... urbanisation, improved educational opportunities, a flourishing press and a middle class which was growing as a result of economic expansion had increased calls for reform in Britain throughout the late eighteenth century. The initial impact of the French Revolution was to electrify reformist opinion, both radical and moderate. Reform societies such as the Revolution Society and the Society for Constitutional Information sent resolutions congratulating the French National Assembly. In 1791 meetings were organised throughout the country to mark Bastille Day and the event itself was performed as a pageant in London's theatres. New radical associations such as the London Corresponding Society (LCS), which was founded in 1792, lobbied for universal male suffrage and parliamentary reform. The same was true in large and small towns across the country and helped to politicise and radicalise popular opinion. Nicholas Rogers states that the "public welcomed the fall of French absolutism"1 and the impact ...

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