The failure of people to exercise their God-given faculty of intelligence (intelligence means the ability to distinguish categories) is correctly called stupidity. Against stupidity the gods themselves fight in vain; but it is not the gods alone who are condemned in intellectual battles with the stupid to beat at the air. It would be easier for us to leave the stupid to wallow in their pitiable mire and go about our lives; but those of us who love our fellow man are loth to neglect someone in such a state of extreme necessity.
Now the form of stupidity with which we are probably all best acquainted is that called "emotivism" or "emotionalism". It is not a method of thought ; it is the negation of Thought (which is why I have called it Stupid) and the substitution for it of Will. A man is an emotivist who laughs at something because it is unfamiliar to him - which is indeed a particularly pathetic and puerile strain of this disease. That man also is an emotivist who utters the diabolical sentence, "She had to have an abortion," as if murder were not only in some cases not an evil, but could actually be demanded by a moral obligation - which is what the words "have to" mean. He is an emotivist who would have a man put down like a dog "to end his suffering"; also, he who lauds self-murder as the means to escape the woes of this world; again, he who cannot bear a word of criticism against himself, but who at a mere nothing will fly into an insensate rage wherein there will be no limits to the emotional abuse he himself inflicts upon his unfortunate victims. This last, incidentally, will frequently support abortion and euthanasia. He will justify his moods with laudatory epithets, such as "common humanity" - the word "common" having the same function as "had to" in the phrase "had to have an abortion" - implying, of course, that anyone who does not agree with him is morally evil. He would never dare assert that he implied that; nevertheless, that is the implied meaning of his words, which is inescapable. You cannot affirm something without simultaneously affirming all that logically follows from it.
The Emotivist, because his substitution for Thought subsists in Will that answers Feeling, will tend to inflict his philosophy on all those about him, be they willing or no. This may be inferred from his use of such words as "had to" and "common", and also such expressions as "those who have no experience of", with reference, for example, to witnessing the slow and painful death of a beloved family member - which will be the Emotivist's attempt at justification for what is called euthanasia but should be called lugrothanasia, unhappy death; yet special pleading is not argument. The Emotivist will regard pleasure as the supreme good, and pain as the supreme evil. He may well regard the infliction of pain, even in just punishment, as the worst sin (if he believes in sin) that can be committed - so, for instance, no parent shall be permitted to smack his naughty child - yet he will not object to the imprisonment of the miscreant parent who dares to discipline his son, or to the trauma undergone by the family by its being destroyed in this way. If his emotions followed some sort of reason, perhaps these things would trouble him; but our emotions are inordinate and delude us. Yet the Emotivist trusts to these rather than to his intelligence. But since the Emotivist has abandoned intelligence, he has only the emotions to fall back upon.
I have said that the Emotivist replaces Will for Thought. If he thinks at all, it will be to justify what his will has already chosen. So, if he has chosen something evil, for instance, fornication or unnatural vice, he will, after having made a decision, rationalize it in order to fit in with his emotions and his will.
We all do this at times. There is no limit to the depravity of man, nor to his stupidity. But where Emotion is followed as superior to Reason, man ends up broken and a wreck, more depraved and more stultified than he could ever otherwise have been. For this reason, and because of the stumblingblock it puts in the way of intelligent argument, emotivism must die.
Thursday 29 April 2010
Tuesday 27 April 2010
I have spent much time with sanabituranima in the last couple of days. I have borrowed her Greek grammar for the purpose of teaching myself Greek. I ought to know Greek; I know Latin, not to the degree of fluency but to the degree of being able to read it and understand 99% of it with the help of a dictionary, at least if it is in prose. Verse is more difficult to read, in Latin at least, because words which agree with each other are sometimes placed in very strange places, and I have not thus far succeeded in training my mind to think in such a way.
Latin is more important than Greek, of course; half of our great classic literature is in that tongue; it is, historically speaking, the common tongue of Western Europe; we still write in the Latin alphabet, for example; there are inscriptions in Latin all over Europe; the vast majority of everything that was written down was in Latin in Europe for a great amount of time; and the advantages of acquaintance with it are very obvious. Latin remains the official language of the Catholic Church, yet there are only a handful of people who can actually speak it.
I confess my own acquaintance with the literature of Greece and Rome is thoroughly insufficient. I have read the Iliad and little else. I approve of the Iliad. Lattimore's translation is excellent. I have been intending to read the Odyssey for ages, and have read the first eight books or so; but I will read the whole thing one of these days. Actually it will probably take more than a day. Especially must I read Homer and Aristotle. Belloc called Aristotle "the tutor of the human race." But now I shall sleep.
Latin is more important than Greek, of course; half of our great classic literature is in that tongue; it is, historically speaking, the common tongue of Western Europe; we still write in the Latin alphabet, for example; there are inscriptions in Latin all over Europe; the vast majority of everything that was written down was in Latin in Europe for a great amount of time; and the advantages of acquaintance with it are very obvious. Latin remains the official language of the Catholic Church, yet there are only a handful of people who can actually speak it.
I confess my own acquaintance with the literature of Greece and Rome is thoroughly insufficient. I have read the Iliad and little else. I approve of the Iliad. Lattimore's translation is excellent. I have been intending to read the Odyssey for ages, and have read the first eight books or so; but I will read the whole thing one of these days. Actually it will probably take more than a day. Especially must I read Homer and Aristotle. Belloc called Aristotle "the tutor of the human race." But now I shall sleep.
Monday 26 April 2010
Sunday 25 April 2010
I wish to thank Stuart and Katie for a delightful evening.
I am back in Durham.
I am tired, as usual - I realized I had not blogged while I was falling asleep.
I was not able to argue with the person I discussed in my last entry; I am able to pray for him, however, and I ask you to do the same, since he needs to be prayed for.
I am back in Durham.
I am tired, as usual - I realized I had not blogged while I was falling asleep.
I was not able to argue with the person I discussed in my last entry; I am able to pray for him, however, and I ask you to do the same, since he needs to be prayed for.
Friday 23 April 2010
Today I came across one of the most obstinate and ignorant fools I have ever had the pain of encountering. I shall not name him, but he cannot understand the love of God - subjective or objective genitive. I told him so. This was his response:
"You're absolutely right David, I don't. And I don't want to, if it's more important than helping people."
I shall deal with this tomorrow.
"You're absolutely right David, I don't. And I don't want to, if it's more important than helping people."
I shall deal with this tomorrow.
