7 October 31
With Good Intent and Friendly Desire
I recently added this post, With Good Intent and Friendly Desire. It is a contemporary English translation of Ivan’s reply to King Edward VI of England, in which the Russian ruler welcomed trade with the English, a landmark moment in the history of both nations.
In 1553, King Edward VI sent a letter to Ivan IV, ruler of Moscow, asking him to grant free trade privileges throughout his kingdom to a Company of merchants led by Sir Richard Chancellor. There had been almost no contact between these two great European capitals before, and the task was made no easier by the jealousies of the merchant cities of the Baltic, which were determined to keep London and Moscow apart.
Sir Richard outwitted them all. He took his merchants in a completely unexpected direction, sailing up around Sweden and down the White Sea to Archangel, then sledded to Moscow and met with Ivan. The English remained there throughout the winter, and returned home in March 1554, carrying a letter from Ivan agreeing enthusiastically to Edward’s proposal.
8 October 28
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, a short extract from an address by Rudyard Kipling in 1912 which I have called Why We Study the Classics.
Even then, people were beginning to question the value of learning Latin and Greek at school. Kipling defended the classics, as something that should teach the English to be less insular, more appreciative of peoples distant in time and in place. They should also remind us, he said, that other civilisations share most of our basic values, that we did not invent them, and that it is arrogant and dangerous to try to change them. The classics are a much-needed lesson in national humility.
9 October 27
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, An Englishman in Exile. It comes from a letter written in July 1817 by firebrand radical William Cobbett, now living in exile in the USA, to his legion of supporters back home. With characteristic directness, Cobbett faces up to his divided loyalties, and sets out clearly what he owes to the Government and people of the United States, and what he owes to the country of his birth.
The passage is only the more relavant today as war, economic insecurity and political repression force millions of people to migrate. What does the migrant owe to his adopted country? What does he do if the interests of the country of his birth clash with those of his new home, even to the point of war? Cobbett met these difficult questions head on.
10 October 26
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, Jenny Kissed Me. It is a very short poem by Victorian essayist Leigh Hunt (1784-1859), which at one time was a popular choice for practice in elocution.
JENNY kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in;
Say I’m weary, say I’m sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I’m growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me.
11 October 22
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, Dog and Ducking. This is a brief anecdote about a Newfoundland dog, from a collection of doggy tales by Edward Jesse (1780-1868) entitled Anecdotes of Dogs (1846).
By profession Jesse was a surveyor for the Office of Works, created in 1378 to take care of royal residences. It was in this capacity that Jesse oversaw the restoration of Hampton Court Palace, which since the death of George II in 1760 had not been used as a royal residence, and made it ready to be opened to the public in 1838. Jesse was also a naturalist, who published Gleanings in Natural History (1832-1835), An Angler’s Rambles (1836) and Lectures on Natural History (1863) as well as several articles for the magazine Once a Week, chiefly on the habits of animals.
12 October 22
I have added a new post to the Copy Book, A Well-Tuned Heart.
It is an anecdote from a biography of George Herbert written by Izaak Walton, who is better known today for his Compleat Angler (1653), a classic of English literature. George Herbert (1593-1633) was a Welshman, well-connected and educated as a gentleman, who surprised many of his friends by taking orders, and in 1630 surprised them even more by accepting a post as a country clergyman in the obscure parish of Bemerton near Salisbury. He appears to have devoted himself selflessly to his parishioners and to have been much loved in return, but after barely three years Herbert died. He left behind a large body of poetry and prose of enduring popularity.
The title of this extract comes from Ye holy angels bright, a hymn written in 1681 by Richard Baxter (1615-1691).
My soul, bear thou thy part,
Triumph in God above,
And with a well-tuned heart
Sing thou the songs of love.