i EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND ELEVEN In 1811 England was on the brink of economic collapse and revolu- tion. Th e veteran poet and campaigner Anna Letitia Barbauld pub- lished a prophecy of the British nation reduced to ruins by its refusal to end the interminable war with France, titled E ighteen Hundred and Eleven . Combining ground- breaking historical research with incisive textual analysis, this new study dispels the myth surrounding the hos- tile reception of the poem and takes a striking episode in Romantic- era culture as the basis for exploring poetry as a medium of political protest. Clery examines the issues at stake, from the nature of patriot- ism to the threat to public credit, and throws new light on the views and activities of a wide range of writers, including radical, loyalist and Dissenting journalists, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey and Barbauld herself. Putting a woman writer at the centre of the enquiry opens up a revised perspective on the politics of Romanticism. E. J. Clery is a professor of English Literature at the University of Southampton. Her publications include Th e Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762– 1800 (Cambridge, 1995), W omen’s Gothic from Clara Reeve to Mary Shelley (2000), Th e Feminization Debate in Eighteenth- Century England (2004) and J ane Austen: Th e Banker’s Daughter (2017). In 2013 she was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Major Fellowship for the project ‘Romantic- Era Women Writers and Economic Debate’. She lectures and broadcasts on eighteenth- century and Romantic litera- ture, book history and the cultural history of economics. (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) ii CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN ROMANTICISM Founding editor Professor Marilyn Butler , U niversity of Oxford General editor Professor James Chandler , U niversity of Chicago Editorial Board John Barrell , U niversity of York Paul Hamilton , U niversity of London Mary Jacobus , U niversity of Cambridge Claudia Johnson , P rinceton University Alan Liu , U niversity of California, Santa Barbara Jerome McGann , U niversity of Virginia David Simpson , U niversity of California, Davis Th is series aims to foster the best new work in one of the most challenging fi elds within English literary studies. From the early 1780s to the early 1830s a formi- dable array of talented men and women took to literary composition, not just in poetry, which some of them famously transformed, but in many modes of writ- ing. Th e expansion of publishing created new opportunities for writers, and the political stakes of what they wrote were raised again by what Wordsworth called those “great national events” that were “almost daily taking place”: the French Revolution, the Napoleonic and American wars, urbanization, industrialization, religious revival, an expanded empire abroad and the reform movement at home. Th is was an enormous ambition, even when it pretended otherwise. Th e rela- tions between science, philosophy, religion, and literature were reworked in texts such as Frankenstein and Biographia Literaria; gender relations in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and D on Juan; journalism by Cobbett and Hazlitt; poetic form, content and style by the Lake School and the Cockney School. Outside Shakespeare studies, probably no body of writing has produced such a wealth of comment or done so much to shape the responses of modern criticism. Th is indeed is the period that saw the emergence of those notions of “literature” and of literary history, especially national literary history, on which modern scholarship in English has been founded. Th e categories produced by Romanticism have also been challenged by recent historicist arguments. Th e task of the series is to engage both with a challenging corpus of Romantic writings and with the changing fi eld of criticism they have helped to shape. As with other literary series published by Cambridge, this one will represent the work of both younger and more established scholars, on either side of the Atlantic and elsewhere. For a complete list of titles published see end of book. (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) iii (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) iv d. e v er es hts r g All ri m. u e us M h Britis e h of t es e ust Tr e Th © er. d pi S al c oliti P e Th (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) v EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND ELEVEN Poetry, Protest and Economic Crisis E. J. CLERY University of Southampton (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) vi University Printing House, Cambridge C B2 8BS , United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia 4843/ 24, 2nd Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, Delhi – 110002, India 79 Anson Road, #06- 04/0 6, Singapore 079906 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title:  www.cambridge.org/ 9781107189225 DOI: 10.1017/9 781316987278 © E. J. Clery 2017 Th is publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2017 Printed in the United Kingdom by Clays, St Ives plc A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Clery, E. J., author. Title: Eighteen hundred and eleven : poetry, protest and economic crisis / E. J. Clery. Description: Cambridge ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2017. | Series: Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 116 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2017003099 | I SBN 