28
TOASTING, ORATORY AND PARODY IN BRITAIN
DURING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Rémy Du hille
DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/2571452X.2024.68.3
Abs ac : In keeping wi h ecen his o iog aphy on he in e play o o ali y and li e a u e
in Roman ic B i ain, his a icle s a s om he eme gence o oas ing in he ea ly phase
o he F ench Re olu ion as a new o m o adical discou se, in he con ex o a budding
public-dinne sociabili y. The main ocus bea s on conse a i e pa odies o such adical
oas ing, in pape s such as he Times and especially he An i-Jacobin and An i-Jacobin
Re iew. Pa ody enabled conse a i es o mimic epublican and egicidal opes in ways
ha we e much mo e ou ageous han he alleged adical o iginals, hus es ing he
limi s o public speech in 1790s Pi i e B i ain. The a icle ends wi h a close eading o
a pa icula ly o na e pa ody, based on an ode by Ho ace, o he Duke o No olk’s
no o ious oas o “ he Majes y o he People,” which symbolized, in he eyes o he sel -
s yled an i-Jacobins, he eache y and inconsequence o he Foxi e Whigs in he 1790s.
Keywo ds: sa i e, pa ody, oas ing, sociabili y, in e ex uali y
Oa hs, odes and o a ions o m a ui ul esea ch ield a he in e ace o o ali y,
pe o mance and ex s. This a icle o e s “ oas ing” as a ou h euphonic e m,
a guing ha , in he Roman ic e a, especially a imes o ex eme ension like he
mid-1790s, oas ing pa icipa ed in he e e escen ola ili y o poli ics. While he
p ac ice o d inking someone’s heal h (“gi ing” o “pledging” heal hs) was
widesp ead in ea ly-mode n B i ain, he wo d “ oas ” – in he sense o “a lady
who is named as he pe son o whom a company is eques ed o d ink” – da es
back o 1700, i s i s occu ence (acco ding o he Ox o d English Dic iona y) being
in William Cong e e’s comedy The Way o he Wo ld. Toas ing was bo n in e ined,
a is oc a ic ci cles; i was bound up wi h no ions o dis inc ion and poli eness, as
Joseph Addison made clea in a p obably ic ional accoun o he bi h o oas ing
Toas ing, O a o y and Pa ody in B i ain
29
a Ba h in he Ta le .1 By he end o he cen u y, oas ing had become a commonplace
i ual o honou men, measu es and mo oes. I was a s anda d p ac ice in p i a e
and public dinne s, se ing o de end poli ical p inciples. This mundane cus om
also had a li e a y pedig ee, appea ing in no els by Fielding and Smolle and on
s age, no ably in Richa d B insley She idan’s The School o Scandal (1777), whe e
i akes he o m o he amous d inking – and oas ing – song, “He e’s o he
Maiden o Bash ul Fi een.”
A p ominen Whig suppo e o Cha les James Fox, She idan leads us in o he
con en ious wo ld o 1790s B i ain. In ha pe iod, oas s se ed as a ehicle o
poli ical communica ion, bu hey also pa icipa ed in he me amo phoses and
sub e si e eapp op ia ions o Roman ic li e a u e. Toas ing is pa o he
con es ed, issipa ous public sphe e o o ali y and con e sa ion which has been
he subjec o signi ican li e a y schola ship by John Ba ell and Jon Mee, among
o he s.2 A e he 21 May 1792 Royal p oclama ion agains sedi ious w i ings and
publica ions, and s ill mo e a e he Two Ac s o Decembe 1795, dubbed “ he
Gagging Ac s,” which e ec i ely o bade unau ho ized public mee ings and
socie ies, he complex, and inc easingly ideologically policed, bounda ies o a
“public sphe e” seemed o ca e in unde he s i ling p essu es o an i-Jacobin
censo ship.3 Mee has explo ed he nego ia ed and con es ed in e play o
“con e sa ion” and “li e a u e,”4 while Ian Newman and Ch is ina Pa olin ha e
examined he ole o some key spaces o sociabili y, especially London a e ns, in
he p oduc ion o a poli icized li e a u e ou o o al con e sa ions.5 Toas ing was
1 The Ta le , ed. Donald F. Bond, 3 ols. (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 1987) 1:187-90 (no. 24,
4 June 1709); Rémy Du hille, “Toas ing and Gende in G ea -B i ain in he Eigh een h
Cen u y,” Zinbun 50 (2020): 37-55.
