HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



267 



wpve thefirst signals to the minisle- 

 jinl and the popular panics in this 

 cnr.ntry, to engage in that violent 

 and acrinion'ous cr-iuest, which is 

 not yet terminated. I'hese two 

 famous performances revi\cd, as 

 it were, the royal and repu; I'.can 

 parties that had divided this natioN 

 jn the last century, and that had 

 )ain dormant since the Revolution 

 in l6S8. They nosv returned to 

 the charge with a ra?;c and animo- 

 sity equal to that which character- 

 ized our anccbtors during the ci\il 

 wars in the r^ign of King Charles 

 tlic First ; and it remained a long 

 time in suspense, whether this re- 

 newed contest would not be at- 

 tended with the same calamities : 

 BO eager were the partlzaiis of the 

 respective tenets contained in those 

 performances, to assert them with 

 unbounded vehemence. 



Among those who publicly and 

 unequivocally maintained the doc- 

 trines contained in ihe publication 

 styled the Rights of Man, were all 

 the popular societies in the three 

 kingdoms. The book written by 

 Mr. Burke was chiefly patronized 

 by the upper classes. But this, in 

 stead of intimidating the 1 .wer, 

 served rather to rouze them to dan- 

 gerous enquiries into the nature of 

 that superiority claimed over them 

 by those \er)' classes. 'I'hus, tlie 

 dispute betweei.the higher and the 

 lower orders became every day 

 more virulent, and thr atencd very 

 serious consequences. It was not 

 however till tju; middle of l~y'i 

 that government took a;. y fo mal 

 notice of tho.ie Iran actions. They 

 then ibsucd a proclamaion against 

 seditious meetings ; which, instead 

 cf preventing t!ic reading of that 

 perforuiancc, a^ai:ist which it wa-; 

 thicfly levelled, the Rights of 



Man,contrif'ut;dtoitsdisicrriina^!on 

 throughout ^very part of Cr.;at 

 Britain and Ireland, ar..l gained it 

 more readers and proa::iy!.c» than 

 ever. In tlie course of that year, 

 the events that had happened i;i 

 France so much alarmed goveni- 

 ment, that it was thought nccestary 

 to counteract the societies in this 

 country, by opposing to thetii other 

 societies, on principles wholly con- 

 tradictory to theirs. With this 

 vlc-w were instituted the associations , 

 aifainst republicans and levellers. 

 Bat these sssociations, tho' nume- 

 rous, and coniposed ot the gentei.'ler 

 panics in so.iety, did not deter thtir 

 still more numerous antagonists. 

 These continued resolutely to act 

 ou ti:e plan thjy had primarily 

 adopted, and to manifest a spirit of 

 resistance to their ncvr opponent, 

 which afforded sufficient ground of 

 alarm to the friends of domestic 

 tranquillity. Government in the 

 mean time kept a \^ atchfui eye on 

 the proceedings of tiie popular so- 

 cieties. These cor.tinued to hold 

 their meetiagi as usual, and to de- 

 clare their sentiments with unli- 

 mited freedom. In some of those 

 meetings, however, they exceeded 

 the bounds of discretion so far as to 

 use expressions that laid tliem open 

 to the charge of sedition : but the 

 cirmn'.stancc which principally ren- 

 d.red them obnoxious wa-, the 

 regular correspondence they Y.dd 

 csUiblished vvIlIi the many societies 

 in the kingdom actinjf on their own 

 principles ; liut chiefly i4>e intimate 

 cor.)mu.iication they h.'lJ with the 

 convention that asbeir,blcd in Scot- 

 jaad, and to whicii they sent depu- 

 ties to repi-cbont them ; intending 

 shortly to suannon a coiivention in 

 England on the same ph":i, and 

 composed nf t'ne, deputies from all 



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