The circulation of literature advocating prudential checks to population was not stopped during the temporary suspension of the sale of the Knowlton pamphlet between June, 1877, and February, 1878.  In October, 1877, I commenced in the National Reformer the publication of a pamphlet entitled:  “The Law of Population, its consequences, and its bearing upon human conduct and morals”.  This little book included a statement of the law, evidence of the serious suffering among the poor caused by over-large families, and a clear statement of the checks proposed, with arguments in their favor.  The medical parts were omitted in the National Reformer articles, and the pamphlet was published complete early in November, at the price of sixpence—­the same as Knowlton’s—­the first edition consisting of 5,000 copies.  A second edition of 5,000 was issued in December, but all the succeeding editions were of 10,000 copies each.  The pamphlet is now in its ninetieth thousand, and has gone all over the civilised world.  It has been translated into Swedish, Danish, Dutch, French, German, and Italian, and 110,000 copies have been sold of an American reprint.  On the whole, the prosecution of 1877 did not do much in stopping the circulation of literature on the Population Question.

The “Law” has been several times threatened with prosecution, and the initial steps have been taken, but the stage of issuing a warrant for its seizure has never yet been reached.  Twice I have had the stock removed to avoid seizure, but on each occasion the heart of the prosecutors has failed them, and the little book has carried its message of mercy unspeeded by the advertisement of prosecution.

The struggle on the right to discuss the prudential restraint of population did not, however, conclude without a martyr.  Mr. Edward Truelove, alluded to above, was prosecuted for selling a treatise by Robert Dale Owen on “Moral Physiology”, and a pamphlet entitled, “Individual, Family, and National Poverty”.  He was tried on February 1st, 1878, before the Lord Chief Justice in the Court of Queen’s Bench, and was most ably defended by Professor W.A.  Hunter.  The jury spent two hours in considering their verdict, and then returned into Court and stated that they were unable to agree.  The majority of the jury were ready to convict, if they felt sure that Mr. Truelove would not be punished, but one of them boldly declared in Court:  “As to the book, it is written in plain language for plain people, and I think that many more persons ought to know what the contents of the book are”.  The jury was discharged, in consequence of this one man’s courage, but Mr. Truelove’s persecutors—­ the wretched Vice Society—­were determined not to let their victim free.  They proceeded to trial a second time, and wisely endeavored to secure a special jury, feeling that as prudential restraint would raise wages by limiting the supply of labor, they would be more likely to obtain a verdict from