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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Swift wrote brilliantly of the Dissenter, or Puritan, as revealed in the person of Jack, one of the three brothers in the Tale of a Tub, but there was a century of attack on the Puritans behind him. It is not the purpose of this paper to try to show that Swift was influenced by earlier writers. All that will be attempted is the analysis of the various themes of the attack on the Puritans in the Tale of a Tub, and a comparison of the results with those obtained from a similar analysis of the more prominent earlier satires of the Puritans. There may well have been various influences of earlier men on Swift, but, as has been said, this question will not be raised. The real contribution of Swift—what he alone thought and said about the Dissenters—will be more easily seen if we first eliminate the themes which had already been used. Of equal importance is the listing of the points Swift definitely avoided using or emphasizing but which the earlier men had delighted in employing.
1 The satires mentioned in the notes are by no means the only ones which contain the theme under consideration. Only the more characteristic examples have been chosen. For more extensive analysis of certain aspects of the satire of the Puritans the student of this subject may consult Thompson, E.N.S., Controversy Between the Puritans and the Stage; and Miss Rose Abel Wright's The Political Play of the Restoration.
2 Satires using this theme are: Family of Love, 1608; Silent Woman, 1612; Alchemist, 1612; Dutch Courtezsan, 1604. Most of the satires written during or immediately after the Rebellion accuse the Puritans of a great desire to plunder and pillage during the war, but the earlier satires speak of a low cunning and deception in business affairs This accusation appeared in the Puritan and Papist, 1643; Peters Pattern, 1659, and as late as 1674 in An Assembly Lecture.
3 Plaine Percevait, 1590; Bartholomew Fair, 1614; History of the Frantick Anabaptists, 1642; Peters Pattern, 1659; Hudibras, 1663; A Modest Account … of Lodowick Muggleton, 1676; Dialogue between the Pope and a Phanatick, 1681; Vox Lachrymae, 1681; Sphinx Lugduno, 1683.
4 The homely talks of the Puritans; talks full of rural phrases, country proverbs, and rather crude figures of speech were ridiculed in: The Life and Death of Stephen Marshall, 1653; Eachard, The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy and Religion Enquired into, 1670; Sphinx Lugduno, 1683.
The Puritans' lack of formal learning was ridiculed in: An Almond for a Parrat, 1589; Plaine Percevait, 1590; Bartholomew Fair, 1614; Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621; Dippers Dipt, 1645; Peters Pattern, 1659; Contempt of the Clergy and Religion, 1670.
5 These accusations occurred at various times. Miss Wright's book on the Political Play of the Restoration discusses this theme of satire. The Popish Plot of 1678 was the inspiration of some tracts. A few tracts seldom mentioned are cited here, but the presence of this theme of satire has already been established. Gangrena, 1645; A Gagg for the Quakers, Speaking by the Inspiration of the Papists, 1658; Geneva and Rome, 1679; Dialogue Between the Pope and a Phanatick, 1681, are some of the representative attacks on the Puritans for their seditious plotting with Rome.
6 Bartholomew Fair, 1614, is a characteristic early play mentioning these supposed traits of the Puritans. During and after the Rebellion the appetities and thirsts of Cromwell's men are mentioned. The old theme was revived in The Rump, 1660; The Cheats, 1664; The Life and Death of R. Wallis, 1670; Character of a Fanatic, 1675; The Roundheads, 1682.
7 Found in: An Almond for a Parrat, 1589; Plaine Percevait, 1590; The Puritan, 1607; Bartholomew Fair, 1614; Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621; Madfashions, 1642; Three-Fold Discourse, 1642; Dominion of the Sword, 1649; Peters Pattern, 1659; Semper Eidem, 1661; Life and Death of R. Wallis, 1670; The Roundheads, 1682.
8 Mention of the ignorance of Jack is found in the Tale of a Tub, pp. 129–138, or, rather, the lack of reason of Jack is emphasized. “This [a mock speech] I have produced as a scantling of Jack's great eloquence, and the force of his reasoning upon such abstruse matters.” p. 134. T. Scott, ed. On page 52, we find: “By the pulpit are adumbrated the writings of our modern saints, as they have spiritualized and refined them, from the dross and grossness of sense and human reason.” The cumulative effect of the satire on the intelligence of the Puritans gives one the idea that they were, in Swift's mind, less stupid and dull than lacking in balance and reason. This idea seems to have been held by the earlier writers who often satirized the Puritans for sheer stupidity, but more frequently for their utter lack of “reasonable” conduct. These attacks are found in there representative satires and studies: Plaine Percevait, 1590; Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621, (psychological analysis of the irrationality of the Puritans); Dippers Dipt. 1645; Peters Pattern, 1659; A Treatise Concerning Enthusiasm, Meric Casaubon, 1655; Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, Henry More, 1656, (psychology of fanaticism). Such plays as Family of Love, Bartholomew Fair, the plays of Tatham and Mrs. Behn, and most of the minor plays before and after the Restoration emphasize this quality of the Puritans, unless they picture the Saints as seditious and shrewd hypocrites.
9 Swift has a few passages in which he accuses the Puritan, or Jack, of malicious hypocrisy (pp. 134–135), but he never based his satire upon the major premise that no Puritan ever was, or could be, sincere in any expression of opinion, whether about religion or politics. The other satirists believed that hypocrisy, along with a combined ignorance and irrationality, was the dominant trait of the Puritan. It is useless to try to enumerate the satires which spoke of the hypocrisy of the Puritans. This theme is found in the anti-Marprelate tracts; it continued in the early plays, changed in tone during the Civil Wars, and later in the Popish Plot uproar, and finally reverted to its earlier forms when Tom Brown wrote of the hypocritical immorality of the Brothers and Sisters. A Puritan was a hypocrite in religion, allegiance to the state, and in all private matters—upon this idea the satirists built their attack; and as sedition or heresy was for the moment the most prominent trait of the Puritans, so changed the specific charge of hypocrisy.
10 Tale of a Tub, 134–135. Miss Wright's The Political Play of the Restoration gives a history of the dramatic attacks on the Puritans. Sir Barnaby Whigg, 1681, uses the term “Church Militant.” Non-dramatic satires using this theme abound; some of the best are: Persecutio Undecima, 1648; The Lamentation of a Sinner, 1659; Decrees and Orders of the Committee of Safety of the Commonwealth of Oceana, 1659; England's Joyful Holiday, 1660; Bradshaw's Ultimum Vale, 1660; Don Juan Lamberto, 1661; A Short History of the English Rebellion, 1661; History of the Life and Death of Oliver Cromwell, 1663; Cabala, 1663.
11 Tale of a Tub, pp. 52 and 108. Almost universal use was made of this theme. Some of the representative satires are found in: Marston, Scourge of Villany, 1598–1599; Family of Love, 1608; Bartholomew Fair, 1614; Three-Fold Discourse, 1642; Sermon Against False Prophets, 1647; Grounds for the Contempt of the Clergy and Religion Enquired Into, 1670; Peters Pattern, 1659; Hudibras, 1663.
12 Tale of a Tub, pp. 131–132. Very definite satire of this trait is found in Swift's analysis of the Puritan. The same ridicule is found in: The Puritan, 1607; Bartholomew Fair, 1614; History of the Frantick Anabaptists, 1642; Three-Fold Discourse, 1642; A Godly Exhortation to this Distressed Nation, 1642; Dippers Dipt, 1645; A New Letanie for our New Lent, 1647; The Wiltshire Rant, 1652; Life and Death of Stephen Marshall, 1653; Peters Pattern, 1659; Cabala, 1663; Hudibras, 1663; The Cheats, 1664; miscellaneous works of Tom Brown, including the Quaker's Sermon, and Continuation of the Quaker's Sermon, both written after 1690.
13 Tale of a Tub, pp. 99, 100, 134, 135. Rebellion excesses were often referred to by the Restoration plays and tracts, but Edwards' Gangrena, 1645, has a passage which contains the same idea expressed in the allegory of Jack's frantic and disastrous tearing of his coat. “You have made a Reformation, and blessed be God who put it in your hearts to do such things; but with the Reformation have we not a Deformation, and worse things come in upon us than ever we had before? were any of those monsters heard of heretofore, which are now common among us? as denying the Scriptures, pleading for a Toleration of all Religions and worships, yea for blasphemy and denying there is a God. You have put down the Book of Common Prayer, and there are many among us have put down the Scriptures, slighting, yea blaspheming them. You have broken down Images of the Trinity, Christ, Virgin Mary, Apostles: and we have those who overthrow the doctrine of the Trinity, oppose the Divinity of Christ; speak evil of the Virgin Mary, sleight the Apostles. You have cast out the Bishops and their officers and we have many that cast down to the ground all Ministers in all the Reformed Churches. You have cast out Ceremonies in the Sacraments, as the Crosse, kneeling at the Lords Supper; and we have many that cast out the Sacrament, Baptisme and the Lord's Supper. You have put down Saints Dayes and we have many make nothing at all of the Lords dayes and Fast Dayes.” This passage seems to indicate that Edwards saw a great danger in tearing out of the ritual and doctine too many supposed faults. It will be observed that he speaks of the ceremonies, and Swift also refers to these, indirectly though it may be. Probably there was no influence of Edwards on Swift, but we must remember that it is highly possible that other men than Swift saw the danger of excess in reformation.
14 Tale of a Tub, 132–136. Earle, Microcosmography, “Shee Precise Hypocrite,” 1628. Thompson, Controversy between the Puritans and the Stage, p. 225, cites the following plays which ridicule the Puritans for their foolish hatreds and scruples: Match at Midnight; Alchemist; Family of Love; Bartholomew Fair; Hey for Honesty; Muses' Looking Glass. The same theme is found in: Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621; The Puritan and Papist; Gangrena, 1645; The Assembly-Man, 1647; Hudibras, 1663.
