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 after twelve months of harassing
 litigation, the staying further proceedings, when a rule has been
 granted in my favour, is a matter for which I owe no thanks.

 "If any more formal consent is necessary, I will give it. I never
 courted the contest, nor have I ever shrunk from it; but I have no
 inclination to carry it on; fighting the Crown is a luxury only to be
 indulged in by the rich as a voluntary occupation. I have fought from
 necessity, and have the sad consciousness that I retire victor at a
 loss I am ill able to bear."

In the _National Reformer_ for the following week my father announced
the total monies subscribed for the defence of the _National Reformer_
at £236, 10s.; these were mainly from the hard earnings of poor
friends, although a few had helped out of their fuller purses. He
gave also a detailed account of the money he had actually paid away
during this litigation; it amounted to £300, but of course this did not
include the value of the time lost both directly and indirectly[43]
in the course of these proceedings. To be £50 out of pocket is but a
trifle to a rich man, but when it forms one item amongst many to a
poor man it is a very serious matter. John Stuart Mill wrote him from
Avignon: "You have gained a very honourable success in obtaining a
repeal of the mischievous Act by your persevering resistance." But he
did not think there was any hope of getting the Government to refund my
father's expenses, although, as he said, a "really important victory"
had been obtained. The "poor friends," however, continued to subscribe
their pence and their shillings until the deficiency was in great part,
if not wholly, made up.

[Footnote 43: He was at one period quite ill and under Dr Ramskill's
care through the overwork and mental worry of this lawsuit.]

The repealing Bill introduced into the House by Mr Ayrton and the
Chancellor of the Exchequer passed through its three stages without
debate, and was then sent up to the House of Lords in charge of the
Marquis of Lansdowne, who introduced it to his brother peers on Monday,
May 31st. Lord Lansdowne explained that the Act of Geo. III. was passed
at a time of much agitation,

 "when it was thought necessary to subject the Press to every
 conceivable restriction and coercion. In repealing these Acts their
 lordships need not apprehend that there would be no security against
 an abuse by the Press of the power which it enjoyed, for it would
 remain amenable to the Libel and other Acts, and the distinction
 between newspapers and books being one not of kind but of degree,
 there was no reason why the former should be treated in an exceptional
 way. Generally speaking, moreover, these Acts had not of late years
 been enforced, though their retention on the Statute Book enabled
 persons to take advantage of them with the view of gratifying personal
 feeling."

Lord Cairns, the Lord Chancellor, and the Duke of Somerset, spoke, but
upon points of the Bill other than that referring to newspapers. That
the "debate" was not lengthy will be fully realised from the fact that
upon this occasion the Lord Chancellor took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock, and "their lordships adjourned at five minutes before
six." The Bill passed its second and third reading (this last on June
21st) without a further word of discussion. Thus, almost in complete
silence, were the Security Laws swept from the Statute Book, and cheap
prints and dear prints made to stand technically equal in the eye of
the law.

What were the comments of the Press on this great triumph so hardly won
for them? After the trial of February 2nd, the _Morning Star_ printed
a splendid article against the prosecution, but all the other daily
papers of the metropolis persevered in their silence. "To struggle with
the Treasury officials would be no mean task," said my father, "even
if we had words of encouragement and more efficient aid from those,
many of whom stand like ourselves, liable to be attacked as infringers
of an oppressive law. As it is, we fight alone, and only one of the
London journals has spoken out on our behalf." The _Manchester Courier_
wondered why the law had not been put in force against the _National
Reformer_ before. The _Blue Budget_ reviled Lord Enfield for merely
presenting a petition. The _Times_ report of the lengthy proceedings
before the three judges on April 15th occupies only twenty-five lines.
The only London papers which printed Mr Melvill's offer of a _stet
processus_ and Mr Bradlaugh's rejoinder were the _Times_, _Star_,
_Reynolds' Newspaper_, and _Queen's Messenger_. "Not one paper said
a word in our favour or congratulated us on the battle we have had
to fight." Finally, the repealing Bill passed through all its stages
and became law without notice or remark. The bigotry of the leading
journals of the day was so great that although they themselves reaped
an easy harvest from the toil and suffering of their Freethought
contemporary, they had not the grace to utter a word of good fellowship
or rejoicing.

But the Government had not even yet done with Mr Bradlaugh and the
_National Reformer_. After allowing him some years' respite, an
attack was directed against him from another quarter. In the autumn
of 1872 the Postmaster-General, Mr Monsell, gave my father notice
that the _National Reformer_ was to be deprived of the privilege of
registration, notwithstanding that for the past nine years it had been
registered for foreign transmission as a newspaper, and had been within
the last five years prosecuted by both Tory and Whig Attorney-General
as a newspaper.

This notice was quite unexpected, and, as might be imagined, my father
did not take it very kindly.

Quite an unusual number of papers took up the cudgels in his
defence. Most, of course, professed either a profound dislike of his
personality, or ignorance of the contents of his journal, but they
were thoroughly alarmed at the prospects opened up by this novel method
of press censorship.

By the end of October, however, Mr Bradlaugh received an intimation
that the Postmaster-General had withdrawn his objection. The Government
seemed determined to advertise the paper, and although they did not
gain anything themselves, the processes they employed were very
worrying to its poor proprietor. He wrote a special word of thanks to
the numerous journals who had asked for fair play towards him, and in
doing so also tendered his sympathy "to the one or two bigoted editors
who prematurely rejoiced" over the suppression of the Freethought
organ.

CHAPTER XV.

ITALY.

Full of sympathy for Italy, my father spoke much on behalf of Garibaldi
and Italian emancipation. When Garibaldi made his "famous Marsala
effort," money was collected from all parts of the United Kingdom and
sent to his assistance, mainly through the agency of W.H. Ashhurst,
Esq. And men went as well as money. "Excursionists" was the name
given to these volunteers, amongst whom not a few Freethinkers were
numbere

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