ABSTRACT

Political apostasy has been viewed with suspicion by both Georgians and historians. The common accusation of ‘turncoat’ was applied to Yorke by contemporaries. He recanted his political position a number of times, from Whig to radical, pro-slavery to abolition, radical to loyalist, and then shifted within the broad tent of loyalist politics. His apostasy has led some historians to disregard him. This chapter explores political recanting during the turmoil of the later Georgian period, against the backdrop of the French Revolution. Political ideologies and discourses spread round the Atlantic World but new political frameworks were thin on the ground. Democracy was not yet a recognised form of government. Yet many radicals, including Yorke, wanted a world ‘made anew.’ Recanting at this time was not surprising, and is rethought here as a legitimate process rather than a dubious event.

Yorke was not alone; many high-profile Georgian political thinkers recanted their politics at least once, including Wordsworth, Coleridge, Lamb, Mackintosh, Thelwall, and Cobbett. The reasons for Yorke’s apostasy included youthful enthusiasm, expediency, necessity, and conviction, but also an enduring desire to be foremost in politics. His recanting is explained in particular in relation to identity.