SOURCE: Hatch, R. B. “George Crabbe, the Duke of Rutland, and the Tories.” Review of English Studies 24, no. 96 (1973): 429-43.

In the following essay, Hatch analyzes how Crabbe's liberal political tendencies were influenced by his role as the chaplain of the conservative Duke of Rutland, concluding that the effect was not as great as is generally perceived.

One of the most curious incidents in George Crabbe's life was his unexpected appointment as chaplain to the Duke of Rutland. As is well known, Edmund Burke first obtained for Crabbe the position of curate in his native town of Aldborough, and when this arrangement proved unsatisfactory, he secured for him the chaplaincy to the Duke of Rutland. Crabbe's son comments several times in his Life that Crabbe was unhappy at Belvoir Castle because he felt himself unable to take part in the social duties expected of a ducal chaplain.¹ A second...