When Richard Dawkins recently claimed that Christians were “not really Christian at all”, he wasn’t breaking new ground.
Over 200 years ago, Thomas Paine, that oft-quoted American patriot, wrote a pamphlet that said basically the same thing.
Tag: history
bookmark_borderThen she stole the sailor’s heart
Jeffery Hart Bent was not a very forgiving man. Jeffery once passed a toll that he thought he shouldn’t have to pay. When they asked Jeffery for the fare, he rammed through the gate, breaking it, and continued on his way, leaving the broken booth behind him.
When called to Australia’s Supreme Court, Jeffery didn’t seem to see the condemned man as having many more rights than the broken tollbooth. The court was a man short when a squeaky clean English solicitor named Garling was held up at sea on his way to New South Wales, captured by an American ship. Only, they weren’t a short, as there were convicts who had served their time and were eligible to serve in the court. Jeffery Hart Bent, however, would not consider it, and he held in contempt any of his advisors who would.
Judge Bent had heard many stories from his little brother Ellis, no doubt, but nothing could prepare him for the sea voyage he was about to make. Continue reading “Then she stole the sailor’s heart”
bookmark_borderThe fate of Captain Rowland and his privateer brig Holkar
Stranded on her tropical island, it’s likely that Susannah Lalliment didn’t know or care what happened to her would be rescuers turned deserters, Captain Rowland and his Holkar privateer.
To the British navy and merchant marine, however, the brig Holkar was a menace.
Slowed only by the captured ships and other prizes they had to sell, Captain Rowland and his crew turned back home to turn in his prizes. The Emu was taken to New York, and other prizes to other ports.
Continue reading “The fate of Captain Rowland and his privateer brig Holkar”
bookmark_borderSusannah Lalliment meets the American pirates
Despite her conviction, Susannah Lalliment was lucky. The far off colonies of the Empire had too few loyal subjects, and the parliament had an idea of how to get more people there. Susannah’s death sentence was commuted to banishment, life on the other side of the world. Continue reading “Susannah Lalliment meets the American pirates”
bookmark_borderWhen Tecumseh made the Mississippi flow backwards
Here the Earth, river, &c torn with furious convulsions, opens in huge trenches, whose deep jaws are instantaneously closed; there throws a thousand vents sulfurous streams gushed from its very bowels, leaving a vast and almost unfathomable caverns. – William Leigh Pierce, eyewitness
1812 was a year of science. The discovery of dinosaurs, the electric battery, iodine and many other marvels firmly placed the year within the “Age of Reason.”
At the same time, new “superstitions” were developing. One of these was helped by three of the most powerful earthquakes America had ever known. Some scientists fear such earthquakes could come again, and this time, the devastation could be much greater. Continue reading “When Tecumseh made the Mississippi flow backwards”
bookmark_borderThe Empire’s New Talent
From Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branaugh, to a portrayal of former Prime Minister Margaret “Maggie” Thatcher, you’ll see the British flag waving down the aisle at this year’s academy Awards. Again. Yet again.
One starts to wonder if the Americans have a “sense of inferiority” when it comes to the dramatic arts. If so, from whence does this pathetic inferiority complex come? Let’s start in the month of April, 1812. Continue reading “The Empire’s New Talent”
bookmark_borderThe Parliament that Shook the World
7 January 1812 opened the sixth session of the fourth parliament of the United Kingdom.
Significant debates were held concerning constitutional change, including Catholic Emancipation, and changes to Parliament itself. Continue reading “The Parliament that Shook the World”
bookmark_border1812, When Big Banks Could Go Bankrupt
2nd of January, 1812. London was the world’s financial capital, and “Boldero and Lushington” were one of the biggest and best known financial firms in 19th century London.
The firm started in 1738, under the name of “Thomas Miners.” In 1742, when Charles Boldero joined the firm, it became “Miners and Boldero.” As the Boldero family’s influence in the firm increased, so did both their fortunes.
So it was a huge surprise when, on January 2nd 1812, Boldero, Lusington, Boldero and co. stopped making payments. Continue reading “1812, When Big Banks Could Go Bankrupt”
bookmark_borderEdinburgh’s New Year Rioting and Robbery
Edinburg, Scotland; John Skelton was apprenticed to a gunsmith. He had a big future ahead of him. And he enjoyed the night’s New year’s Eve celebrations.
But Mr. Skelton soon found he was a wanted man. John Skelton was implicated in robbery and the murder of a policeman, with a reward on his head.
The motive? Booty. A black-watch ribbon, a watch-key of gold. With a cornelian stone set in. A silk purse. And a hatred of the police. Continue reading “Edinburgh’s New Year Rioting and Robbery”
bookmark_borderThe first of all Human Rights
Human rights seem to be falling out of favor. I’ve heard old men deride them, as if they were some new legislative fashion akin to political correctness or “austerity” with their pensions.
Recent events in Europe, with the so-called European Court of Human Rights, have tried to bend the meaning of “human rights” in that political direction. Many forget that the tradition of human rights goes back to long before Eleanor Roosevelt.
Continue reading “The first of all Human Rights”