Patriarcha

Feral children: settler colonialism, progress, and the figure of the child

“…And this subjection of children being the fountain of all regal authority, by the ordination of God himself. 62 In response, a distinction was devised in political thought between parental authority and political authority. In the work of social contract theorists, the legitimacy of political authority was seen as contingent on reasoned consent.…”

The little republic: masculinity and domestic authority in eighteenth-century Britain

“…Finally reaching exasperation, he wrested the task of accounting from her in 1823: 'on the 5 of april I turned tyrant', he declares, and demanded detailed accounts on household expenses for some months to follow. 130 Betty had kept the household accounts for years and Benjamin's intervention was, by his own reckoning, an extreme step. Nevertheless, the act is presented as an assertion of his authority rather than an upturning of gender roles.…”

“…Th e Preston mechanic Benjamin Shaw bemoaned what he saw as his wife's fi nancial intemperance, tracing it back to the early loss of her mother which prevented Betty's instruction in the 'care and and the [ sic ] managment of the small income that is frequently the portion of the Poor'. 130 Observing the labouring poor such as Shaw, Robert Sharp was critical of the rich: when 'the poor are nearly in a state of starvation, it is amazing that things should be in the state they are, some wallowing in all kinds of extravagance and Luxury'. 131 As a rural middling-sort schoolmaster and tradesman, Sharp employed a notion of thrift that was consonant with Shaw's.…”

“…Filmer's comments on paternal authority in Patriarcha (1680) famously begin with Adam, of course. 130 Th e paternal hierarchy of the family refl ected and extended the paternal hierarchy of faith. Yet there was a continued integration of religion-if more generally expressed-in later works too.…”

“…f. ii. 130 126 Millar framed this explanatory preface with genealogical bookends. Th e fi rst noted that while 'in my Memoirs I take little or no notice of Parents', he wished that here 'be it known to all whom it may concern that my Parents might be of the Plebisain Race still they had wherewith to bring up a large family and give a good Education to all of us'.…”