Jacobitism and the English people, 1688–1788

This essay investigates the marginalisation in eighteenth-century literary theoretical discussions of a category of emotion, ‘the affections’, which plays a significant role elsewhere in eighteenth-century thought, especially in moral philosophy and theology. It proposes that affections are incompatible with a series of principles that underpin dominant concepts of the literary in early and mid-eighteenth-century literary criticism by authors including Kames, Burke, Alison, Duff, Brown, Du Bos, Trapp and Beattie, many of whom were associated with the Scottish Enlightenment. By analysing eighteenth-century theories of the perceived obscurity of literary emotions in comparison with the emotions of the other fine arts (in particular, painting and music), and by highlighting the perceived distinction of literary emotions from what theorists of the period term ‘reality’, it shows how the supremacy of the belief that literary merit is tied to the individuality, particularity, and plausibility of represented emotion gives rise to a prioritisation of passions over affections in literary critical discussions about the emotions.     

Businessmen in the Parliament of 1852–7: Players or Spectators?*

This article examines the activities of the business MPs who were members of the parliament of 1852–7. Largely coming from a different social background from those who had traditionally led the United Kingdom, with different educational experiences, and inhabiting a different social milieu, they demonstrated their interest in the governance of the United Kingdom by a vigorous participation in the activities of the house of commons. Although they composed less than 21% of the membership of the Commons, they disproportionately attended the sessions of the House, spoke often on topics of interest, participated regularly on committees, were quite active in sponsorship of public bills and sponsored more than half of the local and private bills.     

War and the emergence of the English parliament, 1297–1360

Although the opening of the Hundred Years' War led the kings of France and England to make similar demands upon their subjects, the effect on the monarchy and on the Estates was markedly different in the two countries. In England taxation gave parliament a central role in the medieval polity while in France it strengthened first local autonomy and then absolute monarchy. Because parliament had an inescapable obligation to grant taxation for common defence, the Commons sought to limit this to periods of open war, and to criticise and control the handling and expenditure of the tax. The character of taxation, as levied by common assent and for the common profit, likewise permitted resistance to the extension of prerogative rights and the assertion of parliament's right to grant the tax on wool. In these matters the Commons were forced into a defensive dialogue with the Crown over their obligations which educated them in political argument and the techniques of parliamentary opposition. The power to levy taxation on grounds of ‘necessity of state’ strengthened both monarchies; but in England this was subject to the assent and authority of parliament which thereby emerged as a political institution concerned with the common needs of the realm.     

Narrative Trauma and Civil War History Painting,or Why Are These Pictures So Terrible?

The Civil War generated hundreds of history paintings. Yet, as this essay argues, painters failed to create any iconic, lasting images of the Civil War using the conventions of grand manner history painting, despite the expectations of many that they would and should. This essay first examines the terms by which I am evaluating this failure, then moves on to a consideration of the American history painting tradition. I next examine several history paintings of Civil War scenes in light of this tradition and argue that their "failure" to capture the meaning and essence of the war resulted from a breakdown of the narrative conventions of history painting. Finally, I glance briefly at Winslow Homer's Civil War scenes, arguably the only ones which have become canonical, and suggest that the success of these images comes from their abandonment of old conventions and the invention of new ones.     

Multiple-clause petitions to the English parliament in the later Middle Ages: instruments of pragmatism or persuasion?

This discussion considers how and why some parliamentary private petitions were written as lists of separate requests or complaints between the late thirteenth and mid-fifteenth centuries. These petitions constitute a small, but visually distinctive, sub-group of The National Archives series SC 8 (‘Ancient Petitions’). Although the practicalities of writing complicated requests were often a key factor, the article argues that other more subtle considerations could lead to the adoption of a ‘multiple-clause’ petition: it could be part of a rhetorical strategy; it might have been determined by bureaucratic expediency; or it could indicate co-operation between petitioners with a common cause. Overall, the discussion contributes to our understanding of the mechanics of writing petitions in the late medieval period and it offers new insights into the strategies adopted by petitioners to gain a favourable outcome to their requests.     

These Familiar Things? Witchcraft,War Crimes and Prince Rupert “the Devil”

This review article provides an examination, viewed through the prism of Mark Stoyle's “The Black Legend of Prince Rupert’s Dog,” of the reputation of Prince Rupert of the Rhine during the English Civil War and Restoration. In particular, it focuses upon the injection of violence into civil society by the Prince and his troops; and the manner in which the experience of war re-activated fears and theories of witchcraft, bringing to prominence the figure of the familiar spirit. Through the comparison of recent biographical studies with the primary sources that illuminate and underpin Rupert's career, the Prince emerges as a more equivocal figure but also, arguably, as a far more capable statesman and military commander.     

Cleric or Conman,Curate or Crook? Understanding the Victorian Draper

This article analyses contemporary perceptions of the Victorian draper. While neglected in academic literature, drapers were central to the public imagination, facing criticism for dishonesty in trade and condemnation for taking advantage of the vulnerable female shopper. Placing the focus firmly on the purchase of material goods, rather than shopping as a visual experience, the article argues that, while there was some truth in the negative characterisations, drapers operated in an industry that was rife with fraud and adulteration, made possible by an unregulated market. A strong belief in laissez-faire meant that individual failings were highlighted and condemned, without confronting the failings of the free market itself. The drapers’ own response was to provide an alternative portrayal of themselves, as ministering to women and serving them in an almost religious capacity. They, too, for the most part ranged themselves firmly against regulation, despite the harm that a free market did to their trade and the assaults on their character that resulted. As a consequence, both the public and the draper continued to suffer at the hands of an unregulated market.     

Parnassus of the Evangelical Empire: Orientalism and the English Universities, 1800–50

Challenging the fundamental assumption of Edward Said that orientalism was a product of the secular Enlightenment, this article explores the state of oriental learning at England's most prestigious sites of intellectual and discursive production in the first half of the nineteenth century. By tracing the definitively Christian approach to empire propounded by the leading university orientalists of the period, the essay excavates an important era of orientalism overlooked by modern scholarship. From the most senior positions in the universities there spread a distinctly anti-secular and ‘providentialist’ reading of empire. Unlike the secular orientalism of the eighteenth and later nineteenth century, this new ‘evangelical orientalism’ formed the major institutionalised means of understanding Britain's Asian empire during the decades in which it was chiefly acquired. In place of the collusion of extractive imperialism and secular knowledge forms delineated by Edward Said, the article therefore outlines a relationship between orientalism and empire that was more fraught and contested.