ABSTRACT
In May 1794 John Thelwall was arrested on suspicion of high treason, imprisoned until December and put on trial at the Old Bailey. Like the others arrested and tried, Thelwall was acquitted, and shortly after his release he published a pamphlet, The Natural and Constitutional Right of Britons, which he had written in prison and originally intended as his courtroom defence. The Natural and Constitutional Right is probably the most concise and is certainly the clearest contemporary summary of what the notorious treason trials of 1794 were about, and the author offer this account of it partly as a help to understanding what was the most vital moment in Thelwall's career. The trials of Thelwall and the rest were all about the attempt of the reform societies to realize their symbolic position in the constitution by associating in a nationwide political movement.
