Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Tasmania. Reviews Editor for the journal Enlightenment & Dissent Address: School of Humanities, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001
Rev. James Wodrow (1730-1810), minister of the Church of Scotland at Stevenston in Ayrshire, and ... more Rev. James Wodrow (1730-1810), minister of the Church of Scotland at Stevenston in Ayrshire, and Samuel Kenrick (1728-1811), tutor to a Renfrewshire family until 1763, and subsequently a merchant and banker in Bewdley, Worcestershire, began corresponding soon after Kenrick graduated from the University of Glasgow. They continued to do so until James Wodrow's death in 1810. Unusually, around 85 per cent of the letters on both sides survive, held in manuscript in Dr Williams's Library, London. Their correspondence is an exceptionally rich resource for the study of British culture and society in the era of Enlightenment and revolutions, but one which has been underused, despite its value, and which ought to be much more widely known and available to scholars working in a range of fields. In lively and highly readable letters, Wodrow and Kenrick discussed politics, religion, reform, revolution, theology, international affairs, society, the economy, education, family, friendship, health, books, and many other concerns. Sustained over six decades, the correspondence reveals the lives of two highly literate provincial men and their families during the high and late Enlightenment, and the age of revolutions. Because they disagreed on some matters, notably the American and French Revolutions, they wrote lengthy and passionately argued letters about them which are here made easily and fully available to scholars for the first time. Samuel Kenrick lived in England from 1765, and the men only met again in 1789, so their friendship was carried out almost entirely on paper for forty-five years. The correspondence constitutes a remarkable record of a friendship.
A collection of essays on the reception of William Blackstone's influential Commentaries on the L... more A collection of essays on the reception of William Blackstone's influential Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769).
Eighteenth-century Britons were frequently anxious about the threat of invasion, military weaknes... more Eighteenth-century Britons were frequently anxious about the threat of invasion, military weakness, possible financial collapse and potential revolution. Anthony Page argues that between 1744 and 1815, Britain fought a 'Seventy Years War' with France. This invaluable study:
- argues for a new periodization of eighteenth-century British history, and explains the politics and course of Anglo-French war
- explores Britain's 'fiscal-naval' state and its role in the expansion of empire and industrial revolution
- highlights links between war, Enlightenment and the evolution of modern British culture and politics.
Synthesizing recent research on political, military, economic, social and cultural history, Page demonstrates how Anglo-French war influenced the revolutionary era and helped to shape the first age of global imperialism.
A study of John Jebb (1736-86), an Anglican clergyman and Cambridge academic who became a Unitari... more A study of John Jebb (1736-86), an Anglican clergyman and Cambridge academic who became a Unitarian Rational Dissenter, physician and political activist in London during the American War of Independence.
At the end of August 1781 the combined fleets of France and Spain appeared in the mouth of the En... more At the end of August 1781 the combined fleets of France and Spain appeared in the mouth of the English Channel. Stormy weather and sickness soon forced them to retire to their home ports of Brest and Cadiz, and so this brief invasion threat attracts little more than passing reference in most studies of eighteenth-century Britain. This article examines the reporting of this crisis in the London newspapers, which provides evidence of public interest in the navy and anxiety about the security of Britain.
The sources and nature of 'radicalism' in late eighteenth-century Britain have long been debated.... more The sources and nature of 'radicalism' in late eighteenth-century Britain have long been debated. At the same time, the impact of war on British politics, society and culture in this period has been underappreciated until recently. While war is recognized as having aided the spread of popular loyalism, its role in stimulating radicalism has been neglected. Based on study of the publications and letters of Richard Price (1723-91), this article highlights the influence of Anglo-French rivalry and war on the thought of a leading Rational Dissenter and champion of political reform.
As we begin to publish the main body of George III’s correspondence, we hope to provide an approp... more As we begin to publish the main body of George III’s correspondence, we hope to provide an appropriate context for those approaching this remarkable series for the first time, reflecting the main new approaches that historians have been taking in the years since the bulk of the scholarship on George’s role in the polity was published. In this posting, Anthony Page of the University of Tasmania offers one important frame for approaching George’s reign.
This essay discusses the relationship between Edmund Burke and the rational Dissenters who were a... more This essay discusses the relationship between Edmund Burke and the rational Dissenters who were an important reformist element within the British Enlightenment. The first section examines Burke's attitude towards Dissent, especially rational Dissent; the second looks at Joseph Priestley's perception of Burke; and the final section looks at the attitude of a provincial rational Dissenter, Samuel Kenrick, through his correspondence with his Scottish friend Rev. James Wodrow. Rational Dissenters formed a loose but powerful grouping within Protestant Dissent. They were usually highly educated, liberal in theology and many were forcefully heterodox, becoming Unitarian in theology. In politics they were reformist, covering a spectrum from moderate to radical. They were considerable self-publicists and played a major role in the media. Forming 'a sort of cultural imperium in imperio' (Lincoln 1938, 53), and an incipient middle class, they were subject to discriminatory laws that gave an edge to their self-understanding. During the American Revolution they would be natural allies of Burke, but subsequently they would become his natural enemies. For Burke, as L. G. Mitchell has noted, 'religious dissent of all kinds acquired a demonic character' (Writings and Speeches, 8:8).
This review article discusses the nature of British radical reformers and their ideas in the revo... more This review article discusses the nature of British radical reformers and their ideas in the revolutionary era in light of some recent scholarship. It assesses the relative impact of the American and French revolutions on British popular politics in the 1780s and 1790s.
A study of the politics and religion of a woman who lived at Cambridge in the 1760s and then move... more A study of the politics and religion of a woman who lived at Cambridge in the 1760s and then moved to London in the late 1770s. She was well known among Unitarians and radical reformers during the revolutionary era, and influenced young female writers such as Anne Plumptre and Mary Hays.
