The attempt to take the child from me by force indeed failed, but later
the theft was successfully carried out by due process of law. It is
always a blunder from a tactical point of view for a Christian to use
methods of illegal violence in persecuting an Atheist in this Christian
land; legal violence is a far safer weapon, for courage can checkmate the
first, while it is helpless before the second. All Christians who adopt
the sound old principle that "no faith need be kept with the heretic"
should remember that they can always guard themselves against unpleasant
consequences by breaking faith under cover of the laws against heresy,
which still remain on our Statute Book _ad majorem Dei gloriam_.
In September, 1875, Mr. Bradlaugh again sailed for America, leaving
plenty of work to be done by his colleagues before he returned. The
Executive of the National Secular Society had determined to issue a
"Secular Song Book", and the task of selection and of editing was
confided to me. The little book was duly issued, and ran through two
editions; then, feeling that it was marred by many sins both of
commission and omission, I set my face against the publication of a third
edition, hoping that a compilation more worthy of Free Thought might be
made. I am half inclined to take the matter up again, and set to work at
a fresh collection.
The delivery and publication of a course of six lectures on the early
part of the French Revolution was another portion of that autumn's work;
they involved a large amount of labor, as I had determined to tell the
story from the people's point of view, and was therefore compelled to
read a large amount of the current literature of the time, as well as the
great standard histories of Louis Blanc, Michelet, and others.
Fortunately for me, Mr. Bradlaugh had a splendid collection of works on
the subject, and before he left England he brought to me two cabs full of
books, French and English, from all points of view, aristocratic,
ecclesiastical, democratic, and I studied these diligently and
impartially until the French Revolution became to me as a drama in which
I had myself taken part, and the actors therein became personal friends
and foes. In this, again, as in so much of my public work, I have to
thank Mr. Bradlaugh for the influence which led me to read fully all
sides of a question, and to read most carefully those from which I
differed most, ere I judged myself competent to write or to speak
thereon.
The late autumn was clouded by the news of Mr. Bradlaugh's serious
illness in America. After struggling for some time against ill-health he
was struck down by an attack of pleurisy, to which soon was added typhoid
fever, and for a time lay at the brink of the grave. Dr. Otis, his able
physician, finding that it was impossible to give him the necessary
attendance at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, put him into his own carriage and
drove him to the Hospital of St. Luke's, where he confided him to the
care of Dr. Leaming, himself also visiting him daily. Of this illness the
_Baltimore Advertiser_ wrote:
"Mr. Charles Bradlaugh, the famous English Radical lecturer, has been so
very dangerously ill that his life has almost been despaired of. He was
taken ill at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and partially recovered; but on the
day upon which a lecture had been arranged from him before the Liberal
Club he was taken down a second time with a relapse, which has been very
near proving fatal. The cause was overwork and complete nervous
prostration which brought on low fever. His physician has allowed one
friend only to see him daily for five minutes, and removed him to St.
Luke's Hospital for the sake of the absolute quiet, comfort, and
intelligent attendance he could secure there, and for which he was glad
to pay munificently. This long and severe illness has disappointed the
hopes and retarded the object for which he came to this country; but he
is gentleness and patience itself in his sickness in this strange land,
and has endeared himself greatly to his physicians and attendants by his
gratitude and appreciation of the slightest attention."
There is no doubt that the care so willingly lavished on the English
stranger saved his life, and those who in England honor Charles Bradlaugh
as chief and love him as friend must always keep in grateful memory those
who in his sorest need served him so nobly well. Those who think that an
Atheist cannot calmly face the prospect of death might well learn a
lesson from the fortitude and courage shown by an Atheist as he lay at
the point of death, far from home and from all he loved best. The Rev.
Mr. Frothingham bore public and admiring testimony in his own church to
Mr. Bradlaugh's perfect serenity, at once fearless and unpretending, and,
himself a Theist, gave willing witness to the Atheist's calm strength.
Mr. Bradlaugh returned to England at the end of December, worn to a
shadow and terribly weak, and for many a long month he bore the traces of
his wrestle with death. Indeed, he felt the effect of the illness for
years, for typhoid fever is a foe whose weapons leave scars even after
the healing of the wounds it inflicts.
The first work done by Mr. Bradlaugh on resuming the editorial chair of
the _National Reformer_, was to indite a vigorous protest against the
investment of national capital in the Suez Canal Shares. He exposed the
financial condition of Egypt, gave detail after detail of the Khedive's
indebtedness, unveiled the rottenness of the Egyptian Government, warned
the people of the danger of taking the first steps in a path which must
lead to continual interference in Egyptian finance, denounced the
shameful job perpetrated by Mr. Disraeli in borrowing the money for the
purchase from the Rothschilds at enormous interest. His protest was, of
course, useless, but its justice has been proved by the course of events.
