Banner of Liberty, by William Ewart Gladstone

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But how comes it to pass that the sight of that flag always raises the spirit of Englishmen? It is because it has always been associated with the cause of justice, with opposition to oppression, with respect for national rights, with honourable commercial enterprize, but now, under the auspices of the noble Lord,* that flag is hoisted to protect an infamous contraband traffic, and if it were never to be hoisted except as it is now hoisted on the coast of China, we should recoil from its sight with horror, and should never again feel our hearts thrill, as they now thrill with emotion, when it floats proudly and magnificently on the breeze. No, I am sure that her Majesty’s Government will never upon this motion, persuade the House to abet this unjust and iniquitous war.*

by William Ewart Gladstone 1808-1898

From Speech in the Commons on April 8th, 1840 as given in Hansard. See also Macaulay’s Speech in the Commons on April 7th, 1840, and ‘The Letters of Queen Victoria’ Vol. 1 (1911) edited by Viscount Esher.

* Not Mr Macaulay (who would be raised to the peerage as Baron Macaulay in 1857) but the Prime Minister of the day, William Lamb (1779-1848), 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who held office in 1834 and 1835-1841.

* Sadly, Gladstone was wrong. Sir James Graham’s motion to censure the policy was defeated, albeit by a majority of just nine, and the war continued. See Jawaharlal Nehru’s justly censorious narrative of the conflict in The First Opium War. The Second Opium War in 1856-60 saw a renewal of hostilities and another trade deal signed under duress, the Treaty of Tientsin of 1858. In 1857, a further motion to censure the Government’s China policy was brought before the House of Commons, and this time succeeded. It was led by veteran free-trader Richard Cobden (1804-1865).

Précis

Gladstone recognised that the national flag had often inspired the British fighting man to heroism in a noble cause, but warned that if the Union Jack continued to symbolise bullying and injustice, as it had recently in China, it would quickly lose its power, and he urged the Commons not to let things come to this pass.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Précis

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