sed in parentheses as they stand in
the information, and I hope that civil list officer will caution the
Court not to laugh when he reads them, and also to take care not to
laugh himself.

The information states, that _Thomas Paine, being a wicked, malicious,
seditious, and evil-disposed person, hath, with force and arms, and
most wicked cunning, written and published a certain false, scandalous,
malicious, and seditious libel; in one part thereof, to the tenor and
effect following, that is to say_--

"With respect to the two Houses, of which the English Parliament
(_meaning the Parliament of this Kingdom_) is composed, they appear to
be effectually influenced into one, and, as a Legislature, to have no
temper of its own. The Minister, (_meaning the Minuter employed by the
King of this Realm, in the administration of the Government thereof_)
whoever he at any time may be, touches it (_meaning the two Houses of
Parliament of this Kingdom_) as with an opium wand, and it (_meaning the
two Houses of Parliament of this Kingdom_) sleeps obedience."

As I am not malicious enough to disturb their repose, though it be time
they should awake, I leave the two Houses and the Attorney General, to
the enjoyment of their dreams, and proceed to a new subject.

The Gentlemen, to whom I shall next address myself, are those who have
stiled themselves "_Friends of the people_," holding their meeting at
the Freemasons' Tavern, London.(1)

One of the principal Members of this Society, is Mr. Grey, who, I
believe, is also one of the most independent Members in Parliament.(2)
I collect this opinion from what Mr. Burke formerly mentioned to me,
rather than from any knowledge of my own. The occasion was as follows:

I was in England at the time the bubble broke forth about Nootka Sound:
and the day after the King's Message, as it is called, was sent to
Parliament, I wrote a note to Mr. Burke, that upon the condition the
French Revolution should not be a subject (for he was then writing
the book I have since answered) I would call on him the next day, and
mention some matters I was acquainted with, respecting the affair; for
it appeared to me extraordinary that any body of men, calling themselves
Representatives, should commit themselves so precipitately, or "sleep
obedience," as Parliament was then doing, and run a nation into expence,
and perhaps a war, without so much as enquiring into the case, or the
subject, of both which I had some k