he charge of lending books
of republican tendency, and reading an address from Theobald Wolfe Tone
and the United Irishmen before the society of which he was a member. He
defended himself in a long and eloquent address, which concluded in the
following manly strain:--

"What, then, has been my crime? Not the lending to a relation a copy of
Thomas Paine's works,--not the giving away to another a few numbers of an
innocent and constitutional publication; but my crime is, for having
dared to be, according to the measure of my feeble abilities, a strenuous
and an active advocate for an equal representation of the people in the
House of the people,--for having dared to accomplish a measure by legal
means which was to diminish the weight of their taxes and to put an end
to the profusion of their blood. Gentlemen, from my infancy to this
moment I have devoted myself to the cause of the people. It is a good
cause: it will ultimately prevail,--it will finally triumph."

He was sentenced to transportation for fourteen years, and was removed to
the Edinburgh jail, from thence to the hulks, and lastly to the
transport-ship, containing eighty-three convicts, which conveyed him to
Botany Bay.

The next victim was Palmer, a learned and highly accomplished Unitarian
minister in Dundee. He was greatly beloved and respected as a polished
gentleman and sincere friend of the people. He was charged with
circulating a republican tract, and was sentenced to seven years'
transportation.

But the Friends of the People were not quelled by this summary punishment
of two of their devoted leaders. In the tenth month, 1793, delegates
were called together from various towns in Scotland, as well as from
Birmingham, Sheffield, and other places in England. Gerrald and Margarot
were sent up by the London society. After a brief sitting, the
convention was dispersed by the public authorities. Its sessions were
opened and closed with prayer, and the speeches of its members manifested
the pious enthusiasm of the old Cameronians and Parliament-men of the
times of Cromwell. Many of the dissenting clergy were present. William
Skirving, the most determined of the band, had been educated for the
ministry, and was a sincerely religious man. Joseph Gerrald was a young
man of brilliant talents and exemplary character. When the sheriff
entered the hall to disperse the friends of liberty, Gerrald knelt in
prayer. His remarkable words were taken down