THE CONFLICT OF OLD AND NEW IDEAS 49 



theology "," yet it was inevitable that the search for natural causes 

 should arouse controversy among the clergy. One man of this 

 period stood as the central figure in such an extended controversy. 

 It partook of the character of theology, 100 of philosophy, and of 

 science, but belongs here because it found literary expression in 

 the work of Joseph Glanvil, who has been more nearly forgotten 

 than he deserves. As the result of an essay Scepsis Scientifica, 

 1665 which is a fairly clear exposition of the "wary and circum 

 spect " attitude of the new philosophers, he was elected Fellow of 

 the Royal Society. "The Lord Brereton presented a book written 

 by Joseph Glanvil, M. A., and entitled Scepsis Scientifica, dedi 

 cated to the Royal Society, the dedication of which was read. 

 Mr. Glanvil was proposed as a candidate by Lord Brereton''. 101 

 And thus another man with literary bent and with a keen, im 

 aginative mind was brought into direct contact with the new ideas. 

 In his case it proved to be a stimulating, if not inspiring, experi 

 ence, and quickened many a page of his philosophy. He seemed 

 to feel that the mantle of Lord Verulam had fallen upon him 

 and that he was called to complete the fragmentary New Atlan 

 tis. 2 He became, likewise, a staunch defender of the Royal 

 Society against the venomous attacks of Dr. Stubbe, the hireling 

 of Robert Grosse, sometime Oxford Fellow and upholder of Aris- 

 totelianism. 103 



In all of this Glanvil was a thoroughgoing new philosopher; 

 but it is in the controversy concerning witchcraft that he repre 

 sents the conflict between the old and the new ideas. He believed 

 in witchcraft and undertook to explain it on a scientific basis. 

 In this struggle he joined forces with Henry More, the Cambridge 

 Platonist. As Mr. Greenslet says, ' ' In matters of witchcraft 

 Glanvil and More hunted in couples". 104 The new science had put 

 the long-accepted belief on the defensive, and Glanvil's problem 



99 Seth, James, English Philosophers, p. 17. 



100 Birch, Thomas, History of the Royal Society, p. 500. 



101 There is an alluring field of investigation in the contribution of the new science 

 to rational theology and to 18th century philosophy. Of. Seth, English Philosophers, 

 Stephen^ History of English Thought, Remusat, Histoire de la Philosophie en Angleterre, 

 Tulloch, Rational Theology, etc. 



102 Essay VII, Anti-fanatical Religion and Free Philosophy. 

 108 Greenslet, F., Joseph Glanvtt, p. 77 8. 



104 Ibid. p. 154. 



