(one of many instances that were continually occurring during his time on the islands just off austrailia where God had called him is here related by patton)..one morning at daybreak i found my house surrounded by armed men and a chief intimated that they had assembled to take my life. seeing that i was entirely in their hands, i knelt down and gave myself away body and soul to the Lord Jesus, for what seemed the last time on earth. rising, i went out to them and began calmly talking about their unkind treatment of me and contrasting it with all my conduct towards them. i also plainly showed them what would be the sad consequences, if they carried out their cruel purpose. at last some of the chiefs, who had attended the worship, rose and said 'our conduct has been bad; but now we will fight for you, and kill all those who hate you'.
grasping hold of their leader, i held him fast till he promised never to kill any one on my account, for Jesus taught us to love our enemies and always to return good for evil! during this scene, many of the armed men slunk away into the bush, and those who remained entered into a bond to be friendly and to protect us. but again their public assembly resolved that we should be killed, because, as they said, they hated Jehovah and the worship; for it made them afraid to do as they had always done. if i would give up visiting the villages, and praying and talking with them about Jehovah, they intimated that they would like me to stay and trade with them, as they liked the traders but hated the missionaries. i told them that the hope of being able to teach them the worship of Jehovah alone kept me living amongst them; that i was there, not for gain or pleasure, but because i loved them, and pitied their estate, and sought their good continually by leading them to know and serve the only true God.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
2.20.2012 CHUCHILLS SPEECHES II
10.8.1940 neither by material damage nor by slaughter will the people of the british empire be turned from their solemn and inexorable purpose. it is the practice and in some cases the duty of many of my colleagues and many members of the House to visit the scenes of destruction as promptly as possible, and i go myself from time to time. in all my life, i have never been treated with so much kindness as by the people who have suffered most. one would think one had brought some great benefit to them, instead of the blood and tears, the toil and sweat which is all i have ever promised. on every side, there is the cry, 'we can take it,' but with it, there is also the cry, 'give it 'em back'...
meanwhile, what has happened to the invasion which we have been promised every month and almost every week since the beginning of july? do not let us be lured into supposing that the danger is past. on the contrary, unwearying vigilance and the swift and steady strengthening of our force by land, sea and air which is in progress must be at all costs maintained. now that we are in october, however, the weather becomes very uncertain and there are not many lucid intervals of 2 or 3 days together in which river barges can cross the narrow seas and land upon our beaches. still, those intervals may occur. fogs may aid the foe, our armies, which are growing continually in numbers, equipment, mobility and training, must be maintained all through the winter, not only along the beaches but in reserve, as the majority are, like leopards crouching to spring at the invader's throat. the enemy has certainly got prepared enough shipping and barges to throw half a million men in a single night on to salt water - or into it. the Home Guard, which now amounts to 1,700,000 men, must nurse their weapons and sharpen their bayonets...(note: did God send churchill to counter hitler..the inevitable victory of truth and life to counter the inevitability of destruction and death, God's heart for mankind opposed to satan's?)
because we feel easier in ourselves and see our way more clearly through our difficulties and dangers than we did some months ago, because foreign countries, friends or foes, recognise the giant, enduring, resilient strength of britain and the british empire, do not let us dull for one moment the sense of the awful hazards in which we stand. do not let us lose the conviction that it is only by supreme and superb exertions, unwearing and indominable, that we shall save our souls alive. no one can predict, no one can even imagine, how this terrible war against german and nazi aggression will run its course or how far it will spread or how long it will last. long, dark months of trials and tribulations lie before us. not only great dangers, but many more misfortunes, many shortcomings, many mistakes, many disappointments will surely be our lot. death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment;constancy and valour our only shield. we must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible. our qualities and deeds must burn and glow through the gloom of europe until they become the veritable beacon of its salvation.
6.16.1941 ..'the destiny of mankind is not decided by material computation. when great causes are on the move in the world, stirring all men's souls, drawing them from their firesides, casting aside comfort, wealth and the pursuit of happiness in response to impulses at once awe-striking and irresistible, we learn that we are spirits, not animals, and that something is going on in space and time and beyond space and time, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.
a wonderful story is unfolding before our eyes. how it will end we are not allowed to know. but on both sides of the atlantic we all feel, i repeat, all, that we are a part of it, that our future and that of many generations is at stake. we are sure that the character of human society will be shaped by the resolves we take and the deeds we do. we need not bewail the fact that we have been called upon to face such solemn responsibilities. we may be proud and even rejoice amid our tribulations, that we have been born at this cardinal time for so great an age and so splendid an opportunity of service here below. \
wickedness, enormous, panoplied, embattled, seemingly triumphant, casts its shadow over europe and asia. laws, customs and traditions are broken up. justice is cast from her seat. the rights of the weak are trampled down. the grand freedoms of which the president of the united states has spoken so movingly are spurned and chained. the whole stature of man, his genius, his initiative and his nobility, is ground down under systems of mechanical barbarism and of organised and scheduled terror.
for more than a year we british have stood alone, uplifted by your (united states') sympathy and respect and sustained by our own unconquerable will-power and by the increasing growth and hopes of your massive aid. in these british islands that look so small upon the map we stand, the faithful guardians of the rights and dearest hopes of a dozen states and nations now gripped and tormented in a base and cruel servitude. whatever happens we shall endure to the end.
but what is the explanation of the enslavement of europe by the german nazi regime? how did they do it? it is but a few years ago since one united gesture by the peoples, great and small, who are now broken in the dust, would have warded off from mankind the fearful ordeal it has had to undergo. but there was no unity. there was no vision. the nations were pulled down one by one while the others gaped and chattered. one by one, each in his turn, they let themselves be caught. one after another they were felled by brutal violence or poisoned from within by subtle intrigue.
and now the old lion with her lion cubs at her side stands alone against hunters who are armed with deadly weapons and impelled by desperate and destructive rage. is the tragedy to repeat itself once more? ah no! this is not the end of the tale. the stars in their courses proclaim the deliverance of mankind. not so easily shall the onward progress of the peoples be barred. not so easily shall the lights of freedom die.
but time is short. every month that passes adds to the length and to the perils of the journey that will have to be made. united we stand. divided we fall. divided, the dark age returns. united, we can save and guide the world.
10.5.1946 (from 'the iron curtain has descended' speech) ..'we oppose the establishment of a socialist state, controlling the means of production, distribution and exchange..our conservative aim is to build a property-owning democracy, both independent and interdependent...include profit sharing schemes in suitable industries and intimate consultations between employers and wage earners...
1.31.1947 (the 'palestine: blood and shame' speech) ..'the idea that general reprisals upon the civil population and vicarious examples would be consonant with our whole outlook upon the world and with our name, reputation and principles, is, of course, one which should never be accepted in any way. we have, therefore, very great difficulties in conducting squalid warfare with terrorists. that is why i would venture to submit to the house that every effort should be made - i exclude no reasonable proposal - to bring it to an end.
it is quite certain that what is going on now in palestine is doing us a great deal of harm in every way. whatever view is taken by the partisans of the jews or the partisans of the arabs it is doing us harm in our reputation all over the world. i deplore very much this struggle that we have got into. i do not think we ought to have got into it. i think it could have been avoided. it could have been avoided if promises had not been made by hon. Members (of the House) opposite at the election, on a very wide scale and if those promises had not been woefully disappointed. i must say that. all my hon. friends on this side of the House do not agree with the views which i have held for so many years about the zionist cause. but promises were made far beyond those to which responsible governments should have committed themselves. what has been the performance? the performance has been a vacuum, a gaping void, a senseless, dumb abyss - nothing.
i remember so well nine or ten months ago my right hon, friend (mr oliver stanley), now sitting beside me here, talking to all of us in our councils and saying that whatever happens this delay and vacillation shall not go on. but certainly a year has gone by and we have not advanced one single step. we have not advanced on single step either in making good our pledges to those to whom we have given them, or in reaching some broader solution, or in disembarrassing ourselves of burdens and obligations - burdens which we cannot bear, and obligations which we have shown ourselves unable or unwilling to discharge.