To all the conservatives who decry debt and taxes and laud "mother England", you might be surpris... more To all the conservatives who decry debt and taxes and laud "mother England", you might be surprised to hear that it was big spending that kept the French at bay all those years ago and allowed the Brits to settle in Australia, writes Anthony Page. Tax should not be toxic and debt should not be a dirty word in Australia. Without high taxes and public debt we would not have the British heritage in which conservatives take pride. Australia was colonised at the same time that the world's first industrial revolution was beginning in Britain. Historians tend to agree that it was caused by a conjunction of factors, in particular accessible coal and relatively high wages, which encouraged manufacturers to invest in labour saving steam-engines. It was traditionally thought that a small non-interventionist state with low rates of taxation was one of the causes of British industrialisation. This was contrasted with the supposedly high taxing big governments run by absolute monarchs on the European continent. Historical research has, however, turned this view of the past on its head. In France taxation was inequitable, inefficient and inadequate. This caused a fiscal crisis for Louis XVI's government that escalated into a French Revolution in 1789. As Richard Bonney, an economic historian, has noted: "The weakness of the ancien régime was not too much, but too little taxation." Meanwhile, in Britain total taxation as a proportion of GDP was twice as high as in France. The bureaucracy of the British state remained relatively small, but at many levels it worked in partnership with society, and its fiscal footprint was large. While parliaments dominated by the aristocracy kept land taxes down, they nevertheless paid more than their French counterparts. Indirect consumption taxes grew the most, but governments made some efforts to limit their inherently regressive nature. Taxes were put on wigs, windows, servants and candles (wax candles were taxed higher than tallow candles used by the poor). William Pitt the Younger, the first modern Tory prime minister, declared it was "justice to tax the wealthier in preference to the more indigent part of the community." This taxation was used to fund interest payments on a public debt that reached an eye-watering 250 per cent of GDP after the battle of Waterloo in 1815. High tax and debt enabled little Britain to fend off French invasion threats and build a global empire. If 18th century British politicians had pursued policies of low tax and debt, they would have succumbed to invasion and domination by France. In an effort to ease the squeeze on British taxpayers, attempts by parliament to raise revenue in the lightly taxed North American colonies resulted in rebellion and an American Declaration of Independence in 1776. The US grew out of a "Tea Party" tax revolt and today acts as global fountainhead of anti-tax ideology. In an inherently combative international environment, defence spending dominated all 18th century European state budgets. But the peculiar nature of British military expenditure had economic benefits. With gradual reforms to its administration, Britain acted as an increasingly efficient "contractor state" that increased demand in various parts of its economy.
This article discusses the life of Ann Jebb (1735–1812) in light of recent scholarship on gender ... more This article discusses the life of Ann Jebb (1735–1812) in light of recent scholarship on gender and politics in late eighteenth‐century Britain. Wife of the Unitarian political activist John Jebb, Ann was one of the most respected women among ‘enlightened’ Rational Dissenters. In the 1770s at Cambridge, and afterwards in London, she held ‘tea parties’ for reformers, and wrote pamphlets and newspaper articles supporting religious, educational and political reform. Her case sheds light on the activities and status of women in reform circles during the ‘age of cultural revolution’, and further complicates the separate spheres model of gender in the late eighteenth century.
This article on the American Revolution was published in AGORA, the magazine of the Victorian His... more This article on the American Revolution was published in AGORA, the magazine of the Victorian History Teachers Association.
In 1807 Lachlan Macquarie travelled to Britain from India via the Middle East and Russia. He was ... more In 1807 Lachlan Macquarie travelled to Britain from India via the Middle East and Russia. He was particularly impressed with the city of St Petersburg. Scholars have paid little attention to this journey, but this article argues that Macquarie’s 1807 travel journals shed light on his attitudes and values. In particular, it argues that St Petersburg and the workings of the Russian police state left a lasting impression that informed his conduct as governor in New South Wales.
This article argues that we should view Britain as fighting a ‘Seventy Years War’ with France bet... more This article argues that we should view Britain as fighting a ‘Seventy Years War’ with France between the battles of Fontenoy in 1745 and Waterloo in 1815. Through years of struggle, Britain built the military power needed to prevent it from falling under the domination of France. In hindsight, many view the British as inevitable imperialists, confidently building toward their global empire of the nineteenth century. In reality, eighteenth-century Britons frequently fretted about the threat of invasion, military weakness, possible financial collapse, and potential revolution. Historical developments only look inevitable in hindsight and with the aid of the social sciences. The struggle to defend itself in Europe during the Seventy Years War saw Britain develop a ‘fiscal-naval state’ that built a global empire.
In 1807 Britain abolished the slave trade and since then the origins and nature of popular abolit... more In 1807 Britain abolished the slave trade and since then the origins and nature of popular abolitionism have been the subject of much debate. Traditionally religion was seen as the driving force, with an emphasis on the Quakers and Evangelicals. In the twentieth century social historians began to stress the importance of economic and social change. This article revises both of these interpretations by helping to recover and analyse the abolitionism of enlightened Rational Dissenters. Legal inequality and their ‘rational piety’ encouraged heterodox Dissenters to become active in a wide range of reformist causes. Owing to Evangelical dominance in the nineteenth century, however, the abolitionist role of Rational Dissenters was marginalised in histories of the movement. Recovery of Rational Dissenting abolitionism underlines the importance of religion in the campaign against the slave trade, while also broadening our sense of the varieties of ‘vital religion’ in Enlightenment Britain. Rational Dissent was to a large extent a religion of the commercial classes in England and thus this article also sheds light on the hotly debated relationship between capitalism and abolitionism.
Revd Richard Price was one of the leading intellectual lights of Rational Dissent in late eightee... more Revd Richard Price was one of the leading intellectual lights of Rational Dissent in late eighteenth-century Britain and was prominent in campaigns for religious and parliamentary reform. Hailed as an 'Apostle of Liberty' by the American and French Revolutionaries, Price was also an early subscriber to the Abolition Society in London. While prominent among British Enlightenment figures he had, however, a low profile as an abolitionist and is seldom mentioned in scholarship on abolition. This study discusses the nature of Price's antislavery and his relationship with Americans such as Thomas Jefferson. It sheds more light on the degree to which the emergence of abolitionism depended upon circumstances and how well it combined with other aims and priorities.
In the early 1780s the Society for Constitutional Information poured much time and money into def... more In the early 1780s the Society for Constitutional Information poured much time and money into defending a charge of libel against one of its supporters, Jonathan Shipley, dean of St Asaph. This effort has been dismissed by historians as a waste of resources and a reflection of the waning of the campaign for political reform. This article examines the political significance of the Shipley trial in light of recent scholarship that stresses the importance of the courtroom and print culture in reformist agitation.