Thursday 22 April 2010
Today I discovered that the Kingdom of Sweden appears to have withdrawn from European civilization. sanabituranima has written about ithere:
St Ansgar brought Christianity to Sweden in 829; Christianity became the prevalent religion in the 11th century, but did not fully oust paganism until the 12th century. Thus we see that Sweden was a late arrival in European civilization. And it was those nations that accepted the Faith latest of all that were, as a general rule, the first to lose it - and Sweden jettisoned the Faith during the religious downheaval of the seventeenth century.
What has this to do with the abduction of a boy and the traumatization of an entire family? I think it is relevant, for the worldview of the State officials of Sweden must necessarily be determined by their view of the world and ultimately by their religion. They evidently think it a good thing to snatch a seven-year-old boy from his parents. This entire episode is thoroughly appalling.
St Ansgar brought Christianity to Sweden in 829; Christianity became the prevalent religion in the 11th century, but did not fully oust paganism until the 12th century. Thus we see that Sweden was a late arrival in European civilization. And it was those nations that accepted the Faith latest of all that were, as a general rule, the first to lose it - and Sweden jettisoned the Faith during the religious downheaval of the seventeenth century.
What has this to do with the abduction of a boy and the traumatization of an entire family? I think it is relevant, for the worldview of the State officials of Sweden must necessarily be determined by their view of the world and ultimately by their religion. They evidently think it a good thing to snatch a seven-year-old boy from his parents. This entire episode is thoroughly appalling.
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Tuesday 20 April 2010
I am tired. It is late. It is half past twelve.
Looking through my Year 8 history exercise book reveals a lot about the false anti-Catholic history that I was taught in 2001 and is presumably still being taught now.
Facebook Chat has blocked me automatically because it thinks my behaviour may be considered annoying or abusive by other Facebook users. I have emailed Facebook to complain about this.
Looking through my Year 8 history exercise book reveals a lot about the false anti-Catholic history that I was taught in 2001 and is presumably still being taught now.
Facebook Chat has blocked me automatically because it thinks my behaviour may be considered annoying or abusive by other Facebook users. I have emailed Facebook to complain about this.
Monday 19 April 2010
Sunday 18 April 2010
I only have the energy for a brief comment this evening.
We need to fill our minds with good stories, true history, beautiful music, beautiful images - both those of nature, and the works of the great artists -, with reverent Liturgy; and with true philosophy and true theology; with literature that is truly great. Our minds operate by osmosis. It requires a skilled, and often a trained, intellect to separate intellectual arsenic from what is good for the soul.
We need to fill our minds with good stories, true history, beautiful music, beautiful images - both those of nature, and the works of the great artists -, with reverent Liturgy; and with true philosophy and true theology; with literature that is truly great. Our minds operate by osmosis. It requires a skilled, and often a trained, intellect to separate intellectual arsenic from what is good for the soul.
Saturday 17 April 2010
Political history notes
64 Wilson (Lab)
66 ”
70 Heath (Con) (not an aristocrat but adopted aristocratic mean)
74 Heath then
74 Wilson (Lab)
79 Thatcher
83 Thatcher
The country was run by the unions from 64-70
Barbara Castle
IN PLACE OF STRIFE
Tories brought in
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT 1971-2
TU Congress led by remnants of the Old Marxists
Heath: a one-nation Conservative.
73—electricians went on strike
Winter of 73-74 elec then miners
74-5
Power stns did n h coal
The 3-day week
Ind. Had t close dn.
Through the winter.
Heath calls election 74
me or the unions.
The great British public voted for the telly to go on after 10 o/c
April/May 1974
74 Lib-Lab pact
6 mos
[Heath tries deal w/ Lib but Jeremy Thorpe
Then LLP
Informal arr. Whereby the Libs won’t vote against Lab Party.
6 mos to Oct.
Another election:
The Lab. Party get in w/ a majority of about 4/5
Wilson as PM—normal govt arr.
74-76 country still being held to ransom by Unions—
Lab Party in pay of the Unions
TU + Lab Relns Act
TULRA
nothing like In Place of Strife
of 69
Lump thro’ mid-70s.
Country goes to the dogs.
76 Wilson stands down.
Conspiracy theories.
[Marcia Wms power behind W.’s throne
mo. of 2 children by the pol. Corresp. Of the Daily Expr.
nominated Marcia for a life peerage Lady Falkender
(Lady Forkbender)
/[illegible] MI5
/ late 50s/60s—thought losing faculties Alzheimer’s. (1976)
His no. 2, uncle Jim Callaghan, appoint him as leader of party.—PM
1976-9
Callaghan was a Union man,
His wife was a novelist
Crises. [Several words mostly illegible apart from “at” and “of” and possibly “unions”.]
(IMF)
“Crisis? What crisis?”—Next day—International Monetary Fund.
autumn ’78 labour market ready for revolution
Winter Union of ’78—Winter of Discontent
Public Serce Unions go on strike.
[Winter of Discontent.]
C carries on until loses a vote of no confidence in the HoC
Thatcher monetarist—you do not throw money away at things let the mkts run things. If unemployment goes to 3m, you let it happen.
Things don’t go well in first few years b/c of unemployment risesd.
Then the Argentinians invade the Falklands. This country stands up to sb for the 1st time for 37 yrs, we won the war, and on the back of that she went to the country after 4 yrs—enormous majority in the 140s (143 or 147), helped by the fact that in the 4 years after the Lab Party lost pwr, Callaghan had retired & the Lab P launch t th left—
Elect as their deputy leader Tony Benn & as leader Michael Foot an intellectual a brilliant orator but an unreconstructed Socialist
By then old (too o. to b a leader) Used t wear what looked like a donkey jacket had stick & little dog. Lab wrote manifesto later described as “the longest suicide note in history”—t g bk t the bad days of 64-79 [I am not sure whether that should be 64-69 or 74-79 or 64-79.] The world had moved on. The City was making money.
(83) Election. B/c Lab have lurched t th L, a gp of RW Lab ppl, called the Gang of 4 are—
--David Owen FS
--Shirley Wms
--Bill Rogers
--Roy Jenkins
left the Lab P—formed the Social Democratic Party
(Lib Party)
74-9 Thorpe was tried for conspiracy to murder, acquitted, but beaten by Auberon Waugh of the Protection of Dogs Party.
Jeremy Thorpe’s lover Norman [surname?]
Jean (Gene?) O’Newton shot the dog instead of Norman.
Liberal Party hadn’t had a very good time. SDP came along and got lots of votes from Labour.
