ABSTRACT
Joseph Gerrald (1763–96), a man of exceptional intelligence and abilities, was one of the ‘political martyrs’ convicted for sedition and sentenced to transportation in 1793 and 1794. Gerrald and Godwin had first met in August 1793, but their friendship did not develop until after Gerrald’s arrest, when Godwin read his pamphlet and visited him frequently to discuss his situation. Gerrald decided to return and stand trial, and Godwin’s letter of 29 January 1794 furnishes him with arguments for doing so. The letter, taken from an 1835 account of Gerrald’s trial, published anonymously, provides evidence of Godwin’s close association with leading figures active in the reform movements of the 1790s. The letter itself may be profitably compared with Godwin’s other writings protesting at the conduct of political trials, notably the ‘Mucius’ letters, published in the Morning Chronicle in February and March 1793, and the pamphlet Cursory Strictures.
