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b; died 24 April, 1605, aged 66.

"Laxfield Church. On a stone which had the figure of a man and two
women still remains a shield with the arms of Bradlaugh alias Jacob."

"A stone in the north wall of the vestry for Nicholas Bradley alias
Jacob, buried 8th August, 1628."]

The family, which ultimately numbered seven, two of whom died in
early childhood, was in very straitened circumstances, so much so
that they were glad to receive presents of clothing from a generous
cousin at Teddington, to eke out the father's earnings. The salary
of Charles Bradlaugh, sen., at the time of his death, after "upwards
of twenty years" of "faithful" service, was two guineas a week, with
a few shillings additional for any extra work he might do. He was an
exquisite penman; he could write the "Lord's Prayer" quite clearly and
distinctly in the size and form of a sixpence; and he was extremely
industrious. Very little is known of his tastes; he was exceedingly
fond of flowers, and wherever he was he cultivated his garden, large
or small, with great care; he was an eager fisherman, and would often
get up at three in the morning and walk from Hackney to Temple Mills on
the river Lea, with his son running by his side, bait-can in hand. He
wrote articles upon Fishing, which were reprinted as late as a year or
two ago in a paper devoted to angling, and also contributed a number
of small things under the signature C. B----h to the _London Mirror_,
but little was known about this, as he seems usually to have been very
reticent and reserved, even in his own family. He had his children
baptized--his son Charles was baptized on December 8th, 1833--but
otherwise he seems to have been fairly indifferent on religious
matters, and never went to church.

This is about all that is known concerning my grandfather up till about
the time of his son's conflict with the Rev. J. G. Packer, and what
steps he took then will be told in the proper place. His son Charles
always spoke of him with tenderness and affection, as, indeed, he also
did of his mother; nevertheless, he never seemed able to recall any
incident of greater tenderness on the part of his father than that of
allowing him to go with him on his early morning fishing excursions.
Mrs Bradlaugh belonged undoubtedly to what we regard to-day as "the
old school." Severe, exacting, and imperious with her children, she
was certainly not a bad mother, but she was by no means a tender
or indulgent one. The following incident is characteristic of her
treatment of her children. One Christmas time, when my father and his
sister Elizabeth (his junior by twenty-one months) were yet small
children, visitors were expected, and some loaf sugar was bought--an
unusual luxury in such poor households in those times. The visitors,
with whom came a little boy, arrived in due course, but when the tea
hour was reached, it was discovered that nearly all the sugar was
gone. The two elder children, Charles and Elizabeth, were both charged
with the theft; they denied it, but were disbelieved and forthwith
sent to bed. They listened for the father's home-coming in the hope of
investigation and release; there they both lay unheeded in their beds,
sobbing and unconsoled, until their grandmother brought them a piece of
cake and soothed them with tender words. Then it ultimately appeared
that it was the little boy visitor who stole the sugar; but the
children never forgot the dreadful misery of being unjustly punished.
The very last time the brother and sister were together, they were
recalling and laughing over the agony they endured over that stolen
sugar.

At the age of seven the little Charles went to school: first of all
to the National School, where the teacher had striking ideas upon the
value of corporal punishment, and enforced his instructions with the
ruler so heavily that the scar resulting from a wound so inflicted was
deemed of sufficient importance some nine or ten years later to be
marked in the enlistment description when Mr Bradlaugh joined the army.
Leaving the National School, he went first to a small private school,
and then to a boys' school kept by a Mr Marshall in Coldharbour Street;
all poor schools enough as we reckon schools to-day, but the best the
neighbourhood and his father's means could afford. Such as it was,
however, his schooling came to an end when he was eleven years old.

I have by me some interesting mementoes of those same
schooldays--namely, specimens of his "show" handwriting at the age of
seven, nine, and ten years. The writing is done on paper ornamented
(save the mark!) by coloured illustrations drawn from the Bible. The
first illustrates in wonderful daubs of yellow, crimson, and blue,
passages in the life of Samuel; in the centre is a text written in
a child's unsteady, unformed script; and at the bottom, flanked on
either side by yellow urns disgorging yellow and scarlet flames, come
the signature and date written in smaller and even more unsteady
letters than the text, "Charles Bradlaugh, aged 7 years, Christmas,
1840." The second specimen is adorned with truly awful illustrations
concerning "the death of Ahab," not exactly suggestive of that "peace
and goodwill" of which we hear so much and sometimes see so little.
The writing shows an enormous improvement, and is really a beautiful
specimen of a child's work. The signature, "Charles Bradlaugh, aged
9 years, Christmas, 1842," is firmly and clearly written. The third
piece represents the "Death of Absalom" (the teacher who gave out these
things seems to have been of a singularly dismal turn of mind), with
illustrations from 2 Sam. xiv. and xviii. The writing here has more
character; there is more light and shade in the up and down strokes,
as well as more freedom. As an instance of the humane nature of the
teaching, I quote the text selected to show off the writing: "Then
said Joab, I may not tarry thus with thee. And he took three darts in
his hand and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was
yet alive in the midst of the oak. And ten young men of Joab's smote
Absalom and slew him." As a lesson in sheer wanton cruelty this can
hardly be exceeded. The signature, "Charles Bradlaugh, aged ten years,
Christmas, 1843," which is surrounded by sundry pen-and-ink ornaments
is, like the text, written with a much freer hand than that of the
other specimens.

The boy's amusements--apart from the prime one of going fishing with
his father, which he did when eight years old--consisted chiefly in
playing at sham fights with steel nibs for soldiers, and dramatic
performances of "The Miller and his Men," enacted by _artistes_ cut out
of newspaper. Then there was the more sober joy of listening to an old
gentleman and ardent Radical, named Brand, who took a great affection
for the lad, and used to explain to him the politics of the day, and
doubtless by his talk inspired him to plunge into the intricacies of
Cobbett's "Political Gridiron," which he found amongst his father's
books, and f

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