7 - The Evolution of Rational Dissenting Identity

Summary

The last thirty years of the eighteenth century were decisive in the development of the identity of Rational Dissent. To understand that evolution we need to analyse the common and diverse strands of theological ideas within it, and external contemporary perceptions of those ideas. Having examined the ways in which these ideas directed and determined their concepts of liberty and of the constitution, Chapter 7 moves forward, firstly to explore a number of trends in its evolution and some changes in the character of its identity during those thirty years. Secondly it examines the significance of the increasing tensions between Rational and Orthodox Dissenters; tensions within Rational Dissent itself during the 1790s; and the impact they had exerted upon its identity by 1800.

The considerable size of the Eighteenth Century Collections Online database of printed sermons, discourses, letters, and other primary documents allows us not only to search documents for particular authors and how they explored particular theological ideas, but also to draw conclusions based upon a solid corpus of evidence. A study of trends in the number of references to various themes allows us to follow the development of Rational Dissent. In the analysis that follows, works published in multiple volumes are counted as separate works, since this is how they came to the attention of eighteenth-century audiences and readerships. Subsequent editions of works are counted in the same way, since they were often more extended versions, frequently replying to criticism, and giving the reading public further opportunities to engage with Rational Dissenting ideas.

A critical examination of the number of works published by Rational Dissenters who feature in the Biographical Register reveals a rise from 129 during the 1770s, to 175 in the 1780s, and 332 between 1790 and 1800. Table 3 lists works of a number of Rational Dissenters included in the Biographical Register, which ran to more than two editions. In 1792 alone, three editions of Anna Letitia Barbauld's Remarks on Mr. Gilbert Wakefield's Enquiry were printed, in response to the second and third editions of Wakefield's own Enquiry in the same year. The following year saw the appearance of three editions of Ann Jebb's Two Pennyworth more of Truth. Between 1791 and 1796 there were five editions of Helen Maria Williams's Letters containing a Sketch of the Politics of France between 1791 and 1796.