Wednesday, August 11. 2010
Francis Hutcheson and the Declaration of Independence: Part 2, by James O'Fee
Continued from Part 1:
Will Murphy mentioned two relevant academic papers, of which the first was "When It Is That Colonies May Turn Independent:" An Analysis of the Environment and Politics of Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746), by Caroline Robbins, published in The William and Mary Quarterly in 1954. It may be that Robbins's paper opened a debate on Hutcheson's influence on the politics of the American colonies. Certainly the Wikipedia entry on Hutcheson quotes this paper, illustrating both Hutcheson's "direct" and "indirect" influence (in the words of Alister McReynolds). The Wikipedia entry has -
Norman Fiering, a specialist in the intellectual history of colonial New England, has described Francis Hutcheson as “probably the most influential and respected moral philosopher in America in the eighteenth century.”[2] Hutcheson's early Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue, introducing his perennial association of "unalienable rights" with the collective right to resist oppressive government, was used at Harvard College as a textbook as early as the 1730s. [3] In 1761, Hutcheson was publicly endorsed in the annual semi-official Massachusetts Election Sermon as "an approved writer on ethics." [4] Hutcheson's Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy was used as a textbook at the College of Philadelphia in the 1760s. [5] Francis Alison, the professor of moral philosophy at the College of Philadelphia, was a former student of Hutcheson who closely followed Hutcheson’s thought.[6] Alison's students included "a surprisingly large number of active, well-known patriots,” including three signers of the Declaration of Independence, who "learned their patriotic principles from Hutcheson and Alison.” [7] Another signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Witherspoon of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), relied heavily on Hutcheson's views in his own lectures on moral philosophy. [8][9] John Adams read Hutcheson's Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy shortly after graduating from Harvard.[10]
The second paper mentioned by Will Murphy is A Critique of Garry Wills's Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, by Ronald Hamowy, published in The William and Mary Quarterly in 1979. Hamowy describes Wills's views as -
His thesis, simply put, is that there are really three Declarations: the Declaration as political document (the Declaration adopted by Congress); the Declaration as symbol of nationhood (the Declaration as a product of later reinterpretation); and the Declaration as philosophical treatise (the Declaration as written by Jefferson). The major emphasis of Wills's monograph, and that which provides the subtitle of his book, is on this third Declaration, Jefferson's Declaration.
The "heart" of his analysis the term is Wills's is his contention that, far from bearing the imprint of Lockean political theory, the Declaration, as Jefferson originally intended it, can be properly understood only if it is analyzed as a product of the Scottish Enlightenment, and that Jefferson's views on the nature of man and society derived not from John Locke's Two Treatises of Government but from the works of Thomas Reid, David Hume, Adam Smith, Lord Kames, Adam Ferguson, and Francis Hutcheson. Hutcheson's system of moral philosophy particularly, Wills contends, contains the key to decoding the theory of the nature and proper functions of government embedded in the Declaration.
Hamowy contibues -
... There is no reason to doubt Wills's contention that Jefferson was closely
acquainted with the Scottish moral philosophers. In fact, it would be surprising
if he were not. The Scottish writers were authors of international repute,
numbering among them many of the most important intellectuals of the
eighteenth century. All educated Englishmen on both sides of the Atlanticindeed,
all educated Europeans were familiar with their writings.
... What makes Wills's thesis so startling is his assertion that these thinkers alone provided the framework for Jefferson's thought on politics and morals before he drafted the Declaration and that Locke's treatises on government can be dismissed as having had no influence on Jefferson's views.
Hamowy provides a deal of evidence in the opposite direction. He compares extracts from the Declaration of Independence with the relevant parts of the writings of Hutcheson and Locke, which appear to show that the Declaration is modelled more closely on the latter. Furthermore, in a letter of 1807 Jefferson recommended "Locke on government" to a friend; and in 1825 the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia, under the direction of Jefferson, endorsed the doctrines of Locke (as well as those of Sidney).
Hamowy adds that Hutcheson, in endorsing rebellion as a reaction to tyranny, appears to be the most radical of the Scottish Enlightenment school. The later philosophers generally advocate moderation.
The debate may not be fully closed. Wikipedia has -
Garry Wills argued in 1978 that the phrasing of the Declaration of Independence was due largely to Hutcheson's influence,[11] but Wills's work suffered a scathing rebuttal from Ronald Hamowy.[12] Wills' view has been partially supported by Samuel Fleischacker, who agreed that it is "perfectly reasonable to see Hutcheson’s influence behind the appeals to sentiment that Jefferson put into his draft of the Declaration."
Yet Will Murphy recommends Allen Jayne's nuanced study of Jefferson's debt to the Scottish Enlightenment, John Locke and Lord Bolingbroke, emphasizing the importance of theology" viz.
Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy, and Theology, by Allen Jayne, The University Press of Kentucky, 2000
Link
Francis Hutcheson - Wikipedia entry
To be continued
Will Murphy mentioned two relevant academic papers, of which the first was "When It Is That Colonies May Turn Independent:" An Analysis of the Environment and Politics of Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746), by Caroline Robbins, published in The William and Mary Quarterly in 1954. It may be that Robbins's paper opened a debate on Hutcheson's influence on the politics of the American colonies. Certainly the Wikipedia entry on Hutcheson quotes this paper, illustrating both Hutcheson's "direct" and "indirect" influence (in the words of Alister McReynolds). The Wikipedia entry has -
Hutcheson
The second paper mentioned by Will Murphy is A Critique of Garry Wills's Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, by Ronald Hamowy, published in The William and Mary Quarterly in 1979. Hamowy describes Wills's views as -
His thesis, simply put, is that there are really three Declarations: the Declaration as political document (the Declaration adopted by Congress); the Declaration as symbol of nationhood (the Declaration as a product of later reinterpretation); and the Declaration as philosophical treatise (the Declaration as written by Jefferson). The major emphasis of Wills's monograph, and that which provides the subtitle of his book, is on this third Declaration, Jefferson's Declaration.
The "heart" of his analysis the term is Wills's is his contention that, far from bearing the imprint of Lockean political theory, the Declaration, as Jefferson originally intended it, can be properly understood only if it is analyzed as a product of the Scottish Enlightenment, and that Jefferson's views on the nature of man and society derived not from John Locke's Two Treatises of Government but from the works of Thomas Reid, David Hume, Adam Smith, Lord Kames, Adam Ferguson, and Francis Hutcheson. Hutcheson's system of moral philosophy particularly, Wills contends, contains the key to decoding the theory of the nature and proper functions of government embedded in the Declaration.
Hamowy contibues -
... There is no reason to doubt Wills's contention that Jefferson was closely
acquainted with the Scottish moral philosophers. In fact, it would be surprising
if he were not. The Scottish writers were authors of international repute,
numbering among them many of the most important intellectuals of the
eighteenth century. All educated Englishmen on both sides of the Atlanticindeed,
all educated Europeans were familiar with their writings.
... What makes Wills's thesis so startling is his assertion that these thinkers alone provided the framework for Jefferson's thought on politics and morals before he drafted the Declaration and that Locke's treatises on government can be dismissed as having had no influence on Jefferson's views.
Hamowy provides a deal of evidence in the opposite direction. He compares extracts from the Declaration of Independence with the relevant parts of the writings of Hutcheson and Locke, which appear to show that the Declaration is modelled more closely on the latter. Furthermore, in a letter of 1807 Jefferson recommended "Locke on government" to a friend; and in 1825 the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia, under the direction of Jefferson, endorsed the doctrines of Locke (as well as those of Sidney).
Hamowy adds that Hutcheson, in endorsing rebellion as a reaction to tyranny, appears to be the most radical of the Scottish Enlightenment school. The later philosophers generally advocate moderation.
