Radical Pioneers of the Eighteenth Century. By J. Bowles Daly,
LL.D. (Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bag, and Lowrey.)—This is a very good subject very indifferently handled. The main purpose of the book appears to be a sketch of the careers of Horne Tooke and Tom Paine—we say appears, because it is rather difficult really to make out whether the book is intended to be biographical sketches of these two pioneers of the Radical Party, or merely a collection of gossip about the times in which they lived. If what appears to be the purpose of the book had been rigidly adhered to, we might have had a most interesting and useful work. The ordinary person still talks of Horne Tooke, and Tom Paine, as if they were on the same kind of footing as Marat or Herr Most. Had he stuck to his text, Mr. Daly might have preached an eloquent sermon and enlightened his hearers. But he will rush off to talk about everything and everybody who has or has not the remotest connection with the subject. There is per- haps sufficient reason for the introduction of the whole story of Wilkes and liberty ; bat there is surely none for a whole chapter devoted to anecdotes about Lord Tharlow, who, whatever his other merits, could hardly be considered a Radical pioneer,—and certainly we could with reason and with advantage have been spared the writer's own opinions on the affairs of the present day, such as his advice to the Blue Ribbon Army to level their heaviest artillery against the custom of drinking toasts ; or his opinions on the utility of coffee palaces and the badness of the stuff sold in them as coffee. But with all its faults, the book is worth reading, and may open the eyes of a few people to the necessity of the work done by each sufferers in the course of progress as Horne Tooke.
Previous page
