Committee were composed of, and I soon found that Mr. Thistlewood and
Dr. Watson, the two gentlemen before me, were in reality the Committee;
young Watson, Preston, Hooper, _Castles_, and one or two others, who
formed the remainder of the Committee, being merely nominal members. I
informed them that I was staying at Cooper's Hotel, in Bouverie-street,
which makes part of the Black Lion Inn, in Water-lane, where they
promised to wait upon me in the evening with the memorial, that I might
look it over.

Mr. Thistlewood and the Doctor came at the appointed hour, and brought
the document with them. It was very long, and filled several pages
closely written upon foolscap paper. As soon as I had read the first
resolution, I was satisfied in my own mind as to how I ought to act
with respect to this voluminous production; but when I had read to the
bottom of the first page I closed the book, and very seriously informed
my visitors that it evidently contained treasonable matter, and that
nothing more than the overt act of holding the meeting, to carry the
scheme into execution, was required to make all that were concerned in
it liable at least to be indicted for high treason. I certainly should
not, I told them, countenance any such measures as were proposed even in
the first page, and the project of marching in a body to Carlton House,
to demand and enforce an audience of the Prince Regent (which formed a
part of their design), was quite preposterous, as well as unjust and
unreasonable. As a private gentleman, I myself would not submit to be
intruded upon in such a manner, and it was very unreasonable to expect
that it could be endured by the Chief Magistrate of the country.
I found, in fact, that the whole affair was made up of Spencean
principles, relating to the holding of all the land in the kingdom as
one great farm belonging to the people, or something of that sort. I
told them my ideas upon the subject, which were, that the first thing