The major themes

The political philosophy which dominated Britain for a century before the outbreak of the French Revolution consisted of two major elements, both of which drew upon religious arguments for their validation. The first gave spiritual justification to political authority, any authority, the powers-thatbe; the second legitimised certain means of changing the form of government and explored the circumstances in which revolution was permissible. Only by maintaining a correct balance between these, so men believed, could they avoid either anarchy or despotism. Since it was widely agreed that the perfect balance was the British Constitution in largely its existing form, the educated members of the political nation could safely indulge in the luxury of abstract intellectual discussion of revolution without being regarded (except in moments of extreme political crisis) as subversive or a serious threat to the state.

The French Revolution – if not at once, at least after a few years – created quite a different intellectual climate by introducing on to the political stage a new character – dēmos. Abstract philosophical considerations somehow seemed inappropriate when faced with a violent mob; order, control and restraints rapidly acquired new value and urgency. The element in traditional theory which dealt with the varied forms of government disappeared from public debate most rapidly. The other element which looked at the religious origins of government and the spiritual basis of political obligation lasted rather longer and never completely disappeared from the scene, but that too declined relative to the great onrush of arguments stressing religious restraints and sanctions on social behaviour.