Genre:

Poetry, Satire

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Religion, Reason, Astronomy, Technology, Steam-power, Electricity, Scientific Practitioners

    Argues that we should return to a time when authority rests on 'faith' rather than 'the senses' or 'reason' and that 'all facts, but Rome' are set 'at mere defiance'. Denounces Copernican astronomy and astronomy itself as 'a delusion' that has been 'forged by demons'. Adds that 'The powers of steam and electricity' are 'diabolic emanations', chemistry is sorcery, and the stars are 'lamps suspended from the sky', and that earth is flat. Regards Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Joseph Priestley, William H Wollaston, and Humphry Davy as the Devil's 'crew'.