Signs of the Times

A comet before, a conjunction now. Do not let astronomers let you hear about astrological predictions, but it is sometimes good to recall ancient ways of seeing the night sky, and reflect on the more poetic aspects of times past.

Signs of the Times

The comet comes, baleful, green
Casting misfortunes in its wake
Far away in the night, almost unseen
Yet mortals still fear it and quake

Jupiter meets Venus in the night
A conjunction, a bringing close
Dance in the heavens, a delight
Sign of reconciliation to engross

The starry messengers, so long ago
The portents of a hidden hand
Seen by that astronomer, Galileo
Shone down upon this troubled land

I glimpse signs of the times in the stars
In Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - February 1953 Part 2

 

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

February 1953 Part 2

18.—Roya1 Netherlands Air Force Dakota lands at Airport and leaves with second consignment of clothing for flood victims. Annual general meeting of Mechanics’ Institute.

19.—States : Senator Philip Le Feuvre appointed to the presidency of the new Defence Committee ; the new Beautés Naturelles Committee was also named ; a proposal by Senator J. J. Le Marquand to alter the present system of election of Jurats was rejected by 32—17 ; the Control of Civil Service Report was adopted without division ; objections were raised to the regulations to permit the Sunday opening of shops and the debate was adjourned. Serious farm fire at The Poplars, St. John, the outbuildings being destroyed; arson was suspected as two masked men were seen on the premises just before the outbreak.

20.—Verdict of death caused by drowning recorded at inquest held 'on the body of 83-year-old Mrs. V. P. L. Renault, whose body was found in a muddy pool near her residence, Meadow View, St. Saviour.

21.—-Full Court sits to admit Mr. L. M. Gould as a member of the local Bar. Annual dinner of St. Brelade’s Honorary Police. Channel Islands boxing championships held at Springfield, Jersey winning the Cleveland Trophy.

23. Amateur Dramatic Club present “The Rivals” at The Playhouse.

24.—States: The Sunday Trading Regulations presented by the Tourism Committee and due for debate today were withdrawn; various. measures for the control of infectious diseases in animals were approved, a Bill to regulate cremation was adopted, and the Law on the Commutation of Seignorial Rights was amended. Annual meeting of Jersey Rifle Association, at which a plea for new blood was urged.

25.—Full Court : Alfred Parr (31) appealed against a sentence of £40 fine and two years’ suspension of licence passed on him at the Police Court, judgment being reserved ; at this sitting tributes were paid to the memory of Advocate Philip Le Maistre (former Bétonnier) by the Bailiff and Crown Oflicers. Local Labour Party hold “ Any Questions ? ” night at The Plaza. Annual meeting of Les Amitiés Franco-Britanniques.

26.—States : The Committee of Agriculture made a statement on the sale of potatoes on commission ; a proposal by Senator J. J. Le Marquand on the setting up of machinery for referendums by electors was rejected 32—14 ; at the commencement of the sitting tributes. were paid to the late ex-Deputy Bertram of Grouville. Verdict of accidental death recorded at inquest held on the body of Mr. Francis Amy, who died as the result of injuries sustained when knocked down by a car in Don Road. “ Evening Post " annual staff dinner and dance held at Merton Hotel. Farewell presentations to the Rev. S. Wheeler (Incumbent of St. Paul’s Church) and Mrs. Wheeler.

27.—Jersey Debating Club votes emphatically «against “That this House would welcome Continental Sunday.”

28.—Inquest held on the body of four-year-old David William Carter, who died from injuries received when knocked down by a car near his home in Brighton Road, a verdict of accidental death being recorded. The rainfall for the month was an inch below average.

The Troubled Heart

This is very loosely based on Psalm 77, a psalm of Asaph, which I have been reading recently. The songs of anguish as just as important as the songs of triumph. And this is also why it is very different from my usual poems. This is a journey of the heart.

