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IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
DY
ANNIE
BESANT.
BEING AN ENQUIRY WHETHER THE BIBLE COMES
WITHIN THE RULING OF THE LORD CHIEF
TUSTICE AS TO OBSCENE LITERATURE.
LONDON:
FREETHOUGHT PUBLISHING COMPANY,
28, Stonecutter Street, E.C.
PRICE
%
TWOPENCE.
�LONDON :
TRINTED BY ANNIE BESANT AND CHARLES BRADLAUGH,
28, STONECUTTER STREET, E.C.
�IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
AN enquiry whether the bible comes within
THE RULING OF THE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE
AS TO OBSCENE LITERATURE.
The ruling of Sir Alexander Cockburn in the late trial, the
'Queen against Bradlaugh and Besant, seems to involve
wider issues than the Lord Chief Justice intended, or than
the legal ally of Nature and Providence can desire. The
question of motive is entirely set on one side; the purest
motives are valueless if the information conveyed is such as
is capable of being turned to bad purposes by the evilminded and the corrupt. This view of the law would not
he enforced against expensive medical works ; provided that
the price set on a book be such as shall keep it out of reach
of the “ common people,” its teaching may be thoroughly
immoral but it is not obscene. Dr. Fleetwood Churchill,
for instance, is not committing an indictable offence by
;giving directions as to the simplest and easiest way of pro
curing abortion; he is not committing a misdemeanour,
although he points out means which any woman could
obtain and use for herself; he does not place himself within
Teach of the law, although he recommends the practice of
abortion in all cases where previous experience proves that
the birth of a living child is impossible. A check to popu
lation which„ destroys life is thus passed over as legal, per
haps because the destruction of life is the check so largely
employed by Nature and Providence, and would thus ensure
the approval of the Solicitor-General. But the real reason
why Dr. Churchill is left unmolested and Dr. Knowlton
is assailed, lies in the difference of the price at which
the two are severally published. If Dr. Knowlton was
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IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
sold at ios. 6d. and Dr. Churchill at 6d., then
the vials of legal wrath would have descended on theadvocate of abortion and not on the teacher of prevention.
The obscenity lies, to a great extent, in the price of the book
sold. A vulgar little sixpence is obscene, a dainty halfsovereign is respectable. Poor people must be content toremain ignorant, or to buy the injurious quack treatises;
circulated in secret; wealthier people, who want knowledge
less, are to be protected by the law in their purchases of
medical works, but if poor people, in sore need, finding
“ an undoubted physician ” ready to aid them, venture to
ask for his work, written especially for them, the law strikes
down those who sell them health and happiness. They
must not complain; Nature and Providence have placed
them in a state of poverty, and have mercifully provided for
them effectual, if painful, checks to population. The same
element of price rules the decency or the indecency of
pictures. A picture painted in oils, life size, of the naked
human figure, such as Venus disrobed for the bath, or
Phryne before her judges, or Perseus and Andromeda,
exhibited to the upper classes, in a gallery, with a shilling
admission charge, is a perfectly decent and respectable work
of art. Photographs of those pictures, uncoloured, and
reduced in size, are obscene publications, and are seized as
such by thd police. Cheapness is, therefore, an essential
part of obscenity.
If a book be cheap, what constitutes it an obscene book ?
Lord Campbell, advocating in Parliament the Act against
obscene literature which bears his name, laid down very
clearly his view of what should, legally, be an obscene work.
It must be a work “written for the single purpose of
corrupting the morals of youth, and of a nature calculated
to shock the feelings of decency in any well-regulated
mind ” (Hansard, vol. 146, No. 2, p. 329). The law,,
according to him, was never to be levelled even against
works which might be considered immoral and indecent,,
such as some of those of Dryden, Congreve, or Rochester.
“The keeping, or the reading, or tve delighting in such
things must be left to taste, and was not a subject for legal
interference; ” the law was only to interpose where the motive
of the seller was bad; “ when there were people who
designedly and industriously manufactured books and prints
with the intention of corrupting the public morals, and when
they succeeded in their infamous purpose, he thought it was
�IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE ?
5
►necessary for the legislature to interpose ” (Hansard, vol.
146, No. 4, p. 865).
The ruling of the present Lord Chief Justice in the late
■trial is in direct opposition to the view taken by Lord
Campbell. The chief says : “ Knowlton goes into physio
logical details connected with the functions of the genera
tion and procreation of'children. The principles of this
.pamphlet, with its details, are to be found in greater
abundance and distinctness in numerous works to which
your attention has been directed, and, having these details
before you, you must judge for yourselves whether there is
-anything in them which is calculated to excite the passions
of man and debase the public morals. If so, every medical work
is open to the same imputation” (Trial, p. 261). The Lord Chief
Justice then refers to the very species of book against which
Lord Campbell said that he directed his Act. “ There are
books,” the chief says, “ which have for their purpose the
■exciting of libidinous thoughts, and are intended to give to
persons who take pleasure in that sort of thing the impure
gratification which the contemplation of such thoughts is
calculated to give.” If the book were of that character it
4‘ would be condemnable,” and so far all are agreed as to the
law. But Sir Alexander Cockburn goes further, and here is
the danger of his interpretation of the law: “ Though the
■intention is not unduly to convey this knowledge, and gratify
prurient and libidinous thoughts, still, if its effect is to excite
and create thoughts of so demoralising a character to the
mind of the reader, the work is open to the condemnation
asked for at your hands ” (Trial, p. 261).. Its effect on what
reader? Suppose a person of prurient mind buys Dr.
Carpenter’s “Human Physiology,’’and reads the long chapter,
containing over 100 pages, wholly devoted to a minute des
cription of generation; the effect of the reading will be “ to
excite and create thoughts of” the “demoralising character”
spoken of. According to the Lord Chief Justice’s ruling, Dr,
Carpenter’s would then become an obscene book. The evil
motive is transferred from the buyer to the seller, and then
the seller is punished for the buyer’s bad intent; vicarious
punishment seems to have passed from the church into the
law court. There can be no doubt that every medical book
-now comes under the head of “ obscene literature,” for they
may all be read by impure people, and will infallibly have
the affect of arousing prurient thoughts ; that they are written
for a good purpose, that they are written to cure disease, is
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IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
no excuse; the motive of the writer must not be considered
the law has decided that books whose intention is to*
convey physiological knowledge, and that not unduly, areobscene, if the reader’s passions chance to be aroused by
them; “ we must not listen to arguments upon moral obli
gations arising out of any motive, or out of any desire tobenefit humanity, or to do good to your species ” (Trial,
p. 237). The only protection of these, otherwise obscene,
books lies in their price; they are generally highly-priced,
and they do thus lack one essential element of obscenity.
For the useful book that bad people make harmful must be
cheap in order to be practically.obscene ; it must be within
reach of the poor, and be “ capable of being sold at the
corners of the streets, and at bookstalls, to every one who
has sixpence to spare” (Trial, p. 261).
The new ruling touches all the dramatists and writers that
Lord Campbell had no idea of attacking ; no one can doubt
that many of Congreve’s dramas are calculated to arousesexual passion; these are sold at a very low price, and they
have not even the defence of conveying any useful informa
tion ; they come most distinctly within the ruling of theLord Chief Justice ; why are they to be permitted freecirculation ? Sterne, Fielding, Smollett, Swift, must all be
flung into the dusthole after Congreve, Wycherley, Jonson ;
Dryden, of course, follows these without delay, andSpencer, with his “ Faerie Queene,” is the next victim.
Shakespeare can have no quarter shown him ; not only aremost gross passages scattered through his works, but the
motive of some of them is directly calculated to arouse thepassions ; for how many youthful love fevers is not “ Romeo
and Juliet ” answerable; what of “Cymbeline,” “Pericles,”
or “ Titus Andronicus ” ? Can “ Venus and Adonis ” tend
to anything except to the rousing of passion ? is “ Lucrece”
not obscene? Yet Macmillan’s Globe Edition of Shakes
peare is regarded as one of the most admirable publishing
efforts made by that eminent firm to put English master
pieces in the hands of the poor. Coming to our time, what
is to be done with Byron ? “ Don J uan ” is surely calculated
to corrupt, not to speak of other poems, such as “ Parisina.”
What of Shelley, with his “ Cenci ?” Swinburne, must of
course, be burned at once. Every one of these great
names is now branded as obscene, and under the ruling of
the Lord Chief Justice every one of them must be con
demned. Suppose some one should follow Hetherington’s-
�IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
7
example ? Suppose that we should become the prosecutors
instead of the prosecuted ? Suppose that we should drag
Others to share our prison, and should bring the most hon
oured names of authors into the same condemnation that
has struck us? Why should we show to others a con
sideration that has not been shown to us ? If it is said
that we should not strike, we answer; “ Then leave tis
alone, and calculate the consequences before you touch
us again.” The law has been declared by the Lord Chief
Justice of England; why is not that law as binding on Mac
millan as on us ? The law has been narrowed in order to
enmesh Freethought: its net will catch other fishes as well,
or else break under the strain and let all go free. The
Christians desire to make two laws, and show their hands
too plainly : one law is to be strict, and is to apply wholly
to Freethinkers; cheating Christians, who sell even Knowl-.
ton, are to be winked at by the authorities, and are to be let
off scot free; but this is not all. Ritualists circulate a book
beside which Knowlton is said to be purity itself, and the
law does not touch them ; no warrants are issued for their
apprehension; no prosecution is paid for by a hidden
enemy ; no law-officer of the Crown is briefed against them.
Why is this ? because to attack Christians is to draw atten
tion to the foundation of Christianity ; because to attack the
“ Priest in Absolution ” is to attack Moses. The Christian
walls are made out of Bible-glass, and they fear to throw
stones lest they should break their own house. Listen to
Mr. Ridsdale, a brother of the Holy Cross : “ I wonder,”
he says, “ why some one does not stand up in the House of
Lords and bring a charge against the Bible (especially Levi
ticus) as an immoral book.” The Church Times, the organ
of the Ritualists, has a letter which runs thus : “ Suppose a
patrician and a pontifex in old Rome had with care and
deliberation extracted sentences from Holy Writ, separated
them from their context, suppressed the general nature
and character of the book, and then accused the bishop
and his clergy of deliberately preparing an obscene
book to contaminate the young (how readily he might
have made such extracts !), what should we have said of
such ruffians?” This, then, is the shield of the clergy;
the Bible is itself so obscene that Christians fear to prosecute
priests who circulate obscenity.
Does the Bible come within the ruling of the Lord Chief
Justice as to obscene literature ? Most decidedly it does,
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IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
and if prosecuted as an obscene book, it must necessarily be
condemned, if the law is justly administered.
Every
Christian ought therefore to range himself on our side, and
demand a reversal of the present rule, for under it his own
sacred book is branded as obscene, and may be prosecuted
as such by any unbeliever.
First, the book is widely circulated at a low price. If the
Bible were restricted in its circulation by being sold at
ios. 6d. or a guinea, it might escape being placed in the
category of obscene literature under the present ruling.
But no such defence can be pleaded for it. It is sold at
8d. a copy, printed on cheap paper, and strongly bound, for
use in schools ; it is given away by thousands among the
“ common people,” whose morals are now so carefully looked
after in the matter of books ; it is presented to little chil
dren of both sexes, and they are told to read it carefully.
To such an extent is this carried, that some thousands of
children assembled together were actually told by Lord
Sandon, the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on
Education, to read the Bible right through from beginning
to end, and were bidden not to pick'and choose. The ele
ment of price is clearly against the Bible if it be proved to
have in it anything which is of a nature calculated to sug
gest impure thoughts.
As to the motives of the writers, we need not trouble
about them. The law now says that intention is nothing,
and no desire to do good is any excuse for obscenity (Trial,
P- 257)There remains the vital question : is the effect of some of
its passages to excite and create demoralising thoughts?
(Trial, p. 261).
The difficulty of dealing with this question is that
many of the quotations necessary to prove that the Bible
■ comes under the ruling of the Lord Chief Justice are
of such an extremely coarse and disgusting character, that
it is really impossible to reproduce them without intensi
fying the evil which they are calculated to do. While I
see no indecency in a plain statement of physiological
facts, written for people’s instruction, I do see indecency
in coarse and indelicate stories, the reading of which can do
no good to any human being, and can have no effect save
that of corrupting the mind and suggesting unclean
ideas. I therefore refuse to soil my pages with quotations,
and content myself with giving the references, so that any
�IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
9
one who desires to use the ruling of the Lord Chief Justice
to suppress the Bible may see what certainty of success
awaits him if justice be done. I shall not trouble about
simple coarseness, such as Gen. iv. i, 17, 25; Gen. vi. 4;
or Matt. i. 18-20, 25. If mere coarseness of expression
were to be noted, my task would be endless. But let the
intending prosecutor read the following passages. A little
boy of 8 or 10 would scarcely be improved by reading Gen.
ix. 20-25 1 the drunkenness, indecency, and swearing in
these six verses is surely calculated to corrupt the boy’s
mind. The teaching of Gen. xvi. 1-5 is scarcely elevating
for the “ common people,” seeing the example set by the
“friend of God.” Gen. xvii. 10-14 and 23-27 is very coarse.
Would Gen. xix. 4-9 improve a young maiden, or would it
not suggest the most impure thoughts, verse 5 dealing with
an idea that should surely never be put into a girl’s
mind ? The same chapter, 30-38, is revolting; and Deut.
ii. 9 and 19 implies God’s approval of the unnatural
crime. The ignorance of physiology which is thought best
■for girls would receive a shock, when in reading the Bible
straight through, the day’s portion comprised Gen. xxv., 2126. Gen. xxvi., 8 is not nice, nor is Gen. xxix., 21-35, and
Gen. xxx. The story of Dinah, Gen. xxxiv.; of Reuben,
Gen. xxxv., 22 ; ofOnan, Gen. xxxviii., 8-10 ; of Judah and
Tamar, xxxviii., 13-26 ; of the birth of Tamar’s children,
xxxviii., 27-30, are all revolting in their foulness of phrase
ology. Why the Bible should be allowed to tell the story of
Onan seems very strange, and the “ righteousness ” of Tamar
(v. 26) wins approval. Is this thought purifying teaching for
the “ common people ” ? The story of Joseph and Potiphar’s
wife, Gen. xxxix., 7-18, I have heard read in church to the
manifest discomfort of some of the congregation, and the
amusement of others, while Joseph flying from temptation
and leaving his garment with Potiphar’s wife is a picture
often seen in Sunday schools. Thus twelve out of the fifty
chapters of Genesis are undeniably obscene, and if there is
any justice in England, Genesis ought to be suppressed.
We pass, to Exodus. Ex. i., 15-19 is surely indecent. I am
not dealing with immoral teaching, or God’s blessing on the
falsehood of the midwives (20, 21) would need comment.
Ex. iv., 24-26, is very coarse; so also Ex. xxii., 16, 17, 19.
Leviticus is coarse throughout, but.is especially so in chaps,
v., 3; xii.; xv.; xviii., 6-23; xx., 10-21; xxii., 3-5. The
trial of jealousy is most revolting in Numb, v., 12-29.
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IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
Numb, xxv., 6-8 is hardly a nice story for a child, nor is that
of Numb, xxxi., 17,18. Deut. xxi., 10-14 is not pure teaching"
for soldiers. Deut. xxii,, 13-21 is extremely coarse; the re
mainder of the chapter comes also within the Chiefs ruling,
as do also chaps, xxiii., 1, 10, 11; xxv., 11, 12 ; xxvii., 20,.
22, 23 ; xxviii., 57. The fault of the book of Joshua lies
chiefly in its exceeding brutality and bloodthirstiness, but it,
also, does not quite escape the charge of obscenity, as may
be seen by referring to the following passage : chap, v., 2-8.
Judges is occasionally very foul, and is utterly unfit for
general reading, according to the late definition;
Ehud and Eglon, Judges, iii., 15-25, would not bear
reading aloud, and the story might have been
told equally well in decent language. Or take the
horribly disgusting tale of the Levite and his concubine
(Judges xix.), and then judge whether a book containing
such stories is fit for use in schools. Dr. Carpenter’s book
may do good there, because, with all its plain speaking, it
conveys useful information; but what good—mental,
physical, or moral—can be done to a young girl by reading
Judges xix. ? And the harm done is intensified by the fact
that the ignorance in which girls are kept surrounds such a
story with unwholesome interest, as giving a glimpse into
what is, to them, the great mystery of sex. The story of
Ruth iii. 3—14 is one which we should not like to see
repeated by our daughters; for the virtue of a woman who
should wait until a man was drunk, and then go alone at
night and lie down at his feet, would, in our days, be
regarded as problematical. 1 Sam. ii. 2 2, and v. 9 are both
obscene; so are 1 Sam. xviii. 25—-27 and xxi. 4, 5.
1 Sam. xxv. 22, 34 are disgustingly coarse, and there are
many similar coarse passages to be found in “ holy ” writ.
2 Sam. vi. 14, 16, 20, is a little over-suggestive, as is also
2 Sam. x. 4. The story of David dancing is told in
1 Chron. xv. 27—29 without anything offensive in its tone.
The story of David and Bathsheba is only too well known, and
as told in 2 Sam. xi. 2—13 is far more calculated to arouse
the passions than is anything in Knowlton. The prophecy
in 2 Sam. xii. 11, 12, fulfilled in xvi. 21, 22, is repulsive in
the extreme, more especially when we are told that the
shameful counsel was given by Ahithophel, whose counsel,
“ which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had
inquired at the oracle of God.” If God’s oracles give such
counsel, the less they are resorted to the better for the
�IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
IE
welfare of the state. We are next given the odious story of
Amnon and Tamar (2 Sam. xiii. 1—22), instructive for Lord
Sandon’s boys and girls to read together, as they go through
the Bible from beginning to end. 1 Kings i. 1—4 conveys
an idea more worthy of George IV. than of the man after
God’s own heart. In 1 Kings xiv. 10, the coarseness is inex
cusable, and verse 24 is only too intelligible after Judges xix.
