‘View of the Hustings in Covent Garden’, by James Gillray (1756-1815), caricaturing the Westminster hustings for the general election of November 1806. Two seats were up for grabs, and James Paull, shown standing to the right of the central post, was defeated by Sir Samuel Hood, conspicuous in his Admiral’s hat (‘Two faces under one Hood!’ cries a disgruntled voter) and by Treasurer of the Navy Richard Sheridan (‘Sherry and liberty!’, ‘Pay your debts, Mr Treasurer!’), the large man in brown. After losing, Paull questioned the result, and was reprimanded by the Commons for ‘false and scandalous’ allegations; he promptly challenged a fellow MP to a duel, which was stopped. Other VIPs shown here include William Cobbett, standing just behind Paull’s left and clutching his popular newspaper the ‘Political Register’.
Introduction
American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) believed that there was no people in Europe so committed to hard, scientific facts than the Victorian English, so unwilling to act until all the evidence is in – a ‘Victorian value’ worth rediscovering today.
THEY kiss the dust before a fact. Is it a machine, is it a charter, is it a boxer in the ring, is it a candidate on the hustings – the universe of Englishmen will suspend their judgment until the trial can be had.
They are not to be led by a phrase, they want a working plan, a working machine, a working constitution, and will sit out the trial and abide by the issue and reject all preconceived theories. In politics they put blunt questions, which must be answered; Who is to pay the taxes? What will you do for trade? What for corn? What for the spinner?
This singular fairness and its results strike the French with surprise. Philip de Commines says, “Among all the sovereignties I know in the world, that in which the public good is best attended to, and the least violence exercised on the people, is that of England.”* Life is safe, and personal rights; and what is freedom without security?
From ‘English Traits’ (1856, 1876) by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).
Philip de Commines (1447-1511), a diplomat in the court of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and of King Louis IX of France. The passage occurs in his ‘Memoires’ Volume I, Book V, Chap. 19 (p. 444): “In my opinion, of all the countries in the world with which I was ever acquainted, the one where the government is best managed, where the rule is least violent on the people, where buildings are least likely to be destroyed and demolished by war, is England; and that fate and misfortune falls only upon those who make the war”. De Commines was being generous: England was at that time (1477) in the middle of The Wars of the Roses, and Edward IV had six years earlier snatched the throne back from Henry VI.
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
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 Abide. Blunt. Life.
2 Before. Charter. Lead.
3 Issue. Phrase. Security.
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.)
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Charter. 2. Fair. 3. Right. 4. Can. 5. Plan. 6. Issue. 7. Well. 8. Lead.
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Phrase. 2. Working. 3. Lead. 4. Safe. 5. Fact. 6. Public. 7. Exercise. 8. Surprise. 9. Candidate.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
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?
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0
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Your Words ()
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