Rev. James Wodrow (1730-1810), minister of the Church of Scotland at Stevenston in Ayrshire, and ... more Rev. James Wodrow (1730-1810), minister of the Church of Scotland at Stevenston in Ayrshire, and Samuel Kenrick (1728-1811), tutor to a Renfrewshire family until 1763, and subsequently a merchant and banker in Bewdley, Worcestershire, began corresponding soon after Kenrick graduated from the University of Glasgow. They continued to do so until James Wodrow's death in 1810. Unusually, around 85 per cent of the letters on both sides survive, held in manuscript in Dr Williams's Library, London. Their correspondence is an exceptionally rich resource for the study of British culture and society in the era of Enlightenment and revolutions, but one which has been underused, despite its value, and which ought to be much more widely known and available to scholars working in a range of fields. In lively and highly readable letters, Wodrow and Kenrick discussed politics, religion, reform, revolution, theology, international affairs, society, the economy, education, family, friendship, health, books, and many other concerns. Sustained over six decades, the correspondence reveals the lives of two highly literate provincial men and their families during the high and late Enlightenment, and the age of revolutions. Because they disagreed on some matters, notably the American and French Revolutions, they wrote lengthy and passionately argued letters about them which are here made easily and fully available to scholars for the first time. Samuel Kenrick lived in England from 1765, and the men only met again in 1789, so their friendship was carried out almost entirely on paper for forty-five years. The correspondence constitutes a remarkable record of a friendship.
A collection of essays on the reception of William Blackstone's influential Commentaries on the L... more A collection of essays on the reception of William Blackstone's influential Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769).
Eighteenth-century Britons were frequently anxious about the threat of invasion, military weaknes... more Eighteenth-century Britons were frequently anxious about the threat of invasion, military weakness, possible financial collapse and potential revolution. Anthony Page argues that between 1744 and 1815, Britain fought a 'Seventy Years War' with France. This invaluable study:
- argues for a new periodization of eighteenth-century British history, and explains the politics and course of Anglo-French war
- explores Britain's 'fiscal-naval' state and its role in the expansion of empire and industrial revolution
- highlights links between war, Enlightenment and the evolution of modern British culture and politics.
Synthesizing recent research on political, military, economic, social and cultural history, Page demonstrates how Anglo-French war influenced the revolutionary era and helped to shape the first age of global imperialism.
A study of John Jebb (1736-86), an Anglican clergyman and Cambridge academic who became a Unitari... more A study of John Jebb (1736-86), an Anglican clergyman and Cambridge academic who became a Unitarian Rational Dissenter, physician and political activist in London during the American War of Independence.
At the end of August 1781 the combined fleets of France and Spain appeared in the mouth of the En... more At the end of August 1781 the combined fleets of France and Spain appeared in the mouth of the English Channel. Stormy weather and sickness soon forced them to retire to their home ports of Brest and Cadiz, and so this brief invasion threat attracts little more than passing reference in most studies of eighteenth-century Britain. This article examines the reporting of this crisis in the London newspapers, which provides evidence of public interest in the navy and anxiety about the security of Britain.
The sources and nature of 'radicalism' in late eighteenth-century Britain have long been debated.... more The sources and nature of 'radicalism' in late eighteenth-century Britain have long been debated. At the same time, the impact of war on British politics, society and culture in this period has been underappreciated until recently. While war is recognized as having aided the spread of popular loyalism, its role in stimulating radicalism has been neglected. Based on study of the publications and letters of Richard Price (1723-91), this article highlights the influence of Anglo-French rivalry and war on the thought of a leading Rational Dissenter and champion of political reform.
As we begin to publish the main body of George III’s correspondence, we hope to provide an approp... more As we begin to publish the main body of George III’s correspondence, we hope to provide an appropriate context for those approaching this remarkable series for the first time, reflecting the main new approaches that historians have been taking in the years since the bulk of the scholarship on George’s role in the polity was published. In this posting, Anthony Page of the University of Tasmania offers one important frame for approaching George’s reign.
This essay discusses the relationship between Edmund Burke and the rational Dissenters who were a... more This essay discusses the relationship between Edmund Burke and the rational Dissenters who were an important reformist element within the British Enlightenment. The first section examines Burke's attitude towards Dissent, especially rational Dissent; the second looks at Joseph Priestley's perception of Burke; and the final section looks at the attitude of a provincial rational Dissenter, Samuel Kenrick, through his correspondence with his Scottish friend Rev. James Wodrow. Rational Dissenters formed a loose but powerful grouping within Protestant Dissent. They were usually highly educated, liberal in theology and many were forcefully heterodox, becoming Unitarian in theology. In politics they were reformist, covering a spectrum from moderate to radical. They were considerable self-publicists and played a major role in the media. Forming 'a sort of cultural imperium in imperio' (Lincoln 1938, 53), and an incipient middle class, they were subject to discriminatory laws that gave an edge to their self-understanding. During the American Revolution they would be natural allies of Burke, but subsequently they would become his natural enemies. For Burke, as L. G. Mitchell has noted, 'religious dissent of all kinds acquired a demonic character' (Writings and Speeches, 8:8).
This review article discusses the nature of British radical reformers and their ideas in the revo... more This review article discusses the nature of British radical reformers and their ideas in the revolutionary era in light of some recent scholarship. It assesses the relative impact of the American and French revolutions on British popular politics in the 1780s and 1790s.
A study of the politics and religion of a woman who lived at Cambridge in the 1760s and then move... more A study of the politics and religion of a woman who lived at Cambridge in the 1760s and then moved to London in the late 1770s. She was well known among Unitarians and radical reformers during the revolutionary era, and influenced young female writers such as Anne Plumptre and Mary Hays.
