morally enervated, that the law could not
without risk of losing its majesty violate justice. In England
alone the regulations are law. Their promoters, by their
hardihood in asking parliament to decree injustice, have brought
on unconsciously to themselves, the beginning of the end of the
whole system. The Englishman is a powerful agent for evil as for
good. In the best times of our history my countrymen possessed
preeminently vigorous minds in vigorous bodies. But when the
animal nature has outgrown the moral, the appetites burst their
proper restraints, and man has no other notion of enjoyment save
bodily pleasure; he passes by a quick and easy transition into a
powerful brute. And this is what the upper-class Englishman has
to a deplorable extent become. There is no creature in the world
so ready as he to domineer, to enslave, to destroy. But together
with this development towards evil, there has been in our country
a counter development. Moral faith is still strong among us.
There are powerful women, as well as strong, pure, and
self-governed men, of the real old Anglo-Saxon type. It was in
England then, which adopted last the hideous slavery, that there
arose first a strong national protest in opposition. English
people rose up against the wicked law before it had been in
operation three months. English men and women determined to carry
abolition not at home only, but abroad, and they promptly carried
their standard to every country on the continent of Europe. In
all these countries men and women came forward at the first
appeal, and said, "We are ready, we only waited for you,
Anglo-Saxons, to take the lead; we have groaned under the
oppression, but there was not force enough among us to take the
initiative step."

We have recently had a visit from Monsieur Aimi Humbert of
Switzerland, our able general secretary for the continent. Much
encouragement was derived from the reports which reached us from
France, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and even Spain, where a noble
lady, Donna Concepcion Arenal of Madrid, and several gentlemen
have warmly espoused our cause. The progress is truly
encouraging; yet, on the other hand, it is obvious that the
partisans of this legislation have recently been smitten with a
kind of rage for extending the sy