Chapter 14 of the Suffragette, The History of the Woman's Militant Suffrage Movement by E. Sylvia Pankhurst This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. 14. July to October 1908 Great demonstrations in the provinces, Mr. Lloyd George accuses women of being paid to interrupt him, arrest of the three leaders and the fifth woman's parliament. Meanwhile, in spite of the fact that the union had thought it necessary to again resort to militant tactics, the campaign of great provincial demonstrations was proceeded with and included gatherings of 100,000 people in Shipley Glen Bradford on May 31, 15,000 at Eaton Park, Manchester on July 19, of 100,000 on Woodhouse Moor Leeds on July 26, of many thousands also on the Durham Downs Clifton near Bristol on September 19, in Nottingham Forest on July 18, at Huddersfield on September 27, at Rottenstahl on September 3, and in the Market Square Leicester on July 30. During these months, by-elections had been fought in Pembrokeshire, Hagerston and Newcastle. At the first of these, the liberal majority was reduced. At the second, a liberal majority of 1,401 was returned to a conservative majority of 1,143. At Newcastle, the suffragettes swept all before them, and when Mrs. Pankhurst announced to a great meeting on the town Moor that five of the released prisoners were shortly to arrive, an immense procession was formed to do them honour, and the railway authorities placed the entrance usually reserved for royalty at the disposal of the suffragettes. Almost the whole population turned out to cheer the women. There seemed no doubt the government nominee would be defeated, and so it proved, for a liberal majority of no fewer than 6,481 votes was turned into a majority of 2,143 for the conservatives. After the poll, Mr. Renwick, the successful candidate, said, I must express admiration for those who have addressed meetings on behalf of women's suffrage. They have taught us a lesson as how to speak and conduct a campaign. I am sure we all wish that they may realise their hopes. The needed liberal candidate also expressed the hope that the women would be voting at the next election. Meanwhile, at almost every meeting addressed by a cabinet minister throughout the length and breadth of the land, these suffragettes had been in evidence, and when they had been unable to secure admission to the halls, they had held meetings outside. At some of Mr. Lloyd George's meetings, the women hecklers were treated with special brutality, and this was certainly increased by the exclamations of the cabinet minister on the platform. He called his interrupters sorry specimens of womanhood, and added, I think a gag ought to be tried. So calculated to aggravate the already savage behaviour of the stewards were his remarks, that quite a storm of protest was raised, and Mr. Lloyd George found it necessary to write to the Times saying, Owing to the constant interruptions to which I was subjected, it was doubtless difficult for me to make myself clearly and fully understood, and the difficulty which I found in speaking was no doubt shared by the press in reporting. Under these circumstances I am not surprised that some misunderstanding may have arisen, and I appeal to the courtesy of your columns to remove it. Nevertheless, when he spoke at Swansea his remarks were even more unguarded and he urged on the stewards with such cries as, By and by we shall have to order sacks for them and the first to interrupt shall disappear, and fling them ruthlessly out. At that there were shouts of laughter from liberals on the platform, mingled with cries of, frog march them. Then he taunted the women, I wonder how much she has been paid for coming here, he called as one was being dragged away. His supporters responded with cheers and shouts of, Tory money, and he added, I am sorry to say this business is becoming a profession. On hearing of this remark, Mrs. Pethic Lawrence wrote to Mr. Lloyd George as treasurer of the Women's Social and Political Union to protest against his suggestion that the women who interrupted cabinet ministers did so as a, profession. In doing so she forwarded him a copy of our annual report. He replied by repeating his insinuations and calling attention to the fact that the report showed considerable sums of money to have been dispensed in, salaries, travelling expenses, and special board and lodging. Mrs. Lawrence then stated, whilst like every other political organization, the Women's Social and Political Union had its paid staff and organisers, and that whilst these organisers were occasionally present at cabinet ministers' meetings, the protests were almost entirely made by members of the Union who gave their time and work freely. Thus of the thirty women who had interrupted Mr. George at the Queen's Hall on July 28th and had been ejected, twenty-nine had never at any time been in receipt of any salary from the Union, and of the five women who had taken part in the protest made at Swansea, four had never been in receipt of any salary from the Union, and the fifth was not receiving any salary at the time. The eyes of all suffragettes were now fixed upon the opening of Parliament for the autumn session, which was to take place on October 12th. The Prime Minister was again asked that facilities should be given for the House of Commons to proceed with the Women's and Franchisement Bill, and the WSPU then determined that a fifth Parliament of women must be called together on October 13th, and that a deputation from it must again seek an interview with the Prime Minister. It was thought desirable that, as on the last occasion, the general public should be present, both that they might see what actually happened between the women and the authorities, and also that it might be shown to the government that many thousands of men and women were prepared to support the suffragettes and to answer to their call. Knowing well the difficulty of bringing anything prominently before the public in these modern days of crowded interests, except with the aid the advertisement afforded by notices in the press, and knowing also that in this epic of press sensationalism that nothing, even if it be as serious as a struggle between life and death, is reported except when it is new, the Committee of the Union cast about in their minds for some racy and attractive means of drawing public attention to the forthcoming deputation. At last the phrase, Help the Suffragettes to Rush the House of Commons, was hit upon because of its double suggestion and echo of the oft-heard, but almost always ridiculously unfounded complaint that legislation is being rushed through our too talkative and dilatory Parliament. The words were at once embodied in a hand-bill of which the accompanying illustration is a facsimile. Meanwhile, another body of agitators who had become impatient with the government's treatment of their own particular question were preparing to take similar steps. Even in the early summer there had been signs that the forthcoming winter was to be one of exceptional hardship for the working classes, and the Labour members of Parliament had then begun to urge upon the president of the local government board the need for making extensive preparations for helping the great number of persons whom they foresaw would fall out of employment. The distress that had been foreshadowed was now upon the country, a feeling of general discontent prevailed, and rumors of all sorts of wild doings were beginning to spread. Bodies of unemployed came marching up to London from the provincial towns and held meetings on the embankment and Tower Hill, at which it was announced that there was to be a great gathering of the unemployed in Parliament Square on Monday, October 12, and that an attempt was then to be made to see the Prime Minister, the president of the local government board and the president of the Board of Trade. On Sunday, October 4, a meeting for the unemployed was held under the auspices of the Social Democratic Federation in Trafalgar Square, and some very inflammatory speeches were delivered. Note 29. The words of Mr. Will Thorne MP for West Ham were milder than those of some others. In the course of his remarks he said, next Tuesday the suffragettes admit that they are going to rush the house. There is nothing there. If you want to rush anything, you rush where there is something to be rushed, not the house. I say that if you are in earnest, the first thing that you ought to do is to rush the baker's shops. You ought to rush every bally baker's shop in London rather than starve. I suppose it means that a few of you will get locked up. You would be better off in prison. He added that until the unemployed struck the fear of man into the hearts of the government, the government would do nothing for them. When the unemployed meeting was over, there was some disorder in the neighborhood of Sharing Cross and two or three men were arrested. On Sunday, October 11th, the Women's Social and Political Union held a meeting in Trafalgar Square at which Mrs. Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst, and Mrs. Drummond spoke from the plinth of the Nelson Column, whilst the police who were present in great numbers took notes of all that was said. On Monday, October 12th came the day of the unemployed demonstration, but though much had been feared and expected of it, little happened. Small groups of unemployed began to arrive in the square at an early hour, but a Pacificatory attitude was adopted by the authorities, and though the police kept the crowd moving in the thoroughfares, they did not prevent the assemblage of a number of people in the center of the green in front of Westminster Abbey. Many of the men were allowed to enter the house, where Mr. John Burns assured them that within a few days, the Prime Minister would make a pronouncement in the House of Commons and the government to provide some measure of relief. During the week that had passed, the last before their demonstration, the suffragettes had been working strenuously. The Rush Handbills had been circulated broadcast, a votes for women kite had floated constantly over the House of Commons, and a steam launch decorated with banners and posters announcing the deputation had steamed up and down the river. Everything had gone on without let or hindrance and new recruits anxious to take part in the demonstration had been eagerly presenting themselves. Yet from day to day there grew the knowledge that the authorities were lying in wait to take some sudden step against the Union, and the women began to notice that the police were shadowing all the prominent members of the committee and were constantly hanging about the offices at Clemens Inn. The blow came in the shape of the following document, a copy of which was served upon Mrs. Pankhurst, Mrs. Drummond and Christabel Pankhurst about midday on Monday, October 12th. Information has been laid this day by the Commissioner of Police for that you, in the month of October in the year 1908, were guilty of conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace by initiating and causing to be initiated by publishing and causing to be published a certain handbill, calling upon and inciting the public to do a certain wrongful and illegal act, viz, to rush the House of Commons at 7.30 p.m. on October 13th instant. You are therefore hereby summoned to appear before the Court of Summary Jurisdiction now sitting at the Bow Street police station on Monday, October 12th at the hour of 3.30 to answer to the said information and to shoe cause why you and each of you shall not be ordered to find sureties of good behavior. Signed H. Curtis Bennett. It was felt that the summons had been issued to withdraw public attention from the deputation to Mr. Asquith, which was to go from the Caxton Hall next evening. Therefore it was decided to disregard it for the present, but at the crowded at home in the Queen's Hall that afternoon the members of the Union were informed that it had been received. The devotion and loyalty to leaders always so strong in the Union was now at fever heat. Numbers of constables were posted at the doors, official police reporters were present and it was momentarily expected that the police would force their way on to the platform and arrest the three. The excitement culminated when someone said that the police inspector was entering the building. Then hundreds of women leapt to their feet and cried out that the officers should not be allowed to enter and that they would never let them take their leaders. But this proved to be a false alarm, for it was only a messenger to say that the summonses had been adjourned until the following morning. Mrs. Pankhurst, Christabel and Mrs. Drummond decided not to give themselves up till evening and they accordingly sent the following note to the court. We shall not be at the offices at four, Clements in until six o'clock today, but at that hour we shall all three be entirely