Page:The Story of the House of Cassell (book).djvu/35

 of Freedom advocated freedom in religion. Religion the editor believed to be a matter of private conviction and sentiment—a concern exclusively between man and his Maker. Entire freedom and spontaneity were the very essence of religion; civil and religious organizations were naturally incompatible, and Church and State could not be united without serious injury to both. The religions of the churches, as of individuals, it was argued, must rest in free conviction, and therefore all laws enforcing external religious conformity were indefensible.

The Standard did not wave long. It did nothing but credit to Cassell's courageous and independent mind and nothing but harm to his bank balance. In October, 1851, it was incorporated with the Weekly News and Chronicle, and Cassell turned aside to other enterprises. One of these was the Working Man's Friend, a paper he had started in 1850; the other was the production of cheap educational books. Cassell knew the life of the working man thoroughly—none better. He knew the material temptations that beset him, the intellectual desert in which he lived, and the perils of the loafing in ale-houses and at street corners which was his chief recreation. He knew, too, of the pathetic efforts that had been made to give him new interests, such as the work of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge—formidable and forbidding name!—and that of the Penny Magazine. He was not going to make the mistakes these institutions had made. His Working Man's Friend did not patronize, did not give itself airs; nor did it play down to the lowest intelligence. It was full of sympathy and understanding of the workman's life. The first number was well received.

Cassell then began to get a great quantity of "letters to the Editor," written by working men, and within a few weeks he announced that he would publish a supplementary number to accommodate these communications. He said he was convinced that a fair proportion of his