Country still
Union pwr hadn’t bn broken.
Th miners cost 10X as much to mine a ton of coal here as to have it mined in Poland & import it. The miners had always been the princes of the labour mvt
The best looked after were the miners
Thatcher put an American in charge of th National Coal Board t turn around the mining ind. to close dn all the unprofitable mines. She saw what happened to Heath—voted out b/c pwr stns no coal. Spent 79-84 making sure the power stns had loads + loads + loads of coal stocks. + then the mine closure program was announced. Mine[?r]s were led by Arthur Scargill.—LW anarch. commist. 84 miner strike—where all the bitterness comes from against MT in ctn pts of the country we never had any pwr cuts b/c the pwr stns had a year’s worth of coal. She broke the miners. Notts mines: U.D.M.—that why bitterness in York, Durh, the NE, & in Kent, against MT—and that’s why hunting was banned by this Govt in 2000.
SDP has been formed for the ’87
they merge w/ the Liberal
SDLP 1987. Jt lead—
David Owen & David Steele
SDLP.
Change name to Liberal Democrats
& 92/97. Still the basic LibP
but with the Soc. Democrats
66 ”
70 Heath (Con) (not an aristocrat but adopted aristocratic mean)
74 Heath then
74 Wilson (Lab)
79 Thatcher
83 Thatcher
The country was run by the unions from 64-70
Barbara Castle
IN PLACE OF STRIFE
Tories brought in
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS ACT 1971-2
TU Congress led by remnants of the Old Marxists
Heath: a one-nation Conservative.
73—electricians went on strike
Winter of 73-74 elec then miners
74-5
Power stns did n h coal
The 3-day week
Ind. Had t close dn.
Through the winter.
Heath calls election 74
me or the unions.
The great British public voted for the telly to go on after 10 o/c
April/May 1974
74 Lib-Lab pact
6 mos
[Heath tries deal w/ Lib but Jeremy Thorpe
Then LLP
Informal arr. Whereby the Libs won’t vote against Lab Party.
6 mos to Oct.
Another election:
The Lab. Party get in w/ a majority of about 4/5
Wilson as PM—normal govt arr.
74-76 country still being held to ransom by Unions—
Lab Party in pay of the Unions
TU + Lab Relns Act
TULRA
nothing like In Place of Strife
of 69
Lump thro’ mid-70s.
Country goes to the dogs.
76 Wilson stands down.
Conspiracy theories.
[Marcia Wms power behind W.’s throne
mo. of 2 children by the pol. Corresp. Of the Daily Expr.
nominated Marcia for a life peerage Lady Falkender
(Lady Forkbender)
/[illegible] MI5
/ late 50s/60s—thought losing faculties Alzheimer’s. (1976)
His no. 2, uncle Jim Callaghan, appoint him as leader of party.—PM
1976-9
Callaghan was a Union man,
His wife was a novelist
Crises. [Several words mostly illegible apart from “at” and “of” and possibly “unions”.]
(IMF)
“Crisis? What crisis?”—Next day—International Monetary Fund.
autumn ’78 labour market ready for revolution
Winter Union of ’78—Winter of Discontent
Public Serce Unions go on strike.
[Winter of Discontent.]
C carries on until loses a vote of no confidence in the HoC
Thatcher monetarist—you do not throw money away at things let the mkts run things. If unemployment goes to 3m, you let it happen.
Things don’t go well in first few years b/c of unemployment risesd.
Then the Argentinians invade the Falklands. This country stands up to sb for the 1st time for 37 yrs, we won the war, and on the back of that she went to the country after 4 yrs—enormous majority in the 140s (143 or 147), helped by the fact that in the 4 years after the Lab Party lost pwr, Callaghan had retired & the Lab P launch t th left—
Elect as their deputy leader Tony Benn & as leader Michael Foot an intellectual a brilliant orator but an unreconstructed Socialist
By then old (too o. to b a leader) Used t wear what looked like a donkey jacket had stick & little dog. Lab wrote manifesto later described as “the longest suicide note in history”—t g bk t the bad days of 64-79 [I am not sure whether that should be 64-69 or 74-79 or 64-79.] The world had moved on. The City was making money.
(83) Election. B/c Lab have lurched t th L, a gp of RW Lab ppl, called the Gang of 4 are—
--David Owen FS
--Shirley Wms
--Bill Rogers
--Roy Jenkins
left the Lab P—formed the Social Democratic Party
(Lib Party)
74-9 Thorpe was tried for conspiracy to murder, acquitted, but beaten by Auberon Waugh of the Protection of Dogs Party.
Jeremy Thorpe’s lover Norman [surname?]
Jean (Gene?) O’Newton shot the dog instead of Norman.
Liberal Party hadn’t had a very good time. SDP came along and got lots of votes from Labour.
Country still
Union pwr hadn’t bn broken.
Th miners cost 10X as much to mine a ton of coal here as to have it mined in Poland & import it. The miners had always been the princes of the labour mvt
The best looked after were the miners
Thatcher put an American in charge of th National Coal Board t turn around the mining ind. to close dn all the unprofitable mines. She saw what happened to Heath—voted out b/c pwr stns no coal. Spent 79-84 making sure the power stns had loads + loads + loads of coal stocks. + then the mine closure program was announced. Mine[?r]s were led by Arthur Scargill.—LW anarch. commist. 84 miner strike—where all the bitterness comes from against MT in ctn pts of the country we never had any pwr cuts b/c the pwr stns had a year’s worth of coal. She broke the miners. Notts mines: U.D.M.—that why bitterness in York, Durh, the NE, & in Kent, against MT—and that’s why hunting was banned by this Govt in 2000.
SDP has been formed for the ’87
they merge w/ the Liberal
SDLP 1987. Jt lead—
David Owen & David Steele
SDLP.
Change name to Liberal Democrats
& 92/97. Still the basic LibP
but with the Soc. Democrats
Friday 16 April 2010
The Associated Press
...calls this "an indirect reference to the clerical sex abuse crisis buffeting the Catholic Church":
The headline of the AP article is "Pope Benedict XVI turns 83, gets a cake."
Whatever happened to journalism?
"In these days, I ask you to pray for the needs of the universal church" so it might receive renewed "holiness, unity and missionary zeal," Benedict said.
The headline of the AP article is "Pope Benedict XVI turns 83, gets a cake."
Whatever happened to journalism?