at your disposal. This did not appease the authorities in any way and a warrant for their arrest was immediately issued with an order to Inspector Jarvis to execute it without delay. Having guessed that this might happen, Mrs. Drummond had quietly arranged to spend her last day of liberty with friends whilst my mother and sister had merely made their way to one of the upper flats in Clements in, number 119, which was rented by Mr. and Mrs. Pethic Lawrence and to which a roof garden was attached. This had scarcely been done when the police swooped down upon our offices to demand the three and on no information being forthcoming they remained roaming about the passages and standing in the doorways trying to get information from postmen, porters and tradesmen all day long. At six o'clock Mrs. Drummond returned promptly to the moment and the two other prisoners walked calmly downstairs and into the offices. Inspector Jarvis and a detective in playing clothes were already waiting and, after the warrant for their arrest had been read out to them, they were taken in a cab to Bow Street. The court having risen it was impossible for the trial to be proceeded with that evening and when they applied to be allowed out on bail until the next morning their application was refused and they were hurried away to the cells. The police court cells are about five feet wide by seven feet long, exceedingly badly lit and furnished only with a wooden bench attached to the wall and a sanitary convenience. There are neither washing utensils nor bed of any kind but each prisoner is given a dark and dirty looking rug in which to wrap herself during the night. Mrs. Pankhurst had once claimed her right as an untried prisoner to communicate with the outside world and immediately dispatched telegrams to several members of parliament. A weary hour or two went by. Then the door of Mrs. Pankhurst's cell was thrown wide open and the tall, breezy presence of Mr. Murray, liberal member of parliament for East Aberdeenshire, appeared. He was horrified to find the three ladies in these unpleasant surroundings and, promising to return soon, he hurried to the Savoy Hotel and there arranged for various comforts to be sent into the prison. Then he prevailed upon the authorities to allow the three suffragettes to take their evening meal together and in an incredibly short space of time they were ushered into the matron's room. The bare little place with its dingy walls, its wooden chairs and two deal tables had been wonderfully transformed. Numbers of tall wax candles had been lighted. The tables were laid with silver, flowers and brightly colored fruit and three waiters were ready to serve the prisoners with the most elaborate meal. At the same time Mr. Murray, with his face wreathed in smiles bringing the carrying into the cells of three comfortable beds. The management of the Savoy had thrown themselves into the enterprise with the greatest eagerness and having acted throughout with almost overwhelming kindness and courtesy ended by refusing to charge anything at all for what they had provided. As well may be imagined the three comrades were in no haste to finish the meal and return to the dark and solitary cells. Meanwhile there were stirring doings at Westminster. All police had been stopped for the day in the whole of the metropolitan area and every mounted policeman had been called up to headquarters. Parliament Square itself was cut off from the rest of London as though it were in a state of siege by double cordons of foot police each of them five feet deep which were drawn up across all the streets leading to it. Within these barriers the great area usually thronged with vehicles of all kinds and hurrying passersby was emptied of all but the few mounted police the ring of their horses hoofs sounding strangely sharpened loud and an occasional wheeled vehicle carrying some member to the House of Commons. Outside the massed ranks of police the whole population of London seemed to have gathered. The newspapers said that it was just like mafficking night without the disorder. Members of Parliament came out from time to time to watch the scene amongst the spectators being Mr. John Burns Mr. Haldane, Mr. Walter Long and Mr. Lloyd George who came with his daughter a fair-haired child of six years old. Soon a deputation of eleven women with Miss Wallace Dunlop a descendant of the great William Wallace as their leader marched out of the Caxton Hall with Mrs. Lawrence's instructions to oppose with spiritual force the physical force which the authorities had arrayed in such strength against them bringing in their ears. A cheer from the waiting crowd greeted them as they gained the street and though some fifty constables attempted to bar their passage into Victoria Street the people swept them through. At last near the end of Victoria Street they were met by a body of police and the inspector in charge asked Miss Wallace Dunlop that the deputation should wait for a few moments in order that he might bring up some mounted police to clear away to the House of Commons. She agreed to wait until eight o'clock but when that time came the inspector returned and said the deputation could not pass. Then faithful to their trust the little band of women pressed bravely forward and commenced their hopelessly unequal struggle with the police. In a moment their ranks were broken and they were scattered hopelessly amongst the crowd of constables and sightseers. Before long a number had been arrested and the others were swept far away from their destination. When the news of the first deputation's fate reached the Caxton Hall a second body of women numbering some 30 or 40 marched out to take their place. Like their predecessors they too reached the top of Victoria Street and the police were still waiting. Then suddenly Mrs. Lee, a slight agile figure in white dashed forward from their midst and threw herself into the mounted line seizing a police horse by the bridle with either hand. The horses reared and kicked furiously the constables closed upon her and she was flung to the ground. From time to time several isolated women succeeded by strategy in getting quite close to the House of Commons and one even found her way into one of the underground passages used by members of Parliament. In every case they were captured by the police and either placed under arrest or dragged away and pushed outside the guarding cordons into the crowd. At last so fearful did the authorities become that the women might be concealed at other strategic points that they proceeded to thoroughly search every corner of Westminster Abbey and with their lanterns were to be seen amongst the buttresses and pinnacles of St. Margaret's Church searching for suffragettes. Yet with all their vigilance they were circumvented for one woman succeeded in outwitting everyone and entered the sacred chamber itself. The lady in question was Mrs. Margaret Travers Simmons Mr. Keir Hardy's Parliamentary Secretary who whilst a believer in the votes for women movement had never taken any active part in it. On her way to the House that evening she had been deeply moved by the violent scenes. As she sat thinking of them in the lobby and realizing that the suffragettes struggle as they might never reach the House, the thought suddenly flashed across her mind that she herself had the power to make the appeal and protest which was impossible to them. Seized by an irresistible impulse she sent in for Mr. T. H. W. Idris the Liberal Member for Flint Burroughs and asked him to take her to look through a little window known as the Peephole which is situated on the left side of the glass doors leading into the House of Commons and to which members of Parliament had the privilege of taking their lady friends. He agreed and on reaching the window she mounted a seat which is in front of it in order that she might get a clear view of the Chamber. After a moment or two she descended and Mr. Idris turned towards the outer lobby thinking that she was about to accompany him. In that instant she pushed open the double glass doors and before anyone could prevent her darted into the Chamber and rushed up to the Central Isle towards the Speaker's Chair calling upon the House to attend to the women's question. She was seized by one of the attendants at the bar a big, powerful man who carried her back into the lobby and in a very short space of time she had been handed over to a police inspector conducted out of the House of Commons and allowed to go free. Outside in the street the conflict still continued and went on until midnight when it was found that ten persons had been injured and treated at Westminster Hospital and that twenty-one women and a number of men had been arrested. 29 My authorities in these cases are the report in the Times and the evidence given in the witness box at Bow Street. End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Part 1 of the Suffragette The History of the Woman's Militant Suffrage Movement by E. Sylvia Pankhurst This Libra Fox recording is in the public domain. 15 October 1908 The Trial of the Three Leaders Mr. Herbert Gladstone and Mr. Lloyd George in the witness box. On the morning of October 14th began the trial both of the three leaders who had been arrested by warrant and the twenty-one women whom they were said to have incited to break the peace. Excited crowds early assembled in Bow Street and besieged the doors of the police court begging the unyielding custodians for admission. In the dark passageways and lobbies of the court were numbers of women imploring the officials to allow them to pass into the court itself. The public enter by a door at the back of the room and here there is a space where visitors may stand. This space was now crowded with women pressing closely against the wooden barrier which cut them off from the narrow rows of equally crowded wooden seats where the friends and relatives of the prisoners who could obtain the ear of some kindly officer were allowed to sit. In front of these seats is the dock itself. A wooden bench some six feet long empty as yet and surrounded by a heavy iron railing on three sides the fourth to be guarded by a policeman when the prisoners arrive. In front and at one side of the dock are the benches for the press which that morning contained representatives from all the leading newspapers. In front of this again divided by a barrier and on a lower level so that one sees little more than the heads of its occupants was another bench where Mr. Musket the solicitor for the prosecution who had so often appeared against the suffragettes and other minions of the law now sat. In front again and placed at right angles to this bench is the witness box. A little wooden pen with a foolish wooden canopy which looks as though it were meant for keeping out the rain. On the right opposite the witness box are two rows of seats each entered by a little wooden door like church pews where counsel and distinguished strangers sit. In the witness box and these seats sit the recording clerks and other officials and opposite to them and facing the whole court is the magistrate's high back chair at his table. Mr. Curtis Bennett the magistrate who was to try the case sat there now, handsome and dignified and looking the picture of a high-bred 18th century squire. The familiar figures of Mrs. Pankhurst, Christabel and Mrs. Drummond were soon ushered into the dock and then Christabel began by asking the magistrate not to deal with the case in that court but to send it for trial by judge and jury. Her object being to secure that suffragette cases should no longer be decided by a body of police court officials whom we had every reason to believe were acting under the direct instructions of the government against whom our agitation was directed but should instead be submitted to a body of ordinary citizens. She urged that under section 17 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act of 1879 she and her co-defendants were entitled to the option of being tried where they desired and she wished now to state that they desired that the case should go before a jury. Mr. Curtis Bennett bent his head and smiled saying Yes, yes, but we will go on with the case now. She pressed him to at once give an answer to the point which he had raised but he replied that he could not do so until he had heard the case. Mr. Musket then rose to prosecute. Speaking quickly in a low voice and showing considerable irritation he began by complaining that the defendants had failed to obey a summons to appear firstly on Monday and secondly on Tuesday morning to answer to the charge of having been guilty of conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace. Then in the most vestidious manner and with clearly expressed disgust he proceeded to set forth the details of the case. He explained that on October 8th Inspector Jarvis had visited the offices of the Women's Social and Political Union and had