1147
The Princely State of Mysore (today in Karnataka) was hailed as an example of good governance to all the world.
The Indian Kingdom of Mysore is associated with two remarkable figures, Tipu Sultan (1750-1799), ‘the Tiger of Mysore’, and Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV (1884-1940). Tipu fought the British and anyone else for nearly twenty years of unrelenting bloodshed; Krishnaraja made Mysore a world leader in industrial, artistic and social advancement.
Posted March 13 2017
1148
Nicodemus did not allow intellectual doubts to get in the way of what he knew in his heart.
Nicodemus is remembered as the man whom Jesus urged to be ‘born again’. Some scold him for his hesitation, much as they scold Thomas for his ‘doubt’; but the Byzantine churches honour both for letting love carry them through, and remember Nicodemus on the second Sunday after Easter, together with the women who brought spices to Christ’s tomb.
Posted March 13 2017
1149
A duke with a passion for the art of enchantment is stranded by his enemies on a deserted island.
The play begins in Milan, where Prospero, the Duke, is buried among the parchments of his library, studying the magical arts. His brother Antonio, however, feels that what Milan needs is not a wizard but a decent Duke, and Antonio thinks he knows just who that should be.
Posted March 10 2017
1150
The most brilliant violinist of his generation, whose finely-crafted compositions showed off bravura and spoke tenderness.
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) was overshadowed in the country of his birth by Antonio Vivaldi, and in his adopted nation by George Frideric Handel. He deserves recognition, though, both as a brilliant violinist who challenged his fellow performers to surpass themselves, and as a composer of high merit in his own right.
Posted March 8 2017
1151
John Milton (of ‘Paradise Lost’ fame) urged Parliament not to fall into bad old habits of censorship, whatever their fears may be.
In 1643, early in the Civil War, Parliament passed a law allowing it to censor and license pamphlets, hoping to silence critics. John Milton protested, reminding Parliament that in their campaign against Charles I’s tyranny they themselves had begotten the country’s love of free speech. Would they now take it away, like pagan fathers who slay their newborn child?
Posted March 7 2017
1152
Philosopher and social activist John Stuart Mill discusses the most liberating kind of education.
J.S. Mill was educated at home by his eminent father, and the experience was a bruising one. He wished that his father had been more patient, but he was profoundly grateful that, unlike many of his contemporaries, he had not merely been trained to meet conventional school targets, but empowered throughout his life to set his own.
Posted March 7 2017