THE FIRST AND SECOND REPORTS FROM THE COMMITTEE OF SECRECY OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, TO WHOM THE SEVERAL PAPERS REFERRED TO IN HIS MAJESTY'S MESSAGE OF THE 12TH DAY OF MAY, 1794, AND WHICH WERE PRESENTED (SEALED UP) TO THE HOUSE, BY MR. SECRETARY DUNDAS, UPON THE 12TH AND 13TH DAYS OF THE SAID MONTH, BY HIS MAJESTY'S COMMAND, WERE REFERRED. TO WHICH IS ADDED, THE FIRST AND SECOND REPORTS OF THE SECRET COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS. WITH APPENDIXES.
Dublin: Printed by P. Byrne, Grafton-Street, 1794. [2], 24, 206 pp. Disbound neatly. Light toning and dusting. Good+. Page [198] prints four illustrations of weapons found by adherents to the Society. Good+.
The Society for Constitutional Information advocated parliamentary changes intended to achieve democracy, equality of political representation, and libertarian reforms. The Society charged that "the Representatives of this Country seldom procure a Seat in Parliament from the unbought Suffrages of a Free People." It opposed the slave trade and had favored American independence.
The King and Parliament deemed the Society a dangerous, seditious organization. The Reports warn that the activities of the Society and other allied groups are "every day more and more likely to affect the internal peace and security of these kingdoms, and to require, in the most urgent manner, the immediate and vigilant attention of Parliament."
The Reports- - and the even more detailed Appendixes- - are filled with an enormous, indeed disturbing, amount of information about those activities, reflecting the devotion of substantial governmental resources for the purposes of espionage. They print hundreds of documents demonstrating allegedly seditious tendencies. Joseph Gerrald, Thomas Hardy, Maurice Margarot, Thomas Muir and other activists are frequently and prominently mentioned. These informative reports are the result.
ESTC T142189. McCoy 237 for the London printing. Item #41195
Price: $600.00