“Only those of us, I think, who were born under Queen Victoria know what it feels like to assume, without questioning, that England is permanently top nation, that foreigners do not matter, and that if the worst comes to the worst, Lord Salisbury will send a gunboat.” IfsThinkingKnowsFeelsMatterNationsBornLordWorstEnglandAssumingQueensQuestioningForeignersVictoria Author:Ronald Knox
“Today a Scot is leading a British army in France [Field Marshall Douglas Haig], another is commanding the British Grand Fleet at sea [Admiral David Beatty], while a third directs the Imperial General Staff at home [Sir William Roberton]. The Lord Chancellor is a Scot [Viscount Finlay]; so are the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Foreign Secretary [Bonar Law and Arthur Balfour]. The Prime Minister is a Welshman [David Lloyd George], and the First Lord of the Admiralty is an Irishman [Lord Carson]. Yet no one has ever brought in a bill to give home rule to England!” GivingFirstsHomeTodayLawLordSeaFieldsThirdsArmyEnglandBillsBritishFranceMinistersPrimeStaffSecretaryPrime MinisterArthurBritish HistoryScotsIrishmenAdmiralBeattyBritish ArmyHaigHome Rule Author:John Hay Beith
“The Lord Chief Justice of England recently said that the greater part of his judicial time was spent investigating collisions between propelled vehicles, each on its own side of the road, each sounding its horn and each stationary.” SaidSidesJusticeLordGreaterCrimeEnglandPunishmentChiefsVehicleHornsJudicialCollisionInvestigatingStationaryChief Justice Author:Philip Guedalla
“Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord, That would reduce these bloody days again And make poor England weep in streams of blood! Let them not live to taste this land's increase That would with treason wound this fair land's peace! Now civil wounds are stopped, peace lives again: That she may long live here, God say amen!” MayLongBookPoorLordBloodLandTasteFairsIncreaseEnglandEdgesWoundsStreamsBloodyGraciousTraitorTreasonAmen Book:The plays of William Shakespeare Source: The plays of William Shakespeare
“It isnt only fictional heroes to whom toast means home and comfort. It is related of the Duke of Wellington - I believe by Lord Ellesmere - that when he landed at Dover in 1814, after six years absence from England, the first order he gave at the Ship Inn was for an unlimited supply of buttered toast.” YearsFirstsBelieveMeanHomeOrderI BelieveLordHeroComfortSixEnglandAbsenceShipsRelatedUnlimitedToastsDukesInnsWellingtonDover Book:A Taste of the Sun Source: A Taste of the Sun
“Wealth, howsoever got, in England makes lords of mechanics, gentlemen of rakes; Antiquity and birth are needless here; 'Tis impudence and money makes a peer.” WealthLordBirthEnglandGentlemanPeersMechanicAntiquityRakesImpudence Book:The Novels and Miscellaneous Works of Daniel De Foe Source: The Novels and Miscellaneous Works of Daniel De Foe
“At the head of any new undertaking where in France you would find the government, or in England some great lord, in the United States you are sure to find an association.” StatesGovernmentUnitedLordUnited StatesEnglandFranceAssociationUndertakings Author:Alexis de Tocqueville