The evening light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1881-1883, 1882-02-14
BRADLAUGH AND THE ENGLISH PAR
.-- LAMENT. s. sr.r..-.

AT the opening of parliament, Brad
laugh, member for Northampton, ad-
vanced to take the oath, but Sir Stat
ford Northcote interposed and moved
he be not allowed to be sworn. He
retired, and appearing at the "bar," de-
clared that the parliamentary oath
would be binding upon his honor and
conscience. Mr.. Gladstone urged that
as long as the formalities of the house
were observed they could not inquire
into Bradlaugh's opinion, but Sir Stat
ford Northcote's motion was adopted
by ESQ against 227, and Bradlaugh
withdrew.
Some people think this is hardship
upon Bradlaugh and his constituents,
but in our opinion, whatever hardship
there is lies in Bradlaugh's ineligibility
to become a member of the house.
There are only two ways by which he
can take his seat : by affirming to the
principles of the oath, or by taking the
oath, which swears fealty to Queen
Victoria and her dynasty. The law, it
is clear, does not allow atheist Brad
laugh to affirm, and common sense de-
clares that the oath in Bradlaugh's
mouth, swearing by God whose very
existence he denies, would be open
profanity. But independent of this,
how can he, the leader of the republic
can party in England, consistently af-
firm or swear fealty to the queen, when
he is using all efforts to overthrow the
monarchy. In this he is stupidity in
consistent.
1t is true that Bradlaugh has been
twice elected for Northampton, the last
time by a narrow majority, but that
borough had no right to return a man
who for any reason was disqualified
from taking office. If they do they
must take the consequence of their
own folly. O'Donovan Rosa was
twice elected by Irish Tipperary, but
Great Britain, and we believe Brad
laugh himself, agreed that he was
rightly expelled by reason of his trea-
son felony. But O'Donovan Rosa
then stood alone. There was no Irish
party to aid their compatriot, and the
rejection of the Irish member was in
those days thought matter of little
Importance.
The fact is, the house of commons
in preventing Bradlaugh from taking
his seat are simply enforcing the law
as it now stands, and acting according
TO the dictates of reason. This is the
general opinion practically expressed
by the house of commons, and the
voice of the people of England is in a
far greater degree against the admis-
sion of the inGdel chief into the British
parliament.
The above is furnished us from an
English standpoint. 1t seems to us
that the exclusion of Mr.. Bradlaugh is
in direct contravention of the boosted
British constitution. He is willing to
take the oath, and they nave no right
to inquire into his private opinions.
This is Mr.. Gladstone's view of the
matter. Bradlaugh is turbulent fel-
low, and has made himself obnoxious
to the particular followers of the queen,
because he was always raising ques-
tons about the allowances to the royal
family, &c. Bradlaugh would make
useful member of parliament, and his
exclusion is based on the most frivol-
Gus grounds. 1t does not follow that
because he is an anti-monarchist that
he cannot take the oath of loyalty con-
sistently, because as long as he COM
mits no direct act of treason, no one
has right to question the sincerity of
his obligation.
Eight years ago there was only SI2o, 900 in
vested in steamers On the st. Johns, Florida.
Now there are twenty-eight steamers plying