my right hon. friend dealt particularly with one aspect and one aspect only. this is a conflict with the terrorists and no country in the world is less fit for a conflict with terrorists than great britain. that is not because of her weakness or cowardice; it is because of her restraint and virtues and the way of life which we have lived so long in this sheltered island. but, sir, if you should be thrown into a quarrel, you should bear yourself so that the opponent may be aware of it. i deprecate this quarrel and i will deal a little further with its costs. i deprecate this quarrel very much indeed and i do not consider it was necessary. great responsibilities rest on those who have fallen short of their opportunities. once you are thrown into a quarrel, then in these matters pugnacity and willpower cannot be dispensed with.
this is a lamentable situation. however we may differ, it is one of the most unhappy , unpleasant situations into which we have got. even in these troublous years. here, we are expending hard-earned money at an enormous rate in palestine. everyone knows what our financial difficulties are - how heavy the weight of taxation. we are spending a vast sum of money on this business. for 18 months we have been pouring out our wealth on this unhappy, unfortunate and discreditable business. then there is the manpower of at least 100,000 men in palestine, who might well be at home strengthening our defeated industry. what are they doing there? what good are we getting out of it?
we are told that there are a handful of terrorists on one side and 100,000 british troops on the other...in my view we should definitely give notice that, unless the united states come in with us shoulder to shoulder on a 50-50 basis on an agreed policy, to take a half and half share of the bloodshed, odium, trouble, expense and worry, we will lay our mandate at the feet of UNO. whereas, six months ago, i suggested that we should do that in 12 months i suggest now that the period should be shortened to six months. one is more and more worried and one's anxiety deepens and grows as hopes are falsified and the difficulties of the aftermath of war, which i do not underrate, lie still heavily upon us in a divided nation, cutting deeply across our lives and feelings, in these conditions we really cannot go on,k in all directions, taking on burdens which use up and drain out the remaining strength of britain and which are beyond any duty we have undertaken in the international field. i earnestly trust that the government will, if they have to fight this squalid war, make perfectly certain that the willpower of the british state is not conquered by brigands and bandits and that unless we are to have the aid of the united states, they will at the earliest possible moment, give due notice to divest us of a responsibility which we are failing to discharge and which in the process is covering us with blood and shame.
meanwhile, what has happened to the invasion which we have been promised every month and almost every week since the beginning of july? do not let us be lured into supposing that the danger is past. on the contrary, unwearying vigilance and the swift and steady strengthening of our force by land, sea and air which is in progress must be at all costs maintained. now that we are in october, however, the weather becomes very uncertain and there are not many lucid intervals of 2 or 3 days together in which river barges can cross the narrow seas and land upon our beaches. still, those intervals may occur. fogs may aid the foe, our armies, which are growing continually in numbers, equipment, mobility and training, must be maintained all through the winter, not only along the beaches but in reserve, as the majority are, like leopards crouching to spring at the invader's throat. the enemy has certainly got prepared enough shipping and barges to throw half a million men in a single night on to salt water - or into it. the Home Guard, which now amounts to 1,700,000 men, must nurse their weapons and sharpen their bayonets...(note: did God send churchill to counter hitler..the inevitable victory of truth and life to counter the inevitability of destruction and death, God's heart for mankind opposed to satan's?)
because we feel easier in ourselves and see our way more clearly through our difficulties and dangers than we did some months ago, because foreign countries, friends or foes, recognise the giant, enduring, resilient strength of britain and the british empire, do not let us dull for one moment the sense of the awful hazards in which we stand. do not let us lose the conviction that it is only by supreme and superb exertions, unwearing and indominable, that we shall save our souls alive. no one can predict, no one can even imagine, how this terrible war against german and nazi aggression will run its course or how far it will spread or how long it will last. long, dark months of trials and tribulations lie before us. not only great dangers, but many more misfortunes, many shortcomings, many mistakes, many disappointments will surely be our lot. death and sorrow will be the companions of our journey; hardship our garment;constancy and valour our only shield. we must be united, we must be undaunted, we must be inflexible. our qualities and deeds must burn and glow through the gloom of europe until they become the veritable beacon of its salvation.
6.16.1941 ..'the destiny of mankind is not decided by material computation. when great causes are on the move in the world, stirring all men's souls, drawing them from their firesides, casting aside comfort, wealth and the pursuit of happiness in response to impulses at once awe-striking and irresistible, we learn that we are spirits, not animals, and that something is going on in space and time and beyond space and time, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.
a wonderful story is unfolding before our eyes. how it will end we are not allowed to know. but on both sides of the atlantic we all feel, i repeat, all, that we are a part of it, that our future and that of many generations is at stake. we are sure that the character of human society will be shaped by the resolves we take and the deeds we do. we need not bewail the fact that we have been called upon to face such solemn responsibilities. we may be proud and even rejoice amid our tribulations, that we have been born at this cardinal time for so great an age and so splendid an opportunity of service here below. \
wickedness, enormous, panoplied, embattled, seemingly triumphant, casts its shadow over europe and asia. laws, customs and traditions are broken up. justice is cast from her seat. the rights of the weak are trampled down. the grand freedoms of which the president of the united states has spoken so movingly are spurned and chained. the whole stature of man, his genius, his initiative and his nobility, is ground down under systems of mechanical barbarism and of organised and scheduled terror.
for more than a year we british have stood alone, uplifted by your (united states') sympathy and respect and sustained by our own unconquerable will-power and by the increasing growth and hopes of your massive aid. in these british islands that look so small upon the map we stand, the faithful guardians of the rights and dearest hopes of a dozen states and nations now gripped and tormented in a base and cruel servitude. whatever happens we shall endure to the end.
but what is the explanation of the enslavement of europe by the german nazi regime? how did they do it? it is but a few years ago since one united gesture by the peoples, great and small, who are now broken in the dust, would have warded off from mankind the fearful ordeal it has had to undergo. but there was no unity. there was no vision. the nations were pulled down one by one while the others gaped and chattered. one by one, each in his turn, they let themselves be caught. one after another they were felled by brutal violence or poisoned from within by subtle intrigue.
and now the old lion with her lion cubs at her side stands alone against hunters who are armed with deadly weapons and impelled by desperate and destructive rage. is the tragedy to repeat itself once more? ah no! this is not the end of the tale. the stars in their courses proclaim the deliverance of mankind. not so easily shall the onward progress of the peoples be barred. not so easily shall the lights of freedom die.
but time is short. every month that passes adds to the length and to the perils of the journey that will have to be made. united we stand. divided we fall. divided, the dark age returns. united, we can save and guide the world.
10.5.1946 (from 'the iron curtain has descended' speech) ..'we oppose the establishment of a socialist state, controlling the means of production, distribution and exchange..our conservative aim is to build a property-owning democracy, both independent and interdependent...include profit sharing schemes in suitable industries and intimate consultations between employers and wage earners...
1.31.1947 (the 'palestine: blood and shame' speech) ..'the idea that general reprisals upon the civil population and vicarious examples would be consonant with our whole outlook upon the world and with our name, reputation and principles, is, of course, one which should never be accepted in any way. we have, therefore, very great difficulties in conducting squalid warfare with terrorists. that is why i would venture to submit to the house that every effort should be made - i exclude no reasonable proposal - to bring it to an end.
it is quite certain that what is going on now in palestine is doing us a great deal of harm in every way. whatever view is taken by the partisans of the jews or the partisans of the arabs it is doing us harm in our reputation all over the world. i deplore very much this struggle that we have got into. i do not think we ought to have got into it. i think it could have been avoided. it could have been avoided if promises had not been made by hon. Members (of the House) opposite at the election, on a very wide scale and if those promises had not been woefully disappointed. i must say that. all my hon. friends on this side of the House do not agree with the views which i have held for so many years about the zionist cause. but promises were made far beyond those to which responsible governments should have committed themselves. what has been the performance? the performance has been a vacuum, a gaping void, a senseless, dumb abyss - nothing.
i remember so well nine or ten months ago my right hon, friend (mr oliver stanley), now sitting beside me here, talking to all of us in our councils and saying that whatever happens this delay and vacillation shall not go on. but certainly a year has gone by and we have not advanced one single step. we have not advanced on single step either in making good our pledges to those to whom we have given them, or in reaching some broader solution, or in disembarrassing ourselves of burdens and obligations - burdens which we cannot bear, and obligations which we have shown ourselves unable or unwilling to discharge.
