s
turned not to politics, but to practical means of cure. They stated that
the trade in velvets, brocades, and rich silks would be absolutely
ruined unless steps were taken to revive the fashion in these fabrics.
In Liverpool there were far other grievances. There, as in all seaports,
the tyranny of the press-gang was sharply resented; and, early in
November 1793, the populace clamoured for the election of a
"liberty-loving mayor," Mr. Tarleton, who promised to keep the
press-gang out of the town.[275]

In general the malcontents urged their case most pointedly in towns and
villages, where branches of the Radical Societies had taken root. These
Societies or clubs continued to grow in number and influence through the
year 1793, the typical club being now concerned, not with faro, but with
the "Rights of Man." Some of the Reform Clubs sought to moderate the
Gallicizing zeal of the extreme wing. Thus, the "Friends of the People,"
whose subscription of two and a half guineas was some guarantee for
moderation, formally expressed their disapproval of Paine's works and
all Republican agencies--a futile declaration; for his "Rights of Man"
was the very life-blood of the new clubs. Working men had shown little
or no interest in the earlier motions for Reform. The Associations of
the years 1780-5 had lapsed; and it was clearly the joint influence of
the French Revolution and Paine's productions which led to the
remarkable awakening of the year 1792.

Besides the London Corresponding Society, started (as we saw in
Chapter III) by Thomas Hardy early in that year, there was another
formidable organization, the Society for Constitutional Information,
founded in London at the close of 1791. It, too, was concerned with much
more than the Reform of Parliament; for on 18th May 1792 it recommended
the publication in a cheap form of Paine's "Rights of Man"; and on 21st
November it appointed a Committee for Foreign Correspondence. A little
later were adopted some of the phrases used in the French Convention,
and St. Andre, Roland, and Barere were admitted to membership. It does
not appear that either this Society, or Hardy's, corresponded with
France after the declaration of war; for the Parliamentary Committee of
Secrecy, charged in 1794 to report on seditious proceedings would, if it
were possible, have fastened on so compromising an act. Its members
belonged to a higher class than those of Hardy's Society; for they
included Romney the