Afraid the revolutionist ideas from France would pour into England, the English government of William Pitt sought for ways to fight against the radical groups in England that began to gain more of an audience and voice. These radical movements in the 1790s found exceptional popularity through authors that wrote and printed anti-government books that encouraged men to seek liberty. These anti-government works of literature were able to reach a larger number of people having sold well across the country.
Notably, one of these radical authors was Thomas Paine. Most known for his successful work of his anti-government literature titled Common Sense that he wrote while living in America, Thomas Paine, on his return back to England, began publishing more works, specifically Rights of Men. Rights of Men was in response to Edmund Burke's Reflections from 1790 which was a political pamphlet that advised Englishmen to be cautious of the French Revolution and the radical ideals that started the revolution. Paine's Rights of Men was especially targeted by English government officials as it was seen as a pamphlet that was "a foundation stone upon which .. the monumental collection of pamphlets and speeches were in favour [while Burks's pamphlets were in opposition] to the French revolution and political reform of Britain" (Macleod 693). Eventually, Thomas Paine was put on trial December 18, 1792 by William Pitt for seditious libel against the English government. At the time Seditious Libel was condemnable under common English law, seen under law as a criminal act. The reason for this trail was because of Paine's 'negative' reponse in Rights of Men to Burke's Reflections pamphlet which had praised the British government. In a journal article titled "British Attitudes Toward The French Revolution," Macleod reiterates another historians argument that "Bruke had written his tract for an elite readership and had never intended [Reflections] to be a blueprint for a popular movement" (693), but it did exactly that. Soon, many english men and women were particiapating in conversations of the French revolution and seeking for a change in the British government.
When it came to Thomas Paine’s tiral, Paine's lawyer, Thomas Erskine, was recorded to have said that radical theories had the right to the freedom of speech and print because it could improve government if it was published in “good faith.” On page 21 of the Eighteenth century collections website that contains the full court synopsis, Erskine stated in behalf of Paine that "The Freedom of the Press of England, Gentlemen, consists in this, that a man must not address to individuals, upon the spur of some occasion, opinions that shall provoke them to sedi∣tion, to insurrection, and tumult; but he may freely address to the universal reason of a whole nation, prin∣ciples of Government, congenial with, or hostile to, the form of Government under which he lives." Members of the radical movement thrived off of the words that Thoms Erskine had said in court and treated him like a hero, printing his words onto fliers and using them as a way to push their liberties and radical ideas further.
Thomas Paine however, was still found guilty. In the end, the government felt that Thomas Paine’s case justified them in being able to further suppress other published works from people supporting, or leading, the radical movement. Thus, orchestrated by William Pitt, the 1794 Trials of Treason were organized and other radical members were brought to the stand. Among the 1794 Trials of Treason, Thomas Hardy, John Horne Tooke and Thomas Holcraft, were the highest charged cases with several crimes, but the most serious charges they had were seditious libel and treason.
Thomas Erskine, Thomas Paine’s lawyer in his libel trial two years prior, played a major part within these trials; oftentimes also being the spokesperson for these men from October to November 1794 when the trials took place. On these three separate accounts, the men were trialed in front of a jury and a judge and were acquitted each time. Had they been found guilty, they would have been hanged and quartered by the law that was in place at the time. Loyalists to the government believed that these men were let free because the law of death for treason was outdated, but the trials served their purpose - the men stepped down out of the limelight and the movement came to a halt until a new reform several years later would occur.
These libel court cases demonstrate the liberties and powers of the people at that time, and the liberty of free speech to which they were willing to fight for. While the movement fluctuated after these court cases, there were still radicals that fought for these freedoms until they were able to receive them without oppression.
Works Cited:
MACLEOD, EMMA VINCENT. “BRITISH ATTITUDES TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.” The Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 3, 2007, pp. 689–709. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x07006310.
“The Trial of Thomas Paine: For a Libel, Contained in The Second Part of Rights of Man, before Lord Kenyon, and a Special Jury, at Guildhall, December 18. With the Speeches of the Attorney General and Mr. Erskine, at Large.” ECCO TCP, quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004809446.0001.000/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext. Accessed 27 Apr. 2022.