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Amazing Grace · 2006 — 第 11 / 18 章 · 4'17" · C1

Abolitionists Present a Huge Petition, Explained：scrape the bottom of the barrel

A pro-slavery MP argues that the Africans don't object and that ordinary Britons don't care. The abolitionists answer with a petition signed by more than 390,000 people. When the other side tries to stall by checking the signatures, the reply becomes the line of the scene: "you will not drown out the voice of the people."

あらすじ

In the House, a member for Liverpool defends the slave trade, claiming the slaves are comfortable and the British public doesn't care. The abolitionists respond by presenting a petition with over 390,000 signatures calling for the trade to end. The debate turns bitter as one side tries to delay and the other refuses to be shouted down.

SpeechesPersuasionConfrontingPersuadingRivalsC1slowbritishClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

scrape the bottom of the barrelexercised bythe voice of the peoplemy honourable friend

00:00 / 04:17
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  5. ❝ 独白The defence of the trade5 行練習ページ ↗
  14. ❝ 独白Wilberforce answers with names6 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

scrape the bottom of the barrel

to settle for the last poor options

Wilberforce tells the Liverpool member he is digging for ever weaker objections.

The committee was scraping the bottom of the barrel to justify the delay.

このシーンの他の表現

  • exercised by

    troubled or worried by

  • the voice of the people

    public opinion or will

  • my honourable friend

    a polite parliamentary jibe

このシーンのメモ一覧

30 行のセリフに 19 件のメモ

表現 · B1should have done something

should have done it but did not

That year we should have won.
表現 · C1by natural justice

by plain fairness

With the evidence we had collected, by natural justice we should have won.
文法 · C1With the evidence we had collected

participle phrase: The opening with-phrase sets the condition before the main claim about winning.

With the evidence we had collected, by natural justice we should have won.
表現 · B2in defence of something

in support of something

Another argument in defence of the trade is that the Newfoundland fishing industry is kept afloat by the fact that slaves in the West Indies consume that part of the fish which is fit for no other consumption.
表現 · B2keep something afloat

to keep something going

Another argument in defence of the trade is that the Newfoundland fishing industry is kept afloat by the fact that slaves in the West Indies consume that part of the fish which is fit for no other consumption.
文法 · C1which is fit for no other consumption

relative clause: Which refers back to that part of the fish, adding why it is thrown to slaves.

Another argument in defence of the trade is that the Newfoundland fishing industry is kept afloat by the fact that slaves in the West Indies consume that part of the fish which is fit for no other consumption.
表現 · C1scrape the bottom of the barrel

to settle for the last poor options

Wilberforce tells the Liverpool member he is digging for ever weaker objections.

I do feel that if my honourable friend continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel for objections, he is in danger of getting splinters under his fingernails.
発音bottom of

Link the m of bottom straight into of.

I do feel that if my honourable friend continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel for objections, he is in danger of getting splinters under his fingernails.
表現 · B2have no evidence that

there is no proof that

As representative of the great and flourishing commercial town of Liverpool, I must once again remind the House that we have no evidence that the Africans themselves have any objection to the trade.
表現 · A2plenty of something

a lot of

...which states that most slaves in the Indies have a snug little garden with plenty of pigs and poultry.
表現 · B1have as much as someone

to have just as much

There are many poor families in Liverpool who do not have as much.
表現 · B1apart from something

except for

Which... Which is why, apart from a few mendicant physicians and itinerant clergymen, the ordinary people of Britain are not at all exercised by the whole issue of slavery.
表現 · B1in the past year

over the last year

In the past year, I and my itinerant clergymen friends have been gathering just such evidence.
表現 · B2call for something

to demand something

We have taken a petition calling for the abolition of the slave trade to all the great cities of this country.
表現 · B1take time to do something

to spend time doing something

Mr Speaker, I humbly request a suspension while we take time to examine the signatures on this document.
表現 · B2give way

to yield or step aside

- Mr Speaker, will he not give way? - Is the desolation of Africa suspended?
表現 · B2reek of something

to smell strongly of something literally to smell of, here meaning it smacks of rebellion

That roll of paper reeks of rebellion!
表現 · B2drown out something

to make a sound inaudible

No matter how loud you shout, you will not drown out the voice of the people!
発音No matter how

Run No matter how together as one smooth unit.

