1. Status, rank and class
Questions of status and class are a major preoccupationofJane Austen’s characters, and of thenovels
themselves. Professor John Mullan considers both theimportanceof socialstatus and its satirical
potential.
Jane Austen expected her readers to besensitive to questions ofsocial status, but she remorselessly
satirised characters who were obsessed with fine socialdistinctions. There is certainly no associationin
her novels between high rank and any great virtue or ability.Aristocrats are at best buffoons, at worst
paragons of arrogance.
But what were you if youwere not an aristocrat? Thekey word in Austen’s world is ‘gentleman’.
‘Gentleman’ is the most vexed of terms. Mr Bingley’sindolent and impolitebrother-in-lawMr Hurst, we
are told,‘merely looked thegentleman’ (ch. 3).
In 18th-century literature, thedefinitionof a gentleman hadsometimes seemed to be a man who didnot
work for his living. However, thisis clearlynot thecase in Austen’s fiction. Elizabeth Bennet’suncle Mr
Gardiner is in tradein an unfashionable part of London, yet he is evidentlya gentleman. Jane Austen’s
father was a rural vicar, and clearly an educated ‘gentleman’ with noble familyconnections. Yet he took
on tutorialpupilsto bolsterthedomestic economyand farmed on localland. Austen’s brotherstookup
professions, as clergymen or naval officers.
Assertingone’s status
Austen analysed thepretensions of allwho thought themselvessuperior to others.In Pride and Prejudice
theBingleysisters thinkthemselves betterthan theBennets, but theylike to forget that ‘theirbrother's
fortune and theirown had been acquired bytrade’ (ch. 4). Austen was alive to allthe small ways in which
members of her own rural societytried to assert theirstatus and distinguish themselves from thosebelow
them. It is themain subject matter of her satire.

2. Courtship, love and marriage in Jane Austen's novels
It is right that thethreewords at theheadof thisarticle come in theorder that theydo,because in Jane
Austen’s novels themanoeuvring bywhich a man presents himselfto a woman (andher parents) as a
possiblehusband often comes before any signs of love. CharlotteLucas in Pride and Prejudice offers the
most tough-minded and unsentimental analysis, counselling that Jane Bennet should secure her rich
husband first and think about loveonly after theyare married. ‘Happinessin marriage is entirelya matter
of chance’ (ch. 6).
Young women and marriage
And young means young. LydiaBennet marries at 16 and her mother talksof her sister Jane attracting the
attentionsof a well-qualified suitor at the ageof 15. At a certain age, somewhere between 15 and 19, a
young woman was said to be ‘out’.That meant that she couldbe courted. Lady Catherine deBourgh
quizzes Elizabeth Bennet about how many of her sisters are ‘out’ and is rather astonished to find that they
allare (ch. 29). Every one of themis in themarriage market, which is Mrs Bennet’s obsession from the first
pageof thenovel. Themen theymarry are usually older thanthem, in some cases strikinglyso. Yet we
shouldnot assume that thiswas thenorm for theperiod:in both thesecases thedifference in ages is a
reason for theyoung woman not even to consider thepossibilityoftheolderman as a suitor, until latein
each novel.
Only one man in all Jane Austen’s novels marries a woman olderthan himself: Mr Collins, aged 25,
marries CharlotteLucas, aged 27. Thedisparityspeaks of theunselectiveness of both parties.Yet threeof
Jane Austen’s own brothers married women olderthan themselves.
Receiving a proposalCourtship was a semi-publicprocess, acted out according to fixed conventions.
Young men and women would rarely be permitted to beon theirown together.
The marriage proposalitselffollowed a certain protocol.Therule in Austen’s novels seems clear: if a man
proposes as if he cannot imaginethat theanswer will be no – theanswer willbe no. In 1802, aged almost
27, Jane Austen herself accepted a proposalofmarriage from Harris Bigg-Wither,thebrotheroffamily
friends, only to changeher mind bythenext morning.
If a woman accepted,theman shouldthen ‘apply’ to herfather. Once a marriage has been made it is well-
nigh irreversible. A woman cannot divorce her husband, and a man can onlydivorce his wife in extreme
circumstances at thecost of publicdisgrace.
The marriage choicesthat Jane Austen’s characters make are absolute.Mr Bennet, Austen tells us,
married Mrs Bennet because he was ‘captivated byyouth andbeauty’,but then discovers her true nature.
