Abstract: „Sheridan the Tax Man”
Richard Brinsley Sheridan is best known today as the creator of two of the most admired stage comedies of the late eighteenth century, The Rivals and The School for Scandal. He was more noted during the Romantic period as a successful and prominent opposition MP, elected for the borough of Stafford at successive elections. Famous for the acuity of his commentary, the success of his wit and the flights of rhetoric which animated his speeches, Sheridan’s words frequently appeared in London’s morning and evening papers. Newspaper editors were invariably keen to print his words. When Sheridan spoke in April 1791 Diary; or, Woodfall’s Register reported that the Commons was ‘calmed, and all was mute attention; a compliment: for which Mr. Sheridan amply repaid the House, by one of the most able, eloquent, and statesman-like speeches we ever heard, even from the mouth of this most distinguished orator’. A wider case may be gleaned amidst recurrent praise. In terms of its genre and status within contemporary discourse, the parliamentary speech – especially the rhetorically impressive kind that Sheridan could give – has a liminal status. It is both within and without the domain of the “Romantic Ideology”. With technical, military, financial or otherwise uncongenial debates requiring their attention, parliamentarians nonetheless spoke at a distance from ordinary language. Classical allusions and historical lessons, references to Shakespeare and other literature ornamented and animated their speeches. The power and authority of parliamentary rhetoric has been examined by Matthew Bevis (2007), Nikki Hessell (2012), and Christopher Reid (2012). My paper will offer a renewed focus: the state of the nation’s finances as an object of both enquiry and policy. Parliamentarians could not ignore the economic fortunes of the nation, especially during an era of recurrent warfare. The present conference provides a valuable opportunity to consider Sheridan’s response to the financial crises which beset Britain after the American War, when successive governments sought to reduce the national debt via new forms of taxation, excise duties and even tontines. These were controversial, not least when new powers were granted to enter, search, and evaluate private property. A key concern will be how Sheridan shifted between competing value systems, deploying different languages and rhetorical styles make his case. At issue throughout is the repayment of the national debt; the extent of military spending; the situation of his constituents, as the payees of new taxes, but also as their privacy was invaded. The latter point had constitutional implications. By bringing these issues together, Sheridan was pulled in contrary directions, keen to appease his constituents’ anxieties, but wanting to appear proactive in the repayment of the debt. Exploration of his triangulation discloses Sheridan’s negotiation of his position as an “acknowledged legislator” willing to speak for the people, but mindful of the pressing claims of economy and finance. It will also be necessary to consider how far outside our own Romantic Ideology these issues remain, and much “economic criticism” can offer a way to re-engage with these debates.
Bio: University of Leeds, UK
Professor Robert W Jones is Professor of Eighteenth-Century Studies at the University of Leeds. His work examines the political and theatrical cultures of late Georgian Britain, especially the career of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. He is currently editing, with Martyn Powell, on a multi-volume edition of The Political Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan to be published by Oxford University Press. Alongside this project, he is writing a monograph on the theatre, provisionally titled, The Theatre of Richard Brinsley Sheridan: Drury Lane, Politics and Performance 1775-1787.