‘Tremblingly Obey!’, by Jawaharlal Nehru

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“I HAVE no use for your country’s manufactures. It behoves you, O King, to respect my sentiments and to display even greater devotion and loyalty in future, so that by perpetual submission to our Throne, you may secure peace and prosperity for your country hereafter. Tremblingly obey and show no negligence!”

George III and his ministers must have had a bit of a shock when they read this answer! But the serene confidence in a superior civilization and the majesty of power, which the answer shows, had no enduring basis in fact. The Manchu Government looked strong and was strong under Chien Lung. But its foundations were being sapped by the changing economic order. The secret societies I have mentioned were indications of discontent. But the real trouble was that the country was not being made to fit in with the new economic conditions. The West, meanwhile, was the leader in this new order and it forged ahead rapidly and became stronger and stronger.

by Jawaharlal Nehru 1889-1964

From ‘Glimpses of World History’ Volume 1 (1934) by Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964). It is subtitled ‘Being Further Letters to His Daughter, Written in Prison, and Containing a Rambling Account of History for Young People.’

Précis

The Chinese Emperor ended his letter by advising King George to be more submissive and quick to obey. Nehru wondered how such scolding was received in London, and reflected that that Chien Lung was totally unaware of how the world outside China was changing, and of economic tides that would soon flood China too.

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.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

George III offered to sell British goods to China. Emperor Chien Lung refused to buy them. He said he did not need them.

See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.

IAs. IIGrounds. IIITurn down.

Précis

Questions for Critics

Jigsaws

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