'The Better Sort': Ideas of Race and of Nobility
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UNIVERSITE SORBONNE NOUVELLE – PARIS III ED 514 EDEAGE Prismes EA 4398 Thèse de doctorat Études du monde anglophone Tim MC INERNEY ‘THE BETTER SORT’: IDEAS OF RACE AND OF NOBILITY IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND Thèse dirigée par Madame Isabelle Bour Soutenue le 4 décembre 2014 Membres du jury : Madame Isabelle Bour, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III, directeur Madame Jenny Davidson, Columbia University in the City of New York Monsieur Brycchan Carey, Kingston University London Monsieur Franck Lessay, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III Monsieur Alexis Tadié, Université Paris-Sorbonne – Paris IV « The Better Sort » : Race et noblesse dans la pensée et la littérature des Îles britanniques au XVIIIe siècle RESUME Durant des siècles, la noblesse britannique a défendu une hiérarchie fondée sur la lignée et la généalogie, qui s’inscrivait dans la tradition occidentale de l'ordre universel. En 1735, cependant, l'Homo sapiens de Linné marque le début d'un nouveau discours sur les hiérarchies humaines, désormais fondées sur la « variété » physique. Cette étude veut cerner l’influence de la tradition noble sur les conceptions de la race, en Grande-Bretagne et en Irlande, au cours du long XVIIIe siècle. Nous examinons un ensemble de textes de nature diverse, dans l'espoir de mettre en lumière la continuité des hiérarchies généalogiques à travers plusieurs disciplines et sur plusieurs centaines d'années. La première partie retrace l'histoire du privilège héréditaire comme « identité généalogique » à partir d’œuvres comme A British Compendium, or, Rudiments of Honour (1725-7) de Francis Nichols et l’Essay on Man (1734) d’Alexander Pope. La seconde partie réexamine ces mêmes traditions sous l'angle de la théorie de la race au XVIIIe siècle. Elle s'intéresse aux idées de la race et du breeding dans le roman anonyme, The Lady’s Drawing Room (1744), et à la rhétorique de la variété humaine dans plusieurs ouvrages d’histoire naturelle, dont A History of the Earth and Animated Nature (1774) d’Oliver Goldsmith. La troisième partie étudie l'influence des Lumières et de la Révolution française sur l’idée de « race noble » telle qu'elle apparaît dans les Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) d'Edmund Burke, ainsi que le rôle de la « noblesse naturelle » dans des œuvres abolitionnistes, notamment Slavery, or, the Times (1792) d’Anna Maria Mackenzie. Ainsi, cette étude entend démontrer que la tradition de la « race » noble a été, et demeure, une composante fondamentale dans la construction d'un concept de « race » humaine, qui fait de la pureté du sang, de la supériorité des mœurs et de l’anatomie des principes définitoires de la hiérarchie humaine. Mots-clefs : noblesse, race, généalogie, hiérarchie, Grande-Bretagne, Irlande, XVIIIe siècle ii ‘The Better Sort’: Ideas of Race and of Nobility in Eighteenth- Century Great Britain and Ireland ABSTRACT For centuries, British nobility promoted an elite hierarchy based on genealogical precedence within the greater Western tradition of universal order. In 1735, however, Carolus Linnaeus’s Homo sapiens signalled the beginning of an entirely new discourse of human hierarchy based on physical ‘variety’. This study aims to identify how noble tradition influenced conceptions of race in Great Britain and Ireland during the long eighteenth century. Tracing the persistence of a ‘pureblood’ model of human superiority in the West, it traverses a vast range of historical material in order to highlight the continuity of genealogical hierarchies across multiple disciplines and over hundreds of years. The first section reviews the history of hereditary privilege as a backdrop to noble culture in eighteenth-century Britain: examining works such as Francis Nichols’s British Compendium, or, Rudiments of Honour (1727-7) and Alexander Pope’s Essay on Man (1734), it considers how nobility as a genealogical identity was accommodated in the ‘Great Chain of Being’ understanding of human hierarchy. The second section considers these same traditions in terms of the eighteenth-century ‘race’ construct: it considers the notion of ‘breeding’ in works such as the anonymous The Lady’s Drawing Room (1744) and the rhetoric of human variety in naturalist texts such as Oliver Goldsmith’s History of the Earth and Animated Nature (1774). The third and last section considers the influences of Enlightenment and the French Revolution on ideas of noble race in Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), and the role of ‘natural’ nobility in abolitionist texts such as Anna Maria Mackenzie’s Slavery; or, the Times (1792). In short, this study demonstrates that the tradition of noble ‘race’ was, and is, a fundamental component of the human ‘race’ construct, asserting blood purity, anatomical superiority, and inimitable excellence as defining principles of human hierarchy. Keywords: nobility, race, genealogy, hierarchy, Great Britain and Ireland, eighteenth century iii Acknowledgements My foremost gratitude is due to my thesis supervisor, Madame Isabelle Bour, who encouraged this thesis since before it even began, as supervisor of my Master’s degree dissertation. Her unrivalled knowledge and insight has opened crucial windows of understanding throughout this process, allowing me to raise my research to new levels and urging me always to strive for excellence. Just as importantly, Mme Bour has been an inestimable source of guidance and support in the world of academia, which has been quite simply invaluable over the last four years. Secondly, I extend my gratitude to the institutions and societies that have assisted me during my research: firstly to the outstanding faculty, staff, and students of l’Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris III, and most especially the members of the Centre de Recherche et d’Études Anglaises sur le XVIIIe Siècle de la Sorbonne Nouvelle (CREA XVIII, Prismes EA 4398) for their precious insights into eighteenth-century life and thought; secondly to the École Doctorale 514 and the PRISMES research laboratory for their much-appreciated allocation of research funding, which allowed me to present my findings at international conferences; and thirdly to both the Société d’Études Anglo- américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles and the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, who provided me with vital encouragement by awarding me their Prix de Master and ‘President’s prize’, respectively. Next, I must thank my colleagues at the Department des Langues, Université Panthéon- Sorbonne – Paris I, where it has been a privilege to teach during the past four years. I wish to extend special and sincere thanks to M. John Baker for providing me with indispensable guidance in both professional and academic fields, as well as the friendliest of welcomes. I also wish to sincerely thank my fellow doctoral students, friends, and family who assisted with my research: Marion Leclair, Clément Girardi, Claire McKown, Tamlin Cooper, Monique Kent, Anna Frances Metcalfe, Jonathan James, Jennifer Morrison, Robert Ashby, Naomi O’Leary, Lilian Berg, Karine Tercier, and Olivier Turra. It goes without saying that I extend my warmest gratitude to my parents, to whom I owe my entire education. I could only wish that this thesis could make them as proud as I am to be their son. iv Table of Contents Résumé ................................................................................................................................. ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. v Table of Illustrations ......................................................................................................... vii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 SECTION 1: From Eugeneia to Race Thinking .............................................................. 10 1.1. The Tradition of Hereditary Privilege in the West: From Antiquity to the Middle Ages 1.1.1 The Ancient World: Aristoi, Nobiles, and ‘Aristocracy’ in Ancient Greece and Rome ............................................................................................................... 11 1.1.2 Nobility in Early Christianity and Anglo-Saxon England ............................ 26 1.1.3 Feudalism, Knighthood, and the Division of French and English Nobility ............................................................................................................................... 34 1.2. Performing Pure Blood: Discourses of Noble Authority in Early Modern Britain 1.2.1 Renaissance England: ‘Performing’ Hereditary Privilege in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries ......................................................................................... 42 1.2.2 British Nobility in the Seventeenth Century: Divine Right Theory and the English Civil War .................................................................................................. 58 1.2.3 Peers and Nobility in Eighteenth-Century British Society .......................... 76 1.3. Nobility and Spiritual Order in Eighteenth-Century Britain 1.3.1 The Great Chain of Being: A Western Philosophical Tradition .................. 97