The Devil in Disguise : Deception, Delusion, and Fanaticism in the Early English Enlightenment

The Devil In Disguise Illuminates The Impact Of The Two British Revolutions Of The Seventeenth Century And The Shifts In Religious, Political, Scientific, Literary, Economic, Social, And Moral Culture That They Brought About. It Does So Through The Fascinating Story Of One Family And Their Locality: The Cowpers Of Hertford. Their Dramatic History Contains A Murder Mystery, Bigamy, A Scandal Novel, And A Tyrannized Wife, All Set Against A Backdrop Of Violently Competing Local Factions, Rampant Religious Prejudice, And The Last Conviction Of A Witch In England. Spencer Cowper Was Accused Of Murdering A Quaker, And His Brother William Had Two Illegitimate Children By His Second 'wife'. Their Scandalous Lives Became The Source Of Public Gossip, Much To The Horror Of Their Mother, Sarah, Who Poured Out Her Heart In A Diary That Also Chronicles Her Feeling Of Being Enslaved To Her Husband. Her Two Sons Remained In The Limelight. Both Were Instrumental In The Prosecution Of Henry Sacheverell, A Firebrand Cleric Who Preached A Sermon About The Illegitimacy Of Resistance And Religious Toleration. His Parliamentary Trial In 1710 Provoked Serious Riots In London. William Cowper Also Intervened In 1712 To Secure The Life Of Jane Wenham, Whose Trial Provoked A Wide-ranging Debate About Witchcraft Beliefs. The Cowpers And Their Town Are A Microcosm Of A Changing World. Their Story Suggests That An Early 'enlightenment', Far From Being Simply A Movement Of Ideas Sparked By 'great Thinkers', Was Shaped And Advanced By Local And Personal Struggles. - Publisher. The Trial Of Spencer Cowper -- Partisan Feuds -- Quakers -- Moral Panic And Marital Affairs -- Fanatics And False Brethren -- Despair And Demonism -- Conclusion: An Exceptional Story? Mark Knights. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of characters......Page 10 Chronology......Page 12 List of Figures......Page 16 List of Abbreviations......Page 20 Note to the Reader......Page 22 INTRODUCTION......Page 24 1. THE TRIAL OF SPENCER COWPER......Page 33 Dead Bodies Float......Page 37 Scientific Reputations......Page 41 Anatomy of London Doctors......Page 45 Dead Dogs and Public Science......Page 48 False Man’s Cruelty......Page 53 Summing up......Page 57 Zara’s story......Page 60 2. PARTISAN FEUDS......Page 68 The Whigs......Page 69 The Tories......Page 77 Hertford Tories......Page 82 Popular Politics and Party Rivalries......Page 86 3. QUAKERS......Page 93 Persecution......Page 94 Spiritual Warfare......Page 100 The Lustful Quaker......Page 105 The Trial Verdict and its Aftermath......Page 112 Consequences......Page 118 4. MORAL PANIC AND MARITAL AFFAIRS......Page 121 Rethinking Religion......Page 123 Rethinking Marriage......Page 132 The Quakers, Marriage, and Morality......Page 136 Sarah Cowper and the Slavery of Marriage......Page 139 Will Bigamy......Page 148 Justifying Polygamy......Page 155 Manley and the New Atalantis......Page 161 5. FANATICS AND FALSE BRETHREN......Page 165 Sacheverell and his Sermons......Page 167 The Trial......Page 171 Hypocrisy......Page 183 Sacheverell and Print Fever......Page 189 Censorship and Censuring......Page 204 Fanaticism......Page 209 Sacheverell’s Longer-term Legacy......Page 213 6. DESPAIR AND DEMONISM......Page 216 Melancholic Despair and Suicide......Page 220 The Despair of the Deist and Atheist......Page 225 Shifting Attitudes......Page 229 Animal Spirits......Page 230 A Political Witch-hunt......Page 236 Jane Wenham......Page 243 The Debate over the Impossibility of Witchcraft......Page 251 Vindicating Jane Wenham......Page 260 CONCLUSION: AN EXCEPTIONAL STORY?......Page 264 C......Page 270 I......Page 271 P......Page 272 R......Page 273 W......Page 274 Endnotes......Page 276 Further Reading......Page 290 C......Page 296 D......Page 297 J......Page 298 P......Page 299 R......Page 300 S......Page 301 Z......Page 302 This study illuminates the impact of the two British revolutions of the seventeenth century and the shifts in religious, political, scientific, literary, economic, social, and moral culture that they brought about. The book does so through the fascinating story of one family and their locality: the Cowpers of Hertford. Their dramatic history contains a murder mystery, bigamy, a scandal novel, and a tyrannized wife, all set against a backdrop of violently competing local factions, rampant religious prejudice, and the last conviction of a witch in England Illuminates the impact of the two British revolutions of the seventeenth century and the shifts in religious, political, scientific, literary, economic, social, and moral culture that they brought about, looking at the fascinating story of one family and their locality: the Cowpers of Hertford.