Needham with his Mereurius Brit tanieus and Mercurius Pragmatticus fought for Parliament and against 4 and though Parliament sought apprehend him, he escaped their a tentions, together with his printing press which moved from place at a rate which completely defeated the officers of justice. Mab-ott, the censor appointed to exercise control. of printing, was so exasporated at his failure to catch the free lance who was a veritable thorn in the side of the Parliament arians, atter a year and a half's diligent hunting that he threw up his Position. Milton tried the job with fa lighter hand, but when he retired 1682 Parliament again endeavoured tighten control with varying degrees of success.
With the end of the Common wealth and the return of Charles 11 to the throne the censorship was continued under one L'Estrange, the Ingenious device of securing efficient work from him taking the form granting him a monopoly over all printing. L'Estrange was keen to See that no money should be lost to him by the publication of unigensed work, and by means secret service, and the offering of rewards sought to discover all the {legitimate presses that were operat ing in the country and particul in London, Thus in 1633, on an October evening, a raid led to the blackest page in British journalism. Acting on in-received, LEstrange and tants proceeded to the man named) Twyn, in Tt ws Performs. a rotation in the same. time {hat ft completes a Tevalution round the sun (68 days). So that as the axis Mercury is apparently nearly perpendi= cular to ite" orbit, the planet mus ways turn' the same face to" the sun But owing to a considerable motion of bration, resembling that which occurs the case of the Moon, as much Sof the planet's surface is_at_times Exposed to the sun's rays, the remaining, night, hour they obtained entrance to Twyn's house in time to seize some type which had not been broken up and some sheets which had not been destroyed.
It was, as Twyn afterwards admitted in' Court, mettlesome stuff, though possibly to-day we should regard it as somewhat trite. And three' small children' tell you what you shall do, replied the judge. "You shall ask mercy of them that can give it that {is of God and the King."
humbly beseech you to intercede with his majesty for mercy," plead~ ed the poor wretch who saw. the noose dangling before the Chief Justice pronounced his fell words.
"Tie him up, executioner," shouted the judge, "I speak it from (Continued on page 36.)
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.