Catalogue description Folios 37-42. Anonymous letter signed 'Spectator' tracing the country's decline from the...

Folios 37-42. Anonymous letter signed 'Spectator' tracing the country's decline from the outcome of the American War through the accumulation of the National Debt to a high tax burden and consequent discontent. The writer attacks the logic of Burke's essay on the French revolution and points to the folly of the Government's attempts to suppress Paine's writings. He indicates the absurdity of a protestant king upholding the interest of a 'popish despot' and a 'diabolical priesthood'. The letter presses the case for parliamentary reform, citing the disregard by MPs of widespread public support for the abolition of the slave trade. He closes with a plea for the home secretary to beg the king to make peace with France.