The Radical Enlightenment: Pantheists, Freemasons and Republicans

163 Pages·1981·11.268 MB·English

by  Margaret C. Jacob

The Radical Enlightenment ..
/
Pantheists, Freemasons and
Republicans
MARGARET C. JACOB
The Graduate Center and fia;uch College
City University of New York
Minerva Duce by Bernard Picart, 1722 Teylers Museum, Haar/em.
London
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN
Boston Sydney
First published in 1981
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. All rights
arc reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of Contents
private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under
the Copyright Act, 1956, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any ~eans, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechan
ical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the Editor's Preface page 1x
prior permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be
sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address: Acknowledgements XI
Abbreviations xv
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
40 Museum Street, London WClA lLU Bibliographical Essay 1
Introduction 20
© Margaret C. Jacob, 1981 1 Science and the Philosophical Origins of the Radical
Enlightenment 29
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
2 The Legacy of the English Revolution 65
Jacob, Margaret C 3 The Newtonian Enlightenment and Its Critics 87
The radical Enlightenment. - (Early modern
Europe,; 3). 4 The Origins of European Freemasonry 109
1. Freemasons - History 2. Europe -
5 Radical Whigs, Masons and Knights of Jubilation 142
Civilization - 17th century
3. Europe - Civilization - 18th century 6 The Social World of the Radical Enlightenment,
I. Title IT. Series
940.2'5 HS414 80-41893 1710-60 182
7 Pantheistic Religion, Revolution and the New Science 215
ISBN 0-04-901029-8 Epilogue: New Paths to the High Enlightenment 256
Appendix 267
Index 303
Set in 10 on 11 point Times by Inforum Ltd, Portsmouth
and printed in Great Britain
by Billing and Sons Ltd.,
Guildford, London and Worcester
418775
Editor's Preface
In introducing a new historical series it is difficult not to begin by
offering some justification for its appearance. Yet if we accept that
history is ultimately unknowable in the sense that our perception of the
past as distinct from the past itself is forever changing, then no apologia
is required. That is certainly the premise on which this series is posited.
In the last several decades the changes have been particularly rapid,
reflecting fundamental shifts in social and political attitudes, and
informed by the growth of new related disciplines and by new
approaches to the subject itself. The volumes contained within this
series will seek to provide the present generation .of students and
readers with up-to-date history; with judgements and interpretations
which will no doubt in turn form part of the synthesis of future
scholarly revisions. Some of the books will concentrate on previously
neglected or unconsidered material to reach conclusions likely to
challenge conventional orthodoxies in more established areas of study;
others will re-examine some of these conventional orthodoxies to
discover whether, in the light of contemporary scholarly opinion, they
retain their validity or require more or less drastic reassessment. Each
in its own way, therefore, will seek to define and illumine some of the
contours of early modern Europe, a coherent period at once remote
from our own world yet crucial to an understanding of it. Each will
combine considerable chronological range with thematic precision and
each, finally, will be introduced by a significant bibliographical chap
ter. It is hoped that this last, prominent feature, which will make the
series especially distinctive, will be of value not only to readers curious
to explore the particular topic further but also to those seeking infor
mation on a wide range of themes associated with it.
Acknowledgements
The completion of a book inevitably reminds its author of how deeply
indebted she is to a web of personal and professional tics that defy easy
description. A long time ago Henry Gucr!ac suggested that I work on
John Toland and, of course, out of those manuscripts came a crucial
piece of evidence that led ultimately to the subject of this book. As a
teacher and as a friend, he has provided vital support and encourage
ment. So too did H. G. Koenigsberger, also a former teacher, and of
course, Dorothy Koenigsbergcr, with whom I have shared much
merriment and serious scholarship around matters of mutual interest.
Ernst Wangermann first introduced me to the Enlightenment and gave
me the necessary confidence to pursue topics into the second half of
the century. Both Ernst and Maria Wangermann have given loyally of
their time and encouragement.
Various libraries, and in particular their excellent librarians, require
special acknowledgement. Dr P F J Obbema at the Universiteits
bibliotheek, Leiden, and his staff, in particular C. L. Heesakkers, J.
van Groningen and C. Berkvens-Stevelinck, provided vast quantities
of xeroxed material promptly and efficiently. Ms Berkvens-Stevelinck
and I have oftentimes corresponded, always to my benefit, although
we do not agree on all matters concerning Marchand. G. J. Brouwer at
the Bibliotheek van de Vereeniging !er Bevordering van de Belangen
des Boekhandels in Amsterdam helped me through the catalogues of
that splendid library. The librarians at the rare book room of the
Spencer Research Library were especially efficient. B. Croiset van
Uchelen at the Masonic Library in The Hague gave invaluable assis
tance with its records and with the early history of Dutch Freemasonry.
