Religion, Toleration, and British Writing, 1790–1830 (Cambridge Studies in Romanticism, Series Number 53)

"In Religion, Toleration, and British Writing, 1790-1830, Mark Canuel examines the way that Romantic poets, novelists, and political writers criticized the traditional grounding of British political unity in religious conformity. Canuel shows how a wide range of writers including Jeremy Bentham, Ann Radcliffe, Maria Edgeworth, and Lord Byron not only undermined the validity of religion in the British state, but also imagined a new, tolerant, and more organized mode of social inclusion. To argue against the authority of religion, Canuel claims, was to argue for a thoroughly revised form of tolerant yet highly organized government - in other words, a mode of political authority that provided unprecedented levels of inclusion and protection. Canuel argues that these writers saw their works as political and literary commentaries on the extent and limits of religious toleration. His study throws new light on political history as well as the literature of the Romantic period."--Jacket Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 4 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Introduction......Page 9 A CHIMERICAL PROJECT......Page 20 ESTABLISHING PREJUDICE: EDMUND BURKE AND THE LOGIC OF PROTESTANT LEGACY......Page 25 IMPERIUM IN IMPERIO; OR, THE LOGIC OF ANGLICAN PANIC......Page 28 LOCKE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM......Page 33 BENTHAM AND THE RULE OF BELIEF......Page 45 COMMUNITY BEYOND COMMUNION......Page 52 THE GOTHIC CONSENSUS......Page 63 SOUTHEY AND THE MONASTIC ENCLOSURE......Page 66 RADCLIFFE’S JOURNEY AND THE REGIONS OF BELIEF......Page 73 THE ITALIAN AND CRIMES OF BELIEF......Page 77 THE GOTHIC PURSUIT OF JUSTICE......Page 82 GODWIN, MANDEVILLE, AND THE TRIUMPH OF TOLERATION......Page 89 THE WATCHMAN’S ORGANIZED DISSENT......Page 94 BELIEF AND DISASSOCIATION......Page 98 LIVING BY FAITH; OR, THE FIRM SOD OF PATRIOTISM......Page 104 THE SELF THAT NO ALIEN KNOWS......Page 111 THE REGIONS OF PURER INTELLECT......Page 130 PRIVACY AND PREJUDICE: THE ECONOMY OF HARRINGTON......Page 137 ENNUI AND THE NATION-EFFECT......Page 142 DELEGATED AGENCY AND THE BUSINESS OF MINUTE DETAIL......Page 148 FASHIONING UNION: THE ABSENTEE......Page 153 SCOTT, TOLERATION, AND THE NATIONAL TALE......Page 165 THE CONSTITUTIONS OF BELIEF......Page 169 PLACING BELIEF IN THE EXCURSION......Page 175 THE DILEMMA OF THE SOLITARY AND THE SOCIABILITY OF DISSENT......Page 181 RELIGION AS SOCIETY, SOCIETY AS RELIGION: FROM “THE WANDERER” TO THE “AUTHENTIC EPITAPHS”......Page 186 POETRY, POPULATIONS, AND THE PROVIDENTIAL STATE......Page 193 THE PRELUDE’S HYPOTHETICAL ESTABLISHMENT AND THE “FRAME OF SOCIAL BEING”......Page 198 ESTABLISHMENT, TOLERATION, AND THE INSTITUTION OF POETRY......Page 203 ORPHAN OF THE HEART: CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE......Page 213 RELIGIOUS RUIN, POETIC SURVIVAL; OR, WHY THE ONLY GOOD NATION IS A DEAD ONE......Page 222 KEATS, POETIC OATHS, AND VULGAR SUPERSTITIONS......Page 228 SEEMING AND BELIEVING: THE GOTHIC MUSE AND THE EVE OF ST. AGNES......Page 232 LAMIA, A POEM FOR THE NON-ELECT......Page 243 DON CARLOS AND THE AESTHETICS OF PERSECUTION......Page 252 THE CENCI AND THE RULES OF ENLIGHTENED ART......Page 256 CAIN, BLASPHEMY, AND THE INVENTION OF MURDER......Page 264 INTRODUCTION......Page 277 1 ROMANTICISM AND THE WRITING OF TOLERATION......Page 279 2 “HOLY HYPOCRISY” AND THE RULE OF BELIEF: RADCLIFFE’S GOTHICS......Page 286 3 COLERIDGE’S POLEMIC DIVINITY......Page 289 4 SECT AND SECULAR ECONOMY IN THE IRISH NATIONAL TALE......Page 294 5 WORDSWORTH AND “THE FRAME OF SOCIAL BEING”......Page 297 6 “CONSECRATED FANCY”: BYRON AND KEATS......Page 302 7 CONCLUSION: THE INQUISITORIAL STAGE......Page 307 Selected bibliography......Page 310 Index......Page 322 Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 4 Title 5 Copyright 6 Contents 7 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 9 CHAPTER 1 Romanticism and the writing of toleration 20 A CHIMERICAL PROJECT 20 ESTABLISHING PREJUDICE: EDMUND BURKE AND THE LOGIC OF PROTESTANT LEGACY 25 IMPERIUM IN IMPERIO; OR, THE LOGIC OF ANGLICAN PANIC 28 LOCKE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 33 BENTHAM AND THE RULE OF BELIEF 45 COMMUNITY BEYOND COMMUNION 52 CHAPTER 2 “Holy hypocrisy" and the rule of belief: Radcliffe’s Gothics 63 THE GOTHIC CONSENSUS 63 SOUTHEY AND THE MONASTIC ENCLOSURE 