The Troubled Heart

The cold waters enclose me
And I shall surely drown
I am falling, falling, in the sea
Far from my home town

I remember, long, long ago
The warm amberic lights glowing
Cobbled streets I used to know
So well, when life was dawning

Rain shining on cobbled stones
My playground, a place to roam
And returning, taking chill off bones
Comforting fireplace within home

So long, long ago, and now I fall
Far down into that great deep
And who can hear me, when I call
Amidst this cold and deathly sleep

But I will remember the days of old
I will recall the joy breaking as light
And ancient wisdom that I was told
This will sustain me in this night

The waters will not hold me, I arise
Storms rage and thunder in the sky
But words of power are still wise
The seas are still, they hear my cry

And I give thanks for my salvation
On the shore, warm in a rising sun
The new day, and a new creation
Amen! All is finished, all is done.

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - February 1953 Part 1

 

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

February 1953 Part 1

3.—States: The preamble of the Control of Public Service Bill, presented by the Civil Service Board, was adopted ; a statement on the marketing of the potato crop was made by the president of the Committee of Agriculture. The appeal for clothing and bedding for relief of the East Anglia flood disaster victims brings an. Immediate response, the first pantechnicom of gifts being despatched the same day ; a fund was also opened at “ The Evening Post ” offices.

4.—Annual general meeting of the Jersey Cage Bird Society, it being decided that poultry classes be discontinued.

5.—States: The Control of Public Service Bill was adopted but lodged au Greffe with amendments; a contribution to the Lord Mayor of London’s Flood Relief Fund was agreed to in principle.

6.—The Island makes magnificent response to the Flood Distress Fund, more than £3,000 being received at “ The Evening Post ” offices in three days ; more than 30 tons of clothing and bedding were also shipped from the Island during the same period. Underwater fishing club formed, the inaugural meeting being held at the Chamber of Commerce.

7.—St. Saviour’s first municipal ball held at West Park Pavilion.

10.—States : The House discusses the powers of the Beautés Naturelles Committee, the debate being adjourned: civil servants’ sick pay and insurance benefits were also discussed; it was announced that-23 tickets to view the Coronation had been allotted to the Island ; a Bill to empower the Petty Debts Court to make orders in respect of the separation of married couples and the legal custody of children was adopted. Westerly gale strikes the Island, the incoming mailboat being two hours late. Total of the Flood Disaster Fund reaches £6,979—Island Players present “ Dark Victory" at Springfield. Jersey Musical Union annual meeting. Annual meeting of Jersey Maternity and Infant Welfare Centre.

12.—States : Deputy Troy's resolution regarding the powers of the Beautes Naturelles Committee carried by-25 votes to .23, and the Committee deferred their decision until the next sitting. St. Peter’s ecclesiastical assembly discusses tree felling, the report on same being adopted ; at the parochial assembly Mr. J. C. Vautier was appointed registrar.

14.—Netherlands Air Force Dakota attempts landing at Airport in snowstorm to pick up consignment of clothing for Dutch flood Victims but is forced to fly back; the Flood Disaster Fund to date totals: 
£9,346 45.

16.—New classrooms opened at Victoria College, the new de Carteret Building being named by the Bailiff. Skal Club of Jersey hold ladies’ night dinner, Sir Alexander and Lady Coutanche being the principal guests. College Preparatory cross-country races, new senior and junior records being set up.

17.—States: The National Service Bill came before the House today and was defeated by 25-23 ; Senator Collas, sponsor of the Bill, thereupon- resigned as did the members of the Defence Committee;

Deputy Hettich, president of the Beautés Naturelles Committee, also announced the resignation of his Committee following their defeat at the previous sitting and Deputy Baal was asked to form a new Committee ; the House also debated compensation awards made by the Committee of Agriculture in regard to foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks and these were upheld. The Flood Fund total passes the £10,000 mark, being now £10,192.

A Generous Soul - Part 14

John Watson (3 November 1850 – 6 May 1907), was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is remembered as an author of fiction, known by his pen name Ian Maclaren. I'm currently reading his short story collection "St Jude", but am also fascinated by his life. Here was a man who stood out against a narrowness in his creed, and who was indeed "a generous soul".