Some of my most pleasant research hours were spent in that library. As
always the staffs of the University Library, Cambridge, and the British
Library, London, were extremely gracious and helpful. I wish to thank
the Marquis of Cholmondeley for permission to cite material in the
Cholmondeley manuscripts in Cambridge. The Widener Library, Har
vard University, proved an excellent place to do much of the back
ground reading for the subjects here explored. Financial assistance
over the years has come from the National Endowment for the
Humanities in the form of a Fellowship for Independent Study and
from the Research Foundation of the City University of New York.
xii THE RADICAL ENLIGHTENMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii
The opening chapters were first written at Currier House, Harvard contribution to the final preparation of the text. And likewise, Mar
University, where I had an appointment in the History of Science garet Fidanza gave very generously of her time in checking notes and
department. My time at Currier House, with its excellent facilities for collating lists; vital assistance with research and translation came from
quiet reflection and writing, is among the most memorable of the past Clarissa Campbell Orr. My debt to her is very great.
few years. This book owes much to the support given by the house This book is dedicated to my long-time companion and fellow
masters, Barbara and Paul Rosenkrantz, as well as to the good conver scholar, James Jacob, who now knows more about the origins of
sation and companionship provided by certain of the house's students Freemasonry and related topics than he may ever have imagined
and tutors. One of the latter, Margaret Hunt, then kindly and expertly possible. His abiding interest and patience over the years have sus
read portions of the completed text with an eye to clarity and readabil tained me through a variety of endeavours, not least of them scholarly,
ity. The facilities provided at Harvard were matched only by those as well as through seemingly endless travel to various institutions and
made available at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, where libraries. Other loyal friends and family, notably my mother, Margaret
most of this book was actually written during my fellowship year, O'Reilly Candee, and Pat Cunningham, deserve special thanks. For
1978-9, and where it was expertly typed by Margaret Van Sant. My those who have read or helped in other ways yet another project will
time there again mixed the personal and professional in especially have to be undertaken some day, for they too deserve a dedicatory
pleasing ways and I am grateful to Quentin Skinner, Susan James, acknowledgement.
Karen Blu, Joan Scott and Bill Sewell for good scholarly company and
MCJ
conversation. Joan Scott also made valuable suggestions on the text.
The Institute for Research in History,
I. Leonard Leeb read portions of the text, while Aram Vartanian gave
New York,
many hours to reading the text and to assisting with Rousset de Missy's
September 1979
impossibly written letters. What errors in transcription remain are all
of my own doing.
Over the years a few scholars have assisted either in the search for
fellowships or in the securing of research appointments. I am very
grateful to Elizabeth Eisenstein, Frances Yates, J. G. A. Pocock, I. B.
Cohen, J. H. Elliott and Everett Mendelsohn. At my home institution,
Baruch College, then acting vice-president Sidney Lirtzman, unfail
ingly supported my requests for sabbatical salary and leaves while
Stanley Buder, Edward Pessen, and Randolph Trumbach, among
other loyal colleagues, always recognised the value of scholarly
endeavour. In addition to her professional support Elizabeth Eisen
stein al.so read portions of the text with meticulous care and saved me
from many excesses of judgement. As always, the ones that survive, as
well as any errors, are all of my own doing. While in disagreement with
my methodology, Herbert Rowen gave an invaluable reading to many
chapters, and I am very grateful to this hard-working critic. Many
scholars provided bibliographical assistance. In that respect I want to
thank I. H. van Eeghen, Pat Rogers, Ed Ruhe, Robert Darnton, Frank
Kafker, S. J. Larkin, R. Mortier, Henry Snyder, C. M. Bruch!, Louis
Trenard, Howard Weinbrot, and various British Masonic ,historians
and antiquarians (despite their occasional and perplexing habit of
responding to James Jacob whose name also appeared on the station
ery). J. H. Shennan gave his unfailing support to this project from its
earliest days, while Martin Staum read selected portions of the text.
Once again the Baruch College Scholar Assistance Program made a
Abbreviations
AQC Ars Quatuor Coronatorum
BL British Library
BN Bibliotheque Nationale
Chol. MSS Cholmondeley Manuscripts, University Library, Cam
bridge
DNB Dictionary of National Biography
MSS ADD. Additional Manuscripts
ON 6sterreiche Nationalbibliothek, Vienna
PRO Public Record Office, London
UL University Library
ULC University Library, Cambridge
Items numbered in the Bibliographical Essay are then cited in the body
of the text as follows: (1,20) with the second number referring to the
page, or occasionally to the volume number and then the page. Items
numbered as notes in the text are listed in the conventional manner, at
the end of each chapter. Where a source is so basic as to be cited in its
entirety, the reader is simply referred back to the Bibliographical
Essay, by the number of the item, for example (1).
I
Bibliographical Essay
To Jim
Books seldom exist outside a scholarly tradition, and this one is no
exception. Although differing in fundamental ways from earlier works,
this book asks some of the same questions found in Lucien Goldmann,
The Philosophy of the Enlightenment. The Christian Bwgess and the
Enlightenment, trans. H. Maas (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univer
sity Press, 1973)(1). But the new evidence presented here contradicts
Goldmann's indictment of the enlightened man as incapable of politi
cal action. Similarly, this new evidence takes us far beyond the analysis
found in Franco Venturi, Utopia and Reform in the Enlightenment
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971 )(2). Nevertheless,
Venturi saw Toland's importance for the reforming and utopian
impulse in the Enlightenment and for that reason his book is often
cited in these pages. All scholars who work on the Enlightenment have
benefited from Peter Gay, The Enlightenment: An Interpretation. The
Rise of Modern Paganism (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson,
1967)(3). But like so much of Anglo-American scholarship that book
does not deal with the social context and political involvements of the
major phi!osophes. A general view of their philosophy can be found in
the stimulating account by Lester Crocker, An Age of Crisis (Balti
more, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1959)(4).
On the clandestine tradition and its vital importance in disseminat
ing materialism and pantheism certain books are absolutely basic: Ira
Wade, The Clandestine Organization and Diffusion of Philosophic
Ideas in France from 1700 to 1750 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univer
sity Press, 1938)(5) and Philomneste Junior [Pierre Gustave Brunet],
De tribus impostoribus (Paris, 1861 )(6). Without the labours of those
authors it would have been impossible to uncover the origins of the
Traite des trois imposteurs, one of the most important clandestine
manuscripts of the Enlightenment. Of course, it is now known that
Freemasons played a significant part in that clandestine traffic (see
pp.217-20). Of all the subjects examined in this book, Freemasonry is
fraught with the greatest bibliographical difficulties. For that reason I
shall return to it again, but at the outset two works should be cited. The
standard history of Freemasonry, to be used with extreme caution,
remains Dudley Wright, el al. (eds), Gould's History of Freemasonry
2 THE RADICAL ENLIGHTENMENT BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 3
(New York: Scribner, 1936)(7). That no work in English with a receives a careful analysis in Paul Verniere, Spinoza et la pensee
scholarly perspective has been written to replace it suggests the paucity fram;aise avant la revolution, Vols 1 and 2 (Paris: Presses Univer
of research available on Anglo-American Freemasonry. Such is not sitaires de France, 1954)(17). For a brief history of the word 'panthe
the case for Continental countries. One book in particular provides ism' sec Hassan El Nouty, 'Le Panth6isme dans les lettres fran~aises au
much of the evidence for Roussel de Missy's role in Amsterdam XVIII siecle: aper,ttS sur la fortune du mot et de la notion', Revue des
Freemasonry and those primary sources are published in French in a sciences humaines, vol. 27 (1960), pp. 435-57(18). In the course of
Dutch work by W. Kat, Een Grootmeestersverkiezing in 1756 (The these studies the difference between 'materialism' and 'pantheism' is
Hague: Eigen uitgave van de Loge, 1974)(8). rendered largely semantic.
Since the radical Whigs of the 1690s figure so prominently in trans Not semantic, however, is the difference between my approach to
mitting a variety of English traditions: pantheism (as Toland called his the radical Whigs and that found in James O'Higgins, SJ, Anthony
particular brand of materialism), republicanism, and Freemasonry; Collms. The Man and His Works (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1970)( 19).
and because English science was taken up so avidly by Marchand, That account makes httle of Collins's connections with the Knights of
s'Gravesande and their circle, the English context and background for Jubilation and indeed O'Higgins appears to have been unaware of the
the Radical Enlightenment requires explication. Certain books are existence of that secret club. Likewise, he did not have access to
particularly helpful in orienting the reader to both the English Revolu Collins's letters in the Spencer Research Library, University of
tion and English natural philosophy: J. R. Jacob, Robert Boyle and the Kansas.
English Revolution (New York: Burt Franklin, 1977)(9); Christopher Just as important for the Radical Enlightenment, if not more impor
Htll, The World Turned Upside Down (London: Temple Smith, 1972) tant than the natural philosophy of Descartes, stands the philosophy of
(10); Margaret C. Jacob, The Newtonians and the English Revolution Spmoza. Not always an accessible philosopher, Spinoza can be
(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1976)(11). For the Renais approached through the magisterial work of Harry A. Wolfson, The
sance background to the conflict between the mechanical philosophy Philosophy of Spinoza (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
of the moderates and the pantheism of the radicals the basic book 1958, reprint of 1934 edn)(20). Many books and articles have been
remains Frances Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition written on the dissemination of Spinoza's writings on 'spinozism' as it
(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964)(12). One of Brnno's most was called at the time, but one in particular is especially useful in
important works has now become accessible to English readers in a describing the response of orthodox natural philosophers to his pan
useful translation by Arthur D. Imerti (trans. and ed.), The Expulsion theism: Georges Friedmann, Leibniz et Spinoza (Paris: Gallimard,
of the Triumphant Beast (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University 1962)(21). For our purposes, Leibniz is a particularly important ex
Press, 1964)(13). Of course, Frances Yates has also written a con ponent of the new science because he became increasingly distressed
troversial book on the seventeenth-century version of the Hermetic by the machinations of the radicals. The most historically useful expos
tradition entitled The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (London: Routledge ition of his thought occurs in a perhaps excessively Hegelian work by
& Kegan Paul, 1972)(14). R. W. Meyer, Leibnitz and the Seventeenth-Century Revolution, trans.
Descartes became a hero to some radicals in the Enlightenment who J.P. Stern, (Cambridge: Bowes, 1952)(22). The scholarly world still
simply and conveniently ignored his Christian orthodoxy. One recent awaits a complete edition of Leibniz's writings and letters, but in the
study makes their adoration more understandable and emphasises the meantime for his politics the student should consult Patrick Riley
extreme individualism found in Descartes's philosophy: A. J. Krail (ed.), The Political Writings of Leibniz (Cambridge: Cambridge Uni
sheimer, Studies in Selflnterest. From Descartes to La Bruyere versity Press, 1972)(23).
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962)(15). Of equal importance All the major philosophers of the late seventeenth century got into
for the history of materialism and hence for the history of the Radical the fray with the radicals and for help with their special relationship to
Enlightenment is the valuable study by Aram Vartanian, Diderot and John Locke readers should consult my work cited above(ll). For the
Descartes. A Study of Scientific Naturalism in the Enlightenment present, Locke's relationship to the radical Whigs of the 1690s remains
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953)(16). Whether the a tortured question which may only be illuminated when the
radical insistence on conflating matter and spirit, a direct by-product of chronologically relevant volumes of his correspondence finally appear.
one reading of the new science, should be attributed to Descartes and To date, the first four volumes up to 1694 are available in E. S. de Beer
Hobbes or to Spinoza, in other words to materialism or pantheism, (ed.), The Correspondence of John Locke (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
4 THE RADICAL ENLIGHTENMENT BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 5
1977)(24). Also very useful for Locke's reputation on the Continent is (31); James R. Jacob and Margaret C. Jacob, 'The Anglican origins of
an essay by Rosalie Colie, 'John Locke in the Republic of Letters', in J. modern science', Isis vol. 71 (June 1980), pp. 251-67(32).
S. Bromley and E. H. Kossmann (eds), Britain and The Netherlands The relationship between science and the English Revolution must
(London: Chatto & Windus, 1960)(25). be grasped before the subversive implications of pantheism can be
No better example of the complexity of Locke's relationship to the fully comprehended. Science rendered nature knowable, but a panth
republican faction of his party can be found than in his ambiguous eistic understanding of nature, once coupled with science, made nature
response to John Toland. He, of course, provides in his unpublished a plausible substitution for God. Of course, to many early modern
manuscripts at the British Library the crucial evidence for the exis Europeans, to eliminate God also meant to eliminate kings, bishops
tence of the secret coterie whose history we are attempting here to and established churches.
trace. In the past ten years there has been an explosion of printed As a consequence of their power, the mid-sev.enteenth century saw
material on Toland and his many involvements, intellectual as well as few actual theoreticians of republicanism. Yet in the light of subse
political. Much of this research has come from Italian scholars, and quent history those few are terribly important, especially for the Radi
can be most easily surveyed in an extremely useful monograph by cal Enlightenment. For an analysis of one of the most important of
Chiara Giuntini, Pantheismo e ideologia republicana: John Toland these theoreticians, James Harrington, the student should consult J. G.
