Swift and the World-Makers

Author(s): Ernest Tuveson

Source: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Jan., 1950), pp. 54-74
Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
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SWIFT AND THE WORLD-MAKERS

BY ERNEST TuvEsoN
Duringthedecade of the 1690's in England thecharacteristics
of the"modern" worldwerebeatenout,as on anvils,in a series
controversies
about various subjectsin the realm
of hotly-fought
of knowledge. Two of thesewere the battleof the ancientsand
of religionand scienceforeshadowing
the
moderns,and a conflict
later upheavals over Darwinism. It is the connectionof these
particularcontroversieswhichformsthe subject of this paper,
Swift,appropriatelyenough,beingthepointof contact.
The essay of Templethat startedthe great to-doin England
aboutancientsand modernsopens withan indulgentwonderthat
two learnedworks,veryfinelywritten"in theirseveral Kinds,"
thatmodshouldhave fallenintothecommonerrorofmaintainiing
ernlearningand literatureare preferableto theancient.' One of
theseworks,he says, was "writ by a Divine,and the otherby a
Gentleman." The latter,of course,was Fontenelle;the former,
ThomasBurnet,was soonto becomea stormcenterand thesymbol
of a movementwhichhad muchto do withthe formulation
of a
new viewpointin several fields. He does not by name figurein
The BattleoftheBooks; but,as I hopeto show,he and otherrepresentativesof the movementwhichhe inspiredfigurein Swift's
writingas neitherdivinesnorgentlemen;and an understanding
of
theissues involvedmaygiveus a clearerinsightintoSwift'smind.
In 1681-89,Dr. Thomas Burnet,thenMaster of the Charterhouse,publisheda workwhichhe called Telluris Theoria Sacra.2
He had been the studentof Tillotsonand of Cudworth,the associate of HenryMore,an enthusiasticdevoteeof the workof the
Royal Society,and a disciple of Descartes. Out of this backgroundcame perhapsthe most ambitiousattemptof the timeto
"reconcile" religionand science. It intendedto implement
with
actual, detailedaccountsof the earth's historythe physico-theo' "An Essay upon the Ancient and Modern Learning," in The Works of Sir
William Temple,Bart. (London, 1740), I, 151.
2 The firstvolume,dealing withParadise and with the
Deluge, appeared in the
formeryear; the last one, relatingto the burningof the earth and the Millennium,
in thelatter. The Theoryof theEarth, an English versionby Burnet,was published
1684-90.
54

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SWIFT

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logical theories about the harmony of theology and the new philosophy which had already become commonplaces in the writings
of More, Boyle, Sprat, Glanvill, and others.3 The Theoria undertook to trace the natural historyof the earth as the counterpartthe parallel plot-of the moral historyof mankind. The creation,
the deluge, and the final consumptionby fireof the present earth
are the leading events in God's great drama, as Burnet calls it;
and all are explained, largely in Cartesian terms,by the operation
of natural forces-such as gravity and the law of motion. Although he grants that God originally created matter and established the law of motion,he assumes that the Mosaic account refers only to the sublunary world, which assumed shape from a
primitive fluid chaos solely through operation of natural forces.
The antediluvian earth was a paradise in its inhabitableparts, for
therewas no obliquityof the eclipticand hence no variation of seasons, the surface of the globe being perfectlysmooth and the soil
incrediblyfertile. The great catastrophe of the plot was the flood,
which was caused by a cracking of the earth's surface, so that
parts sank into a subterranean"abyss" of waters; when the flood
was over, Noah and his family were left to begin all over again,
under conditions of "hard"i primitivism,in a world that was now
become a "ruin," defaced by mountains,sufferingfrom seasonal
variations of temperature, etc. The deluge itself came about
throughno divine intervention,but only the natural and inescapable sequence of physical events. In time,again by the operation
of physical forces, the earth will be set on fire,somethinglike the
Stoic rebirthof nature will take place, and a renovated earth will
rise like the phoenix.
This naturalistic account of sacred history made a great impression in its day.4 "Christian geology" was born. Scientists
of reputation paid Burnet the tribute of imitation,for, although
they rejected his specific"scientific" explanations, they accepted
generally his basic assumptions as to the place of natural law in
3Boyle says that the Christian doctrineand the "corpuscularian" or atomic
philosophyis each an "epicycle" of the "great and universal systemof God's contrivances,and makes but a part of the more general theoryof things,knowableby
the lightof nature,improvedby the informationof the scriptures;"each is part of
the "universalhypothesis." Works (London, 1772), IV, 18.
4Among the eminentmen who showed deep interestin Burnet's Theory were
Boyle, Locke, Addison, Steele, Dennis, and Evelyn.

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ERNEST

TUVESON

carryingout the will of Providence. The most importantnew

theoryofthiskindwas thatofWilliamWhiston,clergyman-mathematician,the successorto Newtonas Lucasian professorat Cambridge.' Where Burnet had been Cartesian, Whistonwas a New-

tonian,and muchinfluenced
by the earlyworksof Halley on the
orbitsof comets. Halley, moreover,had attributedto cometsa
large place in the carryingout of the divineplan, as he had explainedin a paper read to theRoyal Societyin 1694.6 If thesuggestioncamefromHalley,however,it was Whiston's workingout
theidea in detail,connecting
it also withtheMillennium
insteadof
it to the deluge (as Halley had done), thatgot the atrestricting
tentionofthecommonman. Whiston,indeed,was something
of a
Huxleyto Newtonand Halley; and his sensationalexplanationsof
thecreation,deluge,and Millennium
in termsofcometswenta long
wayto popularizethenewcelestialmechanics.Thus,whilecomets
lost the aura of mysterywhichhad surroundedthemwhenthey
had been consideredas supernaturalomensof dire events,they
gainedan awesomereputationas thepreappointedinstruments
of
eschatology.
Whistonreasoned that the earth was originallythe "atmosphere" of a comet. Each "day" of thecreationstoryis actually
a year; the wholeaccountis a kind of diary,relatingthe events
as theymighthave appearedto an observeron thespotratherthan
givinga true "philosophic" description. Whiston,like Burnet,
thoughtthe earthtook shape solelyas the resultof gravitation;
and since,followingBentley'sBoyle lectures,he thoughtgravitation a continuingdirectwork of God, he felt confident
that his
theorywouldbe serviceableto religion.7 Muchof the water for
5A New Theoryof the Earth (published 1696; quotationsare fromthe 4th ed.
[London, 1725].) Whiston, a life-long enthusiast about scientificideas of the
Millennium,is a link betweenseventeenth-century
agitationson the subject and the
eighteenth-century
theorieswhichinfluencedtheRomantics.
6 See Marian's Eloge de M. Halley, quoted in Correspondenceand Papers of
Edmond Halley, ed. E. F. MacPike (Oxford,1932), 25.
7 See Bentley's Works (London, 1838), III, 88. That gravityis an "immediate
fiat and fingerof God" was widely accepted by the physico-theologians,
although
Newtoncautiouslyrefusedto say morethan thatit cannotbe innate in matter(Ibid.,
p. 212). The effectof such an idea is shownby Whiston,who in effectdestroysthe
meaningof "miracle" by assertingthat even the falling of a stone ought "to be
esteem'da supernaturaleffect,or a Miracle." New Theory,ed. cit., 293. Thus the
natural absorbs the supernatural.

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SWIFT

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the deluge was furnishedby an obliging comet,most probably the

one we call "Halley's."
The Millenniumis to be inaugurated by
the fireresultingfromthe collision of a comet-no doubt the same
one, on a returnvisit-with the earth. But, it is to be noted, God
has not sent the comets on special missions to performmiraculous
acts; none ever deviates fromits set orbit. Whiston's comets appear as ubiquitous and almost as intelligentas angels had been in
earlier cosmological systems.8
It is not the detailed theories, as pseudo-science, of these
"tworld-makers"who devised histories of the planet from their
armchairs,but their preconceptionsabout the nature of the physical and spiritual worlds that concernus. The vision of the physical, mathematicaluniverse dominates their thinking. It is nobler,
they assert, as do the physico-theologiansin general, for God to
act throughgreat immutable laws than to intervene like a fussy
schoolmaster on every petty occasion. This confidenceis reinforced by the new sense of the insignificanceof this earth and consequentlyof mankindin the vast expanse of the universe,filledas
it probably is withinfinitespace in whichthere is an infinitenumber of inhabitedworlds.9 Burnet remarks:
if we wouldhave a fair viewand rightapprehensions
of NaturalProvi.
dence,we mustnotcut thechainsof it tooshort,by havingrecourse,
withoutnecessity,
eitherto theFirstCause,in explainingtheOriginsofthings,
or to Miracles,in explainingparticulareffects.10
The world of these theorists is like that of the "great shew,
resemblingan Opera" described by Fontenelle.1" The drama of
human historygoes on against the backgroundof scenes produced
by the great "Wheels and Weights" of the mechanical universe;
and the divine Dramatist is also the Stage Manager who, however,
unlike merelyhuman ones, need not constantlyoversee his creations; once having made the wheels and weights in certain forms
and given themappropriate motion,He may be sure that theywill
of themselves produce the desired effectsat the exactly correct
8Burnet thoughta special providencewas necessary to save the Ark from
destruction.Whiston,withgreatlabor,managesto devisean explanationthat makes
directintervention
unnecessaryeven here.
9 See theNew Theory,439.
10 Theory,Part I, 314 (quotations fromthe 1st ed., Burnet's English version).
11A Discourse of the Plurality of Worlds, tr. Sir W. D. Knight (Dublin,
1687), 5.

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ERNEST

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moment. He need only give the whole automaton a kind of sustaining energy,like the electric currentof a motor,withoutwhich
the wheels would not only stop but fall into a chaos of their component atoms. When we say the universe of the Enlightenment
was a clockworkone, we should rememberthat it also produced
this series of stage effects,and that there was a plot behind it.
The eighteenth-century
enthusiasm for progress assumes such a
conception.
But how,one may well ask, were such ideas to be reconciledwith
the literal sense of Scripture? The telluristsaccepted the historical accuracy of the general Biblical account,so far as the events of
human historyare concerned; that account was still considered to
be the most authoritative of all. But natural history was a differentmatter. It was agreed that Moses was giving,not an accurate and "philosophic" but merely an educational account of the
origin of the universe, a simple and "fabulous" tale, adapted to
the weak apprehensions of the ignorant Hebrew tribes. We may
appeal to anybody,says Whiston, whetherScripture
doesnotusuallyspeakas an honestand inquisitiveCountryman,
whono
moredoubtedof the HeavenlyBodies,thanof theCloudsappertaining
to
theEarth,ratherthanas a newAstronomer,
whoknewthemto be vastly
distantfrom,and to have nothingin a peculiarmannerto do withthe
same.12

Burnet writes that if we are to read Revelation correctly,we must

test it by "true principles" of philosophy-viz., that "God made
all thingsin Number,Weight and Measure, which are Geometrical
and Mechanical principles."'3 A new era is under way when a
serious defenderof Christianitysays "there is a great difference
betwixt Scripture with Philosophy on its side, and Scripture with
Philosophy against it."'" Burnet makes clear that it is only the
formerwhich we can accept in any sense in the new age of "philosophy."
Such conceptionsof Scriptural interpretationmust be based on
an idea as to progress of knowledge. How is it that we can correct
the traditional anthropomorphiccreation story and smile indulgently with Moses, we now being in on his august secret, which
previous generations failed to understand? The new philosophy
12
13
14

New Theory,
21.

Theory,316.
A Review of the Theory of the Earth, in the Theory,ed. cit., 46.

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is the answer; but it is no accidental or fortuitous development.

We are fortunate enough to live in the age set by God for the
great enlightenment. This religious faith, a concept almost of
"tprogressiverevelation," was by no means new in the 1690's and
neitherBurnet nor Whiston has any doubt about it:
'Tis reasonableto suppose,thatthereis a Providencein the conductof
Knowledge;as well as of otheraffairson the earth; and thatit was not
ofNatureand Providenceshouldbe plainly
design'dthatall themysteries
and clearlyunderstood
all the Ages of the World,but that
throughout
thereis an Orderestablisht
forthisas forotherthings,and certainPeriods
and seasons... 15
Thosegreaterdegreesof Knowledgewhichthe Providenceof God has in
thisAge afforded
in thepresent,
us, makesuchOpinionsintolerable
which
werenotso in past Centuries.16
The importantpioneer naturalist and student of fossils, John
Woodward, had (in 1695) advanced yet another theory of the
earth, with a compromise which was to become popular."7 He
granted that God had broughtthe deluge upon the earth by special
intervention; but the means He used to dissolve the earth were
mechanical. This solution of the dilemma,which went back to the
sixteenthcentury,had a positivelyorthodoxring. The deluge was
attributedto great floods of water derived by special providence
from the abyss, which so thoroughlyconfused and dissolved the
surface layer of the earth that its aspect was entirely changed.
The strata of the earth were deposited when the dissolved mass
settled, the heaviest material first,then the next heaviest, etc.
What were to become fossils of marine animals were washed far
inland.'8

Great interestwas shown in these theories,for they combined

the themes of popularized science and of religion. Perhaps no
means of spreading the ideas of the new science was more popular
than this "philosophic" revising of Scripture. At first,Burnet's
great undertakingwas received with general approbation as well

15 Burnet's Theory,Part I, 286-87. The backgroundof this conceptof progress

will formpart of a studyof Burnet's Theoryon whichthe author of this article is
engaged. This studywill also attemptto show that Burnet is the principal source
for the Anglicantheoriesof progressdescribedby R. S. Crane in "Anglican Apologeties and the Idea of Progress,1699-1745," MlIP,31 (1934), 273-306 and 349-82.
16 Whiston's New Theory,62.
'17An Essay towardsa Natural History of the Earth (3d ed., London, 1723).
18 Ibid., 186.

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TUVESON

as interest,althougha fewdissentingvoices mightbe heard. It

appeared thatsciencehad, as Boyle hoped,at last becomethe associateof religion. Cartesianismhad notyetbeen discreditedas
science,and Burnet's adoption of it had an impressiveeffect.
Both Burnetand Whistonwere sincerelyorthodoxaccordingto
theirlights,and theirpioushopewas to confoundthe" atheist"by
provingthatan intelligent
man,evena fellowoftheRoyal Society,
could comfortably
believein the Scriptures,rightlyunderstood;
of Scriptureshave
for,as Whistonsays,theusual interpretations
attributedto God suchthings" as theirplainestReason couldnot
thinkcompatibleto a wise Man, muchless to theAll-wiseGod."'I9
BothBurnetand Whistondisclaimedanyintention
of dealingwith
moraltheology. In short,thegreat Christiantraditionof man's
historyand natureappearedto have beenvindicatedaccordingto
the latest Cartesianor Newtoniantheories,whicheverone preferred.
A strongreactionagainst Burnet's hypothesissoon set in.
This reactionwas greatlyintensified
by his publication,
in 1692,of
a treatise entitledArchaeologiaePhilosophicae; sive Doetrina
Antiquade RerumOriginibus. Its purposewas to bolsterup the
theoryby showing,in accordancewithan old tradition,that the
ideas oftheantediluvianworldand ofits downfallwerepreserved,
in corruptedform,amongtheancients.20In addition,Burnetproceededto re-examine,
accordingto his principleof testingScripture by "philosophy,"the wholeaccountof creation. Probably
thePhilonictraditionwhichincludedall theeventsdown
following
throughthe expulsionfromthe garden of Eden in the creation
withthe difficulties
story,Burnetwas confronted
involvedin acof themakingof manand of his careerbeceptingthedescription
foretheFall. He was carriedbeyondnaturalhistory,and found
himselfinvolved,contraryto his earlierprogram,in moraltheology. He declaredthatno philosophicman couldacceptthe story
of man's makingand of his Fall as literallytrue. The storywas
made up by Moses, mostlikely,to frightena childish,primitive
peopleintoobedienceto themoralcode promulgated
by the great
legislator.2' It is, he says,incongruous
thatthedivineArchitect's
65.
For an example of this concept,see Stillingfleet'sOriginesSacrae (4th ed.,
London,1675), 10ff.
21 Archaeologiae,Foxton translation
(London, 1729), I, 26.
19 Ibid.,

20

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sublimework should be ruined in a "few Hours by so silly a beast

as a Serpent;" and he is unable, because of the "philosophic" and
literal temper of this age, to find elaborate "moral" and "spiritual" allegories underlyingthe story, as previous commentators
fromPhilo to Henry More had done. Not that Burnet rejected the
concept of degeneration in the human race, and the necessity for
redemption; but he is a kind of Pelagian, carrying to an extreme
tendencies which had for a long time been apparent in the Cambridge Platonists and the Latitudinarians, to say nothingof other
theologians outside his immediatetradition. That is to say, man's
moral degenerationis not a curse upon the race; there is no " original sin" transmittedby traductionor by contact of the soul with
the degrading body. The true degeneration of mankind is to be
found in the gradual increase of evil habits and customs, and is
somethinglike the moral decay of nations because of "luxury" described by the classical historians. The function of religion is
that of education and government,to set right man's milieu and
to point out to him the path of righteousnessthat he may use his
free will to choose the good.
This denial of original sin broughtinto the spotlightthe latent
issue involved in the whole Theory-its tendencyto deny the place
of the supernatural and the spiritual as such in the world. Matters
were made no better when, in 1693, the notorious deist Charles
Blount published The Oracles of Reason, which included the chapters of the Archaeologiae dealing with the Fall. This unwelcome
support was the finalblow; and as a biographer delicately puts it,
it was judged proper,in that critical Season, that Dr. Burnet
should retirefromhis Post of Clerk of the Closet to his Majesty."22
His prospects for promotionto a bishopric vanished.
One mighthastily conclude that Burnet was a deist; and certainly the frequent charges that his Theory comfortedthe deists
are well founded. Yet, such is the complexityof transitionsin the
history of thought,he was far from accepting deistic ideas. He
firmlybelieved in the resurrectionof the body,whichhe explained
"philosophically;" he was a kind of Trinitarian; he genuinelyaccepted most of the Scriptures as Revelation; and a curious aura of
personal Providence hovers over his mechanical universe. Natural law is never that alone, but the instrumentof a Providential
22

Biographicalsketchin the 7th ed. of the Theory (London, 1759), xxvi.

