ABSTRACT
In December 1793 Godwin sat down to read An Account of the Trial of Th omas Muir, Esq.1 e documented account of Muir’s travails gripped his attention: he read all 160 pages in a single sitting. Later that day omas Holcro called round for tea and the two friends discussed tyranny, a topic which Godwin recorded in his diary in Greek, possibly due to fears induced by Muir’s experience.2 Muir was then in London along with his fellow convict, on the same charge of sedition, omas Palmer. ey were awaiting transportation on a hulk in Woolwich. Although Woolwich represented about a ten mile journey, Godwin and Irish radical John Fenwick walked there to visit Muir. Over the next couple of days Godwin met with other radical gures like John Horne Tooke, John elwall, George Dyson and Holcro . It seems probable that Muir’s experience had a profound e ect on Godwin. Not only was it a tale that permeated Caleb Williams, it also directly galvanized his writing of the novel which was stuttering at the time, generating the ‘a atus’ that was necessary to his writing process.3 Moreover, three days a er meeting him Godwin joined the Philomathean Society, or the Philomaths.
