splendid as was his eloquence at that time, mr. bradlaugh did not draw the large audiences that flocked around him a few years later. the hall of science was at first but half its present size, the platform standing on the right as you entered, with a small gallery on the opposite side. its holding capacity could not have been more than half what it is at present, yet i have seen the place far from full. but the audiences grew larger and larger, and eventually the hall was increased to its present proportions, although for a long time there was not cash enough to put on a proper roof, and the building was defaced by a huge unsightly beam, on each side of which there was an arch of corrugated iron.
those were glorious times. difficulties were great, but there was a spirit at the hall that laughed at them. how the foremost men about the place did work! mr. r. o. smith and mr. trevilion, senior, could a tale unfold. whenever freethinkers are at all dejected they should have a chat with one of those gentleman. perhaps it would make them ashamed of their dejection, and fill them with the spirit of the heroic days.
friends have told me with what energy mr. bradlaugh fought the battles of the old reform league. i know with what energy he threw himself into the republican agitation that followed the downfall of napoleon iii. he tried to get to paris but failed. jules favre and his friends did not want him. favre himself was an eloquent historion, and no doubt he felt afraid of a man like mr. bradlaugh. but if mr. bradlaugh could not get to paris he fought hard for france in london. meetings at the hall of science did not suffice. there was money from french sources and st. james's hall was taken for a big demonstration.
the positivists shared in the proceedings. their chief man was mr. frederic harrison. mr. bradlaugh and he were a tremendous contrast. in fact a london paper (i think the echo) remarked that mr. bradlaugh spoke as well as mr. harrison wrote, and mr. harrison spoke as badly as mr. bradlaugh wrote. there was some truth in this, though like most epigrams it was not all true. mr. bradlaugh was a born orator, but not a born writer. yet he often wrote with a forthright power, naked and unadorned, which could dispense with the aid of literary artifices. during this english agitation on behalf of france, held firmly under german feet, mr. bradlaugh came into contact with a french countess, who, i believe, either supplied or was the channel of supplying the necessary funds. as the lady is mentioned in mr headingley's life of charles bradlaugh, which was published with mr. bradlaugh's sanction, there is no reason why i should not refer to her. she came several times to the hall of science, and i was introduced to her. she had been a beauty, and although time was beginning to tell on her, she retained a good deal of charm and distinction, which, like a true frenchwoman, she heightened by the art of dressing. then as now, of course, foul tongues wagged in foolish heads, and mr. bradlaugh's enemies were not slow to point to the french countess with prurient grimaces. unable to understand friendship between man and woman, owing to their puritan training or incurable rankness, they invited the orthodox in religion and politics to note this suspicious connection. something of this malicious folly must have reached mr. brad-laugh's ears, but i imagine he was too proud and self-contained to let it disturb him.
after the birmingham meeting, and the founding of the republican league, of which mr. bradlaugh became president, and i secretary, he visited spain on private business, taking with him a message from the conference to senor castelar, the leading spirit of the short-lived spanish republic. i remember writing out the message in a clear, bold hand, and addressing the foolscap envelope in the same way. when mr. bradlaugh fell among the carlists he cursed my caligraphy. happily, however, the officer who scrutinised that envelope could not read at all, and mr. bradlaugh escaped the consequences of being known to carry about letters addressed to the devilish castelar.
during mr. bradlaugh's first visit to america i was a frequent contributor to his journal, and i corresponded with him privately. i went down to northampton and delivered a lecture at his request, under the auspices of his electoral committee. the old theatre—a dirty, ramshackle place as i recollect it—was crowded, and i had my first taste of the popularity of mr. bradlaugh in the borough. every mention of his name excited the wildest enthusiasm.
while mr. bradlaugh was lecturing in the states a general election took place in england. it was impossible for him to return in time, but his friends looked after his interests. a committee was formed at the hall of science to raise the necessary funds, and mr. charles watts and i went down to northampton to conduct the election. we addressed outdoor meetings in the day, and crowded indoor meetings at night.
again i saw what a hold mr. bradlaugh had on his northampton followers. they sang "bradlaugh for northampton" in the circus with all the fervor of scotch covenanters on their hillsides "rolling the psalm to wintry skies."
mr. watts and i did not win the seat for mr. bradlaugh, nor did he win it himself at the next election, but we managed to increase his vote, and he expressed his pleasure at the result.
