Page:Eminent English liberals in and out of Parliament.djvu/173

 and insidiously planned jaunt to India, Mr. Bradlaugh was not wanting to the popular cause. He called the people together in Hyde Park, in which he may be said to have preserved the right of public meeting, and entered a spirited though unavailing protest against the subsidy; and petitions bearing one hundred and thirty-five thousand signatures were in consequence laid on the table of the House of Commons. The shameless Tichborne imposture he relentlessly exposed, and throughout the late disgraceful Jingo episode in the history- of the nation he was faithful even to the shedding of blood. At the second of the two memorable Jingo demonstrations in Hyde Park, he would in all probability have been killed but for his enormous bodily strength and personal intrepidity. As it was, his left arm, with which he protected his head from the savage blows of his assailants, fell powerless by his side before he could cleave his way with a heavy truncheon to a place of safety. Erysipelas supervened, and for three weeks his life was in peril. It is but fair to add that five of his foemen found their way to St. George's Hospital.

I have mentioned these matters with perhaps tedious minuteness, because in public life Mr. Bradlaugh, like politicians in better repute, has a right to be judged by his "fruits." It is but too common in respectable circles to regard him as a vulgar, self-seeking demagogue. Now, demagogue he may be, but certainly not in the objectionable, accepted sense of the word. He has never concealed his anxiety to get into Parliament; but of all the roads by which St. Stephen's may be approached he has certainly chosen the least likely and the most arduous. He has been at a world of