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point, and so
 far as his humble assistance went, he would give it to put a stop to
 these nefarious practices. He felt personally obliged to the Mayor
 for bringing forward the subject that morning, and he hoped every
 magistrate on the bench would lend a helping hand towards putting a
 stop to the nuisance. (Applause.)"

 At the conclusion of the proceedings, Mr Nightingale (the
 Mayor) observed "that he felt determined to put a stop to these
 exhibitions."[58]

[Footnote 58: The _Norfolk News_ prefaces its account by saying: "For
some months past considerable excitement has been caused amongst the
religious community of the town by the delivery of lectures tending to
subvert the fundamental principles of Christianity by a Freethinker
under the _soubriquet_ of 'Iconoclast.' We have attended none of
these lectures ourselves, but, judging from what we have heard, we
should think that 'Iconoclast' was a gifted man so far as regards
his elocutionary powers. He has been combated on his own platform,
denounced from various pulpits in the town, and at length a determined
effort seems to have been made to shut him out from all the places in
the town in which a public meeting could be held."]

In a leaderette the local journal commented strongly on the course
proposed by the wise and learned Dogberries; and when Mr Bradlaugh
placarded Yarmouth with an address to the magistrates accepting the
gauntlet thus thrown down, and expressing his resolve to lecture
within their jurisdiction, it spoke of the "spirited reply" which he
had addressed to his would-be persecutors. The upshot of all this was
that my father immediately determined to devote a special week to East
Anglia, commencing with two nights at Yarmouth.

"On my arrival at Yarmouth," he wrote, "I found myself literally
hunted from room to room. The theatre being closed against me, the
Masonic Hall was taken, but the mayor personally waited upon the
proprietor, and the 'screw' being put on I was also deprived of this
room. I was determined not to be beaten, and therefore hired a large
bleaching-ground in which to deliver an open-air address." There were
present about 1000 persons, "including at least one magistrate and
several police officers," and it may be noted as most significant
that the action of the magistrates did not meet with popular favour,
that the meeting concluded with cheers for Mr Bradlaugh and for the
owner of the ground. On the following evening the audience was largely
increased, and numbered at least 5000 persons, who were orderly and
attentive throughout. Outside the meeting there was stone-throwing,
principally by boys. One of the stones struck my mother, who,
identifying the lad who threw it, threatened to give him into custody.
At which the lad answered, "Oh, please, mum, you cannot; the police
have told us to make all the noise, and throw as many stones as we
can." This, we will hope, was a liberal interpretation of the police
instructions, but at least it shows very strongly that the lads
had reason to expect the police to look very leniently upon their
escapades. The magisterial bluster ended in bluster, and the only
result to Yarmouth from a Christian standpoint was a pamphlet against
"Infidelity" written by a Charles Houchen, and whether that can be set
down to the credit of Christianity we must leave it to the followers
of that creed to judge. Mr Houchen said--

 "It has been asked what is the real object of Iconoclast going from
 place to place, and coming to Yarmouth from time to time, and the
 answer has been money, money. Now, I ask the reader what think you,
 whoever you be, suppose Iconoclast himself was guaranteed to be better
 paid than he now is for travelling from place to place, do you not
 think he would turn round?"

To this my father rejoined that "the whole amount of Iconoclast's
receipts from Yarmouth has not equalled his payments for board,
lodging, and printing in that eastern seaport; that he has journeyed
to and fro at his own cost; and that if his object 'has been money,
money,' he has suffered grievous disappointment, and this not because
the audiences have been small, but because of that 'rarity of Christian
charity' which shut him out of theatre and lecture-hall after each had
been duly hired, and prompted policemen to connive at stone-throwing
when directed against an Infidel lecturer."

CHAPTER XVII.

THE DEVONPORT CASE, 1861.

In the early sixties the Freethinkers of Plymouth were a fairly active
body; their hall, the "Free Institute," in Buckland Street, they owed
to the liberality of one of their members, Mr Johns, and there were
some tolerably energetic spirits to carry on the work. At that time Mr
George J. Holyoake was a great favourite in the Western towns, and Mr
Bradlaugh was fast winning his way. He was gaining public popularity
and private friendships on all sides, when an incident occurred which
brought out some of his most striking characteristics and rivetted some
of these friendships with links of steel.

He had arranged to lecture at Plymouth for five days during the
first week in December 1860. The first three and the last of these
lectures were given in the Free Institute; but that for the Thursday
was announced to be given in Devonport Park. At the appointed time a
considerable number of people had assembled, and Mr Bradlaugh was just
about to address them when he was accosted by the Superintendent of
the Devonport Police, who stated that he was authorised by the Town
Council to prevent such lectures, and "all such proceedings in a place
created alone for the recreation of the public." Mr Bradlaugh pointed
out that the Temperance advocates used the Park; why should not he?
Mr Edwards, the Police Superintendent, not only refused to argue the
matter, but said further that if Mr Bradlaugh persisted in his lecture
he should use measures to eject him from the Park. There was a little
more talk, during which Mr Bradlaugh reflected that he was by no means
certain as to what were his rights in the Park; and in the end he
decided not to lecture there that evening. To use his own words, he
"submitted, but with a determination to do better at some future time."
Mr John Williamson (now in Colorado), writing at the time, says: "On
Monday, the 3rd. Iconoclast arrived by the 5 p.m. train, very much
fatigued, and looking ill; he had to go to bed for a couple of hours
before lecturing ... during his stay he suffered much from neuralgia,
which interfered with his rest by night." These few words as to the
state of my father's health will give us some idea of the strain upon
him in all these stormy scenes, added to the anxiety of earning his
living. A comparison of dates will show that many of these episodes ran
concurrently, although I am obliged to tell them separately for the
sake of clearness. I take these incidents in order of their origin; but
while one was passing through its different stages others began and
ended. In addition to these more important struggles

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