National Thanksgivings and Ideas of Britain, 1689–1816 by Warren Johnston

Abstract

Reviewed by: National Thanksgivings and Ideas of Britain, 1689–1816 by Warren Johnston Jennifer Farooq National Thanksgivings and Ideas of Britain, 1689–1816. By Warren Johnston. (Woodbridge: Boydell Press. 2020. Pp. xviii, 413. $115.00. ISBN: 9781783273584.) Thanksgiving days were undoubtedly significant occasions in Britain and its colonies, which celebrated national occasions with church services, bonfires, and processions. Thanksgiving and fast days have received increasing attention, particularly with the publication of National Prayer: Special Worship since the Reformation, edited by Natalie Mears, Stephen Taylor, Philip Williamson and others (3 vols., Woodbridge, 2013–2020), which compile and analyze the royal orders and special prayers for these occasions. However, Johnston’s book is the first full-length study of the eighteenth-century British thanksgiving-day sermons. Johnston draws on 587 thanksgiving sermons printed in the British Isles and the British colonies between 1689 and 1816 to explore how preachers engaged with “ideas of Britain,” particularly British exceptionalism. National Thanksgivings highlights the unique political contexts of these occasions, declared in response to wars, rebellions, peace treaties, or royal accessions, which invited preachers to comment on current affairs in Britain. Johnston argues that thanksgiving-day sermons are particularly revealing because these occasions permitted a “much more spontaneous” (p. 1) and forward-looking response to these issues than other political occasions, such as national anniversary days. Thanksgiving days also were more widely observed than other political occasions by the various Protestant denominations, and even some Catholics, in the British Atlantic, and thanksgiving-day sermons were published in large numbers. Nevertheless, Johnston recognizes the complexities in the formation of national identities and emphasizes that purpose of the book “is to show what was being attempted from thanksgiving-day pulpits and publications, but not to determine how successful such efforts were in establishing British identity” (p. 10). Thus, he does not attempt to assess the sermons’ impact on their readers. National Thanksgivings instead carefully analyzes the preachers’ views on a range of issues, including providential interpretations of current events, political ideologies and conflicts, the conduct and costs of war and peace, the expansion of trade and empire, the relationships between British denominations, the challenges posed by Enlightenment ideas to Britain, and views of “the other” at home and abroad (chs. 3–10). Johnston also effectively uses recent scholarship to discuss the [End Page 207] nature of eighteenth-century preaching and printed sermons and the cultural context of thanksgiving days (chapters 1–2). He identifies much continuity in preachers’ ideas of Britain and uses examples from sermons that span the period to illustrate his analysis. However, the strongest chapters are those highlighting changes and continuities in partisan conflicts, attitudes towards Dissenters and Catholics, and perceptions of war and empire during the period. In fact, the extent of continuity in preachers’ arguments over the period is not always clear. For example, although Johnston notes differences in preachers’ interpretations of providence, it is unclear whether he detected any changes in these interpretations. It also would have been helpful if Johnston had consistently identified preachers’ partisan and religious persuasions when analyzing controversies, such as Anglican preachers’ views of Catholics and Dissenters, which frequently were influenced by their political opinions. It is difficult to keep track of preachers’ affiliations, even with the useful table of preachers in the appendices. More crucially, Johnston does not address the broader significance of thanksgiving-day sermons—to what extent were “ideas of Britain” addressed in sermons on other occasions? How closely did preachers’ ideas mirror ideas of Britain presented in other media? The existing scholarship on eighteenth-century sermons and national identity considers many of these ideas, and the book would have been more impactful if Johnston had attempted to answer these questions. Nevertheless, Johnston’s book offers a well-researched overview of what preachers told their audiences about Britons and their nation(s). It will be useful to scholars of religion, politics, and the development of Britain’s national identity. Hopefully, National Thanksgivings will provoke further research on sermons and their impact on society. Jennifer Farooq University of Regina Copyright © 2023 The Catholic University of America Press ...