Thursday 15 April 2010
The Times again
I would like to ask the Gentle Reader not to support the newspaper called The Times even so far as to wipe his bottom with it.
This vicious anti-Catholic rag, which I urge the Gentle Reader neither to buy, nor, unless he has to, to read - and then, if possible, to borrow it so that he need not buy it -, has published a story, apparently, about the Archbishop of Westminster, accusing him of harbouring a paedophile. I have not read this story; if the Gentle Reader must read it, it was published on the front page of that thing on Saturday.
The Archbishop of Westminster, I am glad to say, is considering legal action against the paper - for defamation.
I am fed up with this newspaper. These words are taken from the bull of Pope Leo X of the 15th of June 1520 "Condemning the errors of Martin Luther:
If I were Pope, I would say this:
Moreover, because the preceding errors and many others are contained in the said newspaper, "The Times," We likewise condemn, reprobate, and reject completely all the writings of the said "Times", whether in English or any other language, containing the said errors or any one of them and We wish them to be regarded as utterly condemned, reprobated, and rejected. We forbid each and every one of the faithful of either sex, in virtue of holy obedience and under the above penalties to be incurred automatically, to read, assert, preach, praise, print, publish, or defend them. They will incur these penalties if they presume to uphold them in any way, personally or through another or others, directly or indirectly, tacitly or explicitly, publicly or occultly, either in their own homes or in other public or private places.
But I am not Pope.
This vicious anti-Catholic rag, which I urge the Gentle Reader neither to buy, nor, unless he has to, to read - and then, if possible, to borrow it so that he need not buy it -, has published a story, apparently, about the Archbishop of Westminster, accusing him of harbouring a paedophile. I have not read this story; if the Gentle Reader must read it, it was published on the front page of that thing on Saturday.
The Archbishop of Westminster, I am glad to say, is considering legal action against the paper - for defamation.
I am fed up with this newspaper. These words are taken from the bull of Pope Leo X of the 15th of June 1520 "Condemning the errors of Martin Luther:
Moreover, because the preceding errors and many others are contained in the books or writings of Martin Luther, we likewise condemn, reprobate, and reject completely the books and all the writings and sermons of the said Martin, whether in Latin or any other language, containing the said errors or any one of them; and we wish them to be regarded as utterly condemned, reprobated, and rejected. We forbid each and every one of the faithful of either sex, in virtue of holy obedience and under the above penalties to be incurred automatically, to read, assert, preach, praise, print, publish, or defend them. They will incur these penalties if they presume to uphold them in any way, personally or through another or others, directly or indirectly, tacitly or explicitly, publicly or occultly, either in their own homes or in other public or private places.
If I were Pope, I would say this:
Moreover, because the preceding errors and many others are contained in the said newspaper, "The Times," We likewise condemn, reprobate, and reject completely all the writings of the said "Times", whether in English or any other language, containing the said errors or any one of them and We wish them to be regarded as utterly condemned, reprobated, and rejected. We forbid each and every one of the faithful of either sex, in virtue of holy obedience and under the above penalties to be incurred automatically, to read, assert, preach, praise, print, publish, or defend them. They will incur these penalties if they presume to uphold them in any way, personally or through another or others, directly or indirectly, tacitly or explicitly, publicly or occultly, either in their own homes or in other public or private places.
But I am not Pope.
Wednesday 14 April 2010
The End of a Friendship
About half an hour ago I ended a friendship with someone I had never met, but who is no longer a member of the Catholic Church. Some may disapprove of my conduct on this occasion; but I did what I considered necessary: I ended the friendship. I told him that this was our last conversation, and he should not hear from me again. He was astounded; I told him why; and our friendship was at an end. I have broken off contact with him.
My reason for inflicting this pain on him, and on myself, is that I love him, and want him to go to heaven, and I hope to knock some sense into him.
There is a phrase, "to be cruel to be kind." I used to think it self-excusing cant. I know better now.
My reason for inflicting this pain on him, and on myself, is that I love him, and want him to go to heaven, and I hope to knock some sense into him.
There is a phrase, "to be cruel to be kind." I used to think it self-excusing cant. I know better now.
Tuesday 13 April 2010
On the 13th of April, 1829, King George IV gave the Royal Assent to the Catholic Relief Act, which granted Catholics the right to sit at Westminster, because Robert Peel and the Duke of Wellington "felt that the threat of insurrection in Ireland surpassed the threat of allowing Catholics to sit in Parliament".
Much as the 1829 Act may be lauded by some as the best thing since sliced bread, history shows that it was considered at the time by some in England as a necessary evil, and by others as an unnecessary evil. Catholics and Irishmen apart, the Catholic Relief Act was considered a Bad Thing.
Still, it was a further step in retracing the steps imprinted by the anti-Catholic laws of the seventeenth and eighteenth century; indeed it repealed the odious Test Act of 1672, by which people were forbidden to take public office without denying the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
Much as the 1829 Act may be lauded by some as the best thing since sliced bread, history shows that it was considered at the time by some in England as a necessary evil, and by others as an unnecessary evil. Catholics and Irishmen apart, the Catholic Relief Act was considered a Bad Thing.
Still, it was a further step in retracing the steps imprinted by the anti-Catholic laws of the seventeenth and eighteenth century; indeed it repealed the odious Test Act of 1672, by which people were forbidden to take public office without denying the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
Monday 12 April 2010
Hello!
I have done a lot of piano practice today, and read some more of Napoleon Bonaparte. I have also read several news articles.
But the main thing was that the 250 books I own have been removed (by me) from the shelf and placed on the floor; and we shall, please God, get new bookcases for my innumerable volumes. Anyway, it is time I made some more progress with Hilaire Belloc.
But first I want to say - read Hilaire Belloc! He is one of the greatest poets, and one of the greatest prose writers, and one of the greatest historians, and one of the greatest Catholics, and one of the most versatile writers, and one of the greatest geniuses, in the history of the English-speaking world; and for that reason he is so much neglected - at least outside the Catholic body - with the exception of his children's comic verse. Perhaps some of those who read that do investigate his other works. It is to be hoped so.
I shall now endeavour to prove at least some of these assertions. First, one of the greatest poets:
That is a great poem. I wish the English language had not been so weakened. That is, in the full sense of the words, a great poem; the child of a great poet.
Then I said he was a great prose writer: here is a passage selected at random from Napoleon Bonaparte:
I selected this at random; it is not a piece of what is called fine writing - it is prose. It is real, rumbling, rhythmical prose. It would be a pleasure to read more such. I would venture a long quotation from pages 32 to 46 of this work, but I suppose I had better content myself with a few paragraphs - and this is fine writing:
As for "one of the greatest historians", I invite you to read his historical writings. He attained a first-class degree in history. One of the greatest Catholics - this is evident from his writings and from his life. As for a great genius, that is not my own word. I have just searched for the quotation on Google, and have not immediately found it, and I am very tired and so I shall not make further search now, nor further commentary on this great man, who should be better known.
But the main thing was that the 250 books I own have been removed (by me) from the shelf and placed on the floor; and we shall, please God, get new bookcases for my innumerable volumes. Anyway, it is time I made some more progress with Hilaire Belloc.
But first I want to say - read Hilaire Belloc! He is one of the greatest poets, and one of the greatest prose writers, and one of the greatest historians, and one of the greatest Catholics, and one of the most versatile writers, and one of the greatest geniuses, in the history of the English-speaking world; and for that reason he is so much neglected - at least outside the Catholic body - with the exception of his children's comic verse. Perhaps some of those who read that do investigate his other works. It is to be hoped so.
I shall now endeavour to prove at least some of these assertions. First, one of the greatest poets:
Strong God which made the topmost stars
To circulate and keep their course,
Remember me; whom all the bars
Of sense and dreadful fate enforce.
Above me in your heights and tall,
Impassable the summits freeze;
Below the haunted waters call
Impassable beyond the trees.
I hunger and I have no bread.
My gourd is empty of the wine.
Surely the footsteps of the dead
Are shuffling slowly close to mine!
It darkens. I have lost the ford.
There is a change on all things made.
The rocks have evil faces, Lord,
And I am awfully afraid.
Remember me: the Voids of Hell
Expand enormous all around.
Strong friend of souls, Emmanuel,
Redeem me from accursed ground.
The long descent of wasted days
To these at last have led me down.
Remember that I filled with praise
The meaningless and doubtful ways
That lead to an eternal town.
I challenged and I kept the Faith,
The bleeding path alone I trod;
It darkens. Stand about my wraith,
And harbour me - Almighty God!
That is a great poem. I wish the English language had not been so weakened. That is, in the full sense of the words, a great poem; the child of a great poet.
Then I said he was a great prose writer: here is a passage selected at random from Napoleon Bonaparte:
Talleyrand was a noble of the very highest rank, the head of one of the oldest and most powerful of the French families: and though he had been destined for the church on account of physical infirmity, and though the actual headship of the Talleyrand-Périgord family had therefore been given to his brother, his social status, coupled with his unique genius for diplomacy, his knowledge and judgment in international affairs and in the personnel which conducted them, made him necessary to Bonaparte. Necessary to Bonaparte he remained year after year, although there could be no personal devotion from such a man to such a leader, though he remained to the end ready enough to leave that new master for the old dynasty, and was prepared to plot against Napoleon at any stage of his career, and to stand always ready for a leap if the power of the army-chief should break down. Talleyrand, I say, was necessary to Napoleon: on Talleyrand's judgment he was compelled over and over again to depend; he found by experience that when he did not follow it he commonly came to a worse decision himself. There is therefore a general presumption that in these major decisions, including that of the Duke of Enghien, Talleyrand was Napoleon's adviser. But it remains a presumption only, and there is quite as much against it as for it.
I selected this at random; it is not a piece of what is called fine writing - it is prose. It is real, rumbling, rhythmical prose. It would be a pleasure to read more such. I would venture a long quotation from pages 32 to 46 of this work, but I suppose I had better content myself with a few paragraphs - and this is fine writing:
The kings who had conquered allowed him the Island of Elba for a kingdom, and the Imperial title for a name.
He returned the next year to prove that the French people would not recognize defeat, nor he. Of those who had deserted him, some rallied - none whom he could trust. His genius, re-aroused in a last flame from its embers, thrust in between the armies of the Allies, twice his own in number, thrust back the Prussians at Ligny, while Ney desperately held the British, Belgian, and Dutch, and Hanoverians under Wellington at Quatre-Bras. He failed in a decision against the first through the error of a subordinate, Erlon, which perhaps his old energy would have prevented; he met the allies combined upon the field of Waterloo, and so finally fell.
Driven to take refuge upon the Bellerophon, after failing to find any other issue, he was closely shut up in St. Helena, under conditions of ignominy which are a commonplace of history.
His fatal illness which had perhaps been long upon him - a cancer - ran its course. There, almost alone, his wife having deserted him, communication with his kind being forbidden him, even that child whom he so loved and who was to have been the heir of the Fourth Race shut off from him altogether, he, reconciled at last with a Faith for the fruits of which in civilization he had, not consciously, struggled, the greatest of Captains went through the last gates.
A line has been written worthy of that moment.
"He rose in glory, and his eagle died."
As for "one of the greatest historians", I invite you to read his historical writings. He attained a first-class degree in history. One of the greatest Catholics - this is evident from his writings and from his life. As for a great genius, that is not my own word. I have just searched for the quotation on Google, and have not immediately found it, and I am very tired and so I shall not make further search now, nor further commentary on this great man, who should be better known.
Sunday 11 April 2010
Having just, I am glad to say, severed all connections with somebody who persistently attacks me on Facebook, I shall now copy and paste an excellent article on our great Pope, from the Italian journal Chiesa by Sandro Magister, translated into English by Matthew Sherry, of Ballwin, Missouri.
The Passion of Pope Benedict. Six Accusations, One Question
Pedophilia is only the latest weapon aimed against Joseph Ratzinger. And each time, he is attacked where he most exercises his leadership role. One by one, the critical points of this pontificate
by Sandro Magister
ROME, April 7, 2010 – The attack striking pope Joseph Ratzinger with the weapon of the scandal posed by priests of his Church is a constant of this pontificate.
It is a constant because every time, on different terrain, striking Benedict XVI means striking the very man who has worked and is working, on that same terrain, with the greatest foresight, resolve, and success.
*
The tempest that followed his lecture in Regensburg on September 12, 2006 was the first of the series. Benedict XVI was accused of being an enemy of Islam, and an incendiary proponent of the clash of civilizations. The very man who with singular clarity and courage had revealed where the ultimate root of violence is found, in an idea of God severed from rationality, and had then told how to overcome it.
The violence and even killings that followed his words were the sad proof that he was right. But the fact that he had hit the mark was confirmed above all by the progress in dialogue between the Catholic Church and Islam that was seen afterward – not in spite of, but because of the lecture in Regensburg – and of which the letter to the pope from the 138 Muslim intellectuals and the visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul were the most evident and promising signs.