‘Respect, esteem, and confidence hadvanished for ever; and all his views of domestichappinesswere
overthrown’ (ch.42). He likes thecountry and his books,and these must console himfor his error; hehas
made his choiceand can never unmake it.

3. Female education, reading and Jane Austen
Jane Austen and her eldersister Cassandra both attended schools:brieflyin Oxford and Southamptonin
1783; for a slightlylongerperiodtheAbbeyHouse, Reading, a boarding schoolfor daughtersof theclergy
and minor gentry, in 1785-6, when Jane was 10. But most of theireducation was undertaken privatelyat
home, where theirfather, Reverend GeorgeAusten, supplemented his clerical income by taking boy
pupilsas boarders. It is likelythat theAusten sisters benefited from theirfather’slibrary and from his
informal instruction. We do not know whether or not theyalso sat in on any of theboys’ classes. At the
AbbeyHouse the curriculum included writing, spelling,French, history,geography,needlework,drawing,
music and dancing. Whiletwo of her brotherswould go on to takedegrees at OxfordUniversity and
anotherwould completehis educationwith a four-year Grand Tour of Europe, Jane Austen and her sister,
likeall otherwomen of thetime, even thoseof theirsocial background(thegentry and uppermiddle
classes), hadlittleformal education,no admittanceto university or to a career, and no opportunityfor
independent travel.
Condemning the limits of women’s education
During Jane Austen’s lifetimethelimited nature ofwomen’s opportunitiesto learn was thesubject of
livelydebateamong female educationalists.Writers with otherwise opposing politicalviews,like
Catharine Macaulay, Mary Wollstonecraft,Anna LaetitiaBarbauld,Hester Chapone and Hannah More,
were united in theircondemnation of thenarrow limits of female education.In Letters on Education (1790),
theradical Macaulayadvised parents, ‘Confine not the educationof your daughtersto what is regarded as
theornamental parts of it’.By ‘ornamentalparts’ she meant drawing, music, a smattering ofFrench and
Italian,just enough to attract a husband, but not intimidatehimand to offer some refuge from boredom
in leisure hours. But equally, themore conservative Chaponeargued for a disciplined and regulated course
of reading that went deeperthan mere fashionand accomplishment, writing: ‘Theprincipalstudy, I would
recommend, is history. I know of nothing equally properto entertain and improve at thesame time, or
that is so likelyto form and strengthen your judgment’.
Jane Austen’seducation
Several music bookscontaining selections from a range of18th-century composers copied out in Jane
Austen’s hand survive to show she was a goodamateur pianist.All her heroines have an appreciationof
music, though some have more skill in playing thanothers. We know something,too,of her reading from
booksthat include marginal comments in her handwriting:Goldsmith’spopularschoolroomtextbook,
The Historyof England(4 vols, 1771); Elegant Extracts: or useful and entertaining Passages in Prose
Selected for theImprovement ofScholars at Classical & otherSchools(London, no date),an anthology
also much in use in late18th-century schoolrooms. Austen’s copywas handed down through thefamily,
inscribed ‘Jane Anna Elizth Austen 1801’, ‘thegift ofher Aunt Jane’. Austen knew a littleItalian,and her
childhoodlibrarycontained LaFontaine’s Fables choisiesin French, the gift of her French-speaking cousin
Eliza. In an agewhen writing for childrenwas itself in infancy, theyoung Jane Austen was undoubtedlya
precocious reader, but she was no snob: she devoured junk and high-endliteraturealike. We know she
read modern classics like themulti-volume novels of Samuel Richardson (Sir Charles Grandison was a
specialfavourite) and thelatest pulp fiction– extravagant and improbabletalesof gothicterrorand
sentimental romances.

4. Attitudes to reading in Austen’snovels
All Jane Austen’s novels engagewith thedebateover women’s educationby exploring theintellectualand
moral distance between theshow of mere accomplishmentsand the deeperunderstanding that signals
self-knowledge. Often thedistance between show and substance is what separates her heroines from
otherwomen in their society.For Austen one route to such inward knowledgeis reading. At thesame
time, allher heroines are keenly aware of their deficienciesin education.Questioned bytheinsufferably
rude Lady Catherine de Bourgh,Elizabeth Bennet admits to having few accomplishments: she cannot
draw and plays thepiano only ‘alittle’;but rather than feeling her education‘neglected’,she counters that
‘We were always encouraged to read’ (Pride and Prejudice, ch. 29).