The bombarding of Alexandria, the shameful repression of the national
movement in Egypt, the wholesale and useless slaughter in the Soudan, the
waste of English lives and English money, the new burden of debt and of
responsibility now assumed by the Government, all these are the results
of the fatal purchase of shares in the Suez Canal by Mr. Disraeli; yet
against the chorus of praise which resounded from every side when the
purchase was announced, but one voice of disapproval and of warning was
raised at first; others soon caught the warning and saw the dangers it
pointed out, but for awhile Charles Bradlaugh stood alone in his
opposition, and to him belongs the credit of at once seeing the peril
which lay under the purchase.
The 1876 Conference of the National Secular Society held at Leeds showed
the growing power of the organisation, and was made notable by a very
pleasant incident--the presentation to a miner, William Washington, of a
silver tea-pot and some books, in recognition of a very noble act of
self-devotion. An explosion had occurred on December 6th, 1875, at
Swaithe Main pit, in which 143 miners were killed; a miner belonging to a
neighboring pit, named William Washington, an Atheist, when every one was
hanging back, sprang into the cage to descend into the pit in forlorn
hope of rescue, when to descend seemed almost certain death. Others
swiftly followed the gallant volunteer, but he had set the example, and
it was felt by the Executive of the National Secular Society that his
heroism deserved recognition, William Washington set his face against any
gift to himself, so the subscription to a testimonial was limited to 6d.,
and a silver teapot was presented to him for his wife and some books for
his children. At this same Conference a committee was appointed,
consisting of Messrs. Charles Bradlaugh, G.J. Holyoake, C. Watts, R.A.
Cooper,--Gimson, T. Slater, and Mrs. Besant, to draw up a fresh statement
of the principles and objects of the National Secular Society; it was
decided that this statement should be submitted to the ensuing
Conference, that the deliberation on the report of the Committee should
"be open to all Freethinkers, but that only those will be entitled to
vote on the ratification who declare their determination to enter the
Society on the basis of the ratified constitution". It was hoped that by
this means various scattered and independent societies might be brought
into union, and that the National Secular Society might he thereby
strengthened. The committee held a very large number of meetings and
finally decided on the following statement, which was approved of at the
Conference held at Nottingham in 1877, and stands now as the "Principles
and Object of the National Secular Society":--
"The National Secular Society has been formed to maintain the principles
and rights of Freethought, and to direct their application to the Secular
improvement of this life.
"By the principle of Freethought is meant the exercise of the
understanding upon relevant facts, and independently of penal or priestly
intimidation.
"By the rights of Freethought are meant the liberty of free criticism for
the security of truth, and the liberty of free publicity for the
extension of truth.
"Secularism relates to the present existence of man, and to actions the
issue of which can be tested by experience.
"It declares that the promotion of human improvement and happiness is the
highest duty, and that morality is to be tested by utility.
"That in order to promote effectually the improvement and happiness of
mankind, every individual of the human family ought to be well placed and
well instructed, and that all who are of a suitable age ought to be
usefully employed for their own and the general good.
"That human improvement and happiness cannot be effectually promoted
without civil and religious liberty; and that, therefore, it is the duty
of every individual to actively attack all barriers to equal freedom of
thought and utterance for all, upon political, theological, and social
subjects.
"A Secularist is one who deduces his moral duties from considerations
which pertain to this life, and who, practically recognising the above
duties, devotes himself to the promotion of the general good.
"The object of the National Secular Society is to disseminate the above
principles by every legitimate means in its power."
At this same Conference of Leeds was inaugurated the subscription to the
statue to be erected in Rome to the memory of Giordano Bruno, burned in
that city for Atheism in 1600; this resulted in the collection of £60.
The Executive appointed by the Leeds Conference made great efforts to
induce the Freethinkers of the country to work for the repeal of the
Blasphemy Laws, and in October 1876 they issued a copy of a petition
against those evil laws to every one of the forty branches of the
Society. The effort proved, however, of little avail. The laws had not
been put in force for a long time, and were regarded with apathy as being
obsolete, and it has needed the cruel imprisonments inflicted by Mr.
Justice North on Messrs. Foote, Ramsey, and Kemp, to arouse the
Freethought party to a sense of their duty in the matter.
The year 1877 had scarcely opened ere we found ourselves with a serious
fight on our hands. A pamphlet written early in the present century by
Charles Knowlton, M.D., entitled "The Fruits of Philosophy", which had
been sold unchallenged in England for nearly forty years, was suddenly
seized at Bristol as an obscene publication. The book had been supplied
in the ordinary course of business by Mr. Charles Watts, but the Bristol
bookseller had altered its price, had inserted some indecent pictures in
it, and had sold it among literature to which the word obscene was fairly
applied. In itself, Dr. Knowlton's work was merely a physiological
treatise, and it advocated conjugal prudence and parental responsibility;
it argued in favor of early marriage, but as over-large families among
persons of limited incomes imply either pauperism, or lack of necessary
food, clothing, education, and fair start in life for the children, Dr.
Knowlton advocated the restriction of the number of the family within the
means of existence, and stated the means by which this restriction should
be carried out. On hearing of the prosecution, Mr. Watts went down to
Bristol, and frankly announced himself as the publisher of the book. Soon
after his return to London he was arrested on the charge of having
published an obscene book, and was duly liberated on bail. Mr. and Mrs.
Watts, Mr. Bradlaugh and myself met to arrange our plan of united action
on Friday, January 12th, and it was decided that Mr. Watts should defend
the book, that a fund should at once be raised for his legal expenses,
and that once more the right of publication of useful knowledge in a
cheap form should be defended by the leaders of the Freethought party.
After long and friendly discussion we separated with the plan of the
campaign arranged, and it was decided that I should claim the sympathy
and help of the Plymouth friends, whom I was to address on the following
Sunday, January 14th. I went down to Plymouth on January 13th, and there
received a telegram from Mr. Watts, saying that a change of plan had been
decided on. I was puzzled, but none the less I appealed for help as I had
promised to do, and a collection of £8 1s. 10d. for Mr. Watts' Defence
Fund was made after my evening lecture. To my horror, on returning to
London, I found that Mr. Watts had given way before the peril of
imprisonment, and had decided to plead guilty to the charge of publishing
an obscene book, and to throw himself on the mercy of the Court, relying
on his previous good character and on an alleged ignorance of the
contents of the incriminated work. The latter plea we knew to be false,
for Mr. Watts before going down to Bristol to declare himself responsible
for the pamphlet had carefully read it and had marked all the passages
which, being physiological, might be attacked as "obscene". This marked
copy he had sent to the Bristol bookseller, before he himself went to
Bristol to attend the trial, and under these circumstances any pretence
of ignorance of the contents of the book was transparently inaccurate.
Mr. Watts' surrender, of course, upset all the arrangements we had agreed
on; Mr. Bradlaugh and myself were prepared to stand by him in battle, but
not in surrender. I at once returned to the Secretary of the Plymouth
Branch the money collected for defence, not for capitulation, and Mr.
Bradlaugh published the following brief statement in the _National
Reformer_ for January 21st:
"PROSECUTION OF Mr. CHARLES WATTS.--Mr. Charles Watts, as most of our
readers will have already learned, has been committed for trial at the
Central Criminal Court for February 5th, for misdemeanor, for publication
of a work on the population question, entitled "Fruits of Philosophy", by
Charles Knowlton, M.D. This book has been openly published in England and
America for more than thirty years. It was sold in England by James
Watson, who always bore the highest repute. On James Watson's retirement
from business it was sold by Holyoake & Co., at Fleet Street House, and
was afterwards sold by Mr. Austin Holyoake until the time of his death;
and a separate edition was, up till last week, still sold by Mr. Brooks,
of 282, Strand, W.C. When Mr. James Watson died, Mr. Charles Watts bought
from James Watson's widow a large quantity of stereotype plates,
including this work. If this book is to be condemned as obscene, so also
in my opinion must be many published by Messrs. W.H. Smith & Son, and
other publishers, against whose respectability no imputation has been
made. Such books as Darwin's 'Origin of Species' and 'Descent of Man'
must immediately be branded as obscene, while no medical work must be
permitted publication; and all theological works, like those of Dulaure,
Inman, etc., dealing with ancient creeds, must at once be suppressed. The
bulk of the publications of the society for the repeal of the Contagious
Diseases Acts, together with its monthly organ, the _Shield_, would be
equally liable. The issue of the greater part of classic authors, and of
Lemprière, Shakspere, Sterne, Fielding, Richardson, Rabelais, etc., must
be stopped: while the Bible--containing obscene passages omitted from the
lectionary--must no longer be permitted circulation. All these contain
obscenity which is either inserted to amuse or to instruct, and the
medical work now assailed deals with physiological points purely to
instruct, and to increase the happiness of men and women.
"If the pamphlet now prosecuted had been brought to me for publication, I
should probably have declined to publish it, not because of the
subject-matter, but because I do not like its style. If I had once
published it, I should defend it until the very last. Here Mr. Watts and
myself disagree in opinion; and as he is the person chiefly concerned, it
is, of course, right that his decision should determine what is done. He
tells me that he thinks the pamphlet indefensible, and that he was misled
in publishing it without examination as part of James Watson's stock. I
think it ought to be fought right through. Under these circumstances I
can only leave Mr. Watts to speak for himself, as we so utterly differ in
opinion on this case that I cease to be his proper interpreter. I have,
therefore, already offered Mr. Watts the columns of the _National
Reformer_, that he may put before the party his view of the case, which
he does in another column."--C. BRADLAUGH.