On yet another grim day for the fainthearted west, here's another episode of our nightly Victorian adventure serial, The Tragedy of the Korosko, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but far more alien to our own time than the puzzles of Holmes and Watson. Discussing Manchester with Evan Solomon on the radio this afternoon, I said I found the inversion of language in today's coverage, whereby an enervated passivity in the face of evil is hailed as "strength", to be creepy and Orwellian. In Conan Doyle's time, "strength" comes from civilizational confidence:
"Sure we're in God's hands, anyway," said his wife, in her soothing, Irish voice. "Kneel down with me, John, dear, if it's the last time, and pray that, earth or heaven, we may not be divided.""Don't do that! Don't!" cried the Colonel anxiously, for he saw that the eye of the Moolah was upon them. But it was too late, for the two Roman Catholics had dropped upon their knees and crossed themselves. A spasm of fury passed over the face of the Mussulman priest at this public testimony to the failure of his missionary efforts. He turned and said something to the Emir.
"Stand up!" cried Mansoor. "For your life's sake, stand up! He is asking for leave to put you to death."
"Let him do what he likes!" said the obstinate Irishman; "we will rise when our prayers are finished, and not before."
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