The Portland daily press., 1877-07-13

V"h writings ana especially her defence, which
she conducted unassisted before the chief justice
and jury, and which excited the wonder and
applause of all who heard her eloquent, logical
and unanswerable argument will give her a
sure place among the greatest women of her
AEGEAN age which has produced George Eliot.
George Sand, Mrs. Stowe and Mrs. Howe.
Indeed, the jury, uninfiuenced by the bigoted
harangue of Sir Hardings Clifford, the Solicitor
General, found special verdict that the de-
PENDANTS were not influenced by improper mo-
tives in publishing and selling the "Fruits of
Philosophy" but as they found also that the
work was calculated to corrupt public NOR
all" they were directed by the court to bring in
the verdict OF guilty, which was followed by a
sentence that the Daily News does not hesitate
to characterize as ''vindictiye."
Now as your readers may not know what this
"obscene book" is which is calculated to cor
rupt the precious "public morals of the Brit
ish nation, L am sure you will not be scandal
lied If tell them. Mr.. Bradaugh and Mrs.
Besant are disciples of Malthus-they believe
in his famous and now uni versally conceded
dogma that population naturally tends to in
crease in ratio greatly exceeding that Of the
X,
content to suffer over-population to be cor
rected by the natural checks--want, starvation
disease, Crime, prostitution and the suffering and
death of the laboring poor. Accordingly they
published the. Fruits of Philosophy" q work
written by Dr. Knowlton, an American, about
forty years ago In which certain artificial checks
are described and recommended. The purpose
OF the book Is not an improper one and there IL
nothing In it more offensive to deoacy than
in most medical treatises of its class, but 1t Is
so inadequate work, its physiology is 80
obsolete and its execution every way 30
clumsy that am amazed that persons of intel
ligence and culture should have selected 10 as
they did, for the purpose of finding out wheth-
er the population question could be discussed.
But its literary defects were not the question;
its publishers we're condemned as corruptors of
PUBLIC MORALS
in land where the descendants of Charles
IPsnumerous illegitimate offspring still occu-
py the highest rank In the peersge and own
the broadest acres, where new statue of that
monarch, in white marble, has recently been
set up in Westminster Hall, while the filthy
works of the dramatists of his agel still find an
unrestricted. sale; in land where Regent
Street and Regents Park with many other
public monuments and statues commemorate
the recent reign of George w., whose utter
vileness and debauchery make his character
comparable only with that of the most
worthless of the Roman Emperors-
where too, the members of the existing
royal family, the heir to the throne and his
brothers, lead a life of almost open dlssoluss-
ness so that their amours are the constant top
10 of street and club gossip and sometimes even
become part of the record of divorce suits.
The Daily News is right, and besides saying
that the sentence is yindictive 1t might have
added that it was an expression of the hatred
felt by the upper classes" toward Bradlaugh
and Mrs. Besant as able, honest and fearless
republican and social agitators. Bradlaugh's
powerful voice and pen have many times de-
nounced the moral impurity existing amo ng
these same upper classes. He has even pub
lished pamphlet or two In which the fragrant
immortality of the Prince of Wales and the
general idleness and lowness of his pursuits
have been fearlessly criticised. 1t is for this
and for his efforts to emancpate the suffering
masses of English people from the intolersble
weight of the superintendent peerage and
landowners and not for any wrong he has COM
mitted that he Is to pass six monthsIn felon's
cell.
The prosecution has excited great interest
here, and it seems to me that the consequences
are likely to be more important and
serious than could at first have been an
ticipated. The times are ripe for new social
and political sgitations in England and there
is fermentation going on among the masses
which 80 savage an onslaught on two persons
loved by the people is calculated to promote.
The moncpolists of land, of money and of
political power believe that they are
safe in England from those Sudden and violent
uprisings on the part of the oppressed which
elsewhere have sometimes been found
the only remedy against firmly estab-
lished and piti1ess injustice. am not quite of
that opinion, though matters have not by any
means gone so far as to indicate all immediate
resort to anything more than persistent work
and vigorous agitation. 1t may be q fanciful
idea, but cannot help thinking that the ILL
restrained eagerness of the present Tory gov
ernment to take part in the European war--a
tendency which is with difficulty kept In check
by Mr.. Gladstone and his Liberal associates-is
partly due to desire to divert public attention
from the reforms 80 iDperatively needed at
home. TRICorEUR.