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lt), and also, I fear, as
a "good joke" to the neighbourhood.

We usually had one or more dogs, belonging to the various members of
the family, for we were all fond of animals, and any big ones were kept
in the paved forecourt of the stables. At one time there were three
dwellers in the court, but these ultimately thinned down to one, the
dog Bruin, my father's special favourite. Bruin was part retriever and
part St Bernard, a fine dog to look at, and wonderfully clever. Mr
Bradlaugh was never weary of relating anecdotes of his intelligence
and sagacity. From his kennel in the court Bruin's chain-range covered
the garden gate, and with him there no bolt or lock was necessary,
for while with friends he was the mildest and gentlest of dogs, with
strangers or suspicious persons he was truly formidable. He made no
unnecessary show of what he could do; he quietly watched the person
until he was well within his reach, and then hurled himself at his
throat. This I once saw. He was devoted to my father, and with him
almost perfectly docile and obedient. And when, in 1870, Mr Bradlaugh
had to part with him, losing Bruin was by no means the smallest grief
at a time when there was little else but sadness and sorrow.

At St. Helen's Place Mr James Thomson (B. V.) had shared our home,
and he again lived with us for some years at Sunderland Villa. The
acquaintance which sprang up between them during Mr Bradlaugh's army
experiences in Ireland had soon ripened into warm friendship.

When my father quitted the service they kept up a close correspondence,
and many a time have I heard my mother lament that Mr Thomson's
"beautiful letters" had been destroyed. When Mr Thomson also left the
army and came to London at the end of 1862, he came to my father, who
at once held out a helping hand to him. In 1863 Mr Bradlaugh obtained
for him the appointment of Secretary to the Polish Committee, but his
inherited curse of intemperance seized upon him, and at a crucial
moment he disappeared.[33] On May 29th Mr W. J. Linton wrote from
Ambleside:--

[Footnote 33: Mr W. E. Adams speaks of this matter in his recollections
of my father, from which I have already quoted on page 68. "I think it
has been said," he remarks, "that Mr Bradlaugh did not do the best he
could for James Thomson, the author of 'The City of Dreadful Night.'
My own testimony on this subject may not be of much account, but I
happen to know that Mr Bradlaugh for many years maintained Thomson
as a member of his own family; sometimes finding him employment in
his own office, at other times getting him situations elsewhere. When
the Polish Revolution of 1862 broke out, a committee was formed in
London to assist the insurgents. I was appointed secretary of that
committee. But in 1863 it became necessary that I should resign in
order to accept an appointment in Newcastle. Mr Bradlaugh asked me to
do what I could to obtain for Thomson the succession to the office. It
was mainly on Mr Bradlaugh's strong and urgent recommendation that the
committee selected him. I transferred to him all the books, documents,
correspondence, etc., much of it of a very interesting and valuable
character. Although I endeavoured, both in Manchester and in Newcastle,
where I visited some of the leading politicians, to form branches of
the central committee in London, I ceased all active participation
in the movement. It was naturally expected, of course, that Thomson
would do all that had been hitherto done by me, and indeed, from his
superior qualifications, a great deal more. A few weeks after I had
been located in Newcastle, however, a letter was placed in my hands
from the late Peter Alfred Taylor, who was chairman of the Polish
Committee, asking whether I could tell him where James Thomson could be
found, since he had not been at the office for many days, and had left
the affairs of the committee in a disordered condition. Poor Thomson,
as it turned out, had been overtaken by one of those periodical attacks
of dipsomania which ultimately resulted in his death. It may readily be
imagined how much this collapse must have disturbed and distressed Mr
Bradlaugh. But it does not appear that it made any difference whatever
in his helpful friendship for the unfortunate poet; for some years
afterwards I still found Thomson a member of Mr Bradlaugh's family and
the occupant of an important post in the business which Mr Bradlaugh
was then conducting. These are matters of personal knowledge. I may add
that Mr Bradlaugh, whenever Thomson was the subject of conversation
between us, always spoke of him in the tenderest and most affectionate
terms. Even when, as I understand, he had been compelled to part
company with his unfortunate friend, no word of censure or complaint
ever passed Mr Bradlaugh's lips in my hearing.

"The kindness which Mr Bradlaugh had shown to poor Thomson was shown
in a modified degree to me too. I should regard myself as one of the
most ungrateful creatures living if I ever forgot the kindly help and
sympathy I received from him in a most trying period of my life. For
many months during this period, when I was begging some brother man to
give me leave to toil, I breakfasted at his house nearly every morning
(and a breakfast was a matter of some consequence to me then), in order
to learn what had come of inquiries which he was day by day making on
my behalf, inquiries which eventually resulted in a service of the
highest value."]

 "DEAR BRADLAUGH,--The enclosed from Taylor. I send it to you
 knowing no other way of getting at Thomson, and wishful not to throw
 over any one spoken kindly of by you. But for myself I would not stand
 a second utter neglect of this kind. However, it rests with Taylor.

 "After some trouble about Thomson, he might at least have written
 to me in the first instance, or to Taylor now, to account even for
 'illness'--which I begin to doubt.

 "_I_ only asked him for a daily paper, which would have satisfied me
 of his daily attention. I have had _three_ since I left. Row him,
 please!--Yours ever, very hard worked,

 W. J. LINTON."

 ENCLOSURE.

 "House of Commons, May 28, 1863.

 "DEAR LINTON,--Do you know Thomson's address or how to get at
 it? He has not been at S. Street this week, and everything is going to
 the D----l.--Yours ever,

 P. A. TAYLOR."

These fits of intemperance, comparatively rare at first, unhappily
became more and more frequent. While Mr Thomson lived with us when he
came back after one of these attacks--or was brought back, for indeed
it usually happened that some friend searched for him and brought him
home despite himself--he was nursed and cared for until he was quite
himself again, for it often happened that he was bruised and wounded,
and unfit to go out for some days.

Although he failed so miserably in his secretary's work, Mr Bradlaugh
gave him a post in his own office, and encouraged him to write for the
_National Reformer_. He had already written a few scattered articles,
first for the _Inve

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