Hugh Trevor's education in the world continues apace. Cast off by his ecclesiastical and political patrons, he loses himself in gaming and speculation, and then in Bath's assembly rooms, where the quick-witted Belmont defends the age's most seductive heresy: that self-gratification is the law of nature. When a single reckless act costs Hugh the good opinion of the woman he loves, he returns to London penniless and takes up the law, finding Blackstone's ennobling vision of the profession contradicted at every turn.
The satire of establishment virtue grows darker and sharper; the mystery of Olivia Mowbray deepens; and Hugh is left to weigh the contradictions of the world, as he tries to hold fast to his principles.
Written in the shadow of the repression following the 1794 treason trials, this is the radical novel at its most unsparing, and mordantly funny.
This second volume of The Adventures of Hugh Trevor presents volumes III and IV of the original six-volume work published in 1794 and 1797. The Preface, Biographical Introduction, Editorial Note and Introduction to the series appear in Volume I.
Edited with notes and an introduction by L.A. Davenport.
