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University Microfilms International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler’s Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR a 538# THQRNTONi UINOA r u t h THE INFLUENCE Op BgRNARD DE PONTENELLE uPQN ENOjLlIH RRITER» OF fHE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, THE UNIVERGXTY OF OKLAHOMA, PH.D., 1*77 UniversiN Micrdnlms Intcrrwttioncll 300N ZtESROAO. AMNARBOH. MI48106 © 1978 LIN D A RUTH THORNTON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE INFLUENCE OF BERNARD DE FONTENELLE UPON ENGLISH WRITERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Linda Ruth Thornton Norman, Oklahoma 1977 THE INFLUENCE OF BERNARD DE FONTENELLE UPON ENGLISH WRITERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY APPROVED BY a ' i ^ i DISSERTATI'OK-C To Rori/ Jeffrey, and Amy ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I first became interested in the literary exchanges between France and England as an undergraduate student in Modern Languages at The University of Oklahoma. I owe my thanks to several professors of English and of French who encouraged me to pursue this interest. I am indebted in particular to Dr. Seymour Feiler, Professor of French, and to Dr. David P. French, Professor of English, whose inspiring courses in eighteenth-century literature prompted me to select the Age of Enlightenment as a focus for my study. Without their lectures and comments I would scarcely have had a sound basis in this area. I would also like to thank the staff connected with the Uni­ versity of Oklahoma Rare Book Collections. Their readiness to search for my materials, their interest in my project, and their friendship I have truly appreciated. I owe my greatest thanks to Dr. David P. French for directing this study over the past two years. He has offered invaluable criticism and much needed advice. Many times his suggestions led me to discoveries of great impor­ tance to my topic. I can never repay the time and encourage­ ment he so willingly gave me. iv Finally, I would like to offer my sincerest gratitude to my mother-in-law, Marie Thornton. She has never hesitated to help me in any possible way in order to provide the necessary time to research and write this dis­ sertation. Without her unselfish assistance, I might never have finished this study. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter One. THE NOUVEAUX DIALOGUES DES MORTS AND ENGLISH DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD........................... 10 I. William King II. John Hughes III. Matthew Prior IV. George, Lord Lyttelton V. Conclusion Two. THE DISCOURS SUR LA NATURE DE L 'EGLOGUE AND ENGLISH THEORIES OF PASTORAL POETRY. 58 I. Rene Rapin II. Fontanelle III. Sir William Temple IV. Knightly Chetwood V. Alexander Pope VI. Jonathan Swift and VII. Joseph Addison VIII. Ambrose Philips IX. Thomas Tickell X. Thomas Purney XI. Samuel Johnson XII. Conclusion Three. THE ENTRETIENS SUR LA PLURALITE DES MONDES AND THE POPULARIZATION OF ASTRONOMY IN ENGLAND . 99 I. Fontanelle II. John Hughes, Thomas Gray, Joseph Addison, the Earl of Chesterfield, Samuel Johnson, David Hume, Horace Walpole III. Matthew Prior and Alexander Pope IV. Conclusion VI Chapter Page Four. THE 2IST0IRE DES ORACLES AND THE DEISTIC CONTROVERSY.............................147 I. John Toland II. Anthony Collins III. Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke IV. Conyers Middleton V. David Hume VI. Conclusion CONCLUSION............................................... 217 NOTES......................................................221 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................. 251 V13 THE INFLUENCE OF BERNARD DE FONTENELLE UPON ENGLISH WRITERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY INTRODUCTION Like so many of the philosophes during the French Enlightenment, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657-1757) became knowledgeable and productive in several areas: literary, scientific, religious, even psychological. He never felt compelled to limit his learning to a single field; rather he continued throughout his life to explore whatever new discoveries or subjects that might interest him. Fortunately for readers today, he found virtually everything to be of interest, from systems of the universe to superstitions of the Church. He was particularly attracted to those questions and problems which might enlighten the public, such as the possibility of inhabitants on other planets or the credibility of Christian miracles. It is true that other writers before him may have discussed the same questions, even arriving at similar conclusions, but they either published their ideas in Latin or wrote in such scholarly prose that their ideas were little known and little read. Fontenelle, on the contrary, presented his ideas in French, which made them available to a wider reading public and he wrote in a witty, conversational way, entertaining the reader while teaching him. Because of the immediate appeal of his writing, Fontenelle therefore became popular and influential not only in France, but in England as well. One might think that such a popular and productive writer would have long been the subject of critical atten­ tion. However, this is not the case. Until the last twenty- five or thirty years, Fontenelle was rarely mentioned except in anthologies or in selected passages of larger works. Johan Egilsrud briefly discussed Fontenelle's role in reviv­ ing the dialogue of the dead ( 1 934)Marjorie Nicolson, his role in popularizing the Copernican system of the universe 2 (1948) ; A. F. B. Clark, his role as a classical critic 3 (1925); and J. E. Congleton, his role as a theorist in pas- 4 toral poetry (1952). None of these scholars, however, focused upon Fontenelle alone. One early work, that of Auguste Laborde-Milaa for the series Les Grands Ecrivains Français (1905)is the exception to this trend. Apart from him, though, no one wrote a specialized study on Fontenelle until J.-R. Carr^ in 1932.^ His book, although still considered the most authoritative today, was followed by that of F. Gregiore (1947),^ Suzanne Delorme (1957),® and g J.-F. Counillon (1959). Scholars then began to concentrate upon editing critical editions of Fontenelle's major works: Louis Maigron edited the Histoire des Oracles (1934);^^ J.-R. Carre, the Origine des Fables (1932);^^ Robert Shackleton, the Entretiens sur la Pluralité des Mondes and 12 the Digression sur les Anciens et les Modernes (1955); and 13 Donald Schier, the Nouveaux Dialogues des Morts (1965). After critical editions became available, scholarly focus shifted once again to specialized studies. John Cosentini analyzed Fontenelle's art of dialogue in the dialogues of the dead (1952);^^ Leonard Marsak, his contribution to eighteenth-century science (1959);^^ and Frederick Keener, his influence upon English dialogues of the dead (1973).^^ With the exception of a brief unpublished master's 17 thesis by Ida E. Stewart (1941), no one has yet attempted to assess Fontenelle's influence upon English writers in the eighteenth century. This omission prompted me to con­ sider and finally to attempt such a project. It seemed probable that Fontenelle's works had made an impact of some sort upon English writers and the public, especially con­ sidering the number of translations available. I therefore set about tracing his influence upon British literature. Yet while I could readily trace his presence, I soon found that the whole matter of proving influence is itself a touchy problem. How can one assert that any writer has influenced another? In many cases, no proof seems possible. In others, though, several approaches are available to help solve the problem. One may at times show direct evidence of Fontenelle's influence in the works of an English writer by way of that author's own acknowledgments and references in his correspondence. Here, of course, there is no doubt that the Frenchman made an impact upon his reader. At other times, Fontenelle's ideas may seem to be reflected through the works of another \irriter, such as Bayle, whose works were also popular in England. Such cases, while more difficult to prove, in some ways suggest an even wider kind of influ­ ence.

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