The Life of The Rev. John Watson, D.D. "Ian Maclaren"
A Generous Soul
By W. Robertson Nicoll

Heresy Hunt

Watson found on his return from America that he was the object of a heresy hunt. It was never a serious affair, but I refer to it because it gives an opportunity for referring to his theological books. Of these the first appeared about the same time as the Bonnie Brier Bush, and under his own name. It was entitled The Mind of the Master, and was followed by The Life of the Master, the Doctrines of Grace, and several smaller volumes of a practical and devotional kind.

These represented the main elements of Watson's preaching, and the conclusions to which he had fought his way after searching inquiry. The mere titles of the books are enough to show the direction in which his mind turned. Christ was to him the centre of theology and preaching. He held that the older Presbyterian theology had done small justice to the humanity of our Lord, and that it had ceased to be useful in so far as it was not inspired by the Spirit of Christ. But he held firmly to the Catholic doctrine of the deity of Christ, to the Incarnation, and to the Atoning Sacrifice.

Some of his friendliest critics held that there were certain contradictions in The Mind of the Master. They were not backward in paying tribute to its literary power and beauty, and to its profound and constant sense of the incomparableness of Jesus. But they complained that Watson disparaged the Apostles as when he wrote, "St. Paul has touched excellently in various letters on the work of the Holy Spirit, and his words have fed many; but all the words that ever came from that inspired man are not to be compared with the promise of the Comforter given in the upper room."

They also compared phrases like "It must be remembered that Jesus had moods, and that He sometimes lost heart." They thought that theologians and the Church were unduly disparaged. It was the general opinion, however, that the book was to be welcomed for the emphasis it laid on the authority of our Lord's teaching, and for its brilliant and suggestive exposition of the Gospels.

The few ministers who took action complained that Watson leaned to Unitarianism. He himself did not attach great importance to the matter, though he was slightly perturbed. He held his peace till the prosecution, if it may be so called, had ceased, and then he made an explanation and modified a few sentences. He said that there were two grounds where he found himself in agreement with his critics :

"One is the style, which once or twice has been unchastened, and from which certain expressions, which to certain minds suggested irreverence, will be removed. And the other is the apparent denial that the sacrifice of Jesus, besides being an ethical power, had also a vicarious virtue, which were to ignore the deeper reference of certain of the Master's most solemn utterances. He were indeed a foolish and heady writer who did not learn something from critics who have been candid in their disapproval, but also generous in their appreciation."

On the distinction which he drew between the Gospels and the Epistles Watson stood firm:

“What about my sermons, do you say? They are composed in the train, in strange studies, early in the morning, between twelve and one at night, or during the chairman's remarks at public meetings, from which I always abstract my mind, as they are mainly taken up with references to the Brier Bush, and not to Westminster College, which is the only thing with which I am now concerned.”

The Day the Earth Screamed

A powerful earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on February 6, and it is the subject of my poem today. To put it into a local perspective, it is as if the people living in the Parishes of St Brelade, St Peter, St Mary and St Laurence all suddenly died. That's a human scale to the large numbers of the death toll, and something we can get a handle on. A mother and baby were also rescued, incredibly, after 90 hours buried beneath rubble.

The Day the Earth Screamed

The death count is unknown
Lands disfigured that we see
Scenes of devastation shown
Where dead might buried be
Oh how I sigh
And cannot forsake
Where struck the quake
Where so many die

Sound cracked like a mighty gun
Destruction to bestow
The world turned strange, and none
Foresaw the tragedy we know
Each loved or friend
Buried indeed
And call for need
For our help to send

Sometimes rubble hides the way
The cries of despair do ring
Resounding all the day
Mourning song they sing
As wounded lie
And fading breath
Gives way to death
Some weep and cry.

Rescuers arrive and will have
Rubble and ruins made away
And they try to save
All the quake did slay
And some they see
As suffering goes
With ragged clothes
Dig that they might free.

In life, no house, no home
Remains become their grave
In death, no friendly tomb,
But broken buildings
And what the earthquake gave.
The judgement day
This sight of doom
The earthen tomb
Wherein they lay.

