Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America Part 7

[Footnote: 33. three ways. How does the first differ from the third?]

[Footnote: 34. Spoliatis arma supersunt. Though plundered their arms still remain.]

[Footnote: 35. your speech would betray you. "Thy speech bewrayeth thee"--Matt. xxvi 73. There is much justice in the observation that Burke is often verbose, yet such paragraphs as this prove how well he knew to condense and prune his expression. It is an excellent plan to select from day to day pa.s.sages of this sort and commit them to memory for recitation when the speech has been finished.]

[Footnote: 36. to persuade slaves. Does this suggest one of Byron's poems?]

[Footnote: 37. causes of quarrel. The a.s.sembly of Virginia in 1770 attempted to restrict the slave trade. Other colonies made the same effort, but Parliament vetoed these measures, accompanying its action with the blunt statement that the slave trade was profitable to England.

Observe how effectively Burke uses his wide knowledge of history.]

[Footnote: 38. ex vi termini. From the force of the word.]

[Footnote: 39. abstract right. Compare with 14; also 8. Point out connection in thought.]

[Footnote: 40. Act of Henry the Eighth. Burke alludes to this in his letter to the sheriffs of Bristol in the following terms: "To try a man under this Act is to condemn him unheard. A person is brought hither in the dungeon of a ship hold; thence he is vomited into a dungeon on land, loaded with irons, unfurnished with money, unsupported by friends, three thousand miles from all means of calling upon or confronting evidence, where no one local circ.u.mstance that tends to detect perjury can possibly be judged of;--such a person may be executed according to form, but he can never be tried according to justice."]

[Footnote: 41. correctly right. Explain.]

[Footnote: 42. Paradise Lost, II., 392-394.]

[Footnote: 43. This pa.s.sage should be carefully studied. Burke's theory of government is given in the Conciliation by just such lines as these.

Refer to other instances of principles which he considers fundamental in matters of government.]

[Footnote: 44. exquisite. Exact meaning?]

[Footnote: 45. trade laws. What would have been the nature of a change beneficial to the colonies?]

[Footnote: 46. English conquest. At Henry II.'s accession, 1154, Ireland had fallen from the civilization which had once flourished upon her soil and which had been introduced by her missionaries into England during the seventh century. Henry II. obtained the sanction of the Pope, invaded the island, and partially subdued the inhabitants. For an interesting account of England's relations to Ireland the student should consult Green's Short History of the English People.]

[Footnote: 47. You deposed kings. What English kings have been deposed?]

[Footnote: 48. Lords Marchers. March, boundary. These lords were given permission by the English kings to take from the Welsh as much land as they could. They built their castles on the boundary line between the two countries, and when they were not quarrelling among themselves waged a guerilla warfare against the Welsh. The Lords Marchers, because of special privileges and the peculiar circ.u.mstances of their life, were virtually kings--petty kings, of course.]

[Footnote: 49. "When the clear star has shone upon the sailors, the troubled water flows down from the rocks, the winds fall, the clouds fade away, and, since they (Castor and Pollux) have so willed it, the threatening waves settle on the deep."--HORACE, Odes, I., 12, 27-32.]

[Footnote: 50. Opposuit natura. Nature opposed.]

[Footnote: 51. no theory. Select other instances of Burke's impatience with fine-spun theories in statescraft]

[Footnote: 52. Republic of Plato Utopia of More Ideal states Consult the Century Dictionary]

[Footnote: 53. "And the DULL swain Treads daily on it with his clouted shoon"

--MILTON'S Comus, 6, 34, 35.]

[Footnote: 54. the year 1763 The date marks the beginning of the active struggle between England and the American colonies. The Stamp Act was the first definite step taken by the English Parliament in the attempt to tax the colonies without their consent.]

[Footnote: 55. legal competency. This had been practically recognized by Parliament prior to the pa.s.sage of the Stamp Act. In Ma.s.sachusetts the Colonial a.s.sembly had made grants from year to year to the governor, both for his salary and the incidental expenses of his office.

Notwithstanding the fact that he was appointed (in most cases) by the Crown, and invariably had the ear of the Lords of Trade, the colonies generally had things their own way and enjoyed a political freedom greater, perhaps, than did the people of England.]

[Footnote: 56. This is not my doctrine, but that of Ofellus; a rustic, yet unusually wise]

[Footnote: 57. Compare in point of style with 43, 22-25; 44, 1-6 In what way do such pa.s.sages differ from Burke's prevailng style? What is the central thought in each paragraph?]

[Footnote: 58. misguided people. There is little doubt that the colonists m many instances were misrepresented by the Lords of Trade and by the royal governors. See an interesting account of this in Fiske's American Revolution.]

[Footnote: 59. an Act. Pa.s.sed in 1767. It provided for a duty on imports, including tea, gla.s.s, and paper.]

[Footnote: 60 An Act. Boston Post Bill.]

[Footnote: 61. impartial administration of justice. This provided that if any person in Ma.s.sachusetts were charged with murder, or any other capital offence, he should be tried either in some other colony or in Great Britain]

[Footnote: 62. An Act for the better regulating See 87, 23. ]

[Footnote: 63. Trial of Treasons See 50, 20.]

[Footnote: 64. de jure. According to law. de facto. According to fact.]

[Footnote: 65. jewel of his soul.

"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, Is the immediate jewel of their souls"

--Oth.e.l.lo, III, iii, 155,156.]

[Footnote: 66. proposition of a ransom. See 8, 13.]

[Footnote: 67. An experiment upon something of no value.]

[Footnote: 68. They stake their fortune and play.]

[Footnote: 69. Such a presumption Is Burke right in this? Select instances which seem to warrant rest such a presumption. Discuss the political parties of Burke's own day from this point of view.]

[Footnote: 70. What can you say about the style of this pa.s.sage? Note the figure, sentence structure, and diction. Does it seem artificial and overwrought? Compare it with 43, 22-25; 44. 1-6; also with 90, 23-25, 91, 1-25, 92, 1-23.]

[Footnote: 71. enemies. France and Spain.]

[Footnote: 72. light as air.

"Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of holy writ"

--Oth.e.l.lo, III, iii, 322-324]

[Footnote: 73.

grapple to you.

"The friends thou hast and their adoption tried Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel"

--Hamlet, I., iii, 62,63.]

[Footnote: 74. the cement is gone. Figure?]

[Footnote: 75. profane herd.