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Category: history

Shall I be ashamed?

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“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,”
-Thomas Jefferson, Virginia

Seven score and six years ago, our nation was split and in the midst of a bloody war. Though often attributed to the issue of slavery, the War Between the States was fought for several reasons. The North and the South were very different. They had different opinions, and different viewpoints. When tension began building with the precarious balance of slave and free states, no one seemed to know what to do. When the southern states proposed separation, the northerners were infuriated. What?! Divide the Union? The North was more willing to fight rather than separate in peace. This is well illustrated in the words of John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster:

“Senators,” he began, “it can no longer be disguised that the Union is in danger. The southern States cannot remain as things are now with safety in the Union” Read More

The Lost Book of the Law

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In Second Chronicles chapter thirty-four, we read about Josiah, who became king of Judah when he was eight years old. We read that “he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah,” and “in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father.” He “began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the graven images, and the molten images.” He destroyed idols and places of worship to false gods.

In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah had the temple repaired. Second Chronicles 34:14-33 says:

And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of Jehovah, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of Jehovah given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of Jehovah. Read More

Fifth of November

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Fifth of November

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In case you’re one of the many Americans who do not celebrate Guy Fawkes Day, let me catch you up on this exciting holiday celebrated throughout the British Commonwealth.

Way back in 1605, there was a plot made by the Catholics to set off some explosives and blow up the King of England as well as Parliament. Fortunately the conspirators were found out before the planned sabotage, and were executed along with their ringleader, Guy Fawkes. Today the holiday is celebrated the world around by bonfires and fireworks. The sentiment is well reflected in this famous rhyme:

Remember, remember, the fifth of November;
Fireworks, treason, and plot!
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

In commemoration of that event so many years ago, I have written an instrumental piece of music for the piano, bowed psaltery, and hammered dulcimer. Enjoy!

Thanks again, Google Books

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Digenis AcritasAlthough you may have read with indifference my past post on the book Anthologia Graeca Carminum Christianorum, perhaps this will capture your fancy. Just today I was paging through the Google Books site when I discovered a classic favorite of mine, Digenis Acritas, which is an anonymous Byzantine epic written in Greek. I have read an English translation of it before, but the only full version I could find on Google Books was a side by side Greek poetry and French prose version.

If you know French, that’s great. If you know Greek, that’s even better. For me, I can read Greek a lot better than French, so I think I’ll just read the original this time. If you’d like to give it a shot as well, feel free to download this PDF of the book. All I did was take Google Books’ file and add PDF bookmarks for easier navigation, so here it is for free, only 13.7 MB: Les Exploits de Digénis Akritas

This version of the poem is from the Trabzon manuscript, which is one of the lesser-known manuscripts, though not the oldest. For a free book, I am quite impressed!

Economic & Political Precedents in 17th Century Virginia

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As the first English colony established in North America, Virginia in many ways set the example which the rest of the colonies would follow. Although the investors of the joint-stock company who initially funded Virginia’s settlement were disappointed at its seeming failure in finding the things they had hoped for, it soon became apparent that a very valuable crop could be cultivated there, that is, tobacco. With John Rolfe’s discovery of a new method of drying the leaves, much profit was made in growing and selling this crop, and as more southern colonies were developed, they too grew tobacco.

One characteristic of this industry was the need to have large amounts of workers to cultivate the tobacco. With the initiation of the headright system, many people came from Europe as indentured servants. These were to work the land of the one who had paid for their voyage across, and after a certain amount of time (usually 6 to 10 years) they could own land of their own. As it happened, though, about 40% of these servants died before they could complete their indenture, and after many of them were gone, there was a need for additional laborers. As did Virginia, so did many of the other colonies, particularly those in the south.

When Virginia was established as a charter colony, it set a political precedent by basing its government on the will of the people. This was drastically different from Britain’s idea of “virtual representation,” and provided the American people with that taste of liberty that eventually led to independence. Read More