ABSTRACT
The French Revolution attracted much praise and blame in Britain, giving a new lease of life to old forms of traditional discourse while encouraging their fusion with newer forms of thought. Though it has been said many times, it is worth saying again that Britain's initial response to the French Revolution was positive across the intellectual spectrum from 1787 to 1791, Educated public opinion equated events in France with the 1688 Glorious Revolution and anticipated the establishment of constitutional monarchy across the Channel. While the outbreak of popular violence began to turn conservative opinion against the revolution, it was not until the outbreak of war in Europe, the emergence of popular radicalism in Britain and the overthrow of the monarchy in France that British opinion, in collective terms, would begin to reject the revolution. By the end of 1792, the nation would be polarised into two camps, whose members either admired France and its achievements or defended a British status quo now perceived to be threatened by French arms and principles.
