Debating Britain's ancien régime in 1790s: Transition and evolution of monarchism against French revolutionary ideology

This thesis is a study of the responses of the royal government and parliament, monarchist associations, tract writers and pamphleteers, clergy, and conservative thinkers to revolutionary radicalism, and Enlightenment ideas of the French Revolutionary ideology. In the 1790s, monarchist thought provided a basis for the monarchists in Britain to reconstruct their ideology, discourses, and political strategies. Most of the studies on the intellectual history of the period have generally focused on the radicalism of the late 18th century. Historians tend to argue that monarchist thought was a populist movement strong in rural areas or that it was not appealing and convincing to many Britons. This thesis analyzes numerous manuscripts, newspapers and other periodicals, pamphlets, tracts, letters, and sermons to examine the nature of monarchism and the common concepts frequently mentioned in populist discourse and evaluates that the ideology was widespread and popular, and largely variable. The ancien régime of the 1790s, even in the works of persistent conservative thinkers, was essentially based on 18th-century Whig ideology and emphasized the gains of the Revolution of 1688, the constitution, private property, and the secured freedom of Britons. It was mostly secular but defended the existence and effectiveness of the Anglican Church. Monarchist ideology was surrounded by Enlightenment principles, and most monarchist writers could not escape the influence of these ideas, especially when criticising or being skeptical of Enlightenment thought. The discourse of conservative Whigs changed the nature of popular politics. Even in the 19th century Tory ideology, the influence of Enlightenment values opened the gate to modern liberalism.