JINGOISM.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3171, 18 April 1879, Page 1

JINGOISM.

In hit speech at Oxford, Sir William Harcourt said:—We hare seen a new spirit growing up amongst us which hag deteriorated the staple fire of the public mind—a spirit so strange to oar ancient manneri and our old traditions that it has been ; fonnd necessary to .invent for it a name for which the English language has no equivalent. It is called "Jingoism." It has r*ged like some new epidemic high infectious for a time, though there are, happily, symptoms, that the riru« lenee of the poison is wearing itself off. It is greatly to be hoped that in its mitigated form it will not become chronic I Bee the Solicitor-General the other day asked what a "Jingo" means. I will try to explain it. We all know the character which has made the name of an English gentlemen famous and respected throughout the world. Quiet in the consciousness of his own strength, self-possessed, in the sense of his own dignity, he does not think it necessary to establish a reputation for courage by quarrelling with his neighbors j he makes no display, of bis grandeur to dazzle the vulgar; simple, unaffected, and straightforward, he is content he should be judged by his own worth and not by the standard of the opinions of others; he commands the respect and esteem, of those with whom he deals by the quality of hw oonduot and not by the loudness of bis selfassertion. That war once the solid and the trustworthy disposition which formed material of English ■ public life and gave a healthy tone to the old traditions of English statesmanship. Bat then ii a very different character with which we are unfortunate!/ also familiar—the fussing, pushing, brawling,7 blatant fellow, self-asserting because distrustful of hit own merit; always On the watch to catch the applause of others; terribly afraid lest his neighbour should haVe a larger house or finer equipage than himself; bragging to persuade himself of his owai greatness; bullying to convince the world of hia valour; addicted to cheap ornament and stucco decoration; stingy in domeitio comfort and family benevolencel j* : home 5 {irofuse abroad in tawdry display, and avish in gaudy ostentation. His pride ii to out a dash; his ambition is to hear some yokel exclaim, "What a smart fellow he is!" We all know the man— we haw suffered under him—swaggering, boastful, empty-pated, quarrelsome—the common nuisance of mankind* and the laughing-stock of his neighbors; and by a sort of eltotire affinity, the Tulgarian of private society becomes the Jingo of public life.