STATE OF THE TIMES. 77 
disaffected men in this country, on the one hand, 
and for the associations of zealous friends of the 
British constitution on the other. It was the 
avowed object of the latter to counteract all 
seditious proceedings, and to bring to punishment 
persons concerned in them. The authority of 
the lawful magistrate, and the claims of the 
established government, were to be respected 
and supported. The example of France, while 
it excited some eager spirits in the British 
empire to a love of change and insurrection, 
animated others to more energetic efforts for the 
maintenance of order. In the city of Paris, 
shortly before the execution of Louis the Six- 
teenth, Royalty had been declared to be abo- 
lished for ever ; and it happened, that the 20th 
of September, 1792, the very day on which poor 
Heywood wrote the above admirable letter, was 
styled the first day of the French Republic. The 
state of the times, therefore, tended to mark the 
crime imputed to him with a yet deeper dye. 
Nor could the sufferer be ignorant of some 
then recent cases, short of murder, in which, 
amidst extenuating circumstances, and conse- 
quent appeals to mercy, the law had been allowed 
to run its course, and the capital sentence to 
pass into full effect. Who, that, at that time, 
bore in mind the instance of the unhappy Dr. 
Dodd, and remembered that all entreaties, and 
even Dr. Johnson's powerful and affecting appeal 
in his behalf, had been made in vain,* could 
* The original draft of a petition, in Dr. Johnson's hand- 
writing, is among the Manuscripts in the British Museum. 
The document is short, pithy, and persuasive. 
