nation.  The struggle for a free press has been one of the marks of the Freethought Party throughout its history, and as long as the Party permits me to hold its flag, I will never voluntarily lower it.  I have no right and no power to dictate to Mr. Watts the course he should pursue, but I have the right and duty to refuse to associate my name with a submission which is utterly repugnant to my nature, and inconsistent with my whole career.”

After a long discussion, Mr. Bradlaugh and I made up our minds as to the course we would pursue.  We decided that we would never again place ourselves at a publisher’s mercy, but would ensure the defence of all we published by publishing everything ourselves; we resolved to become printers and publishers, and to take any small place we could find and open it as a Freethought shop.  I undertook the sub-editorship of the National Reformer, and the weekly Summary of News, which had hitherto been done by Mr. Watts, was placed in the hands of Mr. Bradlaugh’s daughters.  The next thing to do was to find a publishing office.  Somewhere within reach of Fleet Street the office must be; small it must be, as we had no funds and the risk of starting a business of which we knew nothing was great.  Still “all things are possible to” those who are resolute; we discovered a tumble-down little place in Stonecutter Street and secured it by the good offices of our friend, Mr. Charles Herbert; we borrowed a few hundred pounds from personal friends, and made our new tenement habitable; we drew up a deed of partnership, founding the “Freethought Publishing Company”, Mr. Bradlaugh and myself being the only partners; we engaged Mr. W.J.  Ramsey as manager of the business; and in the National Reformer of February 25th we were able to announce: 

“The publishing office of the National Reformer and of all the works of Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant is now at 28, Stonecutter Street, E.C., three doors from Farringdon Street, where the manager, Mr. W.J.  Ramsey, will be glad to receive orders for the supply of any Freethought literature”.

A week later we issued the following address: 

“ADDRESS FROM THE FREETHOUGHT PUBLISHING COMPANY TO THE READERS OF THE ‘NATIONAL REFORMER’.

“When the prospectus of the National Reformer was issued by the founder, Charles Bradlaugh, in 1859, he described its policy as ’Atheistic in theology, Republican in politics, and Malthusian in social economy’, and a free platform was promised and has been maintained for the discussion of each of these topics.  In ventilating the population question the stand taken by Mr. Bradlaugh, both here and on the platform, is well known to our old readers, and many works bearing on this vital subject have been advertised and reviewed in these columns.  In this the National Reformer has followed the course pursued by Mr. George Jacob Holyoake, who in 1853 published a ‘Freethought Directory’, giving a list of the various books supplied from the ‘Fleet Street House’, and which list contained amongst others: