Political Pamphlets and Sermons from Wales 1790-1806 (Wales and the French Revolution)

The French Revolution initiated a wave of radicalism throughout Europe, and in Wales during the late eighteenth century this radicalism found expression not only in the establishment of radical periodicals and poetic contests but also in the publication of radical pamphlets and sermons in both Welsh and English. This book analyzes the resulting pamphlet wars that raged between loyalists and radicals, dissenters and churchmen, pacifists and proponents of war between 1790 and 1806. Marion Löffler conveys the excitement of those years, which brought the beginnings of modern culture and politics to societies on the periphery of Europe. Pamphleteering was a vital component of the popular political discussion opened up by the French Revolution of 1789, but while the English pamphlet wars have been exhaustively explored, Welsh pamphlet literature has been ignored. During the fifteen years following the French Revolution of 1789, over 100 Welsh pamphlets and sermons engaged in a public discourse which discussed the larger issues raised by the Revolution and the war against the French Republic.This pioneering volume seeks to capture the excitement of the period by demonstrating how radicals and loyalists, Dissenters, Methodists and Churchmen, pacifists and warmongers engaged in a lively argument in their published works. An in-depth essay reviews and interprets texts written by artisans, Dissenting ministers, country curates and Anglican bishops, who all used religion as politics; promoted war or peace; argued over republicanism and loyalism, and utilized the law as a stage for political ideas. All texts are fully translated and thus made accessible to an English-speaking audience for the first time. In This Work, The Author, A Longtime Scholar Of Digital Media Begins With A Brief History Of The Technological Development Of News Media From The Appearance Of Newspapers In The Sixteenth Century To The Rise Of Broadcasting And The Internet. Within That Context, He Demystifies The Emergence Of Online Communication And Social Media As The Third Major Technological Platform For News, Making The Current Pace Of Change Appear Less Vertiginous. The Book Provides Anyone With An Interest In The Future Of Journalism The Grounding Necessary For An Informed Discussion. Necessary But Not Sufficient -- The Technological Enablement Of News Media -- The Accidental News Networks -- The Next New Medium -- The Avalanche Of Online News -- News From Anyone Anywhere -- The Acceleration Of Change. Elliot King ; Foreword By Jeff Jarvis. Medill School Of Journalism. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 305-313) And Index. This pioneering volume for the first time highlights Wales's contribution to the "French Revolution debate" that unfolded in the pamphlet literature of the British isles after 1789. An in-depth essay reviews the Welsh political pamphlets and sermons of the period focusing on the debates between religious Dissenters, Methods and the Church; radicals and loyalists; as well as pacifists and patriotic war supporters. Its second part presents annotated editions of five important Welsh political pamphlets with full translation, thus making them accessible to an English-speaking audience for the first time. Among the illustrations is the first political Welsh-language cartoon This pioneering volume provides an in-depth analysis of Welsh political and religious pamphleteering between the French Revolution of 1789 and 1806, together with annotated texts and full translations of five important Welsh-language political pamphlets, and features the first political cartoon in the Welsh language.