To all the conservatives who decry debt and taxes and laud "mother England", you might be surpris... more To all the conservatives who decry debt and taxes and laud "mother England", you might be surprised to hear that it was big spending that kept the French at bay all those years ago and allowed the Brits to settle in Australia, writes Anthony Page. Tax should not be toxic and debt should not be a dirty word in Australia. Without high taxes and public debt we would not have the British heritage in which conservatives take pride. Australia was colonised at the same time that the world's first industrial revolution was beginning in Britain. Historians tend to agree that it was caused by a conjunction of factors, in particular accessible coal and relatively high wages, which encouraged manufacturers to invest in labour saving steam-engines. It was traditionally thought that a small non-interventionist state with low rates of taxation was one of the causes of British industrialisation. This was contrasted with the supposedly high taxing big governments run by absolute monarchs on the European continent. Historical research has, however, turned this view of the past on its head. In France taxation was inequitable, inefficient and inadequate. This caused a fiscal crisis for Louis XVI's government that escalated into a French Revolution in 1789. As Richard Bonney, an economic historian, has noted: "The weakness of the ancien régime was not too much, but too little taxation." Meanwhile, in Britain total taxation as a proportion of GDP was twice as high as in France. The bureaucracy of the British state remained relatively small, but at many levels it worked in partnership with society, and its fiscal footprint was large. While parliaments dominated by the aristocracy kept land taxes down, they nevertheless paid more than their French counterparts. Indirect consumption taxes grew the most, but governments made some efforts to limit their inherently regressive nature. Taxes were put on wigs, windows, servants and candles (wax candles were taxed higher than tallow candles used by the poor). William Pitt the Younger, the first modern Tory prime minister, declared it was "justice to tax the wealthier in preference to the more indigent part of the community." This taxation was used to fund interest payments on a public debt that reached an eye-watering 250 per cent of GDP after the battle of Waterloo in 1815. High tax and debt enabled little Britain to fend off French invasion threats and build a global empire. If 18th century British politicians had pursued policies of low tax and debt, they would have succumbed to invasion and domination by France. In an effort to ease the squeeze on British taxpayers, attempts by parliament to raise revenue in the lightly taxed North American colonies resulted in rebellion and an American Declaration of Independence in 1776. The US grew out of a "Tea Party" tax revolt and today acts as global fountainhead of anti-tax ideology. In an inherently combative international environment, defence spending dominated all 18th century European state budgets. But the peculiar nature of British military expenditure had economic benefits. With gradual reforms to its administration, Britain acted as an increasingly efficient "contractor state" that increased demand in various parts of its economy.
This article discusses the life of Ann Jebb (1735–1812) in light of recent scholarship on gender ... more This article discusses the life of Ann Jebb (1735–1812) in light of recent scholarship on gender and politics in late eighteenth‐century Britain. Wife of the Unitarian political activist John Jebb, Ann was one of the most respected women among ‘enlightened’ Rational Dissenters. In the 1770s at Cambridge, and afterwards in London, she held ‘tea parties’ for reformers, and wrote pamphlets and newspaper articles supporting religious, educational and political reform. Her case sheds light on the activities and status of women in reform circles during the ‘age of cultural revolution’, and further complicates the separate spheres model of gender in the late eighteenth century.
This article on the American Revolution was published in AGORA, the magazine of the Victorian His... more This article on the American Revolution was published in AGORA, the magazine of the Victorian History Teachers Association.
In 1807 Lachlan Macquarie travelled to Britain from India via the Middle East and Russia. He was ... more In 1807 Lachlan Macquarie travelled to Britain from India via the Middle East and Russia. He was particularly impressed with the city of St Petersburg. Scholars have paid little attention to this journey, but this article argues that Macquarie’s 1807 travel journals shed light on his attitudes and values. In particular, it argues that St Petersburg and the workings of the Russian police state left a lasting impression that informed his conduct as governor in New South Wales.
This article argues that we should view Britain as fighting a ‘Seventy Years War’ with France bet... more This article argues that we should view Britain as fighting a ‘Seventy Years War’ with France between the battles of Fontenoy in 1745 and Waterloo in 1815. Through years of struggle, Britain built the military power needed to prevent it from falling under the domination of France. In hindsight, many view the British as inevitable imperialists, confidently building toward their global empire of the nineteenth century. In reality, eighteenth-century Britons frequently fretted about the threat of invasion, military weakness, possible financial collapse, and potential revolution. Historical developments only look inevitable in hindsight and with the aid of the social sciences. The struggle to defend itself in Europe during the Seventy Years War saw Britain develop a ‘fiscal-naval state’ that built a global empire.
In 1807 Britain abolished the slave trade and since then the origins and nature of popular abolit... more In 1807 Britain abolished the slave trade and since then the origins and nature of popular abolitionism have been the subject of much debate. Traditionally religion was seen as the driving force, with an emphasis on the Quakers and Evangelicals. In the twentieth century social historians began to stress the importance of economic and social change. This article revises both of these interpretations by helping to recover and analyse the abolitionism of enlightened Rational Dissenters. Legal inequality and their ‘rational piety’ encouraged heterodox Dissenters to become active in a wide range of reformist causes. Owing to Evangelical dominance in the nineteenth century, however, the abolitionist role of Rational Dissenters was marginalised in histories of the movement. Recovery of Rational Dissenting abolitionism underlines the importance of religion in the campaign against the slave trade, while also broadening our sense of the varieties of ‘vital religion’ in Enlightenment Britain. Rational Dissent was to a large extent a religion of the commercial classes in England and thus this article also sheds light on the hotly debated relationship between capitalism and abolitionism.
Revd Richard Price was one of the leading intellectual lights of Rational Dissent in late eightee... more Revd Richard Price was one of the leading intellectual lights of Rational Dissent in late eighteenth-century Britain and was prominent in campaigns for religious and parliamentary reform. Hailed as an 'Apostle of Liberty' by the American and French Revolutionaries, Price was also an early subscriber to the Abolition Society in London. While prominent among British Enlightenment figures he had, however, a low profile as an abolitionist and is seldom mentioned in scholarship on abolition. This study discusses the nature of Price's antislavery and his relationship with Americans such as Thomas Jefferson. It sheds more light on the degree to which the emergence of abolitionism depended upon circumstances and how well it combined with other aims and priorities.
In the early 1780s the Society for Constitutional Information poured much time and money into def... more In the early 1780s the Society for Constitutional Information poured much time and money into defending a charge of libel against one of its supporters, Jonathan Shipley, dean of St Asaph. This effort has been dismissed by historians as a waste of resources and a reflection of the waning of the campaign for political reform. This article examines the political significance of the Shipley trial in light of recent scholarship that stresses the importance of the courtroom and print culture in reformist agitation.
Through a close examination of how a leading English radical perceived the conflict between colon... more Through a close examination of how a leading English radical perceived the conflict between colonies and parliament, this article adds to our understanding of the process in which the American Revolution influenced the ideology and confidence of British radicals. The example set by the Americans encouraged John Jebb in his agitation for radical religious, educational and political reform, and led him to advocate universal manhood suffrage. Jebb imagined that America was a bastion of enlightened civic vir-tue, an impression strengthened by his acquaintance with the first American minister to Britain, John Adams.
