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Sir Sidney Low blamed the recent catalogue of war and revolution on out-of-touch diplomats who had tried to hammer the peoples of Europe into artificial unity.
Looking back in 1915 over the causes of the Great War (which had broken out the previous year) Sir Sidney Low blamed not the nationalism of small states but Europe’s meddlesome political elite. Wrapped up in their own concerns, jealous of their own privileges, and wise in their own conceit, the Powers had imposed an artificial order that they could maintain only by rising violence.
Posted December 15 2020
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Hassan slipped across to Ithaca because it was in British hands and the Turkish authorities on the Greek mainland must not know what he was going to do.
The British liberation of the Ionian Islands during the Napoleonic Wars presumably displeased the French, and was no doubt disquieting for the Ottoman imperial government that for over two centuries had occupied the Greek mainland. But it was good news for Hassan. He wanted to be baptised a Christian, and for reasons of his own it was imperative that the Turkish authorities know nothing about it.
Posted December 13 2020
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After Mr Fitzwarren took away Dick’s cat, even the charms of Alice Fitzwarren were not enough to keep him in that house another day.
What follows is a paraphrase of the famous story of Dick Whittington and His Cat as told in verse by Richard Johnson in his Crowne Garland of Goulden Roses (1612), and in prose by Thomas Heywood in The Famous and Remarkable History of Sir Richard Whittington (1659). Sir Richard Whittington (?1354-1423) was a real historical person, so some notes are added to help separate fact from fiction.
Posted December 8 2020
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Richard Grafton bids us gaze on the likeness of Sir Richard Whittington, who should be an example to civic dignitaries everywhere.
Early in the reign of Richard II, Richard Whittington (?1354-1423), third son of a Gloucestershire gentleman, came up to London make his way in the world of trade. He amassed a fortune as a textile merchant and financier, was thrice elected Lord Mayor of London, and left a legacy of civic works, churches and welfare that deeply impressed sixteenth-century historian Richard Grafton.
Posted December 8 2020
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Social niceties are essential for the smooth operation of society, but neither boxing a man’s ears nor calling in the lawyers will bring them back.
Shortly after the Great War, a haughty customer entered a lift and barked ‘Top!’ Moments later he came tumbling out, ejected by the attendant on the grounds that he would not say ‘please’. A. G. Gardiner, who had watched in fascination, felt some sympathy for the lift-man, but feared the consequences for society if we began to think each man had a right to avenge every affront to his sensibilities.
Posted December 6 2020
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On July 5th, 1535, the night before he was to be executed by order of King Henry VIII, it seemed that Sir Thomas More was the only man in the Tower of London who was happy.
So highly did Henry VIII regard Sir Thomas More (1477-1535) that he made him Chancellor in 1529, even though More took Catherine of Aragon’s part in the divorce saga. Three years later the opening moves in the Protestant Reformation drove More to resign, and in 1534 he was confined to the Tower, awaiting execution. There on July 5th, 1535, Sir Thomas Pope paid him a farewell visit.
Posted December 4 2020