CHAPTER XV.
LOSS AND GAIN.
Our victory in the Court of Queen's Bench was an unmitigated loss
to Sir Henry Tyler and his backers, for it threw upon them the whole
costs of the prosecution. It was also a loss to ourselves; for I
have it on the best authority that, if we had been found guilty,
Lord Coleridge would have made his sentence concurrent with
Judge North's, and shifted us from the criminal to the civil
side of the prison, where we should have enjoyed each other's
society, worn our own clothes, eaten our own food, seen our friends
frequently, received and answered letters, and spent our time in
rational occupations. To the Freethought cause, however, our victory
was a pure gain. As I had anticipated, the press gave our new trial
a good deal of attention. The _Daily News_ printed a leading article
on the case, calling on the Home Secretary to remit the rest of our
sentence. The _Times_ published a long and admirable report of my
defence, as well as of Lord Coleridge's summing-up, and predicted
that the trial would be historical, "chiefly because of the remarkable
defence made by one of the defendants." A similar prediction appeared
in the Manchester _Weekly Times_, according to which "the defendant
Foote argued his case with consummate skill." Across the Atlantic,
the _New York World_ said that "Mr. Foote, in particular, delivered a
speech which, for closeness of argument and vividness of presentation,
has not often been equalled.
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