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WHIG AND TORY

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 589 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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WHIG AND TORY , the names associated with two opposing See also:

POLITICAL

political parties in See also:

England. The origin of " Whig " has been much controverted; it has been associated with the Scots for " whey," as implying a taunt against the " sour-See also:

MILK (0. Eng. meoluc; from a common Indo-European root, cf. Lat. mulgere, Gr. ?t dXyetv)

milk " faces of the western Lowlanders; another theory is that it represented the See also:

INITIALS (Lat. initialis, of or belonging to a beginning, initium)

initials of the Scots See also:

COVENANTERS

Covenanters' See also:

MOTTO (an Italian word, from Late Lat. muttum, a low sound, a mutter or murmur, cf. mutere, to mutter; the Latin word also gives Fr. mot, word)

motto, " We See also:

hope in See also:

God "; another derives it from the Scots word " whiggam," used by peasants in See also:

DRIVING (from " to drive," i.e. generally to propel, force along or in, a word common in various forms to the Teutonic languages)

driving their horses. It was, however, a See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of the Scots Gaelic See also:

TERM

term used to describe See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle and See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse thieves, and transferred to the adherents of the Presbyterian cause in See also:

SCOT, MICHAEL (? 1175-1232)

Scot-See also:

LAND

land. " Tory " is derived from the Irish See also:

Tar a Ri, " Come, oh See also:

king! " associated with the creed of the Irish native levies enlisted in the See also:

CIVIL

civil See also:

WARS

wars on behalf of the loyalist cause; the outlaws who fought for See also:

James in See also:

Ireland after the revolution were similarly nicknamed Rapparees or Tories. See also:

PARLIAMENTARY

Parliamentary parties, as such, came into existence in England as soon as See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

parliament achieved or aimed at predominance in the See also:

state. In 1641, shortly after the See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting of the See also:

Long Parliament, they were divided on the question of See also:

church reform, passing, as soon as political questions were involved, into Cavaliers and Roundheads. After the See also:

EXPULSION (Lat. expulsio, from expellere)

expulsion of the Cavaliers in 1642 and 1643 the Houses were divided into a See also:

peace party and a See also:

war party, and these in 1643 took the shape of Presbyterians and See also:

INDEPENDENTS

Independents. After the Restoration there was a See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country party and a See also:

court party, and to these the names of Whig and Tory were applied in 1679, in the See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat of the struggle which preceded the meeting of the first See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short parliament of See also:

Charles II. The words were nicknames given by the opponents of each party. To See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call a See also:

man a Whig was to compare him with the Presbyterian rebels of the See also:

west of See also:

Scotland. To call a man a Tory was to compare him with the Papist outlaws of Ireland.

In fact, at this See also:

time the Whigs were maintainers of parliamentary See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power over the See also:

CROWN

crown and of See also:

TOLERATION (from Lat. tolerare, to endure)

toleration for Dissenters, the Tories maintainers of the hereditary indefeasible rights of the wearer of the crown and of the refusal of toleration to Dissenters. The relation between the parties was further qualified by the fact that the See also:

HEIR (Lat. heres, from a root meaning to grasp, seen in heres or erus, master of a house, Gr. xeip, hand, Sans. hat ana, hand)

heir to the crown was a See also:

ROMAN

Roman See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic, whose claim to succeed was defended by the Tories and assailed by the Whigs. The persistency of the names of the two parties is mainly owing to their essential unmeaningness. As new questionsarose, the names of the old parties were retained, though the See also:

OBJECTS

objects of contention were no longer the same. The Revolution of 1688—89 made it impossible for the Tories to retain their old attitude of See also:

ATTACHMENT

attachment to the hereditary right of the occupant of the See also:

THRONE

throne, with the exception of the extreme wing of the party, which remained Jacobite. They still, however, continued, though accepting the Toleration See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

Act, to oppose the offering of further favours to Dissenters. In See also:

Anne's reign, after the war with See also:

France had gone on for some time, they supported a peace policy, whilst the Whigs advocated a continuance of the war. On the whole, during the last years of the 17th and the first years of the 18th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century the Whigs may be regarded as the party of the See also:

GREAT

great landowners, and of the merchants and tradesmen, the Tories as the party of the smaller landowners and the country See also:

clergy. The Whigs established, through their hold upon the boroughs under the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of the great landowners, a See also:

FIRM

firm See also:

government, which could keep in check, and at last practically set aside, the power of the crown. The Tories, distrusting the authority of the ministerial government, and fearing a new despotism based on parliamentary corruption, became, especially after See also:

BOLINGBROKE, HENRY ST JOHN, VISCOUNT (1678-1751)

Bolingbroke's return from See also:

EXILE (Lat. exsilium or exilium, from exsul or exul, which is derived from ex, out of, and the root sal, to go, seen in salire, to leap, consul, &c.; the connexion with solum, soil, country is now generally considered wrong)

exile, almost democratic in their views and in their demands for the See also:

PURIFICATION

purification of the existing See also:

SYSTEM

system. With the See also:

ACCESSION (from Lat. accedere, to go to, to approach)

accession of See also:

George III. Toryism took a new form.

The struggle about the Dissenters was now a thing of the past, and the king was accepted as a See also:

LEADER, BENJAMIN WILLIAMS (1831– )

leader in carrying on the attack against the power of the great Whig families. The attack was the easier because the Whig families had split into factions. For some time the dividing See also:

LINE

line between Whigs and Tories was this: the Tories asserted that the king had a right to choose his ministers and See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control their policy, subject to the See also:

NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity of securing a See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of the See also:

House of See also:

COMMONS

Commons, whilst the Whigs thought that the' choice should See also:

lie with leading members of parliament, and that the king should have no controlling power. The Whig view appears to resemble that subsequently adopted; but in the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the 18th century the corruption which prevailed rendered the See also:

ANALOGY (Gr. avaXo-yLa, proportion)

analogy worthless, and the real conflict was between the corrupt influence of the crown and the influence of a clique of great landowners resting on their See also:

possession of electoral power through the rotten boroughs. In 1770 the king had his way and established See also:

Lord See also:

North at the See also:

TREASURY

treasury as his nominee. The Whigs, deprived of power, improved their position by the loss of one great See also:

INSTRUMENT (Lat. instrumentum, from insincere, to build up, furnish, arrange, prepare)

instrument of corruption; but they were weakened by the See also:

ESTABLISHMENT (0. Fr. establissement, Fr. etablissement, late Norm. Fr. establishement, from O. Fr. establir, Fr. etablir, Lat. stabilire, to make stable)

establishment of two distinct currents of See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion in their own ranks. The See also:

main See also:

BODY

body under Rocking-See also:

ham was influenced by See also:

Burke to demand See also:

PRACTICAL

practical reforms, but set its See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face against any popular changes in the constitution. The Whigs who followed See also:

Chatham wished to See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place parliament on a more popular basis by the reform of the House of Commons. When in 1783 Chatham's son See also:

Pitt became See also:

PRIME, PRIMER AND PRIMING

prime See also:

MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

minister, the Tory party took a new start. It retained the Tory principle of reliance on the crown, and joined to it Chatham's principle of reliance on the See also:

PEOPLE

people as opposed to the great Whig families. It also supported Pitt in practical reforms. All this was changed by the See also:

French Revolution.

In opposition to the new See also:

DEMOCRACY (Gr. 3np.oKparia, from S)µos, the people, i.e. the commons, and Kparos, rule)

democracy, the Tories coalesced with a See also:

section of the Whig families, the representatives of which entered the See also:

MINISTRY

ministry in 1794. From this time till 1822, in spite of men like Pitt, and the See also:

PERSONAL

personal influence of Tory leaders who supported moderate reform, Toryism came to be popularly identified with a See also:

DESIRE

desire to retain the existing state of things, however full of abuses it might be. When See also:

Canning and See also:

Peel entered the ministry in 1822, a See also:

GRADUAL (Med. Lat. gradualis, of or belonging to steps or degrees; gradus, step)

gradual See also:

CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change took place, and a tendency to practical reform manifested itself. The refusal of See also:

Wellington to listen to any proposal for altering the constitution of the House of Commons threw power once more into the hands of the Whigs in 183o. Shortly afterwards the name Tory gave place to that of Conservative (q.v.), though it was cherished by those Conservatives who wished to assert their power of originating a definite policy, and who disliked to be branded with a purely negative appellation, and it was also retained as a term of opprobrium by the Liberals for those whom they regarded as old-fashioned opponents of reform. The name of Whig was replaced by that of Liberal, being frequently, however, assigned to the less progressive portion of the party, the " moderate Liberals," or even to See also:

HALF

half-and-half Conservatives, as a term more or less of reproach. It ceased to be a name accepted by any definite See also:

ENGLISH

English political section.

End of Article: WHIG AND TORY

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