my right hon. friend dealt particularly with one aspect and one aspect only. this is a conflict with the terrorists and no country in the world is less fit for a conflict with terrorists than great britain. that is not because of her weakness or cowardice; it is because of her restraint and virtues and the way of life which we have lived so long in this sheltered island. but, sir, if you should be thrown into a quarrel, you should bear yourself so that the opponent may be aware of it. i deprecate this quarrel and i will deal a little further with its costs. i deprecate this quarrel very much indeed and i do not consider it was necessary. great responsibilities rest on those who have fallen short of their opportunities. once you are thrown into a quarrel, then in these matters pugnacity and willpower cannot be dispensed with.
this is a lamentable situation. however we may differ, it is one of the most unhappy , unpleasant situations into which we have got. even in these troublous years. here, we are expending hard-earned money at an enormous rate in palestine. everyone knows what our financial difficulties are - how heavy the weight of taxation. we are spending a vast sum of money on this business. for 18 months we have been pouring out our wealth on this unhappy, unfortunate and discreditable business. then there is the manpower of at least 100,000 men in palestine, who might well be at home strengthening our defeated industry. what are they doing there? what good are we getting out of it?
we are told that there are a handful of terrorists on one side and 100,000 british troops on the other...in my view we should definitely give notice that, unless the united states come in with us shoulder to shoulder on a 50-50 basis on an agreed policy, to take a half and half share of the bloodshed, odium, trouble, expense and worry, we will lay our mandate at the feet of UNO. whereas, six months ago, i suggested that we should do that in 12 months i suggest now that the period should be shortened to six months. one is more and more worried and one's anxiety deepens and grows as hopes are falsified and the difficulties of the aftermath of war, which i do not underrate, lie still heavily upon us in a divided nation, cutting deeply across our lives and feelings, in these conditions we really cannot go on,k in all directions, taking on burdens which use up and drain out the remaining strength of britain and which are beyond any duty we have undertaken in the international field. i earnestly trust that the government will, if they have to fight this squalid war, make perfectly certain that the willpower of the british state is not conquered by brigands and bandits and that unless we are to have the aid of the united states, they will at the earliest possible moment, give due notice to divest us of a responsibility which we are failing to discharge and which in the process is covering us with blood and shame.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
3.18.2012 NEVER GIVE IN! THE BEST OF WINSTON CHURCHILL'S SPEECHES
these were compiled by his grandson, winston s. churchill
4.11.1919 'bolshevist atrocities' ..'it would not be right for us to send our armies raised on a compulsory basis to russia (to aid those victims of the communist revolution). if russia is to be saved it must be by russian manhood..
9.16.1925 ..'can we be blind to the fact that british interests and the british empire and britain herself have been singled out as the first and main object of their (the bolshevists') malice. this island community of ours which in all the great quarrels of the last 400 years has always defended and hitherto always successfully defended the cause of ordered freedom, stands as a massive obstacle in the path of boshevist revolutionaries. to lay it low, to shatter it to pieces, to grind it to powder by every resource of violence of cunning - this is their task. they have recognized it. let us recognize it too.
2.22.1933 ..'these well meaning gentlemen of the british broadcasting corporation (the bbc in the 1930s supported a policy of appeasement and did their best to keep churchill's voice off the air) have absolutely no qualifications and no claim to represent british public opinion.
speaking of the league of nations vis a vis germany after the latter's occupation of the rhineland..'do not let us have it out as if we were a rabble flying before forces we dare not resist. let us have it out on the basis that we are negotiation from strength and not from weakness; that we are negotiating from unity and not from division and isolation; that we are seeking to do justice because we have power.
9.24.1936 ..'if governments are to bind themselves together for collective security, it follows that they must rigorously abstain from organized interference in the internal affairs of their neighbors and fellow members of the League (of nations)...unprovoked aggression..propaganda carried on by foreign $ in any country is a serious form of provocation..' (churchill's pleas for united strength used by the league of nations as well as for britain to begin to arm were, at home and abroad ignored during the 5 years leading up to the declaration of war on germany in september, 1939...at which time he was asked to be prime minister and establish a wartime government with a policy of total victory over germany, italy..and eventually japan)
this book introduced me to 'lawrence of arabia' for the first time. churchill and his family were intimately acquainted with this person, lawrence, who accomplished amazing feats in the middle east only to return home and completely fade from public life. churchill speaks highly of his book, 'the 7 pillars'
10.16.1938 ..'alexander the great remarked that the people of asia were slaves because they had not learned to pronounce the word 'no'..the german people, industrious and faithful, valiant, but alas! lacking in the proper spirit of civic independence..tyrants are afraid of thoughts..words..the workings of the human mind.
4.20.1939 ..'if the british empire is fated to pass from life into history we must hope it will not be by the slow processes of dispersion and decay, but in some supreme exertion for freedom, for right and for truth.
(german armies have invaded france, the blitzkrieg, and there is the possibility of more than 300,000+ british and french troops being cut off and possibly destroyed/imprisoned)..'the armies must cast away the idea of resisting behind concrete lines or natural obstacles and must realize that mastery can only be regained by furious and unrelenting assault..
5.19.1940 (centuries old words from trinity sunday)..'but you men of valor be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar...
6.18.1940 ..'what general weygand called the battle of france is over. i expect that the battle of britain is about to begin. upon this battle depends the survival of christian civilisation. upon it depends our own british life and the long continuity of our institutions and our empire. the whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. if we can stand up to him, all europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. but if we fail, then the whole world, including the united states, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the british empire and its commonwealth last for a 1000 years, men will still say, 'this was their finest hour'.
7.4.1940 'now i turn to the immediate future. we must, of course, expect to be attacked, or even invaded, if that proves to be possible - it has not been proved yet - in our own island before very long. we are making every preparation in our power to repel the assaults of the enemy, whether they be directed upon great britain, or upon ireland, which all irishmen, without distinction of creed or party, should realise is in imminent danger. these again are matters upon which we have clear views. these preparations are constantly occupying our toil from morn till night and far into the night. but, although we have clear views, it would not, i think, be profitable for us to discuss them in public, or even, so far as the government are concerned, except under very considerable reserve in a private session. i call upon all subjects of his majesty and upon our allies and well wishers - and they are not a few - all over the world, on both sides of the atlantic, to give us their utmost aid. in the fullest harmony with our dominions, we are moving through a period of extreme danger and of splendid hope, when every virtue of our race will be tested and all that we have and are will be freely staked. this is no time for doubt or weakness. it is the supreme hour to which we have been called.
i will venture to read to the House (of commons) a message which i have caused to be sent to all who are serving in positions of importance under the crown and, it the house should view it with sympathy, i should be very glad to send a copy of it to every member for his own use - not that such exhortations are needed. this is the message:
on what may be the eve of an attempted invasion or battle for our native land (hitler's forces were methodically massing across the channel for what seemed to be a massive assault), the prime minister desires to impress upon all persons holding responsible positions in the government, in the fighting services or in the civil departments (citizens in england were armed to resist enemy invasion, if necessary, block by block and street by street), their duty to maintain a spirit of alert and confident energy. while every precaution must be taken that time and means afford, there are no grounds for supposing that more german troops can be landed ion this country, either from the air or across the sea, than can be destroyed or captured by the strong forces at present under arms. the royal air force is in excellent order and at the highest strength it has yet attained. the german navy was never so weak, nor the british army at home so strong as now. the prime minister expects all his majesty's servants in high places to set an example of steadiness and resolution. they should check and rebuke expressions of loose and ill-digested opinion in their circle, or by their subordinates. they should not hesitate to report, or if necessary remove, any officers of officials who are found to be consciously exercising a disturbing or depressing influence and whose talk is calculated to spread alarm and despondency. thus alone will they be worthy of the fighting men, who, in the air, on the sea, and on land, have already met the enemy without any sense of being outmatched in martial qualities.
in conclusion, i feel that we are entitled to the confidence of the House and that we shall not fail in our duty, however painful. the action we have already taken should be, in itself, sufficient to dispose once and for all of the lies and rumours which have been so industriously spread by german propaganda and through fifth column activities that we have the slightest intention of entering into negotiations in any form and through any channel with the german and italian governments. we shall, on the contrary, prosecute the war with the utmost vigour by all the means that are open to us until the righteous purposes for which we entered upon it have been fulfilled.
