Doctors differ: a scene from my historical novel

 (The year is 1763, and Sir James Wilbrahim has suddenly fallen ill. The full text of the novel can be read at pgvshil.blogspot.com )

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Wishing to learn more, I next proceeded into Bereton to search out Doctor Stump. I had never consulted him myself, having had so far the great good fortune to suffer neither illness nor injury while living at the Priory, but I knew him by sight: a man of strange appearance that scarcely inspired confidence, for he was short and crouching in posture, his eyes were never still and his face bore a dark pustule above his right eyebrow. He had but two teeth in his mouth, and they were very yellow and very long, giving him a carnivorous appearance when he spoke. He smelt constantly of snuff, which stained his coat. 

  He worked, I discovered, from a small, dingy shop in a side street, situated, perhaps appropriately, next to a butcher. A sign proudly announced him as Theodore Stump: physician and apothecary. The window displayed bottles of coloured liquids, but their faded labels could barely be read through the dirty glass.

   An ancient female conducted me through to a back parlour, where I found Doctor Stump in conversation with another man who was the exact opposite in appearance, being tall and cadaverous, with a motionless face that was as white as chalk. He was dressed entirely in black, like a cleric. Had he been lying prostrate, I could have taken him for a corpse.

   Doctor Stump welcomed me to his home and hastened to introduce me to the other man, who it transpired was a most eminent physician from Mulchester, by name Doctor Lawton. Stump was unusually effusive in his manner, as if boastfully proud that a Member of Parliament should be paying him a visit.

  I explained that I was concerned about Sir James Wilbrahim’s state of health, and wished to know what could be done to cure him.

   “And you were quite right to come, sir,” said the visiting doctor, speaking in a voice so soft that I could barely hear him, “for we were indeed discussing his case as you entered. I shall allow my esteemed colleague here to state his opinion first.”

   Doctor Stump, evidently eager to impress both me and his visitor, now embarked on a lengthy discourse on the four humours. He attributed Sir James’s collapse to an excess of Black Bile in his blood, leading to an imbalance which needed to be remedied by bleeding; and should the symptoms persist, the treatment should be repeated until the correct balance had been restored. If he, the doctor, was unable to be present, then a number of leeches might suffice. In that eventuality, he said, a treatment favoured by some authorities was to counter the Black Bile with a Red Cure, which could include replacing the green bed-hangings with scarlet ones and feeding the patient only red food and drink. He also recommended a certain elixir that he could supply, involving snails and millipedes plus other secret ingredients, bruised to a paste and mixed with claret wine, which was certain to produce what he described as “a plentiful evacuation”.

   Doctor Lawson shook his skull-like head firmly, with a frown on his face. “Your diagnosis is incorrect,” he pronounced in condemnation, his voice now rising to take on a harsh tone. “Even if your patient’s affliction had indeed resulted from an imbalance of the humours, then in my opinion he suffered from an excess of Red Choler, in which case your Red Cure would only make his affliction worse. And your elixir too contains red wine! Make it Moselle, sir: Moselle! Otherwise you will infallibly kill your unfortunate patient! No, sir: the unhappy gentleman has plainly suffered an attack of the flying gout.”

   When I asked him for the meaning of this strange term, he explained, in a most superior and patronising tone, that whereas the proper focus of gout was, of course, the feet, but in the case of Sir James the affliction appeared to have suddenly transferred to his brain; and for this he proposed a treatment of the application of hot mustard-plasters to the feet, in order to attract the gout back to its proper home.

  The expression on Doctor Stump’s face suggested that he strongly disagreed, but did not dare contradict his more eminent colleague. I said that for my part I agreed with Doctor Stump’s treatment, for good quantities of claret would at least put Sir James in good heart, whereas I believed that he did not like Moselle wine. I then asked whether, in furtherance of the Red Cure the room should perhaps be lined with red roses and poppies, gathered when Mars, the red planet, was in the ascendant?

   I had intended this comment to be light-hearted, but the learned Doctor Lawton took it with the utmost seriousness. He shook his head impatiently, dismissed the use of flowers as a mere superstition of the uneducated, and informed me, in the lofty tone of a schoolmaster addressing a recalcitrant pupil, that I, as a mere layman, was lamentably ignorant of the astrological sciences. His investigations, he said, had revealed that Sir James was under the influence of Saturn, and could not expect a full recovery until that planet appeared in the constellation of Virgo.

   “Mars has nothing to do with the matter, sir! Nothing at all!” He pronounced with contempt. His voice was like iron scraped over gravel. I felt I had nothing more to contribute to the discussion, and so we parted.  I was still without any ideas as to how I could help the good people of Stanegate, for it appeared unlikely that I would be admitted to the house.