The debate may not be fully closed. Wikipedia has -
Garry Wills argued in 1978 that the phrasing of the Declaration of Independence was due largely to Hutcheson's influence,[11] but Wills's work suffered a scathing rebuttal from Ronald Hamowy.[12] Wills' view has been partially supported by Samuel Fleischacker, who agreed that it is "perfectly reasonable to see Hutcheson’s influence behind the appeals to sentiment that Jefferson put into his draft of the Declaration."
Yet Will Murphy recommends Allen Jayne's nuanced study of Jefferson's debt to the Scottish Enlightenment, John Locke and Lord Bolingbroke, emphasizing the importance of theology" viz.
Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy, and Theology, by Allen Jayne, The University Press of Kentucky, 2000
Link
Francis Hutcheson - Wikipedia entry
To be continued
Tuesday, August 10. 2010
Persecution, by Release International
Release International Prayer AlertThursday, August 5, 2010
PAKISTAN – Masked gunmen kill five Christians
A dozen masked men gunned down five Christians as they came out of their church building in Sukkur in Sindh Province two months after a banned Islamic extremist group sent church leaders a threatening letter, relatives said.
Pastor Aaron John and church members Rohail Bhatti, Salman John, Abid Gill and Shamin Mall of Full Gospel Church were killed as they left the church building after meeting to discuss security in light of threats they had received, said the pastor's son, Shahid John.
'As we came out of the church, a group of a dozen armed gunmen came and opened fire at us,' said Shahid, who survived a bullet in his arm. Besides Shahid, five others were wounded in the attack.
In May church leaders received a letter from Islamic extremist group Sip-e-Sahaba (formerly Sipah-e-Sahaba until it was banned) warning the Christians to leave the area, said Kiran Rohail, wife of the slain Rohail Bhatti. Sip-e-Sahaba and Sunni Tehrik extremist groups are both linked with an area madrassa (Islamic school) whose students had been threatening the church since 2008, Christian sources said. They added that the manner of the attack on July 15 indicated that the gunmen had been trained.
Pastor John and Bhatti had reported the threats of the past two years to police, but officers at the local station did not take them seriously, relatives said. Police also declined to register a First Information Report when church leaders reported the threatening letter of May. An independent government source confirmed the shootings, adding that local Islamist pressure had prevented media from reporting on them.
(Source: Compass Direct)
• Ask God to comfort the families and community of the victims.
• Pray that the gunmen will be brought to justice.
Monday, August 9. 2010
John Lindsay McCutcheon and his variation: Part 3, by James O'Fee
Continued from Part 2:
The Chessgames site has 5 games involving McCutcheon -
1. Steinitz-McCutcheon, 0-1, 28 moves, 1885 New York simul, C12, French, McCutcheon
2. E Delmar-McCutcheon, 0-1, 30 moves, 1897 New York State vs Pennsylvania, C01 French, Exchange
3. McCutcheon-H Jacobs 0-1, 27 moves, 1897 ENG-USA cable match (2), B01 Scandinavian
4. McCutcheon-Lasker, 1-0, 36 moves, 1904 corr, C12, French Defence, McCutcheon
5. Lasker-McCutcheon, 1-0, 32 moves, 1904 corr, C12, French Defence, McCutcheon
It's evident that McCutcheon was a stong player in his own right, strong enough to represent Pennsylvania in an inter-state match. Here McCutcheon's opponent, Delmar, rather unsportingly, refused to allow the Pennsylvanian to play his pet variation. Yet Delmar lost the game anyway. McCutcheon, furthermore, represented the US in a cable match with England, where he lost his game on this occasion.
This site gives another pair of games played by McCutcheon involving the variation named after him. They were played against Howard in 1902/3, and were published by Napier in March 1903. Both games were won by the player with the Black pieces, using the McCutcheon Variation.
The site has -
Both were given by William Ewart Napier, the original Brooklyn boy wonder, in his chess column published in the Pittsburg Dispatch. (Pittsburgh, as it is now spelled, for a time dropped the "h" to its name). The notes to the first game are entirely Napier's. Howard also published the second game in his Rochester Herald. I have given the date of play as 1903, though the games could well have started in 1902, as suggested by their earliest publication. Napier published them both in his March 23, 1903 column. Howard, however, did not publish his win against his older opponent until December 12, 1903. The attentive reader will be pleased to learn that even the great Emanuel Lasker showed interest in these games. See the comment at move seventeen of the second game.
Lasker's note is given as - Emanuel Lasker thought that 17. exf6 would have been the best play for White. The game might then have continued 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Bxg6+ Kh8 19.Qf3 cxd4 etc., leading to a very complicated state of affairs.—Napier
So it was very likely the publication of these games that led to the pair of games where the World Champion, Lasker, and McCutcheon broke lances testing the McCutcheon Variation. McCutcheon won his game with white, and it would have been this game that the New York Times mentioned in its initial report of McCutcheon's death (see Part 1).
These events, and McCutcheon's premature death, all took place around the time of the Cambridge Springs tournament of early 1904. The Variation was played once in that tournament where Lasker, Napier and Delmar all took part. This was the game Chigorin-Fox in which the American won with the McCutcheon (on time) against the former World Championship Challenger. Fox was the Champion of the Brooklyn Chess Club and had a respectable score at Cambridge Springs with wins over several of the European Masters.
Link
Steven Etzel's Cambridge Springs 1904 website
John Lindsay McCutcheon
1. Steinitz-McCutcheon, 0-1, 28 moves, 1885 New York simul, C12, French, McCutcheon
2. E Delmar-McCutcheon, 0-1, 30 moves, 1897 New York State vs Pennsylvania, C01 French, Exchange
3. McCutcheon-H Jacobs 0-1, 27 moves, 1897 ENG-USA cable match (2), B01 Scandinavian
4. McCutcheon-Lasker, 1-0, 36 moves, 1904 corr, C12, French Defence, McCutcheon
5. Lasker-McCutcheon, 1-0, 32 moves, 1904 corr, C12, French Defence, McCutcheon
It's evident that McCutcheon was a stong player in his own right, strong enough to represent Pennsylvania in an inter-state match. Here McCutcheon's opponent, Delmar, rather unsportingly, refused to allow the Pennsylvanian to play his pet variation. Yet Delmar lost the game anyway. McCutcheon, furthermore, represented the US in a cable match with England, where he lost his game on this occasion.
This site gives another pair of games played by McCutcheon involving the variation named after him. They were played against Howard in 1902/3, and were published by Napier in March 1903. Both games were won by the player with the Black pieces, using the McCutcheon Variation.
The site has -
Both were given by William Ewart Napier, the original Brooklyn boy wonder, in his chess column published in the Pittsburg Dispatch. (Pittsburgh, as it is now spelled, for a time dropped the "h" to its name). The notes to the first game are entirely Napier's. Howard also published the second game in his Rochester Herald. I have given the date of play as 1903, though the games could well have started in 1902, as suggested by their earliest publication. Napier published them both in his March 23, 1903 column. Howard, however, did not publish his win against his older opponent until December 12, 1903. The attentive reader will be pleased to learn that even the great Emanuel Lasker showed interest in these games. See the comment at move seventeen of the second game.
Lasker's note is given as - Emanuel Lasker thought that 17. exf6 would have been the best play for White. The game might then have continued 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Bxg6+ Kh8 19.Qf3 cxd4 etc., leading to a very complicated state of affairs.—Napier
So it was very likely the publication of these games that led to the pair of games where the World Champion, Lasker, and McCutcheon broke lances testing the McCutcheon Variation. McCutcheon won his game with white, and it would have been this game that the New York Times mentioned in its initial report of McCutcheon's death (see Part 1).
Hotel Rider, Cambridge Springs
Link
Steven Etzel's Cambridge Springs 1904 website
Francis Hutcheson and the Declaration of Independence: Part 1, by James O'Fee
Hutcheson
Carol Crowell née O'Fee (Carol O'Fee Crowell as Americans write it) is an American lady who was born an O'Fee as a member of that branch of our family which emigrated to New York in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the year 2000 Carol visited Ireland with her daughter Debbie Murphy when we met. Some years after that I visited New York myself, met Carol and her husband Tom Crowell, as well as several of the O'Fee family there. In 2007 Carol and Tom visited Ireland on a cruise ship (see blog links).
