Prisoner for Blasphemy | Page 9

programme of an evening's entertainment at
the Society's hall, one profane sentence of which, while it in no way
disturbed the peace or serenity of the town, aroused intense indignation
in the breasts of the professional guardians of religion and morality.
They therefore cited Mr. Seymour before the Justices of the Peace, and
charged him with publishing a blasphemous libel. He was committed
for trial at the next assizes, and in the meantime liberated on a hundred
pounds bail. Acting under advice, Mr. Seymour pleaded guilty, and was
discharged on finding sureties for his appearance when called up for
judgment. This grievous error was a distinct encouragement to the
bigots. Their appetite was whetted by this morsel, and they
immediately sought a full repast.
My own attitude was one of defiance. In the Freethinker of May 14 I
denounced the bigots as cowards for pouncing on a comparatively
obscure member of the Freethought party, and I challenged them to
attack its leaders before they assailed the rank and file. This challenge
was cited against me on my own trial, but I do not regret it; and indeed
I doubt if any man ever regretted that his sense of duty triumphed over
his sense of danger.

CHAPTER II.
OUR FIRST SUMMONS.
Some day in the first week of July (I fancy it was Thursday, the 6th, but
I cannot distinguish it with perfect precision, as some of my
memoranda were scattered by my imprisonment) I enjoyed one of those
very rare trips into the country which my engagements allowed. I was
accompanied by two old friends, Mr. J. M. Wheeler and Mr. John
Robertson, the latter being then on a brief first visit to London. We
went up the river by boat, walked for hours about Kew and Richmond,
and sat on the famous Terrace in the early evening, enjoying the lovely
prospect, and discussing a long letter from Italy, written by one of our

best friends, who was spending a year in that poet's paradise. How we
chattered all through that golden day on all subjects, in the heavens
above, on the earth beneath, and in the waters under the earth! With
what fresh delight, in keeping with the scene, we compared our favorite
authors and capped each other's quotations! Rare Walt Whitman told
Mr. Conway that his forte was "loafing and writing poems." Well, we
loafed too, and if we did not write poems, we startled the birds, the
sheep, the cattle, and stray pedestrians, by reciting them. I returned
home with that pleasant feeling of fatigue which is a good sign of
health--with tired limbs and a clear brain, languid but not jaded.
Throwing myself into the chair before my desk, I lit my pipe, and sat
calmly puffing, while the incidents of that happy day floated through
my memory as I watched the floating smoke-wreaths. Casually turning
round, I noticed a queer-looking sheet of paper on the desk. I picked it
up and read it. It was a summons from the Lord Mayor, commanding
my attendance at the Mansion House on the following Tuesday, to
answer a charge of Blasphemy. Strange ending to such a day! What a
tragi-comedy life is--how full of contrasts and surprises, of laughter and
tears.
Two others were summoned to appear with me: Mr. W. J. Ramsey, as
publisher and proprietor, and Mr. E. W. Whittle, as printer. Mr.
Bradlaugh, who was not included in the prosecution until a later stage
of the proceedings, rendered us ungrudging assistance. Mr. Lickfold, of
the well-known legal firm of Lewis and Lewis, was engaged to watch
the case on behalf of Mr. Whittle. As for my own defence, I resolved
from the very first to conduct it myself, a course for which I had
excellent reasons, that were perfectly justified by subsequent events. In
the Freethinker of July 30, 1882, I wrote:
"I have to defend a principle as well as myself. The most skilful
counsel might be half-hearted and over-prudent. Every lawyer looks to
himself as well as to his client. When Erskine made his great speech at
the end of last century in a famous trial for treason, Thomas Paine said
it was a splendid speech for Mr. Erskine, but a very poor defence of the
"Rights of Man." If Freethought is attacked it must be defended, and
the charge of Blasphemy must be retorted on those who try to suppress

liberty in the name of God. For my part, I would rather be convicted
after my own defence than after another man's; and before I leave the
court, for whatever destination, I will make the ears of bigotry tingle,
and shame the hypocrites who profess and disbelieve."
For whatever destination! Yes, I avow that from the moment I read the
summons I never