Julius Ceasar Essays (2007 words) - Julius Caesar, First Triumvirate

Julius Ceasar Julius Ceasar Julius Caesar was said to be the greatest man in the Roman world. Some historians, and among them those of international authority, have made greater claims for him. He was the greatest of the Roman would but of antiquity. Looking through the onlg list of rulers, kings and emperors and the rest, they have failed to find an wuqual of this man who refused the style of king but those name Ceasar has become the commanding majesty and power. Great as a general, great as a politican. Born in 102 B.C., or it may have been tow or three years later, Gaius Julius Caesar, to give him his full name, was of the most ancient and aristocratic lineage. Although he himself, rationalist as he was, must have smiled sometimes at the conceit, there were some who said that he was not only of royal but divine descent, since Venus, the goddess of Love, and married a Trojan prince and so become the mother of the legendary founder of the Julian house. All the same, circumstances and perhaps personal inclinations attached him to the comparatively democratic party. His aunt had married as a youth of seventeen to the daughter of Cinna, another leader of the fraction tht was opposed to the aristocratic party under Sulla, Marius, great rival. A year or two later, when Sulla had become supreme in the state, the young man was ordered to put away his wife. He refused, and his life was saved only through the intercession of powerful friends in Rome. But though he had been reprieved, Ceasar was far from safe, and for a time he skulled in the mountains until he managed to get acrss the sea to Asia Minor, where he served in the Roman army that was campaigning against Mithridates, the king of Pontus. At the seige of Mitylene in 80 B.C. he first distinguished himself as a soldier when he saved the life of a hard-pressed cmrade. On the death of he kept himself at the bar. His politics and made a career for himself at the bar. His political learning were showwn clearly enought, however, when he ventured to act as prosecutor of one of Sulla's principal lieutnants, who was charged with gross extortion and crueltu when he was governor of the Macedonian province. To improve himself in rhetoric, Casear went to Rhodes to take a course of lessons under a celebrated master of that art, and it was probably at about this time that he had his famous encouter with Mediterranean pirates. These rufians captured the ship in which he was a passenger, and put his ransom. While his messenger was away collecting the money, Caesar made himself quite at home with his captors. He told them amusing stories, joked with them, joined in their exercises, and, always in the highest good humor, told laughed and joined in the fun. But Caesar was as good as his word. As soon as his ransom had been paid some over and he regained his liberty, he went to Miletus, hired some warships, and made straight back to the pirates, and ordered them to be crucified as he had assured them that he would. He also got back the money that had benn paid as his ransom. Still on the fringe of the political arena, Caesar spent the next few years as a gay young man about town. His family wasn't rich, but there were plenty of moneylenders who were glad to accommodate him. He spent money like water, on expensive pleasures women particularly, since he was as facinating to them as they were to him and on building up a body of popular support for the time when he might need it. Then in 68 B.C. he got his first official appointment under Government, as a quaestor, which secured him a seat in the Senate, and in 63 B.C. he appointed Pontifex maximus, a position of great dignity and importance in the religion establishment of the Roman State. He was onthe way up, and his rise was furthered by successful administration of a province in Spain. So capable did he prove that in 60 B.C. he was chosen by Rome, to form with him and crassus what is called the 1st Triumvirate. To strengthen the union between himself and Pompey, Caesar gave Pompey his daughter Julia in marriage. Then after a year as Consul, Caesar applied for, and was granted, the proconculship of Gual

5 Parallelism Problems in Sentence Structure

5 Parallelism Problems in Sentence Structure 5 Parallelism Problems in Sentence Structure 5 Parallelism Problems in Sentence Structure By Mark Nichol It’s easy to produce a faultily constructed sentence by neglecting to install all the necessary parts. Each of the sentences below lacks a small but essential component that helps render the statement sturdy and structurally sound; read each discussion for an explanation of the flaw. 1. â€Å"Lifelong interest and enthusiasm for science is instilled through science literacy.† Take the phrase â€Å"and enthusiasm† out of the sentence, and you’re left with â€Å"Lifelong interest for science is instilled through science literacy.† Here, the subject is followed by the wrong preposition. Omit â€Å"and enthusiasm for,† and the result is â€Å"Lifelong interest science is instilled through science literacy.