es in the way of familiar interpretation. We hope the bigots
will like the change." By the next week, however, I had overcome our
machiner's scruples, and the Comic Bible Sketches were resumed and
continued up to the day of my imprisonment.

My attitude towards the prosecution is amply expressed by these
facts, but a few words from my pen at that time may not be altogether
superfluous. In an article entitled "Crucify Him!" in the _Freethinker_
of August 6, 1882, I wrote:

"We are charged with blasphemy, and so was Jesus Christ. What
a grim joke it will be if the _Freethinker_ is found guilty and
punished for the same crime as the preacher of the Sermon on
the Mount! Truly adversity makes us acquainted with strange
bedfellows.

"Yet, whatever happens, we will not quail. We will not vapor
about legions of angels, but trust in the living legions of
Freethought. We will not yield to the weakness of an agony
and bloody sweat, nor pray that the cup may pass from us, nor
cry out that we are forsaken; for our sources of strength are
all within us, and cannot be taken away. We have a sense of
truth, a conviction of right, and a spirit of courage, caught
from the gallant men who fought before. Let the bigots do
their worst; they will not break our spirit nor extinguish our
cause. Let the Christian mob clamor as loudly as they can,
'Crucify him, crucify him!' They will not daunt us. We look
with prophetic eyes over all the tumult, and see in the distance
the radiant form of Liberty, bearing in her left hand the olive
branch and in her right hand the sword, the holy victress,
destined by treaty or conquest to bring the whole world under
her sway. And across all the din we hear her great rich voice,
banishing despair, inspiring hope, and infusing a joyous ardour
in every nerve."

From the first I was sure that the Freethought party would support those
who were fighting its battle, and I was not deceived. The _Freethinker_
Defence Fund was liberally subscribed to throughout the country, several
working men putting by a few pence every week for the purpose; and as I
travelled up and down on my lecturing tours I experienced everywhere
the heartiest greetings. I saw that the party's blood was up, and that
however it might ultimately fare with me, the battle would be fought to
the bitter end.

Considerable c