9.11.1940 (on 9.5 the germans switched tactics from trying to destroy the bases of the royal air force to continual bombing raids against the civilian population of london and other major cities)..'besides this, convoys of merchant ships in tens of dozens are being moved through the straits of dover into the channel, dodging along from port to port under the protection of the new batteries which the germans have built on the french shore. there are now considerable gatherings of shipping in the german, dutch, belgian and french harbours - all the way from hamburg to brest. finally, there are some preparations made of ships to carry an invading force from the norwegian harbours.
behind these clusters of ships or barges, there stand very large numbers of german troops, awaiting the order to go on board and set out on their very dangerous and uncertain voyage across the seas. we cannot tell when they will try to come; we cannot be sure that in fact they will try at all; but no one should blind himself to the fact that a heavy, full-scale invasion of this island is being prepared with all the usual german thoroughness and method and that it may be launched now - upon england, upon scotland, or upon ireland, or upon all three.
if this invasion is going to be tried at all, it does not seem that it can be long delayed. the weather may break at any time. besides this, it is difficult for the enemy to keep these gatherings of ships waiting about indefinitely, while they are bombed every night by our bombers and very often shelled by our warships which are waiting for them outside.
therefore, we must regard the next week or so as a very important period in our history. it ranks with the days when the spanish armada was approaching the channel, and drake was finishing his game of bowls; or when nelson stood between us and napoleon's grand army at boulogne. we have read all about this in the history books; but what is happening now is on a far greater scale and of far more consequence to the life and future of the world and its civilisation than these brave old days of the past.
every man and woman will therefore prepare himself to do his duty, whatever it may be, with special pride and care. our fleets and flotillas are very powerful and numerous; our air force is at the highest strength it has ever reached and it is conscious of its proved superiority, not indeed in numbers, but in men and machines. our shores are well fortified and strongly manned and behind them, ready to attack the invaders, we have a far larger and better equipped mobile army than we have ever had before.
besides this, we have more than a million and a half men of the Home Guard, who are4 just as much soldiers of the regular army as the grenadier guards, and who are determined to fight for every inch of the ground in every village and in every street.
it is with devout but sure confidence that i say: let God defend the right.
these cruel, wanton, indiscriminate bombings of london are, of course, a part of hitler's invasion plans. he hopes, by killing large numbers of civilians and women and children, that he will terrorise and cow the people of this mighty imperial city and make them a burden and an anxiety to the government and thus distract our attention unduly from the ferocious onslaught he is preparing. little does he know the spirit of the british nation or the tough fibre of the londoners whose forebears played a leading part in the establishment of parliamentary institutions and who have been bred to value freedom far above their lives. this wicked man, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred, this monstrous product of former wrongs and shame, has now resolved to try to break our famous island race by a process of indiscriminate slaughter and destruction. what he has done is to kindle a fire in british hearts, here and all over the world, which will glow long after all traces of the conflagration he has caused in london have been removed. he has lighted a fire which will burn with a steady and consuming flame until the last vestiges of nazi tyranny have been burnt out of europe and until the old world- and the new - can join hands to rebuild the temples of man's freedom and man's honour, upon foundations which will not soon or easily be overthrown.
this is a time for everyone to stand together and hold firm, as they are doing. i express my admiration for the exemplary manner in which all the air raid precautions services of london are being discharged, especially the fire brigade, whose work has been so heavy and also dangerous. all the world that is still free marvels at the composure and fortitude with which the citizens of london are facing and surmounting the great ordeal to which they are subjected, the end of which or the severity of which cannot yet be foreseen.
it is a message of good cheer to our fighting forces on the seas, in the air, and in our waiting armies in all their posts and stations, that we send them from this capital city. they know that they have behind them a people who will not flinch or weary of the struggle - hard and protracted though it will be; but that we shall rather draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival, and of the victory won not only for our own time, but for the long and better days that are to come.
9.17.1940 (two days before the battle for britain reached its climax and on this day, unbenown at this speech hitler indefinitely suspended operation sealion..a direct attack upon the british island)..'these next few weeks are grave and anxious. i said just now in the public session that the deployment of the enemy's invasion preparations and the assembly of his ships and barges are steadily proceeding and that any moment a major assault may be launched upon this island. i now say in secret that upwards of 1700 self-propelled barges and more than 200 seagoing ships, some very large ships, are already gathering at the many invasion ports in german occupation. if this is all a pretense and stratagem to pin us down here, it has been executed with surprising thoroughness and on a gigantic scale. some of these ships and barges, when struck by our bombing counterattack and preventive attack, have blown up with tremendous explosions, showing that they are full loaded with all the munitions needed for the invading armies and to beat us down and subjugate us utterly. the shipping available and now assembled is sufficient to carry in one voyage nearly half a million men. we should, of course , expect to drown a great many on the way over and to destroy a large proportion of their vessels. but when you reflect upon the many points from which they could start and upon the fact that even the most likely sector of invasion, ie., the sector in which enemy fighter support is available for their bombers and dive bombers, extending from the Wash to the isle of wight, is nearly as long as the whole front in france from the laps to the sea, and also upon the dangers of fog or artificial fog, one must expect many lodgments or attempted lodgments to be made on our island simultaneously. these we shall hope to deal with as they occur and also to cut off the supply across the sea by which the enemy will seek to nourish his lodgments.
the difficulties of the invader are not ended when he sets foot on shore. a new chapter of perils opens upon him. i am confident that we shall succeed in defeating and largely destroying this most tremendous onslaught by which we are now threatened, and anyhow, whatever happens, we will all go down fighting to the end. i feel as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow that we shall be victorious.
4.11.1919 'bolshevist atrocities' ..'it would not be right for us to send our armies raised on a compulsory basis to russia (to aid those victims of the communist revolution). if russia is to be saved it must be by russian manhood..
9.16.1925 ..'can we be blind to the fact that british interests and the british empire and britain herself have been singled out as the first and main object of their (the bolshevists') malice. this island community of ours which in all the great quarrels of the last 400 years has always defended and hitherto always successfully defended the cause of ordered freedom, stands as a massive obstacle in the path of boshevist revolutionaries. to lay it low, to shatter it to pieces, to grind it to powder by every resource of violence of cunning - this is their task. they have recognized it. let us recognize it too.
2.22.1933 ..'these well meaning gentlemen of the british broadcasting corporation (the bbc in the 1930s supported a policy of appeasement and did their best to keep churchill's voice off the air) have absolutely no qualifications and no claim to represent british public opinion.
speaking of the league of nations vis a vis germany after the latter's occupation of the rhineland..'do not let us have it out as if we were a rabble flying before forces we dare not resist. let us have it out on the basis that we are negotiation from strength and not from weakness; that we are negotiating from unity and not from division and isolation; that we are seeking to do justice because we have power.
9.24.1936 ..'if governments are to bind themselves together for collective security, it follows that they must rigorously abstain from organized interference in the internal affairs of their neighbors and fellow members of the League (of nations)...unprovoked aggression..propaganda carried on by foreign $ in any country is a serious form of provocation..' (churchill's pleas for united strength used by the league of nations as well as for britain to begin to arm were, at home and abroad ignored during the 5 years leading up to the declaration of war on germany in september, 1939...at which time he was asked to be prime minister and establish a wartime government with a policy of total victory over germany, italy..and eventually japan)
this book introduced me to 'lawrence of arabia' for the first time. churchill and his family were intimately acquainted with this person, lawrence, who accomplished amazing feats in the middle east only to return home and completely fade from public life. churchill speaks highly of his book, 'the 7 pillars'
10.16.1938 ..'alexander the great remarked that the people of asia were slaves because they had not learned to pronounce the word 'no'..the german people, industrious and faithful, valiant, but alas! lacking in the proper spirit of civic independence..tyrants are afraid of thoughts..words..the workings of the human mind.
