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.*
* 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”.
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)
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.
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, because, despite, if, ought, since, whereas, who.
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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 Only. Spot. Wherever.
2 Heroic. No. Steady.
3 Day. Instinct. Such.
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.)
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 Change. 2 Time. 3 Race. 4 Weather. 5 Remain. 6 Spot. 7 Accept. 8 Design. 9 Become.
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
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 dis-.
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.
cds (6+1)
acids. cads. cedes. codas. codes. cods.
coeds.
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