HIS PLEA AT THE BAR OF THE HOUSE[1]
(1881)
Born In 1833. died In 1891; served in the army, 1850-53; elected to Parliament in 1880, but not allowed to take his seat because he refused to take the Parliamentary oath; several times reelected, but not allowed to sit until 1886; two years later moved and carried a bill permitting members to sit if they chose by affirming instead of taking the oath.
I have again to ask the indulgence of the
House while I submit to it a few words in
favor of my claim to do that which the law
requires me to do. I now say I would not go
through any form—much as I value the right
to sit in this House, much as I desire and
believe that this House will accord me that
right—that I did not mean to be binding upon me
without mental reservation, without equivocation.
I would go through no form unless it were
fully and completely and thoroughly binding
upon me as to what it expressed or promised.
Mine has been no easy position for the last twelve months. I have been elected by the
- ↑ After he had made this speech, Bradlaugh was ordered to leave the House and on refusing to do so, was placed in custody. He was reelected in the same year (1881), and formally ejected after entering and then refusing to leave the House. Similar scenes occurred in 1882 and 1883. From Bradlaugh's "The True Story of My Parliamentary Struggle," by kind permission.
