Newgate, That Horrid Place!

Abstract

The accession of Queen Anne saw a sharp change in the political climate. The Junto Whigs, Somers, Halifax and Orford, far from being restored to power, were dismissed from the Privy Council; and most of the principal offices of state passed into the hands of the Tories. The Queen’s uncle, Rochester, recovered the post of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland which he had lost towards the end of William’s reign; Godolphin returned to the Treasury in the more exalted post of Lord Treasurer; Nottingham, a narrow-minded Anglican, became principal Secretary of State; while elections held in July ensured Tory control of the Commons when Parliament met in the autumn. In one respect however Defoe had done his work well, with some help from Louis XIV. Whigs and Tories were equally determined to check the growing power of France, and war was declared on 4 May 1702. But other signs were less favourable. Though the Queen had declared her intention of maintaining the toleration of Dissenters, she had also expressed a wish to show special favour to the Church of England. A sermon preached at Oxford by Henry Sacheverell, in which he urged the Anglicans to hang out the ‘bloody flag’ of defiance to the enemies of the Church, served to canalise the feelings pent up by long years of frustration, and seemed to herald a new wave of persecution. Jacobitism once more became articulate, and few cared to remember or honour the dead King.