UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title A Mission to Reform Manners: Religion, Secularization, and Empire in Early Modern England Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/035465n3 Author Taback, Naomi Johanna Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles A Mission to Reform Manners: Religion, Secularization, and Empire in Early Modern England A dissertation in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Naomi Johanna Taback 2013 © Copyright by Naomi Johanna Taback 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION A Mission to Reform Manners: Religion, Secularization, and Empire in Early Modern England by Naomi Johanna Taback Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Margaret Jacob, Chair This dissertation looks at three voluntary societies formed in London shortly after the revolution of 1688. These societies, with overlapping membership, shared a broad vision for the improvement of manners and morals throughout the burgeoning British Empire. The Society for Reformation of Manners, founded in 1691, called for the enforcement of the civil laws against prostitution, swearing, drunkenness, gambling, and other moral crimes. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, founded in 1698, established schools and distributed books— forming some of the first public lending libraries—throughout England and its colonies. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, founded in 1701, sent missionaries abroad to convert, educate and civilize the European settlers, African slaves, and American Indians. ii I show that in response to the uncertainties of the post-revolutionary period and the establishment of religious toleration in 1689, religiously motivated reformers advanced new ideas about the nature of society. They looked to shared manners, habits, customs and mores— rather than shared religious beliefs and practices—as the binding agents of society. Reformers described the benefits good manners brought individuals and communities; good manners, they said, were essential to a stable, commercial, tolerant society. Thus I show that some of the most religious people in this period spoke in secular terms. As the ideas and practices of religious toleration became more firmly rooted in English society, people turned to manners as the glue that held the community—or nation—together. This is the birth of a particular strand of social thinking. This dissertations then follows the process by which ideas of religious diversity were transformed in the context of the colonies. The societies hoped to encourage better—and more uniform—manners and habits on both sides of the Atlantic, bringing all peoples of the empire under a common cultural denominator. In doing so, they created a new imperial ideology. An explication of the writings of these reformers, then, offers new insights into the making of secular culture in the Atlantic World and the origins of the Enlightenment in England. iii The dissertation of Naomi Johanna Taback is approved. Felicity Nussbaum Lynn Hunt Margaret Jacob, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2013 iv For my parents v Contents Acknowledgements……….vi Vita……….viii Introduction……….1 Chapter One – The Intellectual Origins of the Reforming Societies: Latitudinarian Thought of the Restoration……….17 Chapter Two – Religious Toleration and Social Order: The Societies for Reformation of Manners………62 Chapter Three – Libraries, Charity Schools and Prison Reform: Thomas Bray and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge………143 Chapter Four – Making a Rational and Holy Empire: The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts………193 Chapter Five – Forming British Subjects: Thomas Bray and George Berkeley on the Conversion of American Indians………244 Concluding Remarks………287 Bibliography………289 vi Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the encouragement and support of many people. To Margaret Jacob I owe a special debt of gratitude for having been a truly extraordinary advisor and mentor. I feel privileged to have worked with her, and I have learned so much from her over the years. I thank Lynn Hunt for the many ways she has helped me through the writing of this dissertation. I would also like to thank Felicity Nussbaum, who read the entire dissertation, and provided me with valuable feedback. I want to thank Teo Ruiz, David Brafman, Ruth Bloch, Anthony Pagden, Peter Reill, Wijnand Mijnhardt, and Inger Leemans for their constant help and encouragement. I am grateful for the friendship and support of many fellow graduate students: Susan Mokhberi, Emud Mokhberi, Diana Raesner, Carrie Sanders, Jesse Sadler, Kierra Crago- Schneider, Regan Bardeen, Matt Crow, Elizabeth Everton, Courtney Spikes, Deb Bauer, Lauren Janes, Sung Choi, Alex Zevin, Aaron Benanav, and Celine Piser. This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Gene Taback and Gail Perlow Taback, who first instilled in me a love of ideas. My sister Daria has been a true friend and constant source of inspiration. I owe special thanks to Jake, who has remained my comrade through it all. vii VITA Education M.A. with distinction, European History, UCLA, 2006 B.A. with departmental honors, minor in Philosophy, UCLA, 2004 Honors William Andrews Clark Library Dissertation Fellowship, 2010-2011 UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2008-2009 UCLA Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award, 2007-2008 Laura Kinsey Prize for outstanding teaching, 2008 Phi Beta Kappa, 2004 Conferences Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies: The Limits of Toleration: Enforcing Order in London in the 1690s, March 2013 Western Association of Women Historians: The Distribution of Books by the SPCK in England, Ireland and the American Colonies, April 2011 American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies: Dual Conceptions of Time in Eighteenth- Century England: The Reformation of Manners and Newtonian Thought, March 2011 viii Introduction This dissertation offers an intellectual history of social and moral reform in England and its colonies in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It looks at three voluntary associations formed in London shortly after the revolution of 1688. These organizations, with overlapping membership, shared a broad vision for the improvement of manners and morals throughout the burgeoning British Empire. Collectively, they set out to police the streets, modernize the prison system, create schools and libraries, and send missionaries to convert, educate and civilize the European settlers, African slaves, and American Indians across the Atlantic. I argue that in response to the uncertainties of the post-revolutionary period and the establishment of religious toleration in 1689, religiously motivated reformers advanced new ideas about the nature of society. They were moderate Anglicans—and sometimes Puritan allies—who remained committed to the principles of religious toleration, but feared its consequences. When the public was broadened to include people with a range of religious views, anxieties arose over what would hold the community together. While seeking greater religious toleration, ironically they found social cohesiveness in something secular. They looked to shared manners, habits, customs and mores—rather than shared religious beliefs and practices—as the binding agents of society. Reformers described the benefits good manners brought individuals and communities as bodily, commercial, and social; good manners, they said, were essential to a stable, progressive, tolerant society. Thus I show that some of the most religious people in this period spoke in secular terms. As the ideas and practices of religious toleration became more firmly rooted in English society, people turned to manners as the glue that held the community—or nation—together. This is the birth of a particular strand of social 1 thinking. An explication of the writings of these reformers, then, illuminates a growing secularization and the origins of the Enlightenment in England. Using the printed sermons, books and pamphlets as well as records and correspondences of these voluntary associations, I look at how ideas circulated among reformers, both elite and non-elite, through the early eighteenth century. The Society for Reformation of Manners, founded in 1691, called for the enforcement of the civil laws against prostitution, swearing, drunkenness, gambling, trading on Sundays, and other moral crimes. Leading reformer Thomas Bray and his organization, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, founded in 1698, established schools and distributed books—forming some of the first public lending libraries— throughout England and its colonies. Bray’s other organization, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, founded in 1701, sent missionaries abroad to convert, educate and civilize the European settlers, African slaves, and American Indians. Thus, I follow the process by which ideas of religious diversity were transformed in the context of the colonies, where a different set of cultural and social demands were in place. The societies hoped to encourage better—and more uniform—manners and habits on both sides of the Atlantic, bringing all peoples of the empire under a common cultural denominator. In doing so, they created a new imperial ideology. This dissertation shows some of the