SPRAT, THOMAS (1635–1713)

SPRAT, THOMAS (1635–1713), author of The History of the Royal Society of London, for the Improving of Natural Knowledge (1667), an important document for those interested in Baconianism, the nature and program of the early Royal Society, and the development of English prose style. Educated at Wadham College, Oxford (B.A. 1654; M.A. 1657) and patronized by John Wilkins (1614–1672), the warden of Wadham College and an important figure in the founding of the Royal Society, Sprat appears to have been groomed for a clerical and literary career. His first publication was a panegyric to Oliver Cromwell (1659).

Commissioned by the Royal Society in 1663 to publicize and defend its aspirations, methods, and accomplishments, Sprat's History of the Royal Society was guided by a society committee and by John Wilkins. Scholars differ as to whether the sentiments expressed should be considered those of Sprat or Wilkins and the extent to which it represents the "official ideology" of the society. Sprat's History offers a Baconian vision of a useful, experimental, natural philosophy, although it accepts mathematics and hypothesis to a greater extent than Bacon did. Like Bacon's Advancement of Learning (1605), it argues that the pursuit of natural philosophy was not politically, socially, or religiously dangerous. Publication of the History was delayed by the plague and the fire in London. In the interim Sprat defended English science from the critique of Samuel Sorbiere (1615–1670).

The History is prefaced by a laudatory poem by Abraham Cowley (1618–1667) praising Bacon, the efforts of the Royal Society, and Sprat's literary style. Soon after, Sprat supervised the publication of Cowley's works and provided an account of his life and writing. Book I of the History is an outline of the history of learning, giving special attention to the defects of the Scholastic method and to the society's "new way of Inquiry." The accomplishments of the ancients are admired, but their authority rejected. Sprat emphasizes the detrimental effects of religious controversies and the need for peace if knowledge is to flourish.

Book II contains a description of the Royal Society's origins, its constitution, and legal structure. Although the society is characterized as open to men of all religions, nations, and professions, the role of gentlemen is particularly emphasized. Sprat notes the society's avoidance of politics, morality, oratory, and religion and describes its method of inquiry, highlighting the role of experiment, its preference for cooperative over individual investigation, and its rejection of the Cartesian method. It also includes a survey of the society's experiments and activities.

Book III, more apologia than history, defends experimental philosophy, emphasizing the society's hostility to religious fanaticism and other varieties of dogmatism. Sprat argues that experimental natural philosophy is not injurious to traditional education and its disciplines, altering only natural philosophy. Although the society did not meddle in spiritual things, its investigations supported natural religion, Christian belief, and the Church of England. The experimental approach also benefited the manual arts, the nobility and gentry, and wits and writers as well as encouraging the spread of civility and obedience to civil government. The History was attacked by Henry Stubbe (1632–1676), and modern scholars have questioned the accuracy of Sprat's account of the society's origins, the degree to which it represented accurately the society's methodology and goals, the extent of society supervision, and whether the History should be considered a latitudinarian document.

The best-known portions of the History, those advocating a plain, unadorned prose style devoid of metaphor and other figures of speech, have been central to discussions of scientific writing and prose style more generally. Sprat suggests that eloquence ought to be banished from civil society and that ornaments of speech are opposed to reason. The society therefore resolved "to reject all the amplifications, digressions, and swellings of style: to return back to the primitive purity, and shortness, which men delivered so many things, almost in a equal number of words." Sprat supported creation of an academy to polish the English language.

Sprat was a popular preacher and participant in high-church politics, holding a number of clerical posts before becoming bishop of Rochester in 1684. He defended the doctrine of the divine right of kings, wrote against the Whigs and the Rye House Plot, and served on James II's (ruled 1685–1688) ecclesiastical commission. Although willing to read James's Declaration for Liberty of Conscience from the pulpit, Sprat resigned from the commission, refusing to prosecute those unwilling to do so. Sprat accepted the Revolution of 1688.

Primary Sources

Bacon, Francis. The Advancement of Learning. London, 1605.

Birch, Thomas. The History of the Royal Society of London for Improving of Natural Knowledge from Its First Rise. 4 vols. London, 1756–1757. Reprint, New York, 1968.

Glanvill, Joseph. Plus Ultra, or, the Progress and Advancement of Knowledge since the Days of Aristotle. London, 1668.

Sprat, Thomas. "An Account of the Life of Mr. Abraham Cowley." In The Works of Abraham Cowley. London, 1669.

——. The History of the Royal Society of London, for the Improving of Natural Knowledge. Edited with critical apparatus by Jackson I. Cope and Harold Whitmore Jones. Saint Louis, 1958. Originally published London, 1722.

——. A Loyal Satyr against Whiggism. London, 1682.

——. Observations on Monsieur de Sorbier's Voyage into England. London, 1665.

——. The Plague of Athens: Which Hapned in the Second Year of the Peloponnesian War. London, 1659.

——. Sermons Preached on Several Occasions. London, 1722.

SPRAT, THOMAS (1635–1713)

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Primary Sources

Secondary Sources