original form was on the part of the printer, and that, in consequence, Mr. Shelley would not pay him for the job, though a cancelled and altered edition appeared.

The book has none of the merits which are found in Queen Mab, and my philosophy could never see the propriety of such a doctrine as that of the author in his LAON AND CYTHNA. But still I am an advocate for free discussion on every subject, and I lament that genius has had to be shackled alike by the tyranny of government and social prejudices, and the timidity of printers and publishers. An evil, for which I have found the remedy.

It is not only the spirit of love between brother and sister that has been cancelled in this book; but all the best political and theological sentences have been cancelled. I think I could consent to a little bit of damnation for all the printers and others who have thus injured mankind by their timidity; and if ever man deserved a nation's tribute for the prize of a free press, I am that man. If ever man did honour to the printer's press, I am that man. If the printers and publishers had any gratitude in them, they would acknowledge my service by every support and assistance they could render me. RICHARD CARLILE.

STRICTURES ON THE TRIAL OF JONATHAN MARTIN, THE INCENDIARY OF THE YORK MINSTER. JONATHAN MARTIN, has been tried at York, and acquitted on the ground of insanity; by which he will be a prisoner for life in a lunatic asylum. Morally speaking, I do not feel disposed to impugn this verdict, though I maintain that it was contrary to law, and that Jonathan Martin, though insane, was no more insane, than Judge Bailey, Admiral Gambier, Lord Bexley, or any other religious man. In all the affairs of life, except the affair of religion, Jonathan Martin appears in evidence to have been a moral, inoffensive, benevolent, honest man. He would not now be feared by any person in relation to the social or moral duties of life. His insanity is confined to religion, and, in that sense, he has only a degree of that, of which every other religious man has a degree. The man, who prays to any thing, or supposed superhuman thing, is in that act of prayer insane. He prays to he knows not what; but I know, that he prays to no power that is in existence. His act of prayer is then not sane, is indicative of not knowing wrong from right, and is, in truth, insane. In relation to my state of sanity, that man, who so prays, is insane. I do not pray. I regulate all my actions by the circumstances and the positive existences, the existences which all alike admit, by which I am surrounded, and therefore I have a reason for presuming that I am not insane.

I have felt a desire that Mr. Justice Bailey should have been the judge to try the merits of Jonathan Martin's case. I have been waiting to have a letter addressed to that judge on that

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subject. But I am so far foiled, in finding the case tried by Mr. Baron Hullock. With Judge Bailey, I could have more fully illustrated the case. I could have shown, that Jonathan Martin's setting fire to the York Minster was a similar degree of religious persecution toward the clergy of that Minster, and of the established church generally, as Mr. Justice Bailey's severe sentences and severe and lying reproaches on myself and other infidels, were religious persecutions towards us as infidels. Martin destroyed their property. Jonathan destroy my property. The act of burning York Minster was not Mr. Justice Bailey assisted to in itself more vile than the act of plundering my house, and breaking up my most profitable business; and I have the further advantage of being able to demonstrate, that the business carried on in my house was more socially useful, more individually moral and worthy, than the business carried on in York Minster.

I cannot do justice to the case to day, I will return to it-and engage to maintain, that every religious act is an act of insanity, and every religious man insane.

I do not know what better could be done for Jonathan Martin, than to lock him up for life, unless there were any hope of curing him of his insanity. Religion is a 'disease. It is a disease physiognomically and phrenologically indicated, and it is exclusively human. I never enter a religious congregation, but I mark the trace of this disease on the heads and faces of the members; and I am of opinion, that, in some cases, the disease is incurable. I should like an opportunity of being allowed to try my power of curing this disease, on some of the inmates of lunatic asylums, where the disease is known to arise from religion. I should like the trial on Jonathan Martin; and I think Mr. Peel will do a service to mankind, to afford me facilities for this purpose.

I repeat it most seriously, most sympathetically, and with the most benevolent feeling, that I think, and I will go so far as to say, that I know religion to be a disease, that it is in some cases curable, and that every religious man is comparatively, in some degree, insane. I grant that Jonathan Martin is insane; but so is Judge Bailey; and the one no more deserves to be locked up and kept from doing mischief than the other.

RICHARD CARLILE.

CRITIQUE ON Mr. SADLER'S SPEECH.

(Concluded from Page 334.)

By arrangements and promises of insertions, I last week, cut myself short of room for this critique, though I managed to touch all the essential points. I have since heard more of Mr. Sadler, which has enhanced my satisfaction at having done him that justice, and dealt with him in that spirit of fairness and candour which, I see, Mr. Cobbett has withheld, and even outraged. I 2E 2

supporting this fund, and worked up his arguments to the conclusion, that, as neither God nor man could do without money, Infidelity had no higher pretensions We feel the force of his arguments, and have anticipated them through all our experience, that all that infidelity wants for its general triumph, is the dress that can put on an equality with the best appearance of other principles, the enough of money that is called respectability. He has opened the proposition, and we shall earnestly support it, assured that every hundred pounds subscribed will evince so mnch practical good done, as to encourage the accumulation of similar support. A call was made on Sunday evening last for a particular meeting on the subject, and we announce in answer to that call, that a meeting will be held in this house, 62, Fleet-street, on Wednesday evening the 8th of April, at seven o'clock, for the consideration and furtherance of the projected rent, when the Rev. Robert Taylor will address the company present on its great importance, and receive from any friends who may be pleased to attend, any suggestions as to its management and welfare, as well as their subscriptions.

GOOD FRIDAY.

ON the evening of this day, at seven o'clock, the Rev. Robert Taylor will deliver an oration to the subscribers to the Infidel Rent, on which evening the condition of admission will be a subscription to the rent.