Frederick the Great of Prussia was hailed by many as the model of an ‘Enlightened Despot’. Histor... more Frederick the Great of Prussia was hailed by many as the model of an ‘Enlightened Despot’. Historians continue to debate both the concept of ‘Enlightened Despotism’ and Frederick’s credentials as an enlightened monarch. Should we talk in terms of ‘enlightened absolutism’? Of ‘reform absolutism’? Or simply drop the use of any such terms for a monarch who used his enlightened philosophising and flute playing as window dressing for a system of governance that was essentially conventional absolutism? In light of continuing debate about the nature of Frederick’s reign, it is worth revisiting the views of contemporaries. As a friend of Voltaire, Frederick’s place was well established in traditional depictions of the Enlightenment as centred on the French philosophes. In the past two decades, however, scholars have broadened and deepened our conception of Enlightenment by researching the ‘social history of ideas’ and illuminating Enlightenment in various national and cultural contexts. In this vein, an analysis of perceptions of Frederick the Great can shed light on the nature of Enlightenment in Britain.
Frederick’s popularity in Britain reached dizzying heights in the late 1750s as he won spectacular victories in the Continental campaign against Britain’s enemies in the Seven Years War. From the 1760s on, however, British opinion was generally critical of his regulated and militaristic state and his aggrandisement through diplomacy. While it is not within the scope of this essay to explore broader perceptions of Frederick II in late eighteenth-century Britain, it appears that writers who can be located within ‘conservative’ enlightened thought had a more positive perception of Frederick than dissenters. Samuel Johnson declared that the King of Prussia could get away with wearing plain cloths because ‘of the dignity of his character’. On separate occasions in 1780 Edmund Burke praised Frederick for the economy and efficiency of his royal court and for his religious toleration. An article is in preparation that will explore the range of British opinion on Frederick the Great at the end of his long reign. This essay, however, will focus on how some leading Rational Dissenters perceived the self-consciously enlightened King of Prussia, and provide an exposition of the Memoirs of the Life and Reign of Frederick (1788) by Joseph Towers.
Review of Patrick Griffin. The Townshend Moment: The Making of Empire in the Eighteenth Century. ... more Review of Patrick Griffin. The Townshend Moment: The Making of Empire in the Eighteenth Century. Lewis Walpole Series in Eighteenth-Century Culture and History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017. Pp. 376. $40 (cloth).
Containing essays by thirty-nine scholars and adorned by eighty-seven black and white illustratio... more Containing essays by thirty-nine scholars and adorned by eighty-seven black and white illustrations, this book contains a rich blend of intellectual and cultural history. It is an essential reference book for those working on the eighteenth century. The coverage of the Enlightenment in Europe is wide-ranging, detailed and thought-provoking. The essays are usefully clustered into eight parts, each introduced by one of the general editors. A list of their headings provides an indication of the themes covered: The Intellectual Origins of the Enlightenment; Aspects of Enlightenment Formations (in which the contexts of the Dutch Republic, Britain, the German states and France are outlined); The High Enlightenment; Polite Culture and the Arts; Material and Popular Culture; Reforming the World; Transformation and Explorations; The Enlightenment and its Critics: Then and Now. The editors admit that even given the book's size there are 'many contexts, themes and ideas to which no reference is made' (p. xix). Most notably, developments outside of Europe are relatively neglected. There is little discussion of Enlightenment in America or issues raised by the Atlantic slave trade, though there is a good essay by Dorinda Outram on 'Cross-cultural Encounters in the Enlightenment' which discusses exploration of the Pacific. In line with much recent scholarship, this volume reveals as simplistic the traditional view of 'the' Enlightenment as germinating in Holland and England, being adopted by French philosophes and then spread throughout Europe and beyond. Multiple Enlightenments can be detected with no simple geographic, chronological or ideological pattern. Martin Mulsow, for example, uses the itinerary of a young scholar to provide a tour of the diverse intellectual landscape of the early eighteenth-century German states. Martin Fitzpatrick observes that throughout the Enlightenment world 'behind an often common rhetoric for change there were different agendas, shaped by history and circumstance and by the adjustment and modification of existing practices and ways of thinking as much as by completely new ideas'. By the late eighteenth century, however, a general 'impetus for change was almost irresistible-and there was a sense that the old order was played out' (p. 424). While key thinkers are given due consideration, ideas and practices are discussed in the light of careful attention to cultural contexts. Religious and philosophical themes are treated along with political and legal contexts, the culture of politeness, the arts, education, science, print culture and reactions against Enlightenment values. Gender is given ample space and the material and social contexts of the eighteenth century are strikingly evoked. Peter Jones notes that the price of David Hume's Treatise in 1739 equalled the annual cash wage (above board) of his servant. This volume reflects the breadth and vitality of Enlightenment studies as they have expanded over the past two decades under the influence of new approaches to intellectual and cultural history. In the spirit
Jack Fruchtman has made some valuable contributions to the study of Enlightenment and Dissent tho... more Jack Fruchtman has made some valuable contributions to the study of Enlightenment and Dissent though his book on The apocalyptic politics of Richard Price and Joseph Priestley (1983) and various articles, in particular one on David Hartley in this journal in 1992. Several publications on Tom Paine and Helen Maria Williams have established Fruchtman as an important scholar of transAtlantic radicalism in the age of revolution. This latest offering has a whiggish flavour-this is not surprising, as it is something that provoked J C D Clark when he reviewed Fruchtman's biography of Paine in the TLS. The title suggests it is aiming at a similar audience to that which made Jenny Uglow's The Lunar Men: the friends who made the future (2002) very popular. Atlantic Cousins is an energetically written tale of how Benjamin Franklin and his 'visionary friends' worked to create the modern democratic world. Franklin is used as a starting point for a book that consists of chapters on some of his 'liberal' friends who 'wanted to achieve the end of tyranny, rank and privilege' (3). The book is structured around a series of mini-biographies linked together by a common association with Franklin. While anyone who has read the correspondence of Joseph Priestley will attest to the warm attachment between him and Franklin, the inclusion of some of the other