ABSTRACT
In addressing the censorship of bad language in the period from Elizabeth I to Charles II in the previous chapter, I dealt with each monarch in turn in order to demonstrate that while a change of ruler in this period may have brought a change of emphasis in the censorship of bad language, the censorship was politically or economically motivated. Morality, while useful as a smoke screen, was not the factor driving censorship. However, with the accession of James II, this general pattern changed. From the reign of James II to the accession of George III, a grassroots reform movement was active amongst the middle classes of England that was to have a lasting effect on public attitudes to bad language. Consequently, in this chapter I am shifting the focus away from monarchs to groups that, over the reigns of five monarchs, maintained a sustained campaign against bad language and other manifestations of what they saw as immorality.184 The groups in question are the religious societies, which were rooted in the English middle classes.185