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TUVESON

purpose, of an upward and purifyingmovement; and this is true

of his fellow tellurists. It is not too much to suggest that they
are one means by which a teleological character, a kind of disguised Providence, becomes firmlyattached in the minds of later
generations to "scientificlaw.9"
That weather vane of the decade, Dunton's "Athenian Society," which had Sir William Temple as patron and Swift as contributorand admirer,indicates the change in opinion.23 In May,
1691, the Athenian Mercury defended the Theory against the allegations of "a certain Reverend person" who found "little less
than Heresy in 't; 9X2 and in July of the same year, this publication
again commendsBurnet.25 But the supplementof the fourthvolume of the Athenian OraCle,in a long review of the Archaeologiae,
gives quite another impression. The second part of Burnet's
treatise (which deals with the Fall) is found to be "rais'd upon
the Ruins of eternal Reason and Religion." The theory itself
now is discovered to be heretical-" agreeable enough and very
prettyfor an Hypothesis, only we must lay Scripture by if we believe one Tittle of it.' 26
These two points-that the new world- and flood-makingtheories are unscriptural,and that they are mere homespun "hypotheses" which go far beyond the possible limits of human experience and proof,and meddle with matters upon which we can have
no reliable opinions except those God has given us-are the principal points of the campaigners against the theories. Erasmus
Warren, for example, points the danger of "abusing" philosophy,
"which grows so fast and high in noble Improvements," by attributing everythingto secondary causes so as to exclude miracles
from the world.2 Philosophical explanations must be measured
by the truththat came down from above.28 Burnet has advanced
his hypothesis too confidently,outrunninghis evidence.29 Thus
was confirmedthe widely held suspicion that the new philosophy
See H. R. Steeves, " 'The Athenian Virtuosi' and 'The Athenian Society,"
MLR (1932), 363ff.
24
The Athenian Gazette: or Casuistical Mercury,I, Number29, Question 9.
25AthenianMercury,II, Number18, Question12.
26
3d ed. (London, 1728), IV, 430.
27 Geologia (London, 1690)t 29.
28Ibid., 43.
29
Ibid., 356.
23

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would adversely affectreligion-despite the strong assertions to

the contrarywhichdefendersof the Royal Society had consistently
made.
Burnet, as has been remarked,was inspired by Descartes' cosmic hypothesis.30 But, some said, Descartes had gone far beyond
what human reason can do; he had raised a reckless guess to the
level of a dogmatic cosmogony. Perhaps one reason for the extreme positivism which Newton finallyexpressed in the Opttcksis
to be found in the world-makers' movementand the reaction which
it provoked.31 This attitude is shown in the ablest attack on Burnet and Whiston made in the period. James Keill, an eminent
mathematician,an associate and defenderof Newton,asserts that
we must take into account "final" (or theological) causes as well
as efficient
ones; we can, by observationand mathematicalanalysis,
exactly determinethe nature of certain laws currentlyoperating
withinour experience; but the beginningand end, and the miraculous dispensations of God in the universe are not to be measured by
our deduction; they are within the scope of authoritative revelation. It is notable that the objection to Burnet and Whiston is
associated withthe growingNewtonian reaction against Descartes,
who is accused of being irreligious as well as unscientific. This
is to become a familiar note in Temple, Swift, and others who are
not Newtonians. Descartes has encouraged
thispresumptuous
pridein the Philosophers,
thattheythinktheyunderstand all the worksof Nature,and are able to give a good accountof
them.... He was the firstworld-maker
this Centuryproduced,for he
supposesthat God at the beginningcreatedonly a certainquantityof
matter,and motion,and fromthencehe endeavorsto shew,how,by the
necessarylaw of Mechanisme,
withoutany extraordinary
concurrence
of
theDivinePower,theworldand all thatthereinis mighthave beenproduced.32

All this echoes a parallel attack being carried on in France.

Father Gabriel Daniel's Voyage du mo?ndede Descartes (1690),
takes as its special point of satire Descartes' vaunted "vastness
See Parts III and IV of The Principles of Philosophy.
Newton's attitude towards hypotheses,see Marjorie Nicolson, Newton
Demands theMuse (Princeton,1946), 74; and E. A. Burtt,The MetaphysicalFoundations of ModernPhysical Science (New York, 1932), 220ff.
32 An Examinationof Dr. Burnet's Theoryof theEarth; withsome Remarkson
Mr. Whistons New Theory of the Earth (London, 2d ed., 1734), 41ff. The first
editionis dated 1698.
30

31

On

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of Capacity, and extentof Genius, wherebyhe could frame an intire System of the World."33 In the world of Descartes " There is
neithergood Christian nor good Catholickthere,since theytamper
with Principles too Delicate and Dangerous, in Matters relating to
The satire shows what these delicate principles are.
Religion."4
Descartes boasts that he can make a universe in two hours, given
the materials, and, assisted by Father Mersenne,he sets to work,
soon whipping up vortices, stars, and planets-all of which,however, are invisible except to faithful Cartesians!3 That this attack on Descartes as thehead of system-makersfell in withan English movementis indicated not only by the parallel with Keill, but
also by the possibility that Swift's description of the moderns'
bowmen,who shot their arrows beyond the atmosphere,never to
fall down again but to turninto meteorsor stars, was derived from
Daniel.36

In the year 1697, Robert St. Clair, who appears to have been
one of Boyle's research assistants, makes the same point, and introduces an image which is worthyof close attention:
. . . to make the whole firstchapter of Genesis,whereinthe Spirit of God
does e composito,give an account of the Creation false, is a piece of Pre-

33A Voyage to the World of Cartesius (London, 1692), Sig. A3r andv. There
was a second English edition in 1694. Burnet in general followed Boyle's modification of Descartes, wherebyfinal causes were consideredin natural philosophy;
but therewas a vaguenessin Boyle's statementas to what finalcauses mightinclude,
and how they could be ascertained. The telluristcontroversyhelped to bring this
problemintofocus. See The Worksof theHonourableRobertBoyle (London, 1772),
V, 401, 444.
34 Op. cit., 3-4.
35

Ibid.,207ff.

Battle of the Books, in Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, ed; Davis, I, 152.
The leaders of the bowmen,Descartes,Gassendi,and Hobbes, can shoot theirarrows
beyond the atmosphere. Daniel points out that, "According to the new System,
the Sun as far out of Gun-shotof the Earth as he is, could not warrant his own
Security,in case thereshould be a People that inrag'd at the heat and scorchingof
his Rays, should sometimejoyn to give him an innumberableflightof Arrows."
Op. cit., 288. The reason is that the arrows would be caught by the vortex of the
sun, and pulled by the second elementinto the centerof that star. So Father Mersenne assures Descartes that, on one occasion when he had discharged a musket
perpendicularlytowardsthe zenith,the bullet nevercame down again; "for it must
have infalliblybeen carried to the Sun." The fear of the Laputans that the sun
would becomeencrustedwithits effluviaprobablyis based on the Cartesian theory
thatstarslost theirvorticesand were"degraded"to planets because of theformation
of a thick layer of "scurf" on their surfaces. Burnet based his cosmogonyon
this idea.
36

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sumptionfew have been guilty of besides our Theorist....

65
If in this my

I shallnot care forthe dissmallendeavour,I mayfindyourPatrociny,

pleasureofthesemenofEphesus,whosetradeit is to makeshrinesto this
I meanwhoin theirClosetsmake
Philosophy,
theirDiana of Hypothetical
Systemsof the World,prescribeLaw to Nature,withoutever consulting
who (to use theNobleLordVerulam's
and Experience,
herby Observation
words)likethe Spider,withgreatlabour,spin a curiousCob-webout of
theirBrains,thatis goodfornothingbut to be sweptdown,whichtho'
has no betterrightto thatvenerable
it has a greatshewofreason,in effect,
Title,thanthe fanciesof thosewhoare said to makeWindmillsin their
Head.37
The association of referencesin this passage contains in epitome
muchof the intellectualhistoryof the immediatelyprecedingyears.
In 1695, there was published a collection of works by Blount, including his Great Is Diana of the Ephesians, a thinlyveiled attack
on the Christian clergy,and The Oracles of Reason. Now, as has
been noted, the Oracles included a translation of two chapters
fromBurnet's Archaeologiae, as well as an appendix to this work
which Blount singled out for special praise. In it, Burnet, probably drawing upon that storehouse of ethnologicallore, Bernier's
Voyages, had told of a "Brachmin" legend of a cosmic spider-a
storywhichhe took to be a corruptedformof the ancient tradition
about the great cycle of the creation and consummation of the
world:
of the Ancients,upon the
They likewisePhilosophizeafterthe mnanner
withits End and Destruction;forthey
CreationoftheUniverse,together
explainthesethingsby the Effluxor Emanationof all thingsfromGod,
Spider
Way. For theyfeigna certainimmense
and by theirMythological
to be thefirstCause of all Things,and thatshe,withtheMattershe exhaustedout of herownBowels,spunthewebof thiswholeUniverse,and
Art; whilstshe her selfin the
thendisposedof it witha mostwonderful
meantimesittingon top of herWorkfeels,rules,and governstheMotion
of each Part.38
St. Clair, then,assumes that an informedreader will associate the
Blount-Gildondeistic group, the world-makers' spinning out universes, and Bacon's symbol of hypotheticalphilosophy.
Even Keill associates the controversywith the debate of an37 The AbyssinianPhilosophy Confuted: or, TellutrisTheoria Neither Sacred,
nor Agreeable to Reason (London, 1697), 89.
38 The Oracles of Reason, in The Miscellaneous Works of Charles Blount, Esq.
(London, 1695), 80.

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cients and moderns. That world-making,with consequent assumption of superiorityof the present-day thinkersover those of antiquity,is a modern phenomenon,is pointed out:
... till thisAge of World-makers,
Christianshave alwaysthoughtthem
[Creationand thedeluge]suchworks,as couldneverbe producedby the
laws of Natureand Mechanism.
He remarks that Moses himself was the "most ancient Writer
[who] is now extant,and the only one who gives us an account of
the state and condition of the Primitive World."39 Aside from
divine inspiration,his very antiquityis a guarantee of his accuracy,
inasmuch as he lived in a time close to the remakingof the world
after the deluge. It would appear, moreover,that Descartes and
Aristotle were considered as the traditionallyopposed antagonists
(as they are in the Battle of the Books) and that when the reputation of one went down, the other,per contra, went up. So Keill,
the partisan of the new philosophy,takes Burnet to task for his
"rude" treatmentof Aristotle,who has "been honoured with the
general commendationsof all the Learned thro' so many Ages."40
All this, of course, would be grist for the mill of a man who
agreed with Sir William Temple's denunciationof the modern:
But, God be thanked,his Pride is greaterthanhis Ignorance;and what
he wantsin Knowledge,
he suppliesby Sufficiency.
. .. His ownReasonis
the certainMeasureof Truth,his own Knowledge,of whatis possiblein
Nature,. . . theModernScholars,becausetheyhavefora HundredYears
past learnedtheirLessonprettywell,are muchmoreknowingthan the
AncientstheirMasters.41
There is sufficient
evidence as to Swift's preoccupationwith the
the world-makers. Chapter XV of the Memoirs of Scriblerus, that
monumentof the Swift-Popegroup,if not entirelyof Swifthimself,
indicates that the activities of the world-makerswere an object of
the Scriblerians' satire. Scriblerus is described as the "Prodigy
of our Age," and is similar to those worshippers of hypothetical
philosophydescribed by St. Clair
whomaywell be called,The Philosopherof UltimateCauses,since,by a
Sagacitypeculiartohimself,
he hathdiscover'dEffects
in theirveryCause;
39 Op. cit.,222. This was thetraditionaland orthodoxopinion. One of Burnet's
heresieswas his assertionthat Moses could not be the mostancientwriter.
40Ibid.,
41

308.

Ed. cit. I, 165.

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67

or Observations,
and withoutthe trivialhelpsof Experiments,
hathbeen
theInventorof mostof the modernSystemsand Hypotheses.42
Halley is satirized,as are, indirectly,the world-makershe inspired:
To him [Scriblerus] we owe all the observationson the Parallax of the

Pole-star,and all the new Theoriesof the Deluge.

