Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies by George H. Smith

Author:George H. Smith [Smith, George H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2010-02-01T12:24:00+00:00

Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891) was the most important atheist ever produced by Britain. A superb orator, writer, and organizer, Bradlaugh replaced Holyoake as the militant force in British freethought. He edited the National Reformer, a freethought weekly, and in 1866 he founded the National Secular Society. In 1876 he and Annie Besant were prosecuted for publishing C. Knowlton's Fruits of Philosophy (a pamphlet on birth control), but Bradlaugh, an excellent lawyer, succeeded in quashing the indictment. (For an account of the trial, see The Queen v. Charles Bradlaugh and Annie Besant, Freethought Publishing Co., n.d.) Although elected to Parliament in 1880, Bradlaugh's atheism prevented him from being seated until 1886.

Some of Bradlaugh's better essays-including his magnificent "Plea for Atheism"-are contained in Humanity's Gain From Unbelief (Watts, 1929), and articles by and about Bradlaugh are found in J. P. Gilmour, ed., Champion of Liberty: Charles Bradlaugh (Watts, 1933; Arno, 1972). An outstanding biography of Bradlaugh is David Tribe's President Charles Bradlaugh, M. P. (Archon, 1971), which contains an extensive list of his writings. Still useful is the older biography by Bradlaugh's daughter, H. B. Bonner, Charles Bradlaugh: A Record of His Life and Work (with J. M. Robertson, 2 vols., T. Fisher Unwin, 1898).

One of the great contributions of nineteenth-century freethinkers was their dogged persistence in fighting for freedom of speech and press. Many well-known freethinkers-such as Holyoake, Robert Taylor, and G. W. Foote in Britain, and D. M. Bennett in the United States-were routinely trotted off to jail, sometime for long sentences, not to mention heavy fines. The highest price paid was by the publisher Richard Carlile, who, between 1817 and 1835, served over nine years in prison for publishing, among other items, Paine's Age of Reason. In addition, Carlile's wife, sister, and over twenty of his workers served time, sometimes for two years or more. But the freethinkers had a knack for making adversity work for them, and Carlile was no exception. As a result of the publicity surrounding one of his trials, sales of the Age of Reason skyrocketed to over 2,000 within two months. Moreover, Carlile read the entire text of the Age of Reason during his defense, which was then allowed to circulate as part of the verbatim trial transcript. In this inexpensive form it sold over 10,000 copies. For details on Carlile, see Guy A. Aldred, Richard Carlile, Agitator (Pioneer Press, 1923). A summary account of blasphemy prosecutions is contained in H. B. Bonner, Penalties Upon Opinion (Watts, 1913).

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