AUGUSTAN HISTORICAL WRITING, THE RISE OF ENLIGHTENMENT HISTORIOGRAPHY IN ENGLAND

This dissertation is a study in history and ideology. It examines a period of English historiography--the first half of the eighteenth century--that scholars have heretofore neglected. It was during this epoch that the transition occurred in the nature of historical writing from the traditional humanist chronicle of the late Renaissance to a secular and essentially modern style of historical narrative.;This dissertation is based primarily upon the works of the historians themselves; secondarily upon the manuscript correspondence and records of the historians, their associates and patrons.;In an age when historical writing was strongly influenced by party politics, the growth of Enlightenment history derived in large measure from the decline of conservative Toryism and Whiggery, and the ascendancy of a liberal and secular Whig ideology. Part I of the dissertation, "Tory and Whig History in the Age of Anne," discusses the pre-Enlightenment style of historical writing that prevailed in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Part II, "The Rise of Whig Historical Writing in the Age of Walpole," considers the stylistic and methodological innovations attendant upon the emergence of a more secular and Whiggish political and historical philosophy. Enlightenment historical writing came into fruition during the 1740's and 1750's. Part III, "History and Ideology after the Fall of Walpole," argues that David Hume's famous History of England should be regarded as an eminently readable popularization of previous mid-century histories of England, not as a ground-breaking work of "philosophical" history.