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the debt that we
 have contracted towards you. You have given your time, your energy,
 your eloquence, your mind--in a word, the best part of yourself.
 France, whom you alone have defended, will never forget it.

 "I have no news from Bordeaux or from Paris, other than that which you
 have been able to read in the papers. We shall see what the Assembly
 will do, what it will decide, and if opportunity arises we shall act
 accordingly.--_Au revoir_, dear and excellent friend. I send all my
 affection.

 "CH. TISSOT."]

When the French elections took place in February 1871, Mr Bradlaugh
was one of the candidates nominated by the city of Paris. I am under
the impression that this was done without his wishes being in any way
consulted, but the very proposal of his name--testifying, as it to some
extent did, the honour in which he was held in Paris--roused scorn and
anger at home. The editor of a Scotch paper,[147] in writing a leader
on the elections, relieved his feelings by saying: "'Bradlaugh, English
Republican,' figures in the list among the motley crew; but what number
of votes were polled for this cosmopolitan patriot, who would have been
a dumb dog in a French Parliament, has not transpired." As the "motley
crew" included such honoured names as those of Garibaldi, Louis Blanc,
Ledru Rollin, and Victor Sch[oe]lcher, it was a distinction to be
placed beside them; but why, asked my father, should it be assumed that
he would be dumb? "Thomas Paine," he added, "who did not speak French,
was not a 'dumb dog' when he pleaded for the life of Louis XVI."

[Footnote 147: _North British Daily Mail._]

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE COMMUNE, AND AFTER.

During the Commune my father found himself in a position of extreme
difficulty. His heart was with the men who had been driven by most
frightful suffering to wild words and still wilder deeds. Some of the
oldest and the best amongst his French friends were playing their parts
in the tragedies daily enacted in Paris; some, like the amiable Gustavo
Flourens--who has been described by Mr Washburne, then United States
minister, as a "young scholar," and one of "the most accomplished
of the agitators and revolutionists"--were laying down their lives;
others, like those kindly and learned brothers, Elie and Elysée Reclus,
were sacrificing their liberties. My father's whole being throbbed in
sympathy with these men; but sympathise as he might, his reason could
not commend, and he remained sadly silent, unable to approve, but
refusing to condemn.

This feeling of standing aside whilst so many old and dear friends were
risking life and liberty was torture to a man of his temperament, and
when an opportunity occurred for active help on his part he welcomed
it with joy. This opportunity came in the form of a request from some
of the French leaders that he should act as intermediary between the
Government of M. Thiers and the Commune. As a foreigner and a known
friend of France, it was hoped that his intervention might be possible,
and might lead to good results.

The terms of peace which he was empowered to propose to M. Thiers
were:--

(1.) Acceptance of the principle of Republican Government. A condition
rendered absolutely necessary by the intrigues of the Legitimists and
the Orleanists, who were striving to place the crown on the head of the
Comte de Chambord, with succession to the Comte de Paris.

(2.) Absolute and unconditional amnesty for all political offences.

(3.) Election by the people of the Chief Executive power of the
Republic. Hostilities were to be suspended during the election, and
disarmament to follow directly the result was known.

When this commission reached Mr Bradlaugh, he had just set out on a
course of lectures in Scotland; but with his heart full of hope that
this might perhaps be the means of staying the terrible bloodshed,
and the tragedies then taking place in France, he determined to allow
nothing to delay him, and, neglecting his engagements, immediately left
Edinburgh for London. In the columns of the _National Reformer_ he
himself told how his errand was frustrated and his journey prevented.

On reaching Calais, after a somewhat rough passage, his ears were
greeted with the "very old cry" of "Passeports, Messieurs!" His
passport was produced and his features examined by means of a lantern.
The result of this examination was that a few minutes later he was
ushered into the grim presence of the Chief of Police, at the station
passport office. "At first," related Mr Bradlaugh, "this gentleman was
slightly brusque, but concluded with a great display of courtesy. The
following discussion, after the Socratic method, took place, all rights
of questioning being reserved by the police:--

Chief of the Police: What is your name?

Charles Bradlaugh.

What is your business?

Editor of the _National Reformer_, to report for my journal.

But you are something else besides editor?

A little.

You are one of the members of the International?

I have not that honour.

You make great speeches?

I try.

You presided at a meeting in Hyde Park the other day?

I did not.

I cannot permit you to go to Paris; your presence there would be too
dangerous.

You do me too much honour to attribute to me so much influence.

The Chief of the Police then took down a book in which 'Charles
Bradlaugh' appeared in good bold characters, with about twenty lines
opposite in writing, which, being very small, I could not read. He then
said: 'I have orders to arrest you. I must send you to the Sub-Prefect
at Boulogne.'"

After being permitted to send a telegram to Versailles, he was sent off
to Boulogne in charge of an officer and two men.

When they arrived there at three in the morning, Boulogne was in
total darkness, and then they had about a mile to walk through the
driving rain before they reached the Sub-Prefecture. Here, except one
man on duty, all appeared to be fast asleep, and M. le Sous-Préfet,
apprised of Mr Bradlaugh's arrival, telegraphed to the Government for
instructions, refusing to take the case until the morning. My father
made up a "bed" of all the chairs he could find, and, still in the
close custody of his three guardians, he attempted to pass the time in
sleep.

"In the morning," he said, "another and more severe interrogation took
place, the Sub-Prefect declaring that I had presided at the Sunday Hyde
Park meeting in favour of the Commune; that I had lately been on some
revolutionary mission in Prussia; and that I had too much influence to
be allowed to go to Paris, where I should be a rallying-point for all
dangerous men." Mr Bradlaugh telegraphed to M. Favre, at Versailles,
asking in what respect his position had altered since ten weeks
earlier, when the Charge d'Affaires of France, acting under his orders,
had tendered him the formal thanks of the French Government for the
services he had rendered France. The only answer from the Government
was an urgent and imperative order to quit France by the next packet,
and a notice th

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