5. Jane Austen and social judgement
Jane Austen’s characters are continuallywatching, judging and gossiping about othersand, in turn, are
watched,judged and gossiped about.Professor KathrynSutherlandexplores theways in which behaviour
and etiquetteare closelymonitored in the novels, and howcharacters must learn to be skilful readers of
thosearound them.
Jane Austen depictsa societywhich,for allits seeming privileges (pleasant houses, endless hours of
leisure), closelymonitors behaviour. Her heroines in particular discover in the course ofthe novel that
individualhappiness cannot exist separatelyfrom our responsibilitiesto others. Austen never suggests
that our choices in life includefreedom to act independentlyof wider obligations.Ifwe are fortunate, we
have a dutyof kindness and protectionto thosewho are not; society, in theform ofpublicopinion or the
judgement ofother individuals,provides a check on conduct.
Learningthe social rules
One of thereasons Austen’s world charms us is because it appears to follow stricter rules thanour own,
setting limits on behaviour. There are precise forms of introductionand address, conventions for ‘coming
out’ into society(meaning a young girl’sofficialentry into societyand thereforeher marriageability),for
paying and returning socialvisits, even for mixing with different socialranks. Pride and Prejudice, Emma
and Persuasion are sensitive to questions of socialstatus and can all be seen extending the definitionof
politesocietyto include previouslyexcluded members of theprofessional and merchant classes and the
navy. Above all,relations between young men and women are carefully monitored.One reason dance
scenes are so prominent in Austen’s novels is that thedance floorwas, in her time, thebest opportunity
for identifying romantic partners and for advancing a courtship,for testing relationsbetween thesexes.
But even thecomparativefreedom of a dance hadits rules and etiquette:for thenumber of dances one
might have with a single partner (only two);for the(limited)amount of bodilycontact betweenpartners;
while a woman’s refusal of one partner effectively disallowed herfrom dancing with another. At theedges
of thedance floor were the chaperones and thosesitting thedance out, who watched,noticed and
interpreted behaviour.
Being watched
Pride and Prejudice unfolds as a series of publicor semi-public events – assemblies, balls,supper parties,
country-house gatherings– each one followed byanxious reviews shared by two peoplein private as they
analyse its events. CharlotteLucas and Elizabeth Bennet, Elizabeth andJane Bennet, Elizabeth andMrs
Gardiner are discovered reading thebehaviour ofothers, interpreting motives and intentions. In all her
novels Austen portraysa society that closelyrestricts mental and physicalspace, particularlyfor women,
who are allowed littlesolitudeor independence. Many of thecrucial events of an Austen plot takeplace
indoors or in the confining presence ofa number ofpeople.Frequently theplot moves forward bymeans
of overheard conversations; rumour playsa largepart in transmitting and distorting news; and everybody
appears to be a gossip.The sense of being watched,hedged in and discussed by a wholecommunity
informs all Austen’s novels.

6. Letters
We know that Austen wrote a first version of Pride and Prejudice in the1790s, almost 20 years beforeit
was eventually published.Thisearly dateis important and may haveleft deep traces on thenovel, among
them itsuse of letters. Pride and Prejudice is filled with letters: as many as 42 are mentioned, and there is
considerableemphasis on reading and re-reading letters. Many 1790s novels were actuallywritten
completelyinletter form (epistolaryfiction),as an exchange ofletters between characters. Novels in
letters takeon a particular structure, openlyinviting interpretationas characters engage in reading one
another’sbehaviour (literallyreading it off thesurface oftheir letters).This openness to debateand
interpretation,whatever its deeper structural origin, is written largeacross thepages of Pride and
Prejudice. Elizabeth Bennet in particularmust learn to bea skilful reader.
Words
There are words that Jane Austen works hardacross all her novels: adjectives‘agreeable’,disagreeable’,
‘amiable’ are favourites with her; so too is thenoun ‘opinion’.What theyshare are social and moral
valuations. The reader is informed, early in theiracquaintance, that ‘it was not in [Elizabeth Bennet’s]
nature to question theveracityof a young man of such amiableappearance as Wickham’ (Pride and
Prejudice, ch. 17); Mr Bingley,too,is described as ‘“truly amiable”’ (ch. 16), whileMr Darcy is judged on his
first appearance at the Meryton assembly rooms to have a ‘disagreeablecountenance’ (ch. 3) The
reiterationof these words is a specialfeature of Austen’s style, subtle shifts in her usage suggesting how in
learning to discriminate between true and false worth (true and false ‘amiability’)herheroinesgain social
and self-understanding.
