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University Microfiims 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 A Xerox Education Company 73-15,334 SCHAFER, Delbert Frank, 1942- YOUNG ENGLAND AND CONSERVATIVE SOCIAL POLICY. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D., 1972 History, modem University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor. Michigan (g) 1973 Delbert Frank Schafer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE YOUNG ENGLAND AND CONSERVATIVE SOCIAL POLICY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY DELBERT FRANK SCHAFER Norman, Oklahoma 1972 YOUNG ENGLAND AND CONSERVATIVE SOCIAL POLICY APPROVED BY X DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author acknowledges his appreciation for the encouragement, guidance, and understanding of Professor William H. Maehl, Jr., who directed this study. The im­ provements made by the other members of the doctoral com­ mittee, Professor Rufus G. Hall, Associate Professor Gordon D. Drummond, Associate Professor Johnathan W. Spurgeon, and Assistant Professor Robert A. Nye, are gratefully acknowl­ edged. The British National Trust for allowing utilization of the Hughenden Papers, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge for making available portions of the Houghton Papers, and the British Museum deserve special commendations. My wife, Karen, typed the dissertation and provided inspiration and advice which will always be remembered. XIX TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. THE CONDITIONS OF ENGLAND: ATTITUDES, RESPONSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY INDUSTRIALIZATION ......... 1 II. THE FOUNDATIONS OF YOUNG ENGLAND ___ 41 III. YOUNG ENGLAND AND PARLIAMENTARY SOCIAL LEGISLATION, 1841-1846 ...... 88 IV. YOUNG ENGLAND'S SOCIAL AND LITERARY RESPONSES TO THE CONDITION OF ENGLAND .............................. 147 V. DISSOLUTION, IMPACT, AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE YOUNG ENGLAND MOVEMENT ...... 209 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................ 248 IV CHAPTER I THE CONDITIONS OF ENGLAND; ATTITUDES, RESPONSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS OF EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY INDUSTRIALIZATION Vast economic, political, and social alterations trans­ formed England during the first half of the nineteenth cen­ tury. Industrialization, with its origins in the previous century, began to erode the traditional basis of society, eventually dictating a new conception of life. The problems of these changes first became apparent, on a wide scale, in the latter part of the eighteenth century. The increased application of steam powered machinery not only increased the number of laborers engaged in factory employment but added to the difficulty through the large concentration of people in urban slums. Such momentous changes brought the social and political dominance of an agricultural aristocracy under attack; an attack which they failed to repel. Faced with novel problems of industrialization, the English people did not know where to turn. No one had estab­ lished himself as an unshakable social authority. For many, especially those of the rising middle class, materialism offered the best hope. To them it became a creed that the 1 2 way to self betterment and comfort came through the attain­ ment of wealth. Yet, this drive for wealth had its critics among the working classes, the aristocracy, the humanitar­ ians, and the churchmen. Wealth increased, but the distri­ bution of income was monumentally unfair to the working classes. Therefore, the need for a social theory calling for the reformation, the explanation, or the rationalization of the new domestic conditions became imperative. The movement known as Young England arose in the 1840's to provide an answer to the problems besetting society. Inspired by the ideals of humanitarianism. Romanticism, and Tory Radicalism, it attempted to restore an idealized pic­ ture of a pre-industrial, medieval society where the aristo­ crats took their responsibilities seriously. Early Victor­ ian society felt unsure of its direction and purpose; there­ fore it had left the old hierarchical society intact as a symbol of authority.^ Young England misread this to mean that the aristocracy still possessed the vitality, energy, and will necessary to provide the nation with paternalistic, benevolent, and moralistic leadership. Actually the age of aristocratic dominance had passed, and the middle class had assumed the initiative in the formation of social values and attitudes. The aristocracy was already a sham and had given up its control of the nation in return for the economic ^Walter E. Houghton, The Victorian Frame of Mind, 1830-1870 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957), pp. 102-06. 3 benefits of industrialization.^ Young England, however, made a sincere and honest attempt to reinvigorate the aristocracy. It is the purpose of this study to determine whether Young England offered a viable policy of social reform. The movement is considered by some as dead end, by others as the precusor of Tory Democracy. Within limits, this paper pre­ sents Young England as instrumental to the development of Tory Democracy and a Conservative Party social consciousness. The effect of Young England on the social reforms of the first half of the century is placed in perspective. Polit­ ical, social, and literary endeavors are investigated to provide information for analysis. The primary fame of Young England rests with its polit­ ical activity. It served as a ginger group within the Con­ servative Party during the Parliament of 1841-1847. It nev­ er reached the dimensions of a major insurrection, because despite attracting others, only four politicians provided consistency— Benjamin Disraeli, John Manners, George Smythe, and Alexander Baillie-Cochrane. In this study their promo­ tion of social legislation in Parliament during Young Eng­ land's political zenith of 1843-1845 is emphasized. Also, ^Harold Perkin, The Origins of Modern English Society. 1780-1880 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959), pp. 176- 92, 237-52, 262-64. Also see John W. Osborne, The Silent Revolution; the Industrial Revolution in England as a Source of Cultural Change (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970), pp. 125-45, 214-15, for a discussion of the changing social scene. A. P. Thornton, The Habit of Authority (Lon­ don: George Allen & Unwin, 1966), pp. 173-75, provides a glimpse in the desertion of social responsibility by the landholding aristocracy. 4 the political actions of 1846-1853 are used as a check to see whether Young England enforced a discipline in voting upon social questions during its political zenith. Further, an analysis is provided of Young England's social impact upon its participants, the Conservative Party, politicians, and the public at large during the nineteenth century. Young England must not be ignored as a literary mani­ festation. Not only was it inspired by literature, but the leaders sought to further its cause through the production of articles, poems, pamphlets, and novels. Disraeli's trilogy, Coningsby. Sybil. and Tancred are well known, but the works of the other leaders have been unduly ignored. Hence, this paper studies the literary production of all four leaders during 1841-1847. The literary response by contemporaries and their significance to the development of social themes in literature are also discussed. The activities by the leaders of Young England outside the walls of Parliament and the realm of literature during the 1840's are investigated. Participation in humanitarian, religious, and social endeavors