The change in emphasis from political obligation to social order survived the French Revolution and was reflected in Christian political theory in the first three decades of the nineteenth century. The major crises of the period for churchmen continued to stimulate the evolution of a Christian theory of society which would ensure social stability and unity; this was forged in the heated controversies over the development of popular education, the infidel challenge, the post-war distress and disturbances, the assault on the privileges of the established church and the challenge of reform in church and state.

Political theory

General trends

The episcopal sermons preached before the House of Lords in Westminster Abbey on Martyrdom Day were traditional occasions for an exposition of constitutional theory. However, these lapsed during the war and none were preached after that of 1795 until 1807, when they were revived at the request of George III. However, although annual sermons were preached from 1807 to 1810 the practice then lapsed again and was never revived. Of the four that were preached, those of Henry Bathurst in 1808 and William Mansel in 1810 were largely in the constitutional tradition of pre-war years. But Thomas Burgess's sermon in 1807 concentrated on the danger the French example posed to society and stressed the need for religious education, while Charles Moss in 1809 combined thoughts on the philosophic notion of political obligation with an awareness of the social role of religious restraints and sanctions.