With Benedict XVI, the dialogue between Christianity and Islam, as with the other religions as well, is today proceeding with clearer awareness about what makes distinctions, by virtue of faith, and what can unite, the natural law written by God in the heart of every man.
*
A second wave of accusations against Pope Benedict depicts him as an enemy of modern reason, and in particular of its supreme expression, science. The peak of this hostile campaign was reached in January of 2008, when professors forced the pope to cancel a visit to the main university of his diocese, the University of Rome "La Sapienza."
And yet – as previously in Regensburg and then in Paris at the Collège des Bernardins on September 12, 2008 – the speech that the pope intended to give at the University of Rome was a formidable defense of the indissoluble connection between faith and reason, between truth and freedom: "I do not come to impose the faith, but to call for courage for the truth."
The paradox is that Benedict XVI is a great "illuminist" in an age in which the truth has so few admirers and doubt is in command, to the point of wanting to silence the truth.
*
A third accusation systematically hurled at Benedict XVI is that he is a traditionalist stuck in the past, an enemy of the new developments brought by Vatican Council II.
His speech to the Roman curia on December 22, 2005 on the interpretation of the Council, and in 2007 on the liberalization of the ancient rite of the Mass, are thought to be the proofs in the hands of his accusers.
In reality, the Tradition to which Benedict XVI is faithful is that of the grand history of the Church, from its origins until today, which has nothing to do with a formulaic attachment to the past. In the speech to the curia just mentioned, to exemplify the "reform in continuity" represented by Vatican II, the pope recalled the question of religious freedom. To affirm this completely – he explained – the Council had to go back to the origins of the Church, to the first martyrs, to that "profound patrimony" of Christian Tradition which in recent centuries had been lost, and was found again thanks in part to the criticism of Enlightenment-style reason.
As for the liturgy, if there is an authentic perpetuator of the great liturgical movement that flourished in the Church between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Prosper Guéranger to Romano Guardini, it is precisely Ratzinger himself.
*
A fourth terrain of attack runs along the same lines as the previous one. Benedict XVI is accused of derailing ecumenism, of putting reconciliation with the Lefebvrists ahead of dialogue with the other Christian confessions.
But the facts say the opposite. Since Ratzinger has been pope, the journey of reconciliation with the Eastern Churches has taken extraordinary steps forward. Both with the Byzantine Churches that look to the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople, and – most surprisingly – with the patriarchate of Moscow.
And if this has happened, it is precisely because of the revived fidelity to the grand Tradition – beginning with that of the first millennium – that is one characteristic of this pope, in addition to being the soul of the Eastern Churches.
On the side of the West, it is again love of Tradition that is driving persons and groups of the Anglican Communion to ask to enter the Church of Rome.
While with the Lefebvrists, what is blocking their reintegration is precisely their attachment to past forms of Church and of doctrine erroneously identified with perennial Tradition. The revocation of the excommunication of four of their bishops, in January of 2009, did nothing to the state of schism in which they remain, just as in 1964 the revocation of excommunications between Rome and Constantinople did not heal the schism between East and West, but made possible a dialogue aimed at unity.
*
The four Lefebvrist bishops whose excommunication Benedict XVI lifted included Englishman Richard Williamson, an antisemite and Holocaust denier. In the liberalized ancient rite, there is even a prayer that the Jews "may recognize Jesus Christ as savior of all men."
These and other facts have helped to feed a persistent protest by the Jewish world against the current pope, with significant points of radicalism. And it is a fifth terrain of accusation.
The latest weapon of this protest was a passage from the sermon given at Saint Peter's Basilica on Holy Friday, in the pope's presence, by the preacher of the pontifical household, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. The incriminating passage was a citation from a letter written by a Jew, but in spite of this the uproar was aimed exclusively at the pope.
And yet, nothing is more contradictory than to accuse Benedict XVI of enmity with the Jews.
Because no other pope before him ever went so far in defining a positive vision of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, while leaving intact the essential division over whether or not Jesus is the Son of God. In the first volume of his "Jesus of Nazareth" published in 2007 – and close to being completed by the second volume – Benedict XVI wrote splendid pages in this regard, in dialogue with a living American rabbi.
And many Jews effectively see Ratzinger as a friend. But in the international media, it's another matter. There it is almost exclusively "friendly fire" that rains down. From Jews attacking the pope who best understands and loves them.
*
Finally, a sixth accusation – very current – against Ratzinger is that he "covered up" the scandal of priests who sexually abused children.
Here too, the accusation is against the very man who has done more than anyone, in the Church hierarchy, to heal this scandal.
With positive effects that can already be seen here and there. Particularly in the United States, where the incidence of the phenomenon among the Catholic clergy has diminished significantly in recent years.
But where the wound is still open, as in Ireland, it was again Benedict XVI who required the Church of that country to put itself in a penitential state, on a demanding path that he traced out in an unprecedented pastoral letter last March 19.
The fact is that the international campaign against pedophilia has just one target today, the pope. The cases dug up from the past are always intended to be traced back to him, both when he was archbishop of Munich and when he was prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, plus the Regensburg appendix for the years during which the pope's brother, Georg, directed the cathedral children's choir.
*
The six terrains of accusation against Benedict XVI just referred to bring up a question.
Why is this pope so under attack, from outside of the Church but also from within, in spite of his clear innocence with respect to the accusations?
The beginning of an answer is that he is systematically attacked precisely for what he does, for what he says, for what he is.
The Passion of Pope Benedict. Six Accusations, One Question
Pedophilia is only the latest weapon aimed against Joseph Ratzinger. And each time, he is attacked where he most exercises his leadership role. One by one, the critical points of this pontificate
by Sandro Magister
ROME, April 7, 2010 – The attack striking pope Joseph Ratzinger with the weapon of the scandal posed by priests of his Church is a constant of this pontificate.
It is a constant because every time, on different terrain, striking Benedict XVI means striking the very man who has worked and is working, on that same terrain, with the greatest foresight, resolve, and success.
*
The tempest that followed his lecture in Regensburg on September 12, 2006 was the first of the series. Benedict XVI was accused of being an enemy of Islam, and an incendiary proponent of the clash of civilizations. The very man who with singular clarity and courage had revealed where the ultimate root of violence is found, in an idea of God severed from rationality, and had then told how to overcome it.
