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84-849: The title claimed a lineage with The Liberal , a short-lived periodical founded in 1822 by the Romantic poets Percy Bysshe Shelley , Lord Byron and Leigh Hunt . The modern version was launched in July 2004 ‒ 180 years after the original ceased publication ‒ "to rehabilitate Romantic Liberalism and reinvigorate the public sphere". Contributors to the print edition included Harold Bloom , Helen Suzman , Christopher Hitchens , Germaine Greer , Garry Kasparov , Robert Reich , Julia Kristeva , Liu Xiaobo , Johann Hari , Martin Rees , Wole Soyinka , Clive James , Slavoj Žižek and Simon Sebag Montefiore . This European political magazine or journal-related article

168-422: A paling fence with gunpowder. In 1804, Shelley entered Eton College , a period which he later recalled with loathing. He was subjected to particularly severe mob bullying which the perpetrators called "Shelley-baits". A number of biographers and contemporaries have attributed the bullying to Shelley's aloofness, nonconformity and refusal to take part in fagging . His peculiarities and violent rages earned him

252-469: A French revolutionary émigré and hosted a salon where Shelley was able to discuss politics, philosophy and vegetarianism. Mrs. Boinville became a confidante of Shelley during his marital crisis. During a breakdown, Shelley moved into Mrs. Boinville's home outside London. In February and March 1814, he became infatuated with her married daughter, Cornelia Turner, age eighteen, and wrote erotic poetry about her in his notebook. Following Ianthe's birth,

336-489: A boating accident in 1822 at age 29. Shelley was born on 4 August 1792 at Field Place , Warnham , Sussex , England. He was the eldest son of Sir Timothy Shelley , 2nd Baronet of Castle Goring (1753–1844), a Whig Member of Parliament for Horsham from 1790 to 1792 and for Shoreham between 1806 and 1812, and his wife, Elizabeth Pilfold (1763–1846), the daughter of a successful butcher. He had four younger sisters and one much younger brother. Shelley's early childhood

420-542: A communal household where all property would be shared. The Shelleys and Eliza spent December and January in Keswick where Shelley visited Robert Southey whose poetry he admired. Southey was taken with Shelley, even though there was a wide gulf between them politically, and predicted great things for him as a poet. Southey also informed Shelley that William Godwin , author of Political Justice , which had greatly influenced him in his youth, and which Shelley also admired,

504-567: A daughter, Clara Everina Shelley. Soon after, Shelley left for London with Claire, which increased Mary's resentment towards her stepsister. Shelley was arrested for two days in London over money he owed, and attorneys visited Mary in Marlowe over Shelley's debts. Shelley took part in the literary and political circle that surrounded Leigh Hunt , and during this period he met William Hazlitt and John Keats . Shelley's major work during this time

588-409: A day. They appointed a Committee of Fifty to discuss organization, and they proposed running a ticket of journeymen in the legislative elections. At the same time, Owen and Wright were continuing their own efforts to organize New York City's working classes. The two groups uneasily merged, and were encouraged by their success in the elections. To support the movement, George Henry Evans began publishing

672-558: A delusional episode triggered by stress. This was the first of a series of episodes in subsequent years where Shelley claimed to have been attacked by strangers during periods of personal crisis. Early in 1812, Shelley wrote, published and with Harriet personally distributed in Dublin three political tracts: An Address, to the Irish People; Proposals for an Association of Philanthropists; and Declaration of Rights . He also delivered

756-469: A falling-out with his father. In late December 1810, Shelley had met Harriet Westbrook, a pupil at the same boarding school as Shelley's sisters. They corresponded frequently that winter and also after Shelley had been expelled from Oxford. Shelley expounded his radical ideas on politics, religion and marriage to Harriet, and they gradually convinced each other that she was oppressed by her father and at school. Shelley's infatuation with Harriet developed in

840-473: A financial settlement with his father. On 23 June Harriet gave birth to a girl, Eliza Ianthe Shelley (known as Ianthe), and in the following months the relationship between Shelley and his wife deteriorated. Shelley resented the influence Harriet's sister had over her while Harriet was alienated from Shelley by his close friendship with an attractive widow, Mrs. Harriet de Boinville . Mrs. Boinville had married

924-512: A further decline in Shelley's health and deepened Mary's depression. On 4 August she wrote: "We have now lived five years together; and if all the events of the five years were blotted out, I might be happy". Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: What if my leaves are falling like its own! The tumult of thy mighty harmonies Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce, My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! Drive my dead thoughts over

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1008-552: A loan of £3,000 but had left most of the funds at the disposal of Godwin and Harriet, who was again pregnant. The financial arrangement with Godwin led to rumours that he had sold his daughters to Shelley. Shelley, Mary and Claire made their way across war-ravaged France where Shelley wrote to Harriet, asking her to meet them in Switzerland with the money he had left for her. Hearing nothing from Harriet in Switzerland, and unable to secure sufficient funds or suitable accommodation,

1092-567: A long period of depression and emotional estrangement from Shelley. The Shelleys moved to Naples on 1 December, where they stayed for three months. During this period Shelley was ill, depressed and almost suicidal: a state of mind reflected in his poem "Stanzas written in Dejection – December 1818, Near Naples". While in Naples, Shelley registered the birth and baptism of a baby girl, Elena Adelaide Shelley (born 27 December), naming himself as

1176-468: A lyric poet without rival, and surely one of the most advanced sceptical intellects ever to write a poem." Shelley's reputation fluctuated during the 20th century, but since the 1960s he has achieved increasing critical acclaim for the sweeping momentum of his poetic imagery, his mastery of genres and verse forms, and the complex interplay of sceptical, idealist, and materialist ideas in his work. Among his best-known works are " Ozymandias " (1818), " Ode to

1260-757: A prolonged legal battle, the Court of Chancery eventually awarded custody of Shelley and Harriet's children to foster parents, on the grounds that Shelley had abandoned his first wife for Mary without cause and was an atheist. In March 1817 the Shelleys moved to the village of Marlow, Buckinghamshire , where Shelley's friend Thomas Love Peacock lived. The Shelley household included Claire and her baby Allegra, both of whose presence Mary resented. Shelley's generosity with money and increasing debts also led to financial and marital stress, as did Godwin's frequent requests for financial help. On 2 September Mary gave birth to

1344-544: A quantity of essays on political, social, and philosophical issues. Much of this poetry and prose was not published in his lifetime, or only published in expurgated form, due to the risk of prosecution for political and religious libel. From the 1820s, his poems and political and ethical writings became popular in Owenist , Chartist , and radical political circles, and later drew admirers as diverse as Karl Marx , Mahatma Gandhi , and George Bernard Shaw . Shelley's life

1428-457: A reputation as a classical scholar and a tolerated eccentric. In his last term at Eton, his first novel Zastrozzi appeared and he had established a following among his fellow pupils. Prior to enrolling for University College, Oxford , in October 1810, Shelley completed Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire (written with his sister Elizabeth), the verse melodrama The Wandering Jew and

1512-473: A scathing review of the Revolt of Islam (and its earlier version Laon and Cythna ) in the conservative Quarterly Review . Shelley was angered by the personal attack on him in the article which he erroneously believed had been written by Southey. His bitterness over the review lasted for the rest of his life. On 12 November, Mary gave birth to a boy, Percy Florence Shelley . Around the time of Percy's birth,

1596-401: A species of utopian socialism that developed in the "early undeveloped period" of the struggle between the bourgeoisie and proletariat— and that formerly put out literature "full of the most valuable materials for the enlightenment of the working class". However, Marx interprets Owenism as having, by the time of his writing in 1848, parted ways with Chartism to become a " reactionary sect" that

1680-627: A speech at a meeting of O'Connell's Catholic Committee in which he called for Catholic emancipation , repeal of the Acts of Union and an end to the oppression of the Irish poor. Reports of Shelley's subversive activities were sent to the Home Secretary . Returning from Ireland, the Shelley household travelled to Wales, then Devon, where they again came under government surveillance for distributing subversive literature. Elizabeth Hitchener joined

1764-440: A traveller from an antique land, Who said—"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desart.... Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name

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1848-573: Is "compelled to appeal to the feelings and purses of the bourgeois class" to receive the funding necessary for utopian communities or other projects. Remaining advocates of Owenism, claims Marx, now "violently oppose all political action on the part of the working class" such as Chartist advocacy for extension of suffrage ; ″The Owenites in England, and the Fourierists in France, respectively, oppose

1932-797: Is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away." Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1818 Shelley and Mary returned to England in September 1816, and in early October they heard that Mary's half-sister Fanny Imlay had killed herself. Godwin believed that Fanny had been in love with Shelley, and Shelley himself suffered depression and guilt over her death, writing: "Friend had I known thy secret grief / Should we have parted so." Further tragedy followed in December when Shelley's estranged wife Harriet drowned herself in

2016-423: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See tips for writing articles about magazines . Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page . This liberalism -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley ( / b ɪ ʃ / BISH ; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English writer who

2100-561: Is a verse drama of rape, murder and incest based on the story of the Renaissance Count Cenci of Rome and his daughter Beatrice . Shelley completed the play in September and the first edition was published that year. It was to become one of his most popular works and the only one to have two authorised editions in his lifetime. Shelley's three-year-old son William died in June 1819, probably of malaria. The new tragedy caused

2184-461: Is an autobiographical poem which explores the relationship between Shelley and Byron and analyses Shelley's personal crises of 1818 and 1819. The poem was completed in the summer of 1819, but was not published in Shelley's lifetime. Prometheus Unbound is a long dramatic poem inspired by Aeschylus's retelling of the Prometheus myth. It was completed in late 1819 and published in 1820. The Cenci

2268-417: Is considered a forerunner of the cooperative movement . The Owenite movement undertook several experiments in the establishment of utopian communities organized according to communitarian and cooperative principles. One of the best known of these efforts, which was unsuccessful, was the project at New Harmony, Indiana , which started in 1825 and was abandoned by 1827. Owenism is also closely associated with

2352-507: Is considered one of the major English Romantic poets . A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death, and he became an important influence on subsequent generations of poets, including Robert Browning , Algernon Charles Swinburne , Thomas Hardy , and W. B. Yeats . American literary critic Harold Bloom describes him as "a superb craftsman,

2436-507: Is possible that Mary, with Shelley's encouragement, was also having a sexual relationship with Hogg. In May Claire left the household, at Mary's insistence, to reside in Lynmouth. In August Shelley and Mary moved to Bishopsgate where Shelley worked on Alastor , a long poem in blank verse based on the myth of Narcissus and Echo . Alastor was published in an edition of 250 in early 1816 to poor sales and largely unfavourable reviews from

2520-599: The Cincinnati Time Store . A short-lived Labour Exchange was also founded in 1836 in Kingston, Upper Canada. Robert Owen was resolutely apolitical, and initially pursued a non-class based form of community organization. However, as the focus of the movement shifted from the formation of utopian communities to cooperatives, Owenites became active in labour organization in both the United Kingdom and

2604-575: The London Working Men's Association . B.A.P.C.K. rejected joint stock cooperative efforts as "systems of competition." Its aim was the establishment of an agricultural, manufacturing or trading community. They recognized that the success of cooperation depended upon parliamentary reform, and this proved the basis for working with the radical reformers who would go on to create the Chartist movement. The National Equitable Labour Exchange

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2688-528: The Edinburgh Practical Society created by the founders of Orbiston operated a co-operative store to raise the capital for the community. Abram Combe , the leader of that community, was to author the pamphlet The Sphere for Joint Stock Companies (1825), which made clear that Orbiston was not to be a self-subsistent commune, but a co-operative trading endeavor. For the majority of Owenites who did not live in these utopian communities,

2772-644: The Lake District , leaving Hogg in York. For a year from June 1811, Shelley was also involved in an intense platonic relationship with Elizabeth Hitchener , a 28-year-old unmarried schoolteacher of advanced views, with whom he was corresponding frequently. Hitchener, whom Shelley called the "sister of my soul" and "my second self", became his confidante and intellectual companion as he developed his views on politics, religion, ethics and personal relationships. Shelley proposed that she join him, Harriet and Eliza in

2856-801: The London Mechanics Institute . When this poverty led to revolt, as it did in Glasgow in April 1820, a “committee of gentlemen” from the area commissioned the cotton manufacturer and philanthropist, Robert Owen, to produce a “Report to the County of Lanark” in May 1820, which recommended a new form of pauper relief; the cooperative village. Owen's villages thus needed to be compared with the Dickensian " Houses of Industry " that were created after

2940-534: The Peterloo Massacre of peaceful protesters in Manchester. Within two weeks he had completed one of his most famous political poems, The Mask of Anarchy , and despatched it to Leigh Hunt for publication. Hunt, however, decided not to publish it for fear of prosecution for seditious libel. The poem was only officially published in 1832. The Shelleys moved to Florence in October, where Shelley read

3024-623: The Serpentine . Harriet, pregnant and living alone at the time, believed that she had been abandoned by her new lover. In her suicide letter she asked Shelley to take custody of their son Charles but to leave their daughter in her sister Eliza's care. Shelley married Mary Godwin on 30 December, despite his philosophical objections to the institution. The marriage was intended to help secure Shelley's custody of his children by Harriet and to placate Godwin who had refused to see Shelley and Mary because of their previous adulterous relationship. After

3108-483: The Working Man's Advocate . The new party quickly fell victim to factionalism over several controversial proposals. Owen's controversial contribution was a proposed "state guardianship plan" where children would be removed from their homes at the age of two and placed in government run schools, to protect them from the degeneracy of slum life and allow their optimum development through free schooling. By late 1830,

3192-511: The Chartist movement demanding universal suffrage. Many have viewed Owenite socialism and Chartism as mutually hostile because of Owen's refusal to engage in politics. However, Chartists and Owenites were “many parts but one body” in this initial stage. Robert Dale Owen emigrated to the United States in 1825 to help his father run New Harmony, Indiana . After the community dissolved, Robert Dale Owen moved to New York City and became

3276-558: The French Alps inspired " Mont Blanc ", which has been described as an atheistic response to Coleridge's "Hymn before Sunrise in the Vale of Chamoni". During this tour, Shelley often signed guest books with a declaration that he was an atheist. These declarations were seen by other British tourists, including Southey, which hardened attitudes against Shelley back home. Relations between Byron and Shelley's party became strained when Byron

3360-601: The People on the Death of Princess Charlotte (November 1817). In December he wrote "Ozymandias", which is considered to be one of his finest sonnets, as part of a competition with friend and fellow poet Horace Smith . On 12 March 1818 the Shelleys and Claire left England to escape its "tyranny civil and religious". A doctor had also recommended that Shelley go to Italy for his chronic lung complaint, and Shelley had arranged to take Claire's daughter, Allegra, to her father Byron who

3444-589: The Relief Union's incorporation were sent to the Assembly and Legislative Council. Significantly, Osgood's plan was proposed at the same time as the new Lt. Governor, Sir Francis Bond Head was arriving in Toronto. Bond Head was an Assistant Poor Law Administrator, and intent on imposing workhouses for the poor, not Owenite colonies. In Chapter III of The Communist Manifesto , Karl Marx analyzes Owenism as

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3528-585: The Shelleys met Sophia Stacey , who was a ward of one of Shelley's uncles and was staying at the same pension as the Shelleys. Sophia, a talented harpist and singer, formed a friendship with Shelley while Mary was preoccupied with her newborn son. Shelley wrote at least five love poems and fragments for Sophia including "Song written for an Indian Air". Owenism Owenism is the utopian socialist philosophy of 19th-century social reformer Robert Owen and his followers and successors, who are known as Owenites . Owenism aimed for radical reform of society and

3612-557: The Shelleys moved frequently across London, Wales, the Lake District , Scotland and Berkshire to escape creditors and search for a home. In March 1814, Shelley remarried Harriet in London to settle any doubts about the legality of their Edinburgh wedding and secure the rights of their child. Nevertheless, the Shelleys lived apart for most of the following months, and Shelley reflected bitterly on: "my rash & heartless union with Harriet". In May 1814, Shelley began visiting his mentor Godwin almost daily, and soon fell in love with Mary ,

3696-691: The United States. In the United Kingdom, Owenites became further involved in electoral reform (now envisioned as part of a broader Reform Movement ). Between 1829 and 1835, Owenite socialism was politicized through two organizations; the British Association for the Promotion of Co-operative Knowledge , and its successor, the National Union of the Working Classes (founded in 1831, and abandoned in 1835). The aim of B.A.P.C.K.

3780-622: The West Wind " (1819), " To a Skylark " (1820), " Adonais " (1821), the philosophical essay " The Necessity of Atheism " (1811), which his friend T. J. Hogg may have co-authored, and the political ballad " The Mask of Anarchy " (1819). His other major works include the verse dramas The Cenci (1819), Prometheus Unbound (1820) and Hellas (1822), and the long narrative poems Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude (1815), Julian and Maddalo (1819), Adonais (1821), and The Triumph of Life (1822). Shelley also wrote prose fiction and

3864-576: The Working Classes (N.U.W.C.) to push for a combination of Owenism and radical democratic political reform. Owen himself resisted the N.U.W.C.'s political efforts at reform, and by 1833, he was an acknowledged leader of the British trade union movement. In February 1834, he helped form Britain's first national labour organization, the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union . The organisation began to break up in

3948-465: The birth and baptism on 27 February 1819, and the household left Naples for Rome the following day, leaving Elena with carers. Elena was to die in a poor suburb of Naples on 9 June 1820. In Rome, Shelley was in poor health, probably having developed nephritis and tuberculosis which later was in remission. Nevertheless, he made significant progress on three major works: Julian and Maddalo , Prometheus Unbound and The Cenci . Julian and Maddalo

4032-580: The bishops and heads of colleges at Oxford, and he was called to appear before the college's fellows, including the Dean, George Rowley . His refusal to answer questions put by college authorities regarding whether or not he authored the pamphlet resulted in his expulsion from Oxford on 25   March 1811, along with Hogg. Hearing of his son's expulsion, Shelley's father threatened to cut all contact with Shelley unless he agreed to return home and study under tutors appointed by him. Shelley's refusal to do so led to

4116-736: The bride and groom. (Shelley's father believed his son had married beneath him, as Harriet's father had earned his fortune in trade and was the owner of a tavern and coffee house.) Surviving on borrowed money, Shelley and Harriet stayed in Edinburgh for a month, with Hogg living under the same roof. The trio left for York in October, and Shelley went on to Sussex to settle matters with his father, leaving Harriet behind with Hogg. Shelley returned from his unsuccessful excursion to find that Eliza had moved in with Harriet and Hogg. Harriet confessed that Hogg had tried to seduce her while Shelley had been away. Shelley, Harriet and Eliza soon left for Keswick in

4200-719: The co-editor of the Free Enquirer , a socialistic and anti-Christian weekly, with Frances Wright , the founder of the Nashoba community , from 1828 to 1832. They also founded a "Hall of Science" in New York like those being created by Owenites in the United Kingdom. From this base, Owen and Wright sought to influence the Working Men's Party . The Working Men's Party emerged spontaneously out of strike action by journeymen in 1829 who protested having to work more than 10 hours

4284-441: The conservative press. On 24 January 1816, Mary gave birth to William Shelley. Shelley was delighted to have another son, but was suffering from the strain of prolonged financial negotiations with his father, Harriet and William Godwin. Shelley showed signs of delusional behaviour and was contemplating an escape to the continent. Claire initiated a sexual relationship with Lord Byron in April 1816, just before his self-exile on

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4368-503: The continent, and then arranged for Byron to meet Shelley, Mary, and her in Geneva. Shelley admired Byron's poetry and had sent him Queen Mab and other poems. Shelley's party arrived in Geneva in May and rented a house close to Villa Diodati , on the shores of Lake Geneva, where Byron was staying. There Shelley, Byron and the others engaged in discussions about literature, science and "various philosophical doctrines". One night, while Byron

4452-653: The cooperative movement was the British Association for the Promotion of Co-operative Knowledge (B.A.P.C.K.) founded in 1829. It was the successor to the London Cooperative Society , and served as a clearing house of information for Britain's 300 cooperatives. It provided pamphlets, lectures and "missionaries" for the movement. It held its quarterly meetings in the London Mechanics Institute , with frequent lectures from William Lovett , and many other radical Owenites who would go on to lead

4536-636: The development of the British trade union movement , and with the spread of the Mechanics' Institute movement. Owen's economic thought grew out of widespread poverty in Britain in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars . His thought was rooted in 17th-century English " moral economy " ideals of “fair exchange, just price, and the right to charity.” "Utopian socialist” economic thought such as Owen's

4620-443: The estate, and a financial settlement between Shelley and his father (now Sir Timothy), however, was not concluded until April the following year. In February 1815, Mary gave premature birth to a baby girl who died ten days later, deepening her depression. In the following weeks, Mary became close to Hogg who temporarily moved into the household. Shelley was almost certainly having a sexual relationship with Claire at this time, and it

4704-425: The father and falsely naming Mary as the mother. The parentage of Elena has never been conclusively established. Biographers have variously speculated that she was adopted by Shelley to console Mary for the loss of Clara, that she was Shelley's child by Claire, that she was his child by his servant Elise Foggi, or that she was the child of a "mysterious lady" who had followed Shelley to the continent. Shelley registered

4788-468: The gothic novel St. Irvine; or, The Rosicrucian: A Romance (published 1811). At Oxford Shelley attended few lectures, instead spending long hours reading and conducting scientific experiments in the laboratory he set up in his room. He met a fellow student, Thomas Jefferson Hogg , who became his closest friend. Shelley became increasingly politicised under Hogg's influence, developing strong radical and anti-Christian views. Such views were dangerous in

4872-550: The household in Devon, but several months later had a falling out with the Shelleys and left. The Shelley household had settled in Tremadog , Wales, in September 1812, where Shelley worked on Queen Mab , a utopian allegory with extensive notes preaching atheism, free love, republicanism and vegetarianism. The poem was published the following year in a private edition of 250 copies, although few were initially distributed because of

4956-528: The months following his expulsion, when he was under severe emotional strain due to the conflict with his family, his bitterness over the breakdown of his romance with his cousin Harriet Grove, and his unfounded belief that he might have a fatal illness. At the same time, Harriet Westbrook's elder sister Eliza, to whom Harriet was very close, encouraged the young girl's romance with Shelley. Shelley's correspondence with Harriet intensified in July, while he

5040-675: The nickname "Mad Shelley". His interest in the occult and science continued, and contemporaries describe him giving an electric shock to a master, blowing up a tree stump with gunpowder and attempting to raise spirits with occult rituals. In his senior years, Shelley came under the influence of a part-time teacher, James Lind , who encouraged his interest in the occult and introduced him to liberal and radical authors. Shelley also developed an interest in Plato and idealist philosophy which he pursued in later years through self-study. According to Richard Holmes , Shelley, by his leaving year, had gained

5124-486: The party was effectively dead. Owenism was introduced to Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1835 by the Rev. Thaddeus Osgood, a Montreal-based evangelical minister. Osgood returned to London in 1829. Deep in debt, he was unable to return to Canada, and spent the succeeding five years preaching in London's workhouses and prisons. It was in this working class milieu that Osgood met and debated with Robert Owen. Although attracted by

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5208-503: The passage of the 1834 Poor Law amendment act. Owen's report was to spark a widespread “socialist” movement that established co-operatives, labour exchanges, and experimental communities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Owen was to disseminate his ideas in North America beginning in 1824. His ideas were most widely received in New York and Philadelphia, where he was greeted by nascent working men's parties. Owen

5292-529: The reactionary political climate prevailing during Britain's war with Napoleonic France, and Shelley's father warned him against Hogg's influence. In the winter of 1810–1811, Shelley published a series of anonymous political poems and tracts: Posthumous Fragments of Margaret Nicholson , The Necessity of Atheism (written in collaboration with Hogg) and A Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things . Shelley mailed The Necessity of Atheism to all

5376-485: The reinstatement of Shelley's allowance. With Harriet's allowance also restored, Shelley now had the funds for his Irish venture. Their departure for Ireland was precipitated by increasing hostility towards the Shelley household from their landlord and neighbours who were alarmed by Shelley's scientific experiments, pistol shooting and radical political views. As tension mounted, Shelley claimed he had been attacked in his home by ruffians, an event which might have been real or

5460-462: The risk of prosecution for seditious and religious libel. In February 1813, Shelley claimed he was attacked in his home at night. The incident might have been real, a hallucination brought on by stress, or a hoax staged by Shelley in order to escape government surveillance, creditors and his entanglements in local politics. The Shelleys and Eliza fled to Ireland, then London. Back in England, Shelley's debts mounted as he tried unsuccessfully to reach

5544-527: The sixteen-year-old daughter of Godwin and the late feminist author Mary Wollstonecraft . Shelley and Mary declared their love for each other during a visit to her mother's grave in the churchyard of St Pancras Old Church on 26 June. When Shelley told Godwin that he intended to leave Harriet and live with Mary, his mentor banished him from the house and forbade Mary from seeing him. Shelley and Mary eloped to Europe on 28 July, taking Mary's step-sister Claire Clairmont with them. Before leaving, Shelley had secured

5628-458: The summer of 1834 and by November, it had ceased to function. It was from this heady mix of working class trade unionism, co-operativism, and political radicalism in the disappointed wake of the 1832 Reform Bill and the 1834 New Poor Law , that a number of prominent Owenite leaders such as William Lovett , John Cleave and Henry Hetherington helped form the London Working Men's Association in 1836. The London Working Men's Association led

5712-523: The three travelled to Germany and Holland before returning to England on 13 September. Shelley spent the next few months trying to raise loans and avoid bailiffs. Mary was pregnant, lonely, depressed and ill. Her mood was not improved when she heard that, on 30 November, Harriet had given birth to Charles Bysshe Shelley, heir to the Shelley fortune and baronetcy. This was followed, in early January 1815, by news that Shelley's grandfather, Sir Bysshe , had died leaving an estate worth £220,000. The settlement of

5796-490: The universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened Earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? From "Ode to the West Wind", 1819 The Shelleys were now living in Livorno where, in September, Shelley heard of

5880-483: The working-class Owenite tradition was composed of three overlapping institutions: "the cooperative store, the labour exchange and the trade union." The cooperative ideas of Owen and Combe were further developed by the Brighton doctor, William King , publisher of " The Co-operator ." Although the paper was only published for two years between 1827 and 1829, it served to unify the movement. The next attempt to broaden

5964-407: The “home colony” model of poverty relief, Osgood was offended by Owens’ anti-religious rhetoric. Drawing on Owenism, rather than Owen, Osgood proposed to found “Relief Unions” for the poor when he finally returned to Canada in 1835. Through Osgood's influence, Robert Owens’ ideas were widely debated in Toronto. Osgood's proposal elicited support from across Upper Canada in early 1836, and petitions for

6048-579: Was Laon and Cythna , a long narrative poem featuring incest and attacks on religion. It was hastily withdrawn after publication due to fears of prosecution for religious libel, and was re-edited and reissued as The Revolt of Islam in January 1818. Shelley also published two political tracts under a pseudonym: A Proposal for putting Reform to the Vote throughout the Kingdom (March 1817) and An Address to

6132-437: Was a reaction to the laissez-faire impetus of Malthusian Poor Law reform. Claeys notes that "Owen’s ‘Plan’ began as a grandiose but otherwise not exceptionally unusual workhouse scheme to place the unemployed poor in newly built rural communities." Owen’s “plan” was itself derivative of (and ultimately popularized by) a number of Irish and English trade unionists such as William Thompson and Thomas Hodgskin , co-founder of

6216-523: Was bullied and unhappy at the school and sometimes responded with violent rage. He also began suffering from the nightmares, hallucinations and sleep walking that were to periodically affect him throughout his life. Shelley developed an interest in science which supplemented his voracious reading of tales of mystery, romance and the supernatural. During his holidays at Field Place, his sisters were often terrified at being subjected to his experiments with gunpowder , acids and electricity. Back at school he blew up

6300-554: Was founded in London in 1832 and spread to several English cities, most notably Birmingham , before closing in 1834. Beginning from the Ricardian Socialist view that labour was the source of all value, the exchange issued "Labour Notes" similar to banknotes, denominated in hours. John Gray proposed a National Chamber of Commerce as a central bank issuing a labour currency . A similar time-based currency would be created by an American Owenite, Josiah Warren , who founded

6384-466: Was holidaying in Wales, and in response to her urgent pleas for his protection, he returned to London in early August. Putting aside his philosophical objections to matrimony, he left with the sixteen-year-old Harriet for Edinburgh on 25 August 1811, and they were married there on the 28th. Hearing of the elopement, Harriet's father, John Westbrook, and Shelley's father, Timothy, cut off the allowances of

6468-454: Was marked by family crises, ill health, and a backlash against his atheism , political views, and defiance of social conventions. He went into permanent self-exile in Italy in 1818 and over the next four years produced what Zachary Leader and Michael O'Neill call "some of the finest poetry of the Romantic period". His second wife, Mary Shelley , was the author of Frankenstein . He died in

6552-684: Was no theoretician, and the Owenite movement drew on a broad range of thinkers such as William Thompson , John Gray , Abram Combe , Robert Dale Owen , George Mudie , John Francis Bray , Dr William King , and Josiah Warren . These men rooted their thought in Ricardian socialism and the labour theory of value . Although the early emphasis in Owenism was on the formation of utopian communities, these communities were predicated upon co-operative labour, and frequently, co-operative sales. For example,

6636-532: Was now in Venice. After travelling some months through France and Italy, Shelley left Mary and baby Clara at Bagni di Lucca (in today's Tuscany) while he travelled with Claire to Venice to see Byron and make arrangements for visiting Allegra. Byron invited the Shelleys to stay at his summer residence at Este , and Shelley urged Mary to meet him there. Clara became seriously ill on the journey and died on 24 September in Venice. Following Clara's death, Mary fell into

6720-417: Was reciting Coleridge's Christabel , Shelley suffered a severe panic attack with hallucinations. The previous night Mary had had a more productive vision or nightmare which inspired her novel Frankenstein . Shelley and Byron then took a boating tour around Lake Geneva, which inspired Shelley to write his " Hymn to Intellectual Beauty ", his first substantial poem since Alastor . A tour of Chamonix in

6804-537: Was sheltered and mostly happy. He was particularly close to his sisters and his mother, who encouraged him to hunt, fish and ride. At age six, he was sent to a day school run by the vicar of Warnham church, where he displayed an impressive memory and gift for languages . In 1802 he entered the Syon House Academy of Brentford , Middlesex , where his cousin Thomas Medwin was a pupil. Shelley

6888-470: Was still alive. Shelley wrote to Godwin, offering himself as his devoted disciple. Godwin, who had modified many of his earlier radical views, advised Shelley to reconcile with his father, become a scholar before he published anything else, and give up his avowed plans for political agitation in Ireland. Meanwhile, Shelley had met his father's patron, Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk , who helped secure

6972-531: Was to promote cooperatives, but its members recognized that political reform was necessary if they were to achieve that end. They thus formed a "Political Union" which was the principal form of political activity in the period before the Great Reform Act of 1832 . Political Unions organized petitioning campaigns meant to sway parliament. The B.A.P.C.K. leadership thus formed the National Union of

7056-399: Was told that Claire was pregnant with his child. Shelley, Mary, and Claire left Switzerland in late August, with arrangements for the expected baby still unclear, although Shelley made provision for Claire and the baby in his will. In January 1817 Claire gave birth to a daughter by Byron who she named Alba, but later renamed Allegra in accordance with Byron's wishes. Ozymandias I met

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