† Now, the subject lacks any preposition. The solution? Each noun in the noun phrase â€Å"interest and enthusiasm† requires its own appropriate preposition: â€Å"Lifelong interest in and enthusiasm for science is instilled through science literacy.† (Depending on emphasis desired, â€Å"and enthusiasm for† may be bracketed by a pair of commas, parentheses, or em dashes but is correct without any interruptive signals.) 2. â€Å"They’re noisy, they’re tiny, weigh fifty pounds, and can be souped up from a speed of thirty-five miles per hour.† Of the four elements in this list, two are preceded by pronouns and two aren’t. To achieve parallel compliance, all the elements must share one pronoun (â€Å"They’re noisy, tiny, weigh fifty pounds, and can be souped up from a speed of thirty-five miles per hour†), or each requires its own (â€Å"They’re noisy, they’re tiny, they weigh fifty pounds, and they can be souped up from a speed of thirty-five miles per hour†). 3. â€Å"They run farther, longer, and never get fat.† The first two elements share a verb, and the third has its own. However, just as in the apportionment of pronouns in the example above, one verb must apply to all, or each element must have its own verb (especially if a single verb is not appropriate for all the elements). In this case, the verbs must differ. Depending on the context, either revise the sentence so that farther and longer share the verb run (â€Å"They run farther and longer and never get fat†), or provide longer with its own verb (â€Å"They run farther, last longer, and never get fat†). 4. â€Å"John Smith is off the streets, sober, and has a job.† The rule set forth in the previous sentence applies for simple â€Å"to-be† verbs as well. Revise the sentence to read, â€Å"John Smith is off the streets, is sober, and has a job† or â€Å"John Smith is off the streets and sober and has a job.† 5. â€Å"That opinion was uttered not by John Doe, but one of his vice presidents.† The preposition by must be repeated at the head of the second clause to match the structure of the first clause: â€Å"That opinion was uttered not by John Doe, but by one of his vice presidents.† The sentence could be recast in active voice (â€Å"One of John Doe’s vice presidents, not Doe himself, uttered that opinion†), but the change doesn’t necessarily improve the statement. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Addressing A Letter to Two PeopleTop 11 Writing Apps for iOS (iPhone and iPad)When to Spell Out Numbers

Management Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management Development - Essay Example Planning is the foundation of all other management functions. The manager as planner assesses the present position of the company and allocates various steps to improve the company’s position in the future. Further, the manager locates the resources necessary to achieve the organization’s objectives. 1 Leadership involves effective communication skills, decision-making skills, planning and implementation, intelligence, and last but not least, influence. A manager, as a leader, needs to motivate employees to perform at their optimum level. In addition, leading entails having a vision and guiding the employees to fulfill this vision through effective communication. Organizing which comprise creating a structure for both the oral and written plans to be accomplished is yet another critical function. The manager delegates the various responsibilities and subtasks to the competent employees. What is more, managers address the important dimension of implementation of the various plans which are formulated. Finally, controlling involves monitoring the implementation of the plans and the various activities in order to ensure that the goals of the company are achieved. As controller, the manager handles conflict and controls any problems which may occur in the day to day running of the organization. Henry Mintzberg (1980) identified three categories of roles of a manager namely interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles. The interpersonal roles of the manager comprise the figurehead, leader and liaison. The informational roles include monitor, disseminator and spokesman. The decisional roles involve entrepreneur, disturbance handler, negotiator and resource allocator. The four areas of management in which I would like to improve are the manger as a leader, the manager as an organizer, the manager as a decision-maker and the manager as a planner. These four areas are critical to my role as a manager. Firstly, a manager who is unable to lead

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited Essay

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all - Essay Example Knowledge is power and without knowledge we cannot progress as a human. Knowledge is what distinguished an ignorant person from a man of intelligence. The power of knowledge cannot be ignored in any society. On the other hand, imagination is the mother of all knowledge. Imagination is what enables us to form a mental of something that cannot be comprehended through the senses. It is what enables men to stumble upon great inventions and the ability to build a mental sense for great achievements. Imagination is more important than knowledge because without imagination, men cannot achieve new things. Imagination is what empowers us to dream of things that can be achieved which eventually lead to knowledge. â€Å"Knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution" (Einstein). Therefore, I completely agree with Einstein’s quote that imagination is more important than knowledge as imagination goes beyond limit wherea s, knowledge has its limitations. According to the Cambridge dictionary, knowledge is defined as â€Å"understanding of or information about a subject which a person gets by experience or study, and which is either in a persons mind or known by people generally† (Knowledge n.d.). Knowledge is gained through experiences, skills and personal abilities. The main sources of knowledge can be traced to instinct, reason and intuitions. In order to compete in a highly competitive world, knowledge is essential. Knowledge is what makes a man powerful and it also enables him to compete with others. Knowledge is man’s ability to develop concepts and materialize them into reality through manipulations and calculations. It also enables a person to make the right judgments which are pivotal for every human being. â€Å"Knowledge concerns itself with what is present to the senses, but is also a stored and shared repository of publicly acceptable thoughts, many frozen into physical

The treaty of Versailles Essay Example for Free

The treaty of Versailles Essay The treaty of Versailles caused a reaction of horror and outrage to the Germans. They were being forced to accept a harsh treaty without any choice or even a comment. Hitler hated the treaty of Versailles, and he promised to kick out the treaty of Versailles as he had said in the Nazis Twenty-Five Points. People began to believe in Hitler. His Twenty-Five Point programme showed that the treaty of Versailles could be dealt as any other task, and he promised to abolish it right away. The treaty of Versailles was the most important of the Long-term causes because it gave Hitler the opportunity to share the same ideas as the Germans about the treaty of Versailles. So he took advantage in the middle of a politically destabilized Germany. Short-term causes like the Munich Putsch helped his popularity, which was essential to his rise to power. The Munich Putsch was a disaster for Hitler. People didn’t t rise to support him. Hitler was arrested and charged with treason. In trial, Hitler gained lots of publicity and his ideas were reported in newspapers. Hitler convinced the judges, and got five years in prison instead of a life sentence, but Hitler served only nine months in prison. This concludes that Hitler gained lots of publicity with the Munich Putsch. His ideas were printed on Newspaper, so more and more Germans began liking Hitler’s ideas and voted for him. Other Short-term causes like the Enabling law meant that Hitler had total power over Germany. After being elected chancellor there was nothing anyone else could do not even Hindenburg. He was able to pass laws for the next four years without consulting the Reichstag. Hitler used the power of the Enabling Law to get rid of anything or anyone that limited his authority. Hitler made all sorts of laws. Hitler was completely untouchable. The Weimar Republic was destroyed as an outcome of the Enabling Law. Both long and short term causes in Hitlers rise to power are important. Hitlers wanted revenge over his hatred of the Treaty of Versailles which he said must be torn up. Without this Hitler would have no reason to get into politics and start his journey to power. The economic depression also helped Hitlers rise to power because Germany was vulnerable and the Weimar rebublic had no idea how to solve the problems. People looked for an alternative government that they found in the Nazi party. ≠¤ Although I have already explained how the depression contributed to Hitlers rise to power he may not have had the political knowledge to succeed if it werent for the Munich Putsch several years earlier, which had a short term impact on Germany but a long term effect on Hitlers understanding as he now knew how to destroy democracy using democracy. To sum up, each cause was needed for Hitlers rise to power and many short term causes wouldnt have happened without the long term ones being set in place first. QUESTION #3 The Treaty of Versailles was important to Hitlers rise to power because, it was the cause of Germanys downfall. Hitler felt very strongly about the Treaty of Versailles and thought the terms were unfair towards Germany. Many German people also despised the treaty, and wanted something done about it. Hitler was there to turn to. He wanted to abolish the treaty and all of it terms. Consequently the Treaty of Versailles helped to cause the Economic depression, in Germany. Meaning that the treaty and theeconomic depression were both linked together strongly, because the treaty told Germany to pay reparation bills, around ?6600 million to the countries they damaged during World War 1. Which meant that Germany did not have much money left for it. This caused the start of the economic downfall, among other issues. This was extremely important to Hitlers rise to power, as it enabled him to help the German people and use his oratory skills to impress people with his words and won the nations heart. The economic depression, 1923 1929 is linked with Hitlers oratory, personality and leadership. Although it applies more to the economic disaster of 23 because at this time the German people needed someone to turn to for help and Hitler offered to take them over as someone to lead them to a better Germany, Hitler states some ideas for example the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles and the union of Germany and Austria. These were popular as a lot of Germans also agreed. In my opinion this was the biggest influence to Hitlers rise to power, because all the causes on the list used Hitlers oratory, personality and leadership skills. Hitlers oratory and personality came in to use most in the Munich Putsch situation, when Hitler used his skills to deal with the mess he got in to. He was charged and arrested for treason after hijacking a government meeting and taking over the government of Bavaria. It is linked because in Hitlers trial he impressed the judges so much they only sentenced him to 9 months instead of the normal life sentence. This was important to Hitler if he wouldnt had have been such a great speaker then he would have never had a chance to rule over Germany as well as all the publicity. * All of the reasons on the list were important for Hitler to rise to power in the way that he did. However, even then some reasons are more important than others. Therefore, it is necessary to see which factors were important not only in the way in which he did rise to dictatorship, but also whether Hitler could have risen to power in any other way either with or without some of the factors on the list. Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles was the most important reason on the list to explain why Hitler rose to absolute power in Germany, when he did, how he did, and above all that without it he would have gone into politics but remained a fringe party. The desire in Hitler and others around him was one of the most important reasons why Hitler joined politics. He felt that his country had been betrayed by the NovemberCriminals and that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh and unfair considering many believed that the German army was still unbeaten. Despite all of this, the Treaty of Versailles was also the most important reason on the list because it was so unfair and because of some of the terms for peace which it stipulated. The main problem was the great loss of German land to other countries and the loss of Germanys industrial heartlands in addition to the great level of reparations. The reparations, which were a result of the Treaty of Versailles and the War Guilt clause, started all of the other factors on the list. If the German people and the army had not felt angered by their treatment under the treaty, they would not have been dissatisfied with the victors of the war, and would not have felt so great a desire for revenge. The Weimar Republics weakness also stemmed from its link to defeat and never had enough power or support to succeed. If the Weimar Republic had not been so weak, hyperinflation would not have occurred and the reparations would have not affected them as much. Without the hyperinflation and the inability to pay reparations, France would not have invaded the Ruhr, which sparked off the Munich Putsch. Furthermore, without reparations the depression would not have hit Germany so badly because they would have been less dependent * The Treaty of Versailles was important to Hitlers rise to power because, it was the cause of Germanys downfall. Hitler felt very strongly about the Treaty of Versailles and thought the terms were unfair towards Germany. Many German people also despised the treaty, and wanted something done about it. Hitler was there to turn to. He wanted to abolish the treaty and all of it terms. Consequently the Treaty of Versailles helped to cause the Economic depression, in Germany. Meaning that the treaty and the economic depression were both linked together strongly, because the treaty told Germany to pay reparation bills, around ?6600 million to the countries they damaged during World War 1. Which meant that Germany did not have much money left for it. This caused the start of the economic downfall, among other issues. This was extremely important to Hitlers rise to power, as it enabled him to help the German people and use his oratory skills to impress people with his words and won the nations heart. The economic depression, 1923 1929 is linked with Hitlers oratory, personality