2 Kings ix. 8, xviii. 27, are thoroughly Biblical in their
delicacy. 1 Chron. xix. 4 repeats the unpleasant story of
2 Sam. x. 4; but both 1 and 2 Chronicles are, for the Bible,
remarkably free from coarseness, and are a great improve
ment on the books of Kings and Samuel. The same praiseis deserved by Ezra and Nehemiah., The tone of the story
of Esther is somewhat sensual throughout: the drunken
king commanding Vashti to come in and show her beauty,
Esther i. 11 ; the search for the young virgins, Esther ii.
2—4; the trial and choice, Esther ii. 12—17, these are
scarcely elevating reading ; Esther vii. 8 is also coarse.
To a girl whose safety is in her ignorance, Job iii. 11 is very
plain. Psalm xxxviii. 5—7 gives a description of a certain
class of disease in exact terms. Proverbs v. 17—20 is good
advice, but would be condemned by the Lord Chief Justice;
Proverbs vi. 24—32 is of the same character, as is also
Proverbs vii. 5—23. The allusion in Ecclesiastes xi. 5
would be objected to as improper by the Solicitor-General.
The Song of Solomon is a marriage-song of the sensual
and luxuriant character : put Knowlton side by side with it,
and then judge which is most calculated to arouse the
passions. It is almost impossible to select, where all is of
so extreme a character, but take i. 2, 13; ii. 4—6, 17;
iii. 1, 4 ; iv. 5, 6, 11; v. 2—4, 8, 14—16 ; vii. 2, 3, 6—10, 12;
viii. 1—3, 8—10. Could any language be more alluring,
more seductive, more passion-rousing, than the languid,
uxorious, “ linked sweetness long drawn out ” of this
Eastern marriage-ode ? It is not vulgarly coarse and offen
sive as is so much of the Bible, but it is, according to the
ruling of the Lord Chief Justice, a very obscene poem.
One may add that, in addition to the allusions and descrip
tions that lie on the surface, there is a multitude of sugges
tions not so apparent, but which are thoroughly open to all
who know anything of Eastern imagery.
After the Song of Solomon, it is a shock to come to the
prophets; it is like plunging into cold water after being in
a hothouse. Unfortunately, with the more bracing atmo
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IS THE BIBLE -INDICTABLE?
sphere, we find the old brutality coming again to repel us,
■and coarse denunciation shocks us, as in Isaiah iii. 17. How
would the Lord Chief Justice have dealt with Isaiah if he
had lived in his day, and acted as is recorded in Isaiah xx.,
2—4 ? He clearly would have put him in a lunatic asylum
(Trial, p. 168). If it were not that there are so many worse
passages, one might complain of the taste shown in the com
parison of Isaiah xxvi. 17, 18; the same may be said of
Isaiah xxxii. 11, 12. In Isaiah xxxvi. 12 we have a repe
tition of 2 Kings xviii. 27, which we could weli have spared.
In Isaiah lvii. 8, 9, we meet a favourite simile of the Jewish
prophets, wherein God is compared to a husband, and the
people to an unfaithful wife, and the relations between them
are described with a minuteness which can only be fitly
designated by the Solicitor-General’s favourite word. Isaiah
lxvi. 7—12 would be regarded as somewhat coarse in an
■ordinary book. The prophets get worse as they go on.
Jeremiah i. 5 is the first verse we meet in Jeremiah which the
Solicitor-General would take exception to. We next meet the
simile of marriage, in Jeremiah ii., 20,iii. 1—3,6—9, verse 9
being especially offensive. Jer. v. 7, 8, is coarse, as are also
Jer. xi. 15 andxiii. 26, 27. Ought the girl’s schools to read
Jer. xx. 17, 18? But, perhaps, as Ezekiel is coming, it is
hypercritical to object to Jeremiah. Lamentations i. 8, 9, is
revolting, and verse 17 of the same chapter uses an extremely
coarse simile. Ezekiel is the prophet who eat a little book
and found it disagree with him : it seems a pity that he did
■not eat a large part of his own, and so prevent it from
poisoning other people. What can be more disgusting than
Ez. iv. 12—15? the whole chapter is absurd, but these
verses are abominable. The prophet seems, like the drawers
of the indictment against us, to take pleasure in piling up
uncomfortable terms, as in Ez. vi. 9. We now come to
a chapter that is obscene from beginning to end, and may,
I think, almost claim the palm of foulness. Let any one
read through Ez. xvi., marking especially verses 4—9, 15—17,
25, 26, 33, 34, 37, 39, and then think of the absurdity of
prosecuting Knowlton for corrupting the morals of the
young, who have this book of Ezekiel put into their hand.
After this, Ez. xviii. 6, 11, and 15 seem quite chaste and
delicate; and no one could object to Ez. xxii. 9—n.
Ez. xxiii. is almost as bad as chapter xvi., especially verses
6—9, 14—21, 29, 41—44. Surely if any book be indict
able for obscenity, the Bible should be the first to be prose
�IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
13
cuted. I know of no other book in which is to be found such
utterly unredeemed coarseness. The rest of Ezekiel is only
bloodthirsty and brutal, so may, fortunately, be passed over
without further comment. Daniel may be left unnoticed ;
and we now come to Hosea, a prophet whose morals were,
to speak gently, peculiar. The “ beginning of the word of
the Lord by Hosea/’ was the Lord’s command as to his
marriage, related in Hosea i. 2 ; we then hear of his children
by the said wife in the remainder of the chapter, and
in the next chapter we are told, Hosea ii. 2, that the
woman is not his wife, and from verse 2—13 we have an ex
tremely indecent speech of Hosea on the misdeeds of the
unfortunate creature he married, wherein, verse 4, he com
plains of the very fact that God commanded in chap. i. 2.
Hosea iii. 1—3 relates another indecent proceeding on
Hosea’s part, and his purchase of another mistress; whether
girls’ morals are improved by the contemplation of such
divine commands, is a question that might fairly be urged
on Lord Sandon before he next distributes Bibles to little
children of both sexes. The said girls must surely, as they
study Hosea iv. 10—18, wonder that God expresses his in
tention not to punish impurity in verse 14. It is impossible,
in reading Hosea, to escape from the prevailing tone of
obscenity; chaps, v. 3, 4, 7; vi. 9, 10; vii. 4; viii. 9;
ix. 1, 10, 11, 14, 16; xii. 3 ; xiii. 13, every one of these
has a thought in it that all must regard as coarse, and which
comes distinctly within the ruling of the Lord Chief Justice
as to obscenity; there is scarcely one chapter in Hosea that
does not, with offensive reiteration, dwell on the coarsest
form of wrongdoing of which women are capable. Joel iii.
3 is objectionable in a comparatively slight degree. Amos,
although occasionally coarse, keeps clear of the gross
obscenity of Hosea, as do also Obadiah and Jonah. Micah i.
7, 8, 11, would scarcely be passed by Sir Hardinge Giffard,
nor would he approve Micah iv. 9, 10. Nahum iii. 4—6
is almost Hoseatic, and Habakkuk ii. 5, 16 runs it close.
The remaining four prophets are sometimes coarse, but
have nothing in them approaching the abominations of the
others, and we close the Old Testament with a sigh of
relief.
The New Testament has in it nothing at all approaching
the obscenity of the Old, save two passages in Revelation.
The story of Mary and Joseph is somewhat coarse, espe
cially as told in Matt. i. 18—25. Rom. i. 24—27 is distinctly
�^4
IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
obscene, and i Cor. v. i, vi. 9, 15, 16, 18, would all be
judged indelicate by Her Majesty’s Solicitor-General, who
objected to the warnings given by Knowlton against sexual
sin. The whole of 1 Cor. vii. might be thought calculated
to arouse the passions, but the rest of Paul’s Epistles may
pass, in spite of many coarse passages, such as 1 Thess. iv.
3—7. Heb. xiii. 4 and 2 Peter ii. 10—18 both come into
the same category, but it is useless to delay on simple
■coarseness. Revelation slips into the old prophetic inde
cency; Rev. ii. 20—22 and xvii. 1—4 are almost worthy
•of Ezekiel.
Can anyone go through all these passages and have any
•doubt that the Bible—supposing it to be unprotected by
statute—is indictable as an obscene book under the ruling
of the Lord Chief Justice? It is idle to plead that the
writers do not approve the evil deeds they chronicle, and
that it is only in two or three cases that God appears to en
dorse the sin ; no purity of motives on the writers’ parts can
be admitted in excuse (Trial, p. 257). These sensuous stories
■and obscene parables come directly under the censure of the
Lord Chief Justice, and I invite our police authorities to
show their sense of justice by prosecuting the people who
circulate this indictable book, thereby doing all that in them
lies to vitiate and corrupt the morals of the young. If they
will not do this, in common decency they ought to drop
the prosecution against us for selling the “ Fruits of
Philosophy.”
The right way would be to prosecute none of these
books. All that I have intended to do in drawing attention
to the “ obscene ” passages in the Bible, is to show that to
•deal with the sexual relations with a good object—as is
presumably that of the Bible—should not be an indictable
misdemeanour. I do not urge that the Bible should be
prosecuted : I do urge that it is indictable under the present
ruling; and I plead, further, that this very fact shows how
the present ruling is against the public weal. Nothing could
be more unfortunate than to have a large crop of prosecu
tions against the standard writers of old times and of the
present day, and yet this is what is likely to happen, unless
some stop is put to the stupid and malicious prosecution
against ourselves. With one voice, the press of the country
—omitting the Englishman—has condemned the “ foolish ”
verdict and the “ vindictive ” sentence. When that sentence
as carried out, the real battle will begin, and the blame of
�IS THE BIBLE INDICTABLE?
15
the loss and the trouble that will ensue must rest on those
who started this prosecution, and on those who shield the
hidden prosecutor. The Christians, at least, ought to join
with us in reversing the ruling of the Lord Chief Justice,
since their own sacred book is one of those most easily
assailable. The purity that depends on ignorance is a
fragile purity ; the chastity that depends on ignorance is a
fragile chastity; to buttress up ignorance with prison and
fine is a fatal policy; and I call on those who love freedom
and desire knowledge, to join with us in over-ruling by
statute the new judge-made law
��
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Is the Bible indictable? Being an enquiry whether the Bible comes within the ruling of the Lord Chief Justice as to Obscene Literature
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Besant, Annie Wood [1847-1933]
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Place of Publication: London
Collation: 15 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh,28, Stonecutter Street. Date of publication from KVK. Originally published as a series of articles in the National Reformer and later condensed into this pamphlet. Issued during the Besant/Bradlaugh obscenity trial presided over by Lord Chief Justice Cockburn. They were tried for publishing Charles Knowlton's birth control pamphlet entitled 'Fruits of Philosophy'.
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Freethought Publishing Company
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[1884]
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CT83
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Is the Bible indictable?),identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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English
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Bible
Obscenity (Law)
Bible-Criticism and Interpretation
Charles Bradlaugh
Conway Tracts
Freedom of the Press
Obscenity
-
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Text
JUDICIAL
SCANDALS
AND
ERRORS
/&
■: •. I
BY
I
GEORGE ASTOR SINGER, M.A.
plh*
O?- T- jl'U
A'.‘4<
t.
1
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I.
PRESS CENSORSHIP AND COMPROMISE.
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LONDON
THE
UNIVERSITY
PRESS,
1
> .■
t_
LIMITED
WATFORD, LONDON
1899
I
�•
*
The University Press, Limited.
NEW
WORKS.
CHAPTERS ON HUMAN LOVE.
GEOFFREY
MORTIMER.
6s. Net.
NOW READY.
HAROLD HARDY.
(A NOVEL.)
F.
C.
■r
HUDDLE.
SEAWEED: A CORNISH IDYLL.
BY
ELEIS.
EDITH
A novel dealing with the ever green problem of sex.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
BY
HAVELOCK
ELLIS.
Vol. I.—SEXUAL INVERSION.
This work will in future be published and sold by a Paris firm.
Orders sent to the University Press, Limited, will be forwarded to
Paris and will be executed from there.
y
�NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY
JUDICIAL
SCANDALS
AND
ERRORS
BY
GEORGE ASTOR SINGER, M.A.
I
PRESS CENSORSHIP AND COMPROMISE.
LONDON
THE
UNIVERSITY PRESS,
WATFORD, LONDON
1899
LIMITED
��PREFACE.
Authors and artists will remember the sad fate that befell old
honest Vizetelly, the publisher of Zola’s great works, who was con
victed and sent to prison for “ publishing an indecent libel with the
intent of corrupting the morals of Her Majesty’s subjects.” His
crime consisted in editing translations of the eminent writer’s novels
which the civilized world, long before Vizetelly’s imprisonment, had
recognised as masterpieces of art.
Vizetelly has died from the effects of his imprisonment, and it
must have been some satisfaction to his numerous friends to witness
the reaction a few years later when his persecutors bowed before the
great novelist, when the most prominent members of society, Poli
ticians, Literary men, and even Bishops vied with each other in
entertaining the illustrious author of the Rougon-Macquart series.
An English judge had sent poor old Vizetelly to prison for publish
ing the works which to-day every educated Englishman considers as
the best productions of French literary genius.
Thus in the last two decades an important change in English
prudery and conventional hypocrisy has undoubtedly taken place
but the judicial system of this country unfortunately allows the
prudes on the prowl, who are to be found everywhere, to repeat
the attack and to indulge in idiosyncrasies which in the year 1898
culminated in the prosecution of a bookseller for selling a purely
scientific work, written by an author of world-wide renown and
published by a respectable firm.
The undoubted sincerity and honesty of English judges combined
with the apparent or real impartiality of the jury, to John Bull
seems a guarantee of fair play in civil actions as well as in criminal
cases. But the public is not acquainted with the intricacies of
judicial procedure, it knows nothing of the preliminary work behind
the scenes and is dazzled by the display exhibited at the so-called
trial which in many cases is nothing but a theatrical effect, fire
�ii
Preface
works which frequently conceal a great wrong and leave the
strongest as the victor in an unfair combat.
As the English judge, even if prejudiced, possesses a high sense
of duty, great experience as a lawyer and a certain amount of
shrewdness, and as, on the other hand, the jury as a rule is known
to follow the direction of the judge, the work to be done by the
representatives of the parties to an action or prosecution really
consists in the attempt to deceive the judge, and he who manages
this deception best will be the victor whether the right be on his
side or not.
Therefore a very great part of legal work is of a doubtful nature,
akin to trickery, which is facilitated by the peculiar semi-official
capacity of the solicitor and the absolutely irresponsible position of
counsel.
It is natural that amongst the three or four thousand solicitors in
the Metropolis who are the moving spirits in all judicial actions,
many are not of an irreproachable character. The numerous con
victions of dishonest lawyers, and the prosecution of many more by
the Incorporated Law Society prove that in England a much greater
proportion of Solicitors indulge in doubtful practices, than in any
other country with the exception perhaps of the United States.
The peculiar position of the Solicitor as a mediator between client
and counsel partly accounts for this abnormal condition and an anti
quated system greatly facilitates underground and dishonest
practices.
It is affirmed that in England in one single day more perjury is
committed than in the whole of Europe in a year, but this, if true,
may be to a great extent due to the pernicious system of admitting
plaintiff and defendant to swear affidavits in their own cause at
every stage of a pending action. This practice is absolutely un
known in continental countries. Perjury certainly has something
to do with the perversion of justice, but a greater danger arises from
the peculiar relation between Client, Solicitor, Counsel, and Judge.
In the attempt of a Solicitor to fleece his client and to obtain the
largest possible amount, for real or imaginary services, the client’s
interest is often ignored to an incredible extent, especially in cases
where the greed of the lawyer prevents him from paying over
�Preface
iii
counsel’s fees (paid to him by his client) which inevitably causes
the collapse of a case or the conviction in a criminal prosecution.
The principal object of Judicial Scandals and Errors will be an
impartial inquiry into dishonest manipulations in civil and criminal
actions which have led to a gross perversion of justice. An
examination in the judicial system, wherever it seems to be at fault,
will follow.
The amount of wrong done in criminal courts, the conviction of
the innocent, if poor, and the escape of the guilty, if wealthy, is
alarmingly large, and every endeavour to lessen the evil must be
welcome.
The attack made by unknown persons hiding behind the Com
missioner of Police on a scientific work of undoubted merit and the
suppression of this publication by a compromise with a London
bookseller, although apparently unimportant in itself, is typical in
its detail, and this circumstance justifies my submitting this case to
the judgment of a wider circle.
GEORGE ASTOR SINGER, M A.
Paris, December, 1898.
From the Cologne Gazette (translated) : —
“PROSECUTION OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS IN GREAT BRITAIN.
“ Hypocrites and prudes in old England are on the war-path again. Not
against music halls and theatres but against scientific, medical, and anthropo
logical works is their zeal directed this time, and very successfully too.
“ The laughter of the civilised world does not dishearten these fanatics, if
they hear it.
They suffer from a peculiar kind of mania which in this
epidemic form is only to be found in England. But it would be a gross
libel on the great English nation to state that the majority of educated
Englishmen approves of these antics. Yes the influence and power of the
prudes must not be underrated, if we take into consideration that the police
is at their disposal to suppress such important scientific works as Dr.
Havelock Ellis’s Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
�iv
Preface
“ Havelock Ellis’s name is so well known all over the world as the author of
The Criminal and Man and Woman, and as a scientist of eminence and
undoubted integrity, that it seems superfluous to discuss the contents of the
incriminated book.
“ A bookseller in London who, like hundred others, sold this work, one
day in the year 1898 was arrested, imprisoned, and intimidated to plead
guilty:
“ to being a person of a wicked and depraved mind and disposition, and
unlawfully and wickedly devising, contriving, and intending, to
vitiate and corrupt the morals of the liege subjects of our Lady the Queen,
to debauch and poison the minds of divers of the liege subjects of our
Lady the Queen, and to create in them disordered and lustful desires,
and to bring the said liege subjects into a state of wickedness, lewdness,
and debauchery, etc., etc.
“ Who is laughing ? Silence !