Debbie Murphy told me that her son, Will (a grandson of Carol Crowell) was a specialist on early US history, and in the last few days I've received an email message from Will somewhere in the USA. He would appear to be the same as the William J. Murphy mentioned in the site of the Maxwell School of History, Syracuse University, as the author of (a) “War, Taxes, and the Rights of Man,” McGill-Queens Graduate Student Conference in History; and (b) an untitled paper on John Taylor and William Godwin, Southern Conference on British Studies. Will writes in reply to my enquiry on Francis Hutcheson -
Your question is closely related to my own areas of interest in the intellectual history of the eighteenth century. Caroline Robbins, author of the excellent book, "The Eighteenth Century Commonwealthman," first explored Hutcheson's relevance to the colonies in a 1954 article which I have attached to this message.
A few decades later, pseudo-historian Gary Wills published a book called "Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence," in which he argued that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" should be read in light of Scottish Moral sense philosophy, particularly Hutcheson. His arguments, which were based on misinterpretations of both Hutcheson and Jefferson, were not very convincing. I've attached historian an able critique of Will's arguments to this message.
The best account of the philosophical background of the Declaration is Allen Jayne. "Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy, and Theology." He provides a nuanced study of Jefferson's debt to the Scottish Enlightenment, John Locke and Lord Bolingbroke, emphasizing the importance of theology and ethical hedonism to understanding the Declaration's contemporary significance.
I could go on for ages about this subject but I will wait to see what you think of these materials before I say anything more.
Will attaches copies of 2 papers;-
1) "When It Is That Colonies May Turn Independent:" An Analysis of the Environment and
Politics of Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746)
Author(s): Caroline Robbins
Source: The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 11, No. 2, Scotland and America
(Apr., 1954), pp. 214-251; and
2) Jefferson and the Scottish Enlightenment: A Critique of Garry Wills's Inventing America:
Jefferson's Declaration of Independence
Author(s): Ronald Hamowy
Source: The William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Oct., 1979), pp. 503-523
Published by: Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1925181
Accessed: 05/08/2010 22:04
Will provided a link on the amazon site to the book he recommends -
Jefferson's Declaration of Independence: Origins, Philosophy, and Theology,
by Allen Jayne, The University Press of Kentucky, 2000.
Comments etc to follow. In a related matter, I'm continuing to pursue the question of "New Light Presbyterianism". I understand what this meant in 18th century Ireland and Scotland, and how it connected to radical politics. But it remains a puzzle to me how the "New Light" in America (where its most notable figure was the Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards) links in. Help appreciated!
Blog Links
Francis Hutcheson: the guiding spirit behind the Declaration of Independence
Part 1 in
The Declaration of Independence and the Scots Irish Part 2, Monday, May 10. 2010
Part 2 in
The Declaration of Independence and the Scots Irish Part 3, Wednesday, May 12. 2010
"New Light Presbyterian"
- Part 1, Tuesday, May 11. 2010
- Part 2, Wednesday, May 12. 2010
British Revolution, by Dr Ian Adamson OBE, Saturday, May 15. 2010
Youth Hostels, the American Afterthought: Part 5, Wednesday, May 30. 2007
US visitors, Thursday, August 16. 2007
ä ö ü Ä Ë Ö Ü ß ê î Î â  ă Ă Ş Ţ Ç ş šŠ ţ ç Á É Í Ó Ú á é í ó ú À à è Ő ő ű ñ ï ë Ł ź ¡ ć ï æ û
Αα Ββ Γγ Δδ Εε Ζζ Ηη Θθ Ιι Κκ Λλ Μμ Νν Ξξ Οο Ππ Ρρ Σσς Ττ Υυ Φφ Χχ Ψψ Ωω ᾲ ᾴ ῂ ῄ ὶ ί ῦ ώ ύ
To be continued
Sunday, August 8. 2010
Psalm 76
Saturday, August 7. 2010
Adams the victor in Canterbury, by James O'Fee
Michael Adams - British Champion 2010
Adams' record was +8=3 in the 11-round tournament. Adams was never seriously threatened, never had a disadvantage in any game and conceded only 3 draws.
1st Michael Adams 9½, 2nd Nicholas Pert 8, 3rd= Stuart Conquest, Andrew Greet, Jonathan Hawkins, Adam Hunt, Richard Pert and Alexei Slavin 7½
The Championship site carries these comments -
England’s No 1, Michael Adams, is the King of British Chess again. The 38 year old Cornishman won his third title at the 97th British Chess Championships, which have been taking place at the University of Kent, Canterbury over the last fortnight.
Adams gave a masterly performance, seeing off his grandmaster and international master rivals one after another. He collects the title and the £5000 first prize with a score of eight wins and three draws from eleven games. His 9½ points is just half-a-point short of the record set by former champion Julian Hodgson in 1992.
The mild mannered Adams doesn’t look too fearsome across the board, but he’s put up one of the most domineering performances ever seen at the British Championships. Finishing two points clear, he never appeared under pressure and constantly created problems for his rivals. His progress being slowed by draws against grandmasters Nick Pert, Peter Wells and international master Adam Hunt.
Even at the highest level Adams makes chess look simple. There are few flashy moves, just relentless exploitation of small advantages, such as a knight outpost in front of a backward pawn, or manoeuvring his forces to isolate and then capture one of his rival’s vulnerable pieces.
And see Leonard Barden writing in today's GUARDIAN. In his column Barden includes a wonderful finish from former Champion Stuart Conquest with some remarkable knight hops.
Blog Links
British Chess Championships 2010, Wednesday, July 28. 2010
British Chess Championship 2010 - halfway stage, Monday, August 2. 2010
Links
British Championship 2010
Leonard Barden on Chess Guardian Saturday 7 August 2010
Nessie's news, by Nessie Ramm
Ed: Nessie Ramm is an artist whom I met in Transylvania some years ago. From rural Transylvania, Nessie is now based in busy London. Nessie writes -
Some news of current and upcoming art shows I'm involved in:
1. Images of St Paul's In The 21st Century, The Crypt, St Paul's Cathedral, London, September 21st - October 15th.
64 artists have produced 180 original works especially for this exhibition to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the completion of Wren's great masterpiece. It should be an interesting show with works in all different sizes and styles, depicting both the architecture and life of the cathedral. I will have three paintings there; mine are cityscapes in which the dome is glimpsed from different vantage points [Ed: see thumbnail images below, but better versions on Mister Keep Fit].
There is a hardback book to accompany the exhibition. All work is for sale, with the proceeds going to the St Paul's Cathedral Foundation which supports the maintenance and mission of St Paul's.
Visitors wishing to view the exhibition will be required to pay the normal admission charge.
Opening hours Mon - Sat 08.30 - 16.00 (this is what I have in the press release but please check this closer to the time!!)
For more information see the cathedral's website
See also my three images attached.
1. The Dome Of St Paul's: One New Change, oil on canvas, 85cm x 85cm
2. The Dome Of St Paul's: Tate Modern Bar, oil on linen on board, 26.5cm x 43 cm
3. The Dome Of St Paul's: Tate Modern, Level 3, oil on linen on board, 25.5cm x 45.5 cm
2. Windows of Coutts bank, The Strand, nr Charing Cross Station, London, NOW - August 31st.
For a sneak preview of the St Paul's show, any time of day...
If you should find yourself at Charing Cross station with a few minutes to spare have a look in the windows of Coutts Bank, which is just a little east of the station on the other side of the road. 6 or 7 paintings, including my painting One New Change, are there as a taster of the main exhibition at St Paul's.
3. ArtAbility, Cadogan Contemporary, 87 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LD, 6-11 September.
A group show on a landscape theme in which I will be exhibiting originals and prints from my Romanian series together with whatever new London landscapes I can paint between now and then! (I'm currently working on a view from Primrose Hill). The exhibitors will be my good friend Margaret Barron, together with Laura Broughton, Elaine Wilson and myself. 30 - 50% of all work sales will be donated to Leonard Cheshire Disability, to support disabled people to live life their way.
