Faction Displayed: Reconsidering the Impeachment of Dr Henry Sacheverell

In 1710, the English clergyman Doctor Henry Sacheverell became embroiled in a celebrated show trial before the House of Lords that developed into one of the greatest controversies of the early 18 th century. Faction Displayed: Reconsidering the Impeachment of Dr. Henry Sacheverell features a collection of essays that closely examine the turbulent partisan culture—and bitter public furore—that ensued as a result of the 1710 parliamentary trial of Dr. Henry Sacheverell. Impeached for sermons that challenged the principles underpinning the Revolution of 1688, Sacheverell had lashed out against fundamental Whig ideas about religious toleration, moderation, and a right to resist tyrants—ideas that precipitated one of the largest printed debates in the first half of the eighteenth century. Readings reveal how Sacheverell’s trial cast a wider net on ways the so–called ‘Glorious Revolution’ transformed British society, as well as how it provides deeper insights into the character of Britain’s ‘public sphere’. Faction Displayed offers important new insights into the politics, religion, press, discourse, ideology, economics and imperialism of a critical period in English history. Part 1 covers the theoretical foundations of intercultural sociolinguistic analysis. The articles presented in Part 2 and 3 illustrate the analytical applications of this theoretical framework, and Part 4 focuses the reader on issues relating to intercultural discourse and communication.

Acknowledgements Bibliographical Note List of Contributors Introduction: The View from 1710 (MARK KNIGHTS) 1. The Current State of Sacheverell Scholarship (W.A. SPECK) 2. The Spin Doctor: Sacheverell′s Trial Speech and Political Performance in the Divided Society (BRIAN COWAN) 3. The ‘End of Censorship’ and the Politics of Toleration, from Locke to Sacheverell (GEOFF KEMP) 4. Sacheverell′s Harlots: Non–Resistance on Paper and in Practice (EIRWEN E.C. NICHOLSON) 5. Irish Tories and Victims of Whig Persecution: Sacheverell Fever by Proxy (D.W. HAYTON) 6. Addison′s Empire: Whig Conceptions of Empire in the Early 18th Century (STEVE PINCUS) Note and Documents 7. A Non–Resisting, Passively Obedient Revolution: Lord North and Grey and the Tory Response to the Sacheverell Impeachment (DANIEL SZECHI) Index

Mark Knights is Professor of History at the University of Warwick. His research focuses on political culture in the early modern period. His most recent publication, The Devil in Disguise: Deception, Delusion and Fanaticism in the Early English Enlightenment (2011), includes a chapter about the Sacheverell trial.