“ In Culturstaaten (cultured states), as a rule, the nation is proud of the
scientific achievements of medical and anthropological authorities, but in
England many prefer the Bible as a medical text-book to Lord Lister’s works,
and Christian Science the newest hocus-pocus to medical practice in general.
“Amongst the many hundreds of poor victims of the art of Christian
Science there was lately a well known literary man (Harold Frederic). A
prosecution for manslaughter was started but soon abandoned or suppressed,
perhaps by the same authority who sanctioned the prosecution of Dr.
Havelock Ellis’s works. It is a truly melancholy fact that in England the
police, and even an English judge, can be had to assist in the suppression of
scientific books, and it is rumoured in the metropolis that the next attack
will be directed against Professor Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia Sexualis, and
against Westermarck’s well known work, The History of Human Marriage.
We will next hear that the British Museum library has been searched for
the works of Westphal, Moll, Charcot, and Virchow, and that Darwin’s great
works will be brought before an Old Bailey jury. What a glorious prospect!
“ If the government does not command a stentorious Halt (stop), one day
in the near future the tinker, the tailor, the candle-stick maker, presided
over by the Recorder of London, will sit in judgment over the Origin of
Species and the Descent of Man.
“ The spinster who, having been informed by a friend that her canary was
of the male sex, henceforth covered his cage with a dark cloth each time
she was exhibiting her virginal form before the dressing glass, and the very
respectable matron who, provided the Venus of Milo in her artist-husband’s
studio with a petticoat, skirt and bodice, should both be consulted by the
English Home Secretary when instructions are given to the police for the
suppression of scientific works. The rest may be left to the Recorder of
London and to an Old Bailey jury as the most competent judges in the
realm of Anthropology and Physiology.”
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
Lawyers know or feel instinctively that wherever in criminal
cases a compromise has been effected between the prosecution and
the defence some coin of the realm has passed. The illegality of
the act is passed over silently by all the parties concerned in the
transaction.
That such compromises are more frequent in England, where
nearly all the prosecutions are of a more or less private character,
than in France, Germany, Austria, or Italy, where invariably the
public prosecutor acts for the crown, and in his official position is
inaccessible to bribes and proposals for an amicable settlement, is
only the natural and inevitable result of our procedure in criminal
cases.
Many mysterious transactions, which amount to blackmail and
extortion, would come to light if the parties to the deal were not
compelled to silence in their own interest.
A compromise in cases where the police authorities or the
Government appear as prosecutors, absolutely unknown on the con
tinent, is comparatively rare even in this country, and the legal
authorities strongly disapprove of the pernicious system of inducing
an accomplice to turn Queen’s Evidence. Quite apart of the in
dignity and immorality hidden in these transactions they carry
the danger that the principal offender to save his own skin gives
false evidence and that justice is perverted.
Much moye dangerous than the admission of Bill Sykes to tender
queen’s evidence is a practice recently adopted by the prosecution
in the Bedborough case, which promised to become a test case of
the highest importance, but which collapsed in the end in conse
quence of a compromise effected between defence and prosecution
on a perfectly new basis. The accused himself and his solicitor ob
tained by the transaction a considerable benefit, while the Commis
sioners of Police, the prosecutors in this remarkable case, extri( ? )
�8
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EBRO RS.
cated themselves from a difficult position by an act which under
all circumstances must be subject to severe criticism.
The old system of making the accused turn Queen's Evidence,
and of compelling him to state on oath in a public court that he
was not the principal offender, bad enough as it is, was abandoned
in this case, and the culprit was allowed to make a secret state
ment to that effect at Scotland Yard to a detective.
On this private statement which naturally made Mr.. G. B. Higgs
(this is the real name of George Bedborough) appear as innocent
as the new born babe, the prosecution based the speech which
resulted in the suppression of a highly important case and in the
slander of Dr. Havelock Ellis, a scientific author of world-wide
renown, as also in the wanton persecution of Dr. R. de Villiers,
the well-known Editor of the University Magazine.
It will be necessary to examine the facts surrounding this extra
ordinary case most minutely so as to understand the real nature
of the deal which illustrates the dark side of our judicial system
better than any case which has come to my knowledge in recent
years.
That I am personally interested in this case, having provided
the larger part of the amount required for the defence of the
accused, gives me access to letters and documents which prove
beyond doubt that, as in most similar cases, sordid considerations
have caused this perversion of justice, which certainly amounts to
a judicial scandal if we consider the consequences of the transac
tion.
Tiie Police and the Press.
On May 31st, 1898, Mr. G. B. Higgs, who, under the name of
George Bedborough, carried on the business of a publisher and
bookseller in London, was arrested by the police for “publishing
an obscene libel with the intention of corrupting the morals of
Her Majesty’s subjects.”
The book on which this charge was based was Dr. Havelock
Ellis s first volume of his great work “Studies in the Psychology
of Sex. ’ The accused had nothing to do with the production of
this book, neither as author nor as printer or publisher. He had
simply sold copies of the same to disguised detectives. The police
authorities were fully aware that the author was a well-known man
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EBRO IIS.
9
of science, that the printer was Mr. A. Bonner of Tooks Court,
and that the publishers were the University Press, as these names
appeared on the book in bold type.
Dr. Havelock Ellis appeared in person at the first and second
hearing of the charge before the magistrate, declaring through his
counsel that he was prepared to undertake the whole responsibility
for the incriminated publication.
The publishers were also represented at the police-court pro
ceedings by Messrs. C. 0. Humphreys and Son, the well-known
solicitors.
For some reason or other Dr. Havelock Ellis’s offer did not suit
the prosecution nor Sir John Bridge the magistrate, who stated
that not the writing or publishing of the book in question but
the sale to the detectives, i.e. the indiscriminate sale alleged
to have been practised by Mr. Bedborough, constituted the offence.
Articles contained in the Adult, a magazine owned and edited
by the accused, were included in the charge, and Mr. Bedborough
was committed for trial.
It was soon apparent that Dr. Havelock Ellis’s work was not
the real, or at least not the principal, object of this prosecution,
but that it was aimed at the University Press Limited, which had
published a number of philosophical, social, and theological works.
The University Press also owned the University Magazine and
Free Review, a periodical devoted to the free discussion of political,
social, and religious subjects.
Bedborough, besides his own publications, sold the books and
magazines published by the University Press in the same way as
other London booksellers and on the same terms. But his connec
tion with the Legitimation League, a society founded for the pur
pose of securing equal rights for legitimate and illegitimate
children, gave the prosecution a welcome opportunity to cast a slur
upon a firm of respectable publishers, who were never in any way
connected with this society, or with any of Mr. Bedboiough s
undertakings.
It cannot be ascertained who hides behind the Commissioners of
Police, who appeared as nominal prosecutors in these proceedings,
but from the facts hereafter explained the reader will infer that
the police have acted throughout on higher ordeis.
�10
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
The first suspicion that Dr. Havelock Ellis’s work formed only
the pretext for an unheard of persecution arose in the minds of
the defence through the fact that the police in raiding Mr. Bed
borough’s premises seized all the books lately published by the
University Press, particularly
The Free Review, edited by G. Astor Singer.
The University Magazine, edited by Dr. R. de Villiers.
Pseudo-Philosophy at the End oh the Nineteenth Century, by
Hugh Mortimer Cecil.
The Dynamics of Religion, an essay in English Culture History,
by M. W. Wiseman.
The Saxon and the Celt, by John M. Robertson.
Montaigne and Shakspere, by John M. Robertson.
The Blight of Respectability, by Geoffrey Mortimer.
None of these publications did ever form or could ever have been
the object of a direct prosecution, yet the police seized these works
indiscriminately, and it became evident from this and subsequent
proceedings that English prejudice and prudery were to be worked
for what they were worth for the purpose of suppressing publications
which were in no' way connected with the alleged offence “of pub
lishing an obscene libel with the intention of corrupting the morals
of Her Majesty’s subjects.”
This secret intention is proved beyond doubt by the speech of the
counsel for the prosecution at the trial, which I will fully examine
in its true light hereafter.
It must be of interest to the lawyer as well as to the student of
politics to learn liow successfully this plan to suppress a wellknown magazine and to send its editor into exile has been carried
out by those entrusted with the task.
Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
The first volume of Dr. Havelock Ellis’s work Studies in the
Psychology of Sex was published by the University Press Limited
in February, 1898. It was the first and only work on the vital
question of sex published by this firm, whose managing director
and principal shareholder I am. As such I share the responsi
bility for its publication with the author.
Dr. R. de Villiers, the Editor of the University Magazine, in
1897 called my attention to the German edition of this volume,
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
11
and to the general praise which the same had found in scientific
circles on the Continent and in the United States of America. The
name of the illustrious author of many scientific works however
would alone have been a guarantee for me that the book was of the
highest and noblest aim, and that it was written in the true scien
tific spirit which characterises Dr. Havelock Ellis’s well-known
writings.
Indeed my decision to publish this book needs no justification
before the scientific world. I submitted the M.S. to medical men
and to psychologists, who' unanimously declared it to be of the
greatest importance, not only for the medical profession, but also
for teachers, lawyers, clergymen, and students of psychological
problems.
So I decided upon its publication, and the book was printed by
Mr. A. Bonner.
As however it was not desirable that this book should come into
the hands of inexperienced youth I gave instructions that all copies
supplied to booksellers, including, of course, those supplied by the
University Press to Mr. Bedborough, should bear a label with the
inscription:
“ This book is a scientific work intended for Medical Men, Lawyers, and Teachers.
It should not be placed into the hands of the general public.”
To Mr. Bedborough-Higgs the book was supplied in the usual
way, and the only explanation why the authorities selected this
man out of many other booksellers in London who sold the book is
that he was connected with, or rather that he was the moving spirit
in, a society which advocated “ Freedom in Sexual Relationship,” a
Free-Love Society, of which he was the head and soul. Another
reason may have been that Bedborough-Higgs was without means,
and thus, as the police was led to believe,; would be unable to defend
himself against a powerful official prosecution. Anyhow, as sub
sequent events proved, the police authorities were right in their
calculation that poor Bedborough-Higgs was not made of a
material to withstand the attack.
He collapsed ignominiously,
and to the joy of the prosecution cut a very sorry figure in the
subsequent proceedings.
A Solicitor’s Chance.
The most interesting part of the comedy is the association of the
�12
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
accused with a London solicitor for the purpose of extracting
money from the public for his defence which this gentleman never
intended to carry through, as proved subsequently by counsel for
the prosecution in his speech before the Recorder of London.
A few days after Bedborough’s arrest I received in New York a
cable from Dr. de Villiers, the Editor of the University Magazine,
requesting me to guarantee at least part of the expenses for the
defence of the accused, and particularly the payment of counsel’s
fees. I consented, and part of the money was paid to Mr. Wyatt
Digby, the solicitor selected by Mr. Bedborough for his defence.
“A storm of indignation,” Dr. de Villiers wrote, “has broken
over the country, and especially over the scientific world, when
the new practice of prosecuting a bookseller for selling a scientific
work became known through the newspapers.
A protest was
raised by medical and anthropological societies against this wanton
attack on an author’s repute. We must have funds for the defence
as Bedborough is a poor devil, and you should guarantee the pay
ment of counsel’s fees and solicitor’s costs to a limited amount,
while a Free Press Defence Committee is formed to provide
further funds.”
Unacquainted with the bye-ways of the laws in England and
the tricks of London solicitors, I was unaware that by providing
these funds I practically caused the insult offered to the author
by the prosecution at the trial, and, in fact, the collapse of the
defence, which it was intended to place on a sound basis by
engaging a leading counsel to defend the accused as well as author
and publisher.
How the Police Proceeded.
A Scotland Yard detective, Mr. Sweeney, one of those innocent
souls, whose morals are so easily corrupted, was sent into the lion’s
den to prove that the secretary of the Legitimation League sold
books with intent to corrupt the morals of Her Majesty's subjects.
He represented himself as a friend of L. Harman, the president
of the Legitimation League, and showed himself enthusiastic for
the cause of securing equal rights for legitimate and illegitimate
children. Mr. Sweeney accepted an invitation to the meeting and
annual dinner of the League, at which he was present listening to
the speeches of other enthusiasts. It seems that these proceedings
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EliltORS.
13
were rather harmless, anyhow the detective’s morals had not been
corrupted then and there, so that to attain the object in view he
cultivated the secretary’s friendship with the view of obtaining
better evidence of his pernicious designs on English morality.
Amongst the many books sold by Mr. Bedborough he found one
with an attractive and yet mysterious title: “Studies m the
Psychology of Sex,” by Dr. Havelock Ellis. Forthwith he
acquired a copy, and to prove the sale and the mercenary cor
ruption of his morals, he paid for it. As the detective is a
grown-up man, and as his innocence was concealed, Mr. Bed
borough knowing him only as an enthusiastic follower of the
Legitimation League, of course he obtained a copy of this scientific
work without any difficulty. After corrupting his morals with it
he took it straight to the Commissioner of Police, whose morals no
doubt were likewise corrupted, so that the inevitable consequence
was that Mr. Sweeney received instructions to swear an informa
tion at the Bow Street Police Court, which in due course led to
the arrest of Mr. Bedborough, and to the seizure of all the dan
gerous books in his possession. The magistrate, shocked by the
accused’s depravity as described in Mr. Sweeney’s information,
refused to admit the prisoner to bail, but at a later application
fixed it at £1,000.
Thus for the English public the gravity of the offence was
established forthwith and beforehand.
At the conclusion of the proceedings before the magistrate, Mr.
Avory, representing Mr. Bedborough, and seeing that Sir John
Bridge had made up his mind to send the case for trial, said that
he could not hope to convert the learned magistrate from the view
to which he had given expression, and would only say that the
accused was prepared to contend that the works referred to in the
case were not obscene.
“ I shall be prepared to maintain that this is not an obscene publication,
but a scientific work if it be approached—as it is intended it should be—
by persons of scientific mind and a desire to learn. (Mr. Avory went on to
quote the case of ‘ Reg. v. Hickling,’ with the object of showing that the
question of obscenity of a work depended upon the method of its publication.
Many scientific works would be obscene if they were published broadcast at
the corner of the street; but they were not obscene if they were only circu
lated among scientific men.) The price and method of the publication of the
‘Sexual Inversion’ showed that that was the intention in this case. The
�14
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
practices mentioned in the book were not advocated by the author, as the
prosecution had stated, and at the proper time he would challenge his
learned friend to prove what he had stated on this point. In conclusion
Mr. Avory read the last paragraph in the book as follows: —‘ Here we may
leave the question of Sexual Inversion. In dealing with it I have sought
to avoid that attitude of moral superiority which is so common in the litera
ture of this subject, and have refrained from pointing out how loathsome
this phenomenon is, and how hideous. Such an attitude is as much out of
place in scientific investigation as it is in judicial investigation, and may well
be left to the amateur. The physician who feels anything of disgust at the
sight of disease is unlikely to bring either succour to his patients or instruc
tion to his pupils.’ ”
Sir John Bridge, when committing the accused for trial, had
all the information concerning the author’s, printer’s, and
publisher s part in this publication before him, yet no action was
taken against either, and the indictment, which included certain
articles in the Adult, was practically confined to the way of selling
the incriminated book and magazine.
A Gratuitous Advertisement.
As the demand for Dr. Havelock Ellis’s book increased very con
siderably through the advertisement given to it by the police
court proceedings, and as I did not wish this work to fall into the
hands of the young and of persons for whom it was never intended,
I ordered the sale to be stopped at once, and the author consented
to this step. Amongst those anxious to acquire the book were
many students at Oxford and Cambridge, boys at Eton, Rugby,
and Harrow, even girls at boarding schools, all of whom would
never have heard of its existence if the great publicity given to the
police-court proceedings by the entire press in Great Britain had
not called their attention to this medical work.
Not one single copy however was supplied to serve this morbid
curiosity, and the Editor of the University Magazine perceiving
the danger of spurious reprints of the work being published in
Paris and New York to satisfy the great demand created by the
police addressed the following letter to the Home Secretary:_
Sir, May I call your attention to a grave error of judgment committed
by the Commissioners of Police in the prosecution of a London Publisher
and Bookseller for selling a scientific work entitled ‘ Studies in the Psycho
logy of Sex,’ by Havelock Ellis, the eminent author of many valuable works
of science and editor of the Contemporary Science series (Walter Scott).
I am confident that you will not underrate the very serious consequences
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
15
of this prosecution if you will consider the following facts with which the
undersigned, having in 1897 advised the University Press to’ publish this
work, is fully acquainted.
“ (1) During the year 1897 and up to1 the arrest of Mr. Bedborough, Dr.
Havelock Ellis’s work which follows in the footsteps of Professor von KrafftEbing’s well known book ‘ Psychopathia Sexualis’ has been demanded and
supplied exclusively to the medical profession, to lawyers, teachers, and
clergymen, and to booksellers.
The publishers have taken every possible
precaution that the book should not be sold to the general public, and all
copies sold to booksellers bore a label with the following inscription: —
“ ‘ This book is a scientific work intended for medical men, lawyers,
and teachers.
“ ‘ It should not be placed into the hands of the general public.’
“ It may thus be supposed that the trade in general has supplied this book
only at the request of professional men for whom the work is of paramount
importance.
“The publishers have abstained from advertising the book in any news
paper, and review copies have been sent only to medical journals. The price
was that of other scientific works of similar dimension.
“ (2) Since the commencement of the proceedings at the Bow Street Police
Court, the wise precautions of the publishers however have been frustrated
by the extensive advertisement caused by these proceedings all over Great
Britain and America, so that the publishers as well as booksellers in all parts
of the English speaking world are inundated with orders, not only from adults
but also from boys at the public schools, from students at Universities, and
from persons for whom the book has never been intended.
“ The publishers, following my advice, have forthwith withdrawn the book
from sale, but they are unable to stop the sale of copies which are in the
hands of booksellers all over the country.
“ It will thus appear that the Commissioners of Police who charge a book
seller in London with selling the book to detectives with intent to corrupt
the morals of Her Majesty’s subjects, are practically guilty of the very offence
of which they accuse Mr. Bedborough, as by their ill-advised act the book
has been clayed into the hands of persons who otherwise would never have
known of its existence.