The gallery will be open from 10 - 6 daily.
There will be a private view on 7 September, tickets available on request from events[at]lcdisability.org or call 0870 420 4301
And finally: Simon and Nessie's baby due September 27th! Of all my creative deadlines this one is the most significant...!
Ed: Many congratulations on all, especially the last!
Blog links
The skies of Ozd, Tuesday, September 26. 2006
Nessie Ramm's 'Romanian Meadow', Tuesday, November 13. 2007
Links
Nessie Ramm's website
Nessie Ramm's art on Mister Keep Fit
Some news of current and upcoming art shows I'm involved in:
1. Images of St Paul's In The 21st Century, The Crypt, St Paul's Cathedral, London, September 21st - October 15th.
64 artists have produced 180 original works especially for this exhibition to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the completion of Wren's great masterpiece. It should be an interesting show with works in all different sizes and styles, depicting both the architecture and life of the cathedral. I will have three paintings there; mine are cityscapes in which the dome is glimpsed from different vantage points [Ed: see thumbnail images below, but better versions on Mister Keep Fit].
There is a hardback book to accompany the exhibition. All work is for sale, with the proceeds going to the St Paul's Cathedral Foundation which supports the maintenance and mission of St Paul's.
Visitors wishing to view the exhibition will be required to pay the normal admission charge.
Opening hours Mon - Sat 08.30 - 16.00 (this is what I have in the press release but please check this closer to the time!!)
For more information see the cathedral's website
See also my three images attached.
1. The Dome Of St Paul's: One New Change, oil on canvas, 85cm x 85cm
2. The Dome Of St Paul's: Tate Modern Bar, oil on linen on board, 26.5cm x 43 cm
3. The Dome Of St Paul's: Tate Modern, Level 3, oil on linen on board, 25.5cm x 45.5 cm
2. Windows of Coutts bank, The Strand, nr Charing Cross Station, London, NOW - August 31st.
For a sneak preview of the St Paul's show, any time of day...
If you should find yourself at Charing Cross station with a few minutes to spare have a look in the windows of Coutts Bank, which is just a little east of the station on the other side of the road. 6 or 7 paintings, including my painting One New Change, are there as a taster of the main exhibition at St Paul's.
3. ArtAbility, Cadogan Contemporary, 87 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3LD, 6-11 September.
A group show on a landscape theme in which I will be exhibiting originals and prints from my Romanian series together with whatever new London landscapes I can paint between now and then! (I'm currently working on a view from Primrose Hill). The exhibitors will be my good friend Margaret Barron, together with Laura Broughton, Elaine Wilson and myself. 30 - 50% of all work sales will be donated to Leonard Cheshire Disability, to support disabled people to live life their way.
The gallery will be open from 10 - 6 daily.
There will be a private view on 7 September, tickets available on request from events[at]lcdisability.org or call 0870 420 4301
And finally: Simon and Nessie's baby due September 27th! Of all my creative deadlines this one is the most significant...!
Ed: Many congratulations on all, especially the last!
Blog links
The skies of Ozd, Tuesday, September 26. 2006
Nessie Ramm's 'Romanian Meadow', Tuesday, November 13. 2007
Links
Nessie Ramm's website
Nessie Ramm's art on Mister Keep Fit
St Paul's cityscape 1
St Paul's cityscape 2
St Paul's cityscape 3
Friday, August 6. 2010
An old page - but completely updated! - by AJ Goldsby
AJ Goldsby writes from Florida -
Most people have heard or read about Rubinstein's greatest masterpieces. But I doubt if the average player has ever heard of Rubinstein's victory over Karel Hromadka.
And it's sad, as this was one of the greatest of all of Rubinstein's games!
http://www.lifemasteraj.com/old_af-dl/rubin-hromad_rp1g0.html
I estimate over 100 hours has gone into the analysis of this game, and the preparation of the web page, so I hope your chess readers will enjoy a peek at this one.
Ed: Thanks, AJ! "Rubin" is German for 'ruby' so that Rubinstein means 'ruby-stone', I presume. Compare this to Bernstein, the name of another great Jewish chess master of the same period, whose name means 'amber'.
Rabbi Akiba (or Akiva ben Joseph) was a great Talmudic scholar whose dates are (ca. 50 - ca.135). He lived in Palestine but voyaged around the Mediterannean basin.
The excellent historical novel ZUGZWANG (2008), written by Ulsterman Ronan Bennett, features a chess master modelled on Rubinstein - see Zugzwang Part 2, Monday, May 3. 2010. Bennett currently writes a weekly chess column for THE GUARDIAN in conjunction with GM Danny King.
On Rubinstein's games, I take up my father's copy of FIFTY GREAT GAMES OF MODERN CHESS (Bell, 1942), chosen and annotated by Harry Golombek. Golombek chose 6 of Rubinstein's games for his collection viz.
Game 6: Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Lodz, 1907
Game 7: Rubinstein-Marshall Lodz, 1908
Game 8: Rubinstein-Edmund Lasker, St. Petersburg, 1909
Game 9: Rubinstein-Capablanca, San Sebastian, 1911
Game 16: Rubinstein-Hromadka, Mährisch-Ostrau, 1923
Game 28: Rubinstein-Flohr, Roganska-Slatina, 1929
In his introduction to Game 6, Golombek wrote -"The greatest stylist of the game who ever lived was Akiba Rubinstein, who produced game after game at once full of fresh combinational ideas and subtle positional stratagems."
In his introduction to Game 16, Rubinstein-Hromadka, Golombek writes -"The King's Gambit has not been entirely neglected by modern masters and has been notably used by Spielmann and Rubinstein. Here is a game by the latter with a glorious finish."
Co-incidentally, Ray Keene publishes a King's Gambit in his chess column in today's TIMES. It's the first-round game in the current British Championship where Robert Eames chose to play the gambit against Michael Adams - see here.
ä ö ü Ä Ë Ö Ü ß ê î Î â  ă Ă Ş Ţ Ç ş šŠ ţ ç Á É Í Ó Ú á é í ó ú À à è Ő ő ű ñ ï ë Ł ź ¡ ć ï æ û
Αα Ββ Γγ Δδ Εε Ζζ Ηη Θθ Ιι Κκ Λλ Μμ Νν Ξξ Οο Ππ Ρρ Σσς Ττ Υυ Φφ Χχ Ψψ Ωω ᾲ ᾴ ῂ ῄ ὶ ί ῦ ώ ύ
Most people have heard or read about Rubinstein's greatest masterpieces. But I doubt if the average player has ever heard of Rubinstein's victory over Karel Hromadka.
Akiba Rubinstein
http://www.lifemasteraj.com/old_af-dl/rubin-hromad_rp1g0.html
I estimate over 100 hours has gone into the analysis of this game, and the preparation of the web page, so I hope your chess readers will enjoy a peek at this one.
Ed: Thanks, AJ! "Rubin" is German for 'ruby' so that Rubinstein means 'ruby-stone', I presume. Compare this to Bernstein, the name of another great Jewish chess master of the same period, whose name means 'amber'.
Rabbi Akiba (or Akiva ben Joseph) was a great Talmudic scholar whose dates are (ca. 50 - ca.135). He lived in Palestine but voyaged around the Mediterannean basin.
The excellent historical novel ZUGZWANG (2008), written by Ulsterman Ronan Bennett, features a chess master modelled on Rubinstein - see Zugzwang Part 2, Monday, May 3. 2010. Bennett currently writes a weekly chess column for THE GUARDIAN in conjunction with GM Danny King.
On Rubinstein's games, I take up my father's copy of FIFTY GREAT GAMES OF MODERN CHESS (Bell, 1942), chosen and annotated by Harry Golombek. Golombek chose 6 of Rubinstein's games for his collection viz.
