Selected Political Writings Of John Thelwall

John Thelwall was a pivotal figure in British radical circles during the Romantic era. He was one of the London Corresponding Society¿s most prominent orators and was tried for high treason along with Thomas Hardy and John Horne Tooke in 1794. After his acquittal, Thelwall resumed his radical activities, giving electrifying public lectures on parliamentary reform and universal suffrage at Beaufort Buildings in London. He remained under close government surveillance and became a dangerous acquaintance. When he visited Coleridge and Wordsworth in Alfoxden his trip was investigated and the Wordsworths lost their lease. This four-volume reset edition brings together Thelwall¿s most important and influential political writing from across the genres, from scientific pamphlets and writings on the art of elocution, to political philosophy and journalism. The selections reveal his debt to several discursive traditions: classical republicanism and civic humanism; the historicized sociology of the Scottish Enlightenment; radicalized Lockean natural rights theory; and the emerging language of utility. Most of these difficult-to-access texts have never been republished in modern editions.