Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 1 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh EditionRobertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
History
Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 1 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh Edition
Robertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
It is an open question which was the worse of the two--the Rev. John
Graham Packer or the Rev. Hugh M'Sorley. I am inclined to think that
the latter carried off the palm, although his malignancy recoiled upon
himself, whilst Mr Packer's took such terrible effect. In any case a
perusal of Mr M'Sorley's "Appendix" will convince the reader, if indeed
any need convincing, that Mr Packer was not--as has lately been the
fashion to assume--the only clergyman who has striven to injure my
father's character.
CHAPTER XII.
TOTTENHAM.
Our house at Sunderland Villa was what I suppose would be called an
eight-roomed house. It comprised four bedrooms, two sitting-rooms, and
a little room built out over the kitchen, which was Mr Bradlaugh's
"den" or study. There was a garden in the rear communicating by a
private way with "The Grove," a road running at right angles to
Northumberland Park, in which our house was situated; and at the bottom
of this garden, when things looked very prosperous indeed, some stables
were built. There was to be stalled the longed-for horse which was to
take my father to the City every day; but before the stables were quite
completed Black Friday came, and with it vanished all these entrancing
dreams. The building indeed remained, but merely as a playhouse for
us children, or to afford an occasional lodging for a friend (the
coachman's quarters being well and snugly built), and also, I fear, as
a "good joke" to the neighbourhood.
We usually had one or more dogs, belonging to the various members of
the family, for we were all fond of animals, and any big ones were kept
in the paved forecourt of the stables. At one time there were three
dwellers in the court, but these ultimately thinned down to one, the
dog Bruin, my father's special favourite. Bruin was part retriever and
part St Bernard, a fine dog to look at, and wonderfully clever. Mr
Bradlaugh was never weary of relating anecdotes of his intelligence
and sagacity. From his kennel in the court Bruin's chain-range covered
the garden gate, and with him there no bolt or lock was necessary,
for while with friends he was the mildest and gentlest of dogs, with
strangers or suspicious persons he was truly formidable. He made no
unnecessary show of what he could do; he quietly watched the person
until he was well within his reach, and then hurled himself at his
throat. This I once saw. He was devoted to my father, and with him
almost perfectly docile and obedient. And when, in 1870, Mr Bradlaugh
had to part with him, losing Bruin was by no means the smallest grief
at a time when there was little else but sadness and sorrow.
At St. Helen's Place Mr James Thomson (B. V.) had shared our home,
and he again lived with us for some years at Sunderland Villa. The
acquaintance which sprang up between them during Mr Bradlaugh's army
experiences in Ireland had soon ripened into warm friendship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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