figures are less easily justified. While Marat and Mesmer were undoubtedly visionaries of a sort who add colour to this book, it is probably stretching it a little to label them among Franklin's friends. Throughout Atlantic Cousins characters are discussed in the light modern liberal values. Thus, George Whitfield's 'liberal ideas were blemished by an unfortunate reliance on slavery' (4) and Benjamin Rush 'had some rather intriguing and outlandish ideas … that are truly bizarre by today's standards' (57-58). Of the attack of on 'monarchy, rank and privilege' in Tom Paine's Rights of Man, 'we would be hard pressed to find a more severe critique of these three evils' (125). Espousing 'ideas that seem progressive by twenty-first-century standards' Condorcet even 'supported gay rights, as we call them today' (233). While Fruchtman is keen to highlight the contribution of his subjects to modernisation, he is nevertheless good at explaining the many distinctive features of their eighteenth-century thought; such as Priestley's apocalyptic belief that the return of Christ was near, assuring Thomas Belsham that 'you may probably live to see it; I shall not. It cannot, I think be more than twenty years' (166). Atlantic Cousins is an attractively produced book, illustrated with the portraits of eleven of the 'visionary men' with whom Franklin associated and 'whose liberal ideas and ideals have carried into our own time' (20). It reads with the energy and pace of a dramatic novel, and as a result there are inevitably generalisations and statements with which specialists might take issue. For example, Fruchtman has John Horne Tooke as 'one of the original founders' of the Society for Constitutional Information (160)-this is technically incorrect as the SCI was founded in 1780 while Horne Tooke joined over a year later in 1781, and in E.C. Black's words he 'was strangely inactive during the initial phase of reform agitation, preferring to devote himself to the Diversions of Purley (The Association, 1963, p. 187n). According to Fruchtman, the founding of the SCI 'provoked serious consternation and real fear in Westminster, because the authorities now realised these people were not merely quirky or loud-mouthed blokes like Wilkes. They were actually talking to each other about taking revolutionary action against the government' (155). While Eliga H. Gould has arguably underplayed the radicalism of this group in his important study of The Persistence of Empire (2000), Fruchtman probably exaggerates their revolutionary enthusiasm-at least for the early 1780s. The problem is that they at times sounded more radical than they arguably were, but Fruchtman does convey well the challenging tone of British radicals. This is a work of popularisation rather than original research. Intellectual history can be offputting or inaccessible to undergraduate students, and Fruchtman has performed a valuable service in producing an engaging account of 'ideas in context' in a particularly interesting and important era. It is heartening to see a scholar aim beyond our specialist audience to introduce compelling figures like Price and Priestley to a wide audience-and judging by the reader responses on amazon.com, Fruchtman seems to have had some success. Full of interesting facts, anecdotes and helpful explanations of eighteenthcentury science, Atlantic Cousins breathes the enlightened optimism that animated Ben Franklin and his friends in the revolutionary era.
This is an account of five men who assisted Americans, mainly sailors, who were imprisoned in Bri... more This is an account of five men who assisted Americans, mainly sailors, who were imprisoned in Britain during the War of Independence. This book grows out of Cohen's previous study of Yankee Sailors in British Gaols, both based on over two decades of research in many American, British and Irish archives. Cohen clearly loves archival detective work and has a deep sympathy for those he sees as supporting 'American freedom'. Devoting a chapter each to detailing the activities of two nonconformist clergymen (Thomas Wren and Robert Heath), two merchants (William Hodgson and Reuben Harvey) and one apothecary (Griffith Williams), British Supporters of the American Revolution adds some valuable biographical flesh to our picture of Britain's 'middling sort' during this important period. This book is written from a whiggish pro-American perspective. Cohen sympathises with these 'ordinary people' who focused on alleviating 'the physical sufferings' of American prisoners or helped them to attempt escape, 'unlike the prosperous upper-crust Whigs who sympathized in word and print but do not appear to have undertaken any illegal anti-governmental actions' (xi). Cohen's first chapter, which describes British society and politics at the time of the Revolution, is derivative of a mixed bag of often very dated works. Britain is depicted as having had a 'rigid class structure' dominated by a 'largely inbred' landowning class of whom most upheld 'the doctrine of Royal Supremacy' (5). Acknowledging that opinion was divided among the 'diversified middle classes', Cohen's concern is to recover the unsung contributions of 'ordinary' Britons to the creation of the United States. Cohen praises historians such as Ray Raphael, John C. Dann and Alfred F. Young for producing recent studies of how 'quite common place Americans' participated in the Revolution. Cohen aims to do the same for 'middling level' activists who he claims have been neglected in the historiography of Britain during this period, which he characterises as almost entirely focused on the political and intellectual èlite. While researching fragmentary sources to produce pictures of hitherto obscure or faceless middling sort activists is all to the good, such work needs to be based on a comprehensive grasp of the historiography-especially if the historiography is going to be criticised as deficient. While Cohen's bibliography contains texts published as recently as 2003, many important studies of the impact of the revolution on Britain and changing attitudes to empire are absent-most notably, H.T. Dickinson ed., Britain and the American Revolution, Stephen Conway The British Isles and the War of American Independence, Kathleen Wilson The Sense of the People, Eliga Gould The Persistence of Empire and J.C.D. Clark, The Language of Liberty. This book usefully describes five activists who had mixed and differing motives, corresponded with Benjamin Franklin, and received limited reward or recognition for their efforts-one committed suicide in 1784 after his hopes of gaining a head-start in American trade were rebuffed by Franklin. Cohen provides a misleading impression of the current state of scholarship, however, by ignoring many of the recent studies of Britain during the era of the American Revolution.
Combined with his The British Isles and the War of American Independence (2000), this book marks ... more Combined with his The British Isles and the War of American Independence (2000), this book marks Stephen Conway as arguably the leading scholar working on war and society in Britain in the decades prior to the French Revolution. Despite often being used as a period-dividing line in studies of the eighteenth century, the Seven Years War has usually been overshadowed by the revolutionary dramas of the late eighteenth century. In recent years scholars have revisited the ...