2 John Ba ell, Imagining he King’s Dea h: Figu a i e T eason, Fan asies o Regicide, 1793-1796
(Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2000); John Ba ell, The Spi i o Despo ism: In asions o
P i acy in he 1790s (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2006); Jon Mee, Roman icism,
En husiasm, and Regula ion: Poe ics and he Policing o Cul u e in he Roman ic Pe iod
(Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2003), x, 320.
3 Fo a help ul summa y o censo ship and an i-sedi ion legisla ion, see Da id Wo all,
“F eedom o Speech,” in The Ox o d Handbook o B i ish Roman icism, ed. Da id Du
(Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2018), 233-49.
4 Jon Mee, Con e sable Wo lds: Li e a u e, Con en ion, and Communi y 1762 o 1830 (Ox o d:
Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 2011); Jon Mee, “The Buzz abou he Bee: Policing he
Con e sa ion o Cul u e in he 1790s,” in Be o e Blackwood’s: Sco ish Jou nalism in he Age
o Enligh enmen , ed. Alex Benchimol, Rhona B own and Da id Shu le on (London:
Picke ing and Cha o, 2015), 63-74.
5 Ian Newman, The Roman ic Ta e n: Li e a u e and Con i iali y in he Age o Re olu ion
(Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 2019); Ch is ina Pa olin, Radical Spaces: Venues
o Popula Poli ics in London, 1790-c. 1845 (Canbe a: ANU E P ess, 2010).
Rémy Du hille
30
a cen al ool in he manu ac u ing o adical unanimi y a banque s: ha was he
case wi h he I ish “pa io s” o he mid-1750s, he English pa liamen a y
e o me s o he 1780s, all he way o he Cha is s in he 1840s.
O iginally an o al s a emen made, indeed pe o med by aising one’s glass,
he oas also belongs o he sphe e o w i en speech. E en be o e he F ench
Re olu ion, lis s o oas s we e w i en in ad ance, so ha gues s knew on wha
opic hey would hold o h be o e aising hei glass. Tha was he case wi h
o icial dinne s o local es i i ies, bu also, inc easingly, wi h la ge dinne s held
by adical g oups. F om he 1790s, he p oceedings o dinne s, comple e wi h
oas s, songs and speeches, we e published in he p ess and, inc easingly, in
pamphle o m. The publica ion was o en closely con olled by he o ganise s o
he dinne and i e lec ed an o de liness and good ellowship ha was some imes
belied by o he sou ces. Those glib “o icial” sou ces elided any dis u bance o
inciden . A case in poin , analysed in de ail by Newman, is ha o he sel -s yled
“Jacobin” o a o John Thelwall, who e used o oas “The A my” a a mee ing o
he Humane Socie y in 1799.6 The epo in he Times is pa io ic and con en ional,
bu he inciden is eco ded in he Home O ice Pape s. The o ma ed publishing
o oas s, adop ing a s e eo ypical p esen a ion o e en s, smoo hs o e he
pa icula i ies o dinne s, and i o en akes o he (equally, bu di e en ly, slan ed)
sou ces, such as spy epo s and p i a e co espondences, o econs uc episodes
o dining and oas ing.
This a icle builds on p e ious esea ch on poli ical oas ing, which has
es ablished he po ency – bu also some pi alls – o oas ing as a o m o poli ical
communica ion. Toas ing is cen al o he a icula ion and dissemina ion o
adicalism, “ adicals” being he e de ined p agma ically as indi iduals and g oups
con es ing key aspec s o he es ablished o de and p oposing o o e haul i , ei he
by ho ough e o m o e olu ion. Poli ical adicals, e o me s and “pa io s” had
eso ed o oas s since he mid-eigh een h cen u y o publicize hei g ie ances
and demands.7 The p ac ice o publishing poli ical oas ing in he p ess s a ed in
6 Ian Newman, “The An i-Social Con i ialis : Toas ing and Resis ance o Sociabili y,” in
B i ish Sociabili y in he Long Eigh een h Cen u y, ed. Valé ie Capde ille and Alain
Ke he é (Su olk: Boydell and B ewe , 2019), 219-36.
