Maria Georgina Ribeiro Pinto De Abreu Egency Radicalism
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Universidade do Minho Instituto de Letras e Ciências Humanas Maria Georgina Ribeiro Pinto de Abreu egency Radicalism Queen Caroline and The Print Queen Caroline and The Print Culture of R Culture of Regency Radicalism eu o de Abr o Pint gina Ribeir Maria Geor 1 1 UMinho|20 Agosto de 2011 This study was sponsored by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through POPH- QREN – typology 4.1 – Formação Avançada, co-funded by Fundo Social Europeu and national funds from Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior Grant Reference: SFRH / BD / 60247 / 2009 Universidade do Minho Instituto de Letras e Ciências Humanas Maria Georgina Ribeiro Pinto de Abreu Queen Caroline and The Print Culture of Regency Radicalism Tese de Doutoramento Ramo de Conhecimento em Ciências da Cultura Especialidade de Cultura Inglesa Trabalho efectuado sob a orientação da Professora Doutora Joanne Madin Vieira Paisana Agosto de 2011 Acknowledgements First and special thanks are due to my Ph. D. supervisor, Doctor Joanne Madin Paisana, whose constant interest provided welcome encouragement in the preparation of this work and whose suggestions, comments, and guidance were crucial in bringing it to fruition. I must also thank Doctor Joanne for her great kindness to me. I also wish to thank Professor Ana Gabriela Macedo, Director of Centro de Estudos Humanísticos da Universidade do Minho (CEHUM), my host institution, whose support at various moments was stimulating. The staffs of the following institutions were also very helpful to me: The staff of CEHUM, who have always showed a spirit of understanding collaboration throughout these years; the staff of the Rare Books and Music Room and the staff of the Imaging Service at the British Library, whose supply of material, vital for this research, was prompt and collaborative; Ms Kate Heard, Assistant Curator of the Print Room, Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, for the ready replies to several queries about material in the Print Room concerning the George IV Collection; Ms Allison Derrett, Assistant Registrar at the Royal Archives at Windsor, for the detailed information concerning the Queen Caroline Papers; Mr Paul Johnson, Image Library Manager at the National Archives at Kew, who provided me with data concerning the Will of Queen Caroline. I am particularly indebted to Ms Sheila O’Connell, Curator of British Prints before 1880 at the Department of Prints and Drawings of the British Museum. Ms O’Connell kindly provided me with a list of prints in the British Museum Collection related to Queen Caroline which are not described by Dorothy George, as well as valuable information about the newest acquisitions by the British Museum of satirical prints concerning Queen Caroline. I am also grateful to colleagues at Escola Secundária José Régio who have repeatedly manifested interest in the progress of my work. It meant much to me. Most of all, I wish to thank my family for their lasting support, their goodwill and readiness in providing valuable assistance at various moments, and for their patience listening to my tirades. They must be as pleased as I am to see this work finished. iii iv Queen Caroline and The Print Culture of Regency Radicalism Abstract The distinctive feature of the culture of Regency radicalism is what Marcus Wood (1994) calls ‘the delight in unrespectability’. It expressed itself in the mock-satiric style of its print culture, frequently seen as the last expression of a blackguard subculture doomed to extinction by the rise of middle-class values of respectability and progress. This view echoes in the work of a considerable number of authors, often influenced by Jürgen Habermas’s negative assessment of popular radicalism in his work The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere . Contending with this view, I argue that the mock-satiric tone of the print culture of Regency radicalism is forward-looking and intentionally disruptive. My conclusion is drawn from the analysis of the periodical radical journalism and the pamphlet satire issued in 1820 in the context of the Queen Caroline affair. The ‘unrespectability’ in which radical writers delighted during the Affair was not the product of a rough culture but the creative response to the cultural marginalisation and the restrictive press legislation against which it was played. Along with these constraints, sprang the courage and the spirit of defiance. Richard Carlile’s bold war of resistance for the right of publication, William Cobbett’s staged political drama, Thomas Wooler’s sophisticated wit, and the ingenious allegorical meaning of William Hone’s satire were as much the result of their intellectual, literary and political skill as of the threat of prosecution that hung over their heads. On the other hand, by encompassing the domestic and moral concerns associated with the Queen’s case in their discourse, Regency radicals went beyond the strict political agenda of parliamentary reform and pointed to a new vision of polity and society. In periods of crisis, such