Here mourning songs they sing,
This patchwork shrine
As mother and child they bring
In grief, a hopeful sign
We make, we mend
And those we raise
In saddest days
As they ascend

Findus Orange Juice Comes to Jersey: 1966

In 1966, Findus, the food supplier, promoted its new orange juice range coming to Jersey food stores. Here are some pictures from the Jersey Topic of that time. Juice was still canned at this point! A freight report comments:

"Findus says that the transportation of juice canned by Golden Citrus Inc. in Florida is moved competitively by Sea-Land container services from Elizabeth, New Jersey, to Rotterdam and thence to Yarmouth, where Ferry Masters Ltd. are the agents."

But in 2015, a review of the industry showed a citrus industry in an accelerating tailspin. The estimate was that Florida's orange crop would shrink to the lowest in 52 years, according to a forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as damage from citrus-greening disease persists.

Orange juice faces attacks on a number of fronts, not just from greening disease but also from the rise of competing breakfast drinks, its consumer price, the loss of grove acreage to urban sprawl and past hurricane damages, as well as from dietary critics who say the juice contains large amounts of sugar.

A Generous Soul - Part 13

John Watson (3 November 1850 – 6 May 1907), was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He is remembered as an author of fiction, known by his pen name Ian Maclaren. I'm currently reading his short story collection "St Jude", but am also fascinated by his life. Here was a man who stood out against a narrowness in his creed, and who was indeed "a generous soul".

The Life of The Rev. John Watson, D.D. "Ian Maclaren"
A Generous Soul
By W. Robertson Nicoll

First Tour In America

Watson's whole heart went out to America. I question whether any visitor from the old country ever took more kindly to the great nation of the West. There was something in the atmosphere of America that was eminently congenial to him. He made some of his best friends among Americans; he looked with unbounded hope to the future of the country; he would have been more than content to spend his days there as a private individual, though he thought himself too old to take public office and begin a new career. He had two more visits to pay to America, and it was in America that he died.

To the problems of civilisation and Christianity in the West he gave close and continued study. He considered that there was an American type of character - a native-born American representative of a great, a coming, a fruitful, and a successful race. The most wonderful thing about the American nation seemed to him its almost miraculous power of assimilation.

If amongst those stirring and bustling people an Irishman, a Scandinavian, a Polish Jew, or an Italian was drafted in, there would be the beginning of a change in him, and in one half of those cases the child would be an American, while in the case of the other half the grandchild would be an actual American. This stock drew in, changed, and made its own that enormous mass of population that from year to year was flung upon its shores. The American influence was in general reforming and deodorising. People went over to America often very low in the social scale, and by and by they were fairly good citizens, while their children were excellent citizens.

There was the power of the salt of the sea in the nation which would take into it the refuse of a city, and purify it, and leave the sea as fresh as ever. Then again the Americans were a patriotic people. The Republic was twice baptised in the blood of its best citizens. He thought that the victory of McKinley over Bryan was decided by a genuine feeling of patriotism that rose throughout the American nation. While the election seemed to be fought on bi-metallism there was another question behind it, and that was : Could a State maintain its honourable position that proposed to pay its debts with 57 cents for a dollar? When the country realised that the victory of Mr. Bryan's party would mean the affirmation of a principle that would end in the repudiation of duty, there was no doubt about the result of the election. Over the whole country men forsook their party, and men who had no party gave themselves immense trouble in order to vindicate the honour of the nation, and in that they proved their patriotism.

Another danger he saw in the marked abstinence from politics, general and municipal, of the leisured and cultured classes in the State. They would bestir themselves and take part in any great crisis, but in ordinary circumstances they looked out on the public life through the loopholes of retreat. They refused to touch public service with their finger-tips, and so left it too largely to place-hunters, wire-pullers, and professional politicians, with results that might not be corrupt as some candid critics alleged, but were at least less than ideal.

"The patriotic spirit in America, and far too much in other places also, seems to exercise itself over great crises, foreign or domestic, and to be indifferent to the conduct of ordinary affairs. The worst feature in American politics is the ' boss,' who is the power behind the throne, and of whom no one says any good thing."

