* "Sixty Years 01 an Agitator's Life," afterwards referred to as "Sixty Years."
It was in 1817 that Robert Owen informed mankind that "all the religions in the world were in error," which was taken to mean that they were wrong throughout; whereas all the "Prophet of the City of London Tavern" sought to prove was that all faiths were in error so far as they rested on the dogma that men can believe if they will--irrespective of evidence whatever may be the force of it before them. Mr. Owen's now truistical statement set the dry sticks of every church aflame for seventy years. In many places the ashes smoulder still. By blending Theology with Sociology, the Churches mixed two things better kept apart Confusion raged for years on a thousand platforms and pulpits. I mention this matter because it was destined to colour and occupy a large portion of my life.
The habit of my thoughts is to run into speeches, as the thoughts of a poet run into verse; but if there be a more intrinsic characteristic of my mind it is accurately described in the words of Coleridge:--
"I am by the law of my nature a Reasoner. A person who should suppose I meant by that word, an arguer, would not only not understand me, but would understand the contrary of my meaning. I can take no interest whatever in hearing or saying anything merely as a fact--merely as having happened. I must refer to something within me before I can regard it with any curiosity or care. I require in everything a reason why the thing _is_ at all, and why it is _there_ or _then_ rather than elsewhere or at another time."
This may be why I entitled the first periodical edited in my name, _The Reasoner_.
My firstborn child, Madeline, perished while I was in Gloucester Prison.* There is no other word which described what happened in 1842.
In 1895 (as I had always intended), I had a brass tablet cast bearing the simple inscription--
Daughter of George Jacob and Eleanor Holyoake,
This tablet I had placed on the wall over the grave where the poor child lay. The grave is close to the wall. The cemetery authorities had objections to the word "Perished." When I explained to them the circumstances of Madeline's death, they permitted its erection, on my paying a cemetery fee of two guineas. The tablet will endure as long as the cemetery wall lasts. The tablet is on the left side of the main entrance to the cemetery, somewhat obscured by trees now.