4.20.1939 ..'if the british empire is fated to pass from life into history we must hope it will not be by the slow processes of dispersion and decay, but in some supreme exertion for freedom, for right and for truth.
(german armies have invaded france, the blitzkrieg, and there is the possibility of more than 300,000+ british and french troops being cut off and possibly destroyed/imprisoned)..'the armies must cast away the idea of resisting behind concrete lines or natural obstacles and must realize that mastery can only be regained by furious and unrelenting assault..
5.19.1940 (centuries old words from trinity sunday)..'but you men of valor be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar...
6.18.1940 ..'what general weygand called the battle of france is over. i expect that the battle of britain is about to begin. upon this battle depends the survival of christian civilisation. upon it depends our own british life and the long continuity of our institutions and our empire. the whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. if we can stand up to him, all europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. but if we fail, then the whole world, including the united states, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the british empire and its commonwealth last for a 1000 years, men will still say, 'this was their finest hour'.
7.4.1940 'now i turn to the immediate future. we must, of course, expect to be attacked, or even invaded, if that proves to be possible - it has not been proved yet - in our own island before very long. we are making every preparation in our power to repel the assaults of the enemy, whether they be directed upon great britain, or upon ireland, which all irishmen, without distinction of creed or party, should realise is in imminent danger. these again are matters upon which we have clear views. these preparations are constantly occupying our toil from morn till night and far into the night. but, although we have clear views, it would not, i think, be profitable for us to discuss them in public, or even, so far as the government are concerned, except under very considerable reserve in a private session. i call upon all subjects of his majesty and upon our allies and well wishers - and they are not a few - all over the world, on both sides of the atlantic, to give us their utmost aid. in the fullest harmony with our dominions, we are moving through a period of extreme danger and of splendid hope, when every virtue of our race will be tested and all that we have and are will be freely staked. this is no time for doubt or weakness. it is the supreme hour to which we have been called.
i will venture to read to the House (of commons) a message which i have caused to be sent to all who are serving in positions of importance under the crown and, it the house should view it with sympathy, i should be very glad to send a copy of it to every member for his own use - not that such exhortations are needed. this is the message:
on what may be the eve of an attempted invasion or battle for our native land (hitler's forces were methodically massing across the channel for what seemed to be a massive assault), the prime minister desires to impress upon all persons holding responsible positions in the government, in the fighting services or in the civil departments (citizens in england were armed to resist enemy invasion, if necessary, block by block and street by street), their duty to maintain a spirit of alert and confident energy. while every precaution must be taken that time and means afford, there are no grounds for supposing that more german troops can be landed ion this country, either from the air or across the sea, than can be destroyed or captured by the strong forces at present under arms. the royal air force is in excellent order and at the highest strength it has yet attained. the german navy was never so weak, nor the british army at home so strong as now. the prime minister expects all his majesty's servants in high places to set an example of steadiness and resolution. they should check and rebuke expressions of loose and ill-digested opinion in their circle, or by their subordinates. they should not hesitate to report, or if necessary remove, any officers of officials who are found to be consciously exercising a disturbing or depressing influence and whose talk is calculated to spread alarm and despondency. thus alone will they be worthy of the fighting men, who, in the air, on the sea, and on land, have already met the enemy without any sense of being outmatched in martial qualities.
in conclusion, i feel that we are entitled to the confidence of the House and that we shall not fail in our duty, however painful. the action we have already taken should be, in itself, sufficient to dispose once and for all of the lies and rumours which have been so industriously spread by german propaganda and through fifth column activities that we have the slightest intention of entering into negotiations in any form and through any channel with the german and italian governments. we shall, on the contrary, prosecute the war with the utmost vigour by all the means that are open to us until the righteous purposes for which we entered upon it have been fulfilled.
9.11.1940 (on 9.5 the germans switched tactics from trying to destroy the bases of the royal air force to continual bombing raids against the civilian population of london and other major cities)..'besides this, convoys of merchant ships in tens of dozens are being moved through the straits of dover into the channel, dodging along from port to port under the protection of the new batteries which the germans have built on the french shore. there are now considerable gatherings of shipping in the german, dutch, belgian and french harbours - all the way from hamburg to brest. finally, there are some preparations made of ships to carry an invading force from the norwegian harbours.
behind these clusters of ships or barges, there stand very large numbers of german troops, awaiting the order to go on board and set out on their very dangerous and uncertain voyage across the seas. we cannot tell when they will try to come; we cannot be sure that in fact they will try at all; but no one should blind himself to the fact that a heavy, full-scale invasion of this island is being prepared with all the usual german thoroughness and method and that it may be launched now - upon england, upon scotland, or upon ireland, or upon all three.
if this invasion is going to be tried at all, it does not seem that it can be long delayed. the weather may break at any time. besides this, it is difficult for the enemy to keep these gatherings of ships waiting about indefinitely, while they are bombed every night by our bombers and very often shelled by our warships which are waiting for them outside.
therefore, we must regard the next week or so as a very important period in our history. it ranks with the days when the spanish armada was approaching the channel, and drake was finishing his game of bowls; or when nelson stood between us and napoleon's grand army at boulogne. we have read all about this in the history books; but what is happening now is on a far greater scale and of far more consequence to the life and future of the world and its civilisation than these brave old days of the past.
every man and woman will therefore prepare himself to do his duty, whatever it may be, with special pride and care. our fleets and flotillas are very powerful and numerous; our air force is at the highest strength it has ever reached and it is conscious of its proved superiority, not indeed in numbers, but in men and machines. our shores are well fortified and strongly manned and behind them, ready to attack the invaders, we have a far larger and better equipped mobile army than we have ever had before.
besides this, we have more than a million and a half men of the Home Guard, who are4 just as much soldiers of the regular army as the grenadier guards, and who are determined to fight for every inch of the ground in every village and in every street.
it is with devout but sure confidence that i say: let God defend the right.
these cruel, wanton, indiscriminate bombings of london are, of course, a part of hitler's invasion plans. he hopes, by killing large numbers of civilians and women and children, that he will terrorise and cow the people of this mighty imperial city and make them a burden and an anxiety to the government and thus distract our attention unduly from the ferocious onslaught he is preparing. little does he know the spirit of the british nation or the tough fibre of the londoners whose forebears played a leading part in the establishment of parliamentary institutions and who have been bred to value freedom far above their lives. this wicked man, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred, this monstrous product of former wrongs and shame, has now resolved to try to break our famous island race by a process of indiscriminate slaughter and destruction. what he has done is to kindle a fire in british hearts, here and all over the world, which will glow long after all traces of the conflagration he has caused in london have been removed. he has lighted a fire which will burn with a steady and consuming flame until the last vestiges of nazi tyranny have been burnt out of europe and until the old world- and the new - can join hands to rebuild the temples of man's freedom and man's honour, upon foundations which will not soon or easily be overthrown.
this is a time for everyone to stand together and hold firm, as they are doing. i express my admiration for the exemplary manner in which all the air raid precautions services of london are being discharged, especially the fire brigade, whose work has been so heavy and also dangerous. all the world that is still free marvels at the composure and fortitude with which the citizens of london are facing and surmounting the great ordeal to which they are subjected, the end of which or the severity of which cannot yet be foreseen.
it is a message of good cheer to our fighting forces on the seas, in the air, and in our waiting armies in all their posts and stations, that we send them from this capital city. they know that they have behind them a people who will not flinch or weary of the struggle - hard and protracted though it will be; but that we shall rather draw from the heart of suffering itself the means of inspiration and survival, and of the victory won not only for our own time, but for the long and better days that are to come.
