Burke, Paine, Godwin, and the Revolution Controversy

Cambridge English Prose Texts consists of volumes devoted to selections of non-fictional English prose of the late sixteenth to the mid nineteenth centuries. The series provides students, primarily though not exclusively those of English literature, with the opportunity of reading significant prose writers who, for a variety of reasons (not least their generally being unavailable in suitable editions), are rarely studied, but whose influence on their times was very considerable. Marilyn Butler's volume centres on the great Revolution debate in England in the 1790s, inspired by the French Revolution. The debate consists of a single series of works which depend for their meaning upon one another, and upon the historical situation which gave them birth. Major tracts by Burke (Reflections on the Revolution in France), Paine (The Rights of Man), and Godwin (Enquiry Concerning Political Justice) are given at length, while important shorter pieces by such writers as Hannah More, Thomas Spence, and William Cobbett appear virtually complete. The volume is especially interesting for its portrait of a community of oppositional writers. Many of them knew one another personally, and stimulated and sustained one another against the pro-government majority. Their collaborative literary enterprise, and its break up, offer a fascinating perspective on Romanticism and the growth of an extra-parliamentary opposition functioning through the press. The volume also reveals the impact of the great debate on writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Coleridge, and Wordsworth. As with other titles in the series, the volume is comprehensively annotated: obscure allusions to people, places, and events are glossed in footnotes and endnotes, while prefactory headnotes comment on the circumstances surrounding the composition of each extract. In a substantial introduction Dr Butler offers a broad examination of this pamphlet war and its main participants. There is a helpful critical guide to further reading for those wishing to pursue their study of the subject. The volume will be a vital sourcebook for students of English Romantic literature, history, and political history.

Acknowledgements; Editorial note; Introductory essay; 1. The diversions of purley John Horne Tooke (1736–1812); 2. A discourse on the love of our country Richard Price (1723–1791); 3. Reflections on the Revolution in France Edmund Burke (1729–1797); 4. A letter to a noble lord Edmund Burke (1729–1797); 5. Thoughts and details on scarcity Edmund Burke (1729–1797); 6. A vidication of the rights of men Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797); 7. A vidication of the rights of women Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797); 8. Letters from France Helen Maria Williams (1762–1827); 9. Letters to the right hon. Edmund Burke Joseph Priestley (1733–1804); 10. Vindiciae Gallicae James Mackintosh (1765–1832); 11. Travels in France during the years 1787, 1788 and 1789 Arthur Young (1741–1820); 12. The example of France, a warning to Britain Arthur Young (1741–1820); 13. The rights of man Tom Paine (1737–1809); 14. The age of reason Tom Paine (1737–1809); 15. The soldier's friend William Cobbett (1762–1835); 16. Observations on the emigration of Dr. Joseph Priestly William Cobbett (1762–1835); 17. A sermon, preached … on January 30, 1793 Samuel Horsley (1733–1806); 18. Appendix to a sermon (1793) Richard Watson (1737–1816); 19. Enquiry concerning political justice William Godwin (1756–1856); 20. Cursory structures on the charge delivered by lord William Godwin (1756–1856); 21. Village politics Hannah More (1745–1833); 22. Politics for the people Daniel Isaac Eaton (d. 1814); 23. The meridian sun of liberty; or the whole rights of man Thomas Spence (1750–1814); 24. Conciones ad populum Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834); 25. The plot discovered Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834); 26. Robin Hood Joseph Ritson (1752–1803); 27. The tribune John Thelwall (1764–1834); 28. Sober reflections on the seditions and inflammatory letter of the right hon. Edmund Burke John Thelwall (1764–1834); 29. The antijacobin, or weekly examiner The Antijacobin; 30. A reply to some parts of the bishop of Landaff's address Gilbert Wakefield (1756–1801); 31. 'A letter to the bishop of Landaff' William Wordsworth (1770–1850); 32. Preface to the Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth (1770–1850); Notes; Select bibliography.

Cambridge English Prose Texts are devoted to selections of non-fictional English prose of the late sixteenth to the mid seventeenth centuries. This volume centres on the great Revolution debate of the 1790s, inspired by the French Revolution. The debate consists of a series of works which depend for their meaning on one another, and upon the historical situation which gave them birth.