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me," he says, "was the subject of loud
and hostile comment, several pious Christians in choice Billingsgate
intimating that they would teach me a lesson. As on the previous
evening, I requested the religious body to elect a chairman, and Mr
Thomas Stuart was voted to the chair. Of this gentleman I must say
that he was courteous, generous, and manly, and by his kindly conduct
compelled my respect and admiration. Previous to my lecture the
majority of those present hooted and yelled with a vigour which, if it
betokened healthy lungs, did not vouch so well for a healthy brain; and
I commenced my address amidst a terrific din. Each window was besieged,
and panes of glass were dashed out in more reckless wantonness, while
at the same time a constant hammering was kept up at the main door.
As this showed no prospect of cessation, I went myself to the door,
and, to my disgust, found that the disturbance was being fostered and
encouraged by a clergyman[51] of the Church of England, who wished to
gain admittance. I told him loss of life might follow any attempt to
enter the room in its present overcrowded state. His answer was that
he knew there was plenty of room, and would come in. To prevent worse
strife I admitted him, and by dint of main strength and liberal use of
my right arm repelled the others, closed the doors, and returned to
the platform. I had, however, at the doors received one blow in the
ribs, which, coupled with the extraordinary exertions required to keep
the meeting in check, fairly tired me out in about an hour. Several
times, when any crash betokened a new breach in either door or window,
the whole of the audience toward the end of the room jumped up, and
I had literally to keep them down by dint of energetic lung power.
Towards the conclusion of the lecture, the secretary of the rector
forced his way bodily through a window, and I confess I felt a strong
inclination to go to that end of the room and pitch him back through
the same aperture. If he had intended a riot, he could not have acted
more riotously. Some limestone was thrown in at another window, and a
little water was poured through the ventilators by some persons who had
gained possession of the roof. This caused some merriment, which turned
to alarm when an arm and hand waving a dirty rag appeared through a
little hole in the centre of the ceiling. One man in a wideawake then
jumped upon one of the forms, and excitedly shouted to me, 'See, the
devil has come for you!' After the lecture, I received in the confusion
several blows, but none of importance. When I quitted the building one
well-dressed man asked me, 'Do you not expect God to strike you dead,
and don't you deserve that the people should serve you out for your
blasphemy?' Two spat in my face."

[Footnote 51: The Rev. W. T. Whitehead.]

Being concerned for the fate of the hotel if he carried back with
him the excited crowds which dogged his heels, Mr Bradlaugh's first
impulse was to avoid it; but remembering that he had left all his money
there, he contrived to escape his pursuers, and reached the hotel
unaccompanied, except by one friend. Notwithstanding that there was not
"the slightest disturbance at the hotel, the landlady wished me at once
to leave the house, I appealed to her hospitality in vain. I next stood
on my legal rights, went to my bedroom, locked the door, retired to
bed, and tried to dream that Wigan was a model Agapemone."

Before the dispersal of the meeting, and while the Rev. W. T. Whitehead
was asking the audience to teach Mr Bradlaugh a lesson which should
prevent him coming again, whether intentionally or not, the gas was
turned off, so that the hundreds of persons in the room, already
in confusion, were placed in great danger of losing their lives.
Fortunately, the gas was relighted before any serious consequences had
resulted.

About a month later Mr Bradlaugh was again speaking at Wigan. The Mayor
had threatened to lock him up, but, as might be expected, the threat
was an empty one. The _Wigan Examiner_ entreated the public not to
attend the lectures, but without result. On the first evening a form
was set aside for the accommodation of the clergy, but it remained
vacant. After the meeting (which had been a fairly orderly one) Mr
Bradlaugh relates how he was followed to his lodgings "by a mob who
had not been present at the lecture, and who yelled and shouted in real
collier fashion. The _Examiner_ says they intended to 'purr' me.[52] An
invitation on my part to any two of them to settle the matter with me
in approved pugilistic fashion produced a temporary lull, under cover
of which shelter was gained from the storm of hooting and howling which
soon broke out anew with redoubled vigour. On the second evening the
Christian mob outside were even more discourteous." Some friends[53]
who had offered Mr Bradlaugh the hospitality of their roof, so that he
might not again suffer the treatment he had received at the Victoria
Hotel on the former occasion, were threatened and annoyed in a most
disgraceful manner, besides being hissed and hooted on entering the
lecture hall. Stones were thrown at Mr Bradlaugh and Mr John Watts
as they went in, but during the lecture all was orderly. At the end,
however, Mr Hutchings, a Nonconformist and the sub-editor of the
_Examiner_, amidst considerable noise and confusion, entered with the
Rev. J. Davis and other friends, to contradict what Mr Bradlaugh had
said on the previous night. After some animated discussion, it was
arranged that a set two nights' debate should be held between them. Mr
Bradlaugh then left the hall, and was immediately surrounded by a noisy
crew.

[Footnote 52: C. Bradlaugh in the _National Reformer_ for December 1st,
1860.]

[Footnote 53: Mr and Mrs Johnson of Wigan.]

"I walked slowly home," said my father. "At last, in a narrow court,
one fellow kicked me in the back part of my thigh. I turned quickly
round, and invited an attempt at repetition, promising prepayment
in a good knock-down for the kicker; and the whole pack of yelping
religionists turned tail. Men and women turned out of their houses
half-dressed, and when the name 'Iconoclast' passed from one to
the other, the adjectives attached to it sufficiently proved that
humanising influences were sorely needed to soften the conversational
exuberance of the natives of Wigan."

Those who were not sufficiently brave to come near enough to give
a kick at Mr Bradlaugh's back hurled bricks at him, but cowardice
unnerved them and prevented them from taking a good aim, so that
although his hat was damaged, he himself was unhurt. Mr and Mrs Johnson
courageously insisted upon walking by his side, and the followers
of the meek and lowly Jesus thought it no shame to throw stones at a
woman: here, their victim being weaker, their courage was accordingly
greater and their aim straighter. But if the people acted so merely
from ignorance and narrowness, it is not so easy to explain the
malevolent attitude of certain loc

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