and leadership. Although it applies more to the economic disaster of 23 because at this time the German people needed someone to turn to for help and Hitler offered to take them over as someone to lead them to a better Germany, Hitler states some ideas for example the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles and the union of Germany and Austria. These were popular as a lot of Germans also agreed. In my opinion this was the biggest influence to Hitlers rise to power, because all the causes on the list used Hitlers oratory, personality and leadership skills. * The causes in Hitler’s rise to power may be established in terms of importance, that is how much they contributed to the eventual result. I shall start by choosing a particular reason which I feel to be most important and establish links with other causes from this, although my analysis could change my outlook on the idea of superiority of one cause over another. I have chosen Hitler’s oratory, personality and leadership (OPL) to be the most important cause. Hitler’s OPL was both long term and sustained consistency and were often used to great effect for varying situations. In court, following the Munich Putsch, Hitler was on the sidelines, and seemed inevitable to a heavy prosecution, although a determined oratory along with a characteristic personality won many over and Hitler was significantly let off the hook. Similarly, before many of the ‘causes’ expressed for his rise, had it not been for a rallying personality, and a strong-minded personality during his first meeting with the German Workers Party, Hitler would never have created the future of events, such as the Munich Putsch, and the future of Germany could have been very different. Had it not been for many of these skills, he would not been able to capitalise on opportunities in the unique way that he did, for example, a determined personality with an interest for the country following the economic depression allowed propaganda to gain him vast support, and were it not for an oratory in his style, many of the arguments could have sounded feeble and unconvincing; as emotions were commonplace in speeches. Thus, the point made is that the very means, by which Hitler tackled situations and the outcomes it gave, are central to these skills in oratory, personality and leadership, and without them, Hitler may never have seriously been considered the dictator he became. Hitler’s oratory, personality and leadership may be linked to theeconomic depression, as they have strong connections.

My Interest in Law :: Law College Admissions Essays

My Interest in Law    My interest in reading law stems from an early exposure to the subject.   I sometimes accompanied my grandfather to courts and was quick to later on imitate the inquisitive, argumentative, critical as well as negotiating characters of lawyers.  Ã‚   Eventually, I decided I would become one.   My chosen subjects have always reflected this decision and in my years 10 and 11, I won the Best-in-History award, while being highly competitive in English Language and Literature, Government and Religious Studies.   At my A-Level stage, I thoroughly enjoy the research, analysis and writing that goes on in my chosen subjects of English Literature, Economics & Business Studies, Politics and Theology, most especially the latter two.    Securing a work experience placement with Withers Solicitors, London enabled me to interact with solicitors and gain an insight to various aspects of the legal profession such as will drafting and family law.   This increased my anxiety to study law.   During my last spring holiday (April 2001), I got a job working as a receptionist in Chalk Hill Heath Centre, Wembley, London.   Apart from the dignity of labour I gained from doing the work, the experience of working with a wide variety of patients including the obdurate has improved my communication skills.    My participation in the Model United Nations (MUN) conferences run by some schools in Europe and the USA has improved my debating skills, public speaking and helped me to cultivate the habit of researching as well as negotiating.   These qualities are essential in the study and practise of law.   In the Belfast 2001 MUN conference my delegation received the 'Commended Delegation' award due to our hardwork and team effort.      With my reputation as a morally upright student, I was appointed to the highly responsible post of Anglican Chapel Prefect of my school from May 1999 to June 2000 and my task included mobilising students to attend worship on Sundays, as well as assisting other school prefects to run the school. My good communication skills helped to elect me to the office of the Secretary-General of the Photography Club from September 1999 to June 2000, during which I was responsible for minuting meetings and organising club activities. I co-organised a successful Afro-Caribbean Night at my school last May by which we raised seven hundred pounds for Hope and Homes Charity Organisation.   At present I am a House Prefect.

