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William Blake 250 anniversary The SOCPA scene in his time...
In 1795... there were treason trials and transportations, while the threat of execution was stayed only by juries who refused to condemn their coun- trymen for their opinions. ...the actual London populace  faced with unemployment and short- ages of bread as the French war continued  were far less amenable to the usual state slo- gans. "On the day the King went to open the parliament... the crowd which was immense, Hissed and groaned and called out No Pitt  No War  Peace Peace, Bread Bread." Habeas Corpus had been suspended in the spring of 1794 but now two acts were passed against "trea- sonable and seditious Practices" as well as "Seditious Meetings and Assemblies".
From Peter Ackroyd's poetic and scholarly book, Blake, (published by Minerva 1996).