THE two races, so long hostile, soon found that they had common interests and common enemies. Both were alike aggrieved by the tyranny of a bad king. The great grandsons of those who had fought under William and the great grandsons of those who had fought under Harold began to draw near to each other in friendship; and the first pledge of their reconciliation was the Great Charter,* won by their united exertions, and framed for their common benefit.
Here commences the history of the English nation. In no country has the enmity of race been carried farther than in England.* In no country has that enmity been more completely effaced. In the time of Richard the First, the ordinary imprecation of a Norman gentleman was “May I become an Englishman!” His ordinary form of indignant denial was “Do you take me for an Englishman?” The descendant of such a gentleman a hundred years later was proud of the English name.
The Great Charter is better known by its Latin name, Magna Carta. To what extent it represented a common benefit for Normans and Englishmen (Anglo-Saxons) is a matter for dispute. The Charter was drawn up largely by barons of Norman descent, and when John reneged on it they were still Continental enough to ask Philip II of France to send his son Louis (later Louis VIII ‘the Lion’) to claim the English crown, a scheme which happily fell through. On the other, the Charter subsequently shaped constitutional government in England upon liberal principles that did indeed spread common benefits right across the English-speaking world, and they mark them out as radically different to most European states to this day. See The Signing of the Great Charter.
Macaulay published the first two volumes of his History of England in 1848, some eighty years before the grip tightened of Nazism in Germany and Apartheid in South Africa.
About the Author
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), 1st Baron Macaulay, was educated at Cambridge University and having enjoyed success there as a writer began contributing to the Edinburgh Review, with essays on Milton and on Abolition. His father, Zachary, had been a vigorous anti-slavery campaigner and governor of Sierra Leone, the British colony specially for freed slaves. Macaulay became MP for Calne in 1830 — he used his maiden speech to call for an end to statutory discrimination against Jews — and for Leeds in 1833. He served on the Supreme Council of India between 1834 and 1838, and advised on both education and the penal code. He returned to England and to Westminster, becoming Secretary for War in 1839, and embarked on the History of England (published 1849-1861) that made him a household name. In 1857 he was raised to the peerage, but died just two years later, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Ability. John. Soon.
2 Benefit. Fall. Than.
3 Friendship. People. Up.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding in-.
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 People. 2 Frame. 3 Name. 4 Battle. 5 Fall. 6 Interest. 7 Benefit. 8 Rule. 9 Drive.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
