[190]. [“John Thelwall left his shop (that of a silk mercer) to be one of the Reformers of the age. After his acquittal he went about the country lecturing. Sometimes he was attended by numerous admirers, but more frequently hooted and pelted by the mob. In order to escape prosecution for sedition, he took as his subject Greek and Roman history, and had ingenuity enough to give such a colouring to events and characters, as to render the application to living persons and present events an exciting mental exercise. I heard one or two of these lectures, and thought very differently of him then from what I thought afterwards. When, however, he found his popularity on the wane, and more stringent laws had been passed, to which he individually gave occasion, he came to the prudent resolution of abandoning his vagrant habits, and leading a farmer’s life in a beautiful place near Brecon.... He was an amiable man in private life, an affectionate husband, and a fond father. He altogether mistook his talents—he told me without reserve that he believed he should establish his name among the epic poets of England; and it is a curious thing considering his own view’s that he thought the establishment of Christianity, and the British Constitution, very appropriate subjects for his poem.... Thelwall, unlike Hardy, had the weakness of vanity; but he was a perfectly honest man, and had a power of declamation which qualified him to be a mob orator. He used to say that if he were at the gallows with liberty to address the people for half-an-hour, he should not fear the result; he was sure he could excite them to a rescue. I became acquainted with him soon after his acquittal, and never ceased to respect him for his sincerity, though I did not think highly of his understanding.”—Crabb Robinson’s Diary, 1790 and 1799.—Ed.]
[191]. [These “Gagging Bills,” of 1796, required that notice should be given to the magistrate of any public meeting to be held on political subjects; he was authorized to be present, and empowered to seize those guilty of sedition on the spot; and a second offence against the act was punishable with transportation. So exasperated were the Opposition with this measure that Fox and a large part of the minority withdrew altogether for a considerable time from the House.—Ed.]
[192]. There is a doubt, whether this word should not have been written liar.
[193]. These words, of conviction and hanging, have so ominous a sound, it is rather odd they were chosen.
[194]. [The hero of the above song was Charles Howard, eleventh Duke of Norfolk, who both as a member of the House of Commons (while Earl of Surrey), and afterwards as a peer, was one of Fox’s most strenuous supporters. Sir N. Wraxall thus describes him: “Nature, which cast him in her coarsest mould, had not bestowed on him any of the external insignia of high descent. His person, large, muscular, and clumsy, was destitute of grace or dignity, though he possessed much activity. At a time when men of every description wore hair-powder and a queue, he had the courage to cut his hair short, and to renounce powder, which he never used except when going to court. In his youth he led a most licentious life, having frequently passed the whole night in excesses of every kind, and even lain down, when intoxicated, occasionally to sleep in the streets, or on a block of wood. In cleanliness he was negligent to so great a degree that he rarely made use of water for the purpose of bodily refreshment and comfort.” Complaining one day to Dudley North that he was a martyr to the rheumatism, and had ineffectually tried every remedy for its relief, “Pray, my lord,” said he, “did you ever try a clean shirt?” It must not be forgotten, however, that he was a munificent patron of literature, for he defrayed the entire expense of printing Taylor’s Translation of Plato, 5 vols. 4to.; Dallaway’s History of Sussex, 2 vols. 4to.; and Duncumb’s History of Herefordshire, 2 vols. The initials B. O. B. refer to Mr. (afterwards Sir Robert) Adair, who is often alluded to in these pages.—Ed.]
[195]. [These observations are directed against Godwin’s work on “Political Justice,” which, on its first appearance, excited extraordinary attention. His aim was to represent the whole system of society as radically and essentially wrong, and to extirpate all those principles which uphold its present constitution. The existence of the Deity is spoken of as an hypothesis, and the ethics are worthy of the religion. Holcroft reviewed it in the “Monthly Review,” but was doubtful whether to praise or blame it.—Ed.]
[“I noticed (says Crabb Robinson in 1811) the infinite superiority of Godwin over the French writers in moral feeling and tendency. I had learned to hate Helvetius and Mirabeau, and yet retained my love for Godwin. This was agreed to as a just sentiment.”—Ed.]
[196]. [Written in ridicule of Dr. Darwin’s Loves of the Plants.]
[197]. Ver. 1–4. Imitated from the introductory couplet to the Economy of Vegetation:
“Stay your rude steps, whose throbbing breasts infold