One hundred years ago
THE COUNCIL of the Colonial Insti- tute have petitioned the Queen that "one day in the year shall be set apart for universal national celebration" throughout the Empire. Lord Rosebery has replied with a douche of cold water. We feel more sympathy for the proposal than Lord Rosebery shows, and should like to see a day set apart on which the whole English-speaking people could remember itself. The question is what day ought to be chosen. Carlyle called us all subjects of King Shakespeare, but we are hardly literary enough for Shake- speare-day. How would Magna Charta day do? It would be kept on June 15th, the day on which the Charter was solemnly signed and sealed. No one could object to Magna Charta, for every one wants civil liberty, and our civil lib- erty rests on the great instrument which the Barons signed, even if King John did not. One advantage of Charter-day would be that it would not leave the Americans out. Magna Charta is part of the law of the United States. Magna Ghana may be a little off colour and old-fashioned, — it did not contain the Eight-hours day, — but still it is the symbol of liberty throughout the English-speaking world.
The Spectator 1 September 1894
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