9.17.1940 (two days before the battle for britain reached its climax and on this day, unbenown at this speech hitler indefinitely suspended operation sealion..a direct attack upon the british island)..'these next few weeks are grave and anxious. i said just now in the public session that the deployment of the enemy's invasion preparations and the assembly of his ships and barges are steadily proceeding and that any moment a major assault may be launched upon this island. i now say in secret that upwards of 1700 self-propelled barges and more than 200 seagoing ships, some very large ships, are already gathering at the many invasion ports in german occupation. if this is all a pretense and stratagem to pin us down here, it has been executed with surprising thoroughness and on a gigantic scale. some of these ships and barges, when struck by our bombing counterattack and preventive attack, have blown up with tremendous explosions, showing that they are full loaded with all the munitions needed for the invading armies and to beat us down and subjugate us utterly. the shipping available and now assembled is sufficient to carry in one voyage nearly half a million men. we should, of course , expect to drown a great many on the way over and to destroy a large proportion of their vessels. but when you reflect upon the many points from which they could start and upon the fact that even the most likely sector of invasion, ie., the sector in which enemy fighter support is available for their bombers and dive bombers, extending from the Wash to the isle of wight, is nearly as long as the whole front in france from the laps to the sea, and also upon the dangers of fog or artificial fog, one must expect many lodgments or attempted lodgments to be made on our island simultaneously. these we shall hope to deal with as they occur and also to cut off the supply across the sea by which the enemy will seek to nourish his lodgments.
the difficulties of the invader are not ended when he sets foot on shore. a new chapter of perils opens upon him. i am confident that we shall succeed in defeating and largely destroying this most tremendous onslaught by which we are now threatened, and anyhow, whatever happens, we will all go down fighting to the end. i feel as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow that we shall be victorious.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
3.17.2012 JOHN PATTON TAKES LEAVE OF HIS HOME..HIS FATHER
two days thereafter i started out from my quiet country home on the road to glasgow. literally 'on the road', for from torthorwald to kilmarnock - about 40 miles - had to be done on foot and thence to glasgow by rail. railways in those days were as yet few and coach travelling was far beyond my purse. a small bundle, tied up in my pocked handkerchief, contained my bible and all my personal belongings. thus was i launched upon the ocean of life. i thought on One who says, 'I know thy poverty, but thou art rich'.
my dear father walked with me the first 6 miles of the way. his counsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are fresh in my heart as if it had been but yesterday; and tears are on my cheeks as freely now as then whenever memory steals me away to the scene. for the last half mile or so we walked on together in almost unbroken silence, - my father, as was often his custom, carrying hat in hand, while his long, flowing yellow hair (then yellow, but in later years white as snow) streamed like a girl's down his shoulders. his lips kept moving in silent prayers for me; and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain! we halted on reaching the appointed parting place; he grasped my hand firmly for a minute in silence and then solemnly and affectionately said: 'God bless you, my son! your father's God prosper you and keep you from all evil!"
unable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer; in tears we embraced and parted. i ran off as fast as i could and when about to turn a corner in the road where he would lose sight of me, i looked back and saw him still standing with head uncovered where i had left him - gazing after me. waving my hat in adieu, i was round the corner and out of sight in an instant. but my heart was too full and sore to carry me further, so i darted into the side of the road and wept for a time.
then, rising up cautiously, i climbed the dyke to see if he yet stood where i had left him and just at that moment i caught a glimpse of him climbing the dyke and looking out for me! he did not see me and after he had gazed eagerly in my direction for a while he got down, set his face towards home and began to return - his head still uncovered and his heart, i felt sure, still rising in prayers for me. i watched through blinding tears, till his form faded from my gaze and then, hastening on my way, vowed deeply and oft, by the help of God, to live and act so as never to grieve or dishonour such a father and mother as He had given me.
the appearance of my father, when we parted - his advice, prayers and tears - the road, the dyke, the climbing up on it and then walking away, head uncovered - have often, often, all through life, risen vividly before my mind and do so now while i am writing, as if it had been but an hour ago. in my earlier years particularly, when exposed to many temptations, his parting form rose before me as that of a guardian angel. it is no pharisaism, but deep gratitude, which makes me here testify that the memory of that scene not only helped, by God's grace, to keep me pure from the prevailing sins, but also stimulated me in all my studies, that i might not fall short of his hopes and in all my christian duties, that i might faithfully follow his shining example.
my dear father walked with me the first 6 miles of the way. his counsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are fresh in my heart as if it had been but yesterday; and tears are on my cheeks as freely now as then whenever memory steals me away to the scene. for the last half mile or so we walked on together in almost unbroken silence, - my father, as was often his custom, carrying hat in hand, while his long, flowing yellow hair (then yellow, but in later years white as snow) streamed like a girl's down his shoulders. his lips kept moving in silent prayers for me; and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain! we halted on reaching the appointed parting place; he grasped my hand firmly for a minute in silence and then solemnly and affectionately said: 'God bless you, my son! your father's God prosper you and keep you from all evil!"
unable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer; in tears we embraced and parted. i ran off as fast as i could and when about to turn a corner in the road where he would lose sight of me, i looked back and saw him still standing with head uncovered where i had left him - gazing after me. waving my hat in adieu, i was round the corner and out of sight in an instant. but my heart was too full and sore to carry me further, so i darted into the side of the road and wept for a time.
then, rising up cautiously, i climbed the dyke to see if he yet stood where i had left him and just at that moment i caught a glimpse of him climbing the dyke and looking out for me! he did not see me and after he had gazed eagerly in my direction for a while he got down, set his face towards home and began to return - his head still uncovered and his heart, i felt sure, still rising in prayers for me. i watched through blinding tears, till his form faded from my gaze and then, hastening on my way, vowed deeply and oft, by the help of God, to live and act so as never to grieve or dishonour such a father and mother as He had given me.
the appearance of my father, when we parted - his advice, prayers and tears - the road, the dyke, the climbing up on it and then walking away, head uncovered - have often, often, all through life, risen vividly before my mind and do so now while i am writing, as if it had been but an hour ago. in my earlier years particularly, when exposed to many temptations, his parting form rose before me as that of a guardian angel. it is no pharisaism, but deep gratitude, which makes me here testify that the memory of that scene not only helped, by God's grace, to keep me pure from the prevailing sins, but also stimulated me in all my studies, that i might not fall short of his hopes and in all my christian duties, that i might faithfully follow his shining example.
3.17.2012 THIS MORNING IN PSALM 62:8-9
spurgeon's comments on ..
v8 - 'trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. selah'...YE TO WHOM HIS LOVE IS REVEALED, REVEAL YOURSELVES TO HIM. His heart is set on you, lay bare your hearts to him. turn the vessel of your soul upside down in his secret presence and let your inmost thoughts, desires, sorrows, and sins be poured out like water. hide nothing from him, for you can hide nothing. to the Lord unburden your soul; let Him be your only father-confessor, for he only can absolve you when he has heard your confession. to keep our griefs to ourselves is to hoard up wretchedness. the stream will swell and rage if you dam it up: give it a clear course and it leaps along and creates no alarm. sympathy we need and if we unload our hearts at Jesus' feet, we shall obtain a sympathy as practical as it is sincere, as consolatory as it is ennobling. the writer in the westminster assembly's annotations well observes that it is the tendency of our wicked nature to bite on the bridle and hide our grief in sullenness; but the gracious soul will overcome this propensity and utter its sorrow before the Lord.
v9 - 'surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.'..here the word is 'only' again (note: it occurs also in vs. 1,2,4,5 and 6. only here is it translated 'truly'); men of low degree are only vanity, nothing more. they are many and enthusiastic, but they are not to be depended on; they are mobile as the waves of the sea, ready to be driven to and fro by any and every wind; they cry 'hosanna' today and 'crucify him' tomorrow. the instability of popular applause is a proverb; as well build a house with smoke as find comfort in the adulation of the multitude. as the first (not: actually second) son of adam was called abel or vanity, so here we are taught that all the sons of adam are abels: it were well if they were all so in character as well as in name; but alas! in this respect, too many of them are cains. 'and men of high degree are a lie'. that is worse. we gain little by putting our trust in the aristocracy, they are not one whit better than the democracy; nay, they are even worse, for we expect something from them, but get nothing. may we not trust the elite? surely reliance may be placed in the educated, the chivalrous, the intelligent? for this reason are they a lie; because they promise so much, and in the end, when relied upon, yield nothing but disappointment. how wretched is that poor man who puts his trust in princes. the more we rely upon God, the more shall we perceive the utter hollowness of every other confidence.
