The Whole Duty of Man
Encyclopedia
The Whole Duty of Man is an English Protestant devotional work, first published anonymously, with an introduction by Henry Hammond
, in 1658. It was both popular and influential for two centuries, in the Anglican tradition it helped to define. The title is taken from Ecclesiastes 12:13, in the King James Version of the Bible
: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
The consensus view of modern scholars is that the likely author was Richard Allestree
, but at the time of publication (towards the end of the Interregnum
) the High Church
tradition it represents was a politically dangerous position. The authorship was well concealed, and it has been noted that the work has been attributed to at least 27 people, beginning with Hammond himself.
. Fell asserted that all the attributed works were from a single author.
One of the candidates as author is Dorothy, Lady Pakington
, under whose roof Hammond lived. In discussing her, Mary Hays
noted as other candidates Accepted Frewen
, William Fulman
, Richard Sterne, and Abraham Woodhead
. Others mentioned in the Dictionary of National Biography
article on Pakington by William Dunn Macray are Fell, Humphrey Henchman
, William Chappell
, and Obadiah Walker
.
A work with a similar title from 1673, The Whole Duty of Man According to the Law of Nature, is an English translation of a Latin work on natural law
by Samuel Pufendorf, and is unrelated.
's A Deed of Gift to my Dear Son of 1687 quotes heavily from The Whole Duty of Man.
After the rupture in their close relationship at the end of 1710, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
wrote to Queen Anne
reminding her of "the directions of the author of The Whole Duty of Man with relation to friendship".
by Thomas Hardy
; "a shelf on which Mrs Julaper had her Bible, her Whole Duty of Man, and her Pilgrim's Progress", in The Haunted Baronet by Sheridan Le Fanu
; and "the bookcases, where Fox's "Lives of the Martyrs" nestled happily beside "The Whole Duty of Man" in The Souls of Black Folk
by W. E. B. DuBois. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
guyed it in The Rivals
.
Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote of William Sherlock
's Treatise on Death that it "during many years, stood next to the Whole Duty of Man in the bookcases of serious Arminians". David Hume
, a critic, wrote in his An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
, that "I suppose, if Cicero were now alive, it would be found difficult to fetter his moral sentiments by narrow systems; or persuade him, that no qualities were to be admitted as virtues, or acknowledged to be a part of PERSONAL MERIT, but what were recommended by The Whole Duty of Man".
Benjamin Franklin
wrote, in a letter to his wife, regarding his daughter Sally, "I hope she continues to love going to church, and would have her read over and over again the Whole Duty of Man, and the Lady’s Library."
Henry Hammond
Henry Hammond was an English churchman.-Early life:He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the youngest son of John Hammond, physician. He was educated at Eton College, and from age 13 at Magdalen College, Oxford, becoming demy or scholar in 1619. On 11 December 1622 he graduated B.A....
, in 1658. It was both popular and influential for two centuries, in the Anglican tradition it helped to define. The title is taken from Ecclesiastes 12:13, in the King James Version of the Bible
King James Version of the Bible
The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...
: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
The consensus view of modern scholars is that the likely author was Richard Allestree
Richard Allestree
Richard Allestree or Allestry was a Royalist churchman and provost of Eton College from 1665.-Life:The son of Robert Allestree, descended from an old Derbyshire family, he was born at Uppington in Shropshire. He was educated at Coventry and later at Christ Church, Oxford, under Richard Busby...
, but at the time of publication (towards the end of the Interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
) the High Church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
tradition it represents was a politically dangerous position. The authorship was well concealed, and it has been noted that the work has been attributed to at least 27 people, beginning with Hammond himself.
Authorship
Half a dozen other works appeared as by "the author of The Whole Duty of Man". A folio collection was published in 1684, edited by John FellJohn Fell (clergyman)
John Fell was an English churchman and influential academic. He served as Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and later concomitantly as Bishop of Oxford.-Education:...
. Fell asserted that all the attributed works were from a single author.
One of the candidates as author is Dorothy, Lady Pakington
Dorothy, Lady Pakington
Dorothy, Lady Pakington was an English friend and supporter of learned clergymen, and a writer of religious works.-Biography:...
, under whose roof Hammond lived. In discussing her, Mary Hays
Mary Hays
Mary Hays was an English novelist and feminist.- Early years :Mary Hays was born in Southwark, London on Oct. 13, 1759. Almost nothing is known of her first 17 years. In 1779 she fell in love with John Eccles who lived on Gainsford Street, where she also lived. Their parents opposed the match but...
noted as other candidates Accepted Frewen
Accepted Frewen
Accepted Frewen was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of York from 1660 to 1664.He was born at Northiam, in Sussex, and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where in 1612 he became a Fellow. In 1617 and 1621 the college allowed him to act as chaplain to Sir John Digby, ambassador...