(1670-1722) (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1979)(26). Giancarlo Carabelli A. Pocock (ed. and intro.), The Political Works of James Harrington
has produced an indispensable bibliography, Tolandiana (Florence: (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977)(33). Also important
La Nuova Italia Editrice, 1975, with a supplement, 1978)(27). For a for interpreting Harrington's often difficult prose is C. B. Macpherson,
summary of Toland's career in English the reader can consult my book The Political Theory of Possessive individualism: Hobbes to Locke
on the Newtonians (11) as well as the new material discussed here (pp. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962)(34), and George H. Sabine,
151-6). Toland's role in the intricacies of party political life in England A History of Political Theory (London: Harrap, 1949)(35).
during the 1690s is surveyed in A. B. Worden (ed.), Edmund Ludlow. Some defenders of monarchy, on the other hand, were false friends,
A Voyce from the Watch Tower. Part Five: 1660-62, Camden Fourth at least as the clergy saw it. Hobbes was a materialist who also sup
Series, Vol. 21 (London: Royal Historical Society, 1978)(28). Wor ported monarchy. Given the ideological context ofnatural philosophy,
den does not, unfortunately, deal effectively with Toland's religious however, 'Hobbism' became one of the weapons in the radical's
beliefs or his philosophy of nature. arsenal. Hobbes can best be understood by reading him in the original,
In early modern Europe philosophies of nature often served to and the most accessible edition is Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. and
reinforce other power relationships, for example, between king and intro. by C. B. Macpherson (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968)(36).
people, priest and parishioner, lord and servant. Predictably then, the The Revolution of 1688-9 intervened to reshape the contours of
development of a scientific rendering of the natural order could easily mid-century English political thought and to render the republicans
become entwined with religious and political conflict. In seventeenth into extreme Whigs, or 'Commonwealthmen' and 'old' Whigs as the
century Europe that moment when such conflict produced a new social language of the time preferred. For that transformation and the
order occurred most dramatically in England during the mid-century critically important 1690s, a variety of books and essays should be
revolution. One of the first scholars to document the impact of religi consulted: Caroline Robbins, The Eighteenth Century Common
ous belief on the new science argued that English Puritanism gave a wealthman (New York: Atheneum, 1968)(37); J. G. A. Pocock. The
vital impetus to scientific inquiry. Robert K. Merton's arguments, first Machiavellian Moment. Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic
published in 1938, appear in Science, Technology and Society in Seven Republican Tradition (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
teenth Century England (New York: Harper & Row, 1970)(29). Since 1975)(38); Henry Horwitz, Parliament, Policy and Politics in the
that time, however, historical analysis has gone far beyond Merton and Reign of William III (Manchester: Manchester University Press,
the most recent understanding of the relationship between science and 1977)(39); William L. Sachse, Lord Somers. A Political Portrait
the English Revolution can be found in the following books and essays: (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1975)(40); Margaret
J. R. Jacob's work on Boyle, previously cited (9); Charles Webster, Jacob, 'Newtonianism and the origins of the Enlightenment: a re
The Great Instauration. Science, Medicine and Reform, I 626-60 assessment' ,Eighteenth Century Studies, vol. 11 (1977), pp. 1-25 ( 41);
(London: Duckworth, 1975)(30); Christopher Hill, The Intellectual J.P. Kenyon,Revolution Principles. The Politics of Party, 1689-1720
Origins of the English Revolution (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977)(42); Geraint Parry,
6 THE RADICAL ENLIGHTENMENT BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 7
John Locke (London, Allen & Unwin, 1978)(43); Gerald Straka, larly useful books and essays: Ira 0. Wade,Studies on Voltaire (Prince
Anglican Reaction to the Revolution of 1688 (Madison, Wis.: State ton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1947)(53); Martin Staum, 'New
Historical Society, 1962)(44); and his '1688 as the Year One', in ton and Voltaire: constructive sceptics', Studies on Voltaire and the
Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, ed. Louis T. Mile, (Cleveland, Eighteenth Century, vol. 62 (1968), pp. 29-56(54); Dennis J. Fletcher,
Ohio: American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, 1971)( 45); 'Bolingbroke and the diffusion of Newtonianism in France1 Studies on
J. H. Plumb, The Growth of Political Stability in England, 1675-1725 ,
Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, vol. 53 (1967), pp. 29-46(55); P.
