AN ANSWER TO A PAMPHLET, ENTITLED, CONSIDERATIONS ON THE BILL TO PERMIT PERSONS PROFESSING THE JEWISH RELIGION TO BE NATURALIZED; WHEREIN THE FALSE REASONING, GROSS MISREPRESENTATION OF FACTS, AND PERVERSION OF SCRIPTURE, ARE FULLY LAID OPEN AND DETECTED
London: “Reprinted by the Citizens of London”, 1753. Item #43176
Second edition. Modern attractive green cloth with title in gilt on spine. Small 8vo, [8], 5-67 pages. Roth, Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica, p. 222, no. 102; Hyamson, Bibliography of Pamphlets Relating to the Jew Bill of 1753 in: TJHSE, Vol. VI (1908-1910), p. 181, no. 24.Halkett and Laing I, 95.An example of the backlash to the short-lived Jew Bill of 1753. In the year 1609 the naturalization of any foreigner settled in England was made contingent on receiving the Sacrament. Although this act was deliberately directed against Catholics, it incidentally would later affect Jews following the Re-Admission of 1653. This disability was lifted by the Whig Government of Henry Pelham in the Act of 1753 to permit persons professing the Jewish religion to be naturalized by Parliament. The bill was, at best, a limited advantage to the Jews since only the wealthy would have been able to set in motion the machinery necessary to obtain naturalization. Although the measure was accepted unanimously by the House of Lords, it became a pawn in the upcoming general election campaign that resulted in its eventual repeal by the House of Commons. Taking full advantage of the prejudices and fears that the grant of naturalization to Jews had aroused, the Tory opposition fueled the unpopularity of the Act with a pamphlet and broadsheet campaign that warned of an England overrun with Jews. The Whig government was forced by public opinion to give way and the pro-Jewish legislation was duly repealed in the same year that it was enacted. The present pamphlet is a response to the pro-Jewish pamphlet Considerations on the Bill to permit persons professing the Jewish religion to be naturalized by Parliament (London, 1753) by the pseudonymous “Philo-Patriae” [Roth, p. 221, no. 95]. The present author makes the claim that the Jews employed an unnamed non-Jew to write that pamphlet. Summoning various passages from the New Testament, our pamphleteer argues that the naturalization of the Jews would be in violation of “these Divine Laws” (pp. 14-15).“In 1752-53 Romaine became nationally known for opposing a bill before Parliament relating to 'the naturalisation of those professing the Jewish religion'. He produced an opposing pamphlet and preached a sermon in which he took the ill-chosen text, ‘These people being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city (Acts 16:20)'” (John Crosby, Evangelical Times).
This is his antisemitic pamphlet responding to Considerations on the Bill to permit persons professing the Jewish religion to be naturalized by Parliament (1753), attributed to “Philo-Patriae” [Roth 221:95]. Romaine issued it in the context of the fierce public backlash against the Whig-sponsored Jewish Naturalization Act of 1753, which temporarily lifted a 144-year-old requirement barring non-Christians from naturalization.
Though passed unanimously in the House of Lords, the Act was quickly weaponized by Tory opposition ahead of the general election, igniting a pamphlet and broadsheet campaign warning of a supposed Jewish inundation. Public pressure forced the Act’s repeal within the same year.The present pamphlet asserts that “Philo-Patriae,” the author of the original pro-reform pamphlet, was merely a gentile mouthpiece for Jewish interests. Citing the New Testament, the anonymous author (William Romaine) argues that Jewish naturalization contravenes “Divine Laws” (pp. 14–15). A stark example of 18th-century Anglican Antisemitism.
See: J. Picciotto, Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History (1956) pp. 73-86; A. M. Hyamson,”The Jew Bill of 1753” in: TJHSE, Vol. VI (1908-1910) pp. 156-188
A copy sold at auction for almost $1200 with commissions in 2023.
OCLC: 65524788
Title page and several leaves edgeworn (no loss to text) and reinforced with transparent Japanese tissue, light shelf wear to boards, good attractive condition. (B) (BRIT-2-10-MV*).
Price: $1,125.00