the syphilis, but that the fault lay with the mother herself. (Cries of "Shame.") At last the Royal Commission heard of the case and sent down independent investigators, who found that there was not a vestige of syphilis in the remaining children, and that the charge against the mother was false. (Cheers.) It is a terrible thing, I say, that not only have you to stand the chance of losing the child who is dear to you, but you have to stand the chance of the powerful machinery of Government being turned on in order to take away the character of your wife. They tell me I have no right to pick out these hard cases; but I tell my friends I will stop picking them out when they stop putting them in. (Cheers.) Then, when you go before the Bench, the magistrates tell you they are
"ONLY ADMINISTRATORS OF THE LAW,"
which has been the plea of the greatest persecutors of every age. Remember that the Vaccination Act does not deal with the drunkard; it is the best classes of the country, the earnest, honest people, the Sunday school teachers, who love their children and their homes. The Scotch Covenantors, Ann Askew, John Wyecliffe, and the Apostles of old were told that their persecutors were "only the administrators of the law," but they defied the law, and the proudest privileges and blessings we possess have been won for us by the law-breakers of this country. It is not a question merely of the health but of the very lives of the children which are at stake in this matter; and I believe that the present century shall not close until we have placed our foot upon the dragon's neck, and plunged the sword of liberty through its heart. (Cheers.) They tell us we are trying to rouse the country with a "crazy cry"—
THE CRY OF LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE—
and we are not ashamed of that cry. It is that "crazy cry" which snapped the shackles of despotism in the past. That "crazy cry" is spreading at the present time throughout the length and breadth of the country. We are told that the intelligent portion of the population. is against us; it's false. That "crazy cry" is ascending higher and higher, into a raging and tremendous storm; that liberty which has been won by the blood of our forefathers, for the theological conscience, is the liberty we demand for the scientific conscience. (Loud cheers.) Already it is thundering at the door of the House of Commons, and it shall be heard. Yes, we are going forward with the "crazy cry" of liberty of conscience upon our unfurled banner, and we never intend to rest until we get it. (Loud and prolonged cheering.)
Mr. D. C. JONES proposed the following resolution, which was seconded by Mr. A. RICE, and carried unanimously, amidst great enthusiasm:—
- "That this meeting of the inhabitants of Gloucester views the Compulsory Vaccination Act as a serious infringement of the liberty of the subject, and earnestly desires its repeal, believing that the practice of vaccination has not only not fulfilled its promise of protection from small-pox, but that it is also accompanied with very serious risks."
