Thomas Tryon (6 September 1634 – 21 August 1703) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sugar merchant, author of popular self-help books, and early advocate of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their Utilitarianism, utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding s ...

and vegetarianism.

Life

Born in 1634 in

Bibury Bibury is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the River Coln, a Thames tributary that rises in the same (Cotswold) District. The village centre is northeast of Cirencester. Arlington Row is a nationally notable a ...

near

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he had to work spinning wool as a child and received no education. As a teenager, he worked as a shepherd till the age of eighteen and managed to learn reading and writing in his spare time.Stuart p. 60-61; Spencer p. 206. In 1652 he moved to London without telling his parents and

apprenticed Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

with a

hatter Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...

at the Bridewell area. He became an Anabaptist in 1654 under the influence of his master. He liked the ascetic lifestyle of that congregation, but soon he found his own independent spiritual way after reading the writings of Jakob Böhme. In 1657 he heard an inner voice, which he named the "Voice of Wisdom", encouraging him to become a vegetarian and to live on a frugal diet. He married in 1661 but failed to convert his wife to his lifestyle. He traveled to

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

hoping to succeed in his hat trade and to profit from greater religious tolerance there, but was shocked by the cruelty of slavery in the plantations. In 1669 he returned to London and settled in Hackney. In 1682 his inner voice told him to engage in writing and to publish books in order to propagate temperance and nonviolence. In the last two decades of his life, he published twenty-seven works on a wide range of subjects, including education, nutrition, abstinence from alcohol and tobacco and other health issues, and treatment of slaves. At the same time he continued his hat trade and grew wealthy. Some of his self-help books sold very well.

Influence

His most widely read book was ''The Way to Health'', published in 1691 as a second edition of ''Health's Grand Preservative; or, The Women's Best Doctor'' (1682). It inspired

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

to adopt vegetarianism. Tryon's writings also impressed playwright Aphra Behn (whose "On the Author of that Excellent Book Intitled The way to HEALTH, LONG LIFE, and HAPPINESS," appears in Tryon's 1697 ''Way to Health''"), and vegetarian poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Tryon died in Hackney in August 1703 and his memoirs, ''Some Memoirs of the Life of Mr. Thomas Tryon, Late of London, Merchant'', were published posthumously in 1705.

Ideas

Tryon's ideas on historical and philosophical matters were heavily influenced by ancient

Pythagoreanism Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

, and the teachings of German occultist

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's '' Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' published in 1533 dre ...

. He considered himself a Christian and tried to reconcile Biblical, Pythagorean and Hindu teachings. His conviction was that there was one true original religion of mankind, followed by Moses, Pythagoras and the Indian

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

s, but perverted by the majority of Christians. According to him, the main tenets of that faith were

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

and nonviolence to animals; benevolence to all species and vegetarianism were prerequisites for spiritual progress and a possible restoration of Paradise. He explicitly advocated

. Tryon was of the opinion that humans are a miniature image of the universe ( microcosm). He voiced environmental concerns about the pollution of rivers and the destruction of forests. Tryon did not believe in reincarnation, but assumed that the souls of sinners take on the forms of vicious beasts in a nightmarish afterlife. Tryon has been associated with the history of animal rights. Historians have described Tryon as the first known author to use the word "rights" in regard to animals in his book ''The Way to Health, Long Life and Happiness'', published in 1683.Perkins, David. (2003). ''Romanticism and Animal Rights''. Cambridge University Press. p. 41. He commented that man "would fain be an absolute ''Monarch'' or arbitrary ''Tyrant'', making nothing at his pleasure to break the Laws of God, and invade and destroy all the Rights and Priviledges of the inferiour Creatures."Tryon, Thomas (1683) ''The Way to Health, Long Life and Happiness''. p. 515.Magel, Charles R. (1989). ''Keyguide to Information Sources in Animal Rights''. McFarland. p. 9.

Selected publications

''The Way to Health, Long Life and Happiness''
(1683)
''Wisdom's Dictates, or, Aphorisms & Rules, Physical, Moral, and Divine, for Preserving the Health of the Body, and the Peace of the Mind''
(1691)
''A Treatise of Cleanness in Meats and Drinks, of the Preparation of Food, the Excellency of Good Airs, and the Benefits of Clean Sweet Beds''
(1682) *''The Knowledge of a Man's Self the Surest Guide to the True Worship of God, and Good Government of the Mind and Body'' (1703)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tryon, Thomas 1634 births 1703 deaths 17th-century English male writers 17th-century English merchants 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English non-fiction writers British vegetarianism activists English animal rights scholars English Anabaptists English food writers English pacifists English self-help writers English temperance activists Milliners History of sugar People from Bibury