v8 - 'trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us. selah'...YE TO WHOM HIS LOVE IS REVEALED, REVEAL YOURSELVES TO HIM. His heart is set on you, lay bare your hearts to him. turn the vessel of your soul upside down in his secret presence and let your inmost thoughts, desires, sorrows, and sins be poured out like water. hide nothing from him, for you can hide nothing. to the Lord unburden your soul; let Him be your only father-confessor, for he only can absolve you when he has heard your confession. to keep our griefs to ourselves is to hoard up wretchedness. the stream will swell and rage if you dam it up: give it a clear course and it leaps along and creates no alarm. sympathy we need and if we unload our hearts at Jesus' feet, we shall obtain a sympathy as practical as it is sincere, as consolatory as it is ennobling. the writer in the westminster assembly's annotations well observes that it is the tendency of our wicked nature to bite on the bridle and hide our grief in sullenness; but the gracious soul will overcome this propensity and utter its sorrow before the Lord.
v9 - 'surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.'..here the word is 'only' again (note: it occurs also in vs. 1,2,4,5 and 6. only here is it translated 'truly'); men of low degree are only vanity, nothing more. they are many and enthusiastic, but they are not to be depended on; they are mobile as the waves of the sea, ready to be driven to and fro by any and every wind; they cry 'hosanna' today and 'crucify him' tomorrow. the instability of popular applause is a proverb; as well build a house with smoke as find comfort in the adulation of the multitude. as the first (not: actually second) son of adam was called abel or vanity, so here we are taught that all the sons of adam are abels: it were well if they were all so in character as well as in name; but alas! in this respect, too many of them are cains. 'and men of high degree are a lie'. that is worse. we gain little by putting our trust in the aristocracy, they are not one whit better than the democracy; nay, they are even worse, for we expect something from them, but get nothing. may we not trust the elite? surely reliance may be placed in the educated, the chivalrous, the intelligent? for this reason are they a lie; because they promise so much, and in the end, when relied upon, yield nothing but disappointment. how wretched is that poor man who puts his trust in princes. the more we rely upon God, the more shall we perceive the utter hollowness of every other confidence.
3.17.2012 JOHN PATON'S MOTHER AND FATHER MEET
from such a home came our mother, janet jardine rogerson, a bright-hearted, high-spirited, patient-toiling and altogether heroic little woman; who, for about 43 years, made and kept such a wholesome, independent, God-fearing and self-reliant life for her family of 5 sons and 6 daughters, as constrains me, when i look back on it now, in the light of all i have since seen and known of others far differently situated, almost to worship her memory. she had gone with her high spirits and breezy disposition to gladden, as their companion, the quiet abode of some grand- or great-grand-uncle and aunt, familiarly named in all that dalswinton neighbourhood 'old adam and eve'.
their house was on the outskirts of the moor and life for the young girl there had not probably too much excitement. but one thing had arrested her attention. she had noticed that a young stocking maker from the 'brig end', james paton, the son of william and janet there, was in the habit of stealing alone into the quiet wood, book in hand, day after day, at certain hours, as if for private study and meditation.
it was a very excusable curiosity that led the young bright heart of the girl to watch him devoutly reading and hear him reverently reciting (though she knew not then, it was ralph erskine's 'gospel sonnets', which he could say by heart 60 years afterwards, as he lay on his bed of death); and finally that curiosity awed itself into a holy respect, when she saw him lay aside his broad scotch bonnet, kneel down under the sheltering wings of some tree and pour out all his soul in daily prayers to God.
as yet they had never spoken. what spirit moved her, let lovers tell - was it all devotion or was it a touch of unconscious love kindling in her towards the yellow-haired and thoughtful you? or was there a stoke of mischief, of that teasing, which so oftens opens up the door to the most serious step in all our lives? anyhow, one day she slipped in quietly, stole away his bonnet and hung it on a branch near by, while his trance of devotion made him oblivious of all around; then, from a safe retreat, she watched and enjoyed his perplexity in seeking for and finding it! a second day this was repeated; but his manifest disturbance of mind and his long pondering with the bonnet in hand, as if almost alarmed, seemed to touch another chord in her heart - that chord of pity which is so often the prelude of love, that finer pity that grieves to wound anything nobler or tenderer than ourselves.
next day, when he came to his accustomed place of prayer, a little card was pinned against the tree just where he knelt and on it these words; - 'she who stole away your bonnet is ashamed of what she did; she has a great respect for you and asks you to pray for her, that she may become as good a christian as you'.
staring long at that writing, he forgot ralph erskine for one day! taking down the card and wondering who the writer could be, he was abusing himself for his stupidity in not suspecting that some one had discovered his retreat and removed his bonnet, instead of wondering whether angels had been there during his prayer, -when, suddenly raising his eyes, he saw in front of old adam's cottage, through a lane amongst the trees, the passing of another kind of angel, swinging a milk-pail in her hand and merrily singing some snatch of old scottish song. he knew, in that moment, by a divine instinct, as infallible as any voice that ever came to seer of old, that she was the angel visitor that had stolen in upon his retreat - that bright-faced, clever-witted niece of old adam and eve, to whom he had never yet spoken, but whose praises he had often heard said and sung -'Wee Jen'. i am afraid he did pray 'for her', in more senses than one, that afternoon; at any rate, more than a scotch bonnet was very effectually stolen; a good heart and true was there virtually bestowed and the trust was never regretted on either side and never betrayed.
often and often, in the genial and beautiful hours of the autumntide of their long life, have i heard my dear father tease 'Jen' about her maidenly intentions in the stealing of that bonnet; and often have heard her quick mother-wit in the happy retort, that had his motives for coming to that retreat been altogether and exclusively pious, he would probably have found his way to the other side of the wood, but that men who prowled about the garden of eden ran the risked of meeting some day with a daughter of eve!
their house was on the outskirts of the moor and life for the young girl there had not probably too much excitement. but one thing had arrested her attention. she had noticed that a young stocking maker from the 'brig end', james paton, the son of william and janet there, was in the habit of stealing alone into the quiet wood, book in hand, day after day, at certain hours, as if for private study and meditation.
it was a very excusable curiosity that led the young bright heart of the girl to watch him devoutly reading and hear him reverently reciting (though she knew not then, it was ralph erskine's 'gospel sonnets', which he could say by heart 60 years afterwards, as he lay on his bed of death); and finally that curiosity awed itself into a holy respect, when she saw him lay aside his broad scotch bonnet, kneel down under the sheltering wings of some tree and pour out all his soul in daily prayers to God.
as yet they had never spoken. what spirit moved her, let lovers tell - was it all devotion or was it a touch of unconscious love kindling in her towards the yellow-haired and thoughtful you? or was there a stoke of mischief, of that teasing, which so oftens opens up the door to the most serious step in all our lives? anyhow, one day she slipped in quietly, stole away his bonnet and hung it on a branch near by, while his trance of devotion made him oblivious of all around; then, from a safe retreat, she watched and enjoyed his perplexity in seeking for and finding it! a second day this was repeated; but his manifest disturbance of mind and his long pondering with the bonnet in hand, as if almost alarmed, seemed to touch another chord in her heart - that chord of pity which is so often the prelude of love, that finer pity that grieves to wound anything nobler or tenderer than ourselves.
next day, when he came to his accustomed place of prayer, a little card was pinned against the tree just where he knelt and on it these words; - 'she who stole away your bonnet is ashamed of what she did; she has a great respect for you and asks you to pray for her, that she may become as good a christian as you'.
staring long at that writing, he forgot ralph erskine for one day! taking down the card and wondering who the writer could be, he was abusing himself for his stupidity in not suspecting that some one had discovered his retreat and removed his bonnet, instead of wondering whether angels had been there during his prayer, -when, suddenly raising his eyes, he saw in front of old adam's cottage, through a lane amongst the trees, the passing of another kind of angel, swinging a milk-pail in her hand and merrily singing some snatch of old scottish song. he knew, in that moment, by a divine instinct, as infallible as any voice that ever came to seer of old, that she was the angel visitor that had stolen in upon his retreat - that bright-faced, clever-witted niece of old adam and eve, to whom he had never yet spoken, but whose praises he had often heard said and sung -'Wee Jen'. i am afraid he did pray 'for her', in more senses than one, that afternoon; at any rate, more than a scotch bonnet was very effectually stolen; a good heart and true was there virtually bestowed and the trust was never regretted on either side and never betrayed.
often and often, in the genial and beautiful hours of the autumntide of their long life, have i heard my dear father tease 'Jen' about her maidenly intentions in the stealing of that bonnet; and often have heard her quick mother-wit in the happy retort, that had his motives for coming to that retreat been altogether and exclusively pious, he would probably have found his way to the other side of the wood, but that men who prowled about the garden of eden ran the risked of meeting some day with a daughter of eve!
