This judgment had not been two days delivered before Mr.
Bradlaugh presented himself in the House of Commons, went through the form of taking the oath, kissed the New Testament, and subscribed a declaration which is believed to be the same with that entered in the House of Commons book, to which he bad no amass. He then voted in two divisions, for which, if he had not previously taken the statutory oath, he is liable to fine,—intend- ing, it is said, to obtain the opinion of a Court of Law as to whether he is legally liable to this fine or not. Afterwards he applied for and obtained the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds, which vacates his seat for Northampton, for which a new writ has been issued. The election will take place next week. Mr. Bradlatigh will contest the seat with Mr. Richards, -a Conservative working-man, who makes his religious convictions the strong point of his case. Great doubts appear to be enter- tained as to the result, and this makes it the more difficult to understand why Mr. Bradlaugh challenged the opinion of the electors so needlessly and so soon. Probably he thinks that to rust unused will be paralysis to the combativeness of the Northampton electors.
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