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n brought up. He discussed with Colin Campbell,
a smart and fluent debater; he argued with James Savage, a man of
considerable learning, a cool and calm reasoner, and a deliberate
speaker, whose speech on occasion was full of biting sarcasms; and
after a discussion with the latter upon "The Inspiration of the
Bible," my father admitted that he was convinced by the superior
logic of his antagonist, and owning himself beaten, felt obliged to
abandon his defence of orthodoxy. Nevertheless, he did not suddenly
leap into Atheism: his views were for a little time inclined to
Deism; but once started on the road of doubt, his careful study
and--despite his youth--judicial temper, gradually brought him to
the Atheistic position. With the Freethinkers of Warner Place he
became a teetotaller, which was an additional offence in the eyes of
the orthodox; and while still in a state of indecision on certain
theological points, he submitted Robert Taylor's "Diegesis" to his
spiritual director, the Rev. J. G. Packer.

During all this time Mr Packer had not been idle. He obtained a
foothold in my father's family, insisted on the younger children
regularly attending Church and Sunday School, rocked the baby's cradle,
and talked over the father and mother to such purpose that they
consented to hang all round the walls of the sitting-room great square
cards, furnished by him, bearing texts which he considered appropriate
to the moment. One, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God,"
was hung up in the most prominent place over the fireplace, and just
opposite the place where the victim sat to take his meals. Such stupid
and tactless conduct would be apt to irritate a patient person, and
goad even the most feeble-spirited into some kind of rebellion; and I
cannot pretend that my father was either one or the other. He glowered
angrily at the texts, and was glad enough to put the house door between
himself and the continuous insult put upon him at the instigation of
Mr Packer. In 1860, the rev. gentleman wrote a letter described later
by my father as "mendacious," in which he sought to explain away his
conduct, and to make out that he had tried to restrain Mr Bradlaugh,
senior. In illustration thereof, he related the following incident:--

 "The father, returning home one evening, saw a board hanging at the
 Infidels' door announcing some discussion by Bradlaugh, in which
 my name was mentioned not very respectfully, which announcement so
 enraged the father that he took the board down and carried it home
 with him, the Infidels calling after him, and threatening him with a
 prosecution if he did not restore the placard immediately.

 "When Mr Bradlaugh, senior, got home, and had had a little time for
 reflection, he sent for me and asked my advice, and I urged him
 successfully immediately to send [back] the said placard."

That little story, like certain other little stories, is extremely
interesting, but unfortunately it has not the merit of accuracy. The
facts of the case have been told me by my father's sister (Mrs Norman),
who was less than two years younger than her brother Charles, and who,
like him, is gifted with an excellent, almost unerring memory. Her
story is this. One autumn night (the end of October or beginning of
November) Mr Packer came to the house to see her father. He had not yet
come home from his office, so Mr Packer sat down and rocked the cradle,
which contained a fewdays-old baby girl. After some little time,
during which Mr Packer kept to his post as self-constituted nurse, Mr
Bradlaugh, sen., returned home. The two men were closeted together for
a few minutes, and then went out together. It was a wild and stormy
night, and Mr Bradlaugh wore one of those large cloaks that are I think
called "Inverness" capes. After some time he came home, carrying under
his cape two boards which he had taken away from the Warner Place Hall.
He behaved like a madman, raving and stamping about, until the monthly
nurse, who had long known the family, came downstairs to know what was
the matter. He showed her the boards, and told her he was going to burn
them. Mrs Bailey, the nurse, begged him not to do so, talked to him
and coaxed him, and reminded him that he might have an action brought
against him for stealing, and at length tried to induce him to let her
take them back. By this time the stress of his rage was over, and she,
taking his consent for granted, put on her shawl, and hiding the boards
beneath it, went out into the rain and storm to replace them outside
the Hall. The inference Mrs Norman drew from these proceedings was that
Mr Packer had urged on her father to do what he dared not do himself.
It is worthy of note that when Mrs Norman told me the story neither she
nor I had read Mr Packer's version, and did not even know that he had
written one.

When Mr Packer received the "Diegesis" he seems to have looked upon the
sending of it as an insult, and, exercising all the influence he had
been diligently acquiring over the mind of Mr Bradlaugh, sen., induced
him to notify Messrs Green & Co., the coal merchants and employers of
his son, that he would withdraw his security if within the space of
three days his son did not alter his views. Thus Mr Packer was able to
hold out to his rebellious pupil the threat that he had three days in
which "to change his opinions or lose his situation."

Whether it was ever intended that this threat should be carried out
it is now impossible to determine. Mr Bradlaugh, who seldom failed
to find a word on behalf of those who tried to injure him--even for
Mr Newdegate and Lord Randolph Churchill he could find excuses when
any of us resented their bigoted or spiteful persecution--said in his
"Autobiography," written in 1873, that he thought the menace was used
to terrify him into submission, and that there was no real intention of
enforcing it. Looking at the whole circumstances, and from a practical
point of view, this seems likely. One is reluctant to believe that a
father would permit himself to be influenced by his clergyman to the
extent of depriving his son of the means of earning his bread. His own
earnings were so scanty that he could ill afford to throw away his
son's salary, especially if he would have to keep him in addition.
The one strong point in favour of the harsher view is that when the
son took the threat exactly to the letter, the father never called
him back or made a sign from which might be gathered that he had been
misunderstood; and he suffered the boy to go without one word to show
that the ultimatum had been taken too literally.

At the time, at any rate, my father had no doubt as to the full import
of the threat. He took it in all its naked harshness--three days in
which to change his opinions or lose his situation. To a high-spirited
lad, to lose his situation under such circumstances meant of course
to lose his home, for he could not eat the bread of idleness at such
a cost, even had the father been willing to

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