145
In the family of Samuel Pepys, the Feast of the Epiphany was kept with music, cake and quaint traditions.
Twelfth Day, the Feast of the Epiphany, is kept on January 6th each year and marks the end of the Christmas season. Samuel Pepys, never one to miss the opportunity for a glass of good cheer and some venison pasty, took care to make a family party of it — even if his duties as paymaster for the Treasury meant a slow start to the festivities.
Picture: © James Petts, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted October 5 2023
146
Once railway engineer Thomas Brassey made a promise he kept it — even if he wasn’t aware that he’d made one.
Railways came to Belgium when the Brussels to Mechelen line opened on May 5th, 1835. In 1848, the first stage of the Sambre and Meuse line opened at Charleroi, with British engineers in charge of construction, and six years later it reached Vireux. At Olloy-sur-Viroin the company had erected a smithy at no small expense, and employed a local blacksmith. One day, Thomas Brassey arrived to inspect progress on the line.
Picture: By Frederick Piercy (1830—1891), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 4 2023
147
Clever people have realised that it is easier to get people on your side by mockery than by persuasion.
William Paley complained that critics of Christianity no longer troubled themselves with civilised debate. Instead, they scattered sniggering remarks throughout popular and academic literature, in the hope of laughing the public into atheism; for their knowledge of human nature had taught them that scorn is far more persuasive than argument.
Picture: By Hieronymus Bosch (?1450-1516), Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 3 2023
148
John of Gaunt tries to persuade his son Henry that banishment from England isn’t such a bad thing, if you think about in the right way.
In 1398, King Richard II, unpopular throughout his kingdom and fearing for his throne, ordered his cousin and rival Henry Bolingbroke to leave the country, together with Henry’s father John of Gaunt. As Shakespeare tells the tale, John did his best to bear Henry up under the blow, encouraging him to rock himself with fairy tales into a doze of happy acceptance.
Picture: © Aleda12, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted October 2 2023
149
Silas Marner, the weaver, plans to take a comforting look at his savings while he eats his dinner.
Silas Marner, the weaver, lives a reclusive life now, following an unhappy episode when he was framed for stealing. One night, while waiting for his supper to cook (a nice bit of pork, a gift or he would not have indulged himself) he decides to fetch his savings from their secret place beneath the floor, and enjoy the sight of them as he eats.
Picture: © Theodore Scott, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted October 2 2023
150
William Wordsworth comes back from France and realises with a shock what his own country has become.
In 1802, William Wordsworth returned from a brief trip across the Channel and was suddenly struck by the ugly noise of London. He was not singing the praises of post-revolutionary Paris, where ‘quiet desolation’ reigned. But England’s complacent wealth, her vanity and parade, were no better, for he could detect little happiness in them, and no moral fibre.
Picture: By William Daniell (1769-1837), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted September 28 2023