Game 6: Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Lodz, 1907
Game 7: Rubinstein-Marshall Lodz, 1908
Game 8: Rubinstein-Edmund Lasker, St. Petersburg, 1909
Game 9: Rubinstein-Capablanca, San Sebastian, 1911
Game 16: Rubinstein-Hromadka, Mährisch-Ostrau, 1923
Game 28: Rubinstein-Flohr, Roganska-Slatina, 1929
In his introduction to Game 6, Golombek wrote -"The greatest stylist of the game who ever lived was Akiba Rubinstein, who produced game after game at once full of fresh combinational ideas and subtle positional stratagems."
In his introduction to Game 16, Rubinstein-Hromadka, Golombek writes -"The King's Gambit has not been entirely neglected by modern masters and has been notably used by Spielmann and Rubinstein. Here is a game by the latter with a glorious finish."
Co-incidentally, Ray Keene publishes a King's Gambit in his chess column in today's TIMES. It's the first-round game in the current British Championship where Robert Eames chose to play the gambit against Michael Adams - see here.
ä ö ü Ä Ë Ö Ü ß ê î Î â  ă Ă Ş Ţ Ç ş šŠ ţ ç Á É Í Ó Ú á é í ó ú À à è Ő ő ű ñ ï ë Ł ź ¡ ć ï æ û
Αα Ββ Γγ Δδ Εε Ζζ Ηη Θθ Ιι Κκ Λλ Μμ Νν Ξξ Οο Ππ Ρρ Σσς Ττ Υυ Φφ Χχ Ψψ Ωω ᾲ ᾴ ῂ ῄ ὶ ί ῦ ώ ύ
Thursday, August 5. 2010
The Two Heroes and the Belgae: Part 3, by Cllr Dr Ian Adamson
Continued from Part 2:
Last of the Belgae
The British invasion was to be a Pyrrhic victory for Caesar. In 54 BC Ambiorix brought together an alliance of Belgic tribes, the Eburones, Manapii, Nervii and Atuatuci allied to local German tribes. He launched an attack on 9000 Roman troops under Sabinus and Cotta, Caesars favourite generals, at Tongres and wiped them out. Caesar retaliated quickly, determined to exterminate the Belgic confederacy which was ruthlessly ravaged in all-out genocide. Ambiorix however, was never captured and disappeared from the pages of Continental History, but the Eburones re-emerged in Britain as the Brigantes (Ui Bairrche) just as the Manapii (Managh) came to Ireland.
In 52 BC the brilliant Belgic leader Commius of the Atrebates turned against his former ally Caesar. He led a large force to join the armies of his kinsman Vercingetorix against him in a great insurrection which was to change the course of European history. Following Vercingetorix’s defeat, Commius became over-leader of the Belgic Atrebates, Morini, Carnutes, Bituriges, Bellovaci and Eburones and many Belgae followed him to his British Kingdom in the last Celtic folk movement to Britain, rather than endure the savagery of Roman civilisation.
In the twenty years following Julius Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BC Commius’ British Kingdom grew in size and wealth. In the nine years from 34 BC there were three occasions under Caesar’s successor Octavian (Augustus Caesar), 34, 27, and 26 BC, when a full scale invasion of Britain was contemplated. Commius then appears to have set up a Belgic enclave around the mouth of the Shannon in Western Ireland which became known as and was recorded by Ptolemy as Gangani, the descendants of Gann, the form of his full Celtic name.
Meanwhile his sons took over from one another in surprisingly swift succession as kings of South East Britain. Each re-emerged of Kings of the expanding Belgic settlements in Western Ireland; these were Tincommius (Irish Sen Gann), Epillus (Eochill) and Verica (Ferach) However a war between the tribes of Britain brought Verica (Bericus) to the Court of the Emperor Claudius to ask for support .And so in the year 43 AD a Roman army under the able command of Aulus Plautius landed in Britain Among the distinguished soldiers of this army was Vespasian and c60 AD his son Titus, both of whom were destined to become Emperors of Rome. It was therefore among the Britons that those soldiers were trained who destroyed that Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.
By this time the Brigantes controlled the largest section which is now northern England and a significant part of the midlands, centring on what is now known as Yorkshire. The modern town of York was originally known by the name of Eboracum, founded by the Romans in 71AD and deriving from the Eburones, whose High Goddess of Sovereignty was Brigantia. Ptolemy also places the Brigantes in South Wexford. They survived into the period of documentary history as the Ui Bairrche giving their name to the Barony of Bargy. It could be that the Brigantes invaded Ireland under pressure from later Belgic and Gaulish tribes and that prior to this they had lived in parts of Britain which were more proximal to Wexford. But they could also have migrated under pressure from the Romans in the 70’s AD. There was also a tribe, of course, known as the Brigantii, whose capital was Brigantion, now Bregenz, on the Lake of Constance, the Bodensee or Swabian Sea (das schwäbische Meer) , known to the ancients as Lacus Brigantinus.
The legendary Ninth Legion, Legio IX Hispana, the Spanish Legion, was one of the oldest and most feared units in the Roman Army. Put together in Spain by Pompey in 65 BC, it came under the command of Julius Caesar who was Governor of Further Spain in 61 BC, and served in Gaul throughout the Gallic Wars from 58 - 51 BC, the Legion was decisive in ensuring Caesar’s control of the Republic.
After Caesar’s assassination it remained loyal to his successor Octavian. It fought with distinction against the Cantabrians in Spain from 25 – 13 BC but suffered terribly in the British revolt led by Boadicea ( Boudica) in 60AD, losing as many as 50 – 80 per cent of its men . However, several high ranking Officers who could only have served after 117 AD are well known to us, so we can safely assume that the core of the Legion was still extant in the reign of Hadrian, 117 – 138 AD.
The first great leader of the Feni (later “Gaels”) in Ireland, Tuathal (Teuto–valos) Techtmar, was probably a Roman soldier, commanding Q-Celtic speaking auxiliaries from Spain. The earliest known source for the story of Tuathal Techtmar’s conquest of Ireland from the Aithech thuatha (Vassal Tribes) is a poem by Mael Mura of Othain AD 885. Mael Mura intimates that about 750 years had elapsed since Tuathal Techtmar had marched on the ancient British or Cruthin ritual centre of Tara to create his kingdom of Meath, which would date the invasion to the early 2nd Century AD. This is probably approximately correct. The standard pseudo-historical convention is employed, however, to make him an exiled Irishman returning with a foreign army. The account in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, which does contain a shadow of history, is probably older and in this we see that Tuathal was born outside Ireland and had not seen the country before he invaded it. We can synchronise his invasion to early in the reign of Hadrian (122 – 138) and his death fighting the Cruthin near Antrim in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138 – 161).This fits with Juvenal (c60 to 127 AD) who wrote “We have taken our arms beyond the shores of Ireland…” Tuathal may indeed represent the fictitious Mil Espáne, or even the Ninth Legion, the Legio IX Hispana, but that we will probably never know.
And who are the Last of the Belgae? We meet the Manapians again in the 3rd Century AD in the person of Carausius, who by immense naval talent rose to be admiral of the British fleet and ruled Britain from 287 to 292 AD. We meet them through their sea-god Manannán Mac Lir who slept with Cantigern, wife of Fiachna Lurgan, who bore him a son, Mongan. These legends were first put down in Bangor, founded by Comgall, who was sponsored by Cantigern as Queen of Dalaradia. And of course we meet them today as Kylie and Dannii Minogue.
As for the Brigantes, one of their descendants is Sir John Gorman, soldier and politician, who became Deputy Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly. What of the pre-Celtic ancient British Cruthin they displaced? Well, we meet them as Sir John Lavery and L S Lowry, the artists, and as Martin Mc Guinness, Ken Maginnis and Alban Maginness, politicians.