, William Fulman
William Fulman
William Fulman was an English antiquary. He remained relatively unknown in his time, not being inclined to push himself forward, and suffering, according to David C. Douglas, from a "persistent lack of bare recognition".-Life:...
, Richard Sterne, and Abraham Woodhead
Abraham Woodhead
Abraham Woodhead was an English writer on Catholicism.-Life:Born at Almondbury, West Yorkshire, he died at Hoxton in Middlesex. He was educated at University College, Oxford, entering in 1624, becoming fellow in 1633, and proctor in 1641...
. Others mentioned in the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
article on Pakington by William Dunn Macray are Fell, Humphrey Henchman
Humphrey Henchman
Humphrey Henchman was a Church of England clergyman and bishop of London from 1663 to 1675.-Early life:He was born in Burton Latimer , Northamptonshire, the son of Thomas Henchman, a skinner, and educated at Christ's College, Cambridge where he achieved BA in 1613 and MA in 1616...
, William Chappell
William Chappell (bishop)
William Chappell was an English scholar and clergyman. He became Church of Ireland bishop of Cork and Ross.-Academic:...
, and Obadiah Walker
Obadiah Walker
Obadiah Walker was an English academic and Master of University College, Oxford from 1676 to 1688.-Life:Walker was born at Darfield near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and was educated at University College, Oxford, becoming a fellow and tutor of this College and a prominent figure in University circles...
.
A work with a similar title from 1673, The Whole Duty of Man According to the Law of Nature, is an English translation of a Latin work on natural law
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
by Samuel Pufendorf, and is unrelated.
Influence
John PageJohn Page (Middle Plantation)
Colonel John Page , a merchant in Middle Plantation on the Virginia Peninsula, was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Council of the Virginia Colony. A wealthy landowner, Page donated land and funds for the first brick Bruton Parish Church. Col...
's A Deed of Gift to my Dear Son of 1687 quotes heavily from The Whole Duty of Man.
After the rupture in their close relationship at the end of 1710, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill , Duchess of Marlborough rose to be one of the most influential women in British history as a result of her close friendship with Queen Anne of Great Britain.Sarah's friendship and influence with Princess Anne was widely known, and leading public figures...
wrote to Queen Anne
Anne of Great Britain
Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
reminding her of "the directions of the author of The Whole Duty of Man with relation to friendship".
Literary allusions
The Whole Duty of Man is mentioned in novels as a work typically to be found in small personal libraries. Examples are "a Family Bible, a "Josephus," and a "Whole Duty of Man", in The Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge , subtitled "The Life and Death of a Man of Character", is a tragic novel by British author Thomas Hardy. It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge . The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, all set in a fictional rustic England...
by Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
; "a shelf on which Mrs Julaper had her Bible, her Whole Duty of Man, and her Pilgrim's Progress", in The Haunted Baronet by Sheridan Le Fanu
Sheridan Le Fanu
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the nineteenth century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era....
; and "the bookcases, where Fox's "Lives of the Martyrs" nestled happily beside "The Whole Duty of Man" in The Souls of Black Folk
The Souls of Black Folk
The Souls of Black Folk is a classic work of American literature by W. E. B. Du Bois. It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, and a cornerstone of African-American literary history....
by W. E. B. DuBois. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan was an Irish-born playwright and poet and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For thirty-two years he was also a Whig Member of the British House of Commons for Stafford , Westminster and Ilchester...
guyed it in The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
.
Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote of William Sherlock
William Sherlock
Not to be confused with William Sherlock William Sherlock was an English church leader.-Life:He was born at Southwark, and was educated at St. Saviour's School and Eton, and then at Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1669 he became rector of St George's, Botolph Lane, London, and in 1681 he was appointed a...
's Treatise on Death that it "during many years, stood next to the Whole Duty of Man in the bookcases of serious Arminians". David Hume
David Hume
David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
, a critic, wrote in his An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals is a book by Scottish enlightenment philosopher David Hume. In it, Hume argues that the foundations of morals lie with sentiment, not reason....
, that "I suppose, if Cicero were now alive, it would be found difficult to fetter his moral sentiments by narrow systems; or persuade him, that no qualities were to be admitted as virtues, or acknowledged to be a part of PERSONAL MERIT, but what were recommended by The Whole Duty of Man".
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
wrote, in a letter to his wife, regarding his daughter Sally, "I hope she continues to love going to church, and would have her read over and over again the Whole Duty of Man, and the Lady’s Library."
Further reading
- R. C. Tennant, Christopher Smart and The Whole Duty of Man, Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Autumn, 1979), pp. 63–78.