The Days of the Comet

Astronomers discovered the comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) in March 2022 at the Palomar Observatory in California. It has been visible to those in the Northern Hemisphere through binoculars for the past few weeks. But it will make its closest approach to Earth at around 41 million km (26 million miles) away this Wednesday 1st February 2023.

In the past, comets have often been seen as harbingers of doom. They portend evil days ahead, wars, plagues or even the end of the world. That's what is captured in this poem, which looks back at a Pagan society in which omens in the sky were taken seriously, and when animal sacrifice could be taken to abate the wrath of the gods. Temples and sacrifices to a pantheon of gods and goddesses abounded. Fortunately, these days, modern Pagans are more likely to be vegetarian., thank goodness!

The Days of the Comet

The comet comes for all mankind,
The starry, starry ways
The spectre of that sign in mind,
In that dark sky, there we find
In fearful reverence, gaze

In simple trust like theirs who heard
The calling now to flee
The endings of the wars by sword
Unsettled omens, untoward
A green hue now to see

The comet reflected in the sea
Shines on the hills above,
Priests in temples make their plea
In silence of eternity
They sacrifice a dove

With that deep hush subduing all
The sea to churn, and all to drown
The fearful cry of prophet’s call
The comet comes, the sky will fall
As shooting stars come down.

The day of the comet, the omen dire
Lamentations in a psalm
And sacrifices on the altar pyre
Now comes the earthquake, wind, and fire
And nevermore be calm

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - January 1953 Part 2

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

January 1953

16.—Jersey Debating Club motion, “ That euthanasia should be legalized," defeated by 114 votes to 74.

17.—Municipality of St. Lawrence hold annual ladies' night at Portelet Hotel.

20.—States : Debate on Finance Committee's Report on the financial position, the Public Health Committee replying to criticisms contained in the Report ; £4,250 was voted as foot—and-mouth disease compensation; supplementary credits totalling £7,500 for milk subsidies were voted. Ten year old Joanna Le Brocq, daughter of Mr. E. H. Le Brocq, Chief of Police, seriously injured when emergency door of bus opens. the victim sustaining a suspected fractured skull. .Annual meeting of St. John Ambulance Association.

22.—States : The Report on the financial position was adopted following a statement made by the President of the Assembly and the Finance Committee was instructed to draw up rules of procedure for submission to the House .at a later date ; a petition from the J.S.P.C.A. relative to the export of horses for slaughter was tabled. A lad, 17-year-old Keith Hacker, severely injured in a shooting accident at the Jubilee Hotel. Esplanade.

24.—The collier SS Roman Queen commences to sink in harbour following flooding of the forehold, the Fire Service pumping out many thousands of gallons of water before the vessel was righted Victoria College cross-country races, a total of 264 boys being in the senior and junior events.

26.~First annual general meeting of the Skal Club of Jersey.

27.~States : The Assembly agreed in principle to effect improvements to St. Helier Harbour to permit safer manoeuvring of new ships of the St. Patrick class, this at a cost of approximately £100,000; a Projet of the Defence Committee regarding police pensions was adopted. Annual general meeting of La Société Jersiaise, Mr. H. J. Baal. being elected president. Officials elected at inaugural meeting of Jersey Farmers’ Cooperative.

29.—States : The Assembly re-voted the sum of £51,179 for a Girls’ Selective School at Rouge Bouillon, this following an. impassioned plea by Deputy John Le Marquand, president of the Public Instruction Committee; a debate on foot-and-mouth disease compensation to farmers followed, the necessary amounts being voted, ‘

30.—Annual general meeting of the Eisteddfod, Sir Alexander Coutanche (president) being re-elected.—Jersey Debating Club discusses the motion “ That the Welfare State is doomed to failure," which was lost by 69 against and 52 for.

31.—Full Court: Maurice Moyse, pleading guilty to the robbery of £250 worth of property from Costa Brava, St. Martin, is sentenced to 18 months’ hard labour. Annual general meeting of Jersey Farmers’ Union—St Peter Port A.B.C. lose by odd bout of seven to St. Helier A.B.C. at Springfield. His Excellency the Lt.-Governor attends municipal dinner at St. Ouen.