there seen Mrs. Drummond with Ms. Christabel Pankhurst. Ms. Pankhurst had said what about the 13th have you seen our new bills and had produced the hand bill which formed the foundation of the present charge it was awarded votes for women men and women helped the suffragettes to rush the House of Commons on Tuesday October 13th at 7.30 p.m. In showing this to Inspector Jarvis Pankhurst had said that the words to rush were not insufficiently large type and that they were to be made much more distinct. On Sunday October 11th the defendants had held a meeting to which Mr. Musket objected because it had caused an enormous amount of additional labor to be thrown upon the shoulders of the police. At this meeting he asserted gravely speeches had been delivered by the defendants inciting those present to carry out the program of rushing the House of Commons. You will agree sir said Mr. Musket that such conduct as that cannot be tolerated in this country. Finally he asked on behalf of the Commissioner of Police that the defendants should be ordered to be bound over to keep the peace. Stout red-faced superintendent Wells whom we usually found most friendly and obliging now looking very cross and uncomfortable lumbered into the witness box. After taking the oath he gave evidence in regard to a visit of his own to the offices at Clements Inn. He said that Mrs. Spankhurst had then shown him a copy of a letter which had been sent by the Women's Social and Political Union to Mr. Asquith. This document pointed out that at many large demonstrations all over the country resolutions had been carried calling upon the government to adopt the Women's Enfranchisement Bill and also that at a succession of by-elections the voters had shown unmistakably their desire that the bill would the question without further delay. It concluded by asking the Prime Minister to inform the Union as to whether the government would carry the bill into law during the autumn session. After the superintendent had read the letter Mrs. Spankhurst had told him that if Mr. Asquith returned a satisfactory reply to it nothing would take place on October 13th save a great cheer for the government but that if he did not there would be a demonstration and the women would get into the House of Commons. He said you cannot get there for the police will not let you unless you come with a cannon. The superintendent went on looking very imposing and explained that Mrs. Spankhurst had then stated that no lethal weapons would be used. She had also said Mr. Asquith will be responsible if there is any disorder and accident. Superintendent Wells next described the meeting in Trafalgar Square where he had seen Mrs. Drummond distributing the Rush Handbills. He said that he looked upon her as a very active leader of the suffragettes and that she frequently wore a uniform with the word general or generalissimo on the cap. He had told her that she and Mrs. Spankhurst would be prosecuted. When questioned by Mr. Asquith as to the happenings of the previous evenings Superintendent Wells said that traffic had been wholly disorganized in the vicinity of the House of Commons for four hours and that for three hours the streets had been in great disorder. A large body of police indeed had been required to maintain the peace that ten persons had been treated at Westminster Hospital and that seven or eight constables and sergeants had been more or less injured. It was now Christabel Spankhurst's turn to cross-examine the Superintendent and he looked across the dock at her very nervously. She first questioned him as to the statement that had been made that she and her companions in the dock had broken their promise to appear at the court either on the Monday evening and drew from him the admission that he had not received any undertaking in actual words. She then changed the subject and brightly asked him whether he was in the habit of reading the official organ of the Union Votes for Women to which he replied in the negative. He were not aware then, she said, that Mrs. Spankhurst wrote the following words On October 13th in Parliament Square there will be many thousands of people to see fair play between the women and the government. Let us keep their support and cooperation by showing them as we have done before with what quiet courage, self-restraint and determination women are fighting against tyranny and oppression on the part of a government which has been called the strongest of modern times. It is by the exercise of courage and self-restraint and persistent effort that we shall win in this unequal contest. There is nothing very inflammatory in those words, she urged. Does it really occur to you that those words were circulated to incite a riot? But Mr. Well shrugged his shoulders and answered gruffly I am not complaining of that article I am complaining of those bills. Then she asked whether the crowd in Trafalgar Square was a disorderly one. He admitted that it was not, but at the question, are you aware that any member of the government was there he looked round at the magistrate cautiously and said, I do not know that I should answer that. You can say yes or no said Mr. Curtis Bennett and when the query was repeated the reply came I saw one there was it Mr. Lloyd George said Miss Pankhurst with a smile and at this there was laughter in court and even the magistrate plainly showed amusement. Mr. Well's flushed read her still and remained silent. She next questioned the superintendent as to the nature of the speeches in Trafalgar Square and the exact meaning of the word rush but he frequently took refuge in silence and refused to be drawn. It was plain that Mr. Well's was not accustomed to being cross-examined by a prisoner in the dock and that he did not at all like it. Just as he began to hope that it was nearly over she suddenly changed the subject and asked him whether he had been present when Mr. John Burns had made the famous speech which led to his arrest. I was not. He answered and she asked are you aware that the words he used at that time were very much more calculated to lead to destruction and damage to property than anything that we have said? I am not aware of it, said Mr. Well's, looking appealingly across to Mr. Musket. You are aware, however, that John Burns is a member of the present government and is responsible jointly with his colleagues for the action which has been taken against us? Yes. He answered almost without thinking. You are aware of that. You are aware that the lawbreaker is now sitting in judgment upon those who have done far less than he did himself. She said pressing home her advantage. You are aware of that. She repeated after a pause. But there was no reply. Next she asked whether the superintendent had heard the Trafalgar Square speech of Mr. Wilthorne M.P. in which he had advised the people to rush the baker's shops. Mr. Well's felt on safer ground now for this did not concern a cabinet minister. I did not hear it. He ventured to answer. But it was reported to me. Well, does it occur to you that his language was far more dangerous to the public piece than the language that we have used? I am not complaining of your language. He again answered doggedly. I am complaining of the bills. Well, the language that was used on the bills he spoke, he used the word rush. Moreover he incited people to riot in violence, she urged. Does it occur to you that his action is more reprehensible than ours? It occurs to me, said Mr. Well's sulkily, that he might be prosecuted the same as you are. You are not aware whether proceedings will be taken, she asked with an air of pleased interest. But Mr. Curtis Bennett interposed to say that that question could not be allowed. Then she asked the superintendent whether he knew that Mr. Gladstone had stated in the House of Commons against herself and her colleagues had not been instituted by the government but by the police. He tried to evade her saying you have kept me so busily engaged that I have not had time to look at the papers this morning. But before he left the box he had virtually admitted that in spite of Mr. Gladstone's denial the government was responsible for the prosecution. The next witness was our old friend Inspector Jarvis with whom we had had negotiations and reports of matters connected both with our peaceful and militant propaganda ever since our campaign in London had been started.  As a rule he has the most kindly and courteous manners, but today he seemed thoroughly ill-tempered and refused to look directly at any of us. He was called upon by Mr. Musket to read the notes which he had taken of Christabel's speech at the Sunday meeting in Holger Square and he did so in halting and expressionless tones. I wish you all to be there on the evening of the 13th and I hope that this will be the end of this movement. On June 30th we succeeded in driving Mr. Askwith Underground. He is afraid of us and so are the government. Years ago John Bright told the people that it was only by lining the streets from Charing Cross to Westminster that they could impress the government. Well, we are only taking a leaf out of his book. We want you to help the women to rush their way into the House of Commons. You won't get locked up because you have the vote. If you are afraid we will take the lead and you will follow us. We know we shall win because we are in the right. Then just as a child at school who does not understand the words he read an extract also from Mrs. Panker's speech. On Tuesday evening at Jackson Hall we shall ask those who support the women to come to Parliament Square. There will be a deputation of women who have no right in the House of Commons to a seat there such as men have. Note 30. The government does not know its own mind. It changes. So, but we do know that we want the vote and mean to have it. But Mr. Musket interrupted. He had heard enough. He went on to ask if it were not a fact that on Monday morning Inspector Jarvis had himself served a summons upon the defendants to appear in court on that afternoon of the same day and on the inspector assenting, he said. I want to know about this question as to whether they promise to attend here or not. Inspector Jarvis hesitated. Well, Miss Christabel, he began, I saw her alone and she said, we are not afraid, we shall be there. Then, said Mr. Musket, I believe they were served with the summons to appear on the following morning at eleven o'clock. Yes. And as they did not put in an appearance then, a warrant was issued. Yes. And you had to wait there for them until they surrendered to you. Again the inspector assented looking very much aggrieved. Christabel Pankhurst began her cross-examination by closely questioning Mr. Jarvis on this very point and soon drew from him the admission that no definite promise had been made. As she was speaking to him, his face cleared visibly and he generously owned that he had been mistaken. Similar evidence from a third inspector closed the case for the prosecution. Christabel then applied for an adjournment and the magistrate agreed to allow the case to stand over for a week. The three prisoners being released on bail for the time being. As soon as this had been decided, Mr. Curtis Bennett said that he would deal with the cases of the women who had been arrested in Trafalgar Square and seven of these were soon ordered to undergo from one to two months imprisonment in default of being bound over for twelve months. As each woman was asked if she had anything to say for herself, she replied, I demand a trial by jury. This seemed to annoy Mr. Curtis Bennett considerably and he became more and more irate until the fifth woman had spoken. Then he laughed and said, I see this has evidently been arranged beforehand. It was unfortunate for the fourth woman that he had not recovered his temper earlier, for though a first offender arrested for doing practically nothing, she received a sentence of two months imprisonment, whilst one month only was served out to others of the same class. Mrs. Lee, as this was the third time that she had been charged, received a sentence of three months. Thirteen of the suffragettes pleaded that they wished to obtain legal advice and were remanded for a week at the end of which time milder methods obtained for their sentences ranged merely from three weeks to one month. Next day, Thursday, October 15th, a summons was issued against Mr. Will Thorne, MP, for inciting the unemployed to rush the baker's shops and when his case came up on the 21st, he expressed the belief that no summons would have been issued against him, but for the remarks made by Christabel Pankers during the suffragette trial. He declared that in speaking as he had done, his object had been to persuade the unemployed not to take part in the women's demonstration in Parliament Square because he felt sure that they would get into trouble if they did so and urged that his speech had been taken too literally. Mr. Curtis Bennett, however, ordered him to be bound over in his own recognizances of 200 pounds and two charities of 100 pounds each to be of good behavior for 12 months or in default to go to prison for six months. Mr. Thorne agreed to be bound over. On Wednesday, October 21st, the trial of the suffragette leaders again came on and, whilst the court was just as crowded, the press seats were even fuller than before. Mr. Curtis Bennett seemed more than ever dignified and magisterial. Everyone waited with impatience and presently there was a stir in the court and, with much ceremony, some of the officers opened the door by which the prisoners usually enter and ushered in a group of gentlemen who seated themselves in the pew-like benches reserved for counsel and distinguished persons. Then, preceded by a stout black bearded jailer and with three or four police on either side of them, the three suffragettes made their way into the dock. As soon as they had seated themselves, Mr. Musket rose and said in his usual rather peevish and very indistinct tones that the case for the prosecution concluded on the previous Wednesday. After a short preliminary argument as to legal forms between Christabel and the magistrate and a pledge that she should be allowed to submit her objections later, there was a slight scuffling in those important side benches. The pew doors were opened. Two of the gentlemen who had accompanied him stepped aside and Mr. Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, came forward and passed across the court into the witness box. Seen for the first time, it seemed to be unlike what one has been led to expect. Instead of the romantic-looking Welsh bard with black and very curly hair portrayed by the newspaper cartoons and drawings, there stood, cooped up in the little witness box with its useless-looking wooden canopy, a plain little man with a pale face, a long untidy moustache and hair which, though he wears it somewhat long as it is in the pictures, has not the least suspicion of a curl but lies limp and scanty in his adult dingy brown. At first he lent his arm on the front of the witness box and looked across at the three prisoners in the dock. He regarded Christabel Pankhurst curiously as well he might, for in her fresh white muslin dress whose one note of color was the broad band of purple, white and green stripes around her waist, with her soft brown hair uncovered, the little silky curls with just a hint of gold in them clustering about her neck, and in this dingy place her skin looking even more brilliantly white and those rose-pedal cheeks of hers even more exquisitely and vividly flushed with purest pink than usual she was as bright and deity as a newly opened flower and with all her look of perfect health and vigor appeared so slender and so delicately knit as to have little more of substance in her than a briar rose but she was to triumph over her opponent in the witness box, not by her grace and freshness and by the outer aspect of her vivid glowing personality but by her sparkling wit, her biting sarcasm the force and depth of her arguments and these went home not merely as they can be set down here in cold dull print but far more truly because they were enhanced by the ever-changing eloquence of gesture voice and facial expression by a lift of the eyebrows a turn of the head a heightening of the lovely rose color that flooded sometimes as far as the white throat and as quickly ebbed again a sweep of the slender hand or a turn of that slight virile frame all these because so perfectly they echoed and expressed her thoughts could lend to even the baldest and tritest words a fanciful humor a delicate irony or an inexorable force as she rose to examine Mr. Lloyd George she began quite formally but with a cheerful and pleasant manner asking whether he had been present at the Trafalgar Square meetings on October 11 and whether he had seen a copy of the bills which were being distributed yes, he replied a suspicion of a smile a young lady gave one to me the moment I arrived it invited me to rush the House of Commons how did you interpret the invitation conveyed to you as a member of the audience she asked next with a brisk business-like air what did you think we wanted you to do he replied pompously I really should not like to place an interpretation upon the document I do not think it is quite my function well, I am speaking to you as a member of the general public she urged refusing to be put off imagine you were not at the meeting at all but were walking up the Strand and someone gave you a copy of this bill and you read it help the suffragettes to rush the House of Commons and suppose you forgot you were a member of the government and regarded yourself just as an ordinary person like myself quite unofficial she added smiling and with a little quick shake of her shoulders really, I should not like to be called upon to undertake so difficult a task as to interpret that document was the tart reply but Christabel went on persuasively now, this word rush which seems to be at the bottom of it all what does it mean she waited with parted lips and raised eyebrows for a reply it came unwillingly I understood the invitation for Mrs. Pankhurst was to force an entrance to the House of Commons no, no, I want you to keep your mind concentrated on the bill she corrected let us forget what Mrs. Pankhurst said what did the bill say I really forget what the bill said he snapped out sharply she repeated the phrase to him graciously help the suffragettes to rush the House of Commons yes, that is it he ascended and she said I want you to define the word rush I cannot undertake to do that you cannot she asked incredulously no, Mrs. Pankhurst, I cannot well, she replied I will suggest some definitions to you I find that in Chamber's English dictionary one of the meanings of the word is an eager demand now what do you think of that I cannot enter into competition with Chamber's dictionary I am prepared to accept it he said stolidly Mr. Lloyd George was beginning to turn his head away from her and to show every sign of unwillingness to continue answering her imperturbable good humor made the situation harder for him to bear as Max Beerbaum in the Saturday Review said his Celtic fire burned very low and the contrast between the buoyancy of the girl and the depression of these statesmen was almost painful youth and an ideal on the one hand and on the other middle age and no illusions left over but Christabel appeared not to notice his discomfiture urgent pressure of business that is another meaning now if you were asked to help the suffragettes to make an eager demand to the House of Commons that they should give votes to women would you feel that we were calling upon you to do an illegal act that is not for me to say here Mr. Curtis Bennett interposed the witness is perfectly right this is for me to say on the evidence I have not interfered so far but Christabel went on unheatingly and continued gravely reading from her list of definitions there is another sense in which the word rush is used and I think it will be of some interest to you we use it in this connection to rush bills through parliament Mr. Lloyd George smiled in spite of himself yes I think I have some experience of that he said on the rush we are told in another dictionary means in a hurry there is nothing unlawful in being in a hurry Mr. Lloyd George shook himself impatiently and the magistrate again interposed this time with more severity I have already said you must address those remarks to me afterwards but quite impassively she held to her point and with her eyes upon the witness continued did you understand you were asked to go in a hurry to the House of Commons to make this eager demand for enfranchisement was that the meaning which the bill conveyed to you in spite of his remonstrances Mr. Curtis Bennett was evidently enjoying the scene and his eyes twinkled as he listened to the quickly and pleasantly directed questions and to the slow grudging replies Mr. George kept glancing at him angrily and again looking severe he said at last Miss Pankhurst you must take my ruling please at this she changed attack a little questioning Mr. Lloyd George as to the speeches he had heard in Trafalgar Square and the demeanor of the crowd and always making her inquiries with the polite air of expectation that valuable information would be forthcoming when Mr. Lloyd George admitted that he had heard some part of Miss Pankhurst's speech Christabel gravely inquired whether her mother had threatened violence to any member of the government she did not invite the audience to attack you in any way she asked then gradually through his fear of being made to appear ridiculous she brought him to admit that he had thought that if the public responded to the invitation to rush the House of Commons the consequences would not be formidable and that there had been no suggestion either that public or private property should be damaged or that any personal violence should be done then she suddenly asked there were no words used so likely to incite to violence as he advised that the woman should be ruthlessly flung out of your meeting this was unexpected Mr. Lloyd George frowned and remained silent Mr. Musket stood up and appealed to the magistrate who interposed as was expected of him this is quite irrelevant that was a private meeting and not of the same character he said reprovingly Christabel shook her head it was a public meeting she insisted the magistrate waved his hand well private in a sense they are private nowadays that is quite true she said pointedly and obviously referring to the fact that ticket meetings only were now addressed by cabinet ministers all women with a few selected exceptions being rigidly excluded then she went on to question Mr. Lloyd George as to the reason for which the rush had been planned but he obstinately refused to answer turning to the events during the so-called rush on October 13th she elicited the fact that Mr. Lloyd George had taken his little six-year-old daughter with him to watch the scene she was very amused he said with a malicious air you thought it was quite safe for a child of those tender years to be amongst the crowd asked Christabel and this time it was her turn to be a little severe I was not amongst the crowd he snapped and later as if anxious to justify himself added he suddenly brought her from Downing Street to the house and I think that was clear the prosecution asserts that a serious breach of the peace took place was her next question do you agree with that statement the magistrate interrupted the Chancellor of the Exchequer would have nothing to do with that he said with a quick change of front she asked turning politely to Mr. Lloyd George well I hope I am he answered with a surly air don't you think the offence alleged against us would be more properly described as unlawful assembly there again I was not put in the witness box to oppress an opinion of that sort he objected and the magistrate again supported him she made another attempt you have seen the form of summons against us but he protested that he had not and did not know with what offence the prisoners were charged she explained to him the form of the summons and explained that owing to this the defendants were denied the right of trial by jury he merely replied I take it from you Miss Bankhurst but I do not know an awkward question for Mr. Lloyd George was do you think that coercion is the right way of dealing with political disorders he remained silent and the magistrate tried to help him out saying it is not for the witness to express an opinion Christabel looked full at Mr. Lloyd George asking you refuse to answer I do not refuse to answer he said not very honestly but I must obey the decision of the bench that I cannot express an opinion about things in the witness box am I to understand that an answer must not be given to that she appealed to the magistrate he replied no not even if the witness would like to do it no but she tried again well is it likely to be a successful way of dealing with political disturbances but the magistrate said that again is not admissible but for these restrictions your worship she broke out with some heat but he waived her aside and she understood that he was implacable so she turned cheerfully to the witness and said can you tell me whether any interference with public order took place in connection to her franchise reform I should have thought that was an historical fact Ms. Bankhurst he replied again the magistrate interposed to save him that is cross examination the witness cannot go into that in a sense he is my witness she said but though Mr. Curtis Bennett smiled he replied in every sense at present end of chapter 15 part 1 chapter 15 part 2 of the suffragette the history of the women's militant suffrage movement by E. Sylvia Bankhurst this Lebovox recording is in the public domain 15 part 2 nevertheless he had evidently seen the justice of the remark