as the Queen Caroline affair, the aforementioned were formative experiences. They made radical journalism and satire into ‘act’ instead of simply ‘text’, and also into a cultural, even counter-cultural, instrument with great popular appeal. Regency radicalism defined itself during the Queen Caroline affair by v the role it played in the public sphere as intentionally rebellious, forward-looking intervention. The Queen Caroline affair is therefore a good case study of the political, literary, and intellectual elements underlying the print culture of Regency radicalism. vi A Rainha Carolina e a Cultura Impressa do Radicalismo da Regência RESUMO O traço distintivo da cultura do movimento radical do período da Regência consiste no que Marcus Wood (1994) denomina ‘o gozo em ridicularizar o poder’. Esta atitude materializou-se numa produção editorial satírica, frequentemente vista como a última manifestação de uma subcultura grosseira em vias de extinção pela ascensão dos valores de decoro e progresso, associados à classe média. Este ponto de vista reflecte-se na obra de um considerável número de autores, frequentemente influenciados pela apreciação negativa da cultura do radicalismo popular, presente no livro de Jürgen Habermas The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere . Refutando essa apreciação, alego que o tom satírico subjacente aos textos produzidos por aqueles autores apresenta uma visão política e cultural virada para o futuro e intencionalmente dissonante. A minha conclusão baseia-se na análise da sátira e do jornalismo periódico radical produzidos em 1820, no contexto do chamado ‘Queen Caroline affair’. Durante esta crise, a troça e mesmo o escárnio dos poderosos não foram o produto de uma cultura grosseira, mas sim a resposta imaginativa à marginalização cultural e à repressão política de que eram alvo os autores e activistas radicais nesse período. É que, a par da marginalização e da repressão, brotaram a coragem e o espírito de desafio. A intrépida guerra de resistência desencadeada por Richard Carlile pelo direito à liberdade editorial, o encenado drama político de William Cobbett, o humor sofisticado de Thomas Wooler, e o inventivo sentido alegórico da sátira de William Hone foram tanto o resultado da sua capacidade intelectual, literária e política, como da ameaça de repressão que pairava sobre as suas cabeças. Por outro lado, ao abrangerem no seu discurso as preocupações de ordem moral e do âmbito da domesticidade, relacionadas com o ‘Queen Caroline affair’, os autores radicais ultrapassaram o âmbito estrito da sua agenda de reforma parlamentar e apontaram para uma visão nova da política e da sociedade. Em períodos de crise como o ‘Queen Caroline affair’, estas experiências eram formativas. Elas transformaram o jornalismo e a sátira em ‘acto’, em vez de vii simplesmente ‘texto’, e em um instrumento de cultura, e mesmo de contra-cultura, de grande impacto popular. Durante o ‘Queen Caroline affair’, o movimento radical caracterizou-se pelo papel que desempenhou como intervenção insubmissa, virada para o futuro. O ‘Queen Caroline affair’ é, pois, um bom exemplo de estudo de caso da interacção dos elementos políticos, literários e intelectuais subjacentes à cultura editorial do radicalismo da Regência. viii CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii Abstract in English v Abstract in Portuguese vii Contents ix Abbreviations and Acronyms xi List of Illustrations xiii Index of Satires, Broadsides and Satirical Prints xvii Textual Note xxv Introduction 1 Chapter One – The Queen Caroline Affair 27 Chapter Two – Regency Radicalism 59 Chapter Three – The Radical Periodicals 87 Chapter Four – Satire as Political Weapon 159 Conclusion 233 References 241 Appendices 275 ix x Abbreviations and Acronyms Institutions British Library BL Royal Archives – Windsor RA The Lewis Walpole Library Digital Collection, Yale University LWDC Publications British Museum Catalogue BMC Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register PR John Bull JB Liverpool Mercury LM National Union Catalogue NUC Notes and Queries NQ Oxford English Dictionary OED The Black Dwarf BD The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time HPD The Republican R Others Anonymous Anon. Attributed Attrib. Bill of Pains and Penalties Bill British Museum Database Collection Identity Number BM-ID Footnote fn. Illustrated ill. Publisher Pub. xi xii Illustrations No. Author / Publisher Title Page Year Fig. 1 Anon., 1820-1 Her Most Gracious Majesty Caroline, Queen 27 of England Fig. 2 J. Fairburn (pub.), 1795 The First Interview of the Prince and 30 Princess of Wales (not described) 1 Fig. 3 J. Fairburn (pub.), 1795 The Marriage Ceremony of the Prince and 34 Princess of Wales (not described) Fig. 4 Mathew Dubourg, 1820 The Queen Returning from the House of 48 Lords (not described) Fig. 5 J. Fairburn (pub.), 1821 The Spirit of the Queen Conveyed to the 57 Realm of Eternal Glory!!! Fig. 6 G. Cruikshank, 1820 Coriolanus Addressing the Plebeians (Detail) 59 Fig. 7 G. Cruikshank, 1821 Reform 64 Fig. 8 R. Cruikshank, 1820 Public Opinion 87 Fig. 9 C. Williams, 1816 A View of the R-g-t’s Bomb 159 Fig.