The patron of husbandry. (Columbus, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1882-03-18
. The Disturbance at the Time Brad.
laugh Took the Oath.

The following details are published con-
corning the late Bradlaugh incident In the
British House of Commons:
While the result of the division on Mr.
Laboucheres motion was being made known
Mr.. Br,d,augh rose from the scat which he
occupied on the cross bench below the bar
and advanced rapidly to the table. In a mo-
ment oil eyes were turned upon him. The
house, taken corn; letely by surprise, expected
that he would address them. Instead, he
dipped his right hand SUI lde lily into the left
breast pocket of his frock coat, pulled out
small, dark, shiny octave volume, with red
edges, which he trans erred to his dsengaged
hand, made a seco.d dive and brought forth
a piece Of paper, made third dive and drew
from his waistcoat pocket stump of pencils
a d amid ordinations of establishment, not
unmingled with oans of derision, ''gabbled"
tn ough form of words, inaudible above the
din OF dissent, kissed the little book, to SD it
beh nd the crown Of the mace and held up the
piece o. pager in the dire ton of the chair,
at tie slme time cal ing out, in an excited
though triumphant voice: II tender that
as tue OATH which | have taken accord
Ing to aw," and just as the clerk reached
the corner where lie stood deposited If beside
the book There were some manifestations
O contempt and aversion, but the prevailing
sentiment seemed to be one of unbridled
mrth. The very during of the act evoked
peal upon peal Of laughtcr. Then the s eek
er arose in his place and called upon Mr..
Bro augh to withdraw below the bar.
Nothing loath, that person only stayeI to re-
mark that he would obey, but that, having
taken tie oath, he would now take his seat.
ba -oI 10 no
bowed low to the Chair, and presently facing
about ran up tho steps of the gangway
which divides that part of the chamber from
the cross-bcnches, and dropped intosa vacant
seat within the body of the House Cries Of
"Order! orderp rose from the opposition,
but the Government and their supporters
remained impcrtu bablc. Mr.. Speaker, how
ever was not to be trihel with. 1.-THE hon
orabe member said Sir Henry Brand, In
accents of offended authority, has not car
riel out my instruct ons, which were that he
should withdraw below the bar"
Mr. Bradlaugh, no longer Disconnected, re-
Piled as it seemed somewhat rudely: - did
obey your instructions and went below the
bar, and have now taken my seat in pursuance
of law, having Ia en- the oath prescribed by
law Supported by shouts of Shame!
Shame!'' the Speaker rs instantly resented
the unaccustoned rudeness, and insisted that
Mr. Bradlaugh should go below the bar and
re main there, which he accordingly did On
a question OF privilege Lord Randolph
Churchill, asked the House to affirm that the
seat for Northampton was vacant, as if Mr..
Bradlaugh q were dead. Sir Henry James,
on the other hand, suggested a more cautious
procedure. AS the case now stood it should,
ne thought, be settled in court of law, an
opinion in which Mr.. Labouchere fully con-
cured. Not SO Lord Randolph Churchill
How, he inquired, were they to know that
Mr., Bradlaug chs book was a New Testa-
ment and not copy of the Fruits of Phi
losophyF' 1t was insanity on his part to
suppose that such a pretense of complying
with most sacred and solemn form would
be accepted in that place 1t was deliberate
insult to the House. Matters had by this
time come to such pass that Mr.. Gladstone
found it advisable to interpose. He sug yested
that the question was one for calm delibera-
ton md unimpassioned discussion and pro-
posed the adjournment of the debate. Dr.
Lyons reiterated the charge of scandal and
outrage, and proposed amendment to
the Premier's notion THAT Charles Brad
laugh, in rendering himself to take an oath
which he declared to have no binding effect
upon his conscience, is guilty of profana-
ton, that he hereby is declared incapable of
sitting in this Parliament and that he be
forthwith discharged from further attend
ance." Between the making of Dr. Lyons
motion and the temperate speech of Sir Stat
ford Northcote, coanseling moderation and
calling on the Government to take some step
TO vindicate the outrage inflicted on the
dignity of the House, Lord Randolph
Churchill wa ked up to the table whence he
removed the piece of paper from which Mr..
Bradaugh had read the words of the oath.
Returning to his place he examined the docd-
ment, and afterwarl it was passed from hand
to hand for inspection until it reached Mr.
James Lowther, who flung it back upon the
table. Meanwhile Mr. Gladstone took pos
session of Mr.. Bradlaugh's little book, which
proved to be not what the member from
Woodstock had suggested, but copy of the
Revised Version" In spite of Mr.. O'Don-
nell's counsel that neither ''the book nor
''the piece of paper should be taken pos
session of by the responsible officer of the
House, lest some further legal quib Bile should
arise, Mr.. Bradlaugh's Revised Version did,
as matter of fact mysteriously disappear
from its conspicuous position near the mace.
The motion for the adjournment of the de-
bate was agreed to, and the incident ter