In this chapter Descartes appears as the one who "first taught
the right use sometimes of the Fuga Vacui, and sometimes the
Materia Subtilis, in resolving the grand Phenomena of Nature."
It may be Whiston who had a project of "discovering the
Longitude, by Bomb-Vessels, and of increasing the Trade-Wind
by vast plantations of Reeds and Sedges." "IA Mechanical Explication of the Formation of the Universe, according to the Epicurean Hypothesis" is aimed, no doubt, at the world-makersamong
others,for in themopponents saw the most conspicuous revival of
Epicurus' fortuitousconcourse of atoms.43 "A Calculation of the
proportionin which the Fluids of the Earth decrease, and of the
period in which they will be totally exhausted" refers to the tellurists' theorythat the earth is dryingout preparatory to the final
conflagration."4 The "Tide-Tables, for a Comet, that is to approximate towards the Earth" clearly applies to Halley's and
Whiston's theories. The project of the "Menstruum to dissolve
the Stone, made of Dr. Woodward's UniversalDeluge-water"is
directed at Woodward's belief that the surface of the earth was
wholly dissolved in the deluge, and that geological strata are the
result of the settlingdown of dissolved particles. Objectors questionedwhetherany floodof 150 days' durationcould have produced
any such effect.
An outgrowthof this part of the Scriblerian project probably
was the publication in 1732 of A True and Faithful Narrative of
What Passed in London. Swift here satirizes Whiston as a Millenarian; the world-makerswere also world-enders. The prophet42
The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., ed. Chalmers(London, 1806), VI, 174.
Burnet'IsTheory (1697 ed., annotated in Swift's handwriting),and Woodward's
Naturalis Historia Telluris were in Swift's library.
43 Keill, for example,asks how, since Burnet derivesthe formationof the earth
"purely fromnatural causes, and the necessaryLaws of Mechanism,"his "opinion
differsfromthat of the Epicurean." Op. cit., 188.
44 Burnetthought
a great droughtwouldprepare theworldfor thefire. William
Worthingtonthinksthe "dryingup of the earth ... will, by degrees,renderit more
combustible." The Scripture-Theoryof the Earth (London, 1773), 427.

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mathematician is represented as warning the citizens that "tomorrow Morning five Minutes after Five the Truth will be Evident;" the comet will appear, and all must prepare for "the universal Change." The comet appears on schedule to the minute,
and by noon "IThe belief was universal that the day of judgment
was at hand."'5 The great influenceof the combined respect for
mathematicalpronouncementand for the Millenarian agitation is
shown by the tremendouseffectthis event has on all groups, even
those who had been notorious for deism or worse, and so doubted
the Millennium. There are, so far as this paper is concerned,several points to the satire. There is the presumptuouspride of men
who believe that, by the new techniques of mathematical physics,
they can see into God's secret plans; "no man knoweththe hour,"
the Scriptures warn, and yet the assumption that Halley's comet
is to be the instrumentof divine action would make it possible for
men to foretellthe time and manner of the great transfiguration.
Again, the doctrine of the earthlyMillennium,which had been revived about the turn of the century,by groups whom Swift disliked-the Puritans, and the Cambridge Platonists who were forerunnersof the physico-theologians-was in itself a modernnotion;
for, although chiliastic views had been held by several of the Fathers,the belief in the restorationof the earthlyparadise had fallen into disrepute by the time of Augustine, and, except for the
Anabaptists, no more had been heard of it until it experienced a
sudden revival in Swift's own century. The combination of the
doctrinewith scientificideas and with faith in progress had given
it prestige, and it should not be regarded merely as a manifestation of the lunatic fringe; it was one of the importantideas of the
period. As a practical ecclesiastical statesman, Swift was aware
of the danger whichlay in such theories. Afterthe hour predicted
by Whiston for the end of the present world had come and gone
without untoward event, Swift notes "that Mr. Woolston advertis'd, in thatvery Saturday's Evening-Post,a new Treatise against
the Miracles of our Savior; " and the " total Darkness, that
hitherto us'd to terrify,now comfortedevery Free-thinker and
Atheist."'6 An orgy of dissipation sets in. The condition of the
world, in short, is even worse than it was before the prophecy,
whichhad caused a false reform. Extravagant religious fantasies,
45Prose Works of JonathanSwift, ed. Temple Scott (London, 1898), IV, 278.

461Ibid..,285.

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even those apparently based on scientificpremises, are no better

than enthusiasmof the worst type. They underminethe salutary
faith in real miracles on which sound religion stands.
The rationalizingdivines and the physico-theologiansare brackn's Discourse of
eted with the out-and-outdeists in Mr. C
Free Thinking,Put into Plain English, for the Use of the Poor.
More, Tillotson, and Whiston are heroes of the freethinkers.47
Antagonismto the telluristsin part explains Swift's consistent
aversion to system-makers.48The combination of enthusiasm,
devisers of systems, and the suggestion of materialistic atheism
in The Tale of a Tub is significant:
is a Tinctureof this Vapour,whichthe world
Of suchgreatEmolument,
calls Madness,that withoutits Help, the Worldwould not only be deprivedof thosetwo greatBlessings,Conquestsand Systems,but evenall
Mankindwould unhappilybe reducedto the same beliefin ThingsInvisible.49
"Monsieur Des Cartes" as in the anti-telluristmaterial is the master of the system-makers,and chief devil.
The fable of the spider and the bee turns against the moderns
their own figureof the cobweb,usually aimed at the Aristotelians
and connected with the defense of progress of knowledge.50 As
has been pointed out, the precedent for this reversal comes from
47Prose Works,ed. Temple Scott,ed. cit.,III, 310.
were interchangeableterms. Thus Gold48World-makersand system-makers
smith,in a discussion of the cosmogoniestreated of here, mentionsBuffonwho,
as Burnet or Whiston." A History of the
he says, is "as much a system-maker
Earth and AnimatedNature (London and Edinburgh,1853), I, 70.
49Prose Works,ed. Davis, I, 107.
50 Boyle, for instance,gives a detailed account of the man who refuses to use
his facultiesto observethe universe,as comparableto a spider in a palace living
ignorantof all the otherrooms in the building,making it "her whole business by
intrappingof flies,to continuean useless life." Works,op. cit., II, 10. He is expanding Bacon's picture of abstract reasoners who "resemblespiders, who make
cobwebsout of theirsubstance,"in contrastto the bee. Novum Organum,xcv (The
Philosophical Works,ed. Robertson,London, 1905), 288. In The Advancementof
Learning,the metaphoris specificallyapplied to the Aristotelians.(Ibid., 55.) The
bee had been recognizedas the symbolnot only of the wise gathererand user of
knowledge,but of the divinewisdomitself. Sandys observes,after quotingVirgil's
that "the wisdomeof the creature. . . is derivedfromthe
firstGeorgicto this effect,
divine Minde." Ovid's Metamorphosis(London, 1640), 285. Bacon's contrastof
the spider and the bee, which "gathersits materialfromthe flowersof the garden
and of the field,but transformsand digestsit by a power of its own,"is givenin the
Robertsoned., above cited,288.

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St. Clair. It is by no means unlikely that the passage quoted

from this writer's book gave the initial inspiration for the fable.
Since the book,whichappeared about the time the Battle probably
was being written,dealt with a subject of close interestto Temple
and Swift, there is a strong possibility that Swift read it.
Seen in this light,the debate of the spider and the bee may fit
the course of the controversybetween the world-makersand their
opponents. The bee, which may represent the divine and traditional account of the nature of things,is at firstentangled in the
spider's web, just as the theories had an initial success, followed
by a severe reaction.51 The fact thatthe spider is especially skilled
in the mathematics would have special application to Whiston,
whose theoryis intenselymathematical,and is organized by " Lemmata and Corollaries." The spider, when the bee flies into his
web "feeling the terrible Convulsion, supposed at first,that Nature was approaching to her fi;lal Dissolution"-appropriately
enough,in view of the preoccupation of the world-makerswith the
Millennium. The fact that the spider was " swollen up to the first
magnitude by the destruction of infinitenumbers of flies" is in
keeping with the popularity of the theories, and with the dangerous encouragementto irreligion they were supposed to give-so
that there were traps for souls. Even the "Chasms, and Ruins,
and Dilapidations" of the spider's fortress recall details of the
controversy; for these were favorite terms in Burnet's theory,
which gives vivid descriptions of the great chasms in the earth
caused by the breaking of its surface,and of the present globe as a
''ruin'" withoutregularityor plan. This concept aroused strong
opposition in itself,since it was consideredto deny the wisdom and
foresightof God in the conduct of Providence; and the air of the
1690's resounded with the words " ruin,""precipice," "chasm, "

and" deformity.
"'52. The chargeofthebeethat" In thatBuildingof

51The scientificcosmogoniesreachedperhaps theirlowestebb in popular esteem

about the end of the decade, althoughinterestin themcontinuedstrong. Later in
the century,they again rose in reputationand formeda foundationof historical
geology. Their status at the turn of the centuryis indicated by Hearne's Ductor
Historicus,whichstronglycondemnsWhistonand Burnet,who "Combat theDoctrine
of that Holy Writer [Moses] that it [the deluge] was a Miraculous Event produc'd
by theimmediateHand of God; and Assertit was a Natural effectof Second Causes."
4th ed. (London, 1723), I, 184.
52 For a numberof quotationsillustrating
thiscontroversy,
see H. V. S. Ogden,
"Thomas Burnet'sTelluris Theoria Sacra and Mountain Scenery,"ELH, 14 (1947),

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yours,theremight,for oughtI know,have been Labor and Method

enough, but by woful Experience for us both, 'tis too plain, the
"is well suited to the general line of attack
Materials are nought,"
on Burnet, which generally admitted the subtletyof his reasoning
and the brilliance of his prose style, but insisted that he started
out withfalse premises.
Another Scriblerian, Dr. Arbuthnot,attacked Woodward in
part because of his disregard for Moses:
of Theorieswouldhavemoreregardto Moses'sRelaI wishtheCompilers
all the Accountsof Philosophers
as muchin Wiswhich
surpasses
tion,
dom,as it dothin Authority.The Doctoris notsingularin this,it is but
too commona Fault nowa-days.53
The Letter to the Students of bothUniversities,relating to the new
Discoveries in Religion and the Sciencves,and the Principal Inventors of them,although of doubtfulpedigree, indicates that satire
of the world-makers was popularly associated with the SwiftArbuthnot group. The following notions are attributed to the
free operation of the "fancy," unassisted by the reason:
139ff. The popular interestin the issue is shown by the fact that Ray's Miscellaneous Discourses concerningthe Dissolution and Changes of the World, inspired
in large part by theproblem,had a secondeditionwithina year of initial publication.
53An Examination of Dr. Woodward's Account of the Deluge, Kc., in The
Miscellaneous Works of the Late Dr. Arbuthnot(Glasgow, 1751), II, 215-16. See
also Lester M. Beattie, John Arbuthnot,Mathematicianand Satirist (Cambridge,
1935), ChapterIII. Gay's ThreeHours AfterMarriage,on whichPope and Arbuthnot collaborated,satirizes the Deluge controversy. The title of the tragedywhich
the blue-stocking,Mrs. Clinket,has composed is "The Universal Deluge, or the
Tragedy of Deucalion and Pyrrha." The controversiesover the Flood were much
takenup withthequestionwhetherthissupposedlyhistoricaleventof ancientGreece
was the same floodas Noah's. There is a referenceto Woodward's theories,and his
quarrel with Arbuthnot,in the question "Besides, if Stones were dissolved,as a
late Philosopherhath proved,how eould Steeples stand'?" Perhaps the subtlesthit
of all, however,is Mrs. Clinket'sremarkthat "The Vray-semblanceand the Miraculous are linkttogetherwithsuch Propriety!" Linkingthe two was indeed just what
the Cartesian and Newtonian world- and flood-makersattemptedto do. Not the
deluge itself,but the attemptto explain this supernaturalwork of God in termsof
rationalismand science formsthe substanceof the satire. I am indebted,also, to
Professor George Sherburn,who has pointed out that, in a letterto Swift dated
15 October1725, Pope uses imagerywhichshowsthat he was familiarin detail with
thescientific
Millenialworks,ineludingsuchquestionsas therelationof thenumerical
resurrectionto the Cartesianatomism. See The Correspondenceof JonathanSwift,
ed. Ball, III, 281.

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to hunt,forInstance,afterComets,and catchthemby thetail; to reform

theArchitecture
of the World; and makethe Creationlook a littlemore
Mathematical;
to discoverthe Globeof Earth to be onlya largeWorkin
a kindofPastry,and thatthe Crustpartingby Excessof Heat,and droppingPiecemealintothe Liquor enclos'doccasionedthe Deluge; and that
the Stars,whichtheVulgarlookupon,as so manyLightshungout in a
darkpassage,are reallyso manyfinepopulousCountries,
containing
some

Millions of Acres in Terra Firma.54

Similarly,it is ironicallyfoundthat "not one of the sacred Writers

understood Algebra;" and the author is supposed to be debating
whether "to erect a new Hypothesis for the Solution of all the
Phenomena, or write a Piece to question the Being of any."
It may,then,be concludedthat world-makingwas, in the 1690's,
the central issue in the struggleof science and religion and that it
was closely related to the issue of progress and of the ancients vs.
moderns. This point supports the conclusion of Professor R. F.
Jones, that the controversywhich led to The Battle of the Books
had a scientificnature.55 It gives background and motive for the
scientificsatire in Gulliver,whichhas been comprehensivelystudied
by Professors Marjorie Nicolson and Nora M. Mohler.56 Further,
it emphasizes the basic continuity and consistenicyof Swift's
opinions.

To illustratemore fullythe last-mentionedpoint,it may be well

to look at Swift's positive statementsof belief as well as the satirical works. His first published piece, The Ode to the Athenian
Society, shows that he was concernedwith the general problem of
science and faith,and that he took an orthodox stand:
The 'Wits,I meantheAtheistsof theAge,

Who fain would rule the Pulpit, as they do the Stage,

WondrousRefiners
ofPhilosophy,
Of Moralsand Divinity,

By the new Modish Systemof reducingall to sense,57

54 In A Supplement to Dean Sw - - t's Miscellanies,published in The Miscellaneous Works,citedabove, II, 108.
5 Ancientsand Moderns (WashingtonUniversityStudies,1936), 278. Although
Mr. Joneshas notedthe connectionof Burnet's Theorywiththe battle of the books,
he has not consideredthe issue in detail.
5" In two articles under the general title "The ScientificBackground of the
Voyage to Laputa," in Annals of Science, 2 (1937), 229-335 and 405-30.
57 Poems, ed. Williams (Oxford,1937), 1, 19.

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A good example of the orthodox position, Charles Leslie 's

much-readShort and Easie Method with the Deists, condoles in
similar words,with the person to whom the work is addressed:
as you say,you continually
hearthe sacredScriptures,
and the Histories
thereincontained,
ofMoses,and of Christ,and of all Revealed
particularly
Religion,turnedintoRidicule,by Menwhosetup forSenseand Reason.58
That this new modish systemis settingup to "rule the Pulpit" is
shownby the condemnationof well-meaningthoughdeluded Christians:
I say thisforthesakeof someChristians,
whothinkit no Prejudiceto the
Truthof the Holy Bible,but ratheran Advantage,as rendering
it more
easyto be believ'd,if theycan solvewhateverseemsMiraculousin it, by
the Powerof secondCauses: and so to makeall, as theyspeak,Natural
and Easie. Wherein,if theycou'd prevail,the naturaland easie Result
wou'd be notto believeone Wordin all thoseSacred Oracles.59
Here, in epitome, is much of Swift's objection to the new movementin religion and philosophy. It is the presumptionof the new
hypotheses,with theirdogma of progress amountingto a superannuation of part of Revelation itself,that Temple objects to, and we
may safely assume that Swift concurred:
One greatdifference
mustbe confessedbetweenthe ancientand modern
learning;theirsled themto a senseand acknowledgement
of theirown
ignorance,the imbecility
of humanunderstanding,
the incomprehension
even of things about us, as well as those above us; . . . ours leads us to

presumption,
and vain ostentation
ofthelittlewe havelearned,and makes
us thinkwe do, or shallknow,notonlyall natural,but evenwhatwe call
supernatural
things;all in theheavens,as well as upon earth;morethan
all mortalmenhave knownbeforeour age; and shall knowin timeas
muchas angels.60
The violence and intensityof Swift's opinions on this subject is
shown by his statement,dated 13 January 1698/9,about the book
whichset forththe credo and apology of the Royal Society virtuosi:
"If 'Scepsis Scientifica' comes to me, I will burn it for a fustian
piece of abominable curious virtuoso stuff."" And finally,the
58

8th ed. (London, 1723), 3.

59 Ibid.
60
61

I, 28.

16.

The Worksof Sir William Temple,Bart., (London, 1770), III, 500.

In The Correspondenceof Jonathan Swift, ed. F. E. Ball (London, 1910),

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Further Thoughts on Religion is taken up with this question of

Biblical authority,and begins with the statement:"The Scripture
systemof man's creation is what Christians are bound to believe,
and seems most agreeable of all othersto probabilityand reason. v2
It may not be too muchto say, then,that Temple and Swift were
not simply reacting with instinctiveconservative aversion against
science, and they were not merely defendinga "humanistic" approach to life. These matters have importance; but of larger
significanceis the stirringof a new spiritin all things-we may call
it "modernism." Its elements appeared recognizablyin the controversy of religion and science during the 1690's: the faith in
teleological progress and in a kind of "progressive" religion; the
testingof revelation and authorityin general by reason and scientificconcepts rather than vice versa; the supremacy of materialistic physical law, even to the exclusion of miracles; the tendency
to replace the Christianhumanistconceptionof man's nature with
one which tended inevitably to deny original sin, spiritual salvation, and the place of "mystery" in religion.63 That is to say, it
was the materialist,progressivistera that Swift regarded as both
imminentand degenerate. With the new world spirit he would
not come to terms,howevernatural and easy it made thingsappear
to be.
HuntingtonLibrary, San Marino, Cal.
Prose Works,Temple Scott ed., III, 310.
See my article "The Origins of the 'Moral Sense,"' Huntington Library
Quarterly,11 (1948), 241-59.
62

63

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