Friday, March 16, 2012
3.16.2012 THE SCOTTISH-COTTAGE HOME OF JOHN G. PATTON
taken from the autobiography of john paton (b.1824) , missionary to the new hebrides near australia..
'there (in torthorwald, scotland) , amid this wholesome and breezy village life, our dear parents found their home for the long period of 40 years. there too were born to them 8 additional children making in all a family of 5 sons and 6 daughters. theirs was the first of the thatched cottages on the left, past the 'miller's house', going up the 'village gate', with a small garden in front of it and a large garden across the road; and it is one of the few still lingering to show to a new generation what the homes of their fathers were. the architect who planned that cottage had no ideas of art, but a fine eye for durability!
it consists at present of 3, but originally of 4, pairs of 'oak couples', planted like solid trees in the ground at equal intervals and gently sloped inwards till they meet or are 'coupled' at the ridge, this coupling being managed not by rusty iron, but by great solid pins of oak. a roof of oaken wattles (note: a number of poles laid on a roof to hold thatch) was laid across these, till within 11-12 feet of the ground, and from the ground upwards a stone wall was raised, as perpendicular as was found practicable, towards these overhanging wattles, this wall being roughly 'pointed' with sand and clay and lime. now into and upon the roof was woven and intertwisted a covering of thatch, that defied all winds and weathers, and that made the cottage marvellously cosy, -being renewed year by year, and never allowed to remain in disrepair at any season. but the beauty of the construction was and is its durability or rather the permanence of its oaken ribs! there they stand, after probably not less than 4 centuries, japanned with 'peat reek' (note: smoke from the constant burning of peat for cooking and heat) till they are literally shining, so hard that no ordinary nail can be driven into them, and perfectly capable of service for 4 centuries more on the same conditions. the walls are quite modern, having all been rebuilt in my father's time, except only the few great foundation boulders, piled around the oaken couples; and part of the roofing also may plead guilty to having found its way thither only in recent days; but the archtect's one idea survives, baffling time and change - the ribs and rafters of oak.
our home consisted of a 'but' and a 'ben' and a 'mid room', or chamber, called the 'closet'. the one end was my mother's domain and served all the purposes of diningroom and kitchen and parlour, besides containing 2 large wooden erections, called by our scotch peasantry 'box-beds'; not holes in the wall, as in cities, but grand, big airy beds, adorned with many coloured counterpanes (note: dictionary says 'quilt or coverlet' in older usage) and hung with natty curtains, showing the skill of the mistress of the house.
the other end was my father's workshop, filled with 5-6 'stocking frames', whirring with the constant action of 5 or 6 pairs of busy hands and feet and producing right genuine hosiery for the merchants at hawick and dumfries.
the 'closet' was a very small apartment betwixt the other 2, having room only for a bed, a little table, and a chair, with a diminutive window shedding diminutive light on the scene. this was the sanctuary of that cottage home.
thither daily and oftentimes a day, generally after each meal, we saw our father retire and 'shut the door'; and we children got to understand by a sort of spiritual instinct (for the thing was too sacred to be talked about) that prayers were being poured out there for us, as of old by the high priest within the veil in the most holy place. we occasionally heart the pathetic echoes of a trembling voice pleading as if for life, and we learned to slip out and in past that door on tiptoe, not to disturb the holy coloquy. the outside world might not know, but we knew, whence came that happy light as of a new-born smile that always was dawning on my father's face: it was a reflection from the Divine Presence, in the consciousness of which he lived. never, in temple or cathedral, on mountain or in glen, can i hope to feel that the Lord God is more near, more visibly waling and talking with men, than under that humble cottage roof of thatch and oaken wattles. though everything else in religion were by some unthinkable catastrophe to be swept out of memory or blotted from my understanding, my soul would wander back to those early scenes, and shut itself up once again in that Sanctuary Closet, and hearing still the echoes of those cries to God, would hurl back all doubt with the victorious appeal, 'he walked with God, why may not i?'
'there (in torthorwald, scotland) , amid this wholesome and breezy village life, our dear parents found their home for the long period of 40 years. there too were born to them 8 additional children making in all a family of 5 sons and 6 daughters. theirs was the first of the thatched cottages on the left, past the 'miller's house', going up the 'village gate', with a small garden in front of it and a large garden across the road; and it is one of the few still lingering to show to a new generation what the homes of their fathers were. the architect who planned that cottage had no ideas of art, but a fine eye for durability!
it consists at present of 3, but originally of 4, pairs of 'oak couples', planted like solid trees in the ground at equal intervals and gently sloped inwards till they meet or are 'coupled' at the ridge, this coupling being managed not by rusty iron, but by great solid pins of oak. a roof of oaken wattles (note: a number of poles laid on a roof to hold thatch) was laid across these, till within 11-12 feet of the ground, and from the ground upwards a stone wall was raised, as perpendicular as was found practicable, towards these overhanging wattles, this wall being roughly 'pointed' with sand and clay and lime. now into and upon the roof was woven and intertwisted a covering of thatch, that defied all winds and weathers, and that made the cottage marvellously cosy, -being renewed year by year, and never allowed to remain in disrepair at any season. but the beauty of the construction was and is its durability or rather the permanence of its oaken ribs! there they stand, after probably not less than 4 centuries, japanned with 'peat reek' (note: smoke from the constant burning of peat for cooking and heat) till they are literally shining, so hard that no ordinary nail can be driven into them, and perfectly capable of service for 4 centuries more on the same conditions. the walls are quite modern, having all been rebuilt in my father's time, except only the few great foundation boulders, piled around the oaken couples; and part of the roofing also may plead guilty to having found its way thither only in recent days; but the archtect's one idea survives, baffling time and change - the ribs and rafters of oak.
our home consisted of a 'but' and a 'ben' and a 'mid room', or chamber, called the 'closet'. the one end was my mother's domain and served all the purposes of diningroom and kitchen and parlour, besides containing 2 large wooden erections, called by our scotch peasantry 'box-beds'; not holes in the wall, as in cities, but grand, big airy beds, adorned with many coloured counterpanes (note: dictionary says 'quilt or coverlet' in older usage) and hung with natty curtains, showing the skill of the mistress of the house.
the other end was my father's workshop, filled with 5-6 'stocking frames', whirring with the constant action of 5 or 6 pairs of busy hands and feet and producing right genuine hosiery for the merchants at hawick and dumfries.
the 'closet' was a very small apartment betwixt the other 2, having room only for a bed, a little table, and a chair, with a diminutive window shedding diminutive light on the scene. this was the sanctuary of that cottage home.
thither daily and oftentimes a day, generally after each meal, we saw our father retire and 'shut the door'; and we children got to understand by a sort of spiritual instinct (for the thing was too sacred to be talked about) that prayers were being poured out there for us, as of old by the high priest within the veil in the most holy place. we occasionally heart the pathetic echoes of a trembling voice pleading as if for life, and we learned to slip out and in past that door on tiptoe, not to disturb the holy coloquy. the outside world might not know, but we knew, whence came that happy light as of a new-born smile that always was dawning on my father's face: it was a reflection from the Divine Presence, in the consciousness of which he lived. never, in temple or cathedral, on mountain or in glen, can i hope to feel that the Lord God is more near, more visibly waling and talking with men, than under that humble cottage roof of thatch and oaken wattles. though everything else in religion were by some unthinkable catastrophe to be swept out of memory or blotted from my understanding, my soul would wander back to those early scenes, and shut itself up once again in that Sanctuary Closet, and hearing still the echoes of those cries to God, would hurl back all doubt with the victorious appeal, 'he walked with God, why may not i?'
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