9781107189225 (hardback) Subjects: LCSH: Barbauld, Mrs. (Anna Letitia), 1743–1825. Eighteen hundred and eleven. | Politics and literature – Great Britain – History – 19th century. | Protest poetry, English – History and criticism. | English poetry – 19th century – History and criticism. Classifi cation: LCC PR4057.B7 E3733 2017 | DDC 821/.6–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017003099 ISBN 978- 1- 107- 18922- 5 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URL s for external or third- party internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) i EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND ELEVEN In 1811 England was on the brink of economic collapse and revolu- tion. Th e veteran poet and campaigner Anna Letitia Barbauld pub- lished a prophecy of the British nation reduced to ruins by its refusal to end the interminable war with France, titled E ighteen Hundred and Eleven . Combining ground- breaking historical research with incisive textual analysis, this new study dispels the myth surrounding the hos- tile reception of the poem and takes a striking episode in Romantic- era culture as the basis for exploring poetry as a medium of political protest. Clery examines the issues at stake, from the nature of patriot- ism to the threat to public credit, and throws new light on the views and activities of a wide range of writers, including radical, loyalist and Dissenting journalists, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey and Barbauld herself. Putting a woman writer at the centre of the enquiry opens up a revised perspective on the politics of Romanticism. E. J. Clery is a professor of English Literature at the University of Southampton. Her publications include Th e Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762– 1800 (Cambridge, 1995), W omen’s Gothic from Clara Reeve to Mary Shelley (2000), Th e Feminization Debate in Eighteenth- Century England (2004) and J ane Austen: Th e Banker’s Daughter (2017). In 2013 she was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Major Fellowship for the project ‘Romantic- Era Women Writers and Economic Debate’. She lectures and broadcasts on eighteenth- century and Romantic litera- ture, book history and the cultural history of economics. (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) ii CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN ROMANTICISM Founding editor Professor Marilyn Butler , U niversity of Oxford General editor Professor James Chandler , U niversity of Chicago Editorial Board John Barrell , U niversity of York Paul Hamilton , U niversity of London Mary Jacobus , U niversity of Cambridge Claudia Johnson , P rinceton University Alan Liu , U niversity of California, Santa Barbara Jerome McGann , U niversity of Virginia David Simpson , U niversity of California, Davis Th is series aims to foster the best new work in one of the most challenging fi elds within English literary studies. From the early 1780s to the early 1830s a formi- dable array of talented men and women took to literary composition, not just in poetry, which some of them famously transformed, but in many modes of writ- ing. Th e expansion of publishing created new opportunities for writers, and the political stakes of what they wrote were raised again by what Wordsworth called those “great national events” that were “almost daily taking place”: the French Revolution, the Napoleonic and American wars, urbanization, industrialization, religious revival, an expanded empire abroad and the reform movement at home. Th is was an enormous ambition, even when it pretended otherwise. Th e rela- tions between science, philosophy, religion, and literature were reworked in texts such as Frankenstein and Biographia Literaria; gender relations in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and D on Juan; journalism by Cobbett and Hazlitt; poetic form, content and style by the Lake School and the Cockney School. Outside Shakespeare studies, probably no body of writing has produced such a wealth of comment or done so much to shape the responses of modern criticism. Th is indeed is the period that saw the emergence of those notions of “literature” and of literary history, especially national literary history, on which modern scholarship in English has been founded. Th e categories produced by Romanticism have also been challenged by recent historicist arguments. Th e task of the series is to engage both with a challenging corpus of Romantic writings and with the changing fi eld of criticism they have helped to shape. As with other literary series published by Cambridge, this one will represent the work of both younger and more established scholars, on either side of the Atlantic and elsewhere. For a complete list of titles published see end of book. (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) iii (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17) iv d. e v er es hts r g All ri m. u e us M h Britis e h of t es e ust Tr e Th © er. d pi S al c oliti P e Th (cid:19)(cid:6)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:17)(cid:10)(cid:8)(cid:7)(cid:1)(cid:15)(cid:14)(cid:12)(cid:11)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:6)(cid:21)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:5)(cid:13)(cid:6)(cid:16)(cid:11)(cid:7)(cid:9)(cid:8)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:14)(cid:11)(cid:20)(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17)(cid:11)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:1) (cid:16)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:17)