7 Ma yn J. Powell, “Poli ical Toas ing in Eigh een h-Cen u y I eland,” His o y 91, no. 304
(2006): 508-29; Rémy Du hille, “Poli ical Toas ing in he Age o Re olu ions: B i ain,
Ame ica and F ance, 1765-1800,” in Libe y, P ope y and Popula Poli ics: England and
Sco land 1688-1815. Essays in Honou o H.T. Dickinson, ed. Go don Pen land and Michael
T. Da is (Edinbu gh: Edinbu gh Uni e si y P ess, 2016), 73-86; Rémy Du hille,
“Toas ing and he Di usion o Radical Ideas, 1780-1832,” in Radical Voices, Radical Ways:
Toas ing, O a o y and Pa ody in B i ain
31
he e olu iona y ma gins o he B i ish Empi e. In he mid-1750s, I ish “pa io s”
d ank oas s agains he Money Bill and published hem in he p ess. This p ac ice
was aken up by he Ame ican Insu gen s om he S amp Ac c isis (1765). The
F ench, in u n, s a ed o publish lis s o oas s in he ea ly s ages o he
Re olu ion, he 14 July 1790 Fes i al o he Fede a ion being he i s occasion o
publishing oas lis s in he p ess.8 F om he Di ec o y o Napoleon’s Empi e, he
au ho i ies celeb a ed F ance’s mili a y ad ances and iendship wi h he “Sis e
Republics” by banque s and oas s, which we e duly published and dissemina ed.
In B i ain, public celeb a ions o he F ench Re olu ion, s a ing wi h he la ge
dinne gi en a he C own and Ancho , London’s la ges a e n, on 14 July 1790,
and in se e al owns and ci ies ac oss B i ain, we e co e ed in he p ess, some
pape s including lis s o oas s and speeches.9
The Roman ic e a saw he s eady ise, and ins i u ionaliza ion, o he
publica ion o oas lis s, by Whig and adical, bu also conse a i e g oups. In
1793 he i s Pi Club was ounded in London o celeb a e he P ime Minis e
William Pi .10 A e Pi ’s dea h in 1806, clubs a ilia ed o he London club we e
ounded in many locali ies ac oss B i ain. By he 1820s, he Times epo ed he
p oceedings o dinne s o he London Pi Club, wi h de ailed lis s o oas s and
co esponding speeches. Local Pi clubs also published hei p oceedings in he
o m o pamphle s, which consis ed usually o an annual dinne epo ed in g ea
de ail, highligh ing he au ho i y and hie a chy o local and na ional leade s, and
he club’s commi men o conse a i e alues.11 Dozens o local clubs published
he oas s and speeches gi en a celeb a ions o Pi ’s bi hday, usually in he local
p ess and some imes as pamphle s as well.12 Cha is pape s like he No he n S a
A icula ing and Dissemina ing Radicalism in Se en een h- and Eigh een h-Cen u y B i ain,
ed. Lau en Cu elly and Nigel Smi h (Manches e : Manches e Uni e si y P ess, 2016),
170-89.
8 Du hille, “Poli ical Toas ing in he Age o Re olu ions,” 79.
9 Powell, “Poli ical Toas ing in Eigh een h-Cen u y I eland;” Du hille, “Poli ical Toas ing
in he Age o Re olu ions.”
10 Cecil Powney, His o y o he London Pi Club, 1793-1925 (London: Ha ison, 1925); J.J.
Sack, “The Memo y o Bu ke and he Memo y o Pi : English Conse a ism Con on s
I s Pas , 1806-1829,” His o ical Jou nal 30, no. 3 (1987): 623-40.
11 Pe e B e , “Poli ical Dinne s in Ea ly Nine een h-Cen u y B i ain: Pla o m, Mee ing
Place and Ba leg ound,” His o y 81, no. 264 (1996): 527-52; Keisuke Masaki, “Wi hin he
Bounds o Accep abili y: To y Associa ional Cul u e in Ea ly-19 h-Cen u y B i ain,”
Pa liamen a y His o y 37, no. 3 (2018): 389-414.
12 Among dozens o examples, see The Anni e sa y Mee ing o he Leeds Pi Club: F om a Re ised
Repo o he P oceedings Published in he Leeds In elligence o May 31 (Leeds: Robinson and
He naman, 1827).
Rémy Du hille
32
de o ed se e al columns o majo dinne s, which enabled James Eps ein o
conduc a Gee zian “ hick desc ip ion” o one dinne , decoding he mul iple
symbolic meanings o oas ing.13
While he e has been c i ical a en ion on adical oas ing in he e olu iona y
decades and ea ly nine een h cen u y,14 less is known abou poli ical d inking in
To y and conse a i e ci cles in he la e eigh een h and ea ly nine een h cen u y.