The violence and even killings that followed his words were the sad proof that he was right. But the fact that he had hit the mark was confirmed above all by the progress in dialogue between the Catholic Church and Islam that was seen afterward – not in spite of, but because of the lecture in Regensburg – and of which the letter to the pope from the 138 Muslim intellectuals and the visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul were the most evident and promising signs.
With Benedict XVI, the dialogue between Christianity and Islam, as with the other religions as well, is today proceeding with clearer awareness about what makes distinctions, by virtue of faith, and what can unite, the natural law written by God in the heart of every man.
*
A second wave of accusations against Pope Benedict depicts him as an enemy of modern reason, and in particular of its supreme expression, science. The peak of this hostile campaign was reached in January of 2008, when professors forced the pope to cancel a visit to the main university of his diocese, the University of Rome "La Sapienza."
And yet – as previously in Regensburg and then in Paris at the Collège des Bernardins on September 12, 2008 – the speech that the pope intended to give at the University of Rome was a formidable defense of the indissoluble connection between faith and reason, between truth and freedom: "I do not come to impose the faith, but to call for courage for the truth."
The paradox is that Benedict XVI is a great "illuminist" in an age in which the truth has so few admirers and doubt is in command, to the point of wanting to silence the truth.
*
A third accusation systematically hurled at Benedict XVI is that he is a traditionalist stuck in the past, an enemy of the new developments brought by Vatican Council II.
His speech to the Roman curia on December 22, 2005 on the interpretation of the Council, and in 2007 on the liberalization of the ancient rite of the Mass, are thought to be the proofs in the hands of his accusers.
In reality, the Tradition to which Benedict XVI is faithful is that of the grand history of the Church, from its origins until today, which has nothing to do with a formulaic attachment to the past. In the speech to the curia just mentioned, to exemplify the "reform in continuity" represented by Vatican II, the pope recalled the question of religious freedom. To affirm this completely – he explained – the Council had to go back to the origins of the Church, to the first martyrs, to that "profound patrimony" of Christian Tradition which in recent centuries had been lost, and was found again thanks in part to the criticism of Enlightenment-style reason.
As for the liturgy, if there is an authentic perpetuator of the great liturgical movement that flourished in the Church between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Prosper Guéranger to Romano Guardini, it is precisely Ratzinger himself.
*
A fourth terrain of attack runs along the same lines as the previous one. Benedict XVI is accused of derailing ecumenism, of putting reconciliation with the Lefebvrists ahead of dialogue with the other Christian confessions.
But the facts say the opposite. Since Ratzinger has been pope, the journey of reconciliation with the Eastern Churches has taken extraordinary steps forward. Both with the Byzantine Churches that look to the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople, and – most surprisingly – with the patriarchate of Moscow.
And if this has happened, it is precisely because of the revived fidelity to the grand Tradition – beginning with that of the first millennium – that is one characteristic of this pope, in addition to being the soul of the Eastern Churches.
On the side of the West, it is again love of Tradition that is driving persons and groups of the Anglican Communion to ask to enter the Church of Rome.
While with the Lefebvrists, what is blocking their reintegration is precisely their attachment to past forms of Church and of doctrine erroneously identified with perennial Tradition. The revocation of the excommunication of four of their bishops, in January of 2009, did nothing to the state of schism in which they remain, just as in 1964 the revocation of excommunications between Rome and Constantinople did not heal the schism between East and West, but made possible a dialogue aimed at unity.
*
The four Lefebvrist bishops whose excommunication Benedict XVI lifted included Englishman Richard Williamson, an antisemite and Holocaust denier. In the liberalized ancient rite, there is even a prayer that the Jews "may recognize Jesus Christ as savior of all men."
These and other facts have helped to feed a persistent protest by the Jewish world against the current pope, with significant points of radicalism. And it is a fifth terrain of accusation.
The latest weapon of this protest was a passage from the sermon given at Saint Peter's Basilica on Holy Friday, in the pope's presence, by the preacher of the pontifical household, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. The incriminating passage was a citation from a letter written by a Jew, but in spite of this the uproar was aimed exclusively at the pope.
And yet, nothing is more contradictory than to accuse Benedict XVI of enmity with the Jews.
Because no other pope before him ever went so far in defining a positive vision of the relationship between Christianity and Judaism, while leaving intact the essential division over whether or not Jesus is the Son of God. In the first volume of his "Jesus of Nazareth" published in 2007 – and close to being completed by the second volume – Benedict XVI wrote splendid pages in this regard, in dialogue with a living American rabbi.
And many Jews effectively see Ratzinger as a friend. But in the international media, it's another matter. There it is almost exclusively "friendly fire" that rains down. From Jews attacking the pope who best understands and loves them.
*
Finally, a sixth accusation – very current – against Ratzinger is that he "covered up" the scandal of priests who sexually abused children.
Here too, the accusation is against the very man who has done more than anyone, in the Church hierarchy, to heal this scandal.
With positive effects that can already be seen here and there. Particularly in the United States, where the incidence of the phenomenon among the Catholic clergy has diminished significantly in recent years.
But where the wound is still open, as in Ireland, it was again Benedict XVI who required the Church of that country to put itself in a penitential state, on a demanding path that he traced out in an unprecedented pastoral letter last March 19.
The fact is that the international campaign against pedophilia has just one target today, the pope. The cases dug up from the past are always intended to be traced back to him, both when he was archbishop of Munich and when he was prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, plus the Regensburg appendix for the years during which the pope's brother, Georg, directed the cathedral children's choir.
*
The six terrains of accusation against Benedict XVI just referred to bring up a question.
Why is this pope so under attack, from outside of the Church but also from within, in spite of his clear innocence with respect to the accusations?
The beginning of an answer is that he is systematically attacked precisely for what he does, for what he says, for what he is.
Saturday 10 April 2010
Friday 9 April 2010
Thursday 8 April 2010
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Hilaire Belloc is a master of English prose
This awful charm which attaches to the enormous envelops the Causse of Mende; for its attributes are all of them pushed beyond the ordinary limit.
