ur great cities.

Among the useful results of the prosecution was the establishment of the
Malthusian League, "to agitate for the abolition of all penalties on the
public discussion of the population question", and "to spread among the
people, by all practicable means, a knowledge of the law of population,
of its consequences, and of its bearing upon human conduct and morals".
The first general meeting of the League was held at the Hall of Science
on July 26th, 1877, and a council of twenty persons was elected, and this
Council on August 2nd elected Dr. C.R. Drysdale, M.D. President, Mr.
Swaagman Treasurer, Mrs. Besant Secretary, Mr. Shearer Assistant
Secretary, and Mr. Hember Financial Secretary. Since 1877 the League,
under the same indefatigable president, has worked hard to carry out its
objects; it has issued a large number of leaflets and tracts; it supports
a monthly journal, the _Malthusian_; numerous lectures have been
delivered under its auspices in all parts of the country; and it has now
a medical branch, into which none but duly qualified medical men and
women are admitted, with members in all European countries.

Another result of the prosecution was the accession of "D." to the staff
of the _National Reformer_. This able and thoughtful writer came forward
and joined our ranks as soon as he heard of the attack on us, and he
further volunteered to conduct the journal during our imprisonment. From
that time to this--a period of eight years--articles from his pen have
appeared in our columns week by week, and during all that time not one
solitary difficulty has arisen between editors and contributor. In public
a trustworthy colleague, in private a warm and sincere friend, "D." has
proved an unmixed benefit bestowed upon us by the prosecution.

Nor was "D." the only friend brought to us by our foes. I cannot ever
think of that time without remembering that the prosecution brought me
first into close intimacy with Mrs. Annie Parris--the wife of Mr. Touzeau
Parris, the Secretary of the Defence Committee throughout all the fight--
a lady who, during that long struggle, and during the, for me, far worse
struggle that succeeded it, over the custody of my daughter, proved to me
the most loving and sisterly of friends. One or two other friendships
which will, I hope, last my life, date from that same time of strife and
anxiety.

The amount of money subscribed by the public during the Knowlton and
succeeding prosec