Political Virtue and Capital Repatriation: A Jacobite Agenda for Empire

Abstract

This article analyses the global vision of the Jacobite Field-Marshal James Keith and his critique of the imperial aspirations of Britain and other leading European powers. His critical writings between 1748 and 1756 will be discussed and his promotion of a rational and liberal imperial agenda will be subject to scrutiny, as will his idea that commerce opened up the prospect for accumulation and repatriation of capital. Keith's scepticism that replacement of the Hanoverians by the exiled Stuarts would accomplish necessary moral reformation achieved by enlightened despotism in Prussia is also a key theme of the article. Scepticism is also applied to Keith's global vision. Can his compounding of political virtue with capital repatriation be regarded as a workable Jacobite agenda? This question will be examined with respect to rival agendas but mainly through the vehicle of case studies for Scottish engagement with Empire in the mid-eighteenth century.