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he verdict; and when it was known that one of the
jurymen was a friend, he was sent into the jury box with his pocket
full of sandwiches, so that he should not yield for want of food. But
this proved a needless precaution, for the jury returned with a verdict
of _Not guilty_ after a consultation of less than an hour-and-a-half.
Amongst other exciting incidents of the time, which he learned from my
father's own lips, Mr Headingley relates that--

[Footnote 22: Biography of Charles Bradlaugh.]

 "Before the trial, and while Bernard lay in prison awaiting his fate,
 considerable fear was entertained lest he should be surreptitiously
 given up to the French authorities. A watch was therefore instituted
 over the prison; communications, in spite of all regulations to
 the contrary, were established with the prisoner; and the Defence
 Committee kept informed as to everything that happened within the
 walls. Had Bernard been removed, there were friends ever close at
 hand, both night and day, ready to give the alarm. A riot would very
 probably have ensued, and an attempt made to rescue Bernard in the
 confusion."

 He goes on to say that "the organization of all these precautionary
 measures involved a great deal of labour, and required much tact. The
 presence of French police spies was supplemented by the interference
 of English spies; and against these it was necessary for Bernard's
 friends to be on the alert. On one occasion some mounted police
 followed Bradlaugh to his home in Cassland Road, Hackney. At another
 time he entered a restaurant near Leicester Square with Dr Bernard
 and Mr Sparkhall, an old and trusty friend, who subsequently joined
 and helped to organize the English legion that fought so well for
 Garibaldi. While they were discussing a French spy came in, and
 sitting down in the next compartment, soon pretended to be asleep.
 Bradlaugh, recognising the individual, leaned over the compartment,
 took a long spill, as if to light a cigar, and held the burning paper
 under the spy's nose. As the man was only pretending to be asleep,
 this treatment did not fail to awake him most promptly. Further, this
 manner of dealing with him left no room for doubt as to his having
 been recognised, and he therefore simply rose and quietly left the
 restaurant, without even protesting against the burn inflicted on
 his most prominent feature. So numerous were the foreign spies in
 London at that time, that popular irritation was excited, and once
 Bernard himself was mistaken by a mob in the Park, and attacked as a
 French spy. His friends had great difficulty in shielding him and in
 persuading his aggressors that they were mistaken."

Thomas Allsop,[23] mentioned by Mr Bradlaugh in the same sentence with
Bernard, was also present at the Reform League meeting, and he is
described by my father as "a straightforward old gentleman, carrying
his years well, and apparently untroubled by the late harassing events;
his head gives you an idea of power and dogged determination--it
is worth more than £200." These last words refer, I believe, to a
reward of £200 which was offered for the apprehension of Mr Allsop in
connection with the Orsini matter. Apart from the striking personality
it represents, the name of Thomas Allsop will always bear a peculiar
interest to admirers of Charles Bradlaugh, for it was he who bestowed
upon the, even then, "strong man and strenuous fighter" the motto
"Thorough," which his after life so amply justified, and of which he
was so proud, saying, "When my work is over, and the stone covers the
spot wherein I lie, may I be entitled to have the word 'Thorough'
carven upon its face."

[Footnote 23: Mr Allsop will be known to the English public as the
author of the "Recollections of Samuel Taylor Coleridge." He died a few
years before my father, and he lies near his friend at Brookwood.]

It was during these years of political excitement that my father became
acquainted with Mazzini, Crispi, de Boni, Ledru Rollin, Louis Blanc,
and W. J. Linton.

The author of the "Tyrannicide" pamphlet has been so good as to
write for me his "Recollections of Charles Bradlaugh;" and as the
references to this period are very interesting, I cannot do better than
incorporate them here just as he sent them to me:--

"It was in 1858," Mr W. E. Adams tells us, "that I first made the
personal acquaintance of Charles Bradlaugh. Mr Bradlaugh was at that
time known only as 'Iconoclast,' the general public having, I think,
a very indistinct idea what his real name was. I had heard him as
'Iconoclast' at the old John Street Institution, where many another
dead and gone controversialist had won plaudits from the listening
crowd: Dr Mill, Henry Tyrrell, Samuel Kydd, Robert Cooper. There, too,
the veteran Thomas Cooper had recited 'Paradise Lost,' or told the
eloquent story of the cause of the Commonwealth. Iconoclast, then a
tall, slender, yet powerful young man, with a face stern enough for
an adjutant, and a carriage equal to that of an Elizabethan hero, was
beginning to claim admission to the ranks of the leaders of advanced
thought.

"The year 1858 was the year of Felice Orsini's attempt on the life
of Louis Napoleon. I was at that time, and had been for some years
previously, a member of a Republican association, which was formed to
propagate the principles of Mazzini. When the press, from one end of
the country to the other, joined in a chorus of condemnation of Orsini,
I put down on paper some of the arguments and considerations which I
thought told on Orsini's side. The essay thus produced was read at a
meeting of one of our branches, the members attending which earnestly
urged me to get the piece printed. It occurred to me also that the
publication might be of service, if only to show that there were two
sides to the question 'Tyrannicide.' So I went to Mr G. J. Holyoake,
then carrying on business as a publisher of advanced literature in
Fleet Street. Mr Holyoake not being on the premises, his brother
Austin asked me to leave my manuscript and call again. When I called
again Mr Holyoake returned me the paper, giving among other reasons
for declining to publish it that he was already in negotiation with
Mazzini for a pamphlet on the same subject. 'Very well,' said I, 'all
I want is that something should be said on Orsini's side. If Mazzini
does this, I shall be quite content to throw my production into the
fire.' A few days later, not hearing anything of the Mazzini pamphlet,
I left the manuscript with Mr Edward Truelove, with whom I have ever
since maintained a close and unbroken friendship. Mr Truelove seemed
pleased with the paper, offered to publish it, and proposed to get it
printed. The essay, as I had written it, was entitled 'Tyrannicide,
a Justification.' Mr Truelove, however, suggested that it should be
called 'Tyrannicide: is it Justifiable?' Then there was no name to the
production, which, I need not say, bore many marks of the immaturity
of the author. Mr Tr

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