No matter how loud you shout, you will not drown out the voice of the people!

「Abolitionists Present a Huge Petition」を読み解く

What's really going on

This is the abolitionists turning the charge of radicalism back on the House. The Liverpool MP insists there is "no evidence that the Africans themselves have any objection to the trade," so they produce evidence of a different kind: a petition signed by hundreds of thousands of ordinary people. His complaint that Britain should not be "governed by the rule of the mob" is answered with the line the whole chapter is named for — "No matter how loud you shout, you will not drown out the voice of the people." The debate also shows how the other side fights: not by defending slavery on the merits, but by asking for time to examine the signatures, a delay the abolitionists call "very provoking." Public opinion is the new weapon, and the House doesn't know what to do with it.

Theme

PowerThe debate is about who gets to be heard: Parliament's members or the hundreds of thousands who signed the petition.
JusticeThe abolitionists answer self-interested arguments with mass public support, reframing slavery as a question of the people's will.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Volume can lose an argument when the crowd is on the other side.
  • A petition turns private feeling into a public number.
  • Honourable friend is politeness doing the work of a jab.
  • As if it were blessed by God hides a profit motive.

発音のポイント

  • bottom of — Link the m of bottom straight into of.
  • No matter how — Run No matter how together as one smooth unit.
No matter how loud you shout, you will not drown out the voice of the people!

The chapter's defining line: whatever the House does to delay or shout it down, public opinion is now too large to silence.

I do feel that if my honourable friend continues to scrape the bottom of the barrel for objections, he is in danger of getting splinters under his fingernails.

A witty put-down: the other side has run out of good arguments and is now scraping for scraps, so the speaker warns they'll get splinters.

Winds blow ships from Africa to the Indies naturally, as if the route were blessed by God.

Part of the pro-trade case: the route is treated as natural and even providential, which is meant to make the trade seem inevitable and good.

That roll of paper reeks of rebellion!

The petition dismissed in one outraged sentence: to its opponents, ordinary people organizing is not democracy but sedition.

このシーンについての質問

What is the petition in this scene?

A petition calling for the abolition of the slave trade, taken to Britain's major cities and signed by more than 390,000 people.

Why does the MP for Liverpool oppose abolition?

He represents a port city that profits from the trade. He claims the slaves are comfortable and that ordinary Britons don't care about slavery.

What does "scrape the bottom of the barrel" mean?

It means to use up your good options and settle for the worst ones. Here it mocks an MP for hunting for weak objections to abolition.

Why do some MPs call the petition rebellious?

They fear giving ordinary people political power. A mass petition looks like mob rule to them, so they call it dangerous and try to delay.

Amazing Grace · 全 18 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 12 章a wave of good intentionsPitt Warns a Friend Over Cards
第 1 章anything butWilberforce Meets Barbara in Bath第 2 章ran away withWilberforce Tells Richard He Found God第 3 章where your heart liesPitt Asks Wilberforce to Return第 4 章my business is youWilberforce Meets the Abolitionists第 5 章gentle drizzleWilberforce Visits John Newton第 6 章have something made upThe Man in the Box第 7 章died of kindnessWilberforce and Barbara Fake a Fight第 8 章with a heavy heartWilberforce Denounces the Slave Trade第 9 章mean businessCharles Fox Joins the Abolitionists第 10 章have a confession to makeAbolitionists Show MPs a Slave Ship再生中 · 第 11 章scrape the bottom of the barrelAbolitionists Present a Huge Petition第 12 章a wave of good intentionsPitt Warns a Friend Over Cards第 13 章run with bloodPitt Warns Wilberforce About War第 14 章by halvesNewton Gives Wilberforce His Confession第 15 章flag of convenienceThe Neutral Flag Trick第 16 章side windAbolitionists Come at a Side Wind第 17 章find me as myselfWilberforce Quits Laudanum第 18 章pushing at an open doorWilberforce Visits a Dying Pitt
第 11 / 18 章 · 残り約 20 分