One of the treasures to be found in Dr. Williams's Library in London is the cache of 279 letters ... more One of the treasures to be found in Dr. Williams's Library in London is the cache of 279 letters between the Scottish Moderate clergyman James Wodrow and his friend, the Welsh-born Unitarian tutor-turned-banker James Kenrick. After studying together at the University of Glasgow, the pair began to correspond in 1750, and they continued to do so on an irregular basis until Wodrow's death in 1810. As well as conveying news about themselves and their circle of friends, their letters initially focused on theological matters. But over the course of their long friendship the scope of their correspondence broadened to include remarks on what they had been reading, gossip from the republic of letters, and reflections on current local, national, and global events (with the war in America featuring prominently in volume 1). Given that this voluminous collection of letters is such a rich source of evidence for the study of the religious, political, and cultural history of Britain during the second half of the eighteenth century, it is surprising that the correspondence has been so little used by students of the period. Hopefully, the historical significance of the Wodrow-Kenrick letters will now be fully appreciated, thanks to the publication of this handsomely produced and copiously annotated edition of the correspondence, which will run to four volumes when complete. The Wodrow-Kenrick correspondence from the years 1750-1783 is of considerable historical interest, not least because their letters serve as a chastening reminder of how little we know about the connections between Scottish clergymen and academics and the communities of Dissenters in England. A pioneering article by Peter Jones, "The Polite Academy and the Presbyterians, 1720-1770" (in New Perspectives on the Politics and Culture of Early Modern Scotland, ed. John Dwyer et al., 1982), pointed to the formative influence of English Dissenters on those who promoted Enlightenment within the Scottish universities. Unfortunately, no one has since built on Jones's scholarship. Consequently, our knowledge of the interactions between the Scots and Dissenters south of the Tweed remains sketchy, despite the importance of the subject. This edition of the Wodrow-Kenrick letters will now serve as a starting point for the study of these interactions. The correspondence also functions as a useful corrective to the late Roy Porter's John Bullish view of the "British" (read "English") Enlightenment. Samuel Kenrick would have had no truck with Porter's conflation of the English and Scottish Enlightenments. Writing from his home in Worcestershire to his friend in October 1783, Kenrick proclaims that Wodrow lives "in an enlightened nation" and proceeds to enumerate the differences between the "genius & temper" of the Scots and the English (pp. 489-92). While Kenrick's perception of these differences may have been rooted in his experience as a Welshman who had been a student and tutor in Glasgow and its environs, the fact that he was acutely aware of the somewhat different configurations of life and Enlightenment in Scotlland and England is telling. Equally revealing are Kenrick's comments about Scotland's "enlightened age." Not surprisingly, he regards Glasgow as a hotbed of Enlightenment, while also admiring the writings of Aberdonians such as John Gregory, James Dunbar, and, especially, "the amicable, the elegant, the spirited" James Beattie (pp. 483-84). Wodrow shares his friend's enthusiasm for Beattie and respects the work of George Campbell and Alexander Gerard. The thinker who figures most prominently in this volume, however, is their revered professor, Francis Hutcheson, whom Kenrick refers to as "our amiable High-priest in philosophy" (p. 276; cf. p. 307). Both men were fiercely loyal to Hutcheson, who was for them the exemplar of Enlightenment. Nevertheless, in the context of the war with America, they disagreed sharply over Hutcheson's political legacy. In passages which bring to mind Caroline Robbins's The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman (1959), Kenrick extols Hutcheson for teaching the "principles of civil & religious liberty" that had inspired the American colonists to fight for their independence (p. 351). Wodrow demurs. While declaring his adherence to those Hutchesonian principles, he insists that they had been perverted by the opponents of the British government. But even though they could not agree on the implications of Hutcheson's political principles, their grounding in Hutcheson's moral theory prompted shared reservations regarding the ideas of David Hume and Adam Smith. Like many of their contemporaries, they saw Hume as propagating a pernicious blend of skepticism and deism which according to Wodrow had gained converts in Edinburgh and the east of Scotland (pp. 291-93). Moreover, a reading of The Theory of Moral Sentiments leads Wodrow to comment that while Smith's "Morals seem to be pure," the moral principles informing the book were "at the bottom the same" as those of Hume, namely, "licentious" (p. 247). Like Kenrick's friend Joseph Priestley, therefore, the two combined anti-Trinitarianism with a robust opposition to irreligion, whether it be overt as in Hume or covert as in Smith. The letters are scrupulously transcribed and comprehensively annotated. The extensive editorial apparatus in volume 1 includes a general introduction to the correspondence as a whole, an introduction to the volume, an explanation of the editorial conventions used in the transcriptions, lists of the letters and the persons mentioned therein, and a thorough index. Inevitably, there are some minor errors: Hutcheson, for example, is said to have been a professor of theology, rather than moral philosophy, at Glasgow (p. 17). My only substantive criticism concerns the presentation of the letters. In the transcriptions, I find the unexpanded contractions and the use of an elaborate system of brackets to indicate deletions, insertions, and the like unnecessarily distracting. A transcription can be accurate without being a literal reproduction and, in my view, readers are better served by texts which are not
Readers of the Burns Chronicle will note that this is a work that deals with matters of culture i... more Readers of the Burns Chronicle will note that this is a work that deals with matters of culture in Scotland and beyond, endingstrictly speakingthree years before Robert Burns appears in print. However, THE WODROW-KENRICK CORRESPONDENCE VOLUME 1 provides fascinating insights into the world that Burns inhabited, including glimpses of many individuals the poet knew or whom he commented on or who would eventually comment upon him. Likewise in terms of relevance, the period of Scottish Enlightenment, of the American Revolution, of British politics in general, of eighteenth-century books, and of Scottish religious affairs, particularly, are all here present with something of the emotional immediacy with which they would have struck Burns and his contemporaries. University of Glasgow alumni, Dr James Wodrow (1730-1810) and Samuel Kenrick (1728-1811) maintained a lifelong correspondence after forging their college friendship in the 1740s, their letters to one another surviving in a large corpus nearly eighty-five per cent complete and held by 'Dr Williams's Library' in London. This library is an important archive of British dissenting Protestantism (that is, reformed denominations outwith the 'established' Church of England). Wodrow became a Church of Scotland minister in Stevenston, Ayrshire; Kenrick, a private tutor to the Milliken family in Renfrewshire for a decade and a half and then a banker in Bewdley, twelve miles from Birmingham. Incidentally, or perhaps not, we have recorded in the correspondence a deeply touching and quiet friendship at a distance where two minds continuously met and shared experiences, that sharing not in the slightest undercut by the fact that Wodrow and Kenrick were two people who did not always agree with one another. Thoughtful both, Kenrick's enthusiasm for American independence during 1778 is opposed by Wodrow who fears a situation
Perhaps more importantly, Neimeyer's Chapter 5 is called 'The British Return', which seems confus... more Perhaps more importantly, Neimeyer's Chapter 5 is called 'The British Return', which seems confusing since they had never left the Chesapeake during the winter of 1813-1814. 'Though nearly frozen to death', the Royal Navy continued to convoy merchant vessels and blockade the once prosperous grain and flour exporting ports of the Chesapeake, aspects of the British campaigns there to which Neimeyer gives scant attention. Between 6 September and 25 December 1813, Capt. Barrie's HMS Dragon and his squadron had captured or destroyed 72 merchant vessels trying to break Britain's commercial blockade of the Chesapeake, an important part of a strategy which, in time, was to bankrupt Madison's administration. Warren was to reinforce Barrie's blockading squadron further in January 1814. British control of the Bay was also to facilitate the capture and burning of Washington, which, in turn, made American hopes of continuing the war by borrowing in Europe wholly unrealistic. Neimeyer briefly concedes (p. 55), that British activity in the Chesapeake was part of a much wider strategy. He does not, however, say that the economic and fiscal consequences of the blockades (not being limited to severe price inflation), do throw doubt on one of Neimeyer's conclusions that, 'other than burned buildings and stolen crops and livestock, the British did not have much to show for their two-year investment in the region' (p. 203). The book does not seem to discuss sufficiently the British campaigns in the Chesapeake in their context of the war as a whole. Notwithstanding these reservations, in his final chapter Neimeyer writes with authority, providing much absorbing detail on American dispositions for the defence of Baltimore-as one would expect from his US Marine Corps and academic background. This section alone might well recommend the book to the maritime history reading community on both sides of the Atlantic, at a price most could afford.