66 RADCLIFFE’S JOURNEY AND THE REGIONS OF BELIEF 73 THE ITALIAN AND CRIMES OF BELIEF 77 THE GOTHIC PURSUIT OF JUSTICE 82 GODWIN, MANDEVILLE, AND THE TRIUMPH OF TOLERATION 89 CHAPTER 3 Coleridge's polemic divinity 94 THE WATCHMAN’S ORGANIZED DISSENT 94 BELIEF AND DISASSOCIATION 98 LIVING BY FAITH; OR, THE FIRM SOD OF PATRIOTISM 104 THE SELF THAT NO ALIEN KNOWS 111 CHAPTER 4 Sect and secular economy in the Irish national tale 130 THE REGIONS OF PURER INTELLECT 130 PRIVACY AND PREJUDICE: THE ECONOMY OF HARRINGTON 137 ENNUI AND THE NATION-EFFECT 142 DELEGATED AGENCY AND THE BUSINESS OF MINUTE DETAIL 148 FASHIONING UNION: THE ABSENTEE 153 SCOTT, TOLERATION, AND THE NATIONAL TALE 165 CHAPTER 5 Wordsworth and “the frame of social being” 169 THE CONSTITUTIONS OF BELIEF 169 PLACING BELIEF IN THE EXCURSION 175 THE DILEMMA OF THE SOLITARY AND THE SOCIABILITY OF DISSENT 181 RELIGION AS SOCIETY, SOCIETY AS RELIGION: FROM “THE WANDERER” TO THE “AUTHENTIC EPITAPHS” 186 POETRY, POPULATIONS, AND THE PROVIDENTIAL STATE 193 THE PRELUDE’S HYPOTHETICAL ESTABLISHMENT AND THE “FRAME OF SOCIAL BEING” 198 ESTABLISHMENT, TOLERATION, AND THE INSTITUTION OF POETRY 203 CHAPTER 6 “Consecrated fancy”: Byron and Keats 213 ORPHAN OF THE HEART: CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE 213 RELIGIOUS RUIN, POETIC SURVIVAL; OR, WHY THE ONLY GOOD NATION IS A DEAD ONE 222 KEATS, POETIC OATHS, AND VULGAR SUPERSTITIONS 228 SEEMING AND BELIEVING: THE GOTHIC MUSE AND THE EVE OF ST. AGNES 232 LAMIA, A POEM FOR THE NON-ELECT 243 CHAPTER 7 Conclusion: the Inquisitorial stage 252 DON CARLOS AND THE AESTHETICS OF PERSECUTION 252 THE CENCI AND THE RULES OF ENLIGHTENED ART 256 CAIN, BLASPHEMY, AND THE INVENTION OF MURDER 264 Notes 277 INTRODUCTION 277 1 ROMANTICISM AND THE WRITING OF TOLERATION 279 2 “HOLY HYPOCRISY” AND THE RULE OF BELIEF: RADCLIFFE’S GOTHICS 286 3 COLERIDGE’S POLEMIC DIVINITY 289 4 SECT AND SECULAR ECONOMY IN THE IRISH NATIONAL TALE 294 5 WORDSWORTH AND “THE FRAME OF SOCIAL BEING” 297 6 “CONSECRATED FANCY”: BYRON AND KEATS 302 7 CONCLUSION: THE INQUISITORIAL STAGE 307 Selected bibliography 310 Index 322 In Religion, Toleration, and British Writing, 1790-1830, Mark Canuel examines the way that Romantic poets, novelists and political writers criticised the traditional grounding of British political unity in religious conformity. Canuel shows how a wide range of writers including Jeremy Bentham, Ann Radcliffe, Maria Edgeworth and Lord Byron not only undermined the validity of religion in the British state, but also imagined a new, tolerant, and more organised mode of social inclusion. To argue against the authority of religion, Canuel claims, was to argue for a thoroughly revised form of tolerant yet highly organised government, in other words, a mode of political authority that provided unprecedented levels of inclusion and protection. Canuel argues that these writers saw their works as political and literary commentaries on the extent and limits of religious toleration. His study throws new light on political history as well as the literature of the romantic period. Mark Canuel examines the way that Romantic poets, novelists and political writers criticized the traditional religious conformity of British political unity. Canuel reveals how writers (including Jeremy Bentham, Ann Radcliffe, Maria Edgeworth and Lord Byron) undermined the validity of religion in the British state, and envisioned a tolerant and more organized mode of social inclusion and protection. He asserts that these writers considered their works to be political and literary commentaries on religious toleration. Romanticism And The Writing Of Toleration -- Holy Hypocrisy And The Rule Of Belief: Radcliffe's Gothics -- Coleridge's Polemic Divinity -- Sect And Secular Economy In The Irish National Tale -- Wordsworth And The Frame Of Social Being -- Consecrated Fancy: Byron And Keats -- Conclusion: The Inquisitorial Stage. Mark Canuel. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 302-313) And Index. Canuel examines the way that Romantic poets, novelists and political writers criticised the traditional grounding of British political unity in religious conformity. Canuel shows how Romantic writers including Bentham, Radcliffe, Edgeworth and Byron saw their works as political and literary commentaries on the extent and limits of religious toleration. By 1800, members of Britain's House of Commons could confidently refer, with approval or dismay, to a "spirit of toleration."