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Early Free-Thinking Societies in America
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 November 2011
Extract
The rise and fall of early free-thinking societies in America offers a picture of considerable interest. The background is that of eighteenth-century deism—with the neutral tints of unbelief; the high lights are furnished by the fires of the French Revolution, the shadows by the dark fires of reaction. Across this canvas march many figures—rationalists like Franklin and Washington, ardent innovators like Jefferson, and a host of lesser characters—Frenchmen like Genêt and his Jacobins, Anglo-Americans like Paine and Houston, plain Americans like Elihu Palmer, with his Principles of Nature, English reformers like Robert Owen and his sons with their liberalizing communism; and ever opposing this army of radicals, the conservative elements—heads of colleges, leaders of the bar, and, as particular defenders of the faith, the clergy of New England.
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- Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1918
References
1 The general histories of liberal thought fail to do justice to this subject. J. B. Bury, A History of Freedom of Thought, London, 1913, is an excellent short history, but offers only one pertinent reference, regarding political disabilities in Maryland. John Cairns, Unbelief in the 18th Century, Edinburg, 1881, has nothing on the United States. A. S. Farrar, A Critical History of Free Thought, New York, 1879, is extreme in its statements. For example, p. 199 refers to Paine's Age of Reason as “that infidel work by which his name has gained an unenviable notoriety … he gave expression in coarse Saxon words to thoughts which were passing through many hearts.” J. M. Robertson, A Short History of Free Thought, 3d edition, London, 1915, contains a valuable chapter on “Early Free Thought in the United States” from Franklin and Paine and Jefferson, to Palmer, Houston, and Priestley. Too much confidence perhaps is here put in Moncure Conway's Life of Thomas Paine, New York, 1893. Fuller accounts of the beliefs of Franklin and Priestley may be found in my American Philosophy, The Early Schools, New York, 1907, pp. 229–265 and 396–406.
From the conservative American side Robert Baird's Religion in the United States of America, Edinburg, 1844, presents an overdrawn picture: “Infidelity,” he says, “has descended to the lower ranks, the purlieus, where it finds its proper aliment, the ignorant and vicious” (op. cit. p. 650).
2 Timothy Dwight, Triumph of Infidelity, p. 31, New Haven, 1778, dedicated to Voltaire.
3 Travels in New York and New England, 1,372, New Haven, 1821–23.
4 Henry Adams, History of the United States During the First Administration of Thomas Jefferson, p. 78, New York, 1890.
5 Anthony Pasquin, The Hamiltoniad, or An Extinguisher for the Royal Faction of New England, p. 25, Boston, 1804.
6 Ibid., p. 42, note.
7 Priestley, the English chemist, while in Northumberland, Pa., had published an addition to his Observation on the Increase of Infidelity, London, 1776. Despite its title this book was not illiberal. Written by the great Unitarian leader, it attacked “the corrupt system of Christianity” in Europe and added: “But happily, in this country, the Church has no alliance with the State, every person being allowed to worship God in whatever manner he pleases.” Observations, Preface, pp. x, xi.
8 Seth Payson, Proofs of the Real Existence and Dangerous Tendency of Illuminism, p. 53; New Haven, 1802.
9 Jefferson indeed had gone so far as to declare that “it does no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god.” Adams, op. cit., p. 180.
10 Franklin's letter of 6 June, 1753, to Whitefield is very non-committal: “The faith you mention has certainly its use in the world…. The worship of God is a duty…. Your great master thought much less of these outward appearances.” Works (ed. Jared Sparks), 7,75–76, Philadelphia, 1840. The following letter, often quoted, is evidently not authentic. It is not given in Sparks, nor in the Bigelow, Ford, or Smyth editions. In 1764 Franklin is alleged to have written to Whitefield: “That Being, who gave me existence, and through almost three-score years has been continually showering his favours upon me; whose very chastisements have been blessings to me; can I doubt that he loves me? And if he loves me, can I doubt that he will go on to take care of me, not only here but hereafter? This to some may seem presumption; to me it appears the best-grounded hope; hope of the future built on experience and the past.” Franklin, Works.
11 From a photographic copy of the letter restored to the above church by De Witt Roosa, 1887.
12 J. M. Robertson, A Short History of Free Thought, 1,322.
13 Cf. Herndon and Weik, Lincoln, p. 439, Chicago, 1889.
14 Ebenezer Baldwin, Annals of Yale College, p. 145, New Haven, 1838.
15 Dwight, Travels, 1,32.
16 Springfield [Mass.], 1798.
17 Lathrop, Sermon on the Dangers, Etc., pp. 12–17. See also Lathrop's Collected Sermons, Boston, 1812. The following literary rarities may be found in the New York Public Library as selected from the Paul Leicester Ford donation: William Brown, An Oration spoken at Hartford, July 4, 1799. Joseph Lathrop, A Sermon on the Dangers of the Times from Infidelity and Immorality, and Especially from a lately Discovered Conspiracy against Religion and Government, Springfield [Mass.], Sept., 1798. Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon delivered May 9, 1798, the Day recommended for Solemn Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer, Boston, 1798. Same, A Sermon preached at Charlestown, November 29, 1798, with Appendix on French intrigue in the United States, Boston, 1798. Same, A Sermon exhibiting the Present Dangers and Consequent Duties of the Citizens of the United States of America, Charlestown, April 25, 1799, the Day of the National Fast, Charlestown, printed, 1799 [Hartford Reprint]. Elijah Parish, An Oration delivered at Byefield, July 4, 1799. John C. Smith, An Oration pronounced at Sharon, July 4, 1798. William L. Smith, An Oration, 4 July, 1796, Charleston, S.C. David Tappan, A Discourse delivered in the Chapel of Harvard College, June 19, 1798, occasioned by the approaching departure of the Senior Class from the University, Boston, 1798.
18 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon delivered … May 1798 … the Day … for Solemn Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer, pp. 18–21, Boston, 1798. Cf. note, p. 21. Robinson says, “The order of Illuminati took its rise among the Free Masons, but is a vile and pestiferous scion grafted of the stock of simple Masonry.” Morse adds, “Judging from the characters which compose the Masonic Fraternity in America, at the head of which stands the immortal Washington … this leaven has not found its way into our American lodges.”
19 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon delivered … May 1798, etc., pp. 22–24.
Cf. p. 30. “The Declaration and Constitution of the American Society of United Irishmen, published in Philadelphia (since the publication of the first edition of this discourse), is evidently planned after the model of the Illuminated Societies in Europe, and their Test that a social body be considered secret is proof that Illuminism is spreading its undermining and disorganizing influence in this country.”
20 Third edition, Philadelphia, 1798.
21 John Robinson, Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and the Reading Societies, Philadelphia, 1798. Cf. 4th edition, New York, 1798. In both of these editions Robinson appears ignorant of the fact that there was a lodge named in honor of Franklin at Auteuil, in 1778. Cf. N. Deschamps, Les Sociétés Secrètes, 2,11, Paris, 1880.
22 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon preached at Charlestown, November 29, 1798, with an Appendix exhibiting proof of the early existence, progress, and deleterious effects of French intrigue and influence in the United States.
23 The tale of the free distribution of the Age of Reason was given by the New York Evening Post, July 12, 1803. Cf. Moncure D. Conway, Life of Thomas Paine, 2,330 note, New York, 1893. Other writers have repeated this but without going back to Morse.
24 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon preached at Charlestown, November 29, 1798, p. 20, note.
25 Timothy Dwight, Travels in New York and New England, 4,367. New Haven, 1821–22.
26 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon preached at Charlestown, p. 21, note.
27 Cf. A Sermon exhibiting, etc., p. 85, Copy of an Original Document (translation): “At the East of the Lodge of Portsmouth in Virginia, the 17th of the 5th month in the year of True Light 5798, the Respectable French Provincial Lodge, regularly appointed under the distinctive title of Wisdom, 2660 by the Grand Orient of France, to the very respectable French Lodge, the Union, No. 14 constituted by the Grand Orient of New York…. We congratulate you TT ∴ CC ∴ FF ∴ upon the new constitutions or Regulations which you have obtained from the Grand Orient of New York…. With these sentiments we have the favour to be P ∴ L ∴ N ∴ M ∴ Q ∴ V ∴ S ∴ C.
Your very affectionate FF ∴
By order of the very respectable
Provincial Lodge of Wisdom.
GREU,
Secretary.”
Morse adds to this translation a facsimile of what he refers to as a “horrid seal.” This seal consists of such familiar symbols as the skull and crossbones, the sun and moon, and Masonic compasses. It is fortified by this Latin motto, “Amplius homines oculis quam auribus credunt.”
28 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon exhibiting the Present Dangers and Consequent Duties of the Citizens of the United States of America, delivered at Charlestown, April 25, 1799, the Day of the National Fast, pp. iii, 15–46. A second printing of this sermon was made at Hartford, 1799.
29 The History of Phi Beta Kappa is a curious case in point. Founded at Jefferson's Alma Mater, the College of William and Mary, in 1776, a chapter was established at Yale in 1780 and at Harvard in 1781, and at Dartmouth in 1787, upon the joint action of the two former colleges. But as early as 1779, it was petitioned that the Harvard branch be conducted “in a less mysterious manner.” This refers in part to letters in cipher passing between the Alpha Chapter of Virginia and the different branches. In the latter Anti-Masonic agitation, Jefferson's name was brought in, and he was charged with having founded this society and having fostered in it pernicious principles. In 1831 Avery Allen published his treatise on Masonry, containing a Key to the Phi Beta Kappa which criticised the motto of the society as follows: “Philosophy has been the watchword of infidels in every age, and by its learned and enchanting sound many unwary youths have been led to reject the only sure guide to heaven.” The same year the Harvard chapter voted that “no oath or form of secrecy shall be required of any member of the society.” Cf. McBride, John M., “The Phi Beta Kappa Society,” Sewanee Review, April, 1915.Google Scholar
30 Boston, 1798.
31 Jedidiah Morse, A Sermon preached at Charlestown, p. 21.
32 September 9, 1797, 3d edition, Cambridge (England), 1804.
33 Infidel Philosophy, p. 89.
34 Ibid., p. 99.
35 P. 199, Charlestown [Mass.], 1802.
36 Proofs, p. 104.
37 J. J. Monnier, De l'influence attribuée aux Philosophes aux Franes-Maçons et aux illuminées sur la révolution de France, p. ii, Paris, 1822.
38 This opinion was presented in the first American edition of Barruel's Memoirs, Elizabeth-Town, 1799, entitled, The Abbé Barruel—Memoirs illustrating the History of French Jacobinism (Preface of translator, who objects to the London Monthly Review of June, 1798, p. 240).
39 Barruel, Memoirs, IV, p. 209.
40 Ibid., Part II, pp. 212–213.
41 Ibid., Part II, p. 251.
42 A View of the New England Illuminati who are Indefatigably Engaged in Destroying the Religion and Government of the United States under a Feigned Regard for Safety and under an Impious Abuse of True Religion, Philadelphia, 1799. Sabin attributes this pamphlet to John Cosins Ogden, author of A View of Religion in New England. Cf. an annotated edition of Joseph Sabin, A Dictionary of Books relating to America, New York, 1868 (copy at New York Public Library). J. B. McMaster, History of the United States, 2,500, quotes the above from the Aurora of September 6, 1800. Query: Was the Aurora article based on the pamphlet entitled A View of the New England Illuminati?
43 Cf. my American Philosophy, Chapter VI, Virginia and Jefferson, New York, 1907.
44 E. H. Gillet, History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 1,300, 420; 2,144, Philadelphia, 1864.
45 Cf. The Correspondent, New York, 1827, for references to Ohio: 1,308 “Liberal opinions are gaining in the West”; 2,349 “An edition of 5000 copies of Paine's Age of Reason is proposed to meet the demands in Western New York and Ohio.”
46 Cf. Seth Payson's Proofs, p. 248, quoting Mallet de Paris, Destruction of the Helvetic Republic.
47 William B. Cairns, “Development of American Literature from 1815 to 1830,” Bulletin, University of Wisconsin, 1,1–88.
48 Archibald Alexander, Evidences of the Christian Religion, p. 28, Philadelphia, 1836. The above account is based on M. Grégoire, Histoire de la Theophilanthropie; see Quarterly Review for January, 1823.
49 M. D. Conway, Writings of Thomas Paine, 4,234, New York, 1894–96.
50 M. D. Conway, Life of Thomas Paine, 2,426.
51 M. D. Conway, Writings of Thomas Paine, 4,236, note.
52 Or A Development of the Moral Causes of Happiness and Misery Among the Human Species, 1804; London, 1823.
53 Posthumous Pieces, Elihu Palmer…. To Which are prefixed a Memoir of Mr. Palmer by his Friend Mr. John Fellows of New York, p. 6; London, 1826.
