John Bradshaw

“ All we know is that when the engagement at Nunappleton House came to an end, Marvell, being then minded to serve the State in some civil capacity, applied to the Secretary for Foreign Tongues for what would now be called a testimonial, which he was fortunate enough to obtain in the form of a letter to the Lord-President of the Council, John Bradshaw. Milton seems always to have liked Bradshaw, who was not generally popular even on his own side, and in the Defensio Secunda pro populo Anglicano extols his character and attainments in sonorous latinity. ”

“ In November 1652 he was for a short time employed as envoy to the king of Denmark, and in April 1657 was sent on a similar mission to Russia. He returned to England in 1659, and was in January 1660 one of the commissioners of the navy (Mercurius Politicus, 28 Jan. 1660) . He is said by Heath to have been the kinsman of President Bradshaw; and from the tone of his letters, and his attendance at Bradshaw's funeral, this appears to have been the case. Mr. Horwood states that he was the nephew of John Bradshaw ”

“ He was accused of teaching 'that man is not bound to love God, unless he be sure that God loves him.' Bradshaw repudiated this heresy, and offered to produce testimony that he had taught no such thing. However. he was simply called upon to subscribe; he declined, was suspended, and bound to appear again when summoned. The vicar, John Philips, stood his friend, and the parishioners applied to John Young, bishop of Rochester, for his restoration, but without effect. Under this disappointment, Bradshaw found a retreat in the family of Alexander Redich, of Newhall, close to Stapenhill, Derbyshire. ”

“ BRADSHAW, JOHN (1602–1659) , regicide, was the second surviving son of Henry Bradshaw, a well-to-do country gentleman, of Marple and Wibersley halls, Stockport, Cheshire, who died in 1654. His mother was Catherine, daughter of Ralph Winnington of Offerton in the same county, who was married at Stockport on 4 Feb. 1593, and died in January 1603-4. The eldest surviving son, Henry, the heir to the family property, was born in 1600. ”

“ Ormerod's Cheshire, iii. 408-9; Brayley and Britton's Beauties of England, ii. 264-8; Clarendon's Rebellion; Whitelocke's Memorials; Ludlow's Memoirs; Thurloe's State Papers; Cal. State Papers (Dom.) , 1649-1658; Carlyle's Cromwell; Commons' Journal, vi. vii. viii.; State Trials, iii. iv. v. Many attacks on Bradshaw were published after his death. The chief of them, besides those mentioned above, are The Arraignment of the Divel for stealing away President Bradshaw, 7 Nov. 1659 (fol. sh.) ; The President of Presidents, or an Elogie on the death of John Bradshaw, 1659 ”

“ The events of such a life are not numerous. Mr Bradshaw was born 2 February, 1831. He was educated at Eton College, on the foundation, and came up to King’s College, Cambridge, in February, 1850. He proceeded to the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1854. At that time members of King’s College were not obliged to submit themselves to University examinations, but he and some others availed themselves of the permission then accorded to them to do so, and he was placed tenth in the second class of the Classical Tripos. ”

“ He was certain to be received with a courtesy which, we regret to say, is nowadays commonly called old-fashioned, and to find himself before he left far richer than when he came. Mr Bradshaw was the most unselfish of men ”

“ Some of these had been returned by two constituencies. Bradshaw was a member, with two of the Judges, Hale and Thorpe, and ex-Judge Glynne. Lawyers besides were not wanting; and Dr. Owen, though a divine, represented Oxford University. One missed chiefly, among old names, those of Sir Henry Vane Junior, Henry Marten, Selden, Algernon Sidney, and Ludlow; but there were many new faces. Among the thirty members sent from Scotland were the Earl of Linlithgow, Sir Alexander Wedderburn, Colonel William Lockhart, the Laird of Swinton, and the English Colonels Okey and Read. ”

“ Bulwer declares in one of his early productions that the Ideal is the only true Real.
In the nature of things a reaction from the depression of the realistic school must take place. Indeed, it has already set in, even at the moment of the realists' apogee. A dozen years ago the author of "John Inglesant," in a work of the finest art and most delicate spirituality, showed that the spell of the ideal had not lost its efficacy, and the books that he has written since then have confirmed and emphasized the impression produced by it. ”

