The Englishman

Tag: Character and Conduct (120)

Introduction

Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) spent the Great War (1914-1918) in England, which gave him a chance to see the average Englishman at the height of Empire, and in the midst of crisis. His affectionately teasing sketch perhaps flatters to excess, and many at home and abroad would have drawn a different one; but his fears proved to be only too well founded.

INSTINCTIVELY the Englishman is no missionary, no conqueror.* He prefers the country to the town, and home to foreign parts. He is rather glad and relieved if only natives will remain natives and strangers strangers, and at a comfortable distance from himself. Yet outwardly he is most hospitable and accepts almost anybody for the time being;* he travels and conquers without a settled design, because he has the instinct of exploration.

His adventures are all external; they change him so little that he is not afraid of them. He carries his English weather in his heart wherever he goes,* and it becomes a cool spot in the desert, and a steady and sane oracle amongst all the deliriums of mankind. Never since the heroic days of Greece has the world had such a sweet, just, boyish master.* It will be a black day for the human race when scientific blackguards, conspirators, churls, and fanatics manage to supplant him.*

By George Santayana 1863-1952

From ‘Soliloquies in England’ (1922) by George Santayana (1863-1952).

* The notion of the Englishman as an ‘absent minded’ imperialist was also put forward by historian Sir John Seeley (1834-1895) a few years earlier. See The Absent Minded Conquerors.

* John Bright (1811-1889) had noted this long before, speaking before the House of Commons on June 24th, 1858, though it came with a caveat. “When Natives of India come to this country, they are delighted with England and with Englishmen. They find themselves treated with a kindness, a consideration, a respect, to which they were wholly strangers in their own country; and they cannot understand how it is that men who are so just, so attentive to them here, sometimes, indeed too often, appear to them in a different character in India.”

* Santayana had written a little earlier: “What governs the Englishman is his inner atmosphere, the weather in his soul... never is it a precise reason, or purpose, or outer fact that determines him; it is always the atmosphere of his inner man.”

* Santayana is presumably referring to Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), the King of Macedon who brought Greece, Israel, Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt and northern India under his sway before he was thirty. Alexander’s boyish charm completely won over Sisygambis, mother of the conquered Darius of Persia: see What It Is to Be a King. Others found the appeal wore off very quickly: see A Conqueror Has No Friends. Much the same could be said of the British Empire: see W. Somerset Maugham on The Lessons of Empire.

* Santayana apparently shared historian and novelist John Buchan’s view of the German Empire. See The Garden and the Machine. He also closely echoed Edmund Burke’s judgment on the French Revolution and the churlish treatment of Marie Antoinette: “The age of chivalry has gone. That of sophisters, economists, and calculators, has succeeded; and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever”.

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

After spending the Great War in England, Spanish-American writer George Santayana observed that the typical Englishman had not been changed by imperial glory, showing no prejudice towards others though he remained stubbornly English wherever he went. The Empire, Santayana said, had been fortunate to have such masters, for there were far worse waiting to take his place. (57 / 60 words)

Edit | Reset

Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, despite, if, just, may, must, unless, whether.

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 Blackguard. Cool. Most.

2 Almost. Native. Town.

3 Conqueror. Since. Supplant.

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.

1. Afraid. 2. Comfortable. 3. Desert. 4. Go. 5. Home. 6. Less. 7. More. 8. Most. 9. Remain.

Show Useful Words (A-Z order)

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 -less.

Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak

Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.

This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.

1 Prefer. 2 Design. 3 Change. 4 Remain. 5 Relieve. 6 Time. 7 Part. 8 Race. 9 Weather.

Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command

Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak

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.

rd (18+2)

See Words

aired. arid. erode. radii. radio. raid. read. red. reed. rid. ride. road. rod. rode. rodeo. rood. rude. rued.

redo. roadie.

Post Box : Ask Nicholas

Grok : Ask Grok

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.

The Lessons of Empire

By W. Somerset Maugham

The British Empire’s hostile breakup with India should have taught everyone two things: money cannot buy love, and power does not command respect.

Read

Posted May 15 2021

Through Russian Eyes

By (William) John Birkbeck

After a visit to England in 1847, Aleksey Khomyakov published his impressions of our country and our people in a Moscow magazine.

Read

Picture: From the Illustrated London News (December 4, 1847), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted October 8 2020

The Central People of the World

By William Monypenny

Some wanted Britain on a path to being a thoroughly European nation, but William Monypenny wanted her at the world’s crossroads.

Read

Picture: Anonymous c. 1902, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.

Posted April 30 2019

The Absent Minded Conquerors

By Sir John Seeley

Sir John Seeley urged us to cherish our close ties to India and other nations beyond Europe.

Read

Posted January 3 2018

Questions for Critics

Précis

Archive

Word Games

Related Posts

Clay Lane

The Copy Book