Hangman
The always-interesting Sam Pepys put this reflection in his diary on May 28, 1661:
… [T]here saw the hangman burn, by vote of Parliament, two old acts, the one for constituting us a Commonwealth, and the others I have forgot. Which still do make me think of the greatness of this late turn, and what people will do tomorrow against what they all, through profit or fear, did promise and practise this day.
“This late turn”: Burning these acts would expunge them from Britain’s official memory, but not from Britain’s history. Pepys was born in 1633; already his life had seen Charles I beheaded, Cromwell’s republic, and the restoration of the monarchy. The issues which drove these revolutions were not settled during Sam’s life, and it likely wasn’t entirely clear that the situation had fully stabilized.
An interesting and metaphorical expansion, by the way, of the function of the hangman.
Revision History:
- April 7, 2012 at 11:18 am by joel (displayed above)
- January 5, 2012 at 9:24 pm by joel
- October 29, 2011 at 11:37 am by joel
- February 3, 2011 at 4:57 am by joel
- June 13, 2004 at 3:29 pm by joel
Posted by
joel
Posted on
Sunday June 13th 2004
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
