The Devil in disguise : deception, delusion, and fanaticism in the early English Enlightenment

List of characters . . ix
Chronology . . xi
List of Figures . . xv
List of Abbreviations . . xix
Note to the Reader . . xxi

INTRODUCTION . . 1

1. THE TRIAL OF SPENCER COWPER . . 10
Dead Bodies Float . .  14
Scientific Reputations . . 18
An Anatomy of London Doctors . . 22
Dead Dogs and Public Science . . 25
False Man's Cruelty . . 30
Summing up . . 34
Zara's story . . 37

2. PARTISAN FEUDS . . 45
The Whigs . . 46
The Tories . . 54
Hertford Tories . . 59
Popular Politics and Party Rivalries . . 63

3. QUAKERS . . 70
Persecution . . 71
Spiritual Warfare . . 77
The Lustful Quaker . . 82
The Trial Verdict and its Aftermath . . 89
Consequences . . 95

4. MORAL PANIC AND MARITAL AFFAIRS . . 98
Rethinking Religion . . 100
Rethinking Marriage . . 109
The Quakers, Marriage, and Morality . . 113
Sarah Cowper and the Slavery of Marriage . . 116
Will Bigamy . . 125
Justifying Polygamy . . 132
Manley and the New Atalantis . . 138

5. FANATICS AND FALSE BRETHREN . . 142
Sacheverell and his Sermons . . 144
The Trial . . 148
Hypocrisy . . 160
Sacheverell and Print Fever . . 166
Censorship and Censuring . . 181
Fanaticism . . 186
Sacheverell's Longer-term Legacy . . 190

6. DESPAIR AND DEMONISM . . 193
Melancholic Despair and Suicide . . 197
The Despair of the Deist and Atheist . . 202
Shifting Attitudes . . 206
Animal Spirits . . 207
A Political Witch-hunt . . 213
Jane Wenham . . 220
The Debate over the Impossibility of Witchcraft . . 228
Vindicating Jane Wenham . . 237

CONCLUSION: AN EXCEPTIONAL STORY? . . 241

Glossary . . 247
Endnotes . . 253
Further Reading . . 267
Index . . 273