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Typo: A Monthly Newspaper and Literary Review, Volume 5
[Charles Bradlaugh]
Charles Bradlaugh, m.p., who died on the 30th ult., was one of the ablest and most prominent men of the time; and his real place in the work of the past thirty years will be more accurately estimated a generation hence. In his youth he was a Sunday School teacher, and in the course of his studies, like many others, had a difficulty in accepting and a conscientious objection to teaching certain articles of the creed in which he had been educated. He laid his difficulties before his minister, who, being unable to assist him, dealt with him in such a manner as led to his rejecting all belief in revelation. Under the name of « Iconoclast, » he became known as one of the most active and aggressive of modern infidel leaders. He was the founder of and chief contributor to the National Reformer; and though in later years he became more tolerant and less aggressive, he remained to the last the leader of the English freethought party. His early struggles, his election to Parliament, the legal difficulties in obtaining his seat owing to his refusal to take the oath, are all matters of common knowledge. In early life he studied the law, and had he devoted himself to its practice, might have attained eminence in the profession. Often engaged in litigation, he was uniformly successful. He was identified with many social reforms, and through his life maintained an irreproachable character. His greatest mistake was in identifying himself with a vile pamphlet by an American quack, which had been suppressed in England. He was on friendly terms with the publisher, and believing that the suppression was irregular, published the book himself, and defied the authorities. He gained a legal victory, but at great cost of reputation, for the book was a filthy and infamous production. This was the great mistake of his later years. For his services in connexion with the reform of the pension system, and his action in regard to the labor question, and many other reforms, his name will always be gratefully remembered.