One aluable a ea o esea ch on an i-Jacobinism since he 1980s is he in e locking
na u e o “Jacobinism” and i s coun e e olu iona y oe: bo h discou ses (and
p ac ices) ed on each o he . As Ma k Philp obse ed, while an i-Jacobins o en
pa odied adical discou se, hey we e “simila ly ulne able, […] open o
sub e si e eadings and lampooning by pamphle ee s on he o he side.” Possibly
he mos pa odied ex o he 1790s was Edmund Bu ke’s pu ple passage
eulogizing Ma ie-An oine e in Re lec ions on he Re olu ion in F ance (1790).15 This
a icle will examine ex eme cases compa able wi h ha o John Ree es, he sel -
appoin ed de ende o he cons i u ion, who was p osecu ed o libel in 1795. Philp
no es ha in Ree es’s case, “i becomes inc easingly di icul o dis inguish
pa odies and p opaganda.”16 I will use o he ma e ial published by sel -s yled
an i-Jacobins o show ha hey elabo a ed w i en o ms o oas ing, eso ing o
s a egies, including pa ody and in e ex uali y, which adicals also used, hence
ce ain o ms o mi o e ec s. Bu pa ody also had i s limi s, because some ex s,
on ei he ideological side, we e pe cei ed as so ex eme ha hey de ied pa ody.
This a icle will e iew he in e play be ween oas ing, oa h- aking and o he
o ms o symbolic communica ion in he e olu iona y decade. The i s sec ion
ocuses on he ea lies conse a i e pa odies o adical oas s, which happened
when sympa hise s o he F ench Re olu ion celeb a ed he 14 h o July in 1790 and
1791, p omp ing hos ile pa odies in e alia ion. The analysis o conse a i e oas
pa odies is an oppo uni y o in es iga e he limi s o poli ical exp ession in he
e olu iona y decade, an i- e olu iona y pa odis s indulging in isions o
egicide and massac e ha would be ac ionable we e hey u e ed by adicals. The
las sec ion will consis o a close eading o one pa icula pa ody o he Duke o
13 James Eps ein, “Radical Dining, Toas ing and Symbolic Exp ession in Ea ly Nine een h-
Cen u y Lancashi e: Ri uals o Solida i y,” Albion: A Qua e ly Jou nal Conce ned wi h
B i ish S udies 20, no.2 (1988): 271-91.
14 Besides Eps ein (see p eceding no e): Du hille, “Toas ing and he Di usion o Radical Ideas.”
15 Da id Du , “Bu ke and Paine: Con as s,” in The Camb idge Companion o B i ish Li e a u e
o he F ench Re olu ion in he 1790s, ed. Pamela Clemi (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y
P ess, 2011), 50-51.
16 Ma k Philp, Re o ming Ideas in B i ain: Poli ics and Language in he Shadow o he F ench
Re olu ion, 1789-1815 (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 2013), 64.

Toas ing, O a o y and Pa ody in B i ain
33
No olk’s “ adical” oas o he “Majes y o he People” in 1795. The mock-accoun
in he An i-Jacobin Re iew shows how he oas o m enabled conse a i e pa odis s
o deploy he whole ange o in e ex ual and me alinguis ic s a egies.
Toas ing he Fall o he Bas ille: Re olu iona y Pe o mance and Conse a i e
Coun e -Pe o mance in he London P ess, 1790-91
The celeb a ions o he F ench Re olu ion in London gi e an excellen illus a ion
o he gene ic ansmu a ions and slippages be ween se e al o ms o o al and
w i en speech, since a oas could ake up a mo o, he name o one o se e al
pe sons, a wish-lis o poli ical agenda and, qui e o en, book i les and quo a ions.
On 14 July 1790, adical socie ies joined e o s o pu up a la ge es i al a he
majo a e n on he S and, he C own and Ancho , o celeb a e he S o ming o
he Bas ille.17 Cen ally loca ed o he S and, his was London’s la ges upma ke
a e n, and i had associa ions wi h London’s colonial and me can ile in e es s.18
The London s ewa ds paid a en ion o he nea -simul anei y o hei dinne wi h
he es i als in F ance. The F ench saw he Fê e de la Fédé a ion, held in Pa is and
in all F ench owns, as he emblem o “a Re olu ion ha is s ill open, s ill illed
wi h hopes;” he es i al was mean o channel ene gies and s abilize he
e olu iona y dynamic.19 The London e o me s saw i a he as a way o p oclaim
hei sympa hy wi h he alues o he Re olu ion, as hey unde s ood i .
