some of the old English spirit left yet’.  Being very hungry (it was nearly three o’clock), we went off to luncheon, very glad that the warrant was no longer hanging over our heads, and on our way home we bought a paper announcing our arrest.  The evening papers all contained reports of the proceedings, as did also the papers of the following morning.  I have seen the Globe, Standard, Daily News, Times, Echo, Daily Telegraph, and they all give perfectly fair reports of what took place.  It is pleasant that they all seem to recognise that our reason for acting as we have done is a fair and honorable desire to test the right of publication.”

XV.

The preliminary investigation before the magistrates at Guildhall duly came on upon April 17th, the prosecution being conducted by Mr. Douglas Straight and Mr. F. Mead.  The case was put by Mr. Straight with extreme care and courtesy, the learned counsel stating, “I cannot conceal from myself, or from those who instruct me, that everything has been done in accordance with fairness and bona fides on the part of Mr. Bradlaugh and the lady sitting by the side of him”.  Mr. Straight contended that the good intentions of a publisher could not be taken as proving that a book was not indictable, and laid stress on the cheapness of the work, “the price charged is so little as sixpence”.  Mr. Bradlaugh proved that there was no physiological statement in Knowlton, which was not given in far fuller detail in standard works on physiology, quoting Carpenter, Dalton, Acton, and others; he showed that Malthus, Professor Fawcett, Mrs. Fawcett, and others, advocated voluntary limitation of the family, establishing his positions by innumerable quotations.  A number of eminent men were in Court, subpoenaed to prove their own works, and I find on them the following note, written by myself at the time:—­

“We necessarily put some of our medical and publishing witnesses to great inconvenience in summoning them into court, but those who were really most injured were the most courteous.  Mr. Truebner, although suffering from a painful illness, and although, we had expressed our willingness to accept in his stead some member of his staff, was present, kindly and pleasant as usual.  Dr. Power, a most courteous gentleman, called away from an examination of some 180 young men, never thought of asking that he should be relieved from the citizen’s duty, but only privately asked to be released as soon as possible.  Dr. Parker was equally worthy of the noble profession to which he belonged, and said he did not want to stay longer than he need, but would be willing to return whenever wanted.  Needless to say that Dr. Drysdale was there, ready to do his duty.  Dr. W.B.  Carpenter was a strange contrast to these; he was rough and discourteous in manner, and rudely said that he was not responsible for ‘Human Physiology, by Dr. Carpenter’, as his responsibility had ceased