"When George in pudding time came o’er, and moderate men looked big, sir
My
principles I changed once more, and I became a Whig, sir
And
thus preferment I procured from our new Faith’s Defender,
And
almost every day abjured the Pope and the Pretender”
The penultimate verse from the Vicar of Bray seems
appropriate. This clergyman simply embraced all religious and political forms
favoured by the monarch of the day. And determined to keep his post, there were
five regimes to which he had to accommodate between 1685 and 1714. But in fact the
whole country was always similarly adjusting.
Hanoverian succession
When Queen Anne died in August 1714, George, Elector
of Hanover, became King of Great Britain and Ireland via the Act of Settlement. And the family descendants under the name 'Windsor' still reign today. George succeeded as Anne’s closest living Protestant relative. He has had a mainly
bad press from history (as has his son George II). Ridiculed by his subjects, he
was thought dim and wooden, was shy in the public sphere and was believed to
have several German mistresses. At first his spoken English was bad. His heart was in
Hanover where he made several trips when King. In short he was seen as just ‘too
German’.
But is this fair? Who wrote the history at the time
and what were their biases? Was there a religious element to the negative view
portrayed? George stayed on as ruler of the Duchy/Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg
(Hanover), so was this poor opinion shared on his home patch and in mainland
Europe generally? Taking a wider view of the period, was its reputation for
corruption, drunkenness, with economic and social disaster - as depicted in the
Hogarth prints for instance - justified?
To start with George I. He and his wife Sophia Dorothea had a son, also George, but the marriage failed. They split up in 1689. George’s mistress, Melusine von der Schulenburg, openly acted as consort and hostess until George I died in 1727. She came with him to England. There’s no record of other mistresses and they seemed a devoted couple.
Melusine von der Schulenburg
George, 54 when he became British King, was overawed on his arrival in London in September 1714. The place was already a major European city, 20 times the size of Hanover. An absolute ruler back home, in London George had to reign through Parliament. He backed the Whigs who favoured the Protestant succession. As many Tories wanted the Stuarts back, in practice he was left with little choice.
Whigs and Tories
A word about the British political divide. It had its
roots in the Civil War but dated directly from the Exclusion crisis of 1679-81.
Whigs thought Catholic James should be excluded from the succession while
Tories thought the opposite. In general, Tories believed in landed property,
title, monarchy (right or wrong) and the Church of England. Whigs also believed
in property but thought Parliament should trump monarchy, and wanted greater
legitimacy for the growing number of Non-Conformists.
Perhaps contrary to popular belief, the rural gentry
rather than the aristocracy were the backbone of the Tory party. The Whigs drew
strength from the old nobility allied with a new urban class based on trade and
the professions. There were often splits within the parties, of course, but
Hanoverian support for the Whigs helped them maintain ascendancy for an amazing
50 years. They were guided by Sir Robert Walpole ('Cock Robin'), a shrewd politician who controlled
the Commons and held power for 20 years as Britain’s first recognised Prime
Minister.
Sir Robert Walpole, Arthur Pond
Many denigrating George I at the time were Tory political opponents. Later on, those in the 19th century often viewed the Stuart supporting Jacobites romantically and sympathetically. 20th century voices were clearly anti-German and anti-Protestant in their sentiments. George may have had poor English at the start, but documents from later in his reign showed he understood, spoke and wrote English. Continental Europe saw him as a progressive supporter of the Enlightenment, and the German archives have allowed a more generous re-assessment. George was affectionate and sensitive. He took on a precarious throne, and left it secure in the hands of Parliament. As Thackeray was to put it, “....he was better than a king out of St Germains (James the Pretender), with the French king’s orders in his pocket and a swarm of Jesuits in his train”.
Britain under the Whigs
So what of the Georgian/Whig period as a whole
(including the reign of George II)? Hogarth’s cartoons are famously stark and graphic.
But Hogarth was a propagandist. The image left us is one of social deprivation,
poverty and cruelty dominating history’s treatment of this period. But given everything
taking place across a variety of fronts, in the country as a whole not just in
London, it’s to say the least, a partial picture.
By the 1720s Britain was one of the most prosperous countries in the world. This was based on the diplomatic goal of building a worldwide trading network for its merchants, manufacturers and financiers. The policy was Mercantilism - government sharing in and supporting private ventures, and protection for home markets. It was imposed by Britain on its colonies, which supplied raw materials and served as captive markets for British exports and British shipping. The Royal Navy was developed as a large and powerful means to enforce this.
'Gin Lane', William Hogarth
The British Empire grew strongly during this period. It was given a boost mid-century by the Seven Years War, a complex affair fought mainly against France. French power was brought to an end in India, making way for eventual British control of the subcontinent. And France was defeated in Canada which became a British colony. It’s true that slavery was one of the main trade commodities. A horrific practice (see earlier post, Britain and Slavery), but it, too was abolished in the later Georgian period.
Peace and Prosperity in a fast growing state?
The country saw 50 years of almost continuous peace
and prosperity, the longest in its history. An unassailable Navy protected Britain’s shores and its burgeoning
global trade. And while figures such as Walpole used various forms of bribery to
exercise control over running the state, it’s not as if this was absent from
political management before, or since. Features like pocket boroughs were
clearly a stain on the political system and Britain had to wait until well into
the 19th Century before they ended. But in general it was a spell of
efficient government administration, at least compared to that of the
Restoration.
Register House, Edinburgh, Robert Adam
Social conditions were harsh, but this was perhaps inevitable
with a rapidly rising population. From 6.5 million in 1714 (excluding Ireland) at the start of
the Georgian/Whig ascendancy the population had risen to over 8 million by 1760, mainly due to a fall in mortality. This occurred despite diseases like smallpox taking a huge
toll. Infant mortality rates were astronomic by today’s standards. But then
applying any figures to a date 300 years later can yield shocking results. It
was also the time of foundling hospitals and large organised charity - a time
of huge social change and urbanisation. Public health improved after 1751’s
re-imposition of gin taxes. Justice relied on the 1724 ‘bloody code’, with over
200 crimes technically punishable by death. But in practice most defendants
were let off or received a lesser sentence. London had eight ‘hanging days’ a
year.
Economic, social and cultural progress
A thriving culture went hand in hand with these
economic and social changes. In science, William Herschel and his sister
Caroline arrived from Brunswick-Lüneberg, making important advances in
astronomy and telescopes. Already settled in London, Handel moved from Italian
operas to choral anthems and oratorios. Thomas Arne wrote Rule Britannia in 1740. By the 1760s Reynolds and Gainsborough were
hitting their heights. But in truth it was less in music or painting than in architecture that the era flexed its artistic muscles. Scots William and Robert
Adam left a great legacy. Edinburgh New Town and Georgian Dublin, Bath and
other cities bear testament to the progress made.
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