Fraternity-Testvériség, 1944 (22. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1944-03-01 / 3. szám

6

TESTVÉRISÉG

árvákat és aggokat, és amellyel szolgálta embertársait, egy lett azok között, akik az Isten királyi széke előtt vannak “és szolgálnak néki éjjel és nappal az ő templomában; és aki a királyi székben ül, kiterjeszti sátorát felettök.” “Örüljünk és örvendezzünk” azért és bánatos szivünk ellenére is örvendező lélekkel adjunk dicsőséget.” “Mert az Isten szerint való szomorúság üdvösségre való megbánhatatlan megtérést szerez; a világ szerint való szomorúság pedig halált szerez. Mert ha élünk, az Urnák élünk; ha meghalunk, az Urnák halunk meg. Azért akár éljünk, akár haljunk, az Űréi vagyunk.” (Róm. 14:8. II. Kor. 7:10.)

LETTERS FROM ENGLAND

In Oxford

As I wrote in an earlier letter, I have visited Oxford, and mean to go back there a number of times more. There is a great deal to see there, as you must know, having seen it yourself. I won’t, therefore, bore you with any descriptions of it. Suffice it to say, one teels that he is walking among the stepping-stones ■of civilization and culture, when seeing Oxford. It is most lovely, and the very air seems to be permeated with the spirits of the past. Although other English towns which I have visited to date are not historically or culturally so significant as Oxford, they still possess — all of them — an air of timelessness and of stability; a stability born of having dispassionately witnessed, and been a part of, many ages of men. I have tried to recapture, in fancy, the various well-known periods of English history through which these smaller towns and hamlets have passed, and írom the time of the Roman invasions through the feudal era, the Victorian and modern eras, it seems that each period has left some faintly but unmistakably discernable mark upon the landscape. Whether in the buildings themselves, or in the roads or lanes; in the wide and productive fields or in the very people themselves, there is something which reminds that much time has passed over this country, and it has seen and suffered through many decades of man’s struggle toward civilization’s advancement. As much as possible, I try to absorb the “feel” of this country, and to attune my ear to the tempo of its pulse. I notice carefully what sort of things the people market and purchase, so as to gain an idea of them through their tastes and requirements. I talk to many of the simpler townsfolk while I am at my sketching, and so gain a better than average picture of what the backbone of the English nation feels and thinks. It is very enlightening, I assure you, and makes these people much more easy to understand and appreciate.

I have found, for instance, that underneath their reserved exteriors is a very warm desire to be understood and appreciated. One has but to compliment the prettiness anad picturesqueness of the countryside to receive the most ready smiles of appreciation .and pride on the part of the townsfolk. I noticed too,

with some amusement, that the old adage of people not ever seeing the beauty around them because they are too “used to it” holds here as well as elsewhere I had an excellent illustration of this point the other day, when I was sketching a small bridge which is part of the main thoroughfare in one of the smaller towns nearby.

As the case the world over, people’s curiosity generally gets the best of their reserve, and it was not long before old and young were stopping to criticise and admire my sketch. Youngsters would come first, of course, and then their apologetic mothers, hoping that the young ones were not disturbing me. Of course I said no, I was glad to have them there. Then the older women would look intently at the sketch, then at the bridge, then back at the sketch again, and would eventually exclaim: “You know young man, I have been passing by this little bridge every day of my life and never before noticed how pretty it is.” Then they would look long at the bridge again, and gathering up their brood of yougnsters, would go off down the street chattering among themselves about their new discovery. I noticed everywhere that the people were most ready to appreciate anyone’s finding their town pretty and worth painting or sketching. They were immediately ready with all sorts of opinions as to which house were most ancient, which had the most typical period construction, and which had the most colorful histories. So you see, I have not been entirely inactive, or unaware of this excellent opportunity to learn. Travel is a most broadening influence.

In Coventry

We drove up to Coventry, the most bombed Iowa in England, on Monday. It is difficult to, describe the mixed feelings with which one walks through the streets of such a town. Besides the awe in which one must hold the sturdy people who not only lived through all that horror but actually managed to cling to their homes and businesses (those that were left intact), wrought from the air, by bombing.

The fact that we went to visit the city now, after months of relative quiet in the air above it, and after s townspeople have had a chance to clear away the