Finally, I attended the funeral of my friend Julian Ian McCartan Hill on Friday 23rd July 2010 at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Downpatrick and stood on the Hill of Down where St Patrick, St Columba and St Brigid (Brigit or Brigantia) are said to be “buried”. Like the Guinness family, the McCartans had also been Lords of Iveagh, the ancient Cruthin territory of Ulster. I stood with Jim McDowell and Erskine Holmes and looked towards the Mournes, so beloved of C.S. Lewis and one inspiration for Narnia. The old name for the range of mountains was na Beanna Boirche, but originally Bairche. I wondered if this could have meant the Breasts of Brigantia, the High Goddess, and we were standing on her sacred site. Who knows? The usual translation is the Peaks of Boirche, a local king. What is certain, however, is that the Mournes were the final refuge of the Manaig, the Last of the Belgae.
Code: Picts
Blog Links
Part 1 The Two Heroes
Part 2 The Gallic Wars
Link
Julian Ian McCartan Hill - Irish Times obituary July 31, 2010
Ed: Gosh! There's so much information there, and in the previous parts. It's difficult to know where to start, so I won't try. But thanks very much, Ian, for this up-to-date summary of your views.
Concluded
Last of the Belgae
Cllr Dr Ian Adamson
In 52 BC the brilliant Belgic leader Commius of the Atrebates turned against his former ally Caesar. He led a large force to join the armies of his kinsman Vercingetorix against him in a great insurrection which was to change the course of European history. Following Vercingetorix’s defeat, Commius became over-leader of the Belgic Atrebates, Morini, Carnutes, Bituriges, Bellovaci and Eburones and many Belgae followed him to his British Kingdom in the last Celtic folk movement to Britain, rather than endure the savagery of Roman civilisation.
Julius Caesar
Meanwhile his sons took over from one another in surprisingly swift succession as kings of South East Britain. Each re-emerged of Kings of the expanding Belgic settlements in Western Ireland; these were Tincommius (Irish Sen Gann), Epillus (Eochill) and Verica (Ferach) However a war between the tribes of Britain brought Verica (Bericus) to the Court of the Emperor Claudius to ask for support .And so in the year 43 AD a Roman army under the able command of Aulus Plautius landed in Britain Among the distinguished soldiers of this army was Vespasian and c60 AD his son Titus, both of whom were destined to become Emperors of Rome. It was therefore among the Britons that those soldiers were trained who destroyed that Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.
By this time the Brigantes controlled the largest section which is now northern England and a significant part of the midlands, centring on what is now known as Yorkshire. The modern town of York was originally known by the name of Eboracum, founded by the Romans in 71AD and deriving from the Eburones, whose High Goddess of Sovereignty was Brigantia. Ptolemy also places the Brigantes in South Wexford. They survived into the period of documentary history as the Ui Bairrche giving their name to the Barony of Bargy. It could be that the Brigantes invaded Ireland under pressure from later Belgic and Gaulish tribes and that prior to this they had lived in parts of Britain which were more proximal to Wexford. But they could also have migrated under pressure from the Romans in the 70’s AD. There was also a tribe, of course, known as the Brigantii, whose capital was Brigantion, now Bregenz, on the Lake of Constance, the Bodensee or Swabian Sea (das schwäbische Meer) , known to the ancients as Lacus Brigantinus.
The legendary Ninth Legion, Legio IX Hispana, the Spanish Legion, was one of the oldest and most feared units in the Roman Army. Put together in Spain by Pompey in 65 BC, it came under the command of Julius Caesar who was Governor of Further Spain in 61 BC, and served in Gaul throughout the Gallic Wars from 58 - 51 BC, the Legion was decisive in ensuring Caesar’s control of the Republic.
After Caesar’s assassination it remained loyal to his successor Octavian. It fought with distinction against the Cantabrians in Spain from 25 – 13 BC but suffered terribly in the British revolt led by Boadicea ( Boudica) in 60AD, losing as many as 50 – 80 per cent of its men . However, several high ranking Officers who could only have served after 117 AD are well known to us, so we can safely assume that the core of the Legion was still extant in the reign of Hadrian, 117 – 138 AD.
The first great leader of the Feni (later “Gaels”) in Ireland, Tuathal (Teuto–valos) Techtmar, was probably a Roman soldier, commanding Q-Celtic speaking auxiliaries from Spain. The earliest known source for the story of Tuathal Techtmar’s conquest of Ireland from the Aithech thuatha (Vassal Tribes) is a poem by Mael Mura of Othain AD 885. Mael Mura intimates that about 750 years had elapsed since Tuathal Techtmar had marched on the ancient British or Cruthin ritual centre of Tara to create his kingdom of Meath, which would date the invasion to the early 2nd Century AD. This is probably approximately correct. The standard pseudo-historical convention is employed, however, to make him an exiled Irishman returning with a foreign army. The account in the Lebor Gabála Érenn, which does contain a shadow of history, is probably older and in this we see that Tuathal was born outside Ireland and had not seen the country before he invaded it. We can synchronise his invasion to early in the reign of Hadrian (122 – 138) and his death fighting the Cruthin near Antrim in the reign of Antoninus Pius (138 – 161).This fits with Juvenal (c60 to 127 AD) who wrote “We have taken our arms beyond the shores of Ireland…” Tuathal may indeed represent the fictitious Mil Espáne, or even the Ninth Legion, the Legio IX Hispana, but that we will probably never know.
Kylie Minogue
As for the Brigantes, one of their descendants is Sir John Gorman, soldier and politician, who became Deputy Speaker of the new Northern Ireland Assembly. What of the pre-Celtic ancient British Cruthin they displaced? Well, we meet them as Sir John Lavery and L S Lowry, the artists, and as Martin Mc Guinness, Ken Maginnis and Alban Maginness, politicians.
Ian Hill
Code: Picts
Blog Links
Part 1 The Two Heroes
Part 2 The Gallic Wars
Link
Julian Ian McCartan Hill - Irish Times obituary July 31, 2010
Ed: Gosh! There's so much information there, and in the previous parts. It's difficult to know where to start, so I won't try. But thanks very much, Ian, for this up-to-date summary of your views.
Concluded
John Lindsay McCutcheon and his variation: Part 2, by James O'Fee
Continued from Part 1:
John Lindsay McCutcheon wasn't a strong enough player to merit an entry in the OXFORD COMPANION TO CHESS (1984), but his McCutcheon Variation does. Hooper & Whyld write -
McCutcheon Variation, a line in the FRENCH DEFENCE played by John Lindsay McCutcheon (1857-1905) of Pittsburgh against STEINITZ in a simultaneous display at New York in 1885. After the usual continuation 5 e5 h6 6 Bd2 Bxc3 7 bxc3 Ne4 8 Qg4 White has attacking chances on the king's side while Black has prospects on the other side of the board. This aggressive defence, fashionable around 1905, remains in use although less popular than the WINAWER VARIATION which has similar strategic characteristics.
which gives us a year of birth of 1857. McCutcheon was in his 40s when he died.
This site on "Today in Chess History" pins down his date of birth.
Jul 17, 1905: John Lindsay McCutcheon died in Pittsburgh, PA, USA (born May 28, 1857 in Allegheny, PA).
That is, the gentleman's dates were May 28, 1857 to July 17, 1905.
Another site on the History and genealogy of the wealthy families of America mentions him, but without giving any further details.
McCutcheon was evidently married to Mary Louise Taylor. They had a daughter, Louise, who became eminent as a translator and writer under her married name of Varèse (see below) -
Louise Varèse was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1890, daughter of John Lindsay McCutcheon and Mary Louise Taylor. She attended Smith College (class of 1912), leaving in the fall of 1911 to marry Allen Norton. A son, Michael, was born in 1912. She was separated from Norton in 1916, and they were divorced in 1920. In 1922 she married composer Edgard Varèse. Throughout her life she translated works of French authors and poets into English, including Rimbaud, Proust, Sartre, Stendahl, and Simenon, among many others and was awarded Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Republic of France in 1969. She also wrote articles, stories, and poems. Following the death of Edgard Varèse in 1965, she published Varese, A Looking-Glass Diary, Volume I, 1893-1928 (1972). Volume 2 was in progress when she died on July 1, 1989.
