“‘Anti-Marcus on the Population Question.’

“Fowler’s Tracts on Physiology, etc.

“Dr. C. Knowlton’s ‘Fruits of Philosophy’.

“‘Moral Physiology:  a plain treatise on the Population Question.’

“In this Directory Mr. G.J.  Holyoake says: 

“’No. 147 Fleet Street is a Central Secular Book Depot, where all works extant in the English language on the side of Freethought in Religion, Politics, Morals, and Culture are kept in stock, or are procured at short notice.’

“We shall try to do at 28 Stonecutter Street that which Mr. Holyoake’s Directory promised for Fleet Street House.

“The partners in the Freethought Publishing Company are Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh, who have entered into a legal partnership for the purpose of sharing the legal responsibility of the works they publish.

“We intend to publish nothing that we do not think we can morally defend.  All that we do publish we shall defend.  We do not mean that we shall agree with all we publish, but we shall, so far as we can, try to keep the possibility of free utterance of earnest, honest opinion.

“It may not be out of place here to remind new readers of this journal of that which old readers well know, that no articles are editorial except those which are unsigned or bear the name of the editor, or that of the sub-editor; for each and every other article the author is allowed to say his own say in his own way; the editor only furnishes the means to address our readers, leaving to him or to her the right and responsibility of divergent thought.

“ANNIE BESANT
“CHARLES BRADLAUGH.”

Thus we found ourselves suddenly launched on a new undertaking, and with some amusement and much trepidation I realised that I was “in business”, with business knowledge amounting to nil.  I had, however, fair ability and plenty of goodwill, and I determined to learn my work, feeling proud that I had become one of the list of “Freethought publishers”, who published for love of the cause of freedom, and risked all for the triumph of a principle ere it wore “silver slippers and walked in the sunshine with applause”.

On February 8th Mr. Watts was tried at the Old Bailey.  He withdrew his plea of “Not Guilty”, and pleaded “Guilty”.  His counsel urged that he was a man of good character, that Mr. George Jacob Holyoake had sold the incriminated pamphlet, that Mr. Watts had bought the stereo-plates of it in the stock of the late Mr. Austin Holyoake, which he had taken over bodily, and that he had never read the book until after the Bristol investigation.  “Mr. Watts pledges himself to me”, the counsel stated, “that he was entirely ignorant of the contents of this pamphlet until he heard passages read from it in the prosecution at Bristol”.  The counsel for the prosecution pointed out that this statement was inaccurate, and read passages from Mr. Watts’ deposition made on the first occasion at Bristol, in which Mr. Watts stated that he had perused the book, and was prepared to justify it as a medical work.  He, however, did not wish to press the case, if the plates and stock were destroyed, and Mr. Watts was accordingly discharged on his own recognisances in L500 to come up for judgment when called on.