As the school-room now crowds to excess, we shall make all possible arrangements to improve the seats, and we are put under the necessity of thinning the attendance, by putting a stop to all free-admissions. The entertainment of the room will be studi ously improved, to correspond with the support it receives, and we trust that the success of this will encourage the attempt to open others of the kind. In this, we shall hold a meeting every Wednesday evening, so long as the Rev. Robert Taylor and Mr. Carlile remain in town, in which the term of admission will be a subscription to the rent or one shilling.

THE SAINTS IN A PUCKER!

On Tuesday morning last, the Rev. Robert Taylor and Mr. Carlile attended a meeting of the St. Pancras Bible Society, as has been mentioned in a notice of the School of Free Discussion. They had no idea that they had created an alarm, or that they were objects of terror to the saints. The business was appointed to be commenced at twelve; and they were surprised to find nothing doing until one or near one. Mr. Meux, late of the firm of Meux, Reid and Co., the brewers in Liquor Pond Street, came up to Mr. Carlile, shook hands, and congratulated him on his

presence at a Bible Society meeting. Another gentleman joined Mr. Meux, and a pleasant conversation arose about the bible and religion.

Mr. Taylor and Mr. Carlile exhausted their patience and left the melancholy scene before the business terminated. No anxiety or interruption of proceeding was visible to them, and they were not a little astonished the next morning to find a report in the papers of what had been passing at Bow Street on the part of the committee of the Bible Society. The following is the report in the Times, religiously glossed with a few lies.

"Yesterday, Mr. Halls, the sitting magistrate, was applied to by a person, who stated that he had been sent by the secretary of the Auxiliary Bible Society, the annual meeting of which was then holding at the Freemason's Tavern, Great Queen-street, to request the attendance of some Bow-street officers, in consequence of the intrusion of two persons into the room, who were likely to disturb the harmony of the meeting.

Mr. Hall replied, that if the meeting was composed of persons belonging to the society, the individuals who had intruded unirvited, might be compelled to withdraw; for which purpose an application for assistance ought to be made to the parish officers, and not to those of the police, who had other business to attend to.

The messenger asked if the parties were apprehended, ought they to be conveyed to this office?

Mr. Halls said, I shall offer no advice upon that subject. If the parish officers take the persons into custody it will be on their own responsibility.

The messenger then withdrew, and in about a quarter of an hour returned in great haste, with a sealed letter, which he handed to the Magistrate. The letter stated, that the persons who had intruded themselves upon the meeting were "Robert Taylor and Richard Carlile, the Deists," and as their presence there, could only be for the purpose of creating a disturbance, a request was added, that two Bow-street police officers might forthwith be ordered to attend. The letter was signed by a Mr. Grove, as Secretary to the Society.

Mr. Halls declined sending officers to the room, for the purpose required, and repeated, that in such cases the proper persons to apply to for assistance were the officers of the parish.

It appeared that these persons were as stated, at the meeting. The latter, however, remained perfectly quiet. Mr. Taylor contented himself with taking notes. He kept his hat on as long as he stayed, surrounded by some of his unwashed followers, who vulgarly followed his example, not only in remaining uncovered, but in sneering and jesting at what was passing. The meeting was chiefly composed of ladies, and several gentlemen from different parts of the world, spoke in succession, in suppor

of the society. The Right Hon. Charles Grant, M.P. presided. At about half-past two o'clock, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Carlile left the meeting, upon which a great number of persons retired also. One of the officers of Bow-street was in attendance, in the event of a disturbance."

On reading this report, Mr. Taylor went to Bow Street, to complain of that office having been made the medium of this insult upon him, and to thank Mr. Halls for his sound discretion, in not sending officers where they were not likely to be wanted. Mr. Halls was not sitting, and Mr. Minshull recommended that he should call the next day, when that magistrate would be sitting. Mr. Taylor accompanied by Mr. Carlile called at the office on the Thursday, and found Sir Richard Birnie with Mr. Halls. Sir Richard, with his expected incivility, was for refusing to hear a word upon the subject, and referred the case to the newspaper editor. Mr. Halls did attend to the application, and listened to what the applicant had to say: of which the substance on both days was this: that the charge of indecorum was not true, inasmuch as the coldness of the room required the wearing of the hat, and many of the society about him were wearing their hats from the same reason. He had no followers, such as were described in the paper; nor did he offer any observations beyond the gentlemen on his right and left. That he did not leave the room with these followers; for he selected the moment of a number of ladies leaving, to leave the room without new disturbance. He could not suppose his presence at these meetings improper, as he had the purpose of writing the history of Christianity down to its present state, and wanted to make observations for that purpose. Being under recognizances to the amount of one thousand pounds, he wished the magistrate to say, whether those recognizances could be possibly endangered by his intention to visit all the religious meetings within his convenience. Mr. Halls said, they may or may not be in danger, according to circumstances. Mr. Taylor avowed his determination to visit as many as possible of them, and wished, through that means, to give publicity to his intention. He had prepared a book "The Diegesis," which he should throw down in challenge to every Christian society, and hoped, as he was not disposed to break the peace, he might not be insulted nor be made the means of its being broken, through the inveterate malice of his religious enemies.

The report of the proceeding in "Morning Chronicle," was strictly correct; that in the "Times" was most religiously false, in all that was said about followers. The trick about unwashed companions is the old trick of representing those who advocate measures that the newspapers cannot afford to advocate. For instance, the "Times" has now running after it, all the unwashed followers of reform, of the late queen, and of Catholic emancipation.