tation, but I am not aware that
a single Christian journal censured the lie which was used to justify
persecution.

Freethinkers have not forgotten Sir William Harcourt, nor have I. Some
day we may be able to punish him for the insult. Meanwhile, I venture to
think that if the member for Derby and the editor of the _Freethinker_
were placed side by side, an unprejudiced stranger would have little
difficulty in deciding which of the two was the more likely to be
bestial.

Poor Mr. Ramsey, not knowing his man, innocently petitioned the Home
Secretary from prison, pointing out that he was tried and imprisoned for
_blasphemy_, asking to be released at once, and offering to supply Sir
William Harcourt with fresh copies of our Christmas Number for a new
trial for _obscenity_. Of course he received no reply.

My counsel, Mr. Cluer, gallantly defended my reputation in the columns
of the _Daily News_, and he was supported by one of the Jury, who wrote
as follows:

"SIR,--From the reference in your short leader on the subject,
it appears that the Home Secretary, in answer to Mr. Taylor,
declined to consent to the release of Messrs. Foote and Ramsey,
on the ground that they had published an obscene libel. On
the late trial before the Lord Chief Justice, certain numbers
of the _Freethinker_, on which the prisoners were being tried,
were charged by the prosecution with being (_inter alia_) blasphemous
and indecent. The judge in the course of his remarks said, the
articles inculpated might be blasphemous, but assuredly they
were not indecent. The opinion of Sir William Harcourt,
consequently, though in harmony with that of the junior counsel
for the prosecution, is altogether opposed to that of Lord Coleridge,
who was the judge in the case."

The _Daily News_ itself put the matter very clearly. "Mr. Foote and
Mr. Ramsey," it said, "were sent to prison by Mr. Justice North for
publishing a blasphemous libel. Sir William Harcourt declines to release
them on the ground that they have published an obscene libel. It is not
usual to keep Englishmen in gaol on the ground that they committed an
offence of which they have not been convicted, and against which they
have had no opportunity of defending themselves." But Sir William
Harcourt thought otherwise, and kept us in prison, acting at once as
prosecutor, witness, jury and judge.

Mr. Gladstone was appealed to, but