ABSTRACT
Intellectual leadership in the eighteenth century passes from France to economically, socially and politically more progressive England. The great romantic movement starts here about the middle of the century, but the enlightenment also receives its decisive impulse from this country. The French writers of the period see in English institutions the quintessence of progress and build up a legend around English liberalism-a legend which only partly corresponds to reality. The displacement of France as the upholder of culture by England proceeds hand in hand with the decadence of the French royal house as the leading European power and, hence, the eighteenth century sees the ascent of England both in politics and in the arts and sciences. The weakening of the king’s authority, which in France results in national decline, becomes a source of power in England, where enterprising classes with an understanding of the trend of economic development and a capacity for adapting themselves to it stand ready to take over the reins of government. Parliament, which is now the expression of the liberal political aspirations of these classes and their strongest weapon against absolutism, supported the Tudors in their fight against the feudal aristocracy, the foreign foe and the Roman Church, since the commercial and industrial middle classes, represented in Parliament, as well as the liberal nobility, with interests in the commercial activities of the bourgeoisie, recognized that this fight was promoting their own designs. Until towards the end of the sixteenth century, there was a close community of interests between the monarchy 34 and these classes. English capitalism was still in a primitive, adventurous stage of its development and the merchants gladly supported the confidential advisers of the Crown in joint piratical enterprises. The parting of the ways took place only
when capitalism began to follow more rationalistic methods and the Crown no longer needed the assistance of the middle class against the crippled aristocracy. The Stuarts, encouraged by the example of continental absolutism and believing that they had an ally in the French king, carelessly threw away both the loyalty of the middle classes and the support of Parliament. They rehabilitated the old feudal nobility as a court nobility and laid the foundations of a new period of ascendancy for this class, to whom they were bound by stronger feelings and more permanent common interests than to their predecessors’ comrades in arms in the ranks of the middle class and the liberal gentry. Until 1640 the feudal nobility enjoyed considerable privileges and the state not only provided for the continuance of the latifundia, but tried to assure the great landowners of a share in the profit of capitalistic enterprises by monopolies and other forms of protectionism. This very practice, however, was fraught with disastrous consequences for the whole system. The economically productive classes were by no means prepared to share their profits with the favourites of the Crown and protested against interventionism in the name of freedom and justice, slogans which they continued constantly to use when they themselves had become the beneficiaries of economic privilege.