and he did not object when a similar question was now put it was have we not received encouragement from you colleagues to take action of this kind I should be very much surprised to hear that Ms. Bankhurst Mr. George gave his answer pompously you deny that we have been encouraged by liberal statesmen to take action of this kind she said eagerly I simply express astonishment at the statement he said casting up his eyes with an exaggerated but not very convincing air of indignation have you ever heard these words spoken by us at Trafalgar Square or by any liberal statesmen I am sorry to say that if no instructions had ever been addressed in political crises to the people of this country except to remember to hate violence to love order and to exercise patience the liberties of this country would never have been attained have you ever heard those words before I cannot call them to mind at this reply there was a sensation in the court silent but clearly felt those were the words of William E. Wirt Gladstone said Christabel I accept your statement Ms. Bankhurst was Mr. Lloyd George's reply and when asked whether he was aware that in 1884 Mr. Chamberlain had threatened to march 100,000 men on London he again replied I do not know Christabel's next question carried the war further into the enemy's country is it not a fact that you yourself have set us an example of revolt she asked but Mr. Curtis Bennett interposed to say that the Chancellor need not answer that question and that she must not attack her own witness whilst they were arguing Mr. Lloyd George himself burst in I never incited a crowd to violence he said hotly as though this form of defense had only just occurred to him not in the Welsh graveyard case she asked no he said you did not tell them to break down a wall and dissenter a body I gave advice which was found by the court of appeal to be sound illegal advice he said snappishly and again almost turning his back upon her we think that we are giving sound advice too she said after this Mr. Lloyd George became less and less ready to give any reply and his angry eyes were continually calling for the magistrates intervention Mr. Pankhurst then cited passages from Taylor on evidence to show that more latitude could be allowed in questioning a witness who obviously appeared to be hostile or interested for the other party or unwilling to give evidence but Mr. Curtis Bennett declared that none of these descriptions could be applied to Mr. Lloyd George so with a gesture of protest Christabel said I think I need not trouble him with any further questions after some questioning by Mrs. Pankhurst to which Mr. Lloyd George returned the scantiest and most surly of replies Mrs. Drummond said earnestly but with a touch of humor in her voice I should like to ask Mr. Lloyd George this question many times he has refused to answer me when do you intend to put a stop to these things by giving us the vote shrugging his shoulders Mr. Lloyd George turned to the magistrate who gave the desired reply that is not a question for the witness Mrs. Drummond added after a pause quietly and reproachfully you and your colleagues are much to blame for this agitation you must not make a statement said the magistrate you see we never get a chance at other times said Mrs. Drummond appealingly at this Mr. George smiled broadly but not very pleasantly and shaking his head said indeed you do as he left the box Mr. Curtis Bennett now told Christabel that he wished her to call Mr. Herbert Gladstone in order that the home secretary might not be detained from his duties in the house unnecessarily but she declared absolutely essential that she should first call one other witness Mr. Curtis Bennett protested and she said I have only one question to put to this lady very well then one question he said smiling as though he scarcely believed her and one could plainly see determining to hold her to her word Christabel then called Miss Marie Brackenbury who stepped quietly into the box Christabel gently asked her whether it were true that she had suffered six weeks imprisonment in connection with this agitation and as soon as she had assented said quickly but in a clear penetrating voice did Mr. Horace Smith tell you in sentencing you to that term he was doing what he was told you must not put that question almost shouted the magistrate but the witness had already replied he did the witness has said yes upon oath said Miss Bankhurst triumphantly turning to the place where the cabinet minister sat there was a strange stir in the court those present feeling that belief in the inviolability of British justice was slipping from their grasp for a moment or two there was an unpleasant pause and Mr. Curtis Bennett sat flushed and angry Mr. Herbert Gladstone the home secretary was then called and took his place in the witness box with his shiny bald forehead ruddy face prominent eyes and corpulent figure he formed not only a striking contrast to his colleague who had just been examined but was as far removed from the impressive dignity of his own distinguished father all together his general appearance was that which the romantic idealist would associate rather with a comfortable and prosperous shopkeeper than with a cabinet minister as soon as he had been sworn he placed his elbows on the ledge in front of him and looked smilingly around the court as much as to say nothing of this kind can disturb me I intend to enjoy myself Miss Pankers began by endeavouring to fix upon him as home secretary the responsibility for the proceedings against herself and her colleagues which she had denied in the House of Commons she succeeded in forcing him to admit I am at the head of the responsible department but when she put the questions more plainly saying did you not as a matter of fact instruct the commissioner of police to take the present proceedings and are the government as a whole responsible for these proceedings Mr. Musket jumped up in each case shouting I object to that and the magistrate also said that the questions could not be answered they were also determined that no more unpleasant disclosures were to be made but she would not leave the subject did you instruct Mr. Horace Smith to decide against Miss Brackenberry and to send her to prison for six weeks she asked you cannot put that question either said Mr. Curtis Bennett in a slightly raised tone it is a pity that the public interest should suffer on that account was her severe reply and turning to Mr. Gladstone she said did you offer any instructions to Mr. Horace Smith I object to this it is contempt of court to continue putting these questions indignantly cried Mr. Musket again springing to his feet but with a broad sweep of her hand she declared the public will answer them then turning to Mr. Gladstone whose enjoyment of the situation had now entirely vanished she persisted what do you suggest is the meaning of what Mr. Horace Smith has said but again the magistrate intervened she next asked Mr. Gladstone to define the word rush I can hardly give any definition of it but a rush implies force he said growing more comfortable again do you deny that it involves speed rather than force she asked and he replied smiling and putting his head knowingly on one side speed generally involves force this argument continued for some time then she asked were you anticipating that you would be in bodily danger as a consequence of the issue of this bill I did not think of it at all I did not think whether the possibility existed or not he answered squaring his shoulders and throwing out his chest she waved her hand just above these considerations you were not in fear no not at all he answered looking pleased with himself did you ever think that public property was in danger as a consequence of this bill having been issued I thought it quite possible he said a little more seriously I thought there would be danger from the crowds then you were agreeably disappointed on the morning of the fourteenth when you found no harm had been done although I was not the police measures were sufficient to stop any serious accident or danger he said proudly in magisterially she kept putting questions of this kind first in one form then in another until he began to grow tired and puzzled and was evidently in fear of making some unwise admission did you feel that but for the line of police protecting you the crowd would have rushed upon you and attacked you she asked at last with expressive emphasis the police were not protecting me he answered with an air of offended dignity I felt no personal fear did any other person seem in danger of attack the police gave them very little chance what made you think them a dangerous or hostile crowd of course I am quite accustomed to seeing these crowds I know what has happened before what has happened disorderly scenes Mr Gladstone was standing up now and looking quite severe what harm have they done very little as it happened what harm have they attempted to do that is not for me to answer have they attempted to do more than secure an interview with the prime minister Mr Gladstone turned to the magistrate who said that is not a question for him to answer we will go back to the thirteenth she said do you think anyone was obstructed in their passage to the House of Commons I cannot speak for other people you saw no attempt to waylay members of parliament or cabinet ministers her questions continued thick and fast he admitted that he had seen no one waylayed or injured and no harm done but took refuge in the assertion there was a great crowd but a crowd assembles when the king goes to open parliament she said presumably they were waiting to rush the House of Commons and added later that he had heard that certain police constables had been injured and that there had been 37 arrests and over 40 complaints of losses of purses and watches comparing that with the net result of a Lord Mayor's show crowd or any sort of procession really less harm resulted she asked but he gave no reply and her questioning as to how many policemen were killed by Mr. Curtis Bennett presently Christabel asked how do you define a political offence Mr. Gladstone lent over the edge of the box and smiled again I wish you would give me a good definition he said in friendly confidential tones I am often asked that question in the House of Commons well with the magistrates permission I will she answered a political offence is one committed in connection with moral disturbances and with a political motive I do not think that a sufficient explanation he said with a challenging air if I am at liberty after this day's proceedings are over I shall have pleasure in sending you a fuller account then she asked do you remember that when a deputation of women went to the House of Commons to see the Prime Minister instead of being allowed to enter they were arrested I have no immediate recollection of that only a general recollection was the Home Secretary's reply given with a lofty manner when the question was put again in a slightly different form the magistrate interrupted that does not arise on the issue it throws a light on it though said Miss Pankhurst please do obey otherwise I shall have to stop it all together said Mr. Curtis Bennett and one heard a note of regret in his voice he evidently enjoyed the discomfort of the cabinet ministers and the spectacle of their professing blankest ignorance on well-known points I have given you much more licence than I should give counsel he urged in the action we took on the 13th is it within your knowledge that we were acting on advice given by yourself Christabel asked I wish you would take my advice Mr. Gladstone answered we are trying to take it she said quietly you said that men had used force majeure in demanding the vote if you hand me the speech I dare say I can tell you she held out a copy of it towards him but Mr. Curtis Bennett interposed how is this material to what Mr. Gladstone saw you are cross examining your own witness Miss Pankhurst and you must not do that may I not ask any explanation whatsoever as to the counsel given to us she asked with a persuasive air no you may not the magistrate replied sternly we never have any opportunity may I ask whether he made certain statements Mr. Curtis Bennett smiled and pretended not to notice and Christabel eagerly turned to Mr. Gladstone reading from the printed copy of his speech did you say it was impossible not to sympathize with the eagerness and passion which have actuated so many women on this subject yes he replied did you say men had had to struggle for centuries for their political rights yes did you say that they had to fight from the time of Cromwell and that for the last 130 years the warfare had been perpetual his smile was growing broader and broader yes he said did you say that on this question experience showed that predominance of argument alone and you believe gained was not enough to win the political day did you say that yes did