P ominen among he s ewa ds o he London dinne we e membe s o he
Re olu ion Socie y, which was nominally ins i u ed o celeb a e he Glo ious
Re olu ion o 1688 bu had become amous o Richa d P ice’s se mon o he
Socie y on 4 No embe 1789 (subsequen ly p in ed as a pamphle ) p aising he
F ench Re olu ion as a con inua ion o hose o B i ain in 1688 and Ame ica in
1776.20 Bo h on 4 No embe 1789 and on 14 July 1790, many oas s we e d unk o
he F ench Re olu ion, aking up i s alues and mo oes wholesale. On 14 July, he
second oas , “The Na ion, he Law, and he King,” was he F ench mo o
e lec ing he hie a chy o cons i u ional powe s, and i was also he ex o he
17 Albe Goodwin, The F iends o Libe y: The English Democ a ic Mo emen in he Age o he
F ench Re olu ion (London: Hu chinson, 1979), 121-22.
18 On he C own and Ancho , see Newman, The Roman ic Ta e n, 37-107.
19 Mona Ozou , Fes i als and he F ench Re olu ion, ans. Alan She idan (Camb idge, MA:
Ha a d Uni e si y P ess, 1991), 23-24. I ha e con ibu ed a chap e on B i ish eac ions
o he Fes i al o he Fede a ion in a o hcoming olume on e olu ions in he ea ly-
mode n pe iod, o be published wi h Uni e si y o Vi ginia P ess.
20 Richa d P ice, A Discou se on he Lo e o Ou Coun y, Deli e ed on No . 4, 1789, a he Mee ing-
House in he Old Jew y, o he Socie y o Commemo a ing he Re olu ion in G ea B i ain
(London: T. Cadell, 1789).
Rémy Du hille
34
oa h swo n by La aye e and he gua ds du ing he Fede a ion on he Champ de
Ma s in Pa is (see F ancesco Buscemi’s essay in he p esen olume). Tha an oa h
in Pa is could become a oas in London sugges s an a ini y be ween he wo
o ms, and he malleabili y o he oas o m.
Ano he blu ing o o al o ms occu ed when an ode led o a oas , in a
momen o communion ha ook on he solemni y o a e olu iona y oa h- aking
ce emony. The poe Robe Me y, known o his “Della C uscan” s yle, penned
an Ode o he Fou een h o July o he occasion. I was eci ed du ing he dinne
and one o i s s anzas emained amous as a classic o adical en husiasm:
Fill high he anima ing glass,
And le he elec ic uby pass
F om hand o hand, om soul o soul;
Who shall he ene gy con ol,
Exal ed, pu e, e in’d,
The Heal h o Humankind!21
The gues s sang he cho us, which ended in a oas , as he Edinbu gh He ald no ed
on 18 July:
The wo concluding lines o he Ode;
Asse he hallow’d igh s which na u e ga e,
And le you las bes wish be FREEDOM o he GRAVE,
We e sung as in cho us, and a e wa ds gi en as a oas .
The song u ned in o a oas , and in he p ocess o communal singing and d inking,
acqui ed he quali y o an oa h: “ eedom o he g a e” echoed he F ench mo o
“Libe y o Dea h” (which i sel ecalled Pa ick Hen y’s celeb a ed speech in
Bos on, in 1775). Vi e lib e ou mou i was he mo o o he Club des Amis de la
Cons i u ion, be e known as he Jacobin Club: on 14 July 1790, some 600 “ iends
o libe y” ga he ed a he C own and Ancho sang, hen ga e as a oas , a ph ase
ha had a long pedig ee and had long been amilia wi h he English e o me s.22
21 Robe Me y, Ode o he Fou een h o July, 1791, he Day Consec a ed o F eedom: Being he
Anni e sa y o he Re olu ion in F ance. By Robe Me y, A.M. Membe o he Royal Academy
o Flo ence (London: J. Bell, 1791), 6-7.
22 On he idea’s long pedig ee, om ancien G eece o Addison’s Ca o (1712) and Pa ick
Hen y’s 1775 speech, see Michel Bia d, “In oduc ion,” in La Libe é ou la mo . Mou i en
dépu é, 1792-1795 (Pa is: Tallandie , 2015), 9-20.
Toas ing, O a o y and Pa ody in B i ain
35
The gues s we e binding hemsel es on he alues o he na u al igh s o man.
