Republican learning . i Contents Politics, culture and society in early modern Britain General editors professor ann hughes dr anthony milton professor peter lake This important series publishes monographs that take a fresh and challenging look at the interactions between politics, culture and society in Britain between 1500 and the mid-eighteenth century. It counteracts the fragmentation of current historiography through encouraging a variety of approaches which attempt to redefine the political, social and cultural worlds, and to explore their interconnection in a flexible and creative fashion. All the volumes in the series question and transcend traditional inter- disciplinary boundaries, such as those between political history and literary studies, social history and divinity, urban history and anthropology. They contribute to a broader understanding of crucial developments in early modern Britain. Already published in the series Leicester and the Court: essays on Elizabethan politics simon adams Ambition and failure in Stuart England: the career of John, first Viscount Scudamore ian atherton The idea of property in seventeenth-century England: tithes and the individual laura brace Betting on lives: the culture of life insurance in England, 1695–1775 geoffrey clark Home divisions: aristocracy, the state and provincial conflict thomas cogswell A religion of the world: the defence of the reformation in the reign of Edward VI catharine davies Cromwell’s major-generals: godly government during the English Revolution christopher durston Urbane and rustic England: cultural ties and social spheres in the provinces, 1660–1780 carl b. estabrook The English sermon revised: religion, literature and history 1600–1750 lori anne ferrell and peter mccullough (eds) The spoken word: oral culture in Britain 1500–1850 adam fox and daniel woolf (eds) Londinopolis: essays in the cultural and social history of early modern London paul griffiths and mark jenner (eds) Inventing a republic: the political culture of the English Commonwealth 1649–1653 sean kelsey The box maker’s revenge: ‘orthodoxy’, ‘heterodoxy’ and the politics of parish in early Stuart London peter lake Theatre and empire: Great Britain on the London stages under James VI and I tristan marshall Courtship and constraint: rethinking the making of marriage in Tudor England diana o’hara Communities in early modern England: networks, place, rhetoric alexandra shepard and philip withington (eds) Aspects of English Protestantism, c. 1530–1700 nicholas tyacke Political passions: gender, the family and political argument in England, 1680–1714 rachel weil ii . Republican learning . John Toland and the crisis of Christian culture, 1696–1722 JUSTIN CHAMPION Manchester University Press Manchester and New York distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave iii Contents Copyright © Justin Champion 2003 The right of Justin Champion to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press, University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for Atherton, Ian. Ambition and failure in Stuart England : the career of John, first ISBN 0 7190 5714 0 hardback First published 2003 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Typeset in Scala with Pastonchi display by Koinonia Ltd, Manchester Printed in Great Britain by Bookcraft (Bath) Ltd, Midsomer Norton iv Contents . preface—vi abbreviations—viii introduction LOCATING JOHN TOLAND—1 part i REPUBLICS OF LEARNING—23 1 ‘The traffick of books’: libraries, friends and conversation—25 2 Publishing reason: John Toland and print and scribal communities—45 3 Reading Scripture: the reception of Christianity not mysterious, 1696–1702—69 part ii THE WAR AGAINST TYRANNY AND PREJUDICE—91 4 Editing the republic: Milton, Harrington and the Williamite monarchy, 1698–1714—93 5 Anglia libera: Protestant liberties and the Hanoverian succession, 1700–14—116 6 Sapere aude: ‘commonwealth’ politics under George I, 1714–22—141 part iii SUBVERSIVE LEARNING—165 7 Respublica mosaica: impostors, legislators and civil religion—167 8 De studio theologia: patristic erudition and the attack on Scripture—190 9 ‘A complete history of priestcraft’: the Druids and the origins of ancient virtue—213 conclusion WRITING ENLIGHTENMENT—236 select TOLANDIANA—257 index—260 v Contents Preface . This book has been ongoing for a number of years. I have many debts. The AHRB generously matched a period of leave awarded by the Department of History at Royal Holloway that allowed the bulk of the text to be written. I have tried many of the ideas out on tolerant audiences in Los Angeles, Victoria, Edmonton, Ferrara, South Bend, Belfast, Dublin, Paris, Wolfenbuttel, Oxford, York, Sheffield and London (strangely enough not yet in Cambridge): I am grateful to all these audiences. Some of the material has been rehearsed in print: due acknowledge- ment has been made in the appropriate place, but many thanks to Dan Carey, David Hayton, Antony McKenna, Ole Grell and the now sadly departed Roy Porter for offering editorial help in these instances. In the course of the research I have received help and advice from a huge range of scholars. Mark Goldie has been a constant inspiration. Michael Hunter has consistently laboured over the various versions, always offering invaluable suggestions and insights. Margaret Jacob offered robust encouragement and graciously forwarded research materials – many of the themes explored here were originally inspired by her path-breaking work. Blair Worden has been an important influence on the development of the work. He graciously read and commented on Part II. Antony McKenna has both delivered calm commentary and introduced me to a number of scholars – Pierre Lurbe, Laurent Jaffro, and Tristan Dagron. All the latter have shared their research and offered useful advice. Giancarlo Carabelli was for a long time known to me only by his extraordinary bibliography. Having met him in Ferrara, I can only salute his commitment and energy to excavating the infrastructure of Toland’s life. Alan Harrison has been a sounding board over the past years; again, despite his own burdens he has shared his thoughts and researches. Miguel Benitez has generously offered robust advice and shared his profound learning. Other scholars, Jim Dibykowski and James Alsop, graciously shared their own researches with me prior to publication. The History of Parliament Trust in the learned trinity of David Hayton, Andrew Hanham and Stuart Handley have been exceptionally patient with me. They’ve all made me think harder about political realities, when I may have been tempted to spiral off into hyper-textuality. Similarly Clyve Jones of the Institute of Historical Research has patiently offered suggestions and important references. If this book has any claims to be more rooted in the real world of politics than most intellectual history usually is, blame these men. Other historians and friends have offered an ear to rant in, and an arm to lean on. Mike Braddick has been a stable influence and encouraging commentator. Although it may not be immediately apparent his own work on authority and power has exercised a profound and deep influence on the way I think about the culture Toland lived in. Harvey Shoolman has offered more references than I vi Preface could ever read, but also and importantly a fierce reassurance that subjects like Toland deserve our attention. Robert Iliffe continues to keep me on my toes. John Marshall has kept up a conversation on these matters for nearly twenty years. Closer to home Francis Robinson, Jack Pridham, Roy Miller, Paul Finch and Klaus Dodds have kept my spirits up with dedication and skill. A decade’s worth of special subject students have helped me reread many of Toland’s works: I can honestly say that on regular occasions I have learnt as much from them as they have from me. Thanks too are due to my persevering co-convenors at the Institute of Historical Research – John Miller and Ian Roy especially. The spirit of disinterested historical enquiry exists still in these gatherings. The University of London, and especially Royal Holloway College, has been a stimulating place to work. Despite the ever expanding burdens of administrative endeavour, the History Department has always prided itself on a commitment to scholarship. Colleagues such as Tony Stockwell, Pat Crimmin, and Alison Brown have always offered encouragement and support for which I am very grateful. Sam Barnish has been a tremendous font of knowledge (and fine wine): it is a privilege to be able to make idle enquiry of him. Such requests always prompt profound response. Michael Drolet has been a partner in crime for a number of years too. My research students, Eduardo Gasca, David Wilson, Lee McNulty, Nicholas Keene, Sheila Seymour, Debbie Kepple, Kris Josephs and Vanessa McMahon have all kept me firmly in touch with current research. Committing one’s thoughts to paper is an engaging but distracting activity. It requires an enormous infrastructure of institutional and economic support. It relies however on social and emotional dimensions which are very rarely costed in the various academic audits. I have upon occasions wondered whether writing books is a suitable pastime for a father and partner. The number of sunny summer days consumed in some dreary library, or stifling conference room, which should have been spent more profitably at the seaside or cooking supper are lost to me now. Dedicating the proceeds of such indulgence to the victims seems rather inappropriate in the circumstances, but it must do.