Links
Today in Chess History
Louise Varèse Papers, 1910-1983 Five Colleges Archives & Manuscript Collections
Louise Varese - New York Times obituary
Edgard Varèse - Wikipedia entry
To be continued
McCutcheon
McCutcheon Variation, a line in the FRENCH DEFENCE played by John Lindsay McCutcheon (1857-1905) of Pittsburgh against STEINITZ in a simultaneous display at New York in 1885. After the usual continuation 5 e5 h6 6 Bd2 Bxc3 7 bxc3 Ne4 8 Qg4 White has attacking chances on the king's side while Black has prospects on the other side of the board. This aggressive defence, fashionable around 1905, remains in use although less popular than the WINAWER VARIATION which has similar strategic characteristics.
which gives us a year of birth of 1857. McCutcheon was in his 40s when he died.
This site on "Today in Chess History" pins down his date of birth.
Jul 17, 1905: John Lindsay McCutcheon died in Pittsburgh, PA, USA (born May 28, 1857 in Allegheny, PA).
That is, the gentleman's dates were May 28, 1857 to July 17, 1905.
Another site on the History and genealogy of the wealthy families of America mentions him, but without giving any further details.
McCutcheon was evidently married to Mary Louise Taylor. They had a daughter, Louise, who became eminent as a translator and writer under her married name of Varèse (see below) -
Louise Varese with Frank Zappa
Links
Today in Chess History
Edgard Varèse
Louise Varese - New York Times obituary
Edgard Varèse - Wikipedia entry
To be continued
Wednesday, August 4. 2010
Site traffic in July 2010, by James O'Fee
Persecution, by Release International
Release International Prayer AlertThursday, July 29, 2010
VIETNAM – Evangelist's home wrecked by mob 'spurred on by officials'
A Vietnamese evangelist has received death threats after a gang of youths, allegedly spurred on by officials, attacked his home and house church twice in six weeks.
Mang Vuong, an ethnic minority Hroi Christian, had nearly finished building his home, which doubled as a church, in Xi Thoai village, Phu Yen province, when the mob first attacked.
The youths, angered by Vuong's decision to hold worship meetings in his home, smashed walls and wrecked the interior on July 18. Previously, on June 10, they had broken into the house, stolen nearly £2,000 and destroyed much of its contents.
Sources for Compass Direct news agency claim that the violence had been encouraged by local officials who allegedly called the youths to a meeting and 'plied them with alcohol' the night before the first attack. The same gang has continued to threaten and harass Vuong ever since.
Vuong is part of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South), a government-registered church. He had decided to build a home that would also serve as a church – common practice for Vietnamese evangelists – because the closest Hroi church four miles away was full.
Provincial leaders in Vuong's church say they tried in vain to persuade local and regional officials to take action to protect Vuong and now intend to raise the issue with the national Government.
(Source: Compass Direct)
• Ask God to protect evangelist Mang Vuong and bless his ministry.
• Thank God for church growth among the Hroi people. Pray that God will continue to multiply His church in the region.
News update:
We are pleased to report that Ali Golchin, a Christian from Varamin, Iran, who was detained in April (Prayer Alert, July 13, 2010), has been released on bail. Ask God to heal Ali, who has reportedly suffered harsh interrogation and solitary confinement. No formal charges have been brought against Ali; pray this remains the case. (Sources: FCNN, MEC)
Tuesday, August 3. 2010
John Lindsay McCutcheon and his variation: Part 1, by James O'Fee
If White opens by advancing his King's Pawn 2 squares, a very popular approach, Black can reply by advancing his own King's Pawn by just a single square, 1 ...e6, and this is known as the French Defence. It's an apparently unassuming response, where Black fails to take advantage of his right to advance his Pawn 2 squares on its initial sortie, a rule developed only during the Italian Renaissance. Time was, in the early 19th century, when writers would rail at the French cowardice, refusing to meet White on an open field in fair fight, by preferring to "skulk in his tent". As time went on, the sense of the Black approach became clearer, and the French became a highly-rated defence to the King's Pawn.
After the further frequently-chosen moves 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6, White often chooses to pin the Black King's Knight with 4.Bg5. The most popular reply here is the unpinning 4. ...Be7; but the aggressive and double-edged counter-pin of white's Queen's Knight, 4 ... Bb4, introduces what is known as the McCutcheon Variation. Black decides not to "skulk in his tent"! The entire McCutcheon debut consists therefore of 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4.
The variation first came to public notice in 1885, when Pittsburgh lawyer John Lindsay McCutcheon, after whom the variation takes its name, played 4 ...Bb4 against the first official World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, in a simultaneous exhibition given in New York. McCutcheon won the game, and the variation has since then been named after the laywer. The score of entire stem McCutcheon game is given below.
The McCutcheon Variation has never captured very great popularity, even though it has been played on occasion by some of the greatest masters in the chess pantheon. Though the debut makes several strategic concessions, the McCutcheon retains a certain surprise value. I used the McCutcheon myself to gain a draw in a simultaneous exhibition given by GM Murray Chandler a few years ago (see below).
So just who was the imaginative John Lindsay McCutcheon? Just yesterday I discovered on Steven Etzel's site on the Cambridge Springs tournament of 1904 that this gentleman had bought one of the 8 chess sets used by the Masters in the Cambridge Springs tournament. This report from the New York Times, written on the day of McCutcheon's death, gives some further details -
JOHL L. MCCUTCHEON DEAD
Pittsburgh Lawyer was a well-known Chess Player and Patron
Special to the New York Times
PITTSBURGH, July 16 -John Lindsay McCutcheon, lawyer, chess patron, and member of one of Pittsburgh's most prominent families, died early this morning at his residence at 142 Homewood Avenue. He had been ill for some time. He was a brother of Mrs. T. De Witt Talmage.
Mr. McCutcheon was one of the best known chess players of America, and had a world-wide reputation both as a player and a patron of the game. One of his recent games against Dr. Lasker was published all over the world. He was one of the patrons of the international tournament, held in May, 1904, held in Cambridge Springs, Penn.
Blog Links
A GRANDMASTER DRAW, Monday, April 3. 2006
THE STEM MCCUTCHEON GAME, Tuesday, April 4. 2006
Schlechter, Marshall and Cambridge Springs, Monday, August 2. 2010
Links
New York Times report on McCutcheon's death
Steven Etzel's Cambridge Springs 1904 website
To be continued
After the further frequently-chosen moves 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6, White often chooses to pin the Black King's Knight with 4.Bg5. The most popular reply here is the unpinning 4. ...Be7; but the aggressive and double-edged counter-pin of white's Queen's Knight, 4 ... Bb4, introduces what is known as the McCutcheon Variation. Black decides not to "skulk in his tent"! The entire McCutcheon debut consists therefore of 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4.
Steinitz memorial
John Lindsay McCutcheon
The McCutcheon Variation has never captured very great popularity, even though it has been played on occasion by some of the greatest masters in the chess pantheon. Though the debut makes several strategic concessions, the McCutcheon retains a certain surprise value. I used the McCutcheon myself to gain a draw in a simultaneous exhibition given by GM Murray Chandler a few years ago (see below).
So just who was the imaginative John Lindsay McCutcheon? Just yesterday I discovered on Steven Etzel's site on the Cambridge Springs tournament of 1904 that this gentleman had bought one of the 8 chess sets used by the Masters in the Cambridge Springs tournament. This report from the New York Times, written on the day of McCutcheon's death, gives some further details -
JOHL L. MCCUTCHEON DEAD
Pittsburgh Lawyer was a well-known Chess Player and Patron
Special to the New York Times
PITTSBURGH, July 16 -John Lindsay McCutcheon, lawyer, chess patron, and member of one of Pittsburgh's most prominent families, died early this morning at his residence at 142 Homewood Avenue. He had been ill for some time. He was a brother of Mrs. T. De Witt Talmage.
