SOURCE: Adams, M. Ray. “George Dyer and English Radicalism.” In Studies in the Literary Backgrounds of English Radicalism, pp. 227-66. Lancaster, Pa.: Franklin and Marshall College Studies, no. 5, 1947.

In the following excerpt, Adams corrects the image of Dyer as a lovable fool by investigating his religious and political ideals in relation to his contemporaries.

To see the gentle George Dyer placed among even the milder radicals will surprise those acquainted with him only as the friend of Charles Lamb (and there are few who know him otherwise); for Lamb has immortalized him by dwelling almost exclusively upon the unconscious comedy of his outer life. The oddities of his character have likewise been the engrossing topic of his other friends and of those of our own time who have written about him.¹ The only recognition of George Dyer's extensive contribution to the liberal thought of his time which I...