After a sleep of twenty-five years the great beast has roused itself, and it may do considerable damage before it is driven back into its lair.

We may witness a repetition of the scenes of fifty and sixty years ago, when scores of brave men and women faced fine and imprisonment for Freethought, tired out the very malice of their persecutors; and made the Blasphemy Laws a dead letter for a whole generation.

May our victory be as great as theirs, even if our sufferings be less.
"But will they be less?
Who knows?
They may even be greater.
Christian charity has grown so cold-blooded in its vindictiveness since the 'pioneer days' that blasphemers are treated like beasts rather than men.

There is a certain callous refinement in the punishment awarded to heretics to-day.

Richard Carlile, and other heroes of the struggle for a free press, were mostly treated as first-class misdemeanants; they saw their friends when they liked, had whatever fare they could paid for, were allowed the free use of books and writing materials, and could even edit their papers from gaol.