William Blackstone has a place in the pantheon of the common law, but this volume, edited by Anth... more William Blackstone has a place in the pantheon of the common law, but this volume, edited by Anthony Page and Wilfrid Prest, is concerned with his critics. Prest's whirlwind tour in the final chapter demonstrates that these were a diverse group spread across time and space. The twelve chapters cluster in a few thematic groups. The first group analyses Blackstone and his Commentaries in context. Ian Doolittle identifies Blackstone as part of an 'Oxford Enlightenment', linking him to Edward Gibbon and Thomas Winchester, on whom the chapter really focuses. Tim Stretton also investigates the idea of Blackstone as an Enlightenment figure, and like Doolittle, would have benefited from explaining quite what he takes 'Enlightenment' to mean. Nonetheless, Stretton's chapter is an excellent casestudy of Blackstone's writing and judicial activity in relation to the commonlaw rule preventing siblings of the half-blood inheriting from one another. Stretton draws attention to Blackstone's 'intoxication' with mathematics and logic, which gave Blackstone 'the appearance of a deer caught in the headlights of Enlightenment logic and rational calculation' (p. 123). Michael Lobban, meanwhile, assesses Blackstone's originality, highlighting the significant debt owed by Blackstone to other legal writers. He places the Commentaries into a wider collection of eighteenth-century works trying to present the common law in a coherent way. Lobban observes that Blackstone's reliance on earlier writers was so extensive that '[o]nce on unfamiliar ground, Blackstone's treatment was not simply inadequate, but positively misleading' (p. 10). However, Lobban draws attention to a significant original aspect of Blackstone's work: his attempts to explain the reasons behind the law. Stretton's chapter considers an excellent example. Blackstone provided two reasons for the rule excluding half-bloods from inheritance. Stretton reveals a thin line between explanation and justification. Blackstone thought that, once the reasons behind the rule were understood, it would no longer appear to be a 'strange hardship' (p. 118), undermining criticism of it. This explanatory aspect of Blackstone's work leads into the second group of chapters, those concerned with his (near-)contemporary critics, beginning with a chapter on Jeremy Bentham by Philip Schofield. For Bentham, Blackstone's explanations of the law justified his castigation of 'everything as it should be' Blackstone. Aside from this one on Bentham, the other chapters on contemporary critics are particularly interesting, challenging the very visible success of the Commentaries in Blackstone's lifetime. Anthony Page discusses the reaction to part of the Commentaries among rational dissenters. Ministers praised the Commentaries in general, but were hostile to Blackstone's view that the 1689 Act of Toleration did not decriminalise protestant non-conformity. Worse than Blackstone's statement of the law was his justification for it, which treated protestant dissenters as no better than Catholics, threatening the established constitution. According to Philip
Review of Unitarian Radicalism: Political Rhetoric, 1770–1814 by Stuart Andrews (Basingstoke: Pal... more Review of Unitarian Radicalism: Political Rhetoric, 1770–1814 by Stuart Andrews (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan , 2003)
A review of Jonathan Sheehan. The Enlightenment Bible: Translation, Scholarship, Culture. Princet... more A review of Jonathan Sheehan. The Enlightenment Bible: Translation, Scholarship, Culture. Princeton, NJ, and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005. Pp. xvii+273.
Review of Richard Allen's important study of the philosopher David Hartley, who was influential i... more Review of Richard Allen's important study of the philosopher David Hartley, who was influential in eighteenth-century England.
A review article on John Gascoigne, The Enlightenment and the Origins of European Australia (Camb... more A review article on John Gascoigne, The Enlightenment and the Origins of European Australia (Cambridge, 2002).
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Books by Page Anthony
- argues for a new periodization of eighteenth-century British history, and explains the politics and course of Anglo-French war
- explores Britain's 'fiscal-naval' state and its role in the expansion of empire and industrial revolution
- highlights links between war, Enlightenment and the evolution of modern British culture and politics.
Synthesizing recent research on political, military, economic, social and cultural history, Page demonstrates how Anglo-French war influenced the revolutionary era and helped to shape the first age of global imperialism.
Papers by Page Anthony
- argues for a new periodization of eighteenth-century British history, and explains the politics and course of Anglo-French war
- explores Britain's 'fiscal-naval' state and its role in the expansion of empire and industrial revolution
- highlights links between war, Enlightenment and the evolution of modern British culture and politics.
Synthesizing recent research on political, military, economic, social and cultural history, Page demonstrates how Anglo-French war influenced the revolutionary era and helped to shape the first age of global imperialism.
Frederick’s popularity in Britain reached dizzying heights in the late 1750s as he won spectacular victories in the Continental campaign against Britain’s enemies in the Seven Years War. From the 1760s on, however, British opinion was generally critical of his regulated and militaristic state and his aggrandisement through diplomacy. While it is not within the scope of this essay to explore broader perceptions of Frederick II in late eighteenth-century Britain, it appears that writers who can be located within ‘conservative’ enlightened thought had a more positive perception of Frederick than dissenters. Samuel Johnson declared that the King of Prussia could get away with wearing plain cloths because ‘of the dignity of his character’. On separate occasions in 1780 Edmund Burke praised Frederick for the economy and efficiency of his royal court and for his religious toleration. An article is in preparation that will explore the range of British opinion on Frederick the Great at the end of his long reign. This essay, however, will focus on how some leading Rational Dissenters perceived the self-consciously enlightened King of Prussia, and provide an exposition of the Memoirs of the Life and Reign of Frederick (1788) by Joseph Towers.
J. BENTHAM : Church-of-Englandism and its Catechism Examined , J. E. CRIMMINS and C. FULLER , eds. Oxford : Clarendon Press , 2011 ; pp. 652 .
in JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Volume 36, Issue 3, September 2012, pp. 447–448