15 MAY 1947, Page 5

The search for a suitable synonym for " conscript "

has not proved very fruitful so far ; however, as I never thought it would be, I am not depressed unduly. Meanwhile I have had the spontaneous proffer of a word to meet another need. The need is undoubted. What is the population of the British Commonwealth to be called? They are not Commonwealthers. The term " Britishers " is an in- defensible and horrible formation. " Britons " is not a very great deal better. But there reaches me a quotation from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:" he [Alfred the Great] was king over the whole Anglekin." That good Saxon word is very attractive. It cannot be denied that it was used originally in a rather narrowly restricted sense, but that can quite easily be altered. " The whole Anglekin " is a good phrase, and I don't see why anyone, north of the Tweed or the south, from Ottawa to Canberra (via London) need demur at being included in it. But that is not to say they won't.

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