that time Mr. Ramsey was half proprietor of the _Freethinker_, and
his consent had of course to be obtained before I could undertake
such a dangerous enterprise. I gladly avow that he showed no
hesitation; on the contrary, he heartily fell in with the project.
He frankly left the editorial conduct of our paper in my hands,
despised the accusation of Blasphemy, and defied its law. His
half-proprietorship of the _Freethinker_ has terminated, but we
still work together in our several ways for the cause of Freethought.
Mr. Ramsey went with me into the furnace of persecution, and he bore
his sufferings with manly fortitude.

The _Freethinker_ steadily progressed in circulation, and in January,
1882, I was able to secure the services of my old friend, Joseph Mazzini
Wheeler, as sub-editor. He had for long years contributed gratuitously
to my literary ventures, and those who ever turn over a file of the
_Secularist_ or the _Liberal_ will see with what activity he wielded
his trenchant pen. When he became my paid sub-editor, our relations
remained unchanged. We worked as loyal colleagues for a cause we both
loved, and treated as a mere accident the fact of my being his principal.
The same feeling animates us still, nor do I think it can ever suffer
alteration.

The new year's number, dated January 1, 1882, referred to Mr. Wheeler's
accession, and to that of Dr. Edward Aveling, who then became a
member of the regular staff. It also referred to the policy of the
_Freethinker_, and to another subject of the gravest interest--namely,
the threats of prosecution which had appeared in several Christian
journals. As "pieces of justification," to use a French phrase,
I quote these two passages: