It is high treason in British law to imagine the king's death. But after the execution of Louis XVI in 1793, everyone in Britain must have found themselves imagining that the same fate might befall George III. How easy was it to distinguish between fantasising about the death of George and imagining it, in the legal sense of intending or designing? John Barrell examines this question in the context of the political trials of the mid-1790s and the controversies they generated. He shows how the law of treason was adapted in the years following Louis's death to punish what was acknowledged to be a "modern" form of treason unheard of when the law had been framed. The result, he argues, was the invention of a new and imaginary reading, a "figurative" treason, by which the question of who was imagining the king's death, the supposed traitors or those who charged them with treason, became inseparable.

Cunningham, T[imothy]. A New and Complete Law-Dictionary, or, General Abridgment of the Law: On a More Extensive Plan than any Law-Dictionary Hitherto Published. Containing not only the Explanation of the Terms but also the Law itself, Both with Regard to Theory and Practice. Also the Interpretations of the Words Made Use of in our Ancient Charters, Chronicles, Histories, Records, and Registers. Together with such Knowledge as is Necessary to Illustrate the Antiquity of the Law and our Original Government and Customs in Former Times. London: J.F. and C. Rivington, 1783. Two volumes, 9" x 14." Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With a new introduction by Bryan A. Garner. ISBN 1-58477-274-3. Cloth. $495. * Third and final edition. "The first dictionary which aimed at completeness as regards legal terms only was that of Cunningham..." Hicks, Materials and Methods of Legal Research. Third Rev. Edition 247. The author of more than twenty books, Cunningham [1718?-1789] was one of the most prolific legal writers of the eighteenth century. Like Jacob, Cunningham aimed to create a dictionary that would give a complete account of the law. The result is a work that is also an abridgment, and includes summaries of cases and precedents in equity and statutes. Along with those of Jacob and Marriot, it was one of the most popular comprehensive English dictionaries of the period, and was found in Thomas Jefferson's library. Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson 1814. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations I:8 (22). Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 245. Holdsworth, A History of English Law XII:177.