Jon Mee no es ha he es i i ies we e ma ked by a “heady blend o poe y and
adical poli ics;”23 he me apho o elec ici y, a ou ed by adicals, ga e Me y’s
ode a mo e adical u n han his ea lie Della C uscan poe y.24 Me y’s ode
unde s ands i sel as pa o his mul i ace ed commi men o he Fede a ion: he
had also co-au ho ed (wi h Cha les Bonne ) a pan omime, The Pic u e o Pa is,
Taken in he Yea 1790, which had p emie ed in Decembe 1790 a Co en Ga den
and p esen ed an idealis ic pic u e o he Fede a ion, comple e wi h F ench
pa io ic songs.25
By July 1790, hen, he slippage be ween odes, oa hs and F ench e olu iona y
mo oes was al eady mani es . Conse a i e sa i e did no bi e un il he nex yea .
The conjunc ion o alcohol- uelled sociabili y, a la ge c owd o me chan s and
disg un led in ellec uals, and heady e olu iona y he o ic, ala med Edmund
Bu ke, who iden i ied he dange o sub e sion in B i ain in he C own and
Ancho a he han in he London unde wo ld.26 In Re lec ions on he Re olu ion in
F ance, published on 1 No embe 1790, Bu ke lambas ed he Re olu ion Socie y
and wa ned ha i s “a e -dinne oas s” did no ep esen B i ain’s oice. The
cons i u ion lay in pa chmen s, no in he be uddled songs and oas s o he
middling o de s; i was ensh ined in a is oc a ic coun y houses, no ups a
a e ns.27 Beyond Bu ke’s well-known ideological case agains he Re olu ion, his
con ibu ion o coun e e olu iona y pa ody o oas ing was wo- old. He ale ed
he sel -s yled “Loyalis s” and “an i-Jacobins” o he dange o e olu iona y
oas ing, especially when i was published in he p ess. Secondly, he Re lec ions
p o ided coun e e olu iona y weapons in he o m o a ich image y and
demonology cen ing a ound he se en een h-cen u y Pu i an ebels.
Conse a i e sa i is s we e quick o use his a senal agains he mos conspicuous
mani es a ion o adicalism: a mons e dinne announced o 14 July 1791. The
dinne ook place, again, a he C own and Ancho ; i was mi ed in con o e sy
be o e, du ing and a e he p oceedings. No only was he occasion cause o conce n,
bu he con ene s we e mos ly Dissen e s pa ly d awn om he Re olu ion
23 Jon Mee, P in , Publici y, and Popula Radicalism in he 1790s: The Lau el o Libe y (Camb idge:
Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 2016), 50. See mo e gene ally Chap e 3 on Robe Me y.
24 Ma y Fai clough, Li e a u e, Elec ici y and Poli ics, 1740-1840: “Elec ick Communica ion
E e y Whe e” (London: Palg a e Macmillan, 2017), 113.
25 Cecilia Feilla, “Pe o ming His o y: Ha lequinades o he F ench Re olu ion on he Popula
London S age,” S udies in Eigh een h Cen u y Cul u e 45 (2016): 61-81.
26 Ian Newman, “Edmund Bu ke in he Ta e n,” Eu opean Roman ic Re iew 24, no. 2 (2013):
125-48.
27 The W i ings and Speeches o Edmund Bu ke, Vol. 8: The F ench Re olu ion, 1790-1794, ed.
L.G. Mi chell (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 1989), 81.
Rémy Du hille
36
Socie y, including D P ice, and he Socie y o Cons i u ional In o ma ion (SCI),
which ad oca ed uni e sal manhood su age and he end o pa liamen a y
co up ion. Bu kean image y aised he di e p ospec o a esu gence o se en een h-
cen u y Pu i an ex emism. On 7 July, he Times published “A Lis o Toas s and
Sen imen s o he Re olu ion Socie y Dinne .” This pape , conse a i e hough
no minis e ial, ook a ha d line agains all B i ish sympa hise s wi h F ance. The
“Lis o Toas s and Sen imen s” was a pa ody o adical oas lis s, as he adop ion
o adical opes made clea . The lis s a s wi h:
The glo ious and immo al glo y o hose ue iends o libe y and he
Righ s o Man – Vol ai e – Wa Tyle – Oli e C omwell and Mi abeau.
The 14 h o July.
The 2d June, 1780.
The 30 h Janua y, 1625.
May he Righ s o Man lou ish, when he Righ s o Kings a e no mo e.
The Memo y o Jack Cade and Sam House.
In e es ingly, he lis ollows wo lines, he succession o glo ious e en s ( om he
execu ion o Cha les I o he 1780 Go don Rio s and he S o ming o he Bas ille)
and he pan heon o he oes: hose a e wo ca dinal modali ies o he cons uc ion
o adical memo y.