you say that we are in the stage of what is called academic discussion which serves for the ventilation of pious opinions and is accompanied you admit by no effective action on the part of the government or of political parties or of voters throughout the country yes did you say that members of the House of Commons reflect the opinion of the country not only in regard to the number of people outside but in regard to the intensity of the feeling and support of a movement and that the government must necessarily be a reflex of the party which brought it into being yes did you say this there comes a time when political dynamics are far more important than political arguments you said that yes and that men had learned this lesson yes and that they know the necessity for demonstrating that force majeure which actuates and arms a government for effective work yes I think it was a most excellent speech he said nodding his head and smiling up at the prisoner evidently regarding the whole affair as a very good joke the court laughed too but for a different reason and the magistrate raised no objection I agree with you said Christabel smiling demurely did you say that this was the task before the leaders of this great movement yes did you speak of people assembled in tens of thousands in the 30s, 60s, and 80s and do you know that we have done it in Hyde Park and on Woodhouse more and other places yes why don't you give us the vote then she said with quick emphasis and the court laughed again are you aware of the words you distinguished father spoke on the matter she continued I heard the quotation do you ascent to the proposition he laid down yes then you cannot condemn our methods anymore she said triumphantly that is hardly a matter for my opinion he said suddenly remembering that he must preserve his dignity it is a very interesting question though I need not trouble you further she concluded now Mrs. Pankhurst rose and the witness turned to her quite cheerfully I want to ask Mr. Gladstone she said if he is aware that the consequence of our being ordered to be bound over is that we cannot consent and that we shall go to prison that is a matter of law and not for the witness interpose the magistrate if that happens to us if we go to prison I hope that Mr. Gladstone will see that we go as political offenders she said but again the magistrate intervened do you think we should be likely to break the law if we had the same means of representation as men she then asked and Mr. Gladstone replied with pompous amiability I am sure your motive is excellent but that is a hypothetical question which I cannot answer Mrs. Pankhurst was irritated I will ask Mr. Gladstone she said whether in his opinion we should be treated as ordinary criminals searched stripped and put into cells as though we were drunkards and pickpockets you must not put that question said the magistrate the case amused him but he did not like the unpleasant side of it put forward this concluded the evidence of the cabinet ministers and as they were about to leave the court Christabel graciously said may we tender our warm thanks to these two gentlemen who have done us the favor of coming forward to give evidence she then called a number of witnesses in support of her contention that the crowd on the night of the 13th was an orderly one and that no violence was done amongst these were Colonel Massey formerly of the Sixth Dragoon Guards Lady Constance Lytton and Mr. Nevenson a well-known leader writer and work correspondent Mrs. May, another witness said that in her opinion the word rush had been used on the famous hand-bill in a sense similar to that conveyed by the expression Hadasch to the North Pole that though an attempt to reach the North Pole is described as a dash it is in reality the slowest possible mode of travel in the same way she imagined that the public had been asked to rush the House of Commons into passing a vote for women measure then came Miss Evelyn Sharp well known as a writer of delightful stories for children one of those frail wan face little people who whilst looking always as though a puff of strong wind would carry them away yet managed to accomplish such quantities her work has failed the strongest with a maze and at the same time have ever ready a fund of the brightest and cheriest good humor now she told in the funniest and most winning way that she had taken the fateful hand-bill as an invitation to go to the House of Commons and if possible not to turn back and how when she had found the police were determined to bar the way up Victoria Street she had stooped and dodged between them in the middle of a scene which she described as being like a rush at hockey Miss F. E. Macaulay an historical student then gave several instances of women having gone to the House of Commons for the purpose of presenting petitions in ancient days and said she considered that these suffragettes were only reviving an ancient custom meanwhile the day had passed the case had begun at 10 and it was now 7 o'clock except for half an hour at lunchtime there had been no interval and during all these hours but for an occasional brief 5 minutes or so when Mrs. Pankhurst or Mrs. Drummond had taken a turn Christabel had been constantly examining witnesses remaining always eager, alert and full of energy and resource several times she had applied for an adjournment but Mr. Curtis Bennett was just as anxious to tire her out and thus finish the trial as she was to prolong it at last at half past 7 he asked how many further witnesses she proposed to put into the box she replied about 50 of the court but we are fighting for our liberty on hearing this Mr. Curtis Bennett decided to adjourn the hearing of the case until the following Saturday ordering that the defendant should be released on bail as before so Christabel had won for the time being whatever the final result might be the defendant set three more days of freedom before them and the case which by the long accounts of it that were appearing in every newspaper was interesting thousands of people in the votes for women movement was to be carried on for another day criminal cases many of them dealing with the foulest and most sordid crimes are allowed to drag on for weeks and even months whilst public time, public money and public interest is lavishly expended upon them we felt that we need not scruple them to prolong as far as we possibly could a trial dealing with great political issues moreover our second Albert Hall meeting had been fixed for October 29th and we hoped that the defendants might be able to speak that night when Saturday morning at length came round and the prisoners again took their places in the dock it was at once evident that Mr. Curtis Bennett was determined to bring the case to an abrupt conclusion speaking in sharper and harsher tones than any we had heard from him before he announced that he had decided only to hear two or three more witnesses whom the defendants might specially select unless there were others who could give evidence relevant to the case in regard to a set of facts entirely different from any that had been raised as this decision might take the defendants by surprise he would allow an adjournment of half an hour in which they might consider which of their witnesses they would prefer to call requests to state what class of evidence he would consider relevant both from Christabel and Mrs. Pankhurst the magistrate met with a curt refusal to say anything further and Christabel was not informed to overcome his objections as she had been on the previous days indeed we now saw with anxiety that the excitement and extra pressure of work of the last few weeks coupled with a constant heavy routine entailed by her position in the union and the great strain of conducting this case had begun to tell on her and for the first time in her life we began to fear that she might break down but even now she would not abandon the fight to prolong the case it was impossible in half an hour to examine individually the hundreds of persons who had by this time offered to testify as witnesses in order to find out which of them would prove most valuable to our case the only thing to be done was to choose a few almost at random who possessed some special position or influence and whom we also knew personally to be particularly sympathetic and observant when the half hour had elapsed then the prisoners had again taken their places Christabel first called Mr. James Murray the liberal member of parliament for East Aberdeenshire who had so kindly come to the rescue when bail had been refused at Bow Street he stepped into the box a huge figure immaculately dressed and faultlessly groomed and turned his big ruddy good-humored face towards the three prisoners with a kindly smile when asked by Christabel if he were present at the meeting in Trafalgar Square on Sunday October 11th he replied I was going into the National Gallery and saw a collection of well-dressed people in the square I think your mother was speaking but I could not hear anything what struck me was that the crowd listening to her was composed of exactly the type of people who go to church on Sunday in Scotland then they must have been very respectable said Christabel did you get a copy of the bill no I dare say you saw it in the papers I saw a statement in the papers how did you understand the word rush I did not take the matter seriously at all here Mr. Curtis Bennett interrupted curtly that really is for me Miss Pankhurst as I have told you did you resolve to accept the invitation Christabel asked I could not very well you see said Mr. Murray smiling broadly because I was inside the Citadel he has the right of entry said Mr. Curtis Bennett with mock solemnity and for the first time that morning with a twinkle in his eyes were you near Westminster on the 13th was the next question I was in the house and sitting down to dinner when I got a telegram from another sent from the neighbourhood of Bow Street asking me to go across there this cannot be relevant said Mr. Curtis Bennett sharply but Mr. Murray merely looked amused and went on in coming here I drove in a handsome apartment street the whole place was like a besieged city except that we had police officers instead of soldiers a little beyond Dover House the crowd was held back by a cordon but I had not the slightest difficulty afterwards I returned to the house by the strand and the embankment and had very little trouble in getting back was it a disorderly crowd no I think you could say an ordinary London crowd did you come to the conclusion that the persons who had called the meeting had done so with a desire to incite the crowd to disorder or damage it was Mrs. Pankhurst who spoke now no answered Mr. Murray I thought that if it were for any purpose at all it was to advertise the cause you know something of the women who are conducting this agitation was Mrs. Pankhurst's next question and Mr. Murray said gallantly yes I have the greatest admiration for them for their earnestness of purpose, ability and general management of the whole scheme you know they have tried every other political method yes and if they had been men instead of women they would not have been in the dark now judging by the past do you agree with Mr. Lloyd George when he said that if the government would give us what we were asking for this agitation would cease I have no doubt it would I go further than Mr. Lloyd George and I say you are entitled to it said the witness with fervor and then with a genial motion affair well to the prisoners he withdrew after Dr. Miller McGuire the well-known army coach a stout little man with a black moustache and a strong Irish brogue Agnes Murphy in Australian a quiet voiced pale faced lady had also given evidence Mr. Curtis Bennett said that he would hear no more witnesses every attempt to overcome his decision failed and Christabel then applied for an adjournment in order that she and her companions might be in a position to do themselves full justice when they addressed the court everyone present anxiously hoped that this request would be granted for it was evident that the woman who had hitherto conducted the defense so brilliantly was just worn out the magistrate however was determined to bring the case to an end and he said you have had a long time to take this matter into consideration you must either address me now or not at all she protested that the case was being rushed through the court and at this there was laughter and applause for everyone recognized the play on the word rush but Mr. Curtis Bennett said hotly are you going to address me or not the gesture of protest Christabel Pankhurst then began to speak in her own defense she held in her hand a sheave of type written notes containing dates and quotations but every word of her brilliant speech was extemporized she spoke quickly and with a passionate emotion which is usually foreign to her when she referred to the nature of