The almost inevitable consequences of the withdrawal of the book by the
University Press, simultaneous with the great demand created by the police,
will be the spurious re-publication of this work in Paris and New York; and
the public schools at Eton, Harrow, etc., will be flooded with circulars by
unscrupulous foreign publishers, who will profit by the gratuitous advertise
ment given by the Commissioners of Police to this publication.
“ This advertisement has increased with every hearing at the police court,
and will find its climax at the trial.
“ If it should be in your power to arrest the progress of the mischievous
practice of the police of making scientific works of this description popular,
you could do much to prevent the corruption of public morals.
“Should on the other hand this newly initiated practice of prosecuting
�16
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
booksellers for selling medical works dealing with obstetrics or sexual dis
orders be continued m the future, the young will obtain access to many
books the existence of which was necessarily unknown to them until now.
The public in general and the medical profession in particular will be
grateful to you if you will oppose such tendency in the future, if you should
not have the power to interfere in the present grievous blunder of the
police.
“ I have sent a copy of this letter to the Commissioners of Police and to
the Press.
“ I am, Sir,
“ Your obedient Servant,
“R.
de
Villiers.”
The speech for the prosecution by Mr. Matthews at the trial
seems to point to the possibility that this honest letter to the Home
Secretary must have raised the ire of the parties responsible for
the prosecution, and must have induced them to apply to the
magistrate for a warrant for the arrest of Dr. de Villiers, who had
actually nothing whatever to do with the publishing of the in
criminated book.
Innumerable letters of sympathy were received by the author of
the book as well as by the Editor of the University Magazine, and
a Iree Press Defence Committee was formed by Mr. Henry
Seymour. Many eminent authorities and literary men joined this
Committee, many who were not at all in sympathy with Mr. Bed
borough s views on Free Love or Legitimation, but who felt the
necessity to protect the press from arbitrary interference by the
police, and who abhorred the newly-established press-censorship.
The Free Press Defence Committee issued the following
circular: —
&
“FREE PRESS DEFENCE COMMITTEE.
The Bedborough Prosecution.
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
17
who are continuing the researches initiated by the famous criminologist,
Lombroso. It is written in a spirit of scientific detachment. It throws light
upon certain abnormalities, with a view to their rectification ; it is unpleasant
in the same way that a treatise on cancer is unpleasant. But it is surely
maintainable—and this may be said without prejudice to whatever is sub
judice—that to call such a book obscene is an abuse of language, to stop its
circulation amongst adult students is a gross violation of the freedom of the
press, and to imprison a man for selling it to an adult customer is an outrage
on the primary rights of free citizenship. Since the commencement of the
prosecution other charges have been brought against Mr. Bedborough,
founded upon publications seized by the police in raiding his rooms at the
time of his arrest. These publications were all advertised and sold openly,
and there was no need to resort to such methods of incrimination. They are
copies of the Adult, the monthly organ of the Legitimation League, an
organisation which exists for the purpose of ventilating sexual problems, par
ticularly in relation to marriage and the status of women; and also copies of
various pamphlets issued under the auspices of that body.
“It should be mentioned that Mr. Bedborough is not arraigned for any
writings of his own. He is called upon to bear the burden of the defence
of the writings of others, with whom he is not necessarily in agreement.
Neither the writers of the pamphlets and periodicals, nor the author, printer,
or publishers of the book in question are included in the indictment. He
alone is singled out as the victim of this ill-advised, and perhaps malicious
prosecution.
“ The Free Press Defence Committee has been formed in order to resist
this police attack upon liberty. Its members belong to' many different
schools of opinion. They are not in any way concerned with the particular
views entertained by Mr. Bedborough, or set forth in the writings which
form the ground of the prosecution. The present is neither the time nor
the occasion to express either agreement or dissent. The one thing to be
done is to defend the liberty of all opinions. It is always the bigots who
choose the point of attack, and it is there that the friends of freedom must
rally.
The most important thing is that Mr. Bedborough should be properly
defended, and the Free Press Defence Committee is pledged to obtain for
him (if possible) the requisite support. A fair amount has already been sub
scribed, but far more will be required, especially as the case will probably
be taken to the Court of Queen’s Bench. It is hoped, therefore, that sub
scriptions will be forwarded without delay to' the Honorary Treasurer, Mrs.
Gladys Dawson, Bedford Hotel, Covent Garden, London, W.C.
“ The Committee appeal most earnestly to all who value the freedom of the
press to lend their aid in this emergency. It is not enough to condemn the
prosecution as unwise. This alone will not protect the principle which is
assailed, nor save the living victim from the sufferings and indignities of
imprisonment. The prosecution must be actively resisted. This is what
the Committee calls upon every lover of liberty to' assist in doing. A strong,
united stand against oppression at this moment will strengthen the securities
of freedom in the future.”
�18
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
Amongst the great number of gentlemen and ladies who joined
the Committee I may name the following: —
Grant Allen.
T. B. Askew.
E. Belfort Bax.
Robert Braithwaite.
Robert Buchanan.
Mona Caird.
Edward Carpenter.
Joseph Collinson.
Walter Crane.
A. F. Cross.
Thomas du Deney.
Mrs. Despard.
Dr. H. Densmore.
G. W. Foote.
Frank Harris.
George Jacob Holyoake.
Geoffrey Mortimer.
George Moore.
F. H. Perry-Coste.
William Platt.
Frank Todmore.
H. Quelch.
John M. Robertson.
W. Stewart Ross.
Henry S. Salt.
William Sharpe.
George Bernard Shaw.
George Standing.
Edward Temple.
W. M. Thompson.
John Trevor.
Charles Watts.
Dr. T. M. Watt.
The English Press, with the exception of the reptile and mug
wump section, expressed its view with much frankness against the
police prosecution, and aided thereby the work of the Committee.
A few of the numerous articles on the subject which appeared
after the committal of the accused will be found in Appendix I.
At many public meetings held in the Metropolis the new system
of suppressing scientific works initiated by the Commissioners of
the Police was denounced, and probably the party who instigated
this prosecution became doubtful as to its success, but yet it could
rely on the stupidity of a prejudiced Old Bailey Jury as the appli
cation to remove the case to the High Court and a special jury had
been refused.
A Mysterious Letter.
A strange thing happened after the decision of the magistrate to
send the case for trial had been given.
A number of booksellers in London and in the principal provin
cial towns, mostly customers of the University Press Limited, re
ceived the following communication by post: —
“PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.
“Criminal Investigation Department,
“Scotland Yard, W.C.
“ Sir,—The arrest and committal of a London bookseller should serve you
as a warning.
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
19
“ Take notice that the police will arrest and prosecute any bookseller who
in the future should sell the atheistic and abominable publications of the
University Press.
“A Christian.”
It is, of course, certain that these letters did not emanate from
the police or from Scotland Yard, nor could the same have been
sent with the knowledge or approval of the Scotland Yard authori
ties, but it is more than probable that some person or society con
nected with the prosecution or interested in the proceedings had
written them with the view of frightening booksellers. This ruse
succeeded admirably because many of the more timid booksellers
“to avoid arrest and prosecution’’ refused to sell the University
Magazine any further, and in consequence of this boycott the
monthly issue of this publication had to be suspended.
It will surprise my readers that the tenor of Mr. Matthews’ speech
before the Recorder is somewhat similar to this mysterious mes
sage, in so far as the University Press is named as the real offender,
so that we must ask whether this crusade was really directed
against Mr. Bedborough or against the University Press, with
which Mr. Bedborough was not connected any more than any
other bookseller in London.
After the Committal.
The committal of Mr. Bedborough took place on June 21st, and
the time which elapsed since then to the day of the mock trial on
October 31st was used by the Free Press Defence Committee to
collect funds for the defence of the accused, and in this endeavour
its able secretary, who devoted much of his time and energy to
this task, was fairly successful.
But alas in the meantime Mr. Bedborough and his shrewd
solicitor had discovered that the cheapest and most profitable way
out of the difficulty would be to come to terms with the Commis
sioners of Police, and to appropriate the funds.
Although it is not likely that Mr. Wyatt Digby divided the
spoil with Mr. Bedborough, there is not the least doubt that the
latter played into his hands by concealing his arrangement with
the prosecution from the Committee and from myself, and thereby
caused the amount of about £400 to be passed into the possession
of the solicitors.
�20
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
Mr. Matthews’s speech describes best and in clear language what
happened while Mr. Wyatt Digby used pressure to obtain as much
money as possible from the Committee, and while by an unworthy
trick the same gentleman extracted a further sum of £150 from
my wife for the purpose of paying counsel’s fees for his client’s
defence.
A Penitent Sinner.
Mr. Bedborough, according to counsel’s statement, after his com
mittal, went to Scotland Yard, and by the authorities there was
allowed to make a statement to the effect that he was only a very
subordinate sub-agent of the Editor of the University Magazine,
Dr. R. de Villiers, and that this gentleman was the real culprit.
He offered to plead guilty to three counts in the indictment as a
matter of form if the prosecution would give him a guarantee that
he would not be sent to prison.
The Commissioners of Police, if they were the real prosecutors
in this prosecution, must have had grave doubts as to the success
of the impending trial, or there must have been some other reasons
that they decided to accept the bargain proposed by Mr. Bed
borough.
It may be that they were incensed by Dr. de Villiers’s letter to
the Home Secretary, and felt a kind of satisfaction in substituting
that gentleman for the wretched prisoner who made this proposal.
As matters stood the proposed settlement would amount to a
victory for the police, a clever speech by counsel would make it
appear a real triumph over these wicked publishers, and smaller
obstacles could easily be overcome.
Indeed such an arrangement, if not quite honest and above
board, seemed satisfactory to all parties immediately concerned, to
the prosecution, to the accused, and last, not least, to the solicitor
for the defence, Mr. Wyatt Digby, who, without paying counsel’s
fees, could easily manage to retain the large amount received for
the defence.
Not less interesting than the carrying out of the arrangement
arrived at between the parties is the story of Mr. Wyatt Digby’s
successful endeavour to get hold of as much money for the defence
of his client as could possibly be obtained under the circumstances.
Part of his scheme was to keep the arrangement secret until a few
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
21
days before the trial, and in the meantime tu secure the largest
possible amount from the two sources which were open to him.
The following letter will show how eager Mr. Wyatt Digby was
to secure the amount of my guarantee, and how anxious to obtain
adjournments of the trial to gain time for the purpose of collecting
further funds from the Dree Press Defence Committee: —
“ Wyatt Digby and Co.
“ 5 and 6, Clements Inn, Strand,
“ London, W.C.,
“July 14th, 1898.
“ Reg. v. Bedborough.
“ Dear Sirs,—It is necessary now to make some arrangements with regard
to counsel’s fees herein.
“ We fully appreciate the contents of your former letter as to your guaran
tee, but shall be glad if you will give us a call at your earliest convenience
so that we may discuss the matter for future arrangements.
“ Yours faithfully,
“ Wyatt Digby and Co.”
“ The University Press Limited.”
All this time (in July) it was already arranged between the
prosecution and defence that the case should not be taken until
after the vacation at the end of October, 1898. Yet on July 21st
Mr. Wyatt Digby addressed the following letter to the Editor of
the University Magazine : —
“ Wyatt Digby and Co.
“ 5 and 6, Clements Inn, Strand,
“July 14th, 1898.
“ Dear Sir,—Referring to your letter of the 19th and ours of yesterday we
presume that you asked Mr. Singer to cable the money over as if it is only
sent by post it will not arrive in time for the trial, and of course it ought to
be here not later than Friday, or at the very latest Saturday morning. Of
course we do not wish to press the matter, but we think it right to point
this out. We are doing everything possible in the case, and shall leave no
stone unturned to secure success, and our only anxiety is that we may be
prevented from taking the necessary steps for want of funds.
“ If it is not clear that the money will be cabled, will you be good enough
to send a further cable asking for this to be done.
“ We are,
“ Yours faithfully,
“ Wyatt Digby and Co.”
“R. de Villiers,
“ University Press, Watford.2’
I suspected these gentlemen, and instructed my representative
�22
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
not to pay the amount until our own solicitors, Mr. C. 0.
Humphreys and Son, should advise us to do> so.
On August 10th the following communication was received from
Mr. Wyatt Digby: —
“Wyatt Digby and Co.
“5 and 6, Clements Inn, Strand,
“ London, W.C.
“ Dear Sirs,—It is necessary that we should be at once put in funds for
the necessary expenses which have been incurred and for the further expenses
which have now to be incurred, and it is absolutely necessary that we should
have £150 at once for the purpose of preparing for the trial as there is no
time to be lost.
“ Hoping to hear from you with a cheque by return.
“ Yours faithfully,
“ Wyatt Digby and Co.”
Mr. Digby must have been afraid that the terms of the settle
ment proposed by Mr. [Bedborough to the police might become
known before he would be able to secure all the cash available
from the two sources, and on August 31st he wrote the following
epistle: —
“ Wyatt Digby and Co.
“5 and 6, Clements Inn, Strand,
“London, W.C.,
“August 31st, 1898.
“ Regina v. Bedborough.
“ Dear Sir,—We are surprised that we have not received any reply to our
letter of the 9th inst. The Committee have now paid us the sum of £50,
which, we understand, is all the money they have in hand, and they have
promised a further £50 on the day of the trial (which will be personally sub
scribed by them as sufficient funds have not been received from the public).
They have also guaranteed the sum of £50 to be paid at some later date
which at present cannot be fixed, and will also be obtained by subscription
among themselves. This makes in all the sum of £150, which is the total
amount they are in a position to provide now or at any future time. We
have previously received the sum of £140, namely, £50 from yourself and £90
from the Committee. This amount has been expended in regard to expenses
prior to trial, including counsel’s fees before the magistrate, costs of applica
tions for certiorari, and other costs.
“ As to the counsel’s fees on trial it has been arranged to brief Mr. Avory
and Mr. Rose-Innes. Their fees on the trial, assuming the case to last three
days (which is the least time it can be reasonably expected to take), will
amount to 110 guineas and 68 guineas respectively, making a total of about
180 guineas.
“Of course, the case may last longer than three days, in fact it is not
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EBBOBS.
23
unlikely that it will occupy as long as a week, and in this case further fees
will have to be paid beyond the 180 guineas. Counsel’s fees will have to be
paid when the briefs are delivered.
“ In addition to the counsel’s fees, of course there are payments to wit
nesses, which will be heavy, and there are solicitor's charges, and other
expenses which must necessarily amount to a very considerable sum. The
amount which we have received, and are to receive from the Committee, will
not be sufficient for the purpose of providing the witnesses’ fees and expenses
and our costs; therefore it is necessary to look to you under your guarantee
for the amount of counsel’s fees, and you will see that the £150, the balance
guaranteed by you, is not sufficient for this purpose.
“ However we have now agreed with the Committee that we will carry the
matter through to a conclusion and do everything possible to ensure a suc
cessful defence on their carrying out their arrangements as above mentioned,
conditionally on your providing us with the £150 toward counsel’s fees a
sufficient time before the trial. If we receive this, counsel will be briefed,
and the matter will go to trial, but we are compelled to say that we cannot
deliver the briefs until we get your cheque for £150. At the very latest the
briefs must be delivered to counsel by September 6th if they are to have suffi
cient time to get up the case. We must therefore rely on you to send us the
cheque as promised by that date.
“We are sure that you will understand that we have no desire to put any
undue pressure or to require payment of more than is necessary, but it is
essential that there should be no hitch in regard to the matter on the eve
of the trial. If you would prefer we should be quite satisfied if you would
send the amount to Mr. Seymour, as secretary to the Committee, or to Mr.
Bedborough, or to both jointly, to ensure the matter being properly carried
through. Of course, any payment by you to the Committee on this account
will be a performance of your guarantee to us.
“ Yours faithfully,
“ Wyatt Digby and Co.”
From this last letter it will be seen that Mr. Wyatt Digby, while
pressing for the payment of £150, had already obtained all the
money he could get from the Free Press Defence Committee.
I was in New York at that time.
On September 9th our
solicitors, Messrs. C. 0. Humphreys and Son, informed us by wire
that the case would not come on for trial until the end of October.
Mr. Wyatt Digby, the defendant’s own solicitor, must have known
this fact as well as Mr. Humphreys. Yet on September 12th he
induced the foreman at our printing works to try desperately to
obtain’the amount from my wife, hinting at the same time that the
telegram sent by our own solicitor was a mistake or a trick on the
part of the prosecution.
Mrs. Singer was intimidated by a statement that the case would
�24
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
be heard the next day, and that a cheque for £150 was immediately
and urgently required to pay counsel’s fees. The amount was paid
under pressure and without my knowledge. From the moment
when Mr. Wyatt Digby had received all the money available the
scene suddenly changed.
All became quiet while the necessary preparations for the com
promise were carried out.
The solicitor’s sole interest lay in the retention of the amounts
received from the Free Press Defence Committee and from Mrs.
Singer with the specific stipulation that it should be handed over
to counsel for Mr. Bedborough’s defence.
Mr. Avory never received a penny of this money.
The pre
arranged plea of “Guilty” made this payment superfluous. The
able counsel who had in the preliminary stage done all in his
power, and who was fully acquainted with the whole case, was
deprived of his fee, and, of course, did not appear.
The Details
of a
Compromise.
The subsequent proceedings, as will be shown hereafter, con
stitute one of the worst judicial scandals ever witnessed in England
in a court of law during this century.
A short introduction seems necessary to explain the particulars
of the compromise, as stated by the accused himself a few days
before the case was heard before the Recorder at the Central
Criminal Court.
On October 20th Dr. de Villiers, having been informed by Dr.
Havelock Ellis of the rumour that a compromise between prosecu
tion and defence had been effected, met the defendant, Mr. HiggsBedborough, and the following discussion took place: —
The Editor of the University Magazine : Well, Mr. Bedborough, I hear
a compromise has been arrived at with the prosecution, is that true?
Bedborough : Yes, everything is settled. You know the Commissioners of
Police are afraid of losing this game, they think we are awfully strong, and
so they have proposed a settlement.
The Editor : And on what terms ?
Bedborough : I am to plead guilty as a matter of form, and I will only be
bound over in my own recognizances. I shall receive no punishment what
ever.
The Editor : A nice job. Plead guilty to what?
Bedborough : To three counts out of the eleven of the indictment. They
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
25
will drop the others, and Mr. Matthews, the prosecuting counsel, himself will
propose my acquittal, or what practically amounts to the same thing.
The Editor: For God’s sake, Mr. Bedborough, do you not feel your
responsibility towards the author of the book and towards the Free Press
Defence Committee ? And do you know that such a settlement is illegal, do
you know that the judge may refuse to be a party to it? Mind, the judges in
England, as far as I know, do not approve of compromises in criminal cases.
Bedborough : Oh, that is all right, I am quite safe as everything has been
settled satisfactorily. The case does not come before the judge at all, it will
come before the Recorder, and Mr. Matthews arranges everything with Sir
Charles Hall beforehand. There is no risk.
The Editor : Be careful, such a settlement sometimes may benefit all
parties concerned, but under the circumstances it is a dangerous and a
scandalous thing. Can you refund the money received by your solicitors for
the defence from the Free Press Defence Committee ?
Bedborough : No, I cannot, but what could I do, the proposal came from
the prosecution, how could I refuse ? I must save my skin, I do not want
to go to prison.
The Editor : Have you consulted the Committee before you accepted these
terms ?
■
Bedborough : No, I have not, they would never have consented. What do
I care for them ?
The Editor : Well, Mr. Bedborough, take care, no English judge, not even
the Recorder, will be a party to a settlement of this kind, and the safer way
for you, and the more honorable way, would be to brief counsel for the
defence.
Bedborough : My solicitor assures me that that would be unnecessary, and
the money thus spent would be thrown away. I hear that the whole thing
will be over in less than twenty minutes. I am to state that I plead guilty
to three counts of the indictment, and not guilty to the others. Then Mr.
Matthews, the prosecuting counsel, will declare that he accepts my plea, and
that the prosecution would be satisfied if his lordship the Recorder would
bind me over in my own recognizances. Of course then the Recorder will
make a short speech, but in the end he will act upon the suggestion of Mr.
Matthews. Wyatt Digby, my solicitor, says this settlement is in the interest
of everybody concerned.
The Editor : Oh, certainly, particularly in that of Wyatt Digby who has
received about £400 for the defence. Well, good luck.
The Trial.
It is a wonderful arrangement indeed; the case which, accord
ing to the statement of the defendant’s solicitor, would last at
least three days, was over in less than twenty minutes.
But only from the lips of Mr. Matthews we have an authentic
statement how this compromise came about. His statement in the
Central Criminal Court was not contradicted or modified in any
�26
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
way by the accused, and therefore it must be considered as the
correct one.
Yet the result of the deal was predicted quite correctly by Mr.
Bedborough; counsel and Recorder acted exactly as he had stated
some days previously. The accused left the court free, Sir John
Bridge, in fixing his bail at <£1,000, had made a most serious
blunder, he had sent an innocent or quasi-innocent man for trial.
I give here the verbatim report of this remarkable and perhaps
unique trial. My subsequent comment will clear up some dark
points and rectify palpable errors.
Copy of Verbatim Report.
CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
Monday, October 31st, 1898.
Before Sir Chas. Hall (Recorder).
REGINA v. BEDBOROUGH.
(Eor Libel.)
Mr. Matthews appeared for the Prosecution.
Mr. Tickel (Cleric of Arraigns): George Bedborough: You
are indicted for having unlawfully and wickedly published and
sold, and caused to be procured and to be sold, a wicked, bawdy
and scandalous and obscene book called 11 Ihe Study of Psychology
of Sex.” There are other counts charging you with having
published other obscene and scandalous books. Are you guilty or
not guilty?
The Defendant: I am Guilty on Counts'1, 2, and 3.
Mr. Matthews : And as to the rest ?
The Defendant : I am not guilty.
Mr. Tickel : May the jury go, my lord?
The Recorder : Yes, if Mr. Matthews accepts that plea. Do
you accept that plea, Mr. Matthews ?
Mr. Matthews : Yes, my lord, but I shall have something to
say with regard to those counts to which he has pleaded.
The Recorder : Those counts are what ?
Mr. Matthews : Nos. 1, 2, and 3, my lord. The first relates to
a book to which I desire to make no further reference, except by
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
27
(in. my own language) adding to the plea of the prisoner that it is
an unseemly, suggestive book. So far as Count 2 is concerned that
is the publication in print of a lecture purporting to have been
delivered at a meeting of the Legitimation League on December
6th of last year, and which still purports to be the outcome of the
Legitimation League. AVith regard to what has been printed m
that pamphlet I am desirous of adding to the plea of the prisoner,
as it is recorded now, that it is obscene in its character, and that
it was issued with the described intention.
The Recorder : Is the prisoner defended by counsel ?
Mr. Matthews : I think not now, my lord.
The Recorder (to the defendant) : You appear here personally,
or have you counsel?
The Defendant : I am quite indifferent, my lord, as to that.
Mr. Matthews says there is no counsel representing me. If that
is so I am prepared to go through without counsel.
The Recorder : Very well.
Mr. Matthews : The 3rd Count of the Indictment—and it is
right, I think, that your lordship should have these matters before
you—refers to the issue of the January number of the so-called
magazine, which has the title of the Adult, and the extract in the
January number is referred to in the 3rd Count of the Indictment,
and is said to be now confessed by the defendant to be obscene in
its character. My lord, on behalf of the prosecution, represented
by my friend Mr. Danskwertz and myself, we are content, as is the
Commissioner of Police—who was responsible for the conduct of
this prosecution before the magistrate, and is responsible here
t0.day—we are content to accept the plea of the prisoner on the
1st, 2nd, and 3rd Counts more especially; but I may tell your
lordship that so far as the eight remaining Counts are concerned—
the Indictment consisting of eleven Counts—the eight remaining
all of them refer to other numbers of that same periodical in the
so-called magazine entitled the Adult.
My lord, since the
defendant has thought right to plead Guilty to the 3rd Count,
which says of everyone of those, that it is obscene, and since he
has in public made confession that it is so, we will content our
selves, so far as the remaining Counts are concerned, to1 forego
proceeding with regard to them, referring as they do to other
�28
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
numbers of that magazine. But I may here say that it must not
be for one moment understood that we withdraw in anv sense the
charge that we make against him in connection with those Counts,
that they are obscene in their character.
May I tell your lordship that in the first instance that when this
prosecution was started it was conceived by those in authority that
the defendant who is before you, was a chief offender in the publi
cation and sale of this disgusting book, in the publication and sale
of this disgusting lecture, and in the publication and sale of this
disgusting magazine. That was then the belief that he was the
prime mover, at all events a prime mover in the circulation of this
specious literature. But, my lord, on examination, I am glad to
be able to tell your lordship he has shown us that we were mis
taken in this belief, and I am very glad to be able to give your
lordship that assurance to-day because, the magisterial inquiry
being over, the defendant took a course of which I think your
lordship will entirely approve, for he himself, of his own action,
without any invitation at all, went to the authorities at Scotland
Yard, placed himself in communication with them, and to them
he disclosed what he said was the actual position which he occu
pied with regard to the publication and sale of this work. My
lord, he did more than that: he asked the police at Scotland Yard
to make inquiry for the purpose of satisfying those officers that
what he told them was true, and that he had taken no principal
part in this terrible traffic, but that his part was entirely subordi
nate, and so subordinate that he was able to reduce it to its proper
proportion, and the result of what he said, followed by the inquiry
made by the police, was to show that so far as the sale and publica
tion was concerned, during the whole time, that the prisoner was
acting as sub-agent for what is called “The Watford University
Press,” and that in publishing this book he, the defendant, acted as
sub-agent for that press at some premises in John Street, Bedford
Row.
The Recorder. : What is it called ?
Mr. Matthews: “The Watford University Press,” my lord.
The Recorder : It has nothing to do with any university at
all, I suppose ?
Mr. Matthews : No, my lord, it is a mere title.
V
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
29
The Recorder : It is a very high-sounding title, which may
take in a great many people.
Mr. M atthews : No doubt, my lord, and we may take it to be
so. For that purpose, no doubt, it was, as I told you, but I do not
think the defendant was responsible for that. However that may
be he did make it clear that during the time he was in office in
John Street, Bedford Row, there had been personally sold by him
three copies, and only three copies, of this work at all. He also
called attention to the fact—and he had a perfect right in calling
attention to it—that before the time he was employed upon these
premises there was employed there another sub-agent, who had
been there for a considerable time, and that sub-agent was called
by us before the magistrate, and that before the time he went there
no doubt there was an exceedingly large sale under him. In addi
tion to that there was another salesman.
There was a house
keeper employed during the time the defendant was employed
there, and that housekeeper sold no less than ten copies, all in the
absence of the defendant.
The Recorder : Surely that is not the girl of 16 who was
allowed to handle these wretched books ?
Mr. Matthews : No, my lord, she is an older woman than that.
The defendant has been able to show (and that is one of the sub
stantial grounds of his appeal) that there preceded him a man who
extensively sold these books, and against whom no proceedings
have been taken, while the defendant says, “ I sold no more than
three in all.” There was another person employed at the same
time, who sold more than three times that number. They are
witnesses, but there is that difference between him and them, which
he asks to have directly pointed out to you. Then on its being
said, “ Oh but as far as you were concerned you were in authority
and you were the person actually in control.” “Not so,” says the
defendant, “the person really in control, and the person who
had the control of the Watford University Press, and the person
who made all the profits out of the sale of those books produced by
the Watford University Press, was a Dr. de Villiers.” That was
the man at the head of the Watford University Press, and that
was the man who made the profit out of those things, and that was
the man who for a long time then had been the offender—the head
and front of the offending, the outcome of circulating this class of
�30
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EHHOItS.
literature. That that is the fact there.can be no question at all.
Aly lord, Dr. de A’llliers has absconded. Against Dr. de Villiers
a warrant has been applied for, and granted, and if Dr. de Villiers,
who I am told is abroad at this moment, shall venture to return
to this country, he may be quite certain that that warrant will be
followed by immediate execution. Aly lord, may I say that those
discoveries of themselves do not very materially reduce the quality
of the prisoner’s guilt in regard to the publication and sale of this
book. No doubt with regard to the lecture, the subject-matter of
Count 2 of the Indictment, that is an outcome of the Legitimation
League, it was not a lecture delivered by the defendant at all;
but it was a lecture delivered by some person quite distinct from
him. It was a lecture delivered by one who styles himself “ Oswald
Dawson,” and it was delivered before the Legitimation League,
although unquestionably at the time of its delivery the defendant
was the secretary of that League. Aly lord, in reference to his
connection with that League the defendant gave an earnest
assurance that he would as far as he himself was concerned, from
the date he was speaking, sever all connection with that League,
and that he would sever himself from it once and for ever, that he
would have no further dealing with it, and that he would decline
any capacity which he held under it. AVith regard to the three
indictments dealing with the publication in the so-called magazine
in the January number, there again no doubt the defendant was
the editor of that magazine, and he was so advertised upon the
outward leaves of it. But there again he told the authorities that
he had determined to sever himself not only from this magazine,
and from the publication of this magazine, but he would sever
himself once and for ever from the publication of anything of a
similar nature, or which could be described as similar to this in
future, that he would cut himself adrift from all surroundings by
which he had been connected with the Legitimation League, and
from all surroundings connecting him with this particular maga
zine.
Aly lord, those assurances being given, and it being realised that
the real head and front of this offending was the absconding man
Dr. de A'llliers, and it then being realised the part that the
defendant has played in this story, that no money had gone to
him as the proceeds of the sale of the book, and that so far as hjs
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
31
connection with this League and his connection with this maga
zine is concerned, though there had been that connection, he is
desirous forthwith of severing himself, my lord, we do find evidence
of good faith; and the giving of that assurance by the defendant
to us, given as it were in the course of this month of October, I
return to what is said to be the November number of the issue of
that magazine, and we there find the name of another editor upon
its title page. The defendant therefore has fulfilled that under
standing in so far as that magazine is concerned. I only now
venture to add in your lordship’s hearing—and I trust in doing so
I do not exceed my duty at all, in saying that so far as that maga
zine is concerned, it is one which will receive considerable watch
fulness from those who are in authority, and that they who now
go on with its publication must do so fully conscious that here, in
a public court, one number of this same magazine has been con
fessed to be obscene in its character, and the publication of it is of
such a character as to involve criminal punishment. My lord, I
trust that they who are responsible for the conduct of this so-called
magazine will bear that well in mind, because, as I say, the con
tents of it must of necessity be somewhat keenly watched by those
in authority.
Now, my lord, the defendant having convinced us of his actual
position, and moreover after his undertaking, I am glad to be able
to tell your lordship that he is a young man, as your lordship can
see, and, moreover, he is a young man of very considerable
capacity—
The Recorder : One of the horrible things in connection with
this filthy publication is that one woman bearing his name has
been taking part in it, because I see a portrait in this magazine.
I presume it is his wife.
Mr. Matthews : My lord, I presume so. My lord, I under
stand that is so. What the authorities desire to place before your
lordship is this: Having this plea recorded of this young man,
who has occupied this subordinate position, and having regard to
the fact that he has given undertakings, and fulfilled one of those
undertakings, the authorities are content, having regard to the
surroundings of this particular case, if your lordship will defer
passing sentence upon this young man before you, and that you
will allow him to go out upon his own recognisances to come up
�32
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
for judgment when called upon. We conceive that that course
will have a very salutary effect, because it may be he will be able
to turn the good talents which he evidently has to a useful pur
pose, and he will know and will be thoroughly able to recognise
that if he shall turn them in the direction—or in any such direc
tion as he has promised not to turn them to, he will know that he
is liable upon this conviction which has been recorded upon this
indictment. I therefore ask that your lordship, under all the cir
cumstances of the case, will adopt the course we suggest, and accept
from me the complete statement of what the defendant has said,
and take the lenient course which the authorities desire to com
mend to your lordship for adoption.
Judgment.
Tiie Recorder : George Bedborough : You have pleaded Guilty
to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Counts of this Indictment, and you have
acted wisely in so pleading to these Counts, for it would have been
impossible for you to have contended with any possibility what
ever of being able to persuade anybody that this book, this lecture,
and this magazine were not filthy and obscene works.
Now I have listened with great care to the address of the learned
counsel, Mr. Matthews, who appears for the prosecution in this
case, and I think it is right and proper that he should point out
to the court and to you as the leading spirit in this venture, what
he has done. I am willing to believe that in acting as you did,
you might at the first outset perhaps have been gulled into the
belief that somebody might say that this was a scientific work.
But it is impossible for anybody with a head on his shoulders, to
open the book without seeing that is a pretence and a sham, and
that it is merely entered into for the purpose of selling this filthy
publication. But it has been pointed out to, me, as I say, that
you have taken a very small part in this, and I am unwilling my
self that you should suffer while others go scot free who have
taken a much bigger part in this affair than you have; and I am
willing to believe that the instructions you have given are genuine
and well founded. Again I must say that my greatest regret in
connection with this case is to find a female with your consent—a
woman bearing your name—is put forward as an active partici
pator in these unwholesome and filthy discussions. If vou can
use such influence as you have—and you can do so if you choose,
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
33
I liope you will; and after the assurances you have given I trust
it will not be necessary for anyone near and dear to1 you to be
brought here. I agree with what Mr. Matthews has said, the law
is slow but sure, and this sort of thing could not be tolerated, and
if it goes on it must be put down by the strong arm of the law. I
shall take the course which he has thrown out to the court. I
shall postpone sentence in this case, or rather I shall bind you over
upon recognisances to come up for judgment if called upon. The
result of that will be this—that so long as you do not touch this
filthy work again with your hands, and so long as you lead a
respectable life, you will hear no more of this. But if you choose
to go back to your evil ways, you will be brought up before me,
and it will be my duty to send you to prison for a very long term.
The sentence of the court upon you is that you be bound over in
your own recognisances in the sum of <£100 to' come up for judg
ment if called upon.
The defendant was then bound over in the usual form in the
sum of £100, and released on those recognisances.
The reader can only grasp the importance of this mock trial if he
is thoroughly conversant with the position of the author of the
incriminated book and that of the publishers towards this prosecu
tion.
The Saturday Review sums up the situation quite correctly: —
“ Owing to the form the prosecution took it fell on the publisher to
defend the character of the book objected to, and for this purpose
counsel had been instructed and evidence of the most conclusive
character was in readiness, eminent men of science testifying that Mr.
Havelock Ellis’s was a 'perfectly proper scientific discussion of a serious
subject. But at the last moment, and, we have no doubt, with the
knowledge of this circumstance, the Crown made certain proposals to
Bedborough, the publisher, and this individual, for reasons best known
to himself, adopted the shameful course of pleading guilty on some of
the counts. The unhappy author, who was prepared to defend every
thing he had written, thus found the ground suddenly cut from under
his feet; he had no locus standi and could in no way interfere to pre
vent the monstrous miscarriage of justice which inflicts on him so grave
and undeserved a stigma. But, so far as we can see, he has absolutely
no legal redress.”
Tbe cowardice of the accused and the greed of his solicitor, com
bined with the natural desire of the Commissioner of Police to gain
a cheap victory where a defeat was almost certain, had brought
about this deplorable state of affairs.
c
�34
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EHHOBS.