soon after the election mr. bradlaugh returned to england. mr. watts and i went down with him to northampton. there was a crowded public meeting, i believe in the circus; and i saw mr. bradlaugh, for the first time, in the presence of his future constituents. they were simply intoxicated with excitement. the shouts of "bradlaugh" and "charley" were deafening. hats and handkerchiefs were waved in the air. the multitude rose to its feet and gave its hero a splendid welcome. then we settled down to speech-making, but all that followed was somewhat tame and flat after that first glorious outburst of popular devotion.
the next election came quickly. it resulted in the return of a tory majority for benjamin disraeli, and mr. gladstone went off to sulk in his tent. two tories were returned for radical northampton. mr. bradlaugh let them in. he was determined to have one of the northampton seats. to get it he had to make himself inevitable. he had to prove that if northampton wanted two liberal members, one of them must be charles bradlaugh. it took him thirteen years to demonstrate this, but he succeeded, as he succeeded in most things. at last, in 1880, he ran as official liberal candidate with mr. labouchere, and both were returned. i assisted mr. bradlaugh during his second (1874) election. it was then that i first saw mrs. besant. she had not yet taken to the platform, but she was writing for the national reformer, and her pen was active during the contest. mr. watts was also there. another figure i remember was mr. george odger, who labored among the trade unionists of northampton in mr. bradlaugh's interest. george odger was one of the ablest of all the working-class leaders i have ever met. he came from my own county, devonshire, being born at horrabridge, on the road between plymouth and tavistock. he was honest to the heart's core, as well as very able, but he was incurably indolent. you never could be sure of him at a public meeting. he had to be looked up beforehand, or he might forget the engagement and spend his time more agreeably. he was passionately fond of the theatre, and could talk by the hour on famous performances of old actors and actresses. during the daytime at northampton i had long chats with him. he objected to fine hotels, and he objected to walking; so i had to sit with him in the garden of a semi-rural public-house, where our conversation was altogether out of proportion to our liquor. odger liked beer; not much of it, but just enough; it suited his palate and his purse; and as i drank next to nothing, the landlord must have thought us unprofitable customers.
mr. bradlaugh had rooms at the george hotel. it was the tory house, but he preferred it, and mrs. besant, mr. watts, and the rest of us, fed and slept there during the election. this gave rise to a good deal of silly talk among mr. bradlaugh's enemies.. one evening we were returning from a town hall meeting, and the tories had been holding a small meeting at the "george." as we reached the foot of the stairs, we encountered a knot of tories. one of them was mr. merewether, the tory candidate. he was nearly of the same height as mr. bradlaugh, and well built. his friends were holding him back, but he broke from them, exclaiming, "hang it! i will have a look at him." he stood at the very foot of the staircase and looked hard at mr. bradlaugh ascending. his expression was one of good-tempered insolence. after a long look at mr. bradlaugh, he returned to his friends, shouting, "well, i'm damned if he's as bad-looking as i thought."
i left northampton before the close of the poll, mr. bradlaugh was leaving the same night for america, having barely time to catch the boat at liverpool. i drove round with him before leaving, on a visit to some of the polling stations. he had paid me a modest sum for my services, but he found he had hardly enough to take him across the atlantic, and he asked me to lend him what money i had. i fished seven or nine pounds out of my pocket—i forget which—and handed it to him. it was paid back to me by his order a few weeks subsequently; and the incident would not be worth mentioning if it did not throw a light on the libellous nonsense of mr. bradlaugh's enemies that he was rolling in wealth.
while at northampton with mr. bradlaugh, and on other occasions, i saw something of his personal tastes and habits. he struck me as an abstemious man. he was far from a great eater, and i never noticed him drink anything at dinner but claret, which is not an intoxicating beverage. on the whole, i should say, it is less injurious to the stomach and brain than tea or coffee. he was rather fond of a cup of tea seventeen years ago, and latterly his fondness for it developed into something like a passion. more than once i found him at st. john's wood drinking a big cup of pretty strong tea, and was seduced by his genial invitation into joining him in that reckless indulgence.
he used to smoke too in the old days, but he afterwards gave up the practice for several years. about seven years ago, however, he resumed it. i do not think he ever attained to the dignity of a pipe. he smoked cigars. some time in april, 1889, i spent an hour with him at the house of commons. he got the speaker's leave to take me into the lower smoke-room, and we "discussed" a cigar and some claret while discussing some freethought business. the claret he seemed indifferent to, but he puffed the cigar with an air of enjoyment.