the prosecution and to the conduct of the government in having denied the women the trial by jury to which the nature of their alleged defense entitled them and in having preferred to hustle their case through the police court where the drunkards and pickpockets are tried it was with a thrill of indignation that spread through the court end of chapter 15 part 2 chapter 15 part 3 of the suffragette the history of the women's militant suffrage movement by E. Sylvia Pankhurst part 3 she began by declaring that these proceedings had been taken out of malice and forvexation and in order to in order to blame in an illegitimate way a political enemy in proof of this she cited the attitude of the government towards the present women's movement from its very beginning three years before she drew attention to the fact which had been sworn to in the witness box that Mr. Horace Smith had allowed himself to be coerced by the government into settling in conjunction with them whether a certain lady charged in connection with this agitation was guilty and even the term of imprisonment for the evidence had been heard now this policy of the government of waiting the scales against us Christabel declared is not of interest merely to us but to the whole community in the course of British history we have seen many struggles for the purification of our judicial system it has been left to the 20th century to these so called democratic days to see our judicial system corrupted for party ends I am glad that we have been able to do the duty and service of doing something to attack this evil while it is in the bud dealing with the form of the summons she urged that if she and her colleagues were guilty of any offense it was that of illegal assembly but the government had not charged them with this offense because they had wished to keep their trial in the police court and to prevent it from coming before a jury they believe that by this means she said they will succeed in prejudicing the public against us we know perfectly well that up till recently the general public shunned the police court as a disgraceful place well I think that by our presence here we have done something to relieve the police court of that unenviable reputation we have done something to raise its status in the public eye the authorities dare not see this case come before a jury she continued because they know perfectly well that if it were her to before a jury of our countrymen we should be acquitted just as John Burns was acquitted years ago for taking action far more serious far more dangerous to the public peace than anything we have done yes I say they are afraid of sending us before a jury and I am quite sure that this will be obvious to the public and that the government will suffer from the underhand the unworthy and the disgraceful subterfuge by which they have removed this case to what we can only call a star chamber of the 20th century yes this is a star chamber we are deprived of trial by jury we are also deprived of the right of appeal against the magistrates decision very very carefully has this procedure been thought out very very cunningly has it been thought to hedge us in on every side and to deprive us of our rights in the matter though we are rendered liable to six months imprisonment we are yet denied the privileges in making our defence that people liable to three months imprisonment and joy we shall be told in the House of Commons no doubt we have been told the same thing before now that we are only bound over we need not go to prison if we go to prison we have only ourselves to thank if the case is decided against us if we are called upon to be bound over it must be remembered that that amounts to imprisoning us and that therefore the authorities cannot possibly escape their responsibility in sending us to prison by saying that we could be at liberty if we liked Magna Carta has been practically torn up by the present government we consider that it is not we who ought to be in the dock today but the people who are responsible for such a monstrous state of affairs then she went on to deal with the reasons for issuing the bill we do not deny at all that we issued this bill none of us three have wished to deny responsibility we did issue the bill we did cause it to be circulated we did put upon it the words come and help the suffrages to rush the House of Commons for these words we do not apologize it is very well known that we took this action in order to press forward to claim which according to the British Constitution we are well entitled to make after all we are seeking only to enforce the observance of the law of the land that taxation and representation must go together and that one who obeys the laws must have a share in making them therefore when we claim the parliamentary vote we are taking the government to abandon the illegal practice of denying representation to those who have a perfect right to it I want here to insist she said upon the legality of the action which we have taken we have a perfectly constitutional right to go ourselves in person to lay our grievances before the House of Commons and as one witness an expert student of history pointed out to you we are but pursuing a legitimate course which in the old days women pursued without the interference by the authorities in regard to the meaning of the word rush she pointed out that a large number of witnesses had been examined and that all these witnesses had testified that according to their interpretation of the word rush no violence was counseled the word rush Christabel said appears to be very much the rage just now we find that at a meeting of the league for preservation of Swiss scenery Mr. Richard Whiting discussing the suggested that a general rush to the Italian Alps might induce the Swiss to listen to reason well I do not think that anyone here would suggest that Mr. Whiting meant to offer any violence to the Swiss in his use of the word rush he meant to imply that a speedy advance should be made to the Italian Alps then we have Mr. McKinnon Wood counseling the electors to rush the county council and get a lady elected to that body I want to submit that rush as a transitive verb cannot mean attack a sale make a raid upon or anything of that kind in support of her contentions Christabel quoted the definitions given by many dictionaries including the century dictionary chambers English dictionary and Farmer and Henley's dictionary of slang which gave amongst other meanings of the word rush an eager demand urgent pressure of business hurry or hasten it may be unduly to go forward over hastily for example a number of bills are rushed through parliament or a case is rushed through a law court one of the definitions ran a rusher a go ahead person whilst on the rush was said to mean in a hurry and with a rush with spirit or energetically Christabel also displayed a little label which had been sent to her during the progress of the case it stated rush by first train leaving was used in America for parcels required to reach their destination early she reminded the magistrate of mrs. May's comparison of the phrase rush the house of commons with a dash for the pole saying everyone knows that you cannot get to the pole in a hurry but you can try to get there in a hurry and that is what a dash to the pole means everyone knows that with a timid government like the present having at its service the entire metropolitan police force the woman says she is going to rush the house of commons there will be an immense number of police to prevent her doing it nobody then having regard to the facts I have mentioned thought the woman would rush the house of commons but they knew that the woman would be there to show their indignation against the government and I am glad to say that they were there it may mean six months imprisonment but I think it is worth it we are anxious to know by what statute it is illegal to go to the house of commons walk up the steps and make our way to the stranger's entrance we should like to know whether that is an illegal thing to do and if it is not illegal to go at a slow pace we should like to know whether it is illegal to go at a quick pace because that is what the word rush means to rush the house of commons is to go with all possible speed inside the house of commons and I hope that we shall be told by what statute we have contravened by doing it ourselves or by sending or inviting others to do it Miss Pankhurst next referred to the speeches made in Trafalgar Square on October 11th she was glad that the prosecution had raised this point because it was all in the defendant's favor the speeches made at that meeting were made in interpretation of the famous handbill and all the witnesses who had heard those speeches not accepting Mr. Lloyd George himself were agreed that they contained nothing inflammatory and no incitement to violence whatsoever Christabel continued it is not because of anything serious that occurred on October 13th or was expected to occur that we are here we are here in order that we may be kept out of the way for some months and may cease from troubling the government for as long a period as they can find it in them or for which the public will allow them to deprive us of our liberty whilst hosts of witnesses had testified to the orderly character of the crowd she pointed out that two police officers only had been put forward on the other side the prosecution had been unable to bring forward a single impartial person but police evidence appeared to be all that was considered in the police court and she cried out passionately it seems to me that the prosecution, the witnesses, the authorities, the magistrates are all on one side they are all in the same box and the prisoner charged with an offense is absolutely helpless whatever facts he may bring forward it is indeed a waste of time to bring evidence over the doors of this court ought to be the motto abandon hope, all ye who enter here we do not care for ourselves because imprisonment is nothing to us but when we think of the thousands of helpless creatures who come into this monstrous place with nobody to help them, nobody to plead for them and we know perfectly well that they are found guilty before they have a chance of defending themselves the injustice that is done in these courts is almost too terrible to contemplate we saw then those helpless creatures as we had done so often and as Christabel called up their image her voice broke and there were tears on her face I am thankful to think, she said triumphantly that we have been able by submitting ourselves to the absurd proceedings that are conducted here to ventilate this fearful wrong Christabel next developed the contention that in the course which they had taken the women had followed historical precedent and had been encouraged by statesmen and especially by liberal statesmen the reform acts had been obtained by disorder prior to 1832 the mansion house the custom house, the bishops' palace the excise office, three prisons four tall houses and 42 private dwellings and warehouses had been burnt amongst other things the breaking down of the Hyde Park railings won the reform act of 1867 in 1884 there were the Aston Park riots John Bright threatened to crowd the streets from Westminster Bridge to Charing Cross Lord Randolph Churchill advised the voters of Ulster and voters have other means of urging their opinions to resort to the supreme arbitrament of force he said Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right and as a result of his words dangerous riots almost amounting to warfare occurred yet he was never prosecuted Joseph Chamberlain threatened to march 100,000 men on London but no proceedings were taken against him the Gladstone of those days Christabel declared was less absurd hesitating and cowardly than the present Gladstone and his colleagues and therefore he took the statesmen like action of pressing forward the reform bill instead of taking proceedings against Mr. Chamberlain even a votive censure moved upon Mr. Chamberlain in the House of Commons was defeated John Burns whose language was far more violent than any that the women had used was tried at the Old Bailey and acquitted he said in his speech that he was a rebel because he was an outlaw well that fact will support us in all we have done if we go to far greater lengths than we have done yet we shall only be following in the footsteps of a man who is now a member of the government following out this line of thought Christabel went on Mr. Herbert Gladstone has told us in the speech I read to him that the victory of argument alone is not enough as we cannot hope to win by force of argument alone it is necessary to overcome the savage resistance of the government to our claim for citizenship by other means he says go on fight as the men did and then when we show our power and get the people to help us he takes proceedings against us in a manner which would have been