54 Fellows, Memoir, p. 7.
55 Ibid., pp. 10, 11.
56 Principles of Nature, p. 114.
57 Ibid., p. 198.
58 Cf. Woodbridge Riley, American Thought From Puritanism to Pragmatism, p. 55, New York, 1915.
59 Palmer, Principles, p. 113.
60 C. B. Todd, Life and Letters of Joel Barlow, pp. 89–90, New York, 1886.
61 Works, ed. C. P. Adams, 10,45, Boston, 1846.
62 Political Miscellany, passim, New York, 1793. In a note to p. 24, Palmer quotes from Morse, the Geographer, this curious passage: “The clergy in Connecticut have hitherto preserved a kind of aristocratieal balance in the very democratical government of the State, which has happily operated as a check upon the overbearing spirit of Republicanism.”
63 J. B. McMaster, History of the People of the United States, 3,147–148, New York, 1886–1913.
64 T. R. Lounsbury, J. F. Cooper, pp. 25–26, Boston, 1893.
65 Society in America, 2,316, New York, 1837.
66 Ibid., pp. 1–5.
67 The Theophilanthropist, containing Critical, Moral, Theological, and Literary Essays … by a Society, New York, 1810.
68 Thomas Paine, Discourse at The Society of the Theophilanthropists, p. 27, Paris (1797).
69 Another ephemeral journal was The Temple of Reason, published by D. Driscol, 1800–02, with articles by Paine and Palmer.
70 Cf. John M. Robertson, A Short History of Free Thought, 2,385, where The Correspondent is wrongly given as The Correspondence. Robertson also implies that The Minerva was an organ of free thought, whereas it announces itself as “A Literary, Entertaining, and Scientific Journal,” edited by Houston, George, New York, 1824–25.Google Scholar
71 The Correspondent, 1,3, 1827–29.
72 Ibid., 2,85; 5,13.
73 Ibid., 3,219.
74 The Correspondent, 3,45.
75 The Correspondent, 4,173.
76 The Correspondent, 1,84; 2,78; 3,241.
77 Ibid., 3,155.
78 Life of Robert Owen by Himself, 1,152, London, 1857.
79 The Correspondent, 5,285.
80 Frank Podmore, Robert Owen, A Biography, 1,9, New York, 1907. Cf. Debate between Robert Owen and the Rev. J. H. Roehnek, p. 7, London, 1837.
81 Podmore, Ibid., 1,20.
82 J. B. McMaster, The Acquisition of the Political, Social, and Industrial Rights of Man in America, p. 91, Cleveland, 1903.
83 Cf. McMaster, The Acquisition of the Political, Social, and Industrial Rights of Man in America, p. 93.
84 R. D. Owen, An Address on the Influence of the Clerical Profession, p. 9, London, 1840.
85 Debate on the Evidences of Christianity, etc., between Robert Owen and Alexander Campbell, p. 30, London, 1839.
86 Mrs. Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans, 2,207, London, 1832.
87 Podmore, Robert Owen, A Biography, 1,343.
88 Ibid., 2,498.
89 Robert Owen, Book of the New Moral World, Part III, p. 56.
90 Debate with Campbell, p. 25.
91 Cf. pamphlet with this title, Leeds, 1840.
92 Cf. William Owen, Diary, 1824–25, Indianapolis, 1900.
93 Knoxville, Tenn., Enquirer, May 16, 1827.
94 Threading My Way, p. 302, London, 1874.
95 No. 1, October, 1829, quoted by J. B. McMaster, The Acquisition of the Political, Social, and Industrial Rights of Man in America, p. 101.
96 James C. Odierne, Opinions on Speculative Masonry, Relative to its Origin, Nature and Tendency, pp. 190–198, Boston, 1830.
97 Augustus Row, Masonic Biography and Dictionary, pp. 278–279, Philadelphia, 1868.
98 Odierne, p. 250.
99 Ibid., p. 123.
100 L. F. Fosdick, The French Blood in America, pp. 388–391, New York, 1911.
101 Odierne, p. 52.
102 Odierne, passim.
103 Cf. Letters on the Masonic Institution, Boston, 1847.
104 Letter of June 29, 1829, by Ethan Smith, Dissertation on the Prophecies, second edition, p. 176.
105 Odierne, p. 50.
106 See my article “La philosophie française en Amérique” in the Revue Philosophique, November, 1917.
107 Cf. R. D. Owen, Address on Free Enquiry [and] Aphorisms by Thomas Jefferson, pp. 10–12, London, [n. d.].