Learningto live in society
A moral slipperiness attachesto Austen’s favourite words, which can misleadreader and characters alike.
Take theuse of ‘opinion’ inPride and Prejudice. The novel is awash with ‘opinions’ whose robustness will
be probed and dismantled in thecourse of thenarrative. In particular,Austen exposes thetendency of
‘opinion’ to masquerade as informed judgement when it may be no more than ignorance or prejudice:
‘“My goodopiniononcelost is lost for ever”’ (Mr Darcy, ch. 11); ‘mingling with a very goodopinionof
himself’ (Mr Collins, ch. 15); ‘“Ihave never desired your goodopinion... my opinionof you was decided”’
(Elizabeth Bennet,ch. 34); ‘“It is particularlyincumbent on thosewho never change theiropinion, to be
secure of judging properlyat first”’ (Elizabeth Bennet,ch. 18).
Time and again in Austen’s novels, opinionsubstitutes for truth. Opinions are bandied about as if theyare
truths. Who speaks truth in Jane Austen’s novels? Theconvergence of narrative voicewith character
voice, one of Austen’s great legaciesto the19th-century European novel, is cruciallyan affirmationof
opinion,or point of view, even of thegossip ofvillagecommunities, over general truth. What this means is
that just as her fictionalworlds are constituted from multipleopinions, from peoplewatching and
commenting on one another’s behaviour,in thesame way, Austen argues, novels can teach readers the
essential skills of interpreting characterand learning to live in society,by bearing others’ opinionsin mind
and knowing when to adjust our own.

7. Jane Austen:social realism and the novel
Jane Austen fillsher novels with ordinarypeople,places and events, in stark contrast to othernovels of
thetime.
Jane Austen lived at a timewhen novel reading hadbecomeone ofthe major forms of entertainment for
themiddleclasses. New works were prohibitivelyexpensiveto buy, but therewere various methodsof
sharing and borrowing thelatest fiction through circulating libraries, subscriptions libraries and reading
clubs. Though widelyread, the novel’s status was not high.Fictionpoured from theprinting presses, tales
of adventure, mystery and intrigue with improbablesettingsand clumsy plotsthat lurched from one
sensational incident to another. Theyoften hadbizarre titles,like Anna: or Memoirs of a Welch Heiress:
interspersed with Anecdotes of a Nabob (1785), byAnna Maria Bennett, of which one contemporary
reviewer wrote: ‘In some parts of it the incidents are scarcely within theverge ofprobability;and the
languageis generallyincorrect’.
Reacting against extravagance and sensation
Jane Austen avidlydevoured thispulp fiction, but she also reacted criticallyto it in writing her own novels.
Her spoof Plan of a Novel, according to hints from various quarters, written in 1815-1816 around thetime
of thepublicationofEmma, mocks its extravagance. The Plan (a recipe for how not to write a novel) has
several specific targetsamong theday’sbestsellers. Of these, Mary Brunton’s Self-Control (1810) is the
most interesting because it is a novel that Austen refers to in several of her letters as the kindof work
against which her own novels are written (see, for example, her letterto Anna Lefroy, 24 November 1814).
In Self-Controlthe heroineLaura Montreville (noteagain theromantic, non-English sounding name, so
different from those ofAusten’s heroines) suffers dreadful experiences in her attemptsto eludethe
lecherous villain ColonelHargrave. Shetravels from Scotlandto London, is kidnapped,endures a perilous
sea crossing to Canada, and eventually escapes by canoe from a band of American Indians.
Jane Austen commented specificallyon her own novels in relationto this kind of extravagantlyromantic
writing that,I couldnot sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any othermotive thanto save
my Life, & if it were indispensable for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other
people,I am sure I should be hung before I hadfinished thefirst Chapter.– No – I must keep to my own
style & go on in my own Way; And though Imay never succeed againin that,I am convinced that I should
totallyfailin any other (1 April1816, to James Stanier Clarke, an enthusiasticadmirer of romances).