disgraceful even in the old days of coercion and which would be thought disgraceful if it were practiced in Russia then there is Mr. Lloyd George who if any man has done so has set us an example his whole career has been a series of revolts he has said that if we do not get the vote mark these words we should be justified in adopting the methods which men had to adopt namely in pulling down the Hyde Park railings then as a sign of the way in which men politicians deal with men's interests we have heard Lord Morley saying we are in India in the presence of a living movement and a movement for what for objects which we ourselves have taught them to think are desirable objects and unless we can somehow reconcile order with satisfaction of those ideas and aspirations the fault will not be theirs it will be ours it will mark the breakdown of British statesmanship apply those words to our case remember that we are demanding of liberal statesmen that which for us is the greatest boon and the most essential right remember that we are asking for votes that we are demanding the franchise and if the present government cannot reconcile order with our demand for the vote without delay it will mark the breakdown of their statesmanship yes their statesmanship has broken down already they are disgraced it is only in this court that they have the smallest hope of getting bolstered up turning finally from the magistrate to the great world of public opinion outside she finished on a defiant note caring nothing whether the abuse which she had heaped upon his petty court and its unworthy procedure should cause him to increase her sentence ten or even a hundredfold Mr. Curtis Bennett sat with brows knit and an angry flesh on his face and the whole court was wrought up to the most intense excitement but now it was Mrs. Pankhurst's turn to speak and her clear even tones and absolute calm of manner created if possible an even deeper impression sir I want to endorse what my daughter has said that in my opinion we are proceeded against in this court by malice on the part of the government she began quietly and firmly I want to protest as strongly as she has done I want to put before you that the very nature of your duties in this court although I wish to say nothing disrespectful to you render you unfitted to deal with a question which is a political question as a body of jury men could do we are not women who would come into this court as ordinary lawbreakers Mrs. Drummond here is a woman of very great public spirit she is an admirable wife and mother and although a married woman she has maintained herself for many years and has acquired for herself the admiration and respect of all the people with whom she has had business relations I do not think I need speak about my daughter her abilities and earnestness of purpose are very well known to you they are young women I am not sir you and I are older and have both had very great and very wide experience of life under different conditions before you decide what is to be done with us I should like you to hear from me a statement of what has brought me into this doc this morning I was brought up by a father who taught me that his children boys and girls alike had a duty towards their country they must be good citizens I married a man whose wife I was but also his comrade in all his public life he was as you know a distinguished member of your own profession but he felt at his duty in addition to do political work to interest himself in the welfare of his fellow countrymen and countrywomen throughout the whole of my marriage I was associated with him in his public work in addition to that as soon as my children were of an age to permit me to leave them I took to public duties I was for many years a guardian of the poor for many years I was a member of the school board and when that was abolished I was elected to the educational committee my experience in doing that work brought me in contact with many of my own sex who in my opinion found themselves in deplorable positions because of the state of the English law as it affects women you in this court must have had experience of women who would never have come here if married women were afforded by law that claim for maintenance by their husbands which I think injustice should be given them when they give up their economic independence and are unable to earn a subsistence for themselves you know how inadequate are the marriage laws to women you must know sir as I have found out in my experience of public life how abominable, atrocious and unjust are the divorce laws as they affect women you know very well that the married woman has no legal right to the guardianship of her children then too the illegitimacy laws you know that a woman sometimes commits the dreadful crime of infanticide while her partner the man who should share her punishment gets off scot-free ever since my girlhood a period of about 30 years I have belonged to organizations to secure for women that political power which I have felt essential to bringing about those reforms which women need we have tried to be what you call womanly we have tried to use feminine influence and we have seen that it is of no use men who have been impatient have invariably got reforms I have seen that men are encouraged by law to take advantage of the helplessness of women many women have thought as I have and for many many years have tried by that influence of which we have so often been reminded to alter these laws but have found that that influence counts for nothing when we went to the House of Commons we used to be told when we were persistent that members of parliament were not responsible to women they were responsible only to voters and that their time was too fully occupied to reform those laws although they agreed that they needed reforming we women have presented larger petitions in support of our enfranchisement than were ever presented for any other reform we have succeeded in holding greater public meetings than men have ever held for any reform in spite of the difficulty which women have in throwing off their natural dividends that desire to escape publicity which we have inherited from generations of our foremothers we have broken through that we have faced hostile mobs at street corners because we were told that we could not have that representation for our taxes which men have won unless we converted the whole of the country to our side because we have done this we have been misrepresented we have been ridiculed we have had contempt poured upon us and the ignorant mob incited to offer us violence which we have faced unarmed and unprotected by the safeguards which cabinet ministers have I am here to take upon myself now sir as I wish the prosecution had put upon me the full responsibility for this agitation in its present phase I want to address you as a woman who has performed the duties of a woman and in addition has performed the duties which ordinary men have to perform by earning a living for her children and educating them I want to make you realize that it is a point of honor that if you decide as I hope you will not decide to bind us over that we shall not sign any undertaking as the member of parliament did who was before you yesterday perhaps his reason for signing that undertaking may have been that the prime minister had given some assurance to the people he claimed to represent that something should be done for them we have had no such assurance so sir if you decide against us today to prison we must go because we feel we should be going back to the hopeless condition this movement was in three years ago if we consented to be bound over to keep the peace which we have never broken if you decide to bind us over although the government have admitted that we are political offenders we shall be treated as pickpockets and drunkards and I want you if you can as a man to realize what that means to women like us we are driven to do this we are determined to go on with this agitation because we feel in honor bound just as it was the duty of your forefathers it is our duty to make this world a better place for women than it is today now sir we have not wished to waste your time in any way we have wished to make you realize that there is another side to the case than that put before you by the prosecution we want you to use your power I do not know what value there is in the legal claims that have been put before you as to your power to decide this case but we want you sir if you will to send us to be tried in some place more suitable for the trial of political offenders than an ordinary police court you must realize how futile it is to attempt to settle this question by binding us over to keep the peace you have tried it it has failed others have tried to do it and have failed if you had power to send us to prison not for six months but for six years for sixteen years or for the whole of our lives the government must not think that they could stop this agitation it would go on lastly I want to draw your attention to the self restraint which was shown by our followers on the night of the 13th after we had been arrested it only shows that our influence over them is very great because I think if they had yielded to their natural impulses there might have been a breach of the peace they were very indignant but our words have always been be patient exercise self restraint show our so-called superiors that the criticism of women being hysterical is not true use no violence offer yourselves to the violence of others we are going to win our women have taken that advice if we are in prison they will continue to take that advice well sir that is all I have to say to you we are here not because we are lawbreakers we are here in our efforts to become law makers the angry red had faded from Mr. Curtis Bennett's face and whilst Mrs. Pankhurst was speaking he kept his hand up to it and at one point we saw it quiver and for a moment he hit his eyes some of the big burly policemen whom we knew so well and who except in the raids when they were obliged to do their duty were always so kind and jovial towards us were openly in tears then Mrs. Drummond looking paler and more serious than is her want rose up to speak her turn her voice was a few notes thinner and higher pitched and like her words it seemed to be stripped of all emotion and to be instinct with the clearest and most logical common sense not only what she said but her whole personality was so honest sincere and unaffected that she seemed to add the one thing lacking to the completeness of that presentment of the great unanswerable case for women's suffrage her concluding words were an assurance that the agitation which was spreading and growing all over the country would go on as before I can speak on good authority she said for we have left everything in working order and we shall find the movement stronger than when we left it because the action which the government have taken has fired the bosoms of women who are determined to take up the flag that we have had to lay down today when Mrs. Drummond had finished Mr. Curtis Bennett began speaking quite cheerfully and as though the whole affair were an amusing discussion between friends and had no unpleasant side to it during the first part of his speech he reviewed the arguments on both sides of the case and as he referred meanwhile to the pages on which he had taken his notes he also frequently smiled as though they recalled amusing and rather pleasant memories to him that many people made up their minds that he was either about to state a case for a higher court as the defendants wished or to discharge them altogether all at once however his tone changed and he began to speak hurriedly with lowered voice and increased severity of manner and went on to say that there could be no doubt that it was for that court and that court alone to deal with the offence for which the defendants had been summoned and that there could be no doubt but that the handbill which the defendants circulated was liable to cause something to occur which might and probably would and in a breach of the peace the chief commissioner of police was bound to keep Parliament Square and the vicinity free and open and the commissioner of police had felt that it would be impossible to do that if crowds assembled together in order to help and to see the women rush the House of Commons therefore each of the two older defendants would be bound over in their own recognises of 100 pounds and they must find two sureties in 50 pounds each to keep the peace for 12 months or in default must undergo three months imprisonment in the case of the younger defendant her own recognises would be 50 pounds with two sureties of 25 pounds each the alternative being 10 weeks imprisonment footnotes 30 this as Mr Jarvis afterwards admitted was a mistake Mrs Pankhurst really said that women had no representation in the House of Commons End of Chapter 15