Imprison'd wranglers : the rhetorical culture of the House of Commons, 1760-1800

Although The Later Eighteenth Century Has Long Been Regarded As Parliamentary Oratory's Golden Age, Its Speaking History Remains To A Large Extent Unexplored. Imprison'd Wranglers Looks In Detail At The Making Of A Rhetorical Culture Inside And Outside Of The House Of Commons During This Eventful Period, A Time When Parliament Consolidated Its Authority As A National Institution And Gained A New Kind Of Prominence In The Public Eye. Drawing On A Wide Range Of Contemporary Sources Including Newspaper Reports, Parliamentary Diaries, Memoirs, Correspondence, Political Cartoons, And Portraiture, This Book Reconstructs The Scene In St. Stephen's Chapel, Where The Commons Then Sat. It Shows How Reputations Were Forged And Characters Contested As Speakers Like Burke, North, Fox, And Pitt Crossed Swords In Confrontations That Were Both Personal And Political. With Close Attention To The Early Lives Of Selected Mps, It Pieces Together The Education Of The Parliamentary Elite From Their Initiation As Public Speakers In Schools, Universities, And Debating Clubs To The Moment Of Trial When They Rose To Speak In The House For The First Time. Since This Was The Period When The Newspaper Reporting Of Parliamentary Debates Was First Established, The Book Also Assesses The Impact Speeches Made On The Audiences Of Ordinary Readers Outside Parliament. It Explains How Parliamentary Speeches Got Into Print, What Was At Stake Politically In That Process, And Argues That Changing Conceptions Of Publicness In The Eighteenth Century Altered The Image Of The Parliamentary Speaker And Unsettled The Traditional Rhetorical Culture Of The House.--publisher's Website. The Speaking Chamber. Rhetorical Spaces. -- Out Of Doors. Fictitious Tribunals ; Bottling Niagara ; Gillray In The Gallery. -- Making A Figure. Educating The Orator ; Where Character Is Power. -- Rhetorical Contests. Debating Lord Clive ; Community Of Mind: Quotation And Persuasion. Christopher Reid. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [245]-260) And Index. Imprison'd Wranglers is the first detailed study of parliamentary speaking in what has long been regarded as its golden age, when orators such as Burke, Fox, Sheridan, and Pitt competed for ascendancy in the House of Commons. The book examines the making of a rhetorical culture inside and outside the House during this eventful period, when Parliament consolidated its authority as a national institution and gained a new kind of prominence in the public eye. Drawing on a wide range of textual and visual sources (including manuscript and printed reports and political cartoons), it reconstructs the physical and political conditions in which orators worked, and illustrates the techniques they used to discredit the arguments of their opponents and to move and convince the audience in the House. With close attention to the early lives of selected MPs, it pieces together the education of the parliamentary elite from their initiation as public speakers in schools, universities, and debating clubs to the moment of trial when they rose to speak in the House for the first time. Since this was the period when newspaper reporting of parliamentary debates was established, the book looks closely at the transmission of speeches from performance to text. In the context of changing conceptions of publicness, it assesses the impact speeches made on audiences of ordinary readers outside the House and asks how this new visibility altered the image of the parliamentary orator Cover 1 Contents 10 List of Figures 12 A Note to the Reader 14 1. Introduction 16 I. THE SPEAKING CHAMBER 36 2. Rhetorical Spaces 38 II. OUT OF DOORS 72 3. Fictitious Tribunals 74 4. Bottling Niagara 91 5. Gillray in the Gallery 112 III. MAKING A FIGURE 126 6. Educating the Orator 128 7. Where Character is Power 171 IV. RHETORICAL CONTESTS 204 8. Debating Lord Clive 206 9. Community of Mind: Quotation and Persuasion 229 10. Epilogue 255 Bibliography 260 Index 276 A 276 B 276 C 277 D 278 E 278 F 279 G 279 H 279 I 280 J 280 K 280 L 280 M 281 N 281 O 281 P 281 Q 282 R 283 S 283 T 284 U 284 V 284 W 284 Y 285 Imprison'd Wranglers is the first detailed study of parliamentary speaking in its golden age at the end of the eighteenth century. The book looks closely at the physical and political conditions in which these men spoke, and the techniques they used to discredit the arguments of their opponents and to move and convince their audience in the House.