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Good point, Mike. Mary Sent from my iPhone > On 16 Sep 2019, at 18:17, Mike Kipling <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > I’m sure he would have welcomed the RNLI’s efforts to save the sub-continent’s children, as in ‘William the Conqueror’. > Mike > > From: To exchange information and views on the life and work of Rudyard Kipling <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of John Radcliffe > Sent: 16 September 2019 16:33 > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Fwd: What would RK have said today ? > > > > Sent from my iPad > > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Janet Montefiore <[log in to unmask]> > Date: 16 September 2019 at 16:31:04 BST > To: John Radcliffe <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Re: What would RK have said today ? > > And what would Kipling have thought of the Daily Mail denouncing the RNLI for spending 2% of its budget on saving the lives of Bangladeshi children ? See the DM two days ago. Apparently quite a few people have cancelled their subscriptions to the RNLI after reading this. > > “Harlot” - if only that were the worst. Poisoners of minds. > > For some reason I cannot post anything to JISCMAIL, only read it. Post this response if you like. > > Jan > > From: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of John Radcliffe <[log in to unmask]> > Reply-To: John Radcliffe <[log in to unmask]> > Date: Monday, 16 September 2019 16:18 > To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: What would RK have said today ? > > What would Kipling have made of the present moves to break away from Europe, the confrontation between Parliament and the Government, the rifts within the United Kingdom. Would he perhaps have looked back over a thousand years at how, after 1066, Normans and Saxons, from rival traditions, came together to make Old England ? At the way King John was curbed by Magna Carta; ‘The Gold I gather a King covets for an ill use’. At the fate of Charles I, claiming the divine right of Kings to set himself above Parliament, and losing his head. At the way, after the Act of Union, English and Scots and Welsh and Irish fought side by side in many battles. > > Before the Great War he pondered on power, and the unpopular decisions leaders like Queen Elizabeth I and George Washington had to make, and wrote of them in the ‘Puck’ stories. During the war he lost his son John and watched Europe tearing itself apart. In the Thirties he feared the destruction and poverty that we faced from lying leaders, Fascist and Communist, claiming power in the name of the people. In May 1932 he warned: worse than present jeopardy May our forlorn to-morrow be. > > He was fascinated by the mysterious currents of public opinion and how they can be managed. He appreciated the black arts of the editor, what makes a story, how it can be made to spread and flourish. But with the rise of mass circulation in the 1920s he denounced the ambitions of the press lords of the day: ‘Power without responsibility, the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages’—Kipling’s phrase that his cousin, Stanley Baldwin, used to help win a by-election. He would certainly have been intrigued by the internet, but probably unsurprised by the lies that are told there. He might encourage people to take heart and act: > > If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken > Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, > Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, > And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: > > But what does anyone else think ? > > Good wishes to all > > John R > > > > > To unsubscribe from the RUDYARD-KIPLING list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=RUDYARD-KIPLING&A=1 > > > To unsubscribe from the RUDYARD-KIPLING list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=RUDYARD-KIPLING&A=1 > > > To unsubscribe from the RUDYARD-KIPLING list, click the following link: > https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=RUDYARD-KIPLING&A=1 ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the RUDYARD-KIPLING list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=RUDYARD-KIPLING&A=1