ABSTRACT
An authentic English radical tradition existed well before 1789, drawing its inspiration from the constitutional struggles with the Stuart monarchy in the seventeenth century. In 1788, reformers held celebrations up and down the country to commemorate the centenary of the Glorious Revolution. It also encompassed attacks on the privileges and the conservatism of the Church of England; campaigns for religious toleration; and continued struggle against the ‘unrepresentative’ influence of monarchy and court. The Association of the Friends of the People formed by Charles Grey in 1792, was an attempt to assert common interests between the Whigs and the radical societies and to sustain the long-standing Whig commitment to reform. It could never control the direction of reform. Pitt’s government moved swiftly against the threat posed by these new societies and by the publications they produced. Fresh legislation restricting freedom of speech, writing and assembly was passed in most parliamentary sessions from 1792 to 1801.