A Research Paper on G.K. Chesterton and The Man Who Was Thursday Essay

While doing research on G.K. Chesterton and his literary masterpiece, I came upon this article on Gilbert Magazine in which his answer to the question – â€Å"What is the difference between progress and growth?† – was posted. To this question, he answered: The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside of us.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First of all, I didn’t even know he has a magazine. Secondly, since I have never heard of him before, I ask myself why on earth has it taken so long for me to discover such an amazing man? His statement above is just one of the marvelous pithy quotations of a man who never earned a doctorate and, in fact, never even attended a university. I have read some of them and I am amazed at how he can say something about everything and says it better than everybody else.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is with utter delight that I am taking this journey to the discovery and uncovering of a genius – a journalist, a debater, an artist, a happy man – for in discovering him, I discover passion, wisdom, and myself. G.K. Chesterton: A Poet, Storyteller, and Ironist   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   G.K. Chesterton cannot be summed up in one sentence. Nor in one paragraph. With all the fine biographies I   have encountered that have been written of him, I don’t know if the Gilbert Keith Chesterton has really been captured between the covers of those books. In the first place, how could one simplify a man of such complex talents? He was very good at expressing himself, but more importantly, he had something very good to express – the reason why he was one of the greatest thinkers and writers of the 20th century and a champion of the Roman Catholic religion. K. Chesterton is alive and kicking today – in a way that most of his contemporaries are not – precisely because he enunciated clearly and forcefully the fundamental principles in the light of which issues, whether of today or of yesterday, can be confronted intelligently, and he has dedicated this extraordinary intellect and creative power to the reform of English government and society. Literary types would laud him for his poetry and novels and detective stories and plays; social critics would approve him for his prescient admonitions about eugenics and nihilism and socialism; champions of domestic democracy would like his doctrine of distributism; philosophers would be challenged by his insights and quips; the fundamentalist Christian would defend him for defending Christianity, and the Catholic Christian would enjoy the enjoyment Chesterton derived from his Catholicism. This is a multifaceted man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gilbert was a day boy at St. Paul’s. The masters rated him as an under-achiever, but he earned some recognition as a writer and debater. Although he never went to college, he proved that genius cannot be tied down to the rules of the academy, nor need we be subservient to the prejudices of the academy in evaluating genius. Chesterton, in fact, chose to be a journalist, because in that role he could think most profoundly, powerfully, cogently, and effectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He was vitally concerned with the injustices of Great Britain to its dependencies. He progressed from newspaper to public debate. He used logic, laughter, paradox, and his own winning personality to show that imperialism was destroying English patriotism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1900 he published his first literary works, two volumes of poetry. In 1900 he met Hilaire Belloc, and in 1901 he married Frances Blogg. These events were two of the great influences in his life. From 1904 to 1936 Chesterton published nearly a dozen novels, the most important being The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904) and The Man Who Was Thursday (1908). In 1911 Chesterton created the ‘‘Father Brown’’ detective stories. During his literary career he published 90 books and numerous articles. He poured out a wealth of lighthearted essays, historical sketches, and metaphysical and polemical works, together with such well-known poems as ‘‘The Ballad of the White Horse,’’ ‘‘Lepanto,’’ and the drinking songs from The Flying Inn. Among his major critical works are studies of Robert Browning (1903) and Charles Dickens (1906). Prodigiously talented, Chesterton also illustrated a number of Belloc’s light works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Chesterton spoke of himself as primarily a journalist. He contributed to and helped edit Eye Witness and New Witness. He edited G. K.’s Weekly, which advocated distributism, the social philosophy developed by Belloc. Chesterton’s overriding concern with political and social injustice is reflected in Heretics (1905) and Orthodoxy (1909), perhaps his most important work.