DISSERTATION Titel der Dissertation HANNAH MORE: MORALIZING THE BRITISH NATION Verfasserin Mag. phil. Helga-Maria Kopecky angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) Wien, 2014 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 092 343 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Anglistik und Amerikanistik Betreut von: o. Univ. Prof. Dr. Margarete Rubik 2 For Gerald ! 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my great appreciation to those who assisted me in various ways in this project: to my first supervisor, o. Professor Dr. Margarete Rubik, for guiding me patiently and with never ending encouragement and friendliness through a difficult matter with her expertise; to my second supervisor, ao. Professor Dr. Franz Wöhrer, for his valuable feedback; to the English and American Studies Library as well as the Inter-loan Department of the Library of the University of Vienna; the National Library of Australia; and last, but certainly not least, to my family. It was their much appreciated willingness to accept an absent wife, mother and grandmother over a long period, which ultimately made this work at all possible. Thank you so much! 4 Of all the principles that can operate upon the human mind, the most powerful is – Religion. John Bowles 5 Table of Contents page I. Introduction General remarks ……………………………………………………. 9 Research materials ………………………………………………... 12 Aims of this thesis ………………………………………………… 19 Arrangement of individual chapters ...…………………………... 22 II. Hannah More: Concise Biography Early Years in Bristol ……………………………………………….. 24 The London Experience and the Bluestockings ………………... 26 Return to Bristol and New Humanitarian Interests ................... 32 The Abolitionist .......................................................................... 34 Reforming the Higher Ranks ..................................................... 36 The Tribute to Patriotism ........................................................... 40 Teaching the Poor: Schools for the Mendips ............................. 46 The Blagdon Controversy ......................................................... 51 Life After the Blagdon Controversy ........................................... 53 Educating the Future Sovereign ............................................... 55 Writing a Religious Novel ........................................................... 56 After the Great War ................................................................... 59 The Pious and Philanthropic Sisterhood .................................... 60 Last Years of a Long and Purposeful Life .................................. 63 III. The Religious, Philosophical, and Moral Background Introduction ............................................................................... 65 “There is NO power but of God” – The Dispute of Conservative and Progressive Forces about Hereditary Rights, Divine Appointment and God-ordained Power ................................................................... 68 “Religion and morals will stand or fall together” – Raising the Moral State ............................................................... 85 6 The Changing Face of the Religious Scene - The Evangelical Spirituality of the Heart ..................................... 93 The Evangelical Revival - The Result of the Shortcomings of the Church of England? ................................... 107 The Evangelicals in the Church of England ............................... 114 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 122 IV. Moralizing the British Nation Introduction .............................................................................................. 124 A Trilogy for the Higher Ranks: 1. Thoughts on the Importance of the Manners of the Great to General Society. Introduction ............................................................................... 126 Contemporary Reception .......................................................... 127 A "Slight Performance" Against the Negligence of Good Manners ........................................................................... 135 Honour the Sunday! "Great oaks from little acorns grow ....." ................................... 138 'Duels of Honour' as Reflection of Social Elitism ...................... 146 A Question of Christian Outlook and Patriotism: The Abolition of the African Slave-Trade ................................... 151 Charity - A Question of Motives and Principles ......................... 154 Conclusion .................................................................................. 156 2. An Estimate of the Religion of the Fashionable World. By One of the Laity. Introduction ................................................................................. 158 Critical Responses and Appraisals ............................................ 161 The Christian Faith Mistaken for the Mahometan Faith .............. 173 The Question of a Defective Liturgy ........................................... 175 The Neglected Religious Education of the Young ...................... 179 The Fight Against Infidelity, Scepticism and the New Modern Philosophy ............................................................ 188 The True Christian ..................................................................... 190 Morals and Faith ......................................................................... 196 7 Benevolence - The Charity of the 'True Christian' ....................... 200 Religious and Moral Goals - Theory and Practice ...................... 205 Social Equality on the Religious Level? ..................................... 206 Wilberforce's A Practical View and More's Estimate - A Comparison ............................................................................. 208 Conclusion ................................................................................. 209 3. Strictures on the Modern System of Female Education Introduction ................................................................................. 211 Contemporary Reception ............................................................ 215 Letters to Hannah More Biographies and Memoirs The Hierarchical Unit of the Family and the Nuptial State as Moral Stronghold ............................................. 226 Female Learning as a Means to a Higher Attainment: The New Domestic Female ......................................................... 236 The Evil of Novels and the Bad Influence From the 'Continent' ............................................................................. 249 Critics of Hannah More's Moral Precepts ................................... 259 Conclusion .................................................................................. 263 Missionary Work for the Lower Orders: 4. Sunday Schools and Tracts for the Poor of the Mendips Introduction ................................................................................ 265 The Debate about the Sunday-School Scheme .......................... 270 Sunday Writing - 'Theological Impropriety' or 'Prejudice'?........... 281 Aims, Rules, Plans and Principles: The Organization of the Sunday Schools ......................................................................... 285 Elevating the State of Poverty ..................................................... 290 Speaking with a 'Forked Tongue'? ............................................. 295 The Influence of the Counter-Revolution ................................... 297 Sunday Schools - a Place of Purposeful and Persuasive Teaching? ......................................................... 301 Expanding the Scope of Activities: Mendip Feasts and Other Social Innovations - An Act of Welfare or Calculation? .............................................. 305 Women's Clubs and Charges ..................................................... 311 Praise and Criticism ................................................................... 314 8 Conclusion .................................................................................. 319 V. Epilogue .............................................................................................. 323 Bibliography ........................................................................................ 332 Index ................................................................................................... 361 Abstract/Zusammenfassung .............................................................. 366 Curriculum vitae ................................................................................. 369 9 I. Introduction General Remarks Before I started this study my interest in and knowledge of Hannah More was poor. In fact, I only took notice of her rather accidentally as the woman who had firmly refused to read Mary Wollstonecraft’s passionate A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in 1792. A woman who found it not worth her while to direct her attention to a book so famous nowadays but rather complacently asked “what rights?”, and who thought that women were equipped with ample rights so they need not strive for more, necessarily raised my disdain and curiosity alike. Who was that woman who so vehemently thought that women should fill the station of life they were born into, like the poor, and to “study to be quiet”?1 What woman could possibly refuse rights for women at a time when revolutionary ideas inspired by the French Revolution seemed to work pro women and seemed to open a chance to improve their position in a society