[¹] Ibid., p. xv: “In his endeavours to obtain a concession for an autonomous Jewish state in Palestine from the Porte, Oliphant had the support of both Lord Salisbury and Lord Beaconsfield.”
[²] Ibid., pp. xxxii–xxxiii.
These last remarks are particularly worthy of the attention of those who, ignorant of the actual facts, are inclined to represent Zionism merely as a theological or sectarian idea. There is [♦]undoubtedly a strong religious feeling underlying it, but the idea has been dealt with, defended and propagated in England from all points of view.
[♦] “undoubedly” replaced with “undoubtedly”
Rt. Hon. Joseph Chamberlain
London Stereoscopic Co. Earl of
Shaftesbury
George Eliot
London Stereoscopic Co.
James Finn Laurence Oliphant
Laurence Oliphant continued to take an interest in the question until his death on December 23rd, 1888.
Among English writers who have understood the idea in all its depth and breadth, the place of honour belongs unquestionably to George Eliot (1819–1880).[¹] She chose the Zionist idea for the theme of an imaginative creation, wherein she displayed unequalled depth of comprehension and breadth of conception. In “Daniel Deronda”[²] (1874–1876) the Jew demands the rights pertaining to his race, and claims admittance into the community of nations as one of its legitimate members. He demands real emancipation, real equality. The blood of the prophets surges in his veins, the voice of God calls to him, and he becomes conscious, and emphatically declares that he has a distinct nationality; the days of levelling are over. Where calumny and obtuseness see nothing but disjecta membra, the eye of the English poetess perceives a complete national entity destined to begin life afresh, full of strength and vigour.