A letter from Mr. Bradlaugh was read by the Speaker
on Thursday, declaring his intention not to present himself to take the oath until after the Law Courts had decided the question of his liability to the penalty incurred for voting in two divisions last week. Hereupon Sir Stafford Northcote rose and moved his old resolution, directing the Serjeant-at-Arms to exclude Mr. Brad- laugh from the precincts of the House until he gave his engage- ment not to disturb it with any attempt to take the oath. Mr. Gladstone pointed out in impressive language the great import- ance of not taking any farther step in the matter, after Mr. Bradlaugh had declared his intention to wait for the decision of a Court of Law, till the House had that decision before them„ and could reconsider the matter by the light of that decision. But the Conservatives, of course, were inexorable. Lord Ran- dolph Churchill spoke of Mr. Bradlangh's supporters as a "mob," just as he had previously spoken of them as "scum ;" and even though Sir Joseph Pease, who had hitherto steadily voted against Mr. Bradlaugh, now expressed his concurrence- with Mr. Gladstone, the division showed a majority of 53 (226, against 173) for Sir Stafford Northcote. The House is evidently bent on showing the constituencies how little it regards their legal and constitutional right of choosing for themselves their own representatives.
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