Trump for Pope!

There has been much online mockery of the suggestion of Donald Trump as the next Pope. I think this is unfair. I think Trump would make an excellent Pope, in the tradition of the great Popes of the renaissance: Alexander VI, Julius II, Leo X, Paul III. These titans never bothered with trivia such as the clerical vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, nor did they display any Christian charity and forgiveness towards their enemies. Instead, they resembled Donald Trump in many ways: they occupied themselves with war and diplomacy, hunted down their foes, fathered many children, practiced flagrant nepotism and spent vast sums on outward display; though it could be argued that their artistic taste was superior to that of Trump. In consequence, their names are likely to be remembered for as long as history continues to be written and their works still glorify the city of Rome, while more conventional Popes are entirely forgotten. Bring back the glory days! Trump for Pope! 

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History: A brief history of tariffs in Britain

 The earliest theory of international trade is known as "Mercantilism". It first appeared in English writings in Tudor times, and was unchallenged until late in the 18th century. It still has adherents today, notably, it would seem, Donald Trump.

  One of the fundamentals of mercantilism was that trade is what is called a "zero-sum game": that is, if someone is making a profit, it follows that someone else must be making an equivalent loss. Obviously, you want to be the profit-maker!

  Secondly, the presumption is that the economics of a country are like those of a household, trying to balance income against expenditure. In trade, exports constitute income, imports constitute expenditure. The job of the state therefore is to encourage exports while reducing imports to the absolute minimum.

  Thirdly, manufacturing of goods for consumption should be done at home rather than abroad, thus securing jobs. Therefore, as far as possible the state should attempt to import only raw materials rather than manufactured goods, and export manufactured goods rather than raw materials. It also follows that the importation of unnecessary luxury goods should be prohibited or at least strongly discouraged, thereby helping the trade balance. Therefore there were enormous customs or excise duties to be paid on Chinese tea and French wine and brandy. The wool industry, which was the foundation of the great bulk of the English economy, was closely protected by measures that included a ban on the export of raw wool, compulsory consumption at home (all corpses were to be wrapped in a woollen shroud for burial) and a total prohibition on the importation of finished clothes, which were to be seized and burnt if intercepted. (Young men gentlemen who contrived to flaunt the latest fashions from Italy or France were nicknamed "macaronis"). 

   One unfortunate result of these tariffs was that smuggling was an enormous feature of 18th century life, Even the most respectable gentry and clergy had their own bootleggers, and customs and excise officials were greatly hated, not least because they were seen as agents of political nepotism and corruption.     

  As the British empires expanded in the 18th century, the new colonies and occupied territories had an important part to play. They should sell the mother country raw materials and foodstuffs, especially tropical produce that could not be grown in Britain, and also act as a guaranteed market for British manufactures. The colonies must not trade directly with other coutries, but only through Britain, and should be prevented from developing their own manufacturing base. Disputes arising from this were directly responsible for the oubreak of the war of American independence, through such famous incidents as the "Boston tea party".

   Adam Smith published his groundbreaking book, "The weath of nations" at the same time, in which he rejected the mercantilist assumptions and made the case for Free Trade instead of tariffs. One of his most persuasive arguments was that of "Scottish wine". It was, he said, possible to grow grapes in Scotland, but any wine produced would be inferior to French wine. A Scottish wine industry would therefore need to be protected by tariffs or outright prohibition of imports; and the result would be that Scottish consumers would be forced to choose between inferior locally-produced wine or imports at inflated prices. Furthermore, France would no doubt retaliate with its own tariffs. Far better, he argued, to allow French imports and for Scotland to concentrate on producing something else (whisky, perhaps?) which could then be exported to France. Everyone would benefit. State intervention in the economy, Smith and his followers concluded, would result in reduced international trade, higher prices, poorer-quality goods and a worse deal for the consumer.

   William Pitt, Prime Minister 1783-1801, was said to be a disciple of Smith's doctrines. He massively reduced many customs duties and negotited a commercial treaty with France, though this was soon made ineffective by the French Revolution. Smuggling was greatly reduced as a result.

  At the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, the famous Corn Laws were passed, banning all imports of foreign grain below a certain price in order to protect British farmers and landowners. This was greatly resented by all classes in the towns, and provoked the formation of the famous "Anti-Corn Law League", led by Richard Cobden and John Bright. The League organised a highly successful nation-wide campaign, culminating in the final repeal of the Corn Laws by Robert Peel's government in 1846. Peel's Conservative Party was irretrievably split as a result, and did not win an election for the next 30 years. The young William Gladstone, a rising star of the Peelites, now chsnged sides and became Liberal Prime Minister for the first time in 1868. He remained a committed Free Trader throughout jis long political career. The repeal of the Corn Laws was only the most prominent pary of a general movement towards Free Trade in Britain in the first half of the 19th century, until there were virtually no trade restrictions at all. 

