In April 1764, Laurence Sterne, who is in France for a cure, is invited by Lord Hertford, the new English ambassador to France, to preach a sermon at the opening of the new embassy in Paris. Sterne accepts the invitation and chooses a text that is perceived as a shocking discourtesy to the diplomatic and political authorities. The dinner that follows, to which the most distinguished members of the British society are invited, is the occasion of a unique encounter between three of the most famous figures of the cultural and political world of the Great Britain eighteenth century: Laurence Sterne, the Irish clergyman and novelist, David Hume, the Scottish diplomatist and historian, and John Wilkes, the English radical politician and journalist. This essay focuses both on the encounter between the three compatriots of Great Britain in the peaceful atmosphere of Paris one year after the Treaty of 1763 and on the ideological and political implications, between liberal, sceptical, and radical perspectives. It aims to demonstrate that this affair, although not yet sufficiently researched, shows aspects of great cultural and historical-political interest.
L'articolo fa luce, per la prima volta nella storia della storiografia politica internazionale, sulle analogie e differenze nel pensiero politico di tre dei più influenti intellettuali del Settecento britannico, Hume, Wilkes e Sterne, ognuno di nazionalità diversa (scozzese, inglese e irlandese) ma accomunati, oltre che dall'appartenenza al medesimo contesto storico-istituzionale, dall'interesse per la politica, seppure da orientamento diverso e in certi casi contrapposto. Nella cornice della Parigi del 1764, dove questi autori si incontrano, sullo sfondo delle relazioni diplomatiche tra Gran Bretagna e Francia a guerra appena conclusa, emerge un quadro di riflessioni e posizioni molto interessanti dal punto di vista storico-politico su alcuni dei temi centrali del dibattito illuminista europeo, come l'origine del potere, la religione, l'importanza della cultura e del costume, la libertà e la schiavitù.
Political Connections (and Disconnections) between British Intellectuals in the Age of Enlightenment: Hume, Sterne, and Wilkes in Paris (1764)
Pupo Spartaco
2021-01-01
Abstract
In April 1764, Laurence Sterne, who is in France for a cure, is invited by Lord Hertford, the new English ambassador to France, to preach a sermon at the opening of the new embassy in Paris. Sterne accepts the invitation and chooses a text that is perceived as a shocking discourtesy to the diplomatic and political authorities. The dinner that follows, to which the most distinguished members of the British society are invited, is the occasion of a unique encounter between three of the most famous figures of the cultural and political world of the Great Britain eighteenth century: Laurence Sterne, the Irish clergyman and novelist, David Hume, the Scottish diplomatist and historian, and John Wilkes, the English radical politician and journalist. This essay focuses both on the encounter between the three compatriots of Great Britain in the peaceful atmosphere of Paris one year after the Treaty of 1763 and on the ideological and political implications, between liberal, sceptical, and radical perspectives. It aims to demonstrate that this affair, although not yet sufficiently researched, shows aspects of great cultural and historical-political interest.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