“ They made a stout resistance ; and near 1,000 of our men being entered, the Enemy forced them out again. But God giving a new courage to our men, they attempted again, and entered; beating the Enemy from their defences. ”

“ But for all that Linklater determined to be "even with Braddy" for reporting him: and so successful was he in his enterprise that he effectually destroyed his own last chance of leading a Grandwich Eleven to Lord's.
The schoolboy is an observant animal. Mr. Bradshaw, like most men who carry method and precision to extremes, was a mass of little affectations and mannerisms, one of the most curious of which was his habit of passing his right hand in one comprehensive sweep along his bald head and down over his face. ”

“ Bradshaw was George. Indeed, it is difficult to think what other name a man of his calibre could have had. But many people will be surprised to hear that Mr. Bradshaw is no longer alive. Whatever one thinks of his work one is inclined to think of him as a living personality, working laboriously at some terminus—probably at the Charing Cross Hotel. ”

“ He was buried in Eyam Church, 25th June, 1646. His widow lived on at Eyam until she and her only unmarried daughter were driven away by the plague, which was raging in that village during the years 1665 and 1666. Francis, the eldest son, who inherited all the Bradshaw estates, had married in 1652 Elizabeth Vesey, a Yorkshire heiress, and he elected to live in his wife’s ancestral home at Brampton, co. York, and there did all the future Bradshawes, of Bradshaw, live, forsaking the old home and county. Francis Bradshawe died at Brampton, 21st December, 1659, leaving two sons. ”

“ He died on the 31st of October 1659, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. His body was disinterred at the Restoration, and exposed on a gibbet along with those of Cromwell and Ireton. Bradshaw married Mary, daughter of Thomas Marbury of Marbury, Cheshire, but left no children. ”

“ The deanery at Westminster was handed over to him as his residence for the future, but during the trial it was arranged that he should lodge at Sir Abraham Williams's house in Palace Yard to be near Westminster Hall. He was given scarlet robes and a numerous body-guard. Although his stout-heartedness is repeatedly insisted on by his admirers, Bradshaw had some fear of personal violence at this time. ”

“ Bradshaw!” The name pricked him shrewdly. “But no,” he said, “he’s not a beast.”
“He’s Labor Member for Staithley,” said Rupert. “I see their gratitude less and less.”
“Well,” said his father, “we were speaking of tradition. The Bradshaws come into the Hepplestall tradition. A wastrel gang and queerly against us in every period. A Bradshaw was hanged for the murder of Reuben’s wife. There were Chartist Bradshaws, two turbulent brothers, in my grandfather’s day. In my day, Tom Bradshaw was strike leader here in the great strike of ’ninety-two.” ”

“ She opened my father's desk and took out some hundreds of dollars," answered Orton Campbell, with unblushing falsehood. "Of course, we don't consider her responsible, as she is of unsound mind. Otherwise, we should look upon her as very ungrateful."
[Pg 205] "She seems to be very good-looking," observed Mrs. Bradshaw.
"So she is, and if her mind were healthy I can imagine that she would be admired. As it is, her beauty counts for nothing."
"To be sure!"
"I hope to calm her down, and induce her without a violent disturbance to embark on the next steamer for New York with me. ”

“ The moral of which is that the wicked do not always prosper. If Bradshaw had not been in the Museum, he might have seen Gerard jump six feet, which would have made him happy for weeks. On second thoughts, though, that does not work out quite right, for if Bradshaw had not been in the Museum, Gerard would not have jumped at all. No, better put it this way. I was virtuous, and I had the pleasure of witnessing the sight I have referred to. But then there was the Thucydides paper, which Bradshaw missed but which I did not. ”

“ With the two of them (more even than with Richard) she shared her past; the garden; the trees; old Joseph Breitkopf singing Brahms without any voice; the drawing-room wallpaper; the smell of the mats. A part of this Sally must always be; Peter must always be. But she must leave them. There were the Bradshaws, whom she disliked. She must go up to Lady Bradshaw (in grey and silver, balancing like a sea-lion at the edge of its tank, barking for invitations, Duchesses, the typical successful man's wife) , she must go up to Lady Bradshaw and say . ”

