Polling day in Oughtibridge near Sheffield in Yorkshire. It was during William Gladstone’s first tenure as Prime Minister that the Ballot Act of 1872 was passed, requiring Parliamentary elections to be held by secret ballot. Gladstone did oversee a signifiant widening of the electorate, but universal suffrage did not come for another fifty years, a process begun in 1918 and completed in 1928.
Introduction
As a young Tory, William Gladstone had opposed extending the vote to more people; by 1878, and now a Liberal Party MP and former Prime Minister, he was all in favour of it. Justifying his U-turn at Oxford University’s newly-founded Palmerston Club, he explained that it is not enough to talk of liberty: you have to trust the people with it.
I TRACE in the education of Oxford of my own time one great defect. Perhaps it was my own fault; but I must admit that I did not learn, when at Oxford, that which I have learned since, viz., to set a due value on the imperishable and inestimable principles of human liberty. The temper which, I think, too much prevailed in academic circles, was that liberty was regarded with jealousy and fear, something which could not be wholly dispensed with, but which was continually to be watched for fear of excess.
I think that the principle of the Conservative party is jealousy of liberty and of the people, only qualified by fear;1 but I think the policy of the Liberal party is trust in the people, only qualified by prudence.2 I can only assure you, gentlemen, that now I am in front of extended popular privileges.3 I have no fear of those enlargements of the Constitution that seem to be approaching.4 On the contrary, I hail them with desire.
Abridged
Abridged from a Speech to the Palmerston Club in 1878, as given in ‘The grand old man; or, The life and public services of the Right Honorable Wiliam Ewart Gladstone, four times prime minister of England’, by Richard Briscoe Cook (1838-1916).
1Gladstone uses the word ‘jealous’ in the sense of ‘fiercely protective of rights or possessions.’ The Tories, he believed, felt so protective towards both liberty and the public that their fear of what the public might do with liberty made them wary of letting them have any.
2The Liberal party emerged in the 1850s out of a split in the Tories, offering a home to those who believed in free trade rather than customs unions and complex trade deals, and opposed nanny-government and military interventions abroad. Between the Wars the Liberal party turned its back on Gladstone’s principles, never winning an election since; today, Gladstonians are more likely to be Conservatives in the mould of Margaret Thatcher (PM 1979-1990).
3That is, Gladstone is a leader in the campaign to let more people have the vote.
4On the progressive enlargement of the franchise, see The Reform Acts. The Reform Act of 1884 and the Redistribution Act of 1885, both during Gladstone’s second term as Prime Minister, widened the franchise to some 5.6 million men out of a total population in Great Britain (figures were not yet kept for Northern Ireland) of just over 36 million. However, all women and over half of men remained ineligible to vote.
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
1Spinners 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 Principle. Since. Trust.
2 Perhaps. Temper. Time.
3 Fear. Set. Something.
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.)
2Homophones Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and also in meaning. Compose your own sentences to bring out the differences between them.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1.
Know.
No.
2.
But.
Butt.
3.
Holy.
Wholly.
4.
Seam.
Seem.
5.
Yew.
You.
6.
Principle.
Principal.
7.
Hale.
Hail.
8.
Great.
Grate.
9.
Dew.
Due.
3Adjectives Find in Think and Speak
For each word below, compose sentences to show that it may be used as an adjective. Adjectives provide extra information about a noun, e.g. a black cat, a round table, the early bird etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Great. 2 Popular. 3 Qualified. 4 Greatest. 5 Whole. 6 Gentlemanly. 7 Due. 8 Liberal. 9 Watchful.
Variations: 1.show whether your adjective can also be used as e.g. a noun, verb or adverb. 2.show whether your adjective can be used in comparisons (e.g. good/better/best). 3.show whether your adjective can be used in attributive position (e.g. a dangerous corner) and also in predicate position (this corner is dangerous).
4High 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?
i1u1t1a1e1d2t1
x
0
Add
Your Words ()
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