are intolerable conditions. ... Only this morning I have had informa-
tion brought to me which could be supported by sworn affidavits, that
there is in this country, in this very city of London of ours, a regulated
traffic, not only in women of full age, but in little children ... these are
the things that have made us women determined to go on, determined
to face everything, determined to see this thing out to the end, let it
cost us what it may. And if you convict me, gentlemen, if you find me
guilty, I tell you quite honestly and quite frankly, that whether the
sentence is a long sentence, whether the sentence is a short sentence, I
shall not submit to it ... if I am sent to prison. ... I shall join the
women who are already in Holloway on the hunger strike. ... Have you
the right, as human beings, to condemn anther human being to death- because that is what it amounts to? ... You have not the right in
human justice, not the right by the Constitution of this country, if
rightly interpreted, to judge me, because you are not my peers. You
know, every one of you, that I should not be standing here, that I
should not break one single law if I had the rights that you possess. ... I
break the law from no selfish motive. I have no personal end to serve,
neither have any of the other women who have gone through this
court during the past few weeks, like sheep to the slaughter. Not one of
these women would, if women were free, be law-breakers. They are
women who seriously believe that this hard path that they are treading
is the only path to their enfranchisement. ... There is only one way to
put a stop to this agitation. ... It is not by deporting us, it is not by
locking us up in gaol; it is by doing us justice. And so I appeal to you
gentlemen in this case of mine, to give a verdict, not only on my case,
but upon the whole of this agitation. I ask you to find me not guilty of
malicious incitement to a breach of the law.^68
Despite her powerful and moving address, the jury found Emmeline guilty,
with a strong recommendation to mercy. When asked if she had anything to say
before judgment was passed, Emmeline commented, ‘I have no sense of guilt. I
feel I have done my duty. I look upon myself as a prisoner of war. I am under no
moral obligation to conform to, or in any way accept, the sentence imposed on
me.’^69 Justice Lush replied that although he found sentencing her ‘a very painful
duty’, and acknowledged that her motives were not selfish, her crime was both
‘serious’ and ‘wicked’. Paying regard to the recommendation of the jury, the
least sentence he could pass was three years’ penal servitude. Emmeline calmly
listened, but her supporters uttered loud cries of ‘Shame!’ and cheered as she
was conducted out of the dock. An angry Justice Lush restored order by clearing
the courtroom of all women who filed out proudly singing the ‘Women’s
Marseillaise’.^70
That evening, Annie Kenney said to a meeting of about 250 people, ‘Do
they think that because our leader, Mrs. Pankhurst, is in prison, we are going to
HONORARY TREASURER OF THE WSPU AND AGITATOR