The Great and the Good
Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
July 21 1722
King George I 1714-1727
Daniel Defoe wondered whether goodness was not preferable to greatness.
July 21 1722
King George I 1714-1727
In 1722 the Duke of Marlborough died, the most celebrated English general of the War of the Spanish Succession, during which he never suffered a defeat. The splendour of the ceremonies, the national mourning, the monuments in his honour, the wealth he had accumulated, Daniel Defoe described them all; and then he reminded us: he is dead.
Abridged.
We are now solemnising the obsequies* of the great Marlborough;* all his victories, all his glories, his great projected schemes of war, his uninterrupted series of conquests, which are called his, as if he alone had fought and conquered by his arm, what so many men obtained for him with their blood — all is ended, where other men, and, indeed, where all men ended: he is dead. [...]
What then is the work of life? What the business of great men, that pass the stage of the world in seeming triumph as these men, we call heroes, have done? Is it to grow great in the mouth of fame and take up many pages in history? Alas! that is no more than making a tale for the reading of posterity till it turns into fable and romance. Is it to furnish subject to the poets, and live in their immortal rhymes, as they call them? That is, in short, no more than to be hereafter turned into ballad and song and be sung by old women to quiet children, or at the corner of a street to gather crowds in aid of the pick-pocket and the poor.
* Obsequies are funeral rites, the things done and said at a funeral. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, had died on June 27th, 1722, and his funeral was to be held on August 9th. The word ‘obsequies’ is now rarely used, perhaps because of its similarity to the adjective obsequious, meaning servile and fawning. Strictly speaking, obsequies carries no negative connotation.
* John Churchill (1650-1722), 1st Duke of Marlborough, was an outstanding English general celebrated for his victories in The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). The conflict began when Philip, grandson of the King Louis XIV of France, succeeded to the throne of Spain. Louis now declared that, contrary to his given word, Philip would also inherit the throne of France, and to prevent Spain and France falling into the hands of one man England supported Philip’s Hapsburg (Austrian) rival, Charles. Among Marlborough’s victories were the Battles of Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708) and Malplaquet (1709). He named his huge country house, near Woodstock in Oxfordshire, Blenheim Palace. Winston S. Churchill, a direct descendant of the Duke, was born there on November 30th, 1874.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
What had John Churchill done to win a public funeral at the Abbey?
He had been a successful military commander.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Marlborough never lost a battle. Defoe gave his soldiers some of the credit.
See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.
IDefeat. IIDeserve. IIIShare.