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I could say that Chesterton was not a philosopher in the sense of one who, like Plato or Aristotle, Aquinas or Bonaventure, Descartes or Kant, Hegel or Kierkegaard, made original contributions to the history of human reflection on the reality of the real. We can, however, say that he made two remarkable contributions which are still immensely worthwhile today: (1) he was unmatched in his ability to satirize the philosophical foibles of his day; and (2) although his philosophy was not unique his manner of expressing it was unique; one cannot read him, even today, without being again and again suddenly pulled up short. In view of his perennial concern with ideas – and with ideas that count, with ultimates – he has to be called a philosopher, not merely, however, as a lover of wisdom, but as one who possessed a certain kind of intuitive wisdom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Throughout his life, G.K. Chesterton was one of the most colorful and loved   personalities of literary England. To his intellectual gifts he added gaiety, wit, and warm humanity that endeared him even to his antagonists. This English author, journalist, and artist was born in London on May 29, 1874. He died at his home in Beaconsfield on June 14, 1936, but it doesn’t matter. To those who know him and are passionate readers of his works, his wisdom lives on. To those like me who simply stumbled upon him, he lives again. In our hearts, his wisdom is timeless. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Masterpiece of a Non-Degree Holder Genius   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Versatility of topic, address, genre, device, whatever more there is in the heaven and earth of mind and spirit brought to letters–such is the hallmark and mandate of Chesterton. He can be straightforward and for right, crisp and to the point, or witty, with a certain malice aforethought. He can take the way of irony or simply snort when his patience is exhausted. He can soar with angelic sweep or swoop like a bird of prey. His descriptive hand is as authentic as any, as witness this from the beginning of The Man Who Was Thursday: The suburb of Saffron Park lay on the sunset side of London, as red and ragged as a cloud of sunset. It was built of a bright brick throughout; its skyline †¦ fantastic †¦ its ground plan †¦ wild†¦. More especially this attractive unreality fell upon it about nightfall when the extravagant roofs were dark against the afterglow and the whole insane village seemed as separate as a drifting cloud. This . . . was more strongly true of the many nights of local festivity, when the little gardens were often illuminated, and the big Chinese lanterns glowed in the dwarfish trees like some fierce and monstrous fruit.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Man Who Was Thursday was the phantasmagoric 1908 novel of eccentric anarchists, philosopher-detectives and a riddle-writing criminal mastermind who just might be God. Subtitled â€Å"A Nightmare,† this masterpiece by G.K. Chesterton – better known for his Father Brown detective series – mingles theological brainteasing with cloak-and-dagger capers like a cross-country balloon chase and a  Ã‚   bombing conspiracy fomented over jam and crumpets.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This metaphysical thriller spirals out madly from a marvelous premise: a London counterintelligence chief has formed a corps of â€Å"policemen who are also philosophers.† An initiate tells the book’s hero Gabriel Syme, who is with the British police: The ordinary detective goes to pot-houses to arrest thieves; we go to artistic tea-parties to detect pessimists. The ordinary detective discovers from a ledger or a diary that a crime has been committed. We discover from a book of sonnets that a crime will be committed†¦ We say that the most dangerous criminal now is the entirely lawless modern philosopher.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Soon after joining these vigilantes, he was hired by an unknown, unseen man to infiltrate the noted anarchist movement, making him stumble upon an anarchist conspiracy to destroy civilization and morality itself. He starts with a loudmouthed â€Å"poet of disorder†, Gregory, and follows him into a meeting of the anarchists. Gregory is forced to keep Gabriel’s identity a secret for his own sake, for he himself had led the policeman into their secret hideaway.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The undercover Gabriel manages to get elected as one of the seven top men in the organization, alias Thursday, much to Gregory’s silent chagrin. Gabriel meets with the other members of the council, all of who appear to be dark and dreadfully evil– most of all the President, the huge mountain of a man called Sunday. Little by little, however, Gabriel realizes that the other five people under Sunday are not at all evil, but all of them spies from the police!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the process, however, Gabriel succeeds in getting an entire French countryside to think he and his new friends are really anarchists (meanwhile they are thinking, or wondering in disbelief, that the entire countryside is full of anarchists after them). They nearly get lynched. When things are settled, this group of undercover police go back to England to seek out Sunday, whom they soon find is the very man who hired them to infiltrate the council in the first place! Sunday leads them on a strange and wild chase, during which the six philosophize about the nature of their strange antagonist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Phantasmagoric escapades proliferate, and police pursuit collides with the carnivalesque nature of the universe. They realize that they have been seeing him from behind, and from behind he looks brutal; but the apparent evil was misleading. The journey ends at a palatial estate where the six are treated like kings, and finally see Sunday for who he is– The Sabbath, the peace of God. The council of anarchists has turned into a High Council commemorating the Seven Days of God’s Creation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The purpose of Sunday as the evil anarchist was to bring forth good through the others to urge them on to unnatural virtue. As they were fighting, they were fighting Satan. As the