situation. - Your benevolent assistance will confer honor on, and be ever acknowledged with gratitude by,

This letter was written previous to the meeting to celebrate the Trial by Jury, on the fourth of February, but it has never been circulated. For it being intimated to them, that a subscription was to be opened for defraying the expenses of the late trials for high treason, they indulged hopes, that their cases might pass under the consideration of those worthy and respectable persons who will form the committee. In expectation of that, they keep back their letter.

There are still in confinement, subject to the inconveniences that attend imprisonment, the following persons:-Mr. THOMAS LLOYD, a citizen of the United States of America, and an officer in the army during the American war, is now in the prison of Newgate, for a supposed libel on bastilles. Mr. Lloyd is a man of sense. What relates to him may be seen in the second edition of his trial, and his MEMORIAL to Mr. Pinckney, the American minister. He is now among the common felons.

Mr. WILLIAM HODGSON is imprisoned in Newgate for sedition, under a sentence of two years confinement, a fine of two hundred pounds, and securities for two years, in four hundred pounds. He has two children. He is printing by subscription, in numbers, THE SYSTEM OF NATURE, translated from the French of M. Mirabeau: and, in the month of February, he intends publishing a work of his own, intitled, The COMMON WEALTH of REASON. Mr. Hodgson is now on the state side.-Captain Cummings is among the felons,

Mr. JOSEPH GERRALD acted as deputy from the London Corresponding Society, and has been in different prisons near a twelvemonth. He is at present in close confinement in the New Compter, opposite Newgate. He is the author of a pamphlet that affords proof of very superior talents, intitled, A Convention the only means of saving the Nation from ruin. He closes his well-written DEFENCE in the following spirited

manner.

Impressed with the justice of these sentiments, dungeons, fetters, exile, carry no terror to me; for I say with the immortal Sydney, that though I have a particular love to my country, of which, I hope, that I have given some testimony; though I think that being exiled from it is a great evil, from which I would redeem myself with the loss of a great deal of my blood, yet, when that country of mine, which used to be esteemed a paradise, is now like to be made a stage of injury; the liberty which we hoped to establish oppressed; the best of our nation made a prey to the worst; the parliament, court, and army corrupted; the people enslaved; all things vendible, and no man safe, but by such evil and infamous means as flattery and bribery; what joy can I have in my own country in this condition? Is it a pleasure to see all that I love in the world sold and destroyed? Shall I renounce all my old principles; learn the vile court arts, and make my peace by bribing some of the crew? Shall their corruptions and vice be my safety? Ah! no; better is a life among strangers, than in my own country upon such conditions. Whilst I live, I will endeavour to preserve my liberty; or, at least, not consent to the destroying of it. I hope I shall die in the same principles in which I have lived, and will live no longer than they can preserve me. I have in my life been guilty of many follies, but, as I think, of no meanness. I will not blot and defile that which is past, by endeavouring to provide for the future. I have ever had in my mind, that should God cast me into such a condition, as that I cannot save myself, but by doing an indecent thing, he shews me the time is come when I should resign it; and when I cannot live in my own country, but by such means as are worse than dying in it, I think he shews me I ought to keep myself out of it.' See Sydney's Letter.

"Gentlemen, I am in your hands. About my life I feel not the slightest anxiety; if it would promote the cause, I would cheerfully make the sacrifice; for if I perish on an occasion like the present, out of my ashes will arise a flame to consume the tyrants and oppressors of my country.

“Moral light is as irresistible by the mind, as physical by the eye. All attempts to impede its progress are vain. It will roll rapidly along; and as well may tyrants imagine, that by placing their feet upon the earth they can stop its diurnal motion, as that they shall be able, by efforts the most virulent, and pertinacious, to extinguish the light of reason and philosophy, which, happily for mankind, is everywhere spreading around us.

"Surely the experience of all ages should have taught our rulers, that persecutions never can efface principles; and that the thun

ders of the state will prove impotent, when wielded against patriotism, innocence, and firmness. Whether, therefore, I shall be permitted to glide gently down the current of life, in the bosom of my native country, among those kindred spirits whose approbation constitutes the great comfort of my being, or whether I be doomed to drag out the remainder of my existence amidst thieves and murderers, a wandering exile on the bleak and melancholy shores of New Holland, my MIND, equal to either fortune, is prepared to meet the destiny that awaits me.

eri

Seu me tranquilla senectus

Expectat, seu mors atris circumvolat alis;

Dives, inops; Roma, seu fors ita jusserit, EXUL.

"To be torn a bleeding member from that country which we love, is, indeed, upon the first view painful in the extreme; but all things cease to be painful, when we are supported by the consciousness that we have done our duty to our fellow creatures; and a wise man rising superior to all local prejudices, if asked for his country, will turn his eyes from this dim spot which men call earth, and will point, like Anaxagoras, to the Heavens.""