during the northampton election times i used to take a good stiff daily walk. all through my youth i had plenty of exercise in the open air, and i still grow desperately fusty without a brisk tramp at least once in the twenty-four hours. mr. bradlaugh generally took a drive, and i remember telling him with youthful audacity that he ought to walk for his health's sake. of course it was difficult for him to walk in the streets. his stature and bulk made him too noticeable, and mobbing was very unpleasant. but he might have driven out of town and trudged a mile or two on the country roads. my opinion is that his neglect of physical exercise helped to shorten his life. occasional bouts of fishing were very well in their way, but daily exercise is the necessary thing. i do not forget the tremendous labor, physical as well as mental, of lecturing on burning questions to large audiences. all that, however, goes on in hot, crowded rooms, full of vitiated air; and it gives no proper exercise to the legs and loins or the lower vital organs. after one of my remonstrances mr. bradlaugh invited me to play a game of billiards. it was the only time i ever played with him. his style with the cue was spacious and splendid; the balls went flying about the board, and i chaffed him on his flukes. he had not the temperament of a billiard-player. still, i have heard that he played a fair game at st. stephen's; but i can hardly believe it without first-hand testimony. i am willing to believe, however, that he was a good chess-player. certainly he had a head for it but chess is a vile game for a brain-worker, whose recreations should never involve a mental strain.
when i first knew mr. bradlaugh he was living at tottenham. i never visited him there, but i often called on him at his later lodgings in turner-street, commercial-road. he occupied the ground floor, consisting of two rooms. the back was his bedroom, and the front his library and workshop. it was what the americans call a one-horse affair. shelves all round the room were filled with books. mr. bradlaugh sat at a desk with his back to the fireplace. on his right was the door communicating with his bedroom facing him the door opening on the passage, and on his right (? left) the street window. the room itself could hardly have been more than twelve or thirteen feet square. i once told him he was too near the fireplace, and he said it was sometimes good to have the poker handy. at that i stared, and he told me the following story.
one day a gentleman called on him and was invited to take a chair. he sat down facing mr. bradlaugh, and explained that he wanted advice on a very particular matter. god almighty had told him to kill someone, and he had a difficulty in selecting a victim. mr. bradlaugh put his hand behind him and quietly grasped the poker. the inspired gentleman put the problem as a knotty one, and begged the assistance of the clever iconoclast. "well," said mr. bradlaugh, keeping quite cool, "what do you say to the archbishop of canterbury?" "the very man!" exclaimed the inspired gentleman. he got mr. bradlaugh to give him the archbishop's address, and said, "good-day," with a profusion of thanks. mr. bradlaugh went to the door to look for a policeman, but none was visible, and the inspired gentleman was soon out of sight.
"so you see," said mr. bradlaugh, "it's good to have the poker handy. i never saw or heard of the man again, and i knew he couldn't get near the archbishop. there are too many flunkeys in the way."
those were my struggling days, and mr. bradlaugh was very kind to me. i remember the sunday evening when i told him i thought of taking to the freethought platform. he pointed out the hard and thorny path i should have to tread, but when he saw i was resolved on the attempt, he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "there is no young man in the movement i would sooner welcome."
in the very same room, on another sunday evening a little later, i first saw james thomson. he came down to the hall of science with mr. bradlaugh, in whose employment he then was, and i gave him the article i had brought for the national reformer. he shook hands very cordially, and i was delighted to meet one for whose poetry i had a profound admiration.
it was also at the hall of science, about the same time, that i met the eccentric mr. turberville, brother to mr. blackmore, the novelist. he was a man of parts with a bee in his bonnet. he claimed kinship with turberville, a minor poet of the sixteenth century, and he loved to talk of poetry. his knowledge of shakespeare was profound and minute. he admired mr. bradlaugh's perorations immensely, as well as his bold defence of freethought. he made out a will in mr. bradlaugh's favor, but he subsequently made another will, and died in circumstances that necessitated an inquest. by agreement, however, mr. bradlaugh obtained ￡2,500 from the estate, and the windfall came opportunely, for his struggles and litigations had involved him in considerable debt. i know he often had to borrow money on heavy interest. one day, at turner-street, he told me that a creditor of this species had coolly invited him to dinner. "hang it," he said, "you can't dine with a man who charges you sixty per cent."
another recollection i have of mr. bradlaugh is in connexion with the funeral of mr. austin holyoake. the death of this gentleman was a great loss to the freethought cause. he was highly respected by all who knew him. the geniality of his disposition was such that he had many friends and not a single enemy. for some years he was mr. bradlaugh's printer and publisher, and a frequent contributor to his journal. he was foremost in every good work, but he was one of those modest men who never get the credit of their labors. he died at 17 johnson's-court, fleet-street, in an upstairs room above the printing office, where his devoted wife had for many weeks nursed his flickering life. the funeral was a notable event. those of us who could afford it rode in the undertaker's coaches, and the rest walked in procession to highgate cemetery. i can still see mr. bradlaugh in my mind's eye, bustling about on the ground floor, taking everything as usual on his own shoulders. he sorted us in fours for the coaches, my vis à vis being james thomson. at the graveside, after the reading of austin holyoake's own funeral service by mr. charles watts, mr. bradlaugh delivered a brief address which he had written for the occasion. on the whole it was too much a composition, but one sentence was true "bradlaugh," and it sounds in my ears still:—"twenty years of friendship lie buried in that grave."
