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h, after repeated entreaties, Mr
Bradlaugh said a few words in French from the balcony of the hotel to
the enormous throng below. Thanking the people of Madrid from his heart
for the great kindness shown him, he wished them peace, prosperity,
and order, winding up with the cry, "Vivad la Republica Espanola."
Then, as it was reported, "amidst loud and repeated 'Vivads,' the
crowd peacefully retired, the ladies quitted the balconies, and at
three o'clock Madrid went to bed just as the sun's first rays tried to
overclimb the line of night." Mr Bradlaugh himself went to his pillow
with the reflection that he had that night shaken hands "with at least
eight hundred people."

On Sunday he started on his return journey, but a letter from Senor
Castelar took him once more to his house before he left. Castelar
wrote:--

 "MADRID, le 25 de Mai.

 "MON CHER BRADLAUGH,--Je vous prie d'etre chez moi a deux
 heures precis. Tout a vous,

 E. CASTELAR."[167]

This note was written in Castlelar's own hand, and is--as I give
it--quite innocent of accents. The letter of the 23rd was written by
a secretary and signed by Senor Castelar. These little notes are only
important as witnesses to the friendly way in which Mr Bradlaugh was
treated whilst in Madrid, there having been many assertions to the
contrary, and Castelar himself having stated _since my father's death_
that he "sent a message by a trusty emissary, requesting him not on any
account to call on me at the Foreign Office, but to come and see me at
my house, alone, and at an early hour in the morning, rarely chosen
for visits in Madrid, where few people are early risers."[168] The
welcome given to Mr Bradlaugh in Madrid provoked a stupid exhibition
of rage and spite in certain quarters in England; and amongst the many
fictions circulated at the time it was said that Senor Castelar would
not see him at his official residence, and refused to receive the
Birmingham vote except at his private house. Mr Bradlaugh corrected
this preposterous falsehood at once.

[Footnote 167:

 "MADRID, May 25th.

"MY DEAR BRADLAUGH,--I pray you to come to my house at two
o'clock precisely.--Yours,

 E. CASTELAR."]

[Footnote 168: _Cardiff Weekly Mail_, February or March 1891.]

"The vote was addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs," he said,
"and I delivered it at the Ministry in the Palace, and received the
answer officially from the Ministry. It is perfectly true that Senor
Castelar invited me to his private residence, where I went, and passed
some hours with him on three separate occasions, and that he did me
the honour to visit me at my hotel; but these interviews, while I much
valued them and am extremely pleased they took place, were unsought by
me. The only visit I volunteered was the official one to the Ministry
of State, and there is no pretence for saying that there was any
reluctance to receive me."[169]

[Footnote 169: _National Reformer_, June 15, 1873.]

 * * * * *

Mr Bradlaugh's return from Madrid occupied even longer time than the
getting there. Although he left Madrid on Sunday, it was not until late
on Friday night that he reached Paris, and in the meantime all sorts
of rumours as to his death or capture had appeared in the French and
English press. He delayed twenty-four hours in Paris in order that he
might see his elder daughter, who was there at school, and some French
friends, all of whom were in the greatest anxiety as to his fate. He
arrived in London on Sunday morning, and in the evening lectured at
the Hall of Science in reply to a speech delivered by the Bishop of
Lincoln at Gainsborough upon the Inspiration of the Bible. The audience
awaiting him had gathered together full of doubt and uneasiness, and
the relief they felt was expressed by the vehement cheering, again and
again renewed, which greeted his appearance as he entered the hall.

The story of his return journey we have in his own words.

 "Favoured by Senor Castelar," he said, "with special aid in returning,
 we--that is, myself and a Government courier, with despatches
 for Paris and London--left Madrid for our homeward journey on the
 afternoon of Sunday, May 25th. At the urgent request of many of those
 who had taken part in the demonstration of Saturday, I at the last
 moment determined not to return by the route I had come, and this
 determination was confirmed by the certain news that all the passes,
 either across the Pyrenees or by Salinas, were well occupied by the
 Carlists, who did not intend to let me slip easily through their
 fingers. I have no ambition to be a martyr, and determined not to be
 caught if I could avoid it." His return route was now planned to go
 _via_ Santander and Bordeaux. "At Palencia," he continued, "where
 we arrived about three A.M., we received as escort some
 three hundred men of, I think, the Thirty-sixth Regiment. They came
 to parade after great delay, and in a manner showing great lack of
 discipline. I noticed that Pina and Espinosa were strongly guarded,
 and as soon as we passed between some of the hills near Alar del Rey,
 a sharp fusilade, which was returned from the train, wakened me from
 a half sleep, and gave me an occasion for smelling gunpowder, with
 an almost freedom of danger. Our train only went at about ten miles
 per hour, the engine-driver fearing to find the line torn up, or
 obstructions upon it; but fortunately for us, the party of Carlists
 by whom we were attacked were too late to hinder us, although I was
 informed that they succeeded in stopping the next train. The firing,
 sometimes sharp and sometimes interrupted entirely by the ravines,
 lasted about three-quarters of an hour. The Carlists were seen running
 down from the mountains to take part in the skirmish. The casualities
 were small, one soldier on our side being wounded in the shoulder. Not
 a single bullet entered the compartment in which I was seated.

 "From Alar del Rey we passed through some beautiful country to
 Santander, where we arrived about five hours late, and in time to find
 that a steamer I had hoped to catch had left for Bayonne the night
 before my arrival. I went at once in a rage to the Government Offices,
 and was assured by the Captain-General of the port of Santander--who
 was the perfection of civility, and who stated that he had received a
 telegram from the Madrid Government to afford me every facility--that
 it would be impossible to leave for Bayonne before Thursday. This
 horrified me, for I was due to speak in Northampton on the 28th,
 and I at once rushed to the Telegraph Office to send a message. The
 clerk told me he would take my money, but he would not ensure the
 delivery of my message. I was to return later to inquire. I left my
 money and my despatch, and went to the hotel to dine, or breakfast,
 or both in one. On returning to the Dispaccio Telegrafico, I learned
 that the wires were cut in more than one place; that the post-bags to
 the North were being seized by the Carlists; and that all me

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