Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text the local Board of Health, with
correspondence thereon. After criticising the discourtesy of the Board
of Health, the chairman agreed that nothing further could be done.
Mr Bradlaugh, however, "said it would not be right to let the subject
drop without taking some further notice of it. He thought the Board
was bound to act at least courteously towards any of the parishioners
having complaints to make of the insufficiency of the water supply. The
Board acknowledged this insufficiency, and showed they could give a
better supply when a stir was made about the subject. He complained of
the unfairness of the Board in refusing all explanation. Not only did
they do this, but they added impertinence in characterising him as a
new member of the parish. He could not tell who was to blame, but the
Board confessed that the supply was irregular, and showed that it was
capable of being remedied. In his opinion the Board deserved a vote of
censure from the Vestry; they were bound to do their best for those who
elected them, and as far as lay in his power he would teach them their
duty. He then moved: 'That in the opinion of this meeting the conduct
of the Local Board of Health, in refusing to answer the questions of
the Committee, is deserving of censure.'" This was seconded by Mr
Noble, and there was some discussion, a Mr Kirby rising to defend the
action of the Board, to which Mr Bradlaugh replied "in a most caustic
speech;" and the motion being put by the chairman, was carried:
"twenty- six voting for, and two against it."]
The Rev. Mr M'Sorley's animosity at length culminated in an outrageous
libel. An article had appeared in _All the Year Round_ entitled "Our
Suburban Residence," in the nature of a "skit" dealing with Tottenham,
in which Mr M'Sorley was alluded to under a very thin disguise. This
article was reprinted in the _Tottenham and Edmonton Weekly Herald_,
and Mr M'Sorley, taking it into his wise head that Mr Bradlaugh was the
author, wrote the following "appendix" to the reprint, which appeared
in the issue for April 28, 1866:--
"You will have seen that a serious omission has been made in a sketch
which appeared in a recent number of _All the Year Round_, edited
by C. Dickens, Esq. I crave your indulgence while I endeavour to
supply the omission. It would be a crying injustice to posterity if
the historian of our little suburban district were to omit one of
the celebrities of the place. No doubt he is not much thought of or
respected, but that shows his talent is overlooked. He is a great
man this: why, our good-natured, genial, and humane vicar must hide
his diminished head, when put in the scales and weighed against
Swear'em Charley! and as for the 'bould' Irishman, the Rev. M'Snorter,
why, he could not hold a candle to this genius; and as for the Rev.
Chasuble--well, no matter, the least said about him the better, poor
man!
"It was stated in the sketch that this parish had its representatives
of all sorts of religions, from the Quaker to the Papist, the
disciples of George Fox, who bends to no authority, and the disciples
of the Pope, who makes all authority bend to him. We had a capital
sketch of Churchism, High, Low, and Broad. But the sketcher forgot
to add another to his list. Ay, truly, if we have those who are of
the High Church, and the Low Church, and the Broad Church, we have
some who are of 'No Church.' Why, we have got in our midst the very
Coryphæus of infidelity, a compeer of Holyoake, a man who thinks
no more of the Bible than if it were an old ballad--Colenso is a
babe to him! This is a mighty man of valour, I assure you--a very
Goliath in his way. He used to go 'starring' it in the provinces,
itinerating as a tuppenny lecturer on Tom Paine. He has occasionally
appeared in our Lecture Hall. He, too, as well as other conjurers,
has thrown dust in our eyes, and has made the platform reel beneath
the superincumbent weight of his balderdash and blasphemy. He is as
fierce against our common Christianity as the Reverend M'Snorter is
against Popery--indeed, I think the fiercer of the two. The house he
lives in is a sort of 'Voltaire Villa.' The man and his 'squaw' occupy
it, united by a bond unblessed by priest or parson. But that has an
advantage; it will enable him to turn his squaw out to grass, like his
friend Charles Dickens, when he feels tired of her, unawed by either
the ghost or the successor of Sir Creswell Creswell. Not having any
peculiar scruples of conscience about the Lord's Day, the gentleman
worships the God of nature in his own way. He thinks 'ratting' on a
Sunday with a good Scotch terrier is better than the 'ranting' of a
good Scotch divine--for the Presbyterian element has latterly made its
appearance among us. Like the homoeopathic doctor described in the
sketch, this gentleman combines a variety of professions 'rolled into
one.' In the provinces he is a star of the first magnitude, known by
the name of Moses Scoffer; in the city a myth known to his pals as
Swear 'em Charley; and in our neighbourhood he is a cypher--_incog._,
but perfectly understood. He contrives to eke out a tolerable
livelihood: I should say that his provincial blasphemies and his City
practice bring him in a clear £500 a year at the least. But is it not
the wages of iniquity? He has a few followers here, but only a few. He
has recently done a very silly act; for he has, all at once, converted
'Voltaire Villa' into a glass house, and the whole neighbourhood can
now see into the premises--'the wigwam,' I should say, where he dwells
in true Red Indian fashion with his 'squaw.' This is the sketch of
one particular character in our suburban residence, which has been
omitted. But it is worth all the others noticed in Dickens' paper, and
I have no doubt we shall all feel gratified at your allowing it room
in your paper."
The article was, of course, unsigned, but it did not take Mr Bradlaugh
very long to discover who was the author of this "Appendix:" surely
one of the most dastardly libels to which a professed "gentleman"
ever put his pen. The immediate steps taken by Mr Bradlaugh to show
his appreciation of the Rev. Mr M'Sorley's attentions resulted in the
appearance of apologies from both editor and contributor in the issue
of the _Herald_ for the following week, May 5th. Having given the text
of the libel, I now give the retracting words, which are as strong and
complete as the falsehoods which preceded them.
"OUR SUBURBAN RESIDENCE AND ITS 'APPENDIX.'
"MR AND MRS BRADLAUGH.
No. 1.
"The Editor and Proprietor of this newspaper desires to express his
extreme pain that the columns of a journal which has never before been
made the vehicle for reflections on private character, should, partly
by inadvertence, and partly by a too unhesitating reliance on the
authority and good faith of its contributor, have contained last week,
in the form of an 'Appendix' to a recent article from _All the Year
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