Great Britain; High Court of J Division
Published: 2015-07-10
Total Pages: 340
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Excerpt from In the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, June 18th, 1877: The Queen V. Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant It is as a contribution to the discussion of the Population Question that we issue this report of the prosecution against ourselves for publishing Dr. Charles Knowlton's pamphlet, entitled "Fruits of Philosophy." Dr. Knowlton's pamphlet, although an ably and carefully written essay by a thoughtful and scientific man, is not, of itself, of vital importance; its importance lies in the fact that it is condemned - says Lord Chief Justice Cockburn - because it advocates prudential restraint to population, while also advocating early marriage. It is the advocacy of prudential checks after marriage that is now said to be a punishable offence. Many a better book than that of Dr. Knowlton might be written on the same subject to-day, for we have had 40 years of scientific improvement since "Fruits of Philosophy" was penned; until, however, the judgment against Knowlton is reversed, no better book can be published, for doctors will not write, and publishers will not sell, a work which may bring them within the walls of a gaol. It was for the sake of free discussion that we published the assailed pamphlet when its former seller yielded to the pressure put upon him by the police; it was not so much in defence of this pamphlet, as to make the way possible for others dealing with the same topic, that we risked the penalty which has fallen upon us. The accounts of the trial which have appeared in the daily and weekly papers have brought to the knowledge of thousands a great social question of whose existence they had no idea before this prosecution took place. Once more a cause has triumphed by the fall of its defenders. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