The first Count of the Indictment to which Mr. Bedborough
thought fit to plead guilty runs as follows: —
“ Central Criminal Court to Wit. The Jurors for our Sovereign Lady
the Queen upon their oath present that George Bedborough, being a person
of a wicked and depraved mind and disposition, and unlawfully and wickedly
devising, contriving, and intending, to vitiate and corrupt the morals of the
liege subjects of our said Lady the Queen, to debauch and poison the minds
of divers of the liege subjects of our said Lady the Queen, and to raise and
create in them disordered and lustful desires, and to bring the said liege
subjects into a state of wickedness, lewdness, and debauchery, on the 27th
day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety
eight, at a certain shop, to wit Number 16 John Street, Bedford Row, in
the County of London, and within the jurisdiction of the said Court, unlaw
fully, wickedly, maliciously, scandalously, and wilfully did publish, sell, and
utter, and cause and procure to be published, 3old, and uttered a certain
lewd, wicked, bawdy, scandalous, and obscene libel, in the form of a book
entitled ‘“Studies in the Psychology of Sex: Vol. I., Sexual Inversion,” by
Havelock Ellis,’ in which said book are contained, amongst other things,
divers wicked, lewd, impure, scandalous, and obscene libels, and matters,
which said book is, pursuant to the provisions in that behalf, of the Law
of Libel Amendment Act, 1888, deposited with this indictment, together with
the particulars showing precisely by reference to pages, columns, and lines, in
what part of the said book the alleged libel is to be found. To the manifest
corruption of the morals and minds of the liege subjects of our said Lady the
Queen, in contempt of our said Lady the Queen, and her laws, in violation of
common decency, morality, and good order, and against the peace of our
said Lady the Queen, her Crown and dignity.”
Official Slander.
A novel feature in this extraordinary case is the public denun
ciation of the author of the incriminated book implied in Mr.
Matthews’ speech and of the Editor of the University Magazine,
Dr. R. de Villiers, who, besides writing a letter on the subject of
the prosecution of the Home Secretary (vide page 14), is in no way
whatever connected with its publication. If the Commissioner of
Police responsible for the prosecution wanted an excuse for
adopting the course they had elected to pursue, it is unintelligible
why the occasion should be used to slander an author of world
wide repute and the Editor of a respectable magazine who had
dared to call their attention to the grave mistake made by this
prosecution, and thereby actually suggested the course which the
prosecution later on adopted to extricate itself from the entangle
ment.
We must believe Mr. Charles Matthews when he states that the
accused approached the police, and that Bedborough’s own ver
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
35
sion that the proposal of a compromise came from the prosecution
is false, but the other statements made in Mr. Matthews’s speech
are so devoid of truth, so palpably false that we must come to the
conclusion that the solicitors who instructed this eminent counsel
have been grossly deceived. The truth or falsehood of some of
the statements could have been so easily ascertained that culpable
negligence or wilful deception is the only explanation of the extra
ordinary brief delivered to Mr. Matthews. As it is not to be sup
posed that Messrs. Wontner and Sons are aware of the misstate
ment of facts, we must come to the conclusion that these misrepre
sentations emanate from Scotland Yard or from the same
“Christian” who wrote the ominous letter to the booksellers (vide
page 18).
Mr. Matthews said that the police authorities had, in conse
quence of Bedborough’s own statement, verified by them, come to
the conclusion that he was not the principal offender, but a very
subordinate sub-agent of Dr. R. de Villiers, the Editor of the
University Magazine, against whom a warrant was issued to take
the place of the repentant accused in the dock.
Now this statement in view of easily ascertainable facts is not
only false but absurd, as I will show further on, but I may first
of all repudiate the counsel’s statement that the firm of which I
am a member was ever called the Watford University Press. Such
a firm does not exist, and one look at Dr. Havelock Ellis’s book
would have given Mr. Matthews the information that it has been
published by the University Press Limited, a concern registered
as a limited liability company. Before the incorporation the busi
ness was carried on by Mr. Wilson, Macmillan, and myself in
partnership, and Dr. de Villiers was never at any time financially
interested in this concern. His only connection with the Univer
sity Press Limited was as the Editor of the University Magazine
and Free Review, printed and published by the University Press.
According to counsel’s statement the accused had informed the
police that he was not responsible for the publication of any one
of the three incriminated books. These were—
1. Dr. Havelock Ellis’s Studies in the Psychology of Sex.
2. The Outcome of Legitimation, by Oswald Dawson.
3. The Adult, January, 1898.
Yet, although he was not responsible for these publications the
�36
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
worthy knight pleaded guilty to these three counts only, and not
guilty to the other eight counts which refer to publications which
bore his name as editor and proprietor on the title page.
That Mr. Bedborough was not the author of the first named
book, that he was not the printer nor the publisher of the same was
known to the police from the beginning, and the offence with
which he was charged was, as Sir John Bridge pointed out, not the
writing or printing or publishing of this book, but the indiscrimi
nate sale of the same. Mr. Matthews ignored this altogether.
The second publication, Oswald Dawson’s Outcome of Legitima
tion, a pamphlet of 16 pages, was neither published nor printed by
the University Press. It was the sole property of Mr. Bedborough.
Dr. de Villiers probably has never seen this sheet. Its author was
Oswald Dawson, the founder of the Legitimation League. The
third count in the Indictment refers to a small book which was
also written by Oswald Dawson, it was printed in Leeds as a New
Tear’s Number of the Adult, a magazine owned and edited by
George Bedborough. The University Press had nothing whatever
to do with this publication, and I had never seen a copy of it until
after the trial.
A glance at these pamphlets would have convinced Mr. Matthews
that Mr. Bedborough’s statement that he had sold the same as a
sub-agent of the University Press was a deliberate falsehood. The
same contain portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Bedborough and of Mr.
Dawson, the principal officials of the Legitimation League, and on
the title page bear the name of this League and of Oswald Dawson.
The Recorder seemed reluctant to swallow counsel’s statement
in regard to> Count No. 3, but he got over the difficulty somehow
by expressing his astonishment that this publication contained the
portraits of Mr. Bedborough’s wife and of the accused. No doubt
he missed the portrait of Dr. de Villiers who was selected to serve
as a scapegoat in the case.
Analysis of Counsel’s Statements.
According to his own statement Mr. Bedborough was the sub
agent of the University Press. To prove the falsehood of this
assertion I publish the facsimile of a bill of his, which relates to
an advertisement in his magazine the Adult.
�37
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND DDDODS.
16. John Street.
Bedford Row.
THE ADULT: The journal of Sex.
r
/
J to
*** T
J
/
k
-
\'sA^/’ZiA4/
-=
�38
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EUDO DS.
This bill needs no comment, it speaks for itself. The accused
further asserted that he had sold only three copies of Dr. Havelock
Ellis’s book. The following letter, which is in my possession, will
destroy this illusion: —
“ The Legitimation League,
“ George Bedborough, Hon. Sec.
“16, John Street, Bedford Row,
“ May 17th, 1898.
“Gentlemen,—Please send another 13/12 Sexual Inversion. I have sold
the last 13/12 and will let you have a cheque in settlement of your account.
These books have nearly all been sold to the trade.
“Yours faithfully,
“ George Bedborough.”
“ The University Press Limited.”
From this letter it will be seen that Bedborough did not act as
the University Press’s agent, but as a customer of the firm, and
the trade-term 13/12 shows that he had acquired the books on the
usual condition.
It is not usual in England for publishers to employ sub-agents
or agents to sell books, and all the London booksellers carry on
business on their own account not as publishers’ agents.
Another communication received by the University Press from
Mr. Bedborough on April 1st, 1898, will prove that lie never acted
as the agent of this concern but as a customer: —
“ The Adult, The Journal of Sex,
“ Edited by George Bedborough.
“ 16, John Street, Bedford Row, London,
“March 31st, 1898.
“Please send invoice by return and quote lowest for 250 and 500 respec
tively additional copies April No.
“ George Bedborough.”
“ The University Press Limited.”
Our books, however, prove that Bedborough never paid for the
books which he bought from the University Press on credit, and
thus even the statement that this concern obtained the profits of
the sale effected by Mr. Bedborough, which was made with great
flourish by Mr. Matthews, is absolutely false.
Counsel in the clearest possible language asserted that the
accused went to the police, and stated there, to exculpate himself,
that Dr. de Villiers was the person who had the control of the
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
39
University Press, and that Ke was the man who made the profit
out of those things.”
That this statement, if ever made by Mr. Bedborough, was on a
level with the foregoing explanations can be proved from his own
letters. That it was contrary to fact could have easily been ascer
tained by the police.
I acquired from Mr. John M. Robertson in 1895 the copyright
of the Free Review, which magazine was in 1897 enlarged to the
University Magazine. I was the sole proprietor of this periodical,
and I have paid with my own cheques or with those of my wife
the purchase money for the same, as also all expenses connected
with the printing and publishing of this monthly magazine. As
I am living the greater part of the year in Paris and New York
Dr. de Villiers acted as the sub-editor of the Free Review, and in
1897 as the chief editor of the University Magazine. As stated
before he had never anything to do with the financial part of this
business.
In 1896 and 1897 I erected printing works in Watford for the
purpose of printing the University Magazine.
The police could easily have ascertained that these works stand
on the freehold ground belonging to my wife, and that every single
item, machinery, type, paper, rates, and taxes, have been paid
with my cheques or in my absence with my wife’s cheques.
The police could also have found out that the payments for the
printing of Dr. Havelock Ellis’s book were not made by Dr. de
Villiers, but by me, until the business was registered at Somerset
House as a limited liability company, when payments were made
and received by the secretary of the company.
In view of these facts which were accessible to the police it is an
enigma why the Commissioners of Police decided to make the
Editor of the University Magazine an exile and to banish him from
our shores. There must be some secret reason if it is not the letter
addressed by this gentleman to the Home Secretary which has
offended the police authorities by exposing a serious blunder which
they have made.
The University Magazine and Free Review has severely dealt
with some abuses and irregularities, and the suppression of this
�40
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EltllOllS.
publication has been cleverly managed, but there was no need to
slander its editor.
If there is any honest desire on the part of the Commissioners
of Police to arrive at the truth I am prepared to place at their
disposal invoices, cheques, and documents proving that Dr. de
Villiers had nothing whatever to do with the financial manage
ment of the University Press from its foundation to this day.
Dr. Havelock Ellis.
The other party slandered in open court by Mr. Charles
Matthews is the author of many important scientific works and
the editor of the Contemporary Science Series (Walter Scott).
He has stated his case in a pamphlet of which I give the fol
lowing extracts.
It is doubtful if the wrong done to him by Mr. Matthews can
ever be made good, he had no locus standi to defend himself in
view of Mr. Bedborough’s plea of guilty, and could appeal only to
the sense of justice which yet is to be found in the majority of the
medical profession and of all right minded men.
Havelock Ellis says : —
Although the police took no direct action against the
author, publishers, and printers of the book, the effect of their
action was calculated to be as fatal to the book as though they
had proceeded directly against its producers.
The incriminated passages, when read out in court, proved
to be simple statements of fact, mostly from the early
life of the cases of inversion recorded in the volume, and my
responsibility for them merely lay in the fact that I judged
them to contain, in bald uncoloured language, the minimum
of definite physical fact required in such a book, if it is to
possess any serious scientific value at all. AVhen, however,
three months later, the indictment was finally issued, it
appeared that the whole book, from the first page to the last,
£ and every line in such pages,’ was charged as ‘ wicked, lewd,
impure, scandalous, and obscene.’
It was solely on this
ground, and not on any alleged impropriety in the method of
sale, that the charge was founded.
“I may here briefly state the general character of the book.
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EKROBS.
41
It is the more necessary to do so since no undue publicity has
been sought, and the book was so little known before these
proceedings were taken, except to specialists, that the majority
of my own friends had never heard of it until they saw it pro
claimed as ‘ obscene ’ in the police news of every London
newspaper.
“Sexual Inversion is the first volume of a series
of Studies in the Psychology of Sex, which I pro
jected over twenty years back, and which I have ever
since had before my mind, as the serious and vitally im
portant subject to which the best energies of my life should be
devoted.
The work will extend to five or six volumes, and
although this first volume discusses a form of perverted
sexuality, the Studies as a whole will deal mainly with the
normal sex impulse. It should be needless to point out the
magnitude and the importance of the problems arising in such
an investigation ; in this first volume, moreover, we are brought
face to face with a practical question which is constantly
demanding attention, both in society and the law courts.
Whatever diffidence one may feel in approaching questions of
this nature, there should be no doubt as to the necessity of
so doing provided we approach them seriously.
“How seriously I approached this great subject may be
judged, not only from the long period of labour and prepara
tion spent on the work, but from the fact that I occupied several
years in the merely preliminary task of attempting to clear
the ground by inquiring into the psychological and anthropo
logical secondary sexual differences of the sexes, the main
results of this special inquiry appearing in 1894 under the
title of Man and Woman. Before its publication in England,
Sexual Inversion had been translated into German by Dr.
Kurella, a physician and criminal anthropologist of distin
guished reputation, and published at Leipzig. In its final
English shape it expresses my most mature convictions on the
subject it treats; the opinion of judicious friends had been
obtained at doubtful points, and every sentence carefully
weighed. Errors of fact or opinion may possibly be found,
but there is not a word which on moral grounds I feel any
reason to regret or withdraw. Any question of retractation or
�42
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EDUOLS.
apology could not, therefore, possibly arise; it would be a kind
of intellectual suicide.
“ It has been supposed by many who have never seen the book
that I have attempted to popularise the study of sexual ques
tions, and to make widely known the results obtained by other
investigators.
That is altogether a mistake. The book is
founded on original data, and contains the first collection of
cases of sexual inversion, unconnected with the prison or the
asylum, which has ever been obtained in England; it is written
in bald and technical language, published at a high price;
and having been announced and sent for review only in special
medical and scientific quarters, its existence was practically
unknown to the general reader until these proceedings were
initiated. There may well be, I know, a question as to the
value of cloistered virtues, as to the worthiness of that inno
cence which is merely ignorance and vanishes at a breath, as
to the rights of every adult person to full knowledge of the
sexual facts of life. But that question is not raised by my
work. I appealed only to doctors, to psychologists, to those
concerned with medico-legal matters, and to the handful of
thinkers who are interested in the social bearings of the
physical and psychic problems of life. By such my work has
been accepted—so far as I know at present without exception
—in the serious spirit in which it was put forward. Every
alienist of distinction whose opinion I have obtained has
assured me of his belief in the importance of the subject, and
of his sense of the scientific tone and temper in which I have
dealt with it. Every medical journal in half a dozen count
ries which has reviewed the book has without exception judged
it favourably, and not one has suggested that I have been
guilty of the slightest impropriety. I may indeed say that
the medical support I have received has often been rather on
moral than on scientific grounds; it has repeatedly been
remarked that an English tone of reticence distinguishes this
book from the other works on the same subject by continental
writers. The numerous letters of gratitude for the work, and
strong support of its objects, which have reached me from
thinkers and social reformers, men and women, I refrain from
more than mentioning; they have sufficed to show me that
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
43
the aim and nature of my task are appreciated by the small
class of people whom, in addition to medical readers, I have
alone sought to address.
“The publisher and myself were duly represented by
counsel, but having no standing in the case he was necessarily
unable to speak. Thus although my book was the real sub
ject of the trial there was no legal opportunity for any voice
to be heard on its behalf.
“Intelligent spectators of life have declared that this prose
cution of a book-seller for selling a purely scientific work will
th ark an epoch so far as our country is concerned. It has acted
as a reductio ad absurdum, they say; it has quickened the
public conscience to a finer sense of what is fitting in these
matters. Henceforth public opinion will be strong enough to
check at the outset any foolish interference of the police with
scientific discussion. Just as a police charge of ‘ blasphemy,’
which twenty years ago was a real and serious charge, would
to-day only arouse a smile, so, it is said, never again could a
scientific book, issued and sold as this was, be dragged into the
mire of the courts as ‘obscene,’ or a reputable citizen who
sold such a book be haled before the magistrate on a charge
of ‘ corrupting the morals ’ of his fellow subjects.
“It may be so. I would gladly believe that any action of
mine had assisted my countrymen to win that intellectual free
dom which is already possessed by every other civilised country
except Russia. But no one can give any guarantee that such
will be the fact, and life is too short to enable me to wait another
twenty years to verify the prophecy.
“ It must be remembered that so far as an author is concerned
the injury done by such a prosecution is done in the act of
bringing' it. The manifold chances that befall a book on any
highly specialised and technical subject, when submitted to a
judge and jury, may or may not lead to the justi
fication of the author. The injury is already done.
The anxiety and uncertainty produced by so infamous
a charge on a man and on those who belong to him,
the risk of loss of friends, the pecuniary damages, the pro
clamation to the world at large, which- has never known and
will never know the grounds on which the accusation is made,
�44
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
that an author is to be classed with the purveyors of literary
garbage this power is put into the hands of any meddlesome
member of that sad class against which the gods themselves
are powerless.
The mere expectation of such a prosecution is fatal. In sub
mitting to these conditions an author puts his publisher and
printer and their agents into an unmerited position of danger;
he risks the distortion of his own work while it is in progress;
and when he has written a book which is approved by the
severest and most competent judges he is tempted to adapt it
to the vulgar tastes of the policeman.
How real the danger is to which an author, in submitting to
these conditions of publication, subjects the distributors of his
book, we have an object lesson in the present case. Here is a
man who in his leisure time, edits and publishes a magazine
with the object of discussing social questions of the gravest
importance.
Yet when such a man sells in an almost
private manner a few copies of a book written by another man,
with whose aims and objects he probably has little in common,
the whole responsible machinery of social order is, at the public
expense, set in action to crush him. Such is the risk to which
an author subjects the mere distributors of his book.
This is a risk to others, and a domination over myself,
which I at all events have no intention of submitting to. In
this country it is a sufficiently hard task for any student to
deal with the problems of sex, even under the most favourable
circumstances. He already, as it were, carries his life in his
hands. He has entered a field which is largely given over to
faddists and fanatics, to ill-regulated minds of every sort. He
must, at the same time, be prepared to find that the would-be
sagacity of imbeciles counts him the victim of any perversion
he may investigate. Even from well-balanced and rational
persons he must at first meet with a certain amount
of distrust and opposition.
To encounter this inevitable and legitimate opposition, and to preserve his
serenity and equip ose, is itself a sufficient strain on
any man.
It would be foolish to place oneself as well
beneath the censure of an ignorant and too zealous police offi
cial, and to accept the chain of uncertain evils, and the certain
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
45
public stigma, which a prosecution necessarily involves.
