SIR,
MY second volume of Pigs' Meat was finished on that memorable day, the 17th
of May, 1794; the day on which the Commons passed the Suspension of the Habeas
Corpus Act; and terror being the order of the day, you declined inserting any
advertisement.
On the Tuesday following, May, 26, I was dragged to the Secretary of State's
office, under pretence of being charged with treasonable practices, and from
thence in a few days committed to Newgate, where I yet, to the honour of the
government, remain untried*. But finding, that on account of my long
imprisonment, the business of my shop is much decayed, I have essayed once more
to get my book advertized, hoping that now you will not be afraid.
I need not but to remind the public of a well-known truth, namely, that many
thousands have approved this incomparable political instructor; wherefore,
being conscious that those who shall purchase this my publication, will receive
no less than value in full for their money. I more confidently hope, in this
the time of my distress, for the countenance and assistance of the Friends of
Freedom and Political Truth, in the vending of a work so eminently calculated
to enlighten mankind.
I am, Sir, &c.
Newgate,
High Treason Side
Dec 17. 1794
T. SPENCE
* T. Spence was discharged from Newgate, Dec. 23
FELLOW CITIZENS,
I am again restored to my shop, after a tedious confinement of more than
seven months, but change of circumstances renders my return productive of but
small joy. But though the public enemy has acquired the satisfaction of
reducing me to the inability of carrying on my little business, with my wonted
alacrity; yet, I trust, I shall not be quite overlooked by the patrons of the
Martyrs of Freedom in the dispensation of their favours. I beg
leave therefore to observe to the friends of freedom and political truth, that
by assisting me in the sale of my book, called
PIGS’ MEAT;
they will not only essentially
serve me, but also contribute greatly to the enlightening of mankind.
That I have been a considerable sufferer in the Cause of Liberty, is evident
from the following facts; since the prosecutions began in 1792, I have been
four times dragged from my business by runners and messengers — three
times have I been indicted before Grand Juries, and twice have they found true
bills:— Thrice have I been lodged in prison for different periods of
time, and once have I been put to the bar, but never once
convicted.— Neither did my son (a boy of twelve years of age) escape a
prison, for selling in the street, the Rights of Man in verse, (price
only One Halfpenny) the poems which he had were confiscated, and I paid a
fine, and thus the mighty affair ended.
And for what has all this been? Why, for doing those things which my own rights, and the rights
3
of mankind would not suffer me to dispense with, and which to decline, would have been to betray the liberties of my country.
I am, &c.
No. 8, Little Turnstile
Dec. 22, 1794
T. SPENCE