6 - Setbacks

Summary

In the autumn of 1794 Scott took the next significant step in his work of administering the criminal law – prosecuting two leading members of the London Corresponding Society (LCS) and the Society for Constitutional Information (SCI) for high treason. In several ways the proceedings represented a formidable undertaking. They concerned a heinous crime and a complicated, controversial legal argument, and they were commenced after a period of mounting tension and suspicion between the government and the radicals. For Scott, the immediate result of his labour was failure, as both defendants were acquitted following lengthy and exhausting trials. The experience of the trials and their aftermath, however, have a wider significance. They influenced what would become Scott's ultimate attitude toward his own and the government's role in safeguarding the nation.

Events during the first part of 1794 showed the government and the English radicals proceeding steadily toward a collision. With their president, Maurice Margarot, awaiting trial in Scotland for his allegedly seditious participation in the Scottish National Convention, the LCS began the year in a defiant mood. In January they resolved to hold an English Convention if Parliament introduced any measures ‘inimical to the liberties of the people’, which included the landing of foreign troops, the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, the imposition of martial law, or a ban on political assemblies. From the perspective of the LCS, therefore, the actions of the government in the first months of the year were extremely provocative.