class heretics. His lordship, therefore,
expounded the law afresh, so as to exempt them while including us.
The only question he now submitted to the jury was, "Are any of those
passages put before you calculated to expose to ridicule, contempt or
derision the Holy Scriptures or the Christian religion?" This amended
statement of the Law of Blasphemy went directly in the teeth of our
Indictment, which charged us with bringing Holy Scripture and the
Christian Religion into _disbelief_ as well as contempt. The fact is,
blasphemy is a judge-made crime, and the "blasphemer's" fate depends
very largely on who tries him. Lord Coleridge holds one view of the law,
Sir James Stephen another, and Justice North another still. Nay,
the last judge differs even from himself. He can give two various
definitions of the law in five days, no doubt on the principle that
circumstances alter cases, and that what is true for one purpose may be
false for another.

I have said that the jury, with indecent haste, returned a verdict of
Guilty. The crowd of people in court were evidently surprised at the
result, although I was not, and they gave vent to groans and hisses.
The tumult was indescribable. Suddenly there rang out from the gallery
overhead the agonising cry of my young wife, whom I had implored not to
come, and whose presence there I never suspected. She had crept in and
listened all day to my trial, never leaving her seat for fear of losing
it; and now, overwearied and faint for want of food, she reeled under
the heavy blow. My heart leaped at the sound; my brain reeled; the scene
around me swam in confusion--judge, jury, lawyers and spectators
all shifting like the pieces in a kaleidoscope; my very frame seemed
expanding and dissolving in space. The feeling lasted only a moment. Yet
to me how long! With a tremendous effort I crushed down my emotions, and
the next moment I was mentally as calm as an Alp, although physically
I quivered like a race-horse sharply reined up in mid-gallop by an iron
hand. My wife I could not help, but I could still maintain the honor and
dignity of Freethought.

Order was at length restored after his lordship had threatened to clear
the court. Mr. Avory then asked him to deal leniently with Mr. Kemp,
who was merely a paid servant of ours, and in no other way actually
responsible for the incriminated publication. Justice North listened
with ill-concealed impatience. He was obviously anxious to flesh the
sw