“ Bradshaw, accidentally discovering the existence of the slide when walking home from dinner one dark night, involuntarily availed himself.
There was skating galore, for the Head, taking it for granted that each day's frost must be the last, gave extra half-holidays with a liberality which continued, perforce, for seven weeks. There was tobogganing, too, down a smooth hillside ending in a plantation of young trees, against which the adamantine heads of the youth of Grandwich crashed unceasingly from dinnertime till tea. ”

“ His violent and tyrannical disposition made him constantly at variance with his officers, and continual changes took place in his ship; but it was observed, that those who had left him from a spirited resistance were kindly received, and benefited by his patronage, while those who submitted were neglected. Like a pretty but clever woman, who is aware that flattery is to be despised, and yet, from habit, cannot exist without it so Captain Bradshaw exacted the servility which he had been accustomed to, yet rewarded not those by whom it was administered. ”

“ The names of the judges were called over. Bradshaw then arose, and in a silvery and ringing tone, which made his declamation peculiarly impressive, while a shade of deepening pallor was perceptible on his countenance, addressed the court.
He deviated from the usually calm and temperate manner he was accustomed to assume, and became warm and impassioned. As he went on, his rich voice swelled on the air with a clear, distinct intonation, that fell deeply and artfully into the ears of the listeners. He was evidently bent as much on appealing to those without the bar, as to the judges. ”

“ And although Clement was particularly good-looking, and would have been called a distinguishable youth anywhere, Mr. Bradshaw considered himself far more than his match, in all probability, in social accomplishments. He expected, therefore, a certain amount of reflex credit for bringing such a fine young fellow in his company, and a second instalment of reputation from outshining him in conversation. This was rather nice calculating, but Murray Bradshaw always calculated. With most men life is like backgammon, half skill, and half luck, but with him it was like chess. ”

“ She could not help feeling flattered at such an offer from him,—him, William Murray Bradshaw, the rising young man of his county, at her feet, his eyes melting with the love he would throw into them, his tones subdued to their most sympathetic quality, and all those phrases on his lips which every day beguile women older and more discreet than this romantic, long-imprisoned girl, whose rash and adventurous enterprise was an assertion of her womanhood and her right to dispose of herself as she chose. He had not lived to be twenty-five years old without knowing his power with women. ”

“ A witty bishop once scandalized his hearers by bracketing Bradshaw with the Bible as an indispensable book. Bradshaw's Railway Time Tables were first issued in 1839; the monthly guide dates from December, 1841; it was not, however, until 1856 that Punch began to realize the elements of comedy underlying that austere document, and utilized them in a little play called Bradshaw: A Mystery, describing the separation, adventures and ultimate reunion of two harassed lovers. Love may laugh at locksmiths, but Bradshaw is another matter. Here is the happy ending of this romantic libel:—
Leonora. ”

“ Biog. 1850, ii. 534 seq., iii. 565 seq.; extracts from Stapenhill Registers, per Rev. E. Warbreck. The list of Bradshaw's tracts has been compiled by help of the libraries of the Brit. Museum and Dr. Williams, the Catalogue of the Advocates' Library, Edin., and a private collection. Further search would probably bring others to light. They are not easy to find, owing to their anonymity. ”

“ Bradshaw found his blackboard adorned every morning for a month with the single word ELISHA in staring capitals. When Mr. Bradshaw was irritable Linklater was serenely cheerful; when Mr. Bradshaw was blandly sarcastic Linklater was densely stupid; and after ostentatious efforts to understand his preceptor's innuendoes, would shake his head pityingly, with a patient sigh at such ill-timed levity.
So the battle went on. Every schoolboy knows what it must have been like. Matters were bound to come to a crisis. ”

“ Thus menaced, Bradshaw surrendered his pistol, which the other coolly examined, and deposited in his own pocket.
"As I was going to say, and this is where the curious part of my story commences, that young man, who, after all, is not a bad sort of fellow, wants to give up his wild unchristian life out here, and get home to England. Possibly with six thousand a year he might become a credit to his family. It is his only chance in life, remember, and if he doesn't want to go under for ever, he has to make the most of it. ”