Introduction
Soon after King Charles I came to the throne in 1625, relations with his Parliament became strained over taxation, foreign affairs and the Church. In 1627, Sir John Eliot (1592-1632) was sent to prison for leading the outcry at the King’s bungled campaign against Spain in the Thirty Years’ War. Following his release, Eliot warned the Commons that the threat was as great as ever.
FOR I believe I shall make it clear to you, that as at first the causes of those dangers were our disorders, our disorders still remain our greatest dangers. It is not now so much the potency of our enemies, as the weakness of ourselves, that threatens us; and that saying of the father may be assumed by us, Not so much by his power, as by our negligence.*
Our want of true devotion to Heaven, our insincerity and doubling* in religion, our want of councils, our precipitate actions, the insufficiency or unfaithfulness of our generals abroad, the ignorance or corruption of our ministers at home, the impoverishing of the sovereign, the oppression and depression of the subject, the exhausting of our treasures, the waste of our provisions, consumption of our ships, destruction of our men — these make the advantage to our enemies, not the reputation of their arms. And if in these there be not reformation, we need no foes abroad! Time itself will ruin us.
* Given originally in Latin: Non tam potentia sua quam negligentia nostra. By ‘father’ Eliot means one of the Church Fathers, early Christian bishops and holy men who even in the English Reformation were still regarded as definitive guides to the authentic interpretation of Scripture. In this case, he is recalling the words of St John Chrysostom (?347-407), who in speaking of Adam’s sin in Eden wrote that “the shipwreck was quite unpardonable; for this tempest was due entirely not to the force of the winds, but to the carelessness of the sailor”. See De diabolo tentatore I.2, and Quod nemo laeditur nisi a se ipso 17.
* That is, hesitation, wavering. Eliot objected to the way Charles’s favoured clergy were (in his opinion) backtracking on the English Reformation, putting at risk the clean break made in 1534 under Henry VIII from Rome’s political, judicial and ecclesiastical meddling. On being ‘double-minded’ see James 1:8 and James 4:8.
Précis
In 1628, Sir John Eliot rose in the House of Commons to warn that the greatest threat to the country came not from King Philip IV of Spain, then opposed to England in the Thirty Years’ War, but from England’s own policy-makers, whose greed, incompetence and dithering bid fair to ruin the country long before any Spanish ships arrived. (59 / 60 words)
In 1628, Sir John Eliot rose in the House of Commons to warn that the greatest threat to the country came not from King Philip IV of Spain, then opposed to England in the Thirty Years’ War, but from England’s own policy-makers, whose greed, incompetence and dithering bid fair to ruin the country long before any Spanish ships arrived.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, if, just, may, must, since, unless, whether.
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 Assume. Danger. Heaven.
2 Itself. Now. Weakness.
3 General. Man. Not.
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 Waste. 2 Remain. 3 Ruin. 4 Make. 5 Still. 6 Cause. 7 Assume. 8 Time. 9 Man.
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
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. Great. 2. Ship. 3. Make. 4. Depression. 5. Waste. 6. Time. 7. Will. 8. Power. 9. Man.
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?
Your Words ()
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