The political theory and practice of the English Commonwealthsmen, 1695-1725
No-one could claim that the English Commonwealthsmen have been ignored by historians. John Toland, Robert Molesworth, the third earl of Shaftesbury, Matthew Tindal, John Trenchard, and Charles Davenant- to name the most prominent of them- have attracted a good deal of attention for their religious and political writings; the most important of these are well known to all serious students of the early 18th century. But, despite all this attention, few writers on politics have been more widely misinterpreted than this group. The traditional view is that these men were radicals, intent on subversion of the constitutional settlement of 1689 and its replacement by a republic. Such allegations can be found in the work of contemporaries as diverse as Defoe and Charles Leslie, and it has been restated in a modified form in the fullest existing work on the subject, Caroline Robbins' The Eighteenth Century Gommonwealthman (1959). In this thesis I have re-assessed these judgments on the basis of a more thorough examination of the Commonwealthsmen's writings than has previously been attempted. Although most of the evidence has come from their large corpus of books and pamphlets, I have also used important manuscript collections
Duke-Evans, Jonathan
Pamphleteers ; History ; Political science ; Politics and government ; England ; Great Britain
The political theory and practice of the English Commonwealthsmen, 1695-1725. No-one could claim that the English Commonwealthsmen have been ignored by historians. John Toland, Robert Molesworth, the third earl of Shaftesbury, Matthew Tindal, John Trenchard, and Charles Davenant- to name the most prominent of them- have attracted a good deal of attention for their religious and political writings; the most important of these are well known to all serious students of the early 18th century. But, despite all this attention, few writers on politics have been more widely misinterpreted than this group. The traditional view is that these men were radicals, intent on subversion of the constitutional settlement of 1689 and its replacement by a republic. Such allegations can be found in the work of contemporaries as diverse as Defoe and Charles Leslie, and it has been restated in a modified form in the fullest existing work on the subject, Caroline Robbins' The Eighteenth Century Gommonwealthman (1959). In this thesis I have re-assessed these judgments on the basis of a more thorough examination of the Commonwealthsmen's writings than has previously been attempted. Although most of the evidence has come from their large corpus of books and pamphlets, I have also used important manuscript collections
political theory_practice english could claim english ignore historian john matthew john charles name prominent them attract good deal attention religious_political writing important well_know serious student despite attention writer politics widely misinterpret group traditional_view men radical intent subversion constitutional settlement replacement republic allegation find work contemporary diverse charles modified form full exist_work subject caroline eighteenth century re_assessed judgment basis thorough_examination write previously_attempt although evidence come large_corpus book pamphlet also use important manuscript collection