  From the 1870s, however, the picture changed again. The rapid expansion of railways and steamships meant that increasing quantities of cheap foreign food started to flood into western Europe. Prices fell and living standards rose, but farming came under pressure. In Europe, the newly-united German Empire under Bismarck imposed tariffs to protect German manufacturing industry against British competition, and his example was followed by many other countries. In Britain, farmers demanded protection against the competition from cheap American grain, but Protection was, in Disraeli's words, "Not only dead, but damned". Any attempt to build a tariff wall would be an admission that Britain was no longer the "Workshop of the World", that the country's economy was falling behind Germany and the U.S.A., and few could acknowledge that. 

 At the start of the 20th century, Joseph Chamberlain, a prominent minister in Balfour's Conservative government, proposed a new policy of tariffs, with exemption for goods from the Empire. This immediately split the government, and caused the young M.P. Winston Churchill to leave the party and join the Liberals. In 1906 the Liberals won the general election by an enormous majority, and Churchill soon gained his first experience as a cabinet minister. There was no movement on tariffs before the outbreak of war in 1914.

  After 1918 the Liberal Party went into terminal decline and was relaced by Labour as the main opposition to the Conseratives, who were now united in advocating tariffs. In consequence, when in 1924 and again in 1929 there was a "hung Parliament", the remaining Liberals supported minority Labour governments begause both parties clung to the doctrines of Free Trade. The Conservatives under Baldwin won a substantial majority in the second election of 1924, but made no move towards tariffs. Baldwin unexpectedly appointed as his Chancellor of the Exchequer none other than Churchill, who had lost his seat in Parliament in 1922 and now rejoined the Conservatives!

   The second minority Labour government of 1929-31 remanied wedded to Free Trade and a balanced budget, and disintegrated in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash. In 1931 a general election resulted in an enormous majority for a "National Government" of representatives of all three parties, but when Neville Chamberlain (Joseph's son) was appointed Chancellor he proceeded to introduce athe first tariffs, which led to the resignation of most of the Liberal and Labour members. Churchill was left out in the cold, disagreeing with the government on several issues, and spent the 1930s in unprofitable opposition.

   After 1945 all the main parties have been committed to negotiating trade deals and reducing tariffs.

Annunciation

 March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, as described in St. Luke's gospel. It has always been a favourite subject with artists.

   There are certain conventions for the picture. It takes place in a cloister or loggia. Mary, wearing her traditional colours of blue, is often shown reading a book, which will be open at the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin will conceive". The archangel usually enters from the left; I don't know why. The picture often contains a lily, to symbolise Mary's purity, and a single shaft of light or a dove, to indicate the Holy Spirit.

   Many of these conventions are shown in this charming miniature by the Limbourg brothers.

The Bible gives us no information as to what time of year Jesus was born, but it seems right that the sacred God-child should be born at the winter sostice, in which case he would have been conceived at the spring equinox: hence this feast-day.

History: A great natural disaster in the year 535?

    In the year 535 A.D., during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, there occurred a major climatic event. For a whole year, the sun was described in different parts of the world as shining no brighter than the moon, there was frost in summer, snow in Mesopotamia, dust-storms and drought in China and widespread crop failures, resulting in many years of famine. Studies of tree rings in both Sweden and California have shown years of little or no growth around this time, and dust in Greenland ice-cores has included micro-organisms usually found in tropical seas. All this evidence points to a gigantic underwater volcanic eruption, probably in Indonesia (though some geologists have suggested in Iceland).

   This disaster was soon followed by a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague, possibly resulting from sudden climate change having caused the emigration of vast numbers of plague-bearing rhodents from the Central Asian steppe. At its peak in 542, tens of thousands were reported as perishing daily in Constantinople, with the final death-toll possibly as high as half a million.

   Prolonged drought in the years after the eruption would have been at least partly responsible for the appearance in Europe after 560 of the Avars, a nomadic Asiatic people, who settled in present-day Hungary and soon established a vast though short-lived empire covering much of central and eastern Europe. In 626 Avar armies appeared outside the walls of Constantinople itself, before they eventually withdrew. Meanwhile, pressure from the Avars forced Slavic tribes to migrate southwards into the Balkans and Greece, and drove the Lombards, a Germanic people, across the Alps into Italy, thus permanently changing the demographic map of Europe.

   Many historians see the onset of the "Dark Ages" in western Europe as dating from the mid-6th century, rather than from the end of the Roman Empire in the west in 476. 