Mr. C. SINCLAIR, a young man bred in the Artillery, a delegate to the Scotch Convention, forewent promising prospects in the army, and the proffered patronage, and even the solicitations of the Duke of Richmond, on account of his political principles ;was actually brought to trial at Edinburgh, though the prosecution was afterwards dropt by the Solicitor General, as it was supposed, on account of his youth;-is in consequence deserted by all his relations, people of high family and great opulence in Scotland, and was left for a considerable time to languish under many embarrassments.-This account is in the words of a person well qualified to speak precisely on the case of Mr. Sinclair.

Mr. JOHN FRANKLOW, tailor and ladies habit-maker, has been also in confinement, and received considerable injury; and Mr. JOHN HILLIER, a bookseller.

Each of these cases contains its peculiar hardship; and those, which seem to carry the least, have a claim to particular notice. I allude to the case of the booksellers.

These persons, supposed to suffer in a professional character, draw not so great a share of the public notice, as acknowledged patriots. Indeed, while the latter frequently obtain a distinction, the former may be happy to escape illiberal reflections: while,

• Milton.

imprisonment is thought to raise their reputation, and to extend their profits.

1

This, it is true, may be sometimes the case; but is not so in the present instance, but quite the reverse.

Mr. RIDGEWAY's situation, indeed, is singularly hard, and merits a distinct consideration. He is imprisoned for four years; his business has suffered; and if he continue in Newgate the four years of his sentence, his expenses cannot fall far short of 1,1001. His fines amount to 3001., and his expenses in Newgate cannot be estimated at much less than 100l. a year. In the mean time he has

a wife and four children to support. It should be added, that with the exception of two guineas, one of which he received for a set of books, he has received no civilities during the time of his confinement, which is nearly two years. This he himself assured me, when he put the above letter into my hand, which it was his intention then to circulate. This is mentioned as the singularity of Mr. Ridgeway's case. The others, at least most of them, have received some civilities, and, indeed, they must otherwise have perished.

I

There are numerous other cases of this kind in different parts of the country, which ought to be specified, and laid before the public. I have not been able to collect them; but, I doubt not, others will pursue the inquiry. The witnesses from Sheffield should not, by any means, be overlooked. One of them, whose name is Mr. Moody, is a very poor man, and has a wife and seven children. Many persons have been obliged to leave their employments in the country, and are now in London in perplexed circum

stances.

To those persons, whose names have been thus freely used, some apology may be thought necessary. But regard shall be paidto the wise maxim, "neque culpa, neque lauda teipsum ;" neither blame nor commend thyself. Where there is no consciousness of a crime, no prudent man will condemn himself; and where services are slender, there is no room for self-commendation. In the way of apology, therefore, all that shall be said, is this: if there be any censure merited, the whole of it attaches to the author; no individual sufferer, at least, solicited his interference. But he knew that they were all entitled to such attentions, and some of them actually stand in need of it. They profess that they owe something to their families, as well as to the public; and that however forward they may be in inclination, they possess not the requisites for encountering a heavy fine, and a ruined business. The names of others have been introduced to give an air of preci

A

One only has been sent to Major Cartwright, for the perusal of that worthy man: the rest are suppressed,

sion to the narrative, and a totality to the work; and, it is hoped, that nothing contained in these pages will be found inconsistent with the respect due to any individual.

To speak once for all on this subject:-public utility is the basis of moral obligation and of political truth: and a consciousness of having discharged the duties of social life is the reward of public virtue. He whose only object is praise, never merited it; and he who, under a mask of patriotism, merely pursues his own. interest, is a mean and a wicked man.

"Act well your part, there all the honor lies.”—POPE,

But where men unite, on legal and constitutional ground, in the cause of liberty, they pledge themselves to encounter common hazards. To such persons suum cuique is as applicable in participation of difficulties, as of duties; of degradations, as of distinctions; of losses, as of profits; of sympathies, as of enjoyments. Each man, indeed, possesses a right to select his friend : no one is obliged to approve the conduct of a bad man: nor can individuals, though of the most enlarged humanity, remove the inconveniences, or satisfy the wants of every sufferer. At the same time, a just man will not shrink from his duty: he will guard against harbouring illiberal suspicions, or forming unreasonable prejudices; he will not impute to persons imaginary crimes, nor listen to false, and injurious representations: he will do justice to acknowledged virtues, and make allowances for human frailties, In short, one who is just cannot be malevolent: nor will he regu late his conduct by such principles, as would leave any worthy man to be the abandoned scape-goat of a party; doomed to bear away either the virtues or the crimes of others, and to perish in the wilderness.

Ergo fungar vice cotis, acutum

Reddere quæ ferrum valet, excors ipsa secandi,

I, like the whetstone, useless and unfit,
Know not to cut, but sharpen others' wit,

It is with pleasure the writer has been given to understand, that a plan is now forming among some respectable persons, to bring before the public several of the above cases; and it is to be hoped, the plan will comprehend every case of real distress throughout the country, connected with pretended treasons or sedition. But feeble subscriptions will produce little benefit to the numerous sufferers, and reflect little honor on the public. What has been

The reader will please to keep in mind the year when this pamphlet was first published, 1795, and that no attempt could be made to bring it down later.