Introduction: Michael Thomas Sadler and ‘the Revival of the Aristocratic Paternalist Ideal’

Abstract

This book is a study of the revival of paternalism and its implications for the development of social policy in early Nineteenth–Century Britain. It focuses on the period 1815 to 1833, during which attention shifted from foreign to domestic issues and demands for reform – social, political and economic – invigorated political debate. To many historians, this is the age of liberalism, characterized by the ‘triumph of individualism’ and the popularization of political economy and utilitarian, laissez–faire thinking. In the face of the country’s transition from a predominantly rural, agricultural and community-based society to an industrial, urban, capitalist nation–state, eighteenthcentury ideas about hierarchical responsibility, deference and reciprocal obligation seem anachronistic. Yet, it will be argued here, that paternalist thinking remained crucial to the discussion and formulation of social policy in this period. As the term ‘revival’ suggests, this was not just a continuation of eighteenth-century ideas, however, it was a resurgence of paternalist thinking that had far more significance than simply nostalgia for the past or a reactionary response to the rise of the new economy. By focusing on the paternal responsibilities of government and parliament, the early nineteenthcentury paternalists sought to accommodate the changing social and political climate. In the tradition of protectionism, they looked to the state for solutions to social as well as economic problems. This substitution of governmental for familial and community responsibility not only distinguishes nineteenth– from eighteenth–century paternalist thought, but is important to understanding the paternalist origins of the Victorian collectivist state.