The lis o he oes, used by all adical and e o m mo emen s o bu ess hei
claims o legi imacy, is pa icula ly meaning ul in his conse a i e pa ody. While
he middle-class, dissen ing e o me s p esen ed hei ances o s as espec able
and non- e olu iona y, he Times ook up Bu ke’s web o allusions in he i s
pages o his Re lec ions. They summoned up medie al oublemake s (Wa Tyle
and he ingleade s o he 1381 Peasan Re ol ), and mo e especially he Pu i ans
o he se en een h cen u y. C omwell p o ided a link wi h he eigh een h-cen u y
Dissen e s and was a classic b ush o a hem wi h in amy. I is unclea whe he
he Times go he w ong da e unwi ingly (30 h Janua y co esponds o he
“ma y dom” o Cha les I, bu his execu ion ook place in 1649, no 1625, which
was he i s yea o his eign) o o mock he alleged his o ical igno ance o he
Bas ille Day e elle s.28 In he Times lis , he English leade s a e sandwiched
28 Pe e J. Ki son, “‘No a Re o ming Pa io bu an Ambi ious Ty an ': Rep esen a ions o
C omwell and he English Republic in he La e Eigh een h and Ea ly Nine een h
Cen u ies,” in Radicalism in B i ish Li e a y Cul u e, 1650-1830: F om Re olu ion o Re olu ion,
ed. Timo hy Mo on and Nigel Smi h (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 2002),
183-200.
Toas ing, O a o y and Pa ody in B i ain
43
In he ode, Bacchus leads he poe o oas “new measu es o combine / The
G ea and Li le Na ion,” a jibe on he “G ande Na ion,” F ance’s expansionis
ambi ions and No olk’s and he Foxi es’ alleged ambi ion o submi B i ain o
F ance. The poe ic pe sona hen muses o e Fox’s u u e iumph, his absolu e
ule, when he makes “TERROR he O de o he Day” and amples o e he king
and he To ies. The oas is inally announced in he ollowing s anza:
My migh y Feelings mus ha e way!
A Toas I’ll gi e – a Thing I‘ll say,
As ye unsaid by any, –
“OUR SOVEREIGN LORD!“ – le hose who doub
My hones meaning, hea me ou –
“His MAJESTY – THE MANY!”
The oas echoes he Duke o No olk’s no o ious oas o “The Majes y o he
People,” bu while “ he people” a e endowed wi h digni y in epublican hough ,
“ he many” – he abble, plebs o hoi polloi – a e un espec able and unwo hy o
being “so e eign.” Republicanism gi es way o shee mob ule. Ano he
implica ion is ha he Duke was d unk and wan ed o be o iginal and
conspicuous. He blu ed ou a silly oas . I onically, his s anza can be ead as an
exculpa ion o a d unk man, a s a egy used by adicals like Thelwall claiming
ha a man may d ink oolish oas s wi hou being pe secu ed o i .45 Pe haps he
noble pee could s ill come o his senses and e u n o his king’s allegiance?
The oas o ms he climax o he poem, bu his ime i is placed in he middle,
no a he end, o he poem. The es is conce ned wi h he poe ’s di e in o he low
li e o London, and his explo a ion o he “ a ious cha ms” o Co en Ga den,
a neighbou hood no o ious o p os i u ion. In he las s anza, he poe add esses
Bacchus again, elling him ha o his sake he would no hesi a e o esign his
mili a y commissions o he King.
The An i-Jacobin ode laun s i s li e a iness wi h a complex appa a us (La in,
ansla ion, in oduc ion, my hological e e ences). The poem s i es o de ine
an i-Jacobin sa i e as li e a e and cul i a ed and o cons uc an implied eade
who is con e san wi h he classics: in o he wo ds, o aise a sociological and
cul u al ba ie be ween he an i-Jacobins and he plebeian adicals. John Halliwell
sugges s ha he poe y sec ion o he An i-Jacobin was mean o “nega e he
in luence o adical p in cul u e” and o “app op ia e he discu si e powe ” o i s
45 John Thelwall, The Na u al and Cons i u ional Righ o B i ons o Annual Pa liamen s
(London, 1795), 84.

Rémy Du hille
44
sa i e.46 Howe e , an i-Jacobin sa i e needed Jacobinism o eed on. Cul u al
ga ekeeping needs he abble: i would no make any sense i e e yone was
exquisi ely cul i a ed, so he nega ion o he adical cul u al sphe e is pe haps an
a owed ideal, bu one ha would lead o he ex inc ion o an i-Jacobinism i sel .