Mr. McCutcheon was one of the best known chess players of America, and had a world-wide reputation both as a player and a patron of the game. One of his recent games against Dr. Lasker was published all over the world. He was one of the patrons of the international tournament, held in May, 1904, held in Cambridge Springs, Penn.
Blog Links
A GRANDMASTER DRAW, Monday, April 3. 2006
THE STEM MCCUTCHEON GAME, Tuesday, April 4. 2006
Schlechter, Marshall and Cambridge Springs, Monday, August 2. 2010
Links
New York Times report on McCutcheon's death
Steven Etzel's Cambridge Springs 1904 website
To be continued
The Two Heroes and the Belgae: Part 2, by Cllr Dr Ian Adamson
Continued (after an interval) from Part 1 (Thursday, July 22. 2010):
The Gallic Wars
On Wednesday 30th June our Somme Pilgrimage took us from Arras on a full day’s tour into Belgium. On the road to Ieper (Ypres) I had the opportunity to tell our group of the continuation of the Roman Road to the land of the Belgae from whom Belgium gets its name and the tribes who once lived there.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 9th, 10th and 11th January 1963 I played the role of Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare’s play of that name performed in the school hall in Bangor Grammar School. Brutus was played by Gus Hancock, who was to become the Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University The program explained the events leading up to the action of the play. The Roman Republic had long relied for its strength upon a sound citizen body headed by an aristocratic Senate. From just before 100 BC, the balance of power swung towards such successful generals as could control the now great empire. Julius Caesar was perhaps the greatest of these generals. He had out-generalled and defeated the great soldier Pompey; shown more political acumen than the Senators; conquered Gaul and fought in Britain, Spain and North Africa, Greece and Anatolia to assert his predominance and become dictator. He was now transforming the very basis of government throughout the empire.
He was a radical and tended to reform without sufficient concern for others. He was impatient with the reactionary Senate. The final and fatal error was his alleged aspiration to Kingship. This was quite alien to aristocratic sentiment. The play begins in 44 BC when a small group of men, because of the reasons mentioned and through their own private motives have conspired to act against Caesar, and assassinate him.
The last phase of colonisation of Britain before the Roman conquest came with the Belgic settlements in the south east during the first century BC. These Belgic colonies gave rise, according to Julius Caesar, to the different petty states of Britain the name of those from which they came. Caesar’s report was the first and only record from historical sources of Celtic or part Celtic migration to Britain. His famous Gallic Wars gives us a personal account of Gaul and the battles he fought there.
Caesar tells us that the Gaul of his day was divided into three parts, inhabited by three nations; Belgae, Celtae and Acquitani, all of whom different in language institutions and laws. Since the Romans knew all three as Gauls and the leaders and tribes at least have Celtic names, we may assume all were Celtic speaking though of different dialects and ethnic origins, the Belgae having strong Germanic elements.
Caesar limits the Celtae to that country included from north to south between the Seine and the Garonne and from the Ocean on the west to the Rhine in Helvetia, and the Rhone on the east. The Veneti were the most powerful of the Celtae and inhabited the country to the north of the mouth of the Loire, (Liger). We know that the Domnonii of Cornwall and Devon were the most cultivated of their British relatives and that the Veneti traded with them for the tin of Cornwall. The Domnonian Britons reserved the legend that they came from Glas-gwyn, from the country of the Liger. Migrating to Ireland under Roman pressure and displacing the aboriginal pre-Celtic Cruthin, they called themselves Lagin or Domnainn maintaining the tradition that they were originally from Armorica. When the Irish Lagin later invaded the Lleyn Peninsula in Wales later from Ireland it took the name of Guined (Gwynedd) which derives directly from Veneti.
The Belgae inhabited what is now north eastern France and the Low Countries. The tribe which never sued for peace from Caesar was the Manapii who were originally seated on the Meuse and on the Lower Rhine. This great tribe was to become known to the later Gaels as the Fir Manaig, Men of the Manapii , who gave their name to Fermanagh and Monaghan. It is probable that they also inhabited the Isle of Man (Monapia) before the Gaelic conquest. It was the Manapii along with the Morini and other Northern tribes who maintained an independent Gaulish area following Caesar’s campaign of 57 BC, when he massacred 50,000 Belgic warriors at the earliest recorded Battle on the Somme.
In 56 BC the Veneti threw off the yoke of Rome and the whole coast from the Loire to the Rhine joined the insurrection. Caesar attacked the powerful Venetian navy and destroyed it, selling the defeated captives into slavery to a man. And it was the help they received from their British relatives which prompted his invasion of Britain in 55 BC.
Code: Picts
To be continued
The Gallic Wars
Cllr Dr Ian Adamson
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 9th, 10th and 11th January 1963 I played the role of Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare’s play of that name performed in the school hall in Bangor Grammar School. Brutus was played by Gus Hancock, who was to become the Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University The program explained the events leading up to the action of the play. The Roman Republic had long relied for its strength upon a sound citizen body headed by an aristocratic Senate. From just before 100 BC, the balance of power swung towards such successful generals as could control the now great empire. Julius Caesar was perhaps the greatest of these generals. He had out-generalled and defeated the great soldier Pompey; shown more political acumen than the Senators; conquered Gaul and fought in Britain, Spain and North Africa, Greece and Anatolia to assert his predominance and become dictator. He was now transforming the very basis of government throughout the empire.
Julius Caesar
The last phase of colonisation of Britain before the Roman conquest came with the Belgic settlements in the south east during the first century BC. These Belgic colonies gave rise, according to Julius Caesar, to the different petty states of Britain the name of those from which they came. Caesar’s report was the first and only record from historical sources of Celtic or part Celtic migration to Britain. His famous Gallic Wars gives us a personal account of Gaul and the battles he fought there.
Caesar tells us that the Gaul of his day was divided into three parts, inhabited by three nations; Belgae, Celtae and Acquitani, all of whom different in language institutions and laws. Since the Romans knew all three as Gauls and the leaders and tribes at least have Celtic names, we may assume all were Celtic speaking though of different dialects and ethnic origins, the Belgae having strong Germanic elements.
Gallia
The Belgae inhabited what is now north eastern France and the Low Countries. The tribe which never sued for peace from Caesar was the Manapii who were originally seated on the Meuse and on the Lower Rhine. This great tribe was to become known to the later Gaels as the Fir Manaig, Men of the Manapii , who gave their name to Fermanagh and Monaghan. It is probable that they also inhabited the Isle of Man (Monapia) before the Gaelic conquest. It was the Manapii along with the Morini and other Northern tribes who maintained an independent Gaulish area following Caesar’s campaign of 57 BC, when he massacred 50,000 Belgic warriors at the earliest recorded Battle on the Somme.
In 56 BC the Veneti threw off the yoke of Rome and the whole coast from the Loire to the Rhine joined the insurrection. Caesar attacked the powerful Venetian navy and destroyed it, selling the defeated captives into slavery to a man. And it was the help they received from their British relatives which prompted his invasion of Britain in 55 BC.
Code: Picts
To be continued
Monday, August 2. 2010
British Chess Championship 2010 - halfway stage, by James O'Fee
The British Chess Championship 2010 has reached its halfway stage at the University of Kent in Canterbury.
The pre-tournament favourite, GM Michael Adams, has conceded but one draw so far to reach 5.5/6, a full point ahead of the chasing pack which includes 2008 Champion Stuart Conquest. These two have yet to meet, but it will be a great surprise if Adams fails to add this title to his many other honours.
Topday Adams plays Black against GM Stephen Gordon, while Conquest has White against the sometimes controversial GM Danny Gormally (the last three are all on 4.5/6).
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British Chess Championships 2010
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Adams
Topday Adams plays Black against GM Stephen Gordon, while Conquest has White against the sometimes controversial GM Danny Gormally (the last three are all on 4.5/6).
Links
British Chess Championships 2010
Live chess
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