''The Oracle of Reason, or Philosophy Vindicated'' was the first avowedly

atheistic Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...

periodical to be published in Britain. It was founded by

Charles Southwell Charles Southwell (1814 – 7 August 1860) was a radical English journalist, freethinker and colonial advocate. Early life Charles Southwell was born in London, the youngest of 33 children in a poor family. His father, William, was a piano mak ...

, William Chilton and John Field in 1841, and lasted until 1843. Several of its editors were imprisoned for

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

History

The ''Oracle'' owed its origins to a split in

Robert Owen Robert Owen (; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted e ...

's Universal Community Society. For the early background, see

. The first issue of the weekly ''Oracle'' was published on 6 November 1841 (price: 1 d), and the last issue was dated 2 December 1843. It was published 6 November 1841 to 8 January 1842, then there was a gap before publication resumed from 12 February 1842 to 2 December 1843.Royle 1974, p.321. According to Royle (1974, p. 74), it was "at first highly successful, selling on average about four thousand copies a week." The first editor of the ''Oracle'' was Charles Southwell.

George Jacob Holyoake George Jacob Holyoake (13 April 1817 – 22 January 1906) was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and "jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the ''Reasoner'', from 1846 to J ...

took over when Southwell was imprisoned, and when Holyoake was imprisoned Thomas Paterson became editor. When Paterson was jailed, William Chilton took over.

Southwell prosecuted for blasphemy

The fourth issue of the ''Oracle'' included a deliberately provocative article antisemitically entitled "The Jew Book," which described the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

as "This revoltingly odious Jew production..." As a consequence, Charles Southwell was arrested for blasphemy on 27 November 1841 and imprisoned for twelve months in January 1842.

, the Owenite lecturer for

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, defended Southwell in December 1841, in a lecture entitled "The spirit of Bonner in the Disciples of Jesus," for which he was rebuked by the Owenite central board.Royle 1976, p.42. Nevertheless, Holyoake took over the editorship of the ''Oracle'' from number eight (dated 12 February 1842) (according to Royle, Chilton edited number five but, preferring to remain in the background, delayed the next issue after Southwell's imprisonment until a new editor was found), moving the editorial office from Bristol to Sheffield, and changing publisher to

Henry Hetherington Henry Hetherington (June 1792 – 24 August 1849) was an English printer, bookseller, publisher and newspaper proprietor who campaigned for social justice, a free press, universal suffrage and religious freethought. Together with his close asso ...

Holyoake prosecuted for blasphemy

Holyoake's approach was more moderate than Southwell's, advocating a compromise for the Owenite movement whereby socialism and religion would be separated by setting up separate discussion classes on theological subjects. However, on 24 May 1842, Holyoake delivered a lecture on Home Colonisation in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

, during which he answered a question from the audience (it was asked by local preacher) about God's place in a socialist community:

He made some remarks about Education and said 'for his part he thought the people of this Country ought not to have any religion, they were too poor,' he said 'for my part I am of no religion at all' he said 'those that professed religion were worshippers of Mammon' 'for my part I don't believe there is such a thing as a God' he said when he was speaking of the people of this Country being too poor – 'If I could have my way I would place the Deity on half-pay as the Government of this Country did the subaltern officers'.

Holyoake was arrested for blasphemy on 2 June, on a return visit to Cheltenham. He was released on bail on 18 June and tried on 14 August. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment in Gloucester jail. George Adams (who was not an atheist) was sentenced to one month on the same day for selling the ''Oracle'', number 25. In June or July 1842, the editorial office moved from Sheffield to 8 Holywell Street, London, and at the end of August, Holyoake's name disappeared from the front page. In June 1842, an

Anti-Persecution Union The Anti-Persecution Union was an organisation established by the freethinkers George Jacob Holyoake and Emma Martin in 1842, to aid in defending individuals accused of blasphemy and blasphemous libel. Its object was "to assert and maintain the r ...

(APU) was formed to defend Southwell and Holyoake, as well as George Adams and his wife Harriet (arrested but not prosecuted for selling ''Oracle'' number 4). It arose from

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

socialist Maltus Questell Ryall's initiative in organizing a defense fund for Southwell in early 1842, writing to Holyoake for support (Holyoake was facing his own legal problems). The APU, aiming to "assert and maintain the right of free discussion, and to protect and defend the victims of intolerance and bigotry" Royle 1976, p.55-57. was run from Holywell Street. Ryall was secretary and

James Watson James Dewey Watson (born April 6, 1928) is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist. In 1953, he co-authored with Francis Crick the academic paper proposing the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. Watson, Crick and ...

was treasurer. Thomas Paterson took over as editor from number 37, dated 3 September 1842, with assistance from Maltus Ryall (according to Royle, Ryall was the ''Oracle's'' business manager.Royle 1974, p.81. He died on 11 February 1846, aged 37).

Paterson prosecuted for blasphemy

Paterson was imprisoned for one month in January 1843 for "displaying obscene and blasphemous literature in the window of the ''Oracle'' office in Holywell Street; and for fifteen months in November 1843 for selling blasphemous publications in Edinburgh. The masthead of the ''Oracle'' began to look like a police gazette." Paterson "had the bluster of Southwell but not his ability, and the quality and circulation of the ''Oracle'' declined rapidly. Ryall did not have Holyoake's business abilities, and Chilton continued only behind the scenes." There were difficulties in distributing the ''Oracle'', which was unstampe

Only a donation of £40 from

William John Birch William John Birch (1811–1891) was an English rationalist writer. Background and early life He was the son of Jonathan Birch (died 1848, at age 76) of St Pancras, London, and his wife Mary Elizabeth Morrice (died 1822), daughter of William Mor ...

enabled the second volume of the ''Oracle'' (Nov. 1842–) to appear. Paterson's last issue as editor was 3 June 1843.

Southwell abandons the ''Oracle''

Southwell was released from prison in February 1843 but refused to resume the editorship of the ''Oracle''. According to Royle (1974, p. 87.), this was "partly because he did not want to be made responsible for the debt it had accumulated under the management of Paterson and Ryall, but mainly because he had changed his mind about the value of the tone which he had originally given to the paper and which Paterson had maintained." Instead, he started a new paper, the ''Investigator'', which closed in October 1843.

The ''Movement''

On the closure of the ''Oracle'', Holyoake founded the moderate ''Movement, and anti-persecution gazette'', to which Chilton was a contributor. It lasted until 1845.

References

Bibliography

* Holyoake, George Jacob (1906). ''Sixty Years of an Agitator's Life.'' 6th impression. London: T. Fisher Unwin. *

Royle, Edward Edward Royle (born 29 March 1944) is a British academic who is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of York and author of several books on the history of religious ideas, particularly in York and Yorkshire. Career Royle gained his PhD ...

(1972). ''Victorian Infidels: the origins of the British secularist movement, 1791–1866.'' Manchester U
online
*

(ed.) (1976). ''The Infidel Tradition: from Paine to Bradlaugh.'' London: Macmillan. * Stein, Gordon (1985). "Southwell, Charles." ''The Encyclopedia of Unbelief'', Vol. II, pp. 636–637. Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books.

External links

The Oracle of Reason, Volume 1

"Collection of periodicals on religion, radicalism and freethought, 1834–1916", ''Contents of the microfilm collection with an introduction by Dr. Edward Royle'', Microform Academic Publishers.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oracle of Reason, The Atheism publications Atheism in the United Kingdom Publications established in 1841 1841 establishments in the United Kingdom Publications disestablished in 1843