Describing ordinarylife Bycontrast, and from thebeginning, her readers saw that Jane Austen was doing
something new with thenovel, that she was using it to describe probablerealityand thekinds of people
one felt one alreadyknew. The narratives of her heroines playout within therealms of thepossible.They
are set in southern England, in places and a landscape Austen knew well. As Scott suggested,her plotsare
minimal and theadventures her heroines meet with are no more than theexperiences ofher readers:
preparationsfor a dance, an outing to theseaside, a picnic.Austen used fictionto describesocial reality
within her own time and class (thegentryand professional classes of southern Englandin theearly 19th
century). Byso doing,she was able to introduce something closer to real moralityin describing therange
of human relationshipsthat we allare likelyto encounter in ordinarylife. Her subjects are the behaviourof
parents to theirchildren, thedangers and pleasures of falling in love, ofmaking friends, of getting on with
neighbours, and aboveall of discriminating between those who mean us well and thosewho may not.

8. Jane Austen’s socialrealism includes her understanding that women’s lives in theearly 19th century are
limited in opportunity,even among thegentry and upper middleclasses. She understands that marriageis
women’s best routeto financial security and social respect. Many of thecrucial events of her stories take
placeindoors, in thefemale space of thedrawing room. Often her plotsmove forward bymeans of
overheard conversations. Shewrites some ofthe most natural and real-seeming conversations in
literature. Rumour places a largepart in transmitting news, and in her small, enclosed communities,
everyone is a gossip. Contemporaryresponses ‘[T]hereis scarcely an Incident or conversation, or a person
that youare not inclined to imagineyou have at one timeor other in your Life been a witness to,born a
part in, & been acquainted with’,observed one reader, whose impressions Austen recorded in Opinions of
Mansfield Park. Thecontemporary novelist, Walter Scott,reviewing Emma in 1816 described it as
‘keeping closeto common incidents, and to such characters as occupytheordinary walks oflife’ and, he
continued, ‘Emma has even less story than[Jane Austen’s] preceding novels.’ This may seem likean odd
kind of compliment but Scott meant it as the highest praise.Ten years later, in March 1826, he wrote in his
diary: ‘[R]eadagain and for thethirdtime at least Miss Austen’s very finely written novel of Pride and
Prejudice. That young ladyhada talent for describing theinvolvements and feelings and characters of
ordinary lifewhich is to me themost wonderful I ever met with.’ - See more at:
Combining realism, romance and comedy To say that Austen is a realist as a writer is not quite thesame as
saying she describes societyas it really is. Her novels are also romantic comedies. In novel after novel, love
and goodfortune win out and thefuture looksperfect for the handsomeyoung couplewhose union is
finallyconfirmed in theclosing pages.This happens despitethefact that many married couples are
portrayed as ill-suited or ridiculous (thinkof Mr and Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice). Realism is a
literary device rejecting escapism and extravagance to producea lifelikeillusion and not a direct
translation of reality.

9. The impact of the Napoleonic Warsin Britain
The start ofthe 19th century was a time ofhostilitybetweenFrance and England, marked bya series of
wars. Throughout thisperiod,Englandfeared a French invasion led byNapoleon.Ruth Mather explores
theimpact of this fear on literature and on everyday life. Following thebrief and uneasy peaceformalised
in the Treatyof Amiens (1802), Britainresumed war against NapoleonicFrance in May 1803; hostilities
were to continue until the British victoryat thebattleofWaterloo in 1815. The return to war required the
resumption of themass enlistment of theprevious ten years, especiallyas fears ofa Napoleonicinvasion
once again intensified. TheCorsican general Napoleon,soon to becomeemperor, hadmade no secret of
his intentions of invading Britain,and in 1803 hemassed his huge ‘Army of England’ on theshores of
Calais, posing a visible threat to southern England.
