Neither had much writing experience and based its contents upon the Northern Star and other Chartist publications and "had formed the opinion that the effectiveness of an article was dependent upon the amount of treason it contained".
Much to their surprise it was quite successful, although reviews were mixed; It was received by the locals of Uxbridge with some scepticism; an ironmonger wrote upon a shovel "This is a spade" and stuck it outside his door; a witty baker travestied the title into "Spirit of Mischief, or Working Man's Window Breaker" and the parson warned his flock not to be led astray by the "inculcators of treason".
However, Chartists in London and the north were impressed that such a publication could be produced in a relatively contented suburb such as Uxbridge and it became popular.
It was still remembered by the press, over forty years later, when John Bedford Leno received a grant from Parliament in 1893.
[3] It was published for a year before John Bedford Leno and Gerald Massey left Uxbridge for London and went their separate ways.