(London: Macmillan, 1967)( 46). As a result of the Revolution of Valkhoff and J. Fransen, 'Voltaire en Hollande', Revue de Hollande,
1688-9 a new, more tolerant intellectual era begins in England, and
vol. I (1915), pp. 734-54(56); J. Vercruysse, Voltaire et la Hollande,
after 1695 and the lapsing of the Licensing Act the publication of
Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, vol. 46 (1966)(57); T.
anti-clerical and 'deistic' writings began in earnest. It is possible, Besterman, 'Voltaire, absolute monarchy, and the enlightened
therefore, to date the beginning of the European Enlightenment, as a monarch', Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, vol. 32
coherent intellectual milieu, in England during the 1690s.
(1965)(58); Ira 0. Wade, The Intellectual Development of Voltaire
The clerical leaders of this new age were the Newtonians and by the (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969)(59); and especially
reign of Anne (1701-14) the new scientific culture they represented useful for this study, Andre Michel Rousseau, 'L' Angleterre et Vol
had captured the imagination of the educated classes. Presiding over it, taire', Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, vol. 145
of course, was Newton, the leading scientific figure of the age, but (1976)(60). For an overview of Voltaire's beliefs and especially for the
students should not be intimidated. Newton's natural philosophy and religious meaning he attached to Newton's science see Rene Pomeau,
his public role can be explored in two fairly accessible collections: A. La religion de Voltaire (Paris: Librairie Nizet, 1956)(61). Previously,
Rupert Hall and Marie Boas Hall (eds), Unpublished Scientific Papers scholars have tackled the question of Voltaire's relationship to Collins
of Isaac Newton (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1962)( 47), and Toland, but without the evidence for the Netherlands that we now
and H. W. Turnbull (ed.), The Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton, possess: nevertheless, see Norman L. Torrey, Voltaire and the English
vols 1-7 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959-77)( 48). For Deists (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1938)(62).
the political and legal context within which the Newtonian vision of The camaraderie between the radical Whigs and the Knights of
order and harmony prevailed see Edward Thompson, Whigs and Hun Jubilation, that secret society lead by Marchand, Fritsch and Levier,
ters: the Origins of the Black Act (New York: Pantheon Books, among others, instantly raises the question of their role in the origins of
1976)( 49). Also useful in describing the varieties of scientific interpre Freemasonry. Much of what has been written on Freemasonry is
tations given to Newton's speculations (although completely eccentric worthless and every library is filled with non-scholarly literature on the
in its use of the term 'materialism') is Robert Schofield, Mechanism
subject. The items singled out here are not uniformly professional, but
and Materialism. British Natural Philosophy in An Age of Reason in some cases they are all that is available. The best place to begin is
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1970)(50). For critics of
with the 1723 Masonic Constitutions, partially reprinted here in the
the Newtonian philosophy coming from 'the right', in some cases from appendix, or consult an original copy of James Anderson, The Con
the Tory camp, see A. J. Kuhn, 'Hutchinson vs. Newton' ,Journal of the stitutions of the Freemasons ... For the use of the Lodges (London,
History of Ideas, vol. 22 (1961), pp. 303-22(51). 1723)(63). For the mediaeval background to the Masonic guilds, that
Newton's science, as interpreted by the first and second generations so-called 'operative' phase of Freemasonry, two studies are scholarly
of his followers, gave small consolation to those seeking a materialistic
and useful: George Unwin, The Gilds and Companies of London
account of natural phenomena. By the 1740s, however, other evidence (London: Methuen, 1963)(64) and D. Knoop, The Medieval Mason
seemed to be available from zoological experiments done in The
(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1967)(65). For the tran
Hague by Abraham Trembley. For that fascinating episode consult
sition to speculative Freemasonry, a process well underway by the 1690s
Aram Vartanian, 'Trembley's polyp, La Mettrie, and eighteenth cen
in London, the now standard account is by A. S. Frere, The Grand
tury French materialism', Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 11
Lodge, 1717-1967 ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, printed for the
(1950), pp. 259-86 (52). In general the supporters of Newton's sci
United Grand Lodge of England, 1967)(66). That transition is also
ence never abandoned the attack against the materialists begun during
documented in D. Knoop, G. P. Jones and D. Hamer, Early Masonic
the 1690s, and this is nowhere truer than in the case of Voltaire. Amid Pamphlets (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1945)(67).
the vast bibliography on his writings I would single out certain particu-
One detailed description exists for the transformation of an operative