Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text increased his vote by 113, and had
crept up to within 70 of the Whig candidate.
At the declaration of their defeat the Northampton Radicals, for the
first and only time, lost their self-control; the vile charges made
against the man they had chosen to honour had worked them up to a state
of the extremest indignation and anger, which, hitherto restrained, now
in the first bitterness of their disappointment broke out in violence.
An attack was made upon The Palmerston, Mr Fowler's headquarters; but
Mr Bradlaugh was soon in the midst of the rioters, and using his utmost
energy of rebuke and persuasion succeeded in dispersing the crowd.
Unfortunately, he had to leave at nine o'clock to catch the Cunard
steamship, the _Parthia_, at Queenstown. Relieved of the restraint
of Mr Bradlaugh's presence, the rioting recommenced. The Palmerston
was once more attacked, and the _Mercury_ printing office, and the
houses of some of Mr Fowler's supporters were besieged, in some cases
the windows and doors being very much damaged. Mr Fowler's effigy was
carried round the town by a woman, and was hooted and insulted until
captured by the police. Fighting commenced, and as the excitement
increased, the quieter and more timid inhabitants began to feel greatly
alarmed; the soldiery was then called out, and the Riot Act read. At
first this seemed only like pouring oil upon the flames, for these men,
after their weeks of patience and forbearance, seemed for the time to
have lost all restraint; but little by little the tumult subsided, and
then the fighting was over for good, leaving for the next day a legacy
of excitement or despondency according to temperament, and a legacy
also of many bandaged heads, which, happily betokened but few really
serious injuries. The whole fury of the rioters was directed solely
against William Fowler and his supporters, and it is noteworthy that,
although the Conservative quarters were close by The Palmerston, they
were unmolested. The press was, as usual, for the most part very unfair
to Mr Bradlaugh--some even making him responsible for the rioting
which occurred after he left Northampton. There were, however, a few
exceptions, and of these the _Times_, the _Examiner_, the _Newcastle
Weekly Chronicle_, and the _Birmingham Daily Post_ were the most
notable.
Helping in the work of this election, we again find the name of George
Odger. Two years before there had been some talk of asking him to
become a candidate for Northampton, but he would on no consideration
allow himself to be put forward in opposition to Mr Bradlaugh. Instead
of coming to Northampton to stand against him, he came to try and
win votes for him. Mr Watts and Mr Foote again unweariedly gave
their services, and Mrs Annie Besant was in the town reporting the
proceedings for the _Reformer_ under the pen-name of Ajax.
Captain Maxse was amongst the subscribers to the expenses of this
contest, and he wrote that he regarded Mr Bradlaugh's candidature
as a national one. One would never guess, to see the long list of
subscriptions (most in small sums, as always), that these same people
had already supplied the funds for an election once before in that same
year.
For upwards of five years the Liberals and Radicals of England had
before them the melancholy sight of the Radical borough of Northampton
represented in the Commons House of Parliament by two Conservatives.
Even the Northampton Whigs began to feel that keeping Bradlaugh out was
costing the borough too dear, especially as the people, sometimes in
their very families, were divided into personally hostile camps. Hence,
soon after this last election, the representatives of both parties
met together and formally agreed to unite in contesting the Municipal
and Parliamentary elections. As the Municipal elections were close at
hand, the good results of this alliance were immediately visible, I am
bound to say, however, that this amicable agreement between the Whigs
and the Radicals was not very enduring, and long before the General
Election of 1880 parties seemed almost as much divided as ever. The
more far-seeing among the Whigs realised after the 1874 election that
they must choose between being represented by the obnoxious Bradlaugh,
or the equally (if otherwise) obnoxious Tories, but the more obstinate
and more prejudiced still cried "No Bradlaugh," and it was not until
the eleventh hour, when Mr Labouchere was brought in to run as a joint
candidate with my father, that these yielded; and even then, as the
analysis of the poll clearly showed, there were many who did not vote
straight.
END OF VOL. I.
INDEX.
Adam, The Hon. Mr, ii. 255, 337.
Adams, Thomas, i. 398; ii. 210, 413.
Adams, W.E. ("Caractacus"), i. 64, 68, 80, 109, 123, 125, 142.
Affirm, Allowed to, ii. 246.
Affirmation Bills (_see also Oaths Bill and Evidence Amendment_),
i. 169; ii. 234, 246, 272, 281, 304, 312, 315, 336, 358, 361, 374.
Agnosticism, ii. 117.
Agricultural Hall, i. 226, 231.
Agricultural Labourers' Movement, i. 374, 378.
Aliens, Destitute, ii. 404
Allsop, Thomas, i. 64, 68, 273.
America, Visits to, i. 380; ii. 1.
Amusements, Boyish, i. 5.
Andrews, S. Pearl, i. 384.
Arago, Emanuel, i. 318, 320.
Arch, Joseph, i. 374, 392; ii. 368.
Arms Bill, ii. 196.
Army, Flogging in, ii. 201, 259.
Army life, i. 25, 35.
Arnold, Matthew, i. 230; ii. 151, 329.
Arnold, Rev. T., i. 279.
Atheism and Secularism, i. 332.
Atheistic position stated, i. 87, 210, 337, 340; ii. 115.
Atheistic morality, i. 334, 339; ii. 157.
Ayrton, Hon. A.S., i. 142, 149; ii. 209.
"B.V." (_See Thomson._)
Ball, John, i. 374, 378.
Ballincollig, An Eviction at, i. 31.
Baptism, i. 4.
Bar, Speeches at the, 1st, ii. 241;
2nd. ii. 267;
3rd, ii. 295;
4th, ii. 341.
Barker, J., i. 121.
Barker, Rev. W., i. 207.
Barttelot, Sir W., ii. 239, 272.
Beaconsfield, Lord. (_See Disraeli._)
Beales, Edmund, i. 220.
Beesly, Prof., i. 314, 319.
Bendall, S., i. 189; ii. 79.
Bernard, S., i. 64, 79, 99, 204.
Besant, Annie, i. 400; ii. 12, 33, 65, 70, 87, 92, 136, 175,
223, 286, 291, 308, 343, 382, 395, 406, 418.
Biggar, J., ii. 35, 195.
Birth, i. 3.
Bismarck, i. 312, 316.
Bizoin, A.G., i. 317.
Blanc, L., i. 65, 321.
Blasphemy Laws, i. 129; ii. 319, 405.
Blasphemy prosecutions, ii. 316, 324.
Bohn, H.G., ii. 24.
Bolingbroke, ii. 116.
Bonner's Fields, i. 8, 20, 23, 25.
Bradlaugh, Alice, i. 49, 116; ii. 93, 104, 291, 343, 401.
Bradlaugh, Charles (jun.), i. 95, 117, 300.
Bradlaugh, Charles (sen.), i. 2, 3, 13, 27.
Bradlaugh, Elizabeth (Mrs Norman), i. 13, 15, 20, 27, 35, 37, 349.
Bradlaugh, Harriet, i. 114.
Bradlaugh, James, i. 2.
Bradlaugh, Mrs (sen.), i. 3, 4, 36, 41, 49.
Bradlaugh, Mrs S.L., i. 49, 173, 181, 276, 300.
Bradlaugh, W.R., i. 114, 348.
"Bradlaugh for Northampton," i. 276.
Bright, John, i. 270; ii. 101, 214, 228, 234, 266, 271, 288, 348.
Brimont, Mde. de, i. 314, 347.
Brindley, Dr, i. 160.
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