Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 2 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh Edition — John Shaqi
Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 2 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh EditionRobertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Religion
Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 2 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh Edition
Robertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
"The members of the Clionian Society, having made Mr Bradlaugh an
honorary member of the same, desire, if he has no serious objection,
to see him wear their badge this evening.
ANNA C. LONG."
He did wear the badge in his button-hole, "and very pretty it looked,
and very pretty the donors looked too as they sat in the opera-house in
front of me," he said.
In continuing his journey west he lectured at Chicago, and this time
he was fortunately able to spend some hours with Hypatia Carlile and
her husband. At Milwaukee his visit created extraordinary enthusiasm.
"Nearly all the prominent lawyers, divines, newspaper men, merchants,
thinkers, and writers of the city, with their wives, heard his first
lecture; and they applauded at shorter intervals than any lecturer ever
was applauded here before. It is rare indeed that such an aggregate
of intellect is seen gathered together at one time in this city as
was the case on Thursday, and that one man receives such approval."[2]
The Milwaukee people urgently begged for a second lecture, which a
fortunately vacant date in the following week enabled him to give them.
[Footnote 2: _Chicago Tribune._]
Iowa was the furthest point west he reached on this visit, the whole
journey covering a distance of more than 4500 miles. When he went west
again in the following February he met with a terrific snowstorm,
generally described as the worst seen for many years. At Milwaukee
the cold was so severe that at his lecture the audience sat enveloped
in furs and rugs, although the janitor protested that he had used
three tons of coal in his endeavour to warm the Music Hall. "The next
time," commented my father, "I hope he will use thirty tons." The
cold grew more and more intense, until at Fond du Lac (Wisconsin)
which he reached on 10th February, the spirit thermometers registered
forty degrees below zero. On leaving Fond du Lac there was a wait of
ten hours at the station before any train came by which he could get
to Oshkosh, where he was due that evening; at which place--reached
only just in time--he found a fine audience awaiting him in spite of
the weather, if "weather" can be looked upon as an adequate term for
atmospheric conditions where one thermometer registers forty-five
degrees below zero and the others are congealed. The following day
he was due at Madison, but as traffic was suspended he remained for
a short time snow-bound at Oshkosh. Towards the end of February his
farewell lecture was given at Chicago to the largest audience he had
had that winter. "Every seat was filled, the stage was filled, the
aisles were filled, and even the staircases were alive with people."[3]
On this journey west he did a tremendous amount of travelling; in one
stretch of eight days he was only two nights in bed.
[Footnote 3: He spoke in M'Cormick's Hall to an audience of 3600
persons, of whom 3500 had paid for admission; the hall had never been
so full before, and the audience was as enthusiastic as it was large.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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