Language:
English
Year of publication:
1994
Titel der Quelle:
Studies in English Literature 1500-1900
Angaben zur Quelle:
34,3 (1994) 537-552
Keywords:
Addison, Joseph,
;
Jews History 1500-1800
Abstract:
Discusses an essay by Joseph Addison (1672-1719), the English essayist, man of letters, and Whig statesman, published in his daily paper, the "Spectator, " on 27 September 1712, in which he focuses on the ongoing debate over the toleration and naturalization of Jews, considering the Jewish role in the civil, commercial society of the early 18th century. States that Addison moves the "Jewish question" beyond the principal context of his times - religion - by discussing the Jews in civil contexts. But when it comes to considering members of the "race" in their own right, he retreats from the civil discourse and reverts to Christian apologetics. While the Jews might help to build the house of commerce, they could not be civil in "Mr. Spectator's" sense because their insular customs and practices prevented them from sharing in its principal medium of exchange, manners. Addison does not end the essay in the spirit that he began. Instead, he implies the danger posed by Jews to civil society.
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