They succeeded in getting their colours adopted—“the red, white and blue of Old England: the red for Battle, the white for Purity, and the blue for Temperance.” The Crusaders were themselves seen everywhere during the fray; their fresh young voices cheered and sang; they cried “Shame!” whenever unfairness, or slander, or untruthfulness characterised a speech, and shouted God speed when they knew and honoured the speaker. It was a great change. For many years women had taken some part in the political battles that had been fought; they had addressed meetings, and canvassed householders, and driven in their carriages to the scene of action; but it was a new thing for the lads to take part in an election. They were at present without votes, but they were learning the duties of citizens as thoroughly as they were learning their trades, and the real questions that were at issue were questions in regard to which they were often less ignorant than their fathers, because they had the advantage of good, clear-headed, and impartial teachers. Of course, many of the newspapers published satirical articles every day. Were the men of England so fallen, so lost to the sense of their own manliness, as to be dictated to by a lot of little Sunday-school boys? The producers of caricature and illustrators of all the comic papers had a fine time, _Christian Society_ and other journals of a similar type were more scurrilous than ever, and there was no end to the sneers at religion and religionists which were produced. But, for the most part, those whom they were intended to hurt and irritate were too busy to take any notice of them, and so went calmly on their way. The constituencies were most earnestly appealed to not to send men who were not altogether, as to their private life and character, the upholders of purity, honesty, and uprightness. And the greater number of the constituencies responded. A man might be rich, but if he paid his workmen poorly it would be vain for him to seek the suffrages of the people. Or he might be clever, and be able to talk persuasively; but unless his life had been speaking in his favour he need not hope to represent his fellow-men in Parliament. For there was a new patriotism for the new times—a patriotism which placed in the forefront of its political battle a banner, with the old device: “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.” There were other banners with other legends, but they meant much the same thing—“No More Working for Starvation Wages,” “No More Unemployed,” “Send Clean Men to Make Clean Cities,” “For the Women and the Children’s Sake,” “No More Brute Force,” “A True Man for True Men.”