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
In the middle of July (1860) he was lecturing for the first time in
Norwich. St Andrew's Hall was taken, and the proceeds of the lecture
were to go to Garibaldi; but this was one of the places where religious
prejudice was strong, and where therefore the receipts did not equal
the expenditure. On the second evening Mr Bradlaugh delivered an
open-air address at Chapel Field, when "yells, hisses, abuse, a
little mud, and a few stones formed the chorus and finale of the
entertainment." Nothing daunted, in September he went to Norwich again,
and the orderly behaviour of his audience formed a marked contrast to
their previous conduct. By November, when he once more visited Norwich,
the Freethinkers there had found themselves strong enough to hire a
commodious chapel for the winter months, substituting a piano for the
communion table. From Norwich his steps turned naturally to Yarmouth,
where he was much amused by hearing the town crier follow up his "Oyez!
Oyez!" by the announcement that "the cel-e-bra-ted I-con-o-clast" had
arrived.
Only a few weeks elapsed before Mr Bradlaugh again went to Norwich and
Yarmouth. He went the week immediately before Christmas, and had an
eight hours' journey to get there, with the driving snow coming through
"the Eastern Counties Railway Company's patent [3rd class] ventilating
carriages," which seemed constructed with the express object of making
"perfectly clear to the unfortunate passengers the criminality of their
poverty." This, his fourth visit to Norwich, was a great success, and
the lectures at Yarmouth were also more favourably listened to. By
January he found his audiences increasing at Norwich, and the interest
perceptibly growing, but at Yarmouth he received a check. There had
been much commotion in the local official circles at the repeated
visits of the Atheist lecturer, and pressure was used on all sides, so
that only a small sale room in a back street could be hired for the
lectures. The room was soon overcrowded; Mr Bradlaugh had to be his own
chairman, and on going home walked to the music of yells and hootings.
This display of intolerance roused up some of the more thoughtful
inhabitants, and the theatre was obtained for the following night,
when, despite the necessarily brief notice, a large audience--including
many ladies--assembled to hear the lecture. A Mr Fletcher was elected
to the chair, the proceedings were orderly throughout, and Mr Bradlaugh
walked home unmolested.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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