ABSTRACT
John Fenwick is chiefly known in literary history as ‘Ralph Bigod’ in Lamb’s essay, ‘The Two Races of Men’ (1823), where he is commemorated as an exuberant and colourful member of the ‘great race ’ of borrowers. Fenwick’s meeting with Godwin in 1790 marked the start of a longstanding friendship between two men who shared many of the same social and political beliefs. During the writing of Political Justice from 1791 to 1792, Fenwick was one of Godwin’s more frequent visitors. Published during the hostile critical reaction against Godwin’s theories prompted by Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Fenwick’s memoir also presents a timely public defence of Godwin’s views. Fenwick presents Political Justice as a logical product of Godwin’s Dissenting education and training, arguing that his fundamental belief in the power of truth was formed well in advance of the French Revolution debates of the 1790s.
