Journalism, Exile, and Clandestinity

This chapter traces the circuits by which information about these English theological debates (including the works of Coward and Dodwell) reached French readers, in particular the role played by Huguenot refugees in Britain and the Netherlands and the journals they published. It also looks at how clandestine irreligious literature reflects these discussions. In addition, the role of the semi‐journalistic works of Thémiseul de Saint‐Hyacinthe and the marquis d'Argens in providing information about English intellectual life is studied. Echoes of the English debate, which are seen to be more...

This chapter traces the circuits by which information about these English theological debates (including the works of Coward and Dodwell) reached French readers, in particular the role played by Huguenot refugees in Britain and the Netherlands and the journals they published. It also looks at how clandestine irreligious literature reflects these discussions. In addition, the role of the semi‐journalistic works of Thémiseul de Saint‐Hyacinthe and the marquis d'Argens in providing information about English intellectual life is studied. Echoes of the English debate, which are seen to be more extensive than hitherto thought, are shown to have contributed in various ways to the development of French materialistic thought. The chapter demonstrates how heterodox but not necessarily irreligious English speculation contributed to the irreligious and sometimes atheistic materialism that developed in France in the middle of the 18th century.