Literary Work and Public Life
It was not until he was 53 that he took to literature; but in the 15 years following he produced six novels, of which Sir Walter Scott said that "strong mind, playful fancy, and extensive knowledge are everywhere apparent." Scott included Mount Henneth (1781), Barham Downs (1784), and James Wallace (1792) in his series of Ballantyne novels. Bage was brought up as a Quaker, but he became a philosophical and religious radical after the French Revolution. He advocated democracy and equality (the abolition of the peerage), as well as the abolition of institutional religion. A member of the Derby Philosophical Society, he was also associated with the Lunar Society of Birmingham.
The work for which he is chiefly read today is Hermsprong, his last novel. Although regarded as radical at the time, it is somewhat disjointed. The first section has strong philosophical content; however, it then turns to a sentimental novel form and follows a romance. The philosophical challenge of the novel is that it concerns an American who has been raised entirely by American Indians, without either formal education or religion. With only nature to teach him, he sees through the hypocrisy of society and English manners. It is notable for pursuing the theme of the noble savage and, in particular, "nativism" or innatism. When the novel exchanges social satire for a love story, however, it loses any power to debunk educational and classist abuses.
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