how such scenes are impressed on one's memory! as i write i see the set face of charles bradlaugh. i behold the sob-shaken back and bowed head of herbert gilham just in front of me. i hear and feel the cool, rustling wind, like a plaintive requiem over the dead.
once again, years afterwards, i saw mr. bradlaugh in the same cemetery, supporting the helpless figure of mrs. ernestine rose as she left the open grave of the dear partner of her long life of labor for the cause of human redemption.
owing to circumstances, into which i need not enter, i saw little of mr. bradlaugh between 1875 and 1880. when he was returned for northampton i rejoiced, and when he was committed to the clock tower i saw my duty sun-clear. it was to participate as i could, and might, in the struggle. my contributions to mr. bradlaugh's journal were resumed, and i spoke at meetings in his behalf. in may, 1881, i started the freethinker, my oldest living child. mr. bradlaugh acted with his natural generosity. he advertised my bantling gratuitously in his own journal, and gave it every possible facility. this was not known at the time, but i ought to state it now.
throughout that long, terrible struggle with the house of commons i was with mr. bradlaugh on every point. if he made a single mistake i have yet to see it indicated. my article in the first number of the freethinker was entitled "mr. bradlaugh's advisers." its object was to show the absurdity of the plentiful advice offered him, and the absolute justice of the course he was pursuing.
three weeks afterwards the bigots convened a ticket meeting at exeter hall. the chief promoters were earl percy, sir bartle frere, and butcher varley. mr. bradlaugh was afraid the meeting would have a pre-judicial effect on public opinion in the provinces. the fact of the tickets would be kept back, and the report would go forth that a vote was unanimously passed against him at a big london demonstration. it was necessary, therefore, that the meeting should be spoiled. and it was. mr. bradlaugh gave me the task of moving an amendment. we had a chat in his library at st. john's wood, and as we parted he said, "i rely on you, foote." he looked at me steadily, holding my eyes as though to read the depths.
we got tickets somehow. but the protestant alliance smelt mischief, and mr. bradlaugh's supporters had to fight their way in. two hundred and fifty police were not enough to keep them all out. i was naturally a marked man, and fighting had to be supplemented by diplomacy. when the noble smithson (earl percy), had drivelled for a few minutes as chairman, and the resolution against mr. bradlaugh had been proposed and seconded by sir john kennaway and canon taylor, i rose to move an amendment. but the amendment was refused. the resolution was put, and the christians stood up and voted, while the organ played "god save the queen." then, at a signal, our people jumped on the forms, and rent the air with cheers for "bradlaugh." at another signal they all trooped out, went off to trafalgar-square with the big crowd outside, and passed resolutions in mr. bradlaugh's favor. the bigots' meeting was completely spoiled. they had to barricade the doors and keep out their own people as well as the enemy; the hall was never half full, and their resolution was passed after refusing an amendment, amidst loud execrations. such a lesson was taught the bigots that they never made another attempt. mr. bradlaugh had trusty lieutenants and stern supporters, and the bigots knew he would spoil every private meeting that professed to be public. he acted with wisdom and determination, and the result showed he knew the stake he was playing for when he said, "i rely on you," with that steady napoleonic look.
mr. bradlaugh's legal exploits, if properly recorded, would fill a good-sized volume. when his life is adequately written, as it will be some day, this department will have to be entrusted to a skilled lawyer. no other person could do anything like justice to a most important part of the career of one whom the tories used to call "that litigious man," when they were trying to ruin him in the law courts and he was only defending himself against their base attacks.
those who had only known mr. bradlaugh as a platform orator had some difficulty in recognising him when they first met him in one of our "halls of justice." his whole manner was changed. he was polite, insinuating, and deferential. his attitude towards the judges was admirably calculated to conciliate their favor. i do not mean that he calculated. he had quite a superstitious veneration for judges. it was perfectly sincere and it never wavered. he would not hear a word against them. when he pleaded before them his personal sentiments ran in a line with his best interests; for although judges are above most temptations, their vanity is often sensitive, and mr. bradlaugh's manner was intensely flattering.