15 This type of satire was confined in the Tale to ridicule of baptismal methods, the belief in predestination, and the preaching of the horrors of hell. Pp. 133, 135. Family of Love, 1608; Bar. Fair, 1614; Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621; A Discovery of the Errors of the English Anabaptists, 1623; History of the Frantick Anabaptists, 1642; Gangrena, 1645; Dippers Dipt, 1645; The Puritan, 1648; The Grand Impostor Examined, 1656; The Quakers' Fear, 1656; Hudibras, 1663; The Hind and the Panther, 1687; Religio Laici, 1682; Presbytery Truly Display'd, 1681; Sphinx Lugduno, 1682 are some of the attacks on the Puritans' theology. There were countless dry theological tracts in refutation of the heresy of the Dissenters, but the attacks cited are really satires and not merely doctrinal arguments.
16 Tale of a Tub, 134, 137–138. An Admonition to the People of England against Martin Mar-Prelate, 1589; An Almond for a Parrat, 1589; The True Subject's Wish, 1640; Rebels' Catechism, 1643; Dominion of the Sword, 1649; Bibliotheca Parliamenti, 1653; Hudibras, 1663; Casuist Uncas'd, 1680; Sir Barnaby Whigg, 1681; The Roundheads, 1682.
17 Tale of a Tub, p. 136. Bar. Fair, 1614; Anatomy of Melancholy, 1621; Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, Henry More, 1656; Semper Eidem, 1661.
18 Tale of a Tub, pp. 138–139. This inclusion of the Tale as a satire of this trait, supposedly, of the Puritans is based upon the reading of the “ears” allegory as being full of phallic symbolism. Practically one-half or more of the satires written against the Puritans mentioned the lusts of the Brothers and the Sisters, the relations of the preacher to his female audience, or the fact that sex excitation caused, was accompanied by, or followed religious zeal. The Family of Love is the classic example of the play in mockery of the lusts of the Saints and their pious excuses. This theme lived until the time of Mrs. Aphra Behn, and was later continued by Tom Brown. Hudibras, Eachard's The Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy Enquired Into, and the two satires of Dryden: The Hind and the Panther, and Religio Laici, are notable exceptions to the almost universal inclusion of this ridicule of the Puritans.
19 Tale of a Tub, p. 133, has the most considerable direct quotation of Jack's speech. But Swift seems to have satirically used many pious phrases which were supposed to be part of the Dialect. “Type of grace,” p. 138; “truly pious age,” 138; “marks of grace,” 139. This mockery is found in these satires: An Almond for a Parrai, 1589; Family of Love, 1608; Bar. Fair, 1614; Sermon Against False Prophets, 1647; The Puritan, 1648; Hosanna; or, a Song of Thanksgiving, 1649; Peters Pattern, 1659; Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy Enquired Into, 1670; Hudibras, 1663; Casuist Uncas'd, 1680; Quakers Sermon and Continuation, Tom Brown, after 1690.
The speech of Malvolio, Twelfth Night, is faintly pious, but the editor of the American edition, Arden, of 1 Henry 4. thinks that some of the speeches of Falstaff and the Prince use Puritan phrases in derision.
20 Tale of a Tub, pp. 134, 137. Cynthia's Revels has a description of the “set face” of the Puritan, and Bar. Fair mentions his “lunatick” countenance. The Free Parliament Litany, 1655, and Zeale Over-heated, 1642, speak of the long or “swaggering” ears of the Dissenters. The most characteristic picture of the Puritan is perhaps found in The Puritan, 1648, where he is described as having a “coz'nin cough, hollow cheeks, neck aside and close-cut hair.” Besides this The Puritan has its victim with “eyes all white,” a descriptive touch found also in Family of Love where Mistress Purge says to a new disciple: “Shove up your eyes and lead the way to the goodliest people that ever turned up the white o' th' eye.” A Roundhead is referred to in Heads of All Fashions, 1642, and in the Old Protestant's Litany, 1647 Eachard, Grounds and Occasions of the Contempt of the Clergy, refers to the Puritan as “thin, pale-faced; in Sir Barnaby Whigg he is a creature of oily hand, goggle eyes, and stinking breath, and in Sphinx Lugduno he is a ”demure creature.“ Certainly the Puritan was described in a very uncomplimentary way by the satirists, but one is forced to piece together the scattered details of description. Swift seems to have followed the tradition in some details, but in the main his Jack is fantastic rather than vulgar. However, Swift definitely satirized the Puritans for physical characteristics.
21 Tale of a Tub, section 8. Hudibras, Part 2, canto 2, 343–344. The Decrees and Orders of the Committe of Safety of the Commonwealth of Oceana mentions the flatuosity of the pious wife of Ireton. Henry More, Enthusiasmus Triumphatus, 1656. “The Spirit then, that wings the Enthusiast in such a wonderful manner, is nothing else but the flatulency which is in the melancholy complexion.”
22 Tale of a Tub, pp. 136–138. Jack, although closely resembling his brother Peter, avoids all contacts with him. He is often mistaken for Peter, and Swift undoubtedly knew well the accusations of seditious plotting between the Papists and Puritans.
23 Henry More's Enthusiasmus Triumphatus and Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy have passages which seem to display a keener insight into certain aspects of Puritanism than even Swift was capable of. These passages are, for the most part, concerned with the pathological aspects of fanaticism.
