one common action in the name of the elementary principles of natural justice and humanity.

"In England and Switzerland the Federation has received an essential impulse from religious feeling, which also is breathed in its principal publications, especially those of Mrs. Josephine E. Butler, Sursum Corda,'' Une voix dans le Désert,' etc. The Federation is therefore happy to be able to stretch out the hand of fellowship to the religious associations already constituted, and above all to those which can point to a long and faithful career in good works.

"But the Federation will be none the less eager to cooperate with societies or groups of earnest-minded persons who may treat the question of the elevation of public morality, and the abolition of legalized prostitution, as a purely humanitarian work. The Federation will formally repudiate those sects alone that are hostile to the fundamental principles on which society is based.

"With regard to associations with which the Federation may find itself united by even the closest sympathies, it is doubtless possible that differences of opinion may arise on various points in the application of the principles of the Federation. But we do not doubt that time and experience will bring about an ever closer approximation; and the Federation will avoid as far as possible any dispute which might threaten to sow discord between itself and its allies. It is only especially to be desired that the allied workers may become more and more impressed with the necessity imposed on their conscience of making front against the common enemy, of attacking it in the first place in the privileged fortresses of vice, and of breaking through the network of evil ordinances which modern materialism is seeking to spread from town to town and from country to country, in obedience to the suggestions of presumptuous and pretentious quasi-scientific Congresses.

LOVE, OUR BOND OF UNION.

191

"But we shall not depart from charity even towards our adversaries. Our crusade is neither against men nor against governments, but solely against doctrines and institutions that we regard as anti-social or anti-christian, which in our eyes are one and the same thing.

"Love will therefore be the special bond of all the members, friends, and allies of our association, desirous as they are of following in the footsteps of Him who came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

CHAPTER VII.

"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

T now only remains briefly to record the occasional conflicts arising through the assertion of our principles in the Colonies and in America; to report the latest intelligence received from European countries; and, finally, to commend to all the friends of our cause the claims of this great movement to their deepened sympathy and increased support.

To the subject of the Colonies we shall make only a brief allusion. It will be remembered how at an early period of our agitation it was discovered that the system of regulation had been introduced, through the pressure of official influence, into every or nearly every colony of the British Empire. The strong protest issued by Bishop Alford, late Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong,* is familiar to

* It is worthy of remark that the Colonial Bishops who have been brought into contact, while abroad, with the system of legalized prostitution, have invariably spoken or written strongly against it. A long and powerful letter against the system was written in 1871, by Dr. Gray, Bishop of Cape Town, and Metropolitan of Southern Africa. This was largely circulated in England. Dr. Cotterill, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, late Bishop of Graham's Town, and now Bishop of Edinburgh, has emphatically condemned the system both in writing and speaking, and Bishop Ryan, formerly Bishop of the Mauritius, and now vicar of Bradford, has never failed to raise his voice against it. Many other instances might be cited of Church dignitaries residing in the Colonies and cognizant of the working of the system, who have raised their voices in stern condemnation of England's action in forcing this hideous law upon her Dependencies.

CAPE COLONY AND INDIA.

193

many, and has already conveyed a picture of the completeness of the licensing system there adopted. Our friends well know the prolonged conflict maintained in the Parliament of Cape, Colony, resulting in the total abolition of the immoral system in that Colony. The chief promoter of its repeal, Mr. Saul Solomons, M.P., is now a member of the General Council of the Federation. The events which have taken place in India, and more particularly in Bombay, are familiar to our friends, and have been recorded from time to time in the Shield. It may be well, however, to call especial attention to three letters from natives of India. The first of these was received so far back as 1870, from Dadoba Pandurung, Fellow of the Bombay University, and Justice of the Peace for the town and island of Bombay, and expresses great joy at the formation of the Repeal societies in England. This magistrate says: "Whatever may be the effects of such an unjust and injurious law in a country like England, where official acts of tyranny and oppression are perhaps rare, the effects of its introduction into a country like India, where the last executive powers rest generally with men picked from the lowest strata of society, can more easily be conceived than described." The weighty character of this letter, and the grave facts adduced in it, render it well worthy of re-perusal; it will be found in the Shield of August 8th, 1870. The second letter to which we refer was from Narayun Jugunath, Educational Inspector at Kurrachee, who wrote, in November, 1871, describing the horrible effects of this system in India. The third letter, from the wellknown Keshub Chunder Sen, in answer to a request to him to become a member of the Council of the Federation, we give in extenso :—

"Colotola, Calcutta, 31st August, 1875. "DEAR SIR,-I thank you for your kind letter, and the honour you have done me by nominating me as a member of

the General Council of the new Federation for the Abolition of Government Regulation of Prostitution. It gives me great pleasure to learn that an agency under such influential leadership, and on so extended a scale, has been organised to deliver society from the terrible effects of a vicious enactment; and there is matter for special congratulation for me in the fact that it includes India in the scope of its operations. The evil against which you have entered upon a holy crusade prevails to a fearful extent in this country also, and does its mischievous work here as elsewhere. To England we owe numerous political blessings, for which our country is truly thankful to Providence; but, alas! these blessings are sometimes accompanied by evils which nothing but enlightened public opinion, such as the Federation and other similar societies can alone bring about, will succeed in eventually rooting out from our country. Most gladly do I join your movement, and wish it God-speed.

"I remain, dear Sir, yours very truly,

"KESHUB CHUNDER SEN." The South Australian Register of Sept. 9th, 1875, contained a detailed report of a debate in the South Australian House of Assembly, on a motion for leave to introduce a Bill adopting the system of Regulation in that Colony. The debate was full of interest. A division has doubtless taken place on the second reading of the Bill. A most ardent opponent of this Bill was Mr. Rowland Rees, M.P., son of our zealous co-worker Alderman Rees, of Dover. The Hon. H. Parkes, formerly for three years Prime Minister in the Colony, is also an earnest opponent of the measure.

In Canada, attempts are being made to introduce the Regulation system, and, together with these attempts, an opposition is also arising. An application for advice and co-operation has been received by the Honorary Secretaries of the Federation from friends of the cause in Montreal. The population of Canada consists largely of a French element, hence the publications issued in