The Bacchic ode can be in e p e ed as a way o an i-Jacobins o cas iga e he Duke
o No olk’s ignoble d inking and o show mas e y o an app op ia e, Ho a ian,
classical way o d inking. I migh be no ed, howe e , ha he chosen mode o
sa i e is Ho a ian, no Ju enalian. The Duke is ea ed wi h he milde , mo e u bane,
wo ldly and smiling o m o Ho a ian sa i e, and he is spa ed Ju enalian lashes.
Conclusion
This a icle has sugges ed he oas ing eme ged in he 1790s as a ecognizable
poli ical o m, which, in he hea ed deba es a ound he Re olu ion, ga e ise o
pa ody, app op ia ions and ew i ings. Because oas s we e hea d a la ge-scale
dinne s a ac ing se e al hund ed gues s, bu s ill mo e because oas s we e
eadable in he p ess, hey soon became a amilia o m o poli ical p opaganda,
akin o a lis o men and measu es o a mani es o. Because pa icula oas s we e
con o e sial, oas lis s could be subjec o pa ody by conse a i es a ge ing he
allegedly sedi ious p inciples o p o-F ench libe als. While he “F ench Re olu ion
deba e” has long been econ igu ed in li e a y c i icism as an “in e ex ual wa ”
be ween pamphle s,47 in e ex uali y also ope a ed in and ac oss o he gen es, and
in he cus om o oas ing. The slippages be ween oa hs, odes and oas s a Bas ille
Day dinne s, and he sa i ical commen s by Gill ay, he an i-Jacobins and Times
jou nalis s es i ies o he as ness o his in e ex ual and in e medial ield.
This a icle has looked mos ly a w i en e idence, glancing only b ie ly a
g aphic sa i e, and commen ing on lis s o he oes and his o ical e en s published
in he p ess. The analysis could be ex ended. Pa ody did no jus exploi ideology
and he o ic. Non- e bal communica ion, s a ing wi h he body language o he
oas mas e , he e ec pose and h us o he glass, con as ing wi h he (allegedly)
slouching, be uddled audiences, was a godsend o g aphic ca ica u is s. While his
a icle has ouched on one o Gill ay’s g ea dinne scenes, The Loyal Toas , u he
wo k could be ca ied ou on he in e ace o o ali y, ex and g aphic ma e ial. Fo
ins ance, William Den ’s Re olu ion Anni e sa y, o , Pa io ic Incan a ions (1791),
46 John Halliwell, “Loyalis Sa i e, Pa ody, and The An i-Jacobin,” in The B i ish Pe iodical Tex
1797-1835: A Collec ion o Essays, ed. Simon Hull (Ti il: Humani ies-Ebooks, 2008), 38.
47 S e en Blakemo e, In e ex ual Wa : Edmund Bu ke and he F ench Re olu ion in he W i ings
o Ma y Wolls onec a , Thomas Paine, and James Mackin osh (Madison, NJ : Fai leigh
Dickinson Uni e si y P ess, 1997).
Toas ing, O a o y and Pa ody in B i ain
45
ano he cul u al p oduc ion bo n in he con ex o he Whig- adical celeb a ion o
14 July 1791, was inspi ed by a e e ence o Macbe h in Bu ke’s Re lec ions.48 Some
g aphic scenes o oas ing conju e up se e al laye s o in e ex uali y and
in e mediali y, echoing o he p in s ( he cauld on mo i , ound in Re olu iona y
Anni e sa y being a ecu ing pa e n o la e conse a i e c i icism o Whig and
adical plo e s).
The mos impo an conclusion o his s udy may be he no ion ha pa ody
and sub e sion ope a ed wi h se e al deg ees o complexi y, om a me e lis o
unny oas s, wi h easy in e sions, e.g., in he Times, o he highly sel -conscious,
(o e ?)-educa ed e sion o he Bacchic Ode in he An i-Jacobin. E en i he an i-
Jacobins deployed sa i e o hei ideological pu poses in b illian ashion, hey
we e ne e able o monopolize sa i e and pa ody. They a ac ed sa i ical e o s
in libe al pape s like he Mo ning Ch onicle. Radical sa i e con inued long a e
Canning and his colleagues ied o disc edi i and impose a monopoly o
conse a i e sen imen on he public sphe e. This is good, no jus o he sake o
poli ical plu alism and he su i al o enligh ened alues, bu also because he
pe ennially con es ed na u e o poli ical li e and he public sphe e in B i ain
ensu ed he ele ance and con inuance o pa ody, sa i e and he un ha wen
wi h hem.
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