“ Moreover, it must be noted, the police naturally desire that
their intervention shall be successful, and it is their interest
to prejudice matters by discrediting the object of their attack.
This was ingeniously done in the present case by proceeding
against a book-seller who was in no way connected with the
production of the incriminated book, or in any way concerned
with the scientific questions it discussed, but who was inti
mately connected with a society and a magazine devoted to the
open and popular propaganda of unconventional views on mar
riage, matters with which I, on my side, had no connection.
Thus in every newspaper a stain of prejudice is affixed to an
author or a book, not to be wiped off by any subsequent ex
planation, and for which no compensation can ever be obtained.
“Under these circumstances, therefore, the difficulties of
publishing the remaining volumes of my Studies in the
Psychology of Sex in England are sufficiently obvious,
and the decision I have been forced to reach seems
inevitable. To wrestle in the public arena for freedom
of speech is a noble task which may worthily be
undertaken by any man who can devote to it the best energies
of his life. It is not, however, a task which I have ever con
templated. I am a student, and my path has long been marked
out. I may be forced to pursue it under unfavourable condi
tions, but I do not intend that any consideration shall induce
me to swerve from it, nor do I intend to injure my work or
distort my vision of life by entering upon any struggle. The
pursuit of the martyr’s crown is not favourable to the critical
and dispassionate investigation of complicated problems. A
student of nature, of men, of books, may dispense with wealth
or position; he cannot dispense with quietness and serenity.
I insist on doing my own work in my own way, and cannot
accept conditions which make this work virtually impossible.
Certainly I regret that my own country should be almost alone
in refusing to me the conditions of reasonable intellectual free
dom. I regret it the more since I deal with the facts of English
life, and prefer to address English people. But I must leave
to others the task of obtaining the reasonable freedom that I
am unable to attain.”
�46
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
Dr. Havelock Ellis in consequence of this prosecution has re
ceived numerous letters of sympathy from well known medical
men who unanimously condemn the attack made by the police on
a scientific work.
Amongst these I may name—■
Dr. Conolly Norman, Medical Superintendent of the Richmond
Asylum, Dublin; formerly President of the Medico-Psychological
Association.
Dr. G. H. Savage, F.R.C.P., Lecturer on Mental Diseases at Guy’s
Hospital.
Dr. Urquhart, President of the British Medico-Psychological Associa
tion; Joint-editor of the Journal of Medical Science.
Dr. Mercier, Lecturer on Insanity at the Westminster Hospital and at
the Medical School for Women.
Dr. Rayner, Lecturer on Psychological Medicine at St. Thomas’s
Hospital.
Dr. Goodall, Medical Superintendent of the Joint Counties Asylum,
Carmarthen.
Dr. Morel, Medical Inspector of Prisons in Belgium.
Dr. Clouston, Medical Superintendent of the Royal Asylum at
Morningside, Edinburgh, and Lecturer on Mental Diseases at the
University of Edinburgh.
Dr. C. H. Hughes, Editor of the Alienist and Neurologist, President
of the Faculty of Barnes Medical College.
Dr. Jas. Kiernan, Secretary of the Chicago Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Fere, the illustrious physician of the Hospital Bicetre at
Paris, writes: —
Dear Sir, I have read your book on Sexual Inversion with interest
and profit. In a recent work I have quoted it; I could not have thus
aided in its publicity if I had not found it to be of scientific and not
immoral character. Truth is always moral and good; in seeking truth
science cannot be either immoral or bad.
“ The book is scientific, and consequently good, and it would be a pity
if those whose interest it is to know the book should be unable to pro
cure it. It may, however, happen that a bookseller adopts bad methods
to sell a good book, and I am not acquainted with the facts of the
present prosecution so far as the bookseller is concerned.” [Translated.]
Dr. Kurella, the well known Editor of the Centralblatt fur
Nervenheilkunde, writes: —
“ Honoured Colleague,—I read a few days ago in the Daily Chronicle
that a book with the title of yours had given rise to a public prosecution.
I wondered at the identity of title, but could not imagine that a
purely scientific work like yours should be subjected to such treatment.
For us on the Continent such a proceeding is altogether incompre
hensible. What would become of science and of its practical applications
�-f-
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
47
if the pathology of the sexual life were put on the Index? It is as if
Sir Spencer Wells were to be classed with Jack the Ripper.
“ No doubt the judge (unless suffering from senile dementia) will
accord you brilliant satisfaction.
But in any case the whole of
scientific psychology and medicine on the Continent is on your side.
[Translated].
From all parts of tlie world similar letters were received, the
indignation at the prosecution of a scientific treatise was almost
universal.
Mr. Clark Bell, LL.D., Editor of the Medico-Legal Jotirnal
and Secretary to the Medico-Legal Society of New York, says:
“ Dear Havelock Ellis,—I learn with mortification and regret that
an attempt has been made to bring a charge of ‘ publishing an obscene
libel ’ against a bookseller who sold your Sexual Inversion. The book
is purely scientific and could have had no other possible intention than
the completion of your admirable system of works, of which it forms an
interesting and most necessary part. The group of works which you
have contributed to psychological literature has, as a whole, greatly
added to the lustre of your name, not alone in the Medico-legal Society
but among the savants of the whole world, who will certainly sustain
you by their sympathy, should any attempt be made to impugn your
professional or literary honour by officers of the law who very possibly
cannot be made to look at your conduct and motives properly.”
The opinion of the Scientific and Medical Press is unanimous
in praise of the scientific character of the book.
“ A very good manual for general purposes of information on the
subject, and likely to be of great service for the medical as well as legal
professions.”—Medico-Legal Journal.
“With regard to treatment we are glad to express entire concurrence
with the opinions laid down.”—Journal of Mental Science.
“A clear, logical, chaste analysis of the phenomena of sexual inver
sion, of decided scientific value. It is free from the faults which mar so
many otherwise valuable works on the subject. The present volume is
the first of a series of studies on sex, important alike to the physician,
the biologist, and the sociologist. The volume as a whole merits
perusal by its judicial tone, its clear style, its freedom alike from
prurient prudery and sentimental cant, and its scientific accuracy.”—
Medicine.
“ The work, no doubt, will be liberally received, and in many respects
�48
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
deserves to be, for it is a careful analysis of the subject, replete with
illustrative material, and, written in an attitude of scientific research,
it avoids an assumption of moral superiority, so often productive of
bias.”—New York Medical Journal.
“ Our readers are already quite familiar with the ability of Dr. Ellis
on the subject of sexual inversion through his able contributions to the
Alienist and Neurologist. . . The book will interest and instruct all
clinical psychiators and all physicians of extensive observation and
practice. The medico-legal student, the lawyer, the psychologist and
jurist will likewise find instruction in this work. It presents singular
phases in the morbid sexual life of the genus homo. The book has a
professional and social interest which cannot be ignored, and medico
legal aspects as well as medical phases which demand professional and
philanthropic attention from medical men, medico-legist and moralist
alike.”—Alienist and Neurologist.
“ The facts are new and presented in a somewhat new light. The
medical, medico-legal, and social aspects are all duly considered in a
scientific spirit, free from prudery or morbid sentimentality.”—New
York Medical Decord.
“Many books have been written on this subject during the last few
years, perhaps too many, but the present work is clear and serious. We
do not know how the extreme reserve of the English will adapt itself to
the presentation of so delicate a subject in such clear light. But it was
bound to come sooner or later, for it appears that sexual inversion is
remarkably frequent in England.”—Revue Philosophique. (Tr.)
Havelock Ellis’s excellent articles in the Alienist and Neurologist
have caused his book to be awaited with some impatience. . . . Ellis’s
book will aid the progress of sexual science.”—Archives dy Anthropologic
Criminelle. (Tr.)
“ The author, who has already acquired fame by his Man and Woman
and Criminal . . has produced a work which is in the highest degree
worthy to attract every psychologist and alienist. Its chief service lies
less in the cases, which are comparatively few, than in its psychological
depth, the historical and scientific grasp of a difficult subject, together
with the clear and original presentation of the many problems involved*.
Certainly no books which have yet appeared render this one superfluous;
it may be said, rather, to complement them in the happiest manner, and
may be most earnestly recommended. The author rightly points out in
the Preface the gravity of the question of sexual inversion from the
social standpoint.”—.Zeitschrift fur Psychiatrie. (Tr.)
�APPENDIX.
THE ENGLISH PRESS AND THE PROSECUTION.
The Saturday Review comments on the prosecution as follows : —
“ Saint Propriety.
“ Th© recent prosecution of a publisher at Bow Street brings into
prominence the attitude of legal England to publication of knowledge
on one branch of human physiology and psychology. Every one knows
vaguely that what is called mind and what is called body act and react
on one another, and that disordered appetites are at once an index to
and a result of the mutual play of disordered organic functions and dis
ordered mental functions. With the history of these lamentable and
progressive changes we have become familiar in the cases of inversions
of the drink appetite and of the food appetite, because the law has not
put its barbaric taboo on knowledge of the stomach or of the palate—
even though the knowledge be published at a cheap price. With regard
to a third set of inverted appetites, ignorance is almost universal,
although from every medical, moral, and social point of view they are
precisely parallel in their progressive history—arrested with ease only
at the beginning—and in the mental and physical disintegration with
which they are associated. A considerable body of knowledge relating
to them, however, actually exists.
Ploss, in Holland, one of the
greatest anthropologists who1 have ever lived, gathered together from
hospital and legal reports, from the customs of the oldest and of the
most modern civilisations, from the savages of every colour and climate,
a vast mass of information, much of which he embodied in his classical
treatise, ‘ Das Weib.’ Charcot, one of the subtlest of French observers,
has collected from his modern practice and published much of the
greatest importance on this subject. KrafftxEbing, an Austrian physi
cian of world-wide fame, has written a treatise on ‘ Psychopathia
Sexualis,’ which describes and classifies the disorders of the sexual appe
tites with the single-minded devotion of a systematic botanist, and his
superb volume has been translated into' English and published by a
well-known firm. Mr. Havelock Ellis, an Englishman thoroughly well
known as the editor of a series the special object of which has been to
popularise scientific knowledge drawn from all European sources, and
himself the author of several luminous volumes simplifying the recon
dite investigations of specialists on subjects remote from sex, has also
written a volume on the subject-matter of Ploss and KraffLEbing and
Charcot. His London publisher was in consequence prosecuted by the
London police as the publisher of an ‘ obscene libel; ’ part of the public
was insulted in Court for not, like the magistrate, anticipating the
( 49 )
D
�50
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
decision of a jury; the ‘ prisoner ’ was committed for trial, and released
only on most substantial bail, and after the magistrate risked turning
the defending barrister into a witness for the prosecution.
“ We have not the advantage of an exact knowledge of the particular
book in question; moreover, as this individual case is still sub judice,
we have no wish to pronounce the work fit for decent persons to read,
even although Sir Jonn Bridge has paved the way for us by his dictum
that it was unfit for decent women to hear read. We can assure that
magistrate and his like that if this particular volume is at all similar
to the works of the standard authorities upon sexual inversion it must
abound in descriptions of facts at least as disgusting as the facts of
delirium tremens. But we suspect that the objection to them is not
that they are disgusting, but that they relate to the functions of sex.
To our mind, and to the minds of most people who are not specialists
in anatomy, details concerning the pulpy structure of the mass of fat
and blood and protoplasm we call the brain, details of the humours and
pigments of the eye, details of the coats and glands of the stomach—in
fact, details of the gross matter that is our bodies—are all repellant.
The brain is as disgusting as the muscles, the blood as horrible as the
liver, and the nutritional viscera are no more pleasant than the viscera
of reproduction. When we add to the study of structure the
study of function, and to that the study of disordered function, the
natural horror increases. None the less, who doubts the importance of
a widely diffused general knowledge of human anatomy and physiology?
We do not demand that knowledge should be confined to doctors, that
the treatises containing it should be published only in the argot of
science and at a price suited only to the pockets of the rich. If a man
would spread knowledge of the stomach, he may do so' in any form of
language, abstxjise or popular, which pleases him, and he may charge a
guinea or a penny for his book. One exception is made by law and by
ignorant opinion.
“ Slow, slow, through the ages has been the progress of the battle for
free knowledge against compulsory ignorance. In the old tradition,
eating of the apple gave man a knowledge of good and evil; but the
devil is an unfair bargainer, and it is only from century to century,
fragment by fragment, that there has been wrung from him what was
supposed to be the price of the fall of man. The great governing insti
tutions, the princes of the Church and of the State, the law, the
hierarchy of medicine, have all striven that man, although fallen, shall
remain as ignorant as befor? the fall brought with it its tremendous
compensation of choice. Greater minds in every age have fought, and,
piece by piece, have added to the range of what may be made known
without penalties. In the present century gigantic strides have been
made, thanks to Darwin and Huxley, to Bradlaugh, and with him a set
of petty martyrs, the very ridiculousness of whose protests illumined
the principle behind them. We can now, without fear of prison and
penalties, discuss the existence or the attributes of the Almighty, the
sacraments of a Church or the conduct of its priests; we may discard
revelation, attack the Scriptures, or exalt false gods. We may criticise
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EllUORS.
51
the Queen or advocate a republic; we may push the limits of political
controversy over the edge of abuse; we may publish anything, in any
form, in science, in art, or in letters, quite irrespectively of the relation
of our views or new facts to received views and accepted knowledge.
All the taboos have been removed except the taboo on sex. Sex and
its functions, orderly or disorderly, are removed to an underworld,
where, in the blighting darkness, every foul fungoid growth flourishes,
and where, in dense compulsory ignorance, good and evil are scarcely
distinguishable. The mental side of it, in the silly distortions of epicene
novelists, alone is allowed free publication. If a book dealing with sex
is not a story, or a poem, or a treatise^ the language of which is nnintelligible to those without a special training, and the price of which
is prohibitive, it is as dangerous to publish it as to break into a house.
Meantime the evil results, to individuals and to the State, of ignorant
confusion between vice and disease, between natural instincts and cor
rupt passions, grows apace.”
Mr. W. T. Stead, who is opposed to the University Magazine
and Free Review in all its aspirations, political, social, and reli
gious, writes in the Review of Reviews under the heading: —
“THE POLICE AND THE PRESS.
“ Scotland Yard Censorship.
“ I have repeatedly been selected as the object of animadversion on
the part of the University Magazine because of my dislike of the litera
ture and doctrines under discussion. That renders it all the more neces
sary for me to say that, so far as the facts have been stated to me, the
action >of the police seems calculated to bring into the gravest discredit
the cause in which they are supposed to be acting. Dr. Ellis’s book
was not proposed to be sold for general circulation. Every copy sup
plied to booksellers was labelled ‘ This book is a scientific work, intended
for medical men, lawyers, and teachers It should not be placed in the
hands of the general public.’ I have read the book, and no person who
reads it with an impartial mind could come to the conclusion that it
was published with the intention of corrupting the morals of Her
Majesty’s Subjects. The author displi^s a painstaking desire to ascer
tain the scientific truth concerning certain obscure problems which lie
at the base of grave questions of criminal jurisprudence.
“ It may be alleged that such problems should not be discussed, and
that the whole question should be buried in impenetrable silence. The
answer to this is that if the legislator makes one theory of the
Psychology of Sex the basis for passing a law which sends citizens to
penal servitude, it is impossible to shut out such a theory from public
discussion. Dr. Ellis’s inquiry goes to the very root of the theory upon
which one section of the Criminal Law Amendment Act is based, and
�52
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EllROUS.
if the conclusions at which he arrives are sound the principle of that
legislation is unsound, and will have to be modified, for the same
reason that capital punishment is never enforced upon persons of dis
ordered minds. This may be said quite apart from the general conten
tion of the medical profession, which is that, if the sale of such a book
as Dr. Ellis’s justifies the wholesale seizure of every book on the
premises of any bookseller, the sale of medical works will be very much
restricted, and no one will be able to sell any medical literature without
running the risk of a criminal prosecution and the seizure of all his
goods. The subject is an extremely unpleasant one.
The problem
involved is obscure, but the mischief accruing from the publicity occa
sioned by the prosecution immensely outweighs whatever gain it might
be imagined could accrue from a successful prosecution.. Scotland Yard
has been entrusted by the community with very extended powers for
the suppression of obscene literature, but nothing will do more to
jeopardise this necessary, and as a whole wisely exercised, prerogative
than the sudden extension of the police censorship to the realm of scien
tific discussion.”
From Reynolds's Newsp>aper:—
“LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
“HOME OFFICE PROSECUTION.
“THE NEW CENSORSHIP.
“ By W. M. Thompson
“(Barrister-at-Law.)
“It is not for a moment to be supposed that the prosecution of Mr.
George Bedborough, a bookseller, for selling a copy of Dr. Havelock
Ellis’s book Sexual Inversion was instituted on the authority of the
half-pay officers—unqualified for the task either by education, or in
tellectual distinction—who, in subordination to the Home Office, direct
affairs at Scotland Yard. The Metropolitan Police are a Government
force. They would take no serious step without consulting their chief
Sir M. White-Ridley, and he, again, in .a matter of such moment as the
liberty of publication, must have consulted his colleagues in the Cabinet.
Lord Salisbury, therefore, is responsible for this prosecution, although
with characteristic cowardice he shrinks from including in the indict
ment the writer of the book.
“And the reason is obvious. Of Dr. Havelock Ellis’s distinction in
the scientific world nothing need be said. It is well known he is in
the first rank in his special department. As editor of the Walter Scott
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERROBS.
53
Contemporary Science Series (published at 3s. 6d. a volume), the nation
owes him a deep debt of gratitude for bringing the results of the labours
of our greatest men of thought and science home to the popular mind.
Among that series we find such works as The Evolution of Sex, by
Professor Patrick Geddes and J. Arthur Thomson; Sanity and
Insanity, by Dr. C. Mercier; The Village Community in Britain, by
G. L. Gomme; The Origin of the Aryans, by Dr. Isaac Taylor; and his
own remarkable contribution to scientific criminology, The Criminal.
Other contributors are Professor Geikie, Dr. Albert Moll (Berlin), Pro
fessor Jastrow (Wisconsin), and Mr. Sidney Webb. It is so much easier
to proceed against an obscure bookseller, than against a man of world
wide reputation for learning and literary ability.
