Reverberations of Revolution: Sound, Politics and Religious Enthusiasm in the 1790s

This essay examines the significance of sound in religion in the context of the British debate about the French Revolution. It analyses loyalist sermons and pamphlets to show that anxieties about plebeian noise exacerbated concerns about religious enthusiasm and its relationship to political radicalism. Accordingly, the acoustic aspects of worship became an issue in conservative propaganda, especially the writings of Anglican clergymen. By contrast, Christian reformers found the sound of enthusiastic religion a source of empowerment. Focusing on prophecies, hymns and sermons, this essay argues that a group of plebeian Dissenters, whose piety shaped their commitment to reform, attributed a revolutionary meaning to the sonic intensity of religious enthusiasm.