immense crowds inside and outside the court. During this time, Hone was considered the most famous man in England. Soon afterwards, a public collection was made on his behalf. A recent play about the 1817 trials, Trial by Laughter, was written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. It began its run in English theatres in September 2018. Among Hone's most successful political satires were The Political house that Jack built (1819), The Queen's Matrimonial Ladder (1820), Ill favour of Queen Caroline, The Man in the Moon (1820) and The Political Showman (1821), all illustrated by Cruikshank. Many of his squibs are directed against a certain "Dr Slop", a nickname given by him to Dr (afterwards Sir John) Stoddart, publisher of The Times. In researching his defence Hone had come upon some curious and, at that time, little trodden literary ground, and the results were shown by his publication in 1820 of The Apocryphal New Testament: being all the Gospels, Epistles, and other pieces now extant, attributed in the first four centuries to Jesus Christ, his Apostles and their companions, and not included in the New Testament by its compilers; translated from the original tongues, and now first collected into one volume. This book has gone through four editions and many reprints, including e-books and microforms, the latest in 2007. In 1823 he published the Ancient Mysteries Explained, in 1826 the Every-day Book, in 1827–1828 the Table-Book, and in 1829 the Year-Book. All three were collections of curious information on manners, antiquities and various other subjects. The Every-day Book, Table Book and Year Book are the works by which Hone is best remembered. In preparing them he had the approval of Robert Southey and the assistance of Charles Lamb, (with whom he was great friends) as well as his son in law, Jacob Henry Burn (1794–1869). Despite the popularity of these books, Hone was not financially successful, and was lodged in King's Bench Prison for a short period for outstanding debts. Friends came to his assistance, and he opened the Green Grasshopper coffee house with his wife and two eldest daughters in Gracechurch Street. By this time, Hone's attitude towards religion had changed and during the latter years of his life, he became a follower of Rev. Thomas Binney. In 1830 Hone edited Strutt's Sports and Pastimes of the people of England, and contributed to the first edition of The Penny