Each of the four Causses is a waste; but the Causse of Mende is utterly bereft of men. Each is a high plateau; but this, I believe, the highest in feet, and certainly in impression. You stand there as it were upon the summit of a lonely pedestal, with nothing but a rocky edge around you. Each is dried up; but the Causse of Mende is without so much as a dew-pan or a well; it is wrinkled, horny, and cauterized under the alternate frost and flame of its fierce open sky, as are the deserts of the moon. Each of the Causses is silent; but the silence of the Causse of Mende is scorched and frozen into its stones, and is as old as they: all around, the torrents which have sawn their black cañons upon every side of the block frame this silence with their rumble. Each of the Causses casts up above its plain fantastic heaps of rock consonant to the wild spirit of its isolation; but the Causse of Mende holds a kind of fortress—a medley so like the ghost of a dead town that, even in full daylight, you expect the footsteps of men; and by night, as you go gently, in fear of waking the sleepers, you tread quite certainly among built houses and spires. This place the peasants of the cañons have called "The Old City"; and no one living will go near it who knows it well.
The Causses have also this peculiar to them: that the ravines by which each is cut off are steep and sudden. But the cliffs of the Causse of Mende are walls. That the chief of these walls may seem the more terrible, it is turned northward, so that by day and night it is in shadow, and falls sheer.
Perhaps I am not an impartial judge of this writer; but I think that that passage is magnificent.
Tuesday 6 April 2010
Hanc defatigationem citalopramma effecta non amo
What is this fatigue? When will it go away? Let us break their bonds asunder and let us cast away their yoke from us. Di(s)- is a wonderful prefix, and asunder is a wonderful adverb.
Monday 5 April 2010
Dear New York Times, Associated Press, The Times (London), Ruth Gledhill, Maureen Dowd, British Broadcasting Corporation, and all other disseminators of false news-stories designed to malign the Catholic Church,
In recent weeks there have been a large number of anti-Catholic stories that have been promulgated by you, to the intended detriment and dishonour of the true Church of Christ, that is, the Catholic Church. Nobody inside or outside the Church wishes to deny the reality or the gravity of the scandal of clerical sex abuse, or the ineradicable and heartbreaking harm that has been done. Indeed, the Church has learned her lessons from this and is now unquestionably the safest place to be in this regard, since putting in force the safeguards that she has put in place.
The insane frenzy of anti-Catholicism that you have fostered has mostly followed upon the publication of Pope Benedict's Pastoral Letter to the Irish Church. Very few of you seem to have read this letter, though I am aware of one direct quotation from it in the innumerable articles that I have read.
If you published the truth and omitted the lies, there would be no reason to object to you. What has been asserted of the long-dead Father Murphy, who died in 1998, is true. The assertion that the Pope was implicated in a cover-up is demonstrably false, and has been demonstrated to be false on several occasions in various articles, which, since you are so expert in research, I have no doubt that you will find for yourselves. What Father Cantalamessa quoted from a Jewish friend has been warped, and the Jewish friend has disappeared from the story, though he appears in the original text of the sermon. There was an article in today's Times that attributed the same thing to two different people. There have been other articles publishing demonstrable lies.
The journalism of these last days has been the worst that I have ever seen. If you are so little interested in the truth, and so much interested in persecuting it, I suggest you leave your profession.
I sincerely hope that you are prosecuted for libel, and compelled to make just restitution for the gross damage that you have caused.
Yours faithfully in the risen Christ,
David Mitchell
In recent weeks there have been a large number of anti-Catholic stories that have been promulgated by you, to the intended detriment and dishonour of the true Church of Christ, that is, the Catholic Church. Nobody inside or outside the Church wishes to deny the reality or the gravity of the scandal of clerical sex abuse, or the ineradicable and heartbreaking harm that has been done. Indeed, the Church has learned her lessons from this and is now unquestionably the safest place to be in this regard, since putting in force the safeguards that she has put in place.
The insane frenzy of anti-Catholicism that you have fostered has mostly followed upon the publication of Pope Benedict's Pastoral Letter to the Irish Church. Very few of you seem to have read this letter, though I am aware of one direct quotation from it in the innumerable articles that I have read.
If you published the truth and omitted the lies, there would be no reason to object to you. What has been asserted of the long-dead Father Murphy, who died in 1998, is true. The assertion that the Pope was implicated in a cover-up is demonstrably false, and has been demonstrated to be false on several occasions in various articles, which, since you are so expert in research, I have no doubt that you will find for yourselves. What Father Cantalamessa quoted from a Jewish friend has been warped, and the Jewish friend has disappeared from the story, though he appears in the original text of the sermon. There was an article in today's Times that attributed the same thing to two different people. There have been other articles publishing demonstrable lies.
The journalism of these last days has been the worst that I have ever seen. If you are so little interested in the truth, and so much interested in persecuting it, I suggest you leave your profession.
I sincerely hope that you are prosecuted for libel, and compelled to make just restitution for the gross damage that you have caused.
Yours faithfully in the risen Christ,
David Mitchell
Sunday 4 April 2010
Saturday 3 April 2010
Happy Easter!
There are some things I wish to say, but I do not believe I would be justified in publishing them, since they would injure the good name of someone in my family. I am rather low at the moment; and I am wondering - well, I am wondering a lot of things.
But these are thoughts that belong rather in a private journal than in public; and so I shall not share them further with you, Gentle Reader, here.
But I wish you a happy Easter!
But these are thoughts that belong rather in a private journal than in public; and so I shall not share them further with you, Gentle Reader, here.
But I wish you a happy Easter!
Friday 2 April 2010
Good Good Friday
Today I went to the Science Museum, and to the Royal Choral Society's production of Handel's Messiah, in which my father was singing. The former was very good; the latter was excellent.
There is a very good temporary exhibit on the contribution of Muslim civilization to science; I recommend it greatly, especially the water-clock of Al-Jazari.
As for the production of the Messiah, it was excellent. Everyone in the Royal Albert Hall stood for the "Hallelujah" Chorus. I found that very moving. The applause at the end of the oratorio must have lasted twelve or fourteen minutes, at the least, I should think.
There is a very good temporary exhibit on the contribution of Muslim civilization to science; I recommend it greatly, especially the water-clock of Al-Jazari.
As for the production of the Messiah, it was excellent. Everyone in the Royal Albert Hall stood for the "Hallelujah" Chorus. I found that very moving. The applause at the end of the oratorio must have lasted twelve or fourteen minutes, at the least, I should think.
Thursday 1 April 2010
A Quotation from Edmund Burke
"From the general style of late publications of all sorts, one would be led to believe that your clergy in France were a sort of monsters, a horrible composition of superstition, ignorance, sloth, fraud, avarice and tyranny. But is this true?"
Burke, Edmund, Reflections on the Late Revolution in France, 1790
Burke, Edmund, Reflections on the Late Revolution in France, 1790
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)