Never was a man less understood. I never knew any one with a stronger sense of public decorum or with a deeper respect for law. When he asked leave to affirm in the House of Commons it was said by some that he was seeking notoriety; by others, that he wished to defy the law. What led to it was this: I was sitting by his side when the Parliament of 1881 met, and he said to me, "I shall ask to be allowed to affirm, as with my views this would be more decorous than for me to take the oath." I replied, "Are you sure that you legally can affirm?" "Yes," he answered; "I have looked closely into the matter and I am satisfied of my legal right." His attempt to affirm was, therefore, solely due to a desire to respect the feelings of others, and to the conviction that the law allowed him to do so. Mr. Bradlaugh was my colleague for ten years. During all these years our relations, political and personal, were always of the most cordial character. He was in private life a thoroughly {162} true and amiable man, whilst in public life he was ever ready to sacrifice popularity to his convictions of what was right. He was, as is known, an atheist, but his standard of duty was a very high one, and he lived up to it. His life was an example to Christians, for he abounded in every Christian virtue. This the House of Commons came at last to recognise. I do not think that there is a single member more popular or more respected than he was on both sides. Often and often Conservatives have, in a friendly way, said to me: "What a much better man your colleague is than you are!" And I heartily agreed with them. Regarding money, he was more than disinterested. So that he had enough to pay for his food, his clothes, and for his modest lodging in St. John's Wood, he never seemed to trouble himself as to ways and means. In one part of his life he had been led into some sort of commercial enterprise which did not succeed, and the failure resulted in his owing a considerable sum. He called his creditors together, told them that he had nothing, but if they would agree to wait he would pay them twenty shillings in the pound. They trusted him. He went to America, made the money by lecturing; returned, called them together, and fulfilled his promise. His lodgings in St. John's Wood were over a music shop. They consisted of one or two bedrooms and of a large room, with deal shelves round it for his books, an old bureau where he wrote, and a few chairs and tables. He had a great affection for his books, and the only time I ever saw him disquieted about money matters was when he feared that he might have to give them up, owing to some bankruptcy proceedings that were threatened, in consequence of one of his numerous actions on the oath question. In an article, published in the _Northampton Echo_ just after the death of Mr. Labouchere, that able writer, Mr. C. A. McCurdy, comments thus on the first Radical members for Northampton: