Mr. Bradlaugh Proved Utterly Unfit to Represent Any English Constituency

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Excerpt from Mr. Bradlaugh Proved Utterly Unfit to Represent Any English Constituency: An Appeal to the Men of England It is gratifying to know to how large an extent the Appeal to the Men of England has check-mated Mr. Bradlaugh. I rejoice in this because the contest is one in which issues of very grave character are involved. This question is not one of party politics, much less is it a question of "the infringement of the rights of a constituency." No one knows better than Mr. Bradlaugh does that the opposition which exists against him arises from his own lawless conduct. For many years, on hundreds of platforms in England, he has uttered the most revolting, atheistic, and social blasphemies. Through the medium of the press he has circulated these shocking statements by hundreds of thousands. This has been done to further his atheistic principles when, under the self-assumed title of "Iconoclast, " he went through the Country using the vile language, samples of which are furnished in "This Appeal." Beyond this, he has circulated books which are loathsome and abominable. These disgusting publications teach doctrines and practices which are subversive of the Divine institutions of home, marriage, social purity, and national morality. It must not be forgotten that, for publishing and circulating "The Fruits of Philosophy", Mr. Charles Bradlaugh and the abnormal Mrs. Besant were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to six months' imprisonment. Mr. Bradlaugh never tires of appealing to the sympathies of his fellow countrymen on the ground of political liberty. In doing this, I charge him with political dishonesty. Few men know better than he does how to draw "a red herring" across the scent. Mr. Bradlaugh represents that the opposition he receives arises from the fact that he is a representative of working men. This is altogether untrue. Few men in the House of Commons are more respected than Messrs. Broadhurst and Burt, who are well-known representatives of the working classes. The social mischief wrought by his abominable publications in Northampton is simply deplorable. One of the leading Christian men and Liberal politicans in the town told me that during the past twelve years the growth of infidelity, lawlessness, sensual license, and blasphemy amongst working men and young people has been appalling, and that the outlook, socially, was simply deplorable. Mr. Bradlaugh has recently threatened me with an action at law. I am not in the least alarmed. I sent his solicitor's letter to my lawyer, who replied that we should defend any action taken. I am free to admit that if my statements are not true, I had no right to publish them. Further, if any man in England should charge me with making or publishing such statements, and they were not true, I would certainly give him all which the law should allow. Mrs. Besant has attempted to reply to this Appeal. A more worthless, or scurrilous diatribe has seldom been issued. Unable to answer the definite charges made, she resorted to the old expedient of abusing the plaintiff. With all the Editorial material in her hands she failed to answer the charges. Mrs. Besant's denial of the accuracy of quotation is entirely false, as the columns of the National Reformer, the Pamphlets, and the British Museum Library conclusively prove. The statement that I had left out contexts which, if quoted, would have entirely altered the sense of Mr. Bradlaugh's words, is absurd and untrue. What context could alter the blasphemous directness and evident meaning of the sentences which I have quoted? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com