Glamorisingthe military
Although fears of invasion were downplayed in satirical prints that mocked Napoleon’ssize and strength,
for many men and women these fears were very real. Indeed, thepublicrallied behindtheBritish military,
to the extent that thehistorianLinda Colleyhas argued that British identitywas forged in theseyears.[1]
For men, this often involved training with thelocalvolunteer forces, which were established for protection
in the event of a successful French landing.Some women found an outlet for patrioticor charitable
impulses in thecampaign to make uniforms for the troops,while othersfound perhaps less noble
enjoyment in the socialwhirl that surrounded army camps and brought excitement to an otherwisedull
and repetitivedailyround. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice captured theheadymix of dangerand
glamour that militarymen in theirdashing,brightly-coloured uniforms couldbring to a sleepy market
town, and this moodwas echoed in numerous popularballadsand in regular reports of soldiers’
elopements with localgirls. A fascinationwith militarymen also fuelled a market in commemorative
goods,especiallyof Nelson and Wellington,elaborateillustrated battlehistories,toysand military-
influenced fashions. Previously, British culture hadbeen suspicious of land armies, but theglamorisation
of soldiers helped to encourage enlistment at a timewhen it was very much needed. This increased
recruitment and enthusiasm for themilitarydemonstrated the army’s power both to theenemy and to
discontents at home.
Poverty and unemployment
As well as increasing thesize of thearmy and navy, theBritish government responded by strengthening
existing defences and building new ones along thesouth coast, notablytheMartello towers which can still
be seen today.Thesereinforcements came at no small cost, and taxes were again increased to fund the
war effort. Many British men and women were left in desperatemisery due to high taxes, skyrocketing
foodprices, unemployment caused bywartime trade restrictions, and the increased use of labour-saving
machinery. Economic struggles forced many men to sign up for thearmy. In thepopularLancashire ballad
‘Jone O’Grinfelt’,theprotagonist illustratesthechoicebetween enlisting and starving: Jone tellshis wife
he will‘fight oather[either]Spanish or French’ beforehe spends anotherdaycoldand hungry
What theballaddoes not mention is thefate of wives likeJone’s. Officially,army policypermitted onlysix
married men per company, with all otherspaidas single men. TheDuke of Wellingtonhimself weighed in
against therecruitment ofmarried men, protesting that it would‘leave theirfamilies to starve.’[3] Despite
this, in miserable economic circumstances many husbands and fathers clearly felt theydidnot have much

10. choice,and their wives and childrenwere forced to rely on their own work or thesupport of the parish.
Not all were willing to accept theirsituationpassively, and the lateryears of theNapoleonicwars were
characterised by strikes, riotsand Luddism in some depressed areas like Yorkshireand Lancashire, with
themilitiabrought in to put down internal dissent. CharlotteBrontë’snovel Shirley(1849) is set during
1811 and 1812, and depictsthe effects of war on a Yorkshirecloth manufacturing community, in which the
mill operativeshave become so desperatelypoorthat theymust consider emigration - even theowner of
themill is under considerablepressure to marry a woman hedoes not love to secure his financial position.
Anti-war literature Much anti-war art and literature focused on the struggles ofordinary peopleand the
capacityofwar to impoverish and separate families. WilliamWordsworth’s TheExcursion (1814) , for
example, tells thetaleof Margaret, whose husband is driven bypoverty to enlist, leaving her and their
childto copein straitened circumstances, in which she eventually goes mad with wondering if he willever
return. Anna LaetitiaBarbauld’spoem‘EighteenHundred and Eleven’ likewise spokeof women suffering
at theuncertainty of thefate ofloved ones, and described in apocalyptictermsthe collapseof commerce
and thespread of povertyand famine in all warring nations. Whilemany Britonsfelt hostilitywasjustified
to repulse Napoleon’sexpansionist aims, Barbauldand others questioned themoralityof war, warning
Britainthat ‘Thouwho hast shared theguilt must share the woe’.
After the war
After the BattleofTrafalgarin 1805, the threat of a French invasion receded. However, Napoleon
continued to be successful in his campaigns on thecontinent, and the continued costs ofa distant war left
wearied even former enthusiasts. Hopes for a betterlife after thewar were frustrated, and maintenance of
taxationand theflooding ofthe labourmarket led to continued unrest among working people.Thisbegan
to express itselfin theformationof organised politicalgroups calling forbetter politicalrepresentation.In
1819, the Female Reform SocietyofManchester denounced the ‘unjust, unnecessary, and destructive war,
against thelibertiesof France’, stating that it had‘tended to raise landed propertythreefoldaboveits
value, and to loadour beloved country with an insurmountable burden of Taxation’.[5]Although thewar
hadbegun with the ostensibleaim of protecting thelibertiesof theBritish people,many of thosepeople
queried whether thecorrupt aristocracy were the onlyones to benefit.