ouble in executing the judge's orders,
and some time elapsed before he could strike Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Kemp.
Meanwhile I could hear through the earth and the brick walls the roar of
that indignant crowd which filled the street and suspended traffic,
and I knew it was the first sound of public opinion reversing my unjust
sentence.

Consider it for a moment. There is no allusion to outraged feelings,
much less any suggestion of "indecency." It is a plain declaration of
theological hatred; it breathes the spirit which animated the Grand
Inquisitors when they sentenced heretics to be burnt to ashes at the
stake. "Listen," says the judge. "I am on God's side. You are on the
Devil's. God doesn't see you, but I do; God doesn't punish you, but
I will. We have hells on earth for you Freethinkers, in the shape of
Christian gaols, and to hell you go!"

Presently Mr. Ramsey came down with nine months on his back, and then
Mr. Kemp with three. They had my sentence between them. Mr. Cattell
afterwards joined us without any sentence. He was ordered to enter into
his own recognisances in L200, and to find one surety in L100, to come
up for judgment when called upon.

People have wondered on what principle Judge North determined our
sentences. One theory is that he punished us according to the amount of
his time we occupied. I made a long speech and got twelve months; Mr.
Ramsey made a short speech and got nine; Mr. Kemp made no speech and
got only three; while Mr. Cattell cried _Peccavi_ and got off with a
caution.

"Ready," cried the old janitor, in response to a distant voice. Our den
was unlocked and we were marched back to Newgate for the last time.

CHAPTER X. "BLACK MARIA."

When we entered Newgate as "condemned criminals," we were theoretically
under severe discipline, but the officers considerately allowed us a few
minutes' conversation in the great hall before we marched to our
cells. We shook hands with Mr. Cattell, whom I rather contemptuously
congratulated on his good fortune. He went into the office to receive
back his effects, and that was the last we saw of him. Vanishing from
sight, he vanished from mind. During my imprisonment I scarcely ever
thought of him in connexion with our case, and in writing this history I
have had to tax my memory to record his insignificant _role_.

According to the "rules and regulations," all our privileges ended on
our sentence. We were therefore entitled to nothing but p