The Emperor Justinian and his suite: a famous mosaic in the basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna.

Musings: Trumpian reasoning

 Donald Trump has accused Zelensky of Ukraine of trying to start World War 3. This is quite a reasonable statement, provided we accept that Britain started World War 2 by unnecessarily declaring war on Germany in September 1939 (much to Hitler's surprise, incidentally: he had not been expecting this) and then ensured vastly more deaths by rejecting Hitler's proposal for peace talks after the fall of France in 1940. 

   By the same reasoning, Belgium was largely responsible for World War 1, by insisting on resisting the German invasion of 1914. Without this unexpected Belgian resistance, which derailed the German military timetable, the Kaiser's armies would have taken Paris within a few weeks, and the war would have been over with minimal casualties.

  One must therefore presume that, according to Trumpian reasoning, the main responsibilty for high casualties and the danger of world war in the current conflict lies with Ukraine, for not instantly surrendering to the Russian attack.

  Trump also labelled Zelensky a "dictator" for postponing elections in Ukraine, and once again, there are parallels. In 1940, Hitler would, by Trumpian reasoning, have been perfectly justified in pointing out that Churchill was entirely without democratic credentials: he had never been elected Prime Minister by the British people, and that the general election due in 1940 had been postponed indefinitely. It did not take place till 1945: the longest period without an election since the 17th century; and when it was finally held, Churchill's government was overwhelmingly defeated! 

  I wonder whether Trump had these historical facts in his mind when making his accusations. What do you think? 

 

Poem: The mask of Agamemnon

 Pale gold, thin as card, shaped to a face,

heavy-lidded eyes like cowries, and a smile.
Not a happy smile,
but rather a smirk: 

Look at me! see what I have done!

This face, not Helen's, launched the thousand ships,
burned Troy, murdered his own daughter,
to avenge an insult to the family,
to not lose face.

Then, down into darkness, unrotted in the grave,
out of sight of man for endless centuries,  
only the gods could see. To them it smiled
saying, "Because I am a hero, I chose war and slaughter, and thereby saved my face." 

And since Schliemann dug it from the earth:

this face was saved 
- though nothing else was.

 Troy was lost
and soon after, Mycenae too was lost; but this face was not lost.

Now, saved for ever

 behind bullet-proof glass
stronger than stone walls and Lion Gates,
under fluorescence brighter
than any sun of Hellas:
Agamemnon: great king
of mighty Mycenae

once more in state
immortalised in story and in gold,
smiling at the awestruck multitudes,

look at me! see what I have done! 
What more could any king desire?

pgs

History/ Politics: German elections

 This map of voting intentions in Germany has deep significance for historians. The regions supporting the right-wing AfD party correspond almost exactly with the territory of the communist former East Germany (DDR), complete with West Berlin as an island in the middle, and are also the regions that voted most strongly for Hitler in the early 1930s. Why should this be? 

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Charles Huntingdon

This is the foreword of my online historical novel. The complete novel can be read at pgvshil.blogspot.com

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 Charles Huntingdon was never a politician of the first rank, and even the great Sir Lewis Namier, in his famous surveys of Parliament in the 1760s, could find little to say about him. I knew scarcely more than just his name before the document I am publishing here came into my hands. 

   I was doing the rounds of the Cambridge colleges and the university library, conducting research into eighteenth century politics, when a young trainee assistant librarian, Ms. Whitmore, produced for me something she had found gathering the dust of centuries in the depths of what is euphemistically known as the “reserve collection”. It was a large wooden box, catalogued as having been deposited in 1775 by “Charles Huntingdon, M.P.”, with instructions that it should not be opened until after his death and that of his wife; but as far as Ms. Whitmore was able to ascertain, it had never in fact been opened since it came into the college’s possession. The box proved to contain the memoirs of the said Charles Huntingdon.

   Although Huntingdon was an obscure politician, he met many of the most important people of that period. He has left us descriptions of them, and he also casts a fresh light on the daily lives of the landed classes of his day. The most startling aspect of his memoirs, however, is that he reveals details of some extraordinary adventures in which he took part; and after reading these I can well understand why he did not want them to become widely known until much later.   

  It is for this reason that I am bringing his memoirs to the attention of the public for the first time. Some episodes, which appear to be unrelated to the main story, have been relegated to an appendix at the conclusion. With the aim of attracting a wider readership, I have modernised the spelling and punctuation and broken up the narrative into short chapters, for which the titles are entirely my own. The illustrations, which show various eighteenth century scenes, are also my choice.

  My thanks are due above all to Ms. Abigail Whitmore, without whose encouragement and advice my task would have been impossible.