Observing God: Thomas Dick, Evangelicalism, and Popular

OBSERVING GOD To my father, Julius A. As tore, and in memory of my mother, Helen L. (Wilder) Astore Observing God Thomas Dick, Evangelicalism, and Popular Science in Victorian Britain and America WILLIAM J. ASTORE First published 2001 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXl 4 4RN 711 ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © William J. Astore 200 I The Author has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Astore, William J. Observing God : Thomas Dick, evangelicalism, and popular science in Victorian Britain and America I. Dick, Thomas, 1774-1857 2. Religion and science - Great Britain - History - 19th century 3. Religion and science - United States - History - 19th century I. Title 261.5'5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Astore, William J. Observing God : Thomas Dick, evangelicalism, and popular science in Victorian Britain and America/ William J. Astore. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7546-0202-8 I. Dick, Thomas, 1774-1857. 2. Religion and science--Great Britain--History--l 9th century. 3. Religion and science--United States--History--l 9th century. I. Title. 81245 .A782001 261.5'5'092-dc21 00-066520 ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-0202-6 (hbk) Contents Figures and tables vi Abbreviations vii Acknowledgments viii Introduction 1 1 Becoming a Christian Philosopher: A Sketch of Dick’s Life 14 2 Dick and Natural Theology in an Evangelical Context 46 3 Dick, the Plurality of Worlds, the Nebular Hypothesis,and Geology 75 4 Aesthetic and Socio-Political Dimensions of Dick’s Works 100 5 Dick and Popular Science in Britain 125 6 Dick’s Works in America 171 7 Dick and Aspects of Popular Astronomy in America 201 Conclusion 236 Appendix: Subscribers to Dick’s Works, 1850 243 Bibliography 251 Index 289 Figures and tables Figures 1.1 Handbill announcing a series of lectures by T. Dick, 1820 27 1.2 Engraving of Thomas Dick, after a portrait, c. 1838 33 1.3 Engraving of Thomas Dick by Francis Croll, c. 1850 35 1.4 Handbill announcing Dick’s lectures on Astronomy, Dundee, November 1851 42 1.5 Dick’s monument in St Aidan’s Cemetery, Broughty Ferry 44 7.1 Broadside announcing astronomical lectures by Mr Stevens, January 1824 203 7.2 Illustration of life on the moon, inspired by R.A. Locke’s ‘Moon Hoax’ 219 Tables 5.1 Publishing Data for Thomas Dick’s Works 144 5.2 Dick’s Works in Five Mechanics’ Institutes 149 5.3 Dick’s Works in Other Libraries 150 6.1 Works on Science in Four Sabbath School Libraries in Massachusetts 17 9 6.2 Dick’s Works in Mechanics’ and Mercantile Libraries 180 6.3 Donors to Burritt’s Relief Fund for Dick 194 6.4 Committee to Solicit Funds for Dick’s Relief, Philadelphia, 1850 196 6.5 Occupational Percentages of Subscribers to Dick’s Works 198 6.6 Subscribers to Dick’s Works versus Members of CAS 199 Abbreviations AAS American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts ASSU American Sunday School Union ATS American Tract Society BAAS British Association for the Advancement of Science BJHS British Journal for the History of Science BOD Bodleian Library, University of Oxford BSHS British Society for the History of Science CAS Cincinnati Astronomical Society DAB Dictionary of American Biography DCA City of Dundee Archives, Scotland DNB Dictionary of National Biography DWB Dictionary of Welsh Biography NLS National Library of Scotland NLW National Library of Wales RAS Royal Astronomical Society, London RTS Religious Tract Society, London SDUK Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Acknowledgments This book began as a doctoral thesis submitted to the Faculty of Modem History at the University of Oxford in 1995. For their comments on my thesis, I would like to thank Graeme Gooday, E. Jane Garnett, and my thesis supervisor, Robert Fox. Dr Gooday read the introduction, conclusion, and chapters 4 through 7, offering invaluable suggestions in regard to the general thrust of the work. Dr Garnett read the entire thesis and served as my supervisor during Michaelmas 1994 and Trinity 1995. Her insightful comments and unflagging good will were a great boon. Professor Fox was the perfect supervisor: conscientious, considerate, and caring. Professor Daniel Walker Howe graciously agreed to serve as my supervisor during Hilary 1995. I wrote chapters 6 and 7 under his guidance, which were significantly improved as a result. I also wish to thank my thesis examiners, James A. Bennett and James A. Secord, for their helpful comments and criticisms; Anne Secord for her stimulating comments on the introduction, chapter 1, and portions of chapter 5; Jonathan Topham for his continued interest in my work, his generosity, and his invaluable comments on chapter 2; Marten Hutt for his friendship and comments on chapters 5 and 6; John H. Brooke for his suggestions on how I might improve my thesis; Mark Clement for sharing his thesis on Methodism and natural knowledge with me; Miriam R. Levin for her comments on chapter 7; Bernard Lightman for advance copies of articles on Agnes Clerke and Richard Proctor; Michael Shortland for advance copies of articles on Hugh Miller; and Aileen Fyfe for information on Thomas Dick’s relations with the Religious Tract Society. Chapters 6 and 7 are based on research I conducted as a Research Associate at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1994. I wish to thank John Hench and the staff of the American Antiquarian Society for their kind support, and Merton College for helping to fund my research. Greatly aiding me in my studies of Thomas Dick’s correspondence were Sheila Mackenzie at the National Library of Scotland, and the staff of the City of Dundee Archives. Dr Fiona Vincent cheerfully showed me around Mill’s Observatory in Dundee, and Mrs Margaret I. Morris of the University Observatory at the University of Glasgow gave me copies of Dick’s correspondence held in the observatory’s archives. Mr Peter D. Hingley at the Royal Astronomical Society kindly granted me access to the Society’s archives, and Mr Robert Sharp at the Science Museum in London graciously sent me archival material on Thomas Dick. I have been fortunate indeed to befriend Dr David Gavine, expert on Scottish astronomy and fellow enthusiast for Thomas Dick. Dr Gavine unselfishly shared with me his knowledge of Scottish astronomy and Dick’s life, helping and encouraging me more than he knows. In Broughty Ferry, Acknowledgments IX Russell and Susan Meek kindly opened their home (formerly Dick’s residence) to me. Their interest in Dick served to reinforce my own. I would be remiss in not thanking the Dean of the Faculty at the USAF Academy for sponsoring my doctoral work at Oxford. In particular, I wish to thank Brigadier General Carl W. Reddel (Ret.), former head of the Department of History, for his support. I also wish to thank Dennis Showaiter of Colorado College, and Graeme Gooday (again!), for their goodwill and comments on the penultimate version of this book. Faults that remain with this book are, of course, my own. Last of all, but first in my thoughts, my wife, Christine, deserves the lion’s share of the thanks. To Christine, and to all my friends, I am deeply grateful. Colorado Springs, Colorado December 2000 Introduction Within the last 22 years, he has published about 10 volumes on literary, scientific, and theological subjects, calculated to promote the intellectual and moral improvement of society, particularly of the middle and lower ranks of the community. The general aim of these volumes has been to bring the more useful and interesting portions of science within the comprehension of general readers, and to render the discoveries of science, and the improvements of the useful arts subservient to the promotion of the interests of religion and Christian morality. Thomas Dick penned the above selective outline of his works and their purpose when he applied for a government pension in 1846. My aim is to flesh out this outline, to provide a comprehensive and contextualized account of the life, works, and rich legacy of this ‘Christian philosopher’, a sobriquet he earned from his first and most successful book, The Christian Philosopher, or, the Connection o f Science and Philosophy with Religion. Published in 1823, this book passed through more than twenty editions in Britain alone during the next forty years. That Dick is not, however, as well known today as his two closest Scottish evangelical contemporaries—Reverend Thomas Chalmers and Sir David Brewster—is attributable in part to the difficulty of defining his impact. He was neither a theologian of Chalmers’s influence nor was he a natural philosopher of Brewster’s stature. Yet, in a number of important ways, Dick embodied the cultures of his day. He straddled two centuries, spending the first twenty-six years of his life in the eighteenth, the remaining fifty-seven in the nineteenth. Both Enlightenment rationality and the devout religious seriousness of evangelicalism were constituent of his intellectual makeup.

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