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Letter to a friend
Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury
Copyright 20102015 all rights reserved. Jonathan Bennett
[Brackets] enclose editorial explanations. Small dots enclose material that has been added, but can be read as
though it were part of the original text. Occasional bullets, and also indenting of passages that are not quotations,
are meant as aids to grasping the structure of a sentence or a thought. Every four-point ellipsis . . . . indicates
the omission of a brief passage that seems to present more difficulty than it is worth. Longer omissions are
reported between brackets in normal-sized type.All the quotations from Latin writers were given in the original
in Latin.The Lord Somers to whom this work is addressed was the Lord Chancellor of England, the most highly
placed official in the legal system.This work is the first of the five Treatises in Shaftesburys Characteristics of
Men, Manners, Opinions, Times.
First launched: March 2011
Contents
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
10
Section 5
13
Section 6
14
Section 7
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Enthusiasm
Glossary
affection: In the early modern period, affection could
mean fondness, as it does today; but it was also often
used, as it is in this work, to cover every sort of pro or con
attitudedesires, approvals, likings, disapprovals, dislikings,
etc.
education: In early modern times this word had a somewhat
broader meaning than it does today. It wouldnt have been
misleading to replace it by upbringing on almost every
occasion
enthusiasm: In early modern times this word usually meant
something like extravagant religious emotion, often with the
suggestion that the enthusiastic persons emotion comes
from his belief that he is immediate touch with God. It
overlaps with fanaticism; but in the present version, every
occurrence of fanatic(ism) is Shaftesburys.
formal: On page 3 Shaftesbury applies this word to anyone
whose thought and conduct are stiffly rule-governed, prim.
genius: Sometimes used to mean nothing much more than
intellect; more often meaning very high-level intellect. In
early modern times genius wasnt given the very strong
meaning it has today.
humour: In ancient Greek medicine it was held that the
human body contains four basic kinds of fluid (humours),
the proportions of which in a given body settled that persons
physical and mental qualities. By the early modern period
this theory was dead; but the use of humours to refer to
bodily states, character-traits, moods, lingered on. On page 7
at least Shaftesbury uses the word in our present sense; and
he is using it in our sense when he speaks of good humour
and ill humour.
Enthusiasm
principle: On page 16 and again shortly thereafter, Shaftesbury uses this word in a once-common but now-obsolete
sense in which it means source, cause, driver, energizer,
or the like.
providence: Sometimes this means God; at other timesas
on page 11 it means the hand that one has been dealt by
God.
raillery: Good-humoured witty ridicule or teasing, done with
a light touch.
science: In early modern times this word applied to any
body of knowledge or theory that is (perhaps) axiomatised
and (certainly) conceptually highly organised. That is why
on page 6 theology is implied to be a science.
speculation: This has nothing to do with guess-work. It
Enthusiasm
Section 1
Section 1
Enthusiasm
Section 2
Section 2
If any virtue could be well enough secured by our knowing
how to expose the corresponding infirmity or vice, what an
excellent an age this would be! Our nation has never before
been through a time when folly and extravagance of every
kind were more sharply inspected or more wittily ridiculed
than they are today. And from this good symptom one might
at least hope that our age was not in a state of decline,
because, whatever our infirmities may be, we are so well
supplied with knowledge of remedies. The best sign that
2
Enthusiasm
Section 2
Enthusiasm
Section 2
Enthusiasm
Section 2
Enthusiasm
Section 2
The Crusades,
the rescuing of holy lands and other such devout gallantries
are less in demand than they used to be; but if there does
still exist
something of this militant religion,
something of this soul-rescuing spirit,
some amount of saint-errantry,
we shouldnt be surprised, when we consider how solemnly
we treat this illnesshow preposterously we set about curing
enthusiasm.
Suppose we had a sort of Inquisition or formal judicial
court with grave officers and judges, set up to restrain poetic
licence and in general to suppress the imaginative mood of
versification and especially that most extravagant passion
of love as it is presented by poets in its heathenish dress
of Venuses and Cupids. And suppose that the poets, as
ringleaders and teachers of this heresy, were under grievous
penalties forbidden to enchant the people by this kind of
rhyming; and that the people were under corresponding
wit has pretty well killed the tradition of courtly love.]
Enthusiasm
Section 3
Section 3
But, my Lord, you may be surprised that I, having been
drawn into such a serious subject as religion, should forget
myself so far as to give way to raillery and humour. I
must admit, my Lord, that this didnt happen merely by
chance. The fact is that I dont much like even thinking
about this subject, let alone writing about it, without first
trying to put myself in as good a mood as is possible. People indeed who can endure no middle temper, but are all
air and humour [the sentence up to here is verbatim Shaftesbury],
know little of the doubts and scruples of religion, and are
safe from any immediate influence of devout melancholy or
enthusiasm, because that requires more deliberation and
thoughtful practice to settle itself in a persons temperament
and become habitual with him. But I wouldnt want to be
rescued from any habit at such a cost as thoughtlessness or
madness. I would rather take my chances with religion than
try to get rid of the thoughts of it by side-tracking myself. All
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Enthusiasm
are sure that they wont be displeased with our taking this
liberty. They are doubly the gainers by this goodness of
theirs. The more that is learned about them in these
informal and familiar encounters, the more their worth
appears; and the discoverer of that worth esteems and
loves his superior more than ever when he has revealed this
additional goodness in him and reflects on that candor and
generosity he has experienced. Your Lordship may know
more of this mystery than anyone. How else could you have
been so beloved when you were in power, and loved even
more and loyally supported when you were out of power?
Section 3
Enthusiasm
But so far they havent been able to get this favour from
us. Were so hard-hearted that although their own French
mob are willing to bestow kind blows upon them, and
fairly stone them now and then in the open street; and
although the priests of their own nation would gladly inflict
on them the punishment they desire, and are eager to light
their probationary fires for them; we English men, who are
masters in our own country, wont allow the enthusiasts to
be treated in that way. . . .
But we tolerant Englishmen are even more barbarous
stillmore than heathenishly cruelbecause we dont
merely deny these prophesying enthusiasts the honour of
a persecution, we have delivered them over to the cruelest
contempt in the world. I am told that they are at this very
moment the subject of a choice doll- or puppet-show at
Bartholomew Fair, where presumably their strange voices
and involuntary agitations are admirably well acted by the
motion of wires and hooting of pipes. Thats because bodies
of the prophets when they are prophesying are not in their
own power but are (as they say themselves) mere passive
organs, driven by an exterior force, having nothing natural or
life-like in any of their sounds or motionsso that however
awkwardly a puppet-show may imitate other actions, it
must represent this passionthe enthusiasm expressed
by someone when he is prophesyingto the life. And while
Bartholomew Fair is allowed to put on such shows, Ill bet
that within our national Church no sect of enthusiasts, no
new salesmen offering prophecy or miracles, will ever get
started and put her to the trouble of battling with them.
It was a happy thing for us that when popery took
over, Smithfield was used in a more unpleasant way. [The
Bartholomew Fair was held every summer in Smithfield, which for many
years was also the location of the executions of Protestant (Catholic)
martyrs when a Catholic (Protestant) was on the throne.]
Section 3
Im afraid
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him than from the surly and malignant spirit of the most
persecuting Jewish cities.1 He improved more from the
candor and civility of his Roman judges than from the zeal
of the synagogue and the vehemence of his national priests.
Though when I think of this apostle as appearing either
before the witty Athenians or before a Roman judicial court
in the presence of their great men and ladies, and see how
handsomely he fits himself to the views and temperaments
of those more polished people, I dont see him refusing the
way of wit or good humour; rather, I see him as being so
confident of the rightness of his cause that he is willing to
subject it to this test, trying it against the sharpness of any
ridicule that might be offered.
Section 4
In short, my Lord, I think that the melancholy way of treating
religion is what makes it so sad, and leads it to produce
such dismal tragedies in the world. My idea is that provided
we treat religion with good manners we can never use too
much good humour or examine it with too much freedom
and familiarity. Why? Because if it is genuine and sincere, it
will not only pass the test but thrive and profit from it; and
if it is spurious or mixed with any imposture, that will be
detected and exposed.
The gloomy way in which we have been taught religion
makes it hard for us to think of it in a good-humoured way.
We turn to it mainly in times of
adversity,
ill-health,
affliction,
disturbance of mind, or
emotional upset,
though in fact we are never so unfit to think of it as at such
a heavy and dark hour. We can never be fit to contemplate
But although the Jews were never pleased to try their wit
or malice in this way against our Saviour or his apostles, the
irreligious part of the heathens had tried it, long before that,
against the best doctrines and best men that had ever arisen
amongst them. And in the long run this did no harm to the
men and doctrines that had been mocked. Quite the opposite:
by surviving this test they emerged as solid and just. The
most divine man who had ever appeared in the heathen world
lived at the height of witty times, and the wittiest of all poets
ridiculed him abominably in a comedy that was written and
acted for that purpose. [This refers to the lampooning of Socrates in
Aristophanes play The Clouds.] But this was so far from sinking
his reputation or suppressing his philosophy that they were
each increased by it; and he apparently grew to be more the
envy of other teachers. He was not only willing to be ridiculed;
he even gave Aristophanes what help he could by presenting
himself openly on the stage, so that his real appearance
(which was far from impressive) could be compared with
1
Section 4
What advantage Paul made of his sufferings, and how pathetically his bonds and stripes were displayed, and often used rhetorically to raise his
character and advance the interests of Christianity, can easily be seen by anyone who reads his Epistles and is well acquainted with his manner and
style.
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Section 4
Enthusiasm
Section 4
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Enthusiasm
Section 5
Section 5
One would think it was pretty easy for us to know our own
weaknesses at first sight, and distinguish the features of
human frailty with which we are so well acquainted! One
would think it was easy to understand that
provocation and offendedness,
anger,
revenge,
jealousy in point of honour or power,
love of fame and glory
and the like belong only to limited beings, and cant be
possessed by a being that is perfect and universal. But if
we have no settled notion of what is morally excellent; or if
we cant trust our reasons declaration that nothing beside
what is morally excellent can have place in the Deity; then
we cant trust, either, anything we are told about him by
other people or through revelations by the Deity himself. We
must be satisfied in advanced that he is good and cannot
deceive us. Otherwise there can be no real religious faith
or confidence. Now, if there really is some demonstration of
reason, prior to revelation, to assure us that God exists and
that he is so good as not to deceive us, that same reasonif
we will trust to itwill demonstrate to us that God is so
good as to be better than the very best of us. This will free
us from upsetting fears and suspicions, because it is only
malice, not goodness, that can make us afraid.
Theres an odd line of thought that some people find very
compelling when they are in certain frames of mind very
sovereign to those who can apply it. It goes like this:
There cant be malice except where interests are opposed. A universal being cant have interests that are
opposed by any other interests; therefore a universal
being cant have malice.
to link with exposedat some times and places the standard method
of infanticide was to expose the unwanted child to the elements and to
Enthusiasm
Section 6
Section 6
There are also other reasons, my Lord, why this plain
homespun philosophy of looking into ourselves may do us
great service in correcting our errors in religion. Theres
a sort of enthusiasm at second hand: when men who find
no original commotions in themselves, no consuming panic
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Section 6
inspire and its cognates: the worshippers inspiration is both the entry
into them of some divine spirit and their breathing in.] I am not a
skilled enough theologian to discover what spirit it was that
proved so catching among the ancient prophets that even
the worldly Saul was taken by it [see Acts 26:1218]. But I
learn from holy scripture that there was an evil spirit of
prophecy as well as the good one. And I find by present
experience, as well as by all histories, sacred and profane,
that the operation of this spirit is everywhere the same, as
to the bodily organs. [He means: What I see around me, and what
I read in holy books and secular histories, shows me that the physical
manifestations of inspiration are the same when the inspiring spirit is
evil as when it is good.]
Enthusiasm
Section 6
Enthusiasm
Section 7
The only thing I would infer from all this, my Lord, is that
enthusiasm is amazingly powerful and widespread;
it is a matter of precise judgment, and
it is the hardest thing in the world to know fully and
I am not the first to have noted that there have been enthusiastical atheists. And its not easy to distinguish their
enthusiasm from divine inspiration by any outward signs:
the difference is simply that divine inspiration is a real
feeling of the divine presence, and atheistic enthusiasm is
a false one. But the passion they raise is much alike. For
when the mind is taken up in vision, and fixes its view either
on a real object or on a mere illusion of divinity; when it sees
or thinks it sees something prodigious and more than human; its horror, delight, confusion, fear, amazeentdmiration,
or whatever passion belongs to it or is uppermost on this
occasion will have about it something vast, monstrous, and
(as painters say) beyond life. . . .
Section 7
[In each of these quotations from Platos Dialogues, iSocrates is speaking.] Dont you see that I shall clearly be possessed by those nymphs into
whose clutches you deliberately threw me? (Phaedrus 241e). Statesmen too. . . are to be considered as acting under divine influence, inspired and
possessd by the divinity. (Meno 99 d). So I soon made up my mind about the poets too. I decided that what enabled them to write their poetry was
not wisdom but a kind of instinct or inspiration (Apology 22 c). In particular as to philosophers, Plutarch tells us, it was the complaint of some of
the sour old Romans, when learning first came to them from Greece, that in their youth they were enthusiastic with philosophy. He put a spell on
young men, under which they gave up other pleasures and amusements, and were possessed by philosophy (Plutarch, Cato Major).
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Enthusiasm
Section 7
and know what spirit we are of. Then we can judge the
spirit in others, consider what their personal merit is, and
test the validity of their testimony by testing the solidity
of their brain. In this way we can prepare ourselves with
some antidote against enthusiasm. And this is what I have
ventured to say is best performed by keeping to good humour;
for otherwise the remedy itselfcensorious gloommay
become the disease.
And now, my Lord, having to some extent defended
enthusiasm and aligned myself with it, if I seem to have
gone too far in addressing you in the way I have done,
allow me to plead an impulse! Take me to beas indeed
I ammost passionately yours; and with the kindness that
has been natural to you on other occasions please tolerate
your enthusiastic friend. . . .
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