The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-01-31
AND GOSPELS.
As a Boy Charles Bradlaugh Could
Not Reconcile Them Salts
factorily.
A Clerical Father Drove Him From
Home and Confirmed Him
in Inf1delity.
by 1ndefatigable Efforts He Becomes a
Cosmopolitan Character-His
Death In London.

at six O'Clock this morning. His end was
quiet and peaceful. He was insensible
when he died and seemed to suffer no pain
The immediate cause of his death was urae-
mia.
Charles Bradlaugh the eminent English
atheist and republican, was born in Hox-
ton. London, on Sept. 26, 1888. Owing to
the extreme poverty of his parents he
ceased attending school before he was
eleven years old. What education he got
he received at elementary schools. On
leaving there he became an errand boy
Early in life he developed taste for poll
tics and at the age of fifteen appeared as an
orator before street audiences during the
political turmoils of 1S474S. The origin of
his atheistic opinions dates from the same
period. Studying to fit himself
for Sunday school exhibition
before tho bishop of London,
he became sceptical and declared his ina
bility to reconcile the thirty-nine articles
with the four gospels. His father, intlu-
encea by the clergy. gave him three days in
which to alter his opinions, on penalty of
losing his situation. He accepted the al
tentative and quit his place and his home
forever. For year he earned soant liv-
ing by selling coal on commission, and
then, getting somewhat in debt, he enlisted
in December, 1850, in the service of the
East India company, where he renamed for
three years, until small legacy enabled
him to purchase his discharge. Returning
to London he secured a position as clerk in
a soil icitor's office, and entered at once up
on his life career of political and atheistic
writer and orator. He wrote under the
pseudonym of "Iconoclast," lectured at the
hall of science, and gained considerable no.
toriety by his discussions with clergymen
and others on public platforms. His views
met with the fercest opposition on all sides.
Part of this time, for two years, 185S-59, he
added to his notoriety by publishing
journal called the Investigator, which
had to suspend for want of capital. One
year later his new journal, The National
Reformer, was established. and met with
more success than the first venture. 1t
greatly increased Bradlaugh's reputation
for ability. By persistently attacking every
opponent he could reach either by voice or
pen, his fame as Il debater and public orator
grew steadily until he reached the high
position of political power which he enjoyed
up to the day of his death. Systematic
attempts were made to suppress the Re
former, but their only effect was to increase
it's circulation. His great legal battle with
the attorney general, who WAS prosecuting
the case against the paper on account of
Bradlaugh's refusal to have it licensed, re-
suited in 1868 in his complete victory. He
argued his own case.
Bradlaugh's fight for a seat in parliament
began in 1868, but it took three contests be-
fore he succeeded, in 1880 in winning for
Northampton against Henri Labouchere.
But after all his struggles he was refused
4
to take the prescribed oath and wanted to
affirm. The committee appointed to ex-
anime into his right to affirm, reported in
the negative by the narrow ma jority Of one
vote. Bradlaugh persisted in retaining his
seat and voting. He was forcibly removed
by the Sergeant-at-armS and prosecuted for
a penalty in sitting i'll the house without
being qualified. In turn he sued for main
tenance while in prison and got n Judgment
against him. Three times he resigned his
seat and appealed to his constituency against
the house, and each time, after fierce strug-
affirmation bill was brought in, and despite
one of Gladstone's finest efforts. was lost
by three votes. Finally, when the parlia-
ment of 1SSO-85 was dead, Bradlaugh, who
had again been elected for Northampton,
was allowed to take his seat in peace. Since
then he has been prominent figure in the
house debates, and successfully moved the
establishment of the labor bureau. A few
days ago the house of commons ordered ex-
plunged fromits Journal sall proceedings con-
nected with the refusal to admit Bradlaugh
to his seat.
In politics Bradlaugh was of that ad-
vanced republican type to which thousands
of his countrymen are rapidly advancing.
He assumed that the fright to deal with the
throne is inalienably vested in the English
people, to be exercised by them through
their representatives in parliament;" held
that the house of Brunswick occupies it
only from the acts of settlement and union
and sought the repeal of those acts after the
death of the present queen. His aspira-
ticns were then to have commonwealth
after the American model, to be attained
as peaceably as possible.
As the leader of the secularists Bradlaugh
has professed what are known as Malthusian
opinions on the population question. He
and Mrs. Annie Besant were prosecuted in
1876 for the publication of an old book by
certain DIR. knowlton, and both sentenced
to six months imprisonment and 600 fine.
The court of appeals, however, quashsd the
Bradlaugh was also a bitter
opponent of the system of perpetual pen
sions. At the same time he was an out
spoken friend of the oppressed, not only in
his own, but in other countries. When
Italy was fighting for freedom he raised 100
guineas by his own exertions and sent them
to Garibaldi. He also visited Ireland and
took sides with the home rulers.
Bradlaugh visited the United States in
the fall of 1873, and lectured in most of the |
big cities. His reception i'll all cases was
hearty, especially in Boston and New York. |
When he lectured in Boston Wendall Phil |
lps presided and introduced him and |
Charles Sumner and William Lloyd Garri- |
son sat on the platform.
HARRINGTON TO MARRY.