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xpensive contest, and to meet this an election fund was started,
and subscriptions were sent in very readily.

Just as Mr Bradlaugh was leaving for his first visit to America, that
is, in the early part of September, he issued his address to the
electors of Northampton. In this address he declared himself in favour
of various Parliamentary Reforms, such as:--

Short Parliaments, Redistribution of Seats, the Same Franchise
Qualification for Borough and County;

Reform of the House of Lords, including Deprivation of Hereditary
Legislative Privileges; Withdrawal of Legislative Privileges from
existing Peers habitually absent from Parliament; the Creation of Life
Peers, selected for ability in public service; the Veto of Lords to be
a Suspensive Veto only, capable of being overruled in the same session
by sufficient Veto of the Commons; Exclusion of the Bishops and the
Archbishops;

Disestablishment of the Church;

Reform in National Expenditure and in Taxation; and

Changes in the Land Laws; Abolition of the Game Laws;

Alteration of the Law relating to Employer and Employed, and Extension
of Conciliation Courts.

Not expecting the dissolution of Parliament to occur before March
at earliest, Mr Bradlaugh left England with an easy mind as far as
Northampton was concerned, knowing that in his absence his interests
would be well guarded by his true and trusted friend Mr Austin
Holyoake, Mr Charles Watts, and Mr G. W. Foote, and intending to return
in ample time for the next election. When, on the 24th January, it was
announced that Mr Gladstone had dissolved Parliament, and further,
that the writs for the new Parliament were returnable, in the case
of boroughs at least, on the 5th February, every one was taken by
surprise. Mr Austin Holyoake, whose health, unhappily, had now become
very fragile, telegraphed to Mr Bradlaugh with such promptitude that
the message reached him on the afternoon of the same day that Mr
Gladstone's declaration was published, while he was on his journey to
Washington, where he was announced to lecture. He delayed not a moment,
but, as I have said, turned back at once to New York and took the first
steamer homeward bound.

In the meantime Mr C. Watts and Mr Foote held meetings in Northampton
on behalf of his candidature every night; there was considerable
enthusiasm, and the song "Bradlaugh for Northampton," written for the
'68 election, was to be heard through the streets at all hours of the
day. The local papers were, as usual, bitterly hostile. Mr Gilpin and
Lord Henley, in spite of many indications to the contrary, came forward
upon a joint programme, while the Conservative candidates were Messrs
Phipps and Merewether.

The nomination took place on 31st January, my father being proposed
by Mr (now become Councillor) Gurney, as before. Lord Henley's lawyer
opposed the nomination on the ground of Mr Bradlaugh's absence. Mr
Watts, as representing my father, pointed out that there were other
cases of candidates absent from their constituencies, notably Mr
Gladstone from Greenwich. In their anxiety the Radicals also sought
legal aid, only to find, Mr Austin Holyoake said, that "every lawyer
in the town had been retained by our opponents." After a little
consideration, however, the Mayor and the Town-clerk opposed the
objection of Lord Henley's agent, reminding him that if he persisted in
an illegal objection he might render the whole election void. If the
interval between the nomination and polling was short, the meetings
held were many, and, considering the absence of the candidate, the
fervour and enthusiasm at a wonderful pitch. Mr Watts and Mr Foote, as
well as the Northampton committees, worked with unflagging ardour and
zeal. Notwithstanding all this, the election was lost, and Mr Phipps,
one of the Conservative candidates, a fellow-townsman and a brewer, was
placed at the head of the poll. The voting was declared as follows:--

Phipps 2690
Gilpin 2310
Merewether 2175
Henley 1796
Bradlaugh 1653

An analysis of the voting showed that 1060 voters had such confidence
in Mr Bradlaugh that they did not split their votes, but gave them
to him solely. In 1868 he received 1086 votes; now, little more than
five years later, with all the disadvantage of his absence--for,
notwithstanding all the good and loyal work done, this disadvantage
must nevertheless have been considerable--he polled 567 more, and
Lord Henley, in spite of the fact that he was joint candidate with Mr
Gilpin, only received 143 votes more than his rival.

Nothing had been heard from Mr Bradlaugh since the telegram despatched
by him immediately on receiving news of the dissolution, to announce
his return by the next boat. Just before the polling day a rumour was
current that he had not left America at all, but had disregarded the
claims of Northampton. This rumour was only dispelled by the receipt
of a telegram two days after the declaration of the poll, telling of
his arrival in Queenstown. He reached London on the morning of Sunday
the 8th, and went to Northampton on the Tuesday following. The scene
at the station defied description, and the crowd assembled to meet him
extended right into the town. Along the route to the Market Square
people were at the windows, and even upon the housetops, anxious to
see and greet the defeated candidate. He addressed a few words to the
mass of people gathered in the Square, and in the evening 5000 people
crowded the Circus to suffocation, in an overwhelming desire to see and
hear him, and when the time came to vote their confidence, not a single
dissentient hand was held up.

As there was already some talk of Mr Gilpin's early retirement, in
consequence of his failing health, and knowing that the divided
representation of the borough was a cause of much vexation to Whigs
and Radicals alike, since it meant the practical disenfranchisement
of Northampton, Mr Bradlaugh made one last offer "for the sake of
peace." He offered to submit the question of his future candidature
to Mr Gilpin, and if that gentleman, "in his heart and conscience,"
after hearing him, and an official representative of the other (Whig)
side, should think it right to decide against him, he pledged himself
to withdraw. This offer, like all the others of a similar kind, was
refused. Before his death, however, Mr Gilpin expressed himself
favourably towards Mr Bradlaugh's candidature,[186] and he had, as we
know, subscribed £10 towards his expenses in the former election. The
expenses of the present contest were quickly cleared by subscription,
but my father's burden was greatly added to by the liabilities
incurred by his sudden return from America. The broken engagement at
Washington cost him 219 dollars. And after all his haste, not allowing
one moment's avoidable delay in leaving, he had not the satisfaction
of arriving in time for the poll, the borough elections having been
carried through within twelve days, and the Atlantic passage taking
some days longer then than it does now. I

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