A Foolish Figure

"Pitt now promoted a solution that was typical of him:  the man who had found an elegant answer to problems such as rising national debt and over-complex taxes could see the solution to the whole European crisis.  He sought nothing less than a huge collective agreement on European peace on the basis of the prewar frontiers -- the status quo ante bellum.  British mediation brought agreement between the Austrians and the Prussians at Reichenbach in July 1790 on exactly this basis."

(even if it is an entirely unrelated town in Poland.  :-P )

Just finished part one of William Hague's biography of William Pitt the younger. Really fascinating.

In my typical distraction by meta-considerations I am debating the merits of reading further or going to sleep, breathing a sigh of relief as I realize I still really do love to read (had a bit of a too-much-TV-dry-patch which caused much angst though sadly did not induce me to put down the remote... close the youtube window... whatever...), and laughing at myself for yet another crush on a gentleman several hundreds of years older than myself.

Amidst a mental chaos worthy of the British parliament at the time of Pitt's rise to power, I am continuing to read by default.

I am convinced that there is something seriously wrong with the previous paragraph or so, but it's hard to proofread on the kindle.

Back to Billy's biography!

*sniff*

Amazing Grace AFTER reading acts IV and V of Macbeth.

SO MANY TEARS IN ONE DAY!

*goes back to reading biography of William Pitt the Younger*

I really am going to get from Havergal to Sherlock, and it will be a logical progression.  But that means this post will be really rambly.   Just bear with me.

We sang this hymn by Frances Ridley Havergal in church this morning.  I love it so  much.  Not, perhaps, as poetic as some (I LOVE YOU, COWPER!!!!!!) but simple and straightforward:

( Take my life )
My favorite line in the song is "Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose."  On the one hand it's a scary thought--giving up something I treasure as much as my intellect--but on the other hand, but on the other, it's a wonderful reminder that being a Christian is not giving up your intellect period.  It's using it for God. 

Anyway, I was thinking about that line, and I remembered this wonderful letter from William Pitt the younger to William Wilberforce, after Wilberforce was converted to Christianity, and seriously considered leaving politics, and living his life out in retirement.  I am posting the whole thing, because it is a wonderful letter (why does no one write like that anymore?  WHY?) , and because with my kindle, I was able to copy the whole thing out of a book, instead of typing it...which would have taken too long, and because there is something so charming (to me, anyway) in the notion that an 18th century soon-to-be Prime Minister of England called one of his friends "Bob."  The only really important quotation is the lj-cut text: "If a Christian may act in the several relations of life, must he seclude himself for all to become so? Surely the principles as well as the practice of Christianity are simple, and lead not to meditation only but to action."  But if you love old letters, as I do, you can read the whole thing below it. 

( If a Christian may act in the several relations of life, must he seclude himself for all to become so? Surely the principles as well as the practice of Christianity are simple, and lead not to meditation only but to action.  )In the movie Amazing Grace, the directors dramatized the meeting Pitt asked for in the letter, and he says that line "Surely the principles..."

I said this would eventually ramble it's way around to Sherlock, no?  Well, if you watched Amazing Grace, you might know the connection already.  Hehe.  Benedict Cumberbatch played William Pitt the younger in Amazing Grace and he plays (to my mind the BEST EVER) Sherlock  Holmes in the new BBC TV series, Sherlock. (and Ioan Gruffudd played Wilberforce.   *sigh*   SO MANY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE IN THE SAME MOVIE!)

You know, that's not the first time my fangirlishness has managed to worm its way into church.  I was sick at home one Sunday a few weeks ago, so I watched the church service from my home church, which they started streaming live recently.  One of the pastors grew a goatee, which I hadn't seen, of course, since I'm away at school.  There was only one thing that came to mind when I saw it (so I had to print-screen it):



Tell me he doesn't look like Mirror!Spock with that goatee! 

It was sooooooooooooooooooooo distracting.

Oh well...