Aristocratic Vice: The Attack on Duelling, Suicide, Adultery, and Gambling in Eighteenth-Century England

329 Pages·2013·1.75 MB·English

by  Donna T. Andrew

Aristocratic Vice
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DONNA T. ANDREW
Aristocratic Vice
THE ATTACK ON DUELLING, SUICIDE,
ADULTERY, AND GAMBLING IN
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND
New Haven &
London
Published with assistance from the Annie Burr Lewis Fund.
Published with assistance from the foundation established in memory of Philip
Hamilton McMillan of the Class of 1894, Yale College.
Copyright © 2013 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations,
in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the
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Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Andrew, Donna T., 1945–. Aristocratic vice : the attack on duelling, suicide,
adultery, and gambling in eighteenth-century England / Donna T. Andrew.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-18433-4 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Great Britain—Moral
conditions. 2. England—Social life and customs—18th century.
3. Upper class—England—Conduct of life—History—18th century.
4. Vices—History—18th century. I. Title.
HN400.M6A53 2013
305.5'20941—dc23
2012041362
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992
(Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father,
Bernhard Trembowelski
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: The Middle Way: Cultural Skirmishes 1
1 Contesting Cultural Authority: The Code of Honor
and Its Critics 15
2 “That Wild Decision of the Private Sword” 43
3 Against “Nature, Religion and Good Manners”:
Debating Suicide 83
4 “The Chief Topics of Conversation”: Adultery and
Divorce in the Bon Ton 127
5 Deserving “Most the Cognizance of the Magistrate and the
Censor”: Combating Gaming 175
6 Vice in an Age of Respectability 219
Conclusion: An End to Aristocratic Vice? 243
Notes 247
Selected Bibliography 303
Index 315
vii
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Acknowledgments
This book has been in the works for more than three decades. And of
course, there are numerous people and institutions to thank for having
discussed ideas with me, sponsored me for stays, or invited me to present
papers. So after all this time, if I’ve forgotten anyone, please just put it down
to creeping senility.
First and foremost, I would like to note my gratitude to my friend and
mentor, John Beattie, who has enormously helped me over the years, most
importantly by giving me a sterling model of both intellectual integrity and
hard work. And then to my friends and colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic
and Pacific, John Brewer, Margot Finn, Joanna Innes, Sarah Lloyd, Randall
McGowen, Danny O’Quinn, Mark Phillips, Nicholas Rogers, and Gillian
Russell, more thanks for all your help, advice, and patience.
Next I would like to express my appreciation for the opportunity for both
scholarly research and intellectual conversation that the following institutions
afforded me during my stays: to the Humanities Research Centre at the
Australian National University under its then-head, Iain McCalman, and later
also in Australia as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Law School of the
University of Adelaide and to my friends in both History and Law, and finally
thanks to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, for awarding me a Fellowship for
a wonderful semester there.
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