonal Committee was formed, the following circular was drawn up for circulation in the various cantons :— "Neuchâtel Intercantonal Committee, "To the women of the different cantons of Switzerland. "After the impressive days which we have passed together, it is pleasant for us to think that the fraternal union which we have realized in our religious assemblies will continue to unfold its effects in the form of a common work accomplished by the agencies of different localities. We feel urged to come without delay to find you on your return to your firesides, to recall to your minds the desire which was expressed at Neuchâtel, that we should join ourselves together for the purpose of forming a committee in every place, and set ourselves immediately to the work. In our opinion the first thing to be done is to make widely known around us the aim, direct and indirect, of the Federation in the name of which we work, and to that end to LADIES' INTERCANTONAL COMMITTEE. 173 distribute subscription lists in order to engage as many persons as possible as adherents to our principles. The leaflet here enclosed is intended to recall to ourselves the points on which the Federation insists, and to make them clear to those who have not yet joined our ranks, as well as to give certain directions concerning the use of subscription lists. We send one for each member of the Intercantonal Committee, leaving them to pass them on to other persons in order to have them filled up. If you have exhausted the resources of your neighbourhood without being able to fill up the lists, you are earnestly requested to return them, with such subscriptions as you have received, to the address of M. Aimé Humbert. We add to this paper the circular addressed by the committees of English ladies to the Swiss ladies, which is very useful for distribution; and also some copies of the speech which M. Humbert made on the occasion of Mrs. Butler's visit to Neuchâtel. We make an exception, in sending out these papers, of the Committee of Chaux-de-Fonds, which gave us a bright example by its zeal and its promptitude; for not only did the ladies of that city, two months after the visit of Mrs. Butler, organize themselves, form committees, and found "the Refuge" (the object and the rules of which will presently be sent to you), but they have already filled four lists of subscriptions, and a fifth, which is in circulation, will presently bring up to a hundred the number of members of the Federation enrolled by the efforts of the ladies of Chaux-de-Fonds. Let us encourage each other mutually to follow this good example, and let us work not as for men, but as under the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. The formation of the Intercantonal Committee on the 23rd September was accomplished with a precipitation which was excusable, owing to the short time which we had at our disposal. Our nominations have not been endorsed, and the committee was therefore not able finally to constitute itself. We enclose to you the list of persons who were nominated by acclamation rather than in any regular manner; these nominations ought to be ratified by the committees formed in each locality. As to the management of the Intercantonal Committee, since the office of the general Commissariat for the Continent is Neuchâtel, perhaps you may be inclined to confide it to the members resident in Neuchâtel, who will appoint a secretary. Will you make your opinion known to us on this point? on which the opinion of the majority will rule. As soon as you have formed local committees anywhere, be so good as to send lists of your members to the different localities which have entered into the league. Finally, ladies and dear sisters, we have to pray you most earnestly to keep us informed of all the facts which come before you, and to communicate to us all the light you can, in order to make clear the grave question which occupies us. The forthcoming "Bulletin " will serve as a bond and means of communication between our different members. May He who came to seek and to save that which was lost make us ready for every good work for His glory. (Signed) MARIE HUMBERT. At the close of the year, M. Humbert presented the following report to the Committee of the Federation. Although part of this report contains a repetition of some of the events already narrated, it gives so complete a resumé of the work, that we think it best to give it entire : "British, Continental, and General Federation for the "Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution. "Continental Department. "Neuchâtel, Nov. 24th, 1875. "To Professor James Stuart, M.A., "Hon. Secretary of the Federation. "SIR,-Your two letters of September 13th and October 30th have remained without direct reply till now, owing to my complete occupation by my duties, and by the exigencies of our common struggle. I beg you therefore to accept my excuses, and I thank you cordially for your valued words of encouragement. "I shall as soon as possible draw up a circular, but I |