“ But whatever may be the fate of Mr. Bedborough, the author of the
book will be equally involved in it. We have here a repetition of the
Government’s policy in the matter of Jameson’s filibustering expedi
tion—the minor criminals were prosecuted, the chief offender, Rhodes,
was allowed to escape.
“I have not seen Dr. Ellis’s book, but I learn from the police court
proceedings that it deals with the medical, mental, and physiological
aspect of those increasingly growing sexual perversionsi to which
the famous Jewish physician, Dr. Max Nordau, so> frequently refers in
his remarkable work on Degeneration. An evil has to be met. Dr.
Ellis scientifically analyses the evil with the view of clearing the way
towards a solution. That is what I understand to be the position. It
will be for the jury to decide whether this is the case or not, and, if
so, whether it has been done in a manner allowed by law.
“That a subject of this importance requires to be discussed in a
decent, sober, scientific way no one can doubt who has read Professor
Krafft-Ebing’s great work, Psycopathia Sexualis, which has been trans
lated into every European language, and may be ordered from a firm
of English medical booksellers through a medical man. The recent case
of Oscar Wilde, the aristocratic scandals in Cleveland Street, the per
versities and practices known to' exist in many boarding schools for
girls, and, it may be said, in all the great public schools for boys, make
this topic, repulsive as it is, a necessary branch of medical inquiry.
The subject is not new; it is as old as the Old Testament—the story of
Lot, to wit. What is new is the attempt to grapple with the evil on
scientific grounds. Mayhew, the well-known writer, has left a record of
his own * experiences: ‘For ourselves, we will frankly confess that at
Westminster School, where we passed some seven years of our boyhood,
such acts were daily perpetrated. And yet, if the scholars had been sent
to the house of Correction, instead of Oxford or Cambridge, to com
plete their education, the country would now have seen many of our
playmates working among the convicts in the dockyards rather than
lending dignity to the Senate or honour to the Bench.’
“The accused man in this case is Mr. George Bedborough, who
edited the Adult, the monthly journal of the Legitimation League.
With one of the objects of that organisation any man of generous and
�54
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
humane mind can have nothing but sympathy and approval—the legiti
mation of children born before the parents have entered into a legal
contract. This is the present law in Scotland. It was the law of
ancient Rome and has been adopted by many modem nations. No
marriage rite, contract, or ceremony is prescribed in the Scriptures.
There, indeed, polygamy seems to have been God-sanctioned, and in
Genesis xx., 12, we find that Abraham’s wife Sarah was his step-sister!
And yet, indeed, she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father,
but not of my mother; and she became my wife.’
The Law.
That eminent criminal Judge, the late Justice Stephen, at page
105 of his Digest of the Criminal Law, submits that a person is justi
fied in publishing obscene books, papers, prints, etc., if their publication
is necessary or advantageous to the pursuit of science, literature, or
art, or other objects of general interest. ‘ A man,’ he says, ‘ might with
perfect decency of expression, and in complete good faith, maintain doc
trines as to marriage, the relation of the sexes, etc., which would be
regarded as highly immoral by most people, and yet (I think) commit
no crime.’
The great jurist Bentham, in his Principles of Morals and Legisla
tion, published by Macmillan, deprecates dealing with these offences,
which he styles self-regarding, on the following, among other
grounds:—
(1) In individual instances it will often be questionable whether
they are productive of any private mischief at all (because the
person, who in general is most likely to be sensible to the mischief,
if there is any—namely, the person whom it most affects, shows by
his conduct that he is not sensible of it); secondary, they produce
none.
“ (2) They affect not any other individuals, unless by possibility
in particular cases, and in a very slight and distant manner the
whole state.
“ (3) They admit not, therefore, of compensation nor of retalia
tion.
(4) No person has naturally any peculiar interest to prosecute
them; except in as far as in virtue of some connection he may have
with the offender.
“ (5) The mischief they produce is apt to be inobvious, and in
general more questionable than that of any of the other classes.
(5) They are however apt, many of them, to be more obnoxious
to the censure of the world than public offences, owing to the
influence of two false principles—the principle of asceticism, and
the principle of antipathy.
(6) Among the inducements to punish them, antipathy against
the offender is apt to have a greater share than sympathy for the
public.”
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
55
From the Sketch, November 2nd, 1898 : —
“IS HE AN OBSCENE WRITER?
“Is Dr. Havelock Ellis an obscene writer? That is the question
which must be decided by a British jury at the Old Bailey during tho
present Sessions. That is to say, the tinker, the tailor, the candlestick
maker most worthy citizens, no doubt—will sit in judgment upon a
scientific work which has been welcomed and commended by scientists
in France, Germany, and America, as well as by the English medical
journals. Dr. Havelock Ellis has made it his life-study to trace the
effects of heredity and habits upon crime and insanity, and his book,
2 he Criminal, if properly studied and understood, would revolutionise
our present system of endeavouring to repress crime instead of curing it.
In addition to his services in seeking to point out the causes which tend
to overcrowd the lunatic asylums and, to a large extent, the prisons,
Dr. Havelock Ellis has attained an important position in English litera
ture, and has at various times collaborated with Mr. Swinburne, Mr.
Gosse, Mr. Arthur Symons, Mr. Ernest Rhys, and others. He is also
the editor of the well-known ‘ Contemporary Science Series,’ and is a
regular contributor to medico-legal journals in the Old and New Worlds.
He has been made an honorary member of the Chicago Academy of
Medicine, and was elected Vice-President of the International MedicoLegal Congress of 1895.
Rather more than a year ago, Dr. Ellis published the first volume of
his Studies in the Psychology of Sex, in which work he had the able
assistance of Mr. John Addington Symonds. This book was the natural
continuation and extension of his previous works, and was openly adver
tised and as openly sold by the leading booksellers at a price which
placed it out of the reach of the ordinary seeker after prurient litera
ture. In May last, however, the Scotland Yard authorities determined
to stop the sale of the book, and, armed with the necessary warrants,
pounced upon an obscure bookseller named George Bedborough, instead
of indicting the principal offenders (?)—the author, the publishers, and
the printers, as is usually done in such cases. When the charge came
before Sir John Bridge at Bow Street Police Court, Dr. Havelock Ellis
was present, and through his solicitor stated that he was quite pre
pared to accept all the responsibilities of authorship of the incriminated
book, but that offer was not accepted. For months, therefore, a charge,
the like of which would be altogether impossible in any other civilised
country, has been hanging over the head of Mr. Bedborough, who has,
however, been supported by an influential Free Press Defence Com
mittee, which numbers among its members the following ladies and
gentlemen: —Mr. Grant Allen, Mr. Robert Buchanan, Mr. Herbert
Burrows, Mrs. Mona Caird, Mr. Edward Carpenter, Mr. Walter Crane,
Dr. Helen Densmore, Mr. A. E. Fletcher, Mr. Frank Harris, Miss
Amy C. Morant, Mr. George Moore, Mr. William Platt, Mr. J. M.
Robertson, Mr. Henry S. Salt, Mr. William Sharp, Mr. George Bernard
Shaw, Mr. W. M. Thompson, and Dr. T. M. Watt. This Committee
has provided legal assistance, and has arranged for Mr. Horace Avory to
�56
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND EURO RS.
undertake the defence. Application was made for a writ of certiorari,
in order that the case might be removed to the Court of Queen’s. Bench,
where it would have been tried before a special jury; but this applica
tion was not successful, and the question, which is one bristling with
difficult technicalities, will be fought out before a Common Jury, which
is perhaps one of the most incompetent tribunals for such issues. The
opinion of Mr. Robert Buchanan with reference to the prosecution is
worth quoting. He says that ‘ to insult a man of science and to punish
the unfortunate publisher for carrying out what is, in point of fact, a
noble bit of work, done in the interests of suffering humanity, is more
worthy of savages than of sane men living in the nineteenth century.’ ”
From the Lancet, November 18th, 1898 :—•
“ The result of this trial places the person or persons to whom in the
Recorder’s opinion greater blame should be attached in a very awkward
position. There is, for example, the author of the book. The trial
closes his mouth and prevents him from making any defence other than
the unsatisfactory method of writing to the newspapers or publishing
an Apologia, and Mr. Havelock Ellis, the writer in question, would seem
to be obviously indicated in the Recorder’s speech. His book is the first
of a series of studies in the psychology of sex and deals with a phase of
the question which we must all admit to’ exist—namely, sexual inver
sion. It is allowed that this subject touches the very lowest depths to
which humanity has fallen. But for all that it is a subject which cannot
be ignored and one which is not made any less powerful for ill by the
pretence that there is no such thing. But while we admit that the sub
ject of sexual inversion has its proper claims for discussion we are very
clear as to the propriety of limiting that discussion to persons of par
ticular attainments.”
•
••
••
•*••
“What constitutes indecent literature? Is a book indecent because
it deals with an indecent subject? Surely there is no reasonable person
who will say ‘Yes.’ A book written solely in a spirit of scientific inquiry
into a subject which, though odious in itself, has yet to be faced cannot
possibly be included under the head of indecent literature. But such a
book may become indecent if offered for sale to the general public with
a wrong motive. Bedborough was, we suppose, held by the Recorder
to be guiltless of wrong motive or he would have been punished. But
why this wrong motive should be imputed to the author we cannot
guess; while if no such imputation was intended the reference to the
more guilty persons who went scot free is meaningless. Mr. Havelock
Ellis seems to us to have been badly treated in the matter and unfor
tunate in his publisher, for Bedborough, it must be remembered, pleaded
guilty to the issue of two other indecent works with which the author
of ‘ Sexual Inversion ’ had no connection whatever. The moral of the
story for scientific writers, who must often publish what would be
obscene if appearing in doubtful channels or confided to dirty hands, is
obvious. It is—be careful of the publisher.”
�JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
57
From the British Medical Journal: —
“ It is a little difficult to comment upon this case, because all the
facts have not been brought out in evidence. Mr. Havelock Ellis, who
is the author of the work mentioned in the police-court proceedings,
is a member of the medical profession, and we have examined his book.
It treats of a subject which is to most persons extremely disagreeable,
but, so far as we have been able to judge, we cannot agree with the
Recorder that the subject has not been dealt with in a scientific manner.
Further, so far as we are aware, it is true that no attempt has been
made to advertise the book in any general way or to expose it for sale
otherwise than in a technical sense. There is certainly nothing about
the book itself, either in its appearance or in the manner in which the
subject is treated to pander to the prurient mind, although the subject of
the book is of course one which would lend itself tO' such treatment.
The subject, as we have said, is extremely disagreeable, but is one of
those unpleasant matters with which members of the medical profes
sion should have some acquaintance. From correspondence submitted
to us in print by Mr. Havelock Ellis, it would appear that the scientific
character of the work in question is recognised by many eminent
alienist physicians in this country. Dr. Conolly Norman sums up the
true view with regard to a work of this kind in the following passage
of a letter which we are informed he has addressed to the author: —
“ ‘ In its relation to insanity, to degeneration, and to the neurotic
state, the subject of sexual inversion has much medical interest;
in its relation to crime it has much medico-legal interest. It is,
therefore, a matter which must be discussed and written about.’ ”
Edward Carpenter, in the Saturday Review, November Sth,
1898: —
“That Mr. Havelock Ellis, by the outcome of the Bedborough case,
should be left with a slur upon his name and book is a gross scandal.
“There is hardly a woman, especially among the well-to-do classes,
who could not tell an indignant tale of grief and wrong arising to her
in her earlier days from the non-discussion of sexual problems. Some
ladies (all honour to them!), who were present in the hearing of the
Bodhorough case at Bow Street, were as good as insulted by the magis
trate because they refused to leave the Court. Yet who more fit to
understand and consider these difficult problems than the mothers or
future mothers of our children? But perhaps the motive for their
presence did not dawn upon the magisterial mind.
“ Our schools, as is well known, are full of phenomena connected with
sexual inversion. The boys are corrupted and lose their purity of mind
at an early age; parents are ignorant of what goes on; masters are
in despair; every one is silent; a grim hush reigns; evils are hinted
at, but no one offers any help. But why, in the name of all that is
sane, such conduct?
“ Surely a book dealing decently, straightforwardly, and scientifically
with this subject is as much wanted as anything in England to-day. Mr.
�58
JUDICIAL SCANDALS AND ERRORS.
Havelock Ellis has written such a book. Every schoolmaster in the
country ought to be made to pass an examination in it. It should be
in the hands of any parent who cares to understand the character, the
needs, the temptations of his child; or, indeed, of any judge who wants
to act justly; for, as Mr. Stead has pointed out, the fact that a por
tion of our criminal law is founded upon certain theories of sexual
psychology makes the discussion of those theories imperative. Instead
of that the book is proscribed and written down ‘ obscene ’ by the offi
cial Bumble. Could the force of folly further go ?
“That such a book may occasionally get into what is called ‘the
wrong hands ’ may be allowed; but by no process of argument can this
be construed into a reason against its publication, since it would equally
apply to any special medical work. It only forms a reason for attack
by that party which, ostrich-like, can see no other way of meeting a
difficulty than by refusing to look at it.”
From the Critic, November 12th, 1898: —
“THAT BLESSED WORD ‘MORALITY.’
“Anything more fiendishly unfair to a man of science than the slur
cast, by the mysterious conclusion of the Bedborough trial, upon the
author of Sexual Inversion it would be impossible to conceive. I am
not concerned to defend Dr. Ellis. He is himself more than capable of
that task; and he was, and is, fully prepared to dispose of any un
savoury suggestion arising from the prosecution of one amongst several
sellers of his book. The terms of surrender accepted by Bedborough do
little credit to his courage, if they do not touch his honour. Were that
not an impossible conception, one might reasonably suspect collusion
between prisoner and police; and the Free Press Defence Committee,
so completely befooled by Bedborough, will do well to clear the inner
mystery of this questionable business—if they can. Its relation to the
Adult, from which publication Bedborough has consented to remove his
name, despite the unjust inferences to which this course may easily
lead, is—in degree at least—different to its bearing on Dr. Ellis’s
volume. One may fairly doubt the wisdom of Mr. Seymour’s publica
tion—with its ‘ free discussion ’ of certain delicate questions—being sold
broadcast to the first buyer, and yet protest against police prejudice
being created against a purely scientific work, of permanent value to
medical men and students,
“ It is to be hoped that, if the Recorder’s remark that ‘ this sort of
thing will not be tolerated in this country’ was meant to affect Dr.
Ellis’s work, the right of publication will be brought to speedy trial.
Who, may we ask, is ‘ the really responsible person who received all
the profits from the sale; ’ and whom the police have promised to prose
cute ? The Defence Committee should see that this warrant is executed
as promptly as may be. The police have gone so far with this matter
that they must now see it through, if publicity can force to a fair and
definite test the question of freedom to publish. It is a subject of
intense interest to every journalist, litterateur, scientist, publisher, and
bookseller, not to mention the average studious reader.”
�The University Press, Limited.
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Judicial scandals and errors. I. Press censorship and compromise
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Singer, George Astor
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Place of publication: London
Collation: iv, 7-58 p. : ill. (fac.) ; 25 cm.
Notes: Front cover printed in red and black. Singer is the pseudonym of George Ferdinand Springmuhl von Weissenfeld. Concerns the trial of George Bedborough, publisher of Havelock Ellis' Studies in the psychology of sex. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
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Freedom of the Press
Havelock Ellis
NSS
Obscenity
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<div class="field two columns alpha"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> </div>
<div class="element-text five columns omega">
<p><span>This work (Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span></p>
</div>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/1
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women
-
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PDF Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: New edition, with notes
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet. Annotations on this copy refer to the text 'Hygiene' by A. Debay and 'social architecture'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<div class="field two columns alpha"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> </div>
<div class="element-text five columns omega">
<p><span>This work (Fruits of Philosophy: or, The Private Companion of Young Married Couples), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span></p>
</div>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/2
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women
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PDF Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: New edition, with notes
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet. Annotations on this copy refer to the texts 'Parturition' by Tyler Smith, 'Intermarriage' by Alexander Walker and 'Animal Physiology' by William Benjamin Carpenter.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<div class="field two columns alpha"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> </div>
<div class="element-text five columns omega">
<p><span>This work (Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span></p>
</div>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/3
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women
-
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PDF Text
Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: New edition, with notes
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet. Annotations on this copy refer to the text 'Animal Physiology' by William Benjamin Carpenter.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<div class="field two columns alpha"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> <br />This work (<span>Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question</span>), identified by <a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</div>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/4
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women
-
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PDF Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: New edition, with notes
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet. Annotations on this copy refer to the texts 'Diseases of women' and 'Theory and practice of midwifery' by Fleetwood Churchill.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<div class="field two columns alpha"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a> </div>
<div class="element-text five columns omega">
<p><span>This work (Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span></p>
</div>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/5
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women
-
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PDF Text
Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
English
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: New edition, with notes
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet. Annotations on this copy refer to the text 'Homeopathie Vade Mecum'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/6
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women
-
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: New edition, with notes
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet. Annotations on this copy refer to the texts 'The Physical Life of Woman' by Dr George H. Napheys, 'The Lady's Manual of Homeopathic Treatment' by E.H. Ruddock and 'Textbook of Physiology' by William Brinton.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/7
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women
-
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PDF Text
Text
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: New edition, with notes
Place of publication: London
Collation: 47 p.
Notes: Published by Freethought Publishing Company, with a preface by Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant. The copy has been annotated with reference to anatomical, psychological and medical evidence given by Bradlaugh and probably used by him in the trial of Bradlaugh (and Annie Besant) for publishing the pamphlet. Annotations on this copy refer to the texts 'Treatment of Children' and 'System of Midwifery' by William Potts Dewees.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Knowlton, Charles, 1800-1850
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Besant, Annie, 1847-1933
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1876]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Freethought Publishing Company
Subject
The topic of the resource
Birth control
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Fruits of Philosophy. An essay on the population question), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
NSS/7/11/8
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Birth Control
Health
NSS
Obscenity
Trials
Women