139
Such was the reputation of the Prussian army in the days of the Frederick the Great that even foreigners wanted to join.
Frederick the Great ruled Prussia, in what is now northern Germany and Poland, from 1740 to 1786. He established Prussia as a serious force in European politics, and was justly proud of his troops. His army’s reputation attracted recruits from outside the country, and according to ‘Mr Addison’ (not the essayist of an earlier generation), this brought its own little embarrassments.
Picture: By Wilhelm Camphausen (1818–1885), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 7 2023
140
Richard Cobden wondered how the architects of the British Empire had the nerve to accuse Russia of imperialism.
In 1854, British feeling was running high against Russia. That March, Britain had sided with Turkey in the Crimean War of 1853-56, and anxious journalists and politicians pointed accusing fingers at Russia’s military manoeuvres around the Baltic and the Black Sea, scolding her for her greed and disrespect for her neighbours’ sovereignty. Richard Cobden wondered if there was something amiss with his hearing.
Picture: By Rock Brothers and Payne (London), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 17 2023
141
American journalist and poet WC Bryant numbered Richard Cobden MP among the world’s statesmen, not our politicians.
William Cullen Bryant was one of nineteenth-century America’s great men. For many years he served as editor of the New York Evening Post, and was a popular ‘fireside poet’. He was also active in politics, an opponent of slavery who threw his weight behind the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. His praise for England’s Richard Cobden, for an American edition of his writings, was quite an accolade.
Picture: Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 17 2023
142
Rowland Hill calculated that a lower, flatter rate of postage would not only make the public better off and better read, but increase the Revenue.
On May 1st, 1840, the Post Office introduced a new flat rate on letter postage, after years of high and complicated pricing. The idea for the Uniform Penny Post came to Rowland Hill, a former schoolmaster, from talking to his father about free-market economics. Both had noticed how the national tax revenue had jumped just when the Government had cut taxes and regulations on foreign trade.
Picture: Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 16 2023
143
The night before the Comte de Lavalette was to be executed, his wife Émilie came to visit him with a proposal that left him speechless.
Antoine, Comte de Lavalette, had been Napoleon’s Adjutant, and his wife Émilie had been maid of honour to Josephine. After Napoleon’s fall, Antoine was arrested by the Ultra-Royalists and on November 21st, 1815, sentenced to death. He realised that hopes of a reprieve were an illusion when a female warder burst into his room weeping and kissed his Legion d’Honneur medal. Émilie had already reached the same melancholy conclusion.
Picture: By an Anonymous artist (1816), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 14 2023
144
The fandango is Spain’s most alluring national dance, and the story goes that even the most solemn clergyman could not resist it.
Jean-François de Bourgoing was secretary to King Louis XVI’s legation to Spain from 1777 to 1786, and served as Ambassador in 1792-93. The French Revolutionary government mistrusted him, but his diplomatic career revived under Napoleon. In 1807, he brought out a fourth edition of his popular study of modern-day Spain, first published ten years earlier, which included this account of the fandango.
Picture: © Oscar Sir Avendaño (artist), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted October 13 2023