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
Dr F. R. Lees started a personal house-to-house canvass; this was
followed by the joint canvass of Henley and Gilpin--undertaken at the
urgent request of Lord Henley, for Mr Gilpin publicly declared it to be
a practice which ought not to be encouraged--and then came my father's
canvass. Much as he disliked it, he felt obliged in this case to do
as the other candidates were doing; he issued an address, however, in
which he said: "I desire to put on record my formal protest against
the system of house-to-house canvassing, in which I only take part
in obedience to the wish of my General Committee, and because all my
opponents having resorted to it, some might think me slighting them if
I abstained. I hold with Mr Gilpin that the system is a bad one. In
canvassing, I do not come to beg your vote; if you need such a pitiable
personal appeal, I prefer not having your support. I come to you that,
seeing me, you may question me if you desire, and that you who cannot
be present at the meetings may have the opportunity of better knowing
my principles."
The canvassing in those days of open voting was even harder work than
it is to-day; but Mr Bradlaugh was gallantly supported by a number of
warm friends, amongst whom he was proud to have the veteran Thomas
Allsop, and there was also much that was inspiring in coming face to
face with the ardour and enthusiasm of the Northampton Radical working
men. But if there was much to inspire, there was likewise sometimes
much to sadden; in several instances a voter's wife answered that
her husband "must look to his bread," and one threw an ominous light
upon the penalty liable to be paid for a conscientious vote by saying
that her husband "had lost his situation last election, and this
time she would take care that he voted as his employer wished." My
father, in the course of his canvass also, as might be expected, met
with instances of "bitter and coarse fanaticism," which must have
been peculiarly unpleasant in the somewhat defenceless position of a
candidate making a personal canvass.
At a great town's meeting, held for the purpose of hearing an
expression of their political views and an account of their political
action from the borough members, Mr Bradlaugh's committee sent a
deputation to ask whether their candidate would be heard. They were
told that he would be refused admission; he attended, and was refused
admission, but his friends carried him in. The report before me says
that "Mr Gilpin, on appearing on the platform, shook hands with Mr
Bradlaugh and with Dr Lees; Lord Henley, supported chiefly by his legal
advisers and their friends, shook hands with nobody, but shook himself
when the groans echoed through the building." The four candidates
addressed the meeting, but the uproar during Lord Henley's speech
was so great that he could scarcely be heard, and the proceedings
terminated with "three cheers for Bradlaugh."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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