Julia Stapleton

POLITICAL THOUGHT, ELITES, AND THE STATE IN MODERN BRITAIN

In general it seems to me a primary condition of national health that there shall be free and abundant contact between the most advanced culture and the masses, that due pains shall be taken ‘to marshall well the ranks behind’, and keep the whole army together. Where there is a great residuum of ignorance and stupidity, everything is dragged down... But if ever this contact was needful it is now and here; for evidently what has put the finishing touch to our confusion is the fact that the residuum of ignorance and stupidity has become our master and our judge... Just when the religious tradition had been dethroned by scepticism, and the constitutional tradition by radicalism, a new sovereign was crowned who knew nothing of either. Ignorance was proclaimed king, and an authority set up. Before whose fell approach and secret might Art after art goes out, and all is night! It is well worth pondering Seeleys gloomy cultural assessment delivered to the Ethical Society of Cambridge a few years before his death in 1895. It is not so much the pessimism attendant upon the era of mass politics and society that is so arresting. He was quick to acknowledge a brighter, more hopeful prospect in the passage which followed. It is more the idea, so fervently expressed, that national life is best served by the existence of an intellectual elite whose abiding concern is to tend the cultural well-being of the less advanced majority – to furnish and communicate moral truths, a vibrant atmosphere of thought, and a body of ideas that would at once provide unity and direction to society as a whole. He was not alone in entertaining these hopes, but instead expressed a common outlook among the leading thinkers of his day: despite very real divisions in the intellectual elite centring on such questions as free thought versus religion, tradition versus radicalism, imperialism versus ‘little Englandism’, all sought a prominent role for intellectuals in defining the central ‘public’ values and identities of their society through their scholarship and personal conduct alike.

Resisting the centre at the extremes: ‘English’ liberalism in the political thought of interwar Britain

This article focuses on a current of liberalism which remained distinct from the progressive politics of the 1930s, and whose identity as such emerged in its attack upon political extremism, principally although not exclusively of the left. It took as its starting-point the articulation and defence of a unique English identity. In this form, it was not confined to the channels and spokesmen of organised political liberalism, but instead cut across the main ideological divisions of liberalism, conservatism and socialism. The article aims to challenge interpretations of the 1930s as a decade of agreement in political thought constituted largely of progressive opinion, emphasising instead the existence of a significant polarity whose force was as much apparent after 1945 as before.

Sir Arthur Bryant as a 20th-century Victorian

This article considers some of the late-Victorian and Edwardian influences on the popular historian, Sir Arthur Bryant (1899–1985) in the 20th century. It emphasises Bryants role in strengthening patriotism and English national identity in the unpropitious circumstances of interwar and postwar Britain. The article examines his conservative cast of mind, one he communicated through best-selling histories and prolific journalism. It emphasises his increasing distance from organised Conservatism after the Second World War and the sympathy he attracted in some quarters of the Labour movement at the end of his life, as well as earlier on. However, it concludes that Bryant is a vital link between the late-19th century ‘moment’ of Englishness and its recent revival among Conservative thinkers, publicists and politicians.

The new liberal vision of C. F. G. Masterman : religion, politics and literature in early twentieth-century Britain.

This article explores the political thought of C. F. G. Masterman (1873–1927), a leading figure in the movement of New Liberalism in Britain at the beginning of the twentieth century. The article emphasizes the distinctive color his Christian beliefs and Anglican loyalties lent to his progressive Liberal ideals; this adds a new dimension to the existing historiography of the New Liberalism, which, until recently, has neglected the religious influences on its development. The article further underlines Mastermans concern to harness the cause of religious freedom and the disestablishment of the Church of England to social reform; he did so through reviving the older Gladstonian alliance between Liberalism and Nonconformity. It argues that his religiosity—focused on the Church of England—was central to his thought, and was frequently expressed in the language of prophecy he imbibed from Thomas Carlyle and other nineteenth-century seers.

T.E. Utley and renewal of conservatism in post-war Britain

This article examines the writings of T.E. Utley (1921–1988), a prominent contributor to the Conservative press in the post-war period. It does so in the context of Maurice Cowlings concept of ‘public doctrine.’ While attention is increasingly given to the ideas that shaped the Conservative Party in the 20th century, it has fallen short of investigating the broad foundations of Conservative ideology and their authoritative status expressed in Cowlings term. Yet Utleys thought underlines the importance of inquiry at this level, especially in distinguishing Conservatism from rival ideologies after 1945. His concern to ground Conservatism in a theory of moral and political obligation is crucial here; it was targeted against diffuse forms of secular liberalism that conceived ‘happiness’ as the end of human life. The article focuses on the shift in his allegiance from the post-war consensus to the New Right challenge of the 1960s but against the backdrop of his unchanging Tory beliefs. It explores the significance of his association with the Daily Telegraph in this regard and his relationship to ‘Powellism’ and Thatcherism. The article concludes by relating the decline of public doctrine in Conservative Party circles recently to the erosion of the sense of British nationhood that inspired Utleys Conservatism.

The De-Christianisation of England: Anglo-Catholic Perspectives in the Early Circle of G. K. Chesterton and in the Late Twentieth Century

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The historical context of Chesterton's interest in Alfred the Great.

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The Limits of Pro-Fascism and Anti-Fascism: G. K. Chesterton and Arthur Bryant

This chapter explores the equivocation that could mark sympathy with fascism in Britain, the contingent nature of a good deal of the support it received and the repudiation of certain forms of fascism while others were tolerated, even extolled. The degree of opposition that fascism encountered at this level was variable, as were the grounds. Nevertheless, the qualms experienced by some who showed early goodwill towards fascism merits close attention, especially when distancing themselves from it subsequently. What were the circumstances in which such retreats took place and the underlying motivations? A number of figures might serve to illustrate this highly problematic ‘variety of anti-fascism’, for example the historians Herbert Butterfield and Charles Petrie and the writers, Philip Gibbs and Evelyn Waugh. But the chapter confines its attention to the novelist, poet and journalist, Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) and the popular historian, Arthur Bryant (1899–1985). They have been chosen because they well capture the ambivalence that was typical of many who welcomed fascism; in addition, they emphasise that receptivity to fascism often owed as much to political conflict at home as admiration for the achievements of fascism abroad. Chesterton’s hesitancy never evolved fully into anti-fascism, as might be expected had he not died suddenly in June 1936; as an ideological weapon against domestic foes, his refusal to condemn Italian fascism unambiguously had already become a blunt instrument at the time of his death. But Bryant witnessed another world war, this time engendered by fascism, and changed his stance accordingly, if belatedly.

The voice of Chesterton in the conversation of England.

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Ernest Barker: Classics, England-Britain, and Europe, 1906–1960

Ernest Barker’s contributions to the study of classical political thought have remained a benchmark in that field for much of the twentieth century. This introduction seeks to place his output in historical context, examining the professional, political and personal factors which underpinned his success as an interpreter of Plato and Aristotle, especially. It considers his education, the popular nature of his work, his ambiguous relationship to the establishment, his English-British patriotism, his European connections and perspective, his dual career as a scholar and journalist, and his liberalism as central to the cultural authority he acquired in the first half of the twentieth- century. The introduction emphasises the close relationship between Barker’s ‘national’ status as a classical scholar, the methodological, democratic, and religious sensibilities that informed his work, and the deep sense of public mission by which he was moved, down to his last years. In doing so, it draws together themes which are explored more fully in the special issue as a whole.