Page:Eminent English liberals in and out of Parliament.djvu/172

 In 1873 Mr. Bradlaugh conve3'ed to the short-lived republican government of Spain the congratulations of a great Radical meeting held in the Town Hall of Birmingham, and was received by the republicans of nearly every shade with open arms, notwithstanding an intimation, lodged by Mr. Layard in his ambassadorial capacity, that the Queen of England would regard any manifestations of confidence in Mr. Bradlaugh as a personal affront. The speech which the English iconoclast delivered at the great banquet given in his honor at Madrid was marked by singular moderation of tone. He was perhaps the first Englishman who foresaw the accession of the Alphonsists to power.

Towards the end of 1873 Mr. Bradlaugh visited the United States of America, and commenced an extensive lecturing tour, dealing with such subjects as English republicanism, the Irish land question, &c.; and, wisely shunning the field of religious controversy, he lectured in all the chief towns of New England and the middle States, and met generally with a most cordial reception. At Boston—cultured, critical Boston—"Wendell Phillips, "the silver-tongued Demosthenes of America," presided at Mr. Bradlaugh's lecture, with Senator Sumner and Lloyd Garrison on the platform beside him. Mr. Phillips introduced the great bugbear of English public life as "the Samuel Adams of 1873," the Samuel Adams of 1766 being "that austere patriot always faithful and true" who spoke the first words of defiant protest against the tyranny of English monarchical rule in New England. The lecturer realized on an average the handsome sum of one hundred and sixty dollars per lecture.

On the occasion of the Prince of Wales' mischievous