Introduction
In 1803, William Wilberforce threw his weight behind compuslory vaccination for smallpox, declaring that those who refused it were endangering society. William Cobbett replied with an open letter, in which he wondered whether any Government could resist applying the same logic to every habit, preference or opinion they could label as a social menace.
I like not this never-ending recurrence to Acts of Parliament.* Something must be left, and something ought to be left, to the sense and reason and morality and religion of the people.* There are a set of well-meaning men in the country who would pass laws for the regulating and restraining of every feeling of the human breast, and every motion of the human frame:* they would bind us down hair by hair as the Liliputians did Gulliver, till anon when we awoke from our sleep we should wonder by whom we had been enslaved. But I trust, Sir, that Parliament is not and never will be so far under the influence of these minute and meddling politicians as to be induced to pass laws for taking out of a man’s hands the management of his household, the choice of his physician, and the care of the health of his children; for under this sort of domiciliary thraldom, to talk of the liberty of the country would be the most cruel mockery wherewith an humble and subjected people were ever insulted.
By
William Cobbett
1762-1835
From the January 22nd-29th edition of ‘Cobbett’s Annual Register’ Vol. III (January-June 1803) edited by William Cobbett (1762-1835).
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.
Archive
Word Games
Suggest answers to this question. See
if you can limit one answer to exactly
seven words.
Variations:
1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words.
2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words.
3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Express the ideas below in a single
sentence, using different words as much as possible.
Do not be satisfied with the first answer you
think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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
Far.
Motion.
Sense.
2
Act.
Bind.
Sleep.
3
Ever.
Meaning.
Never.
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.)
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
tmd
(5)
See Words
tamed.
teamed.
teemed.
timed.
timid.
Post Box
: Help Available
You are welcome to share your creativity with me,
or ask for help with any of the
exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
nicholas@claylane.uk
See more at Post Box.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane,
from time to time you could
buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a
Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed
to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a
Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and
there is no need to register.
Related Posts
Mrs Lock’s Radical Ride
By
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was delighted with one young woman’s protest
against Mr Pitt’s ingenious ways of raising money.
Read
Posted
July 23 2022
Of Hares, Hounds and Red Herrings
By
William Cobbett
In January 1807, newspapers breathlessly reported that Napoleon
Bonaparte’s rampage across Europe was at an end — but was it true?
Read
Posted
July 7 2022
‘God Never Sends Mouths Without Sending Meat’
By
William Cobbett
Riding through Sussex, William Cobbett comes across a large
family relaxing together in front of their charming cottage.
Read
Posted
June 28 2022
A Tale Worth All His Fortune
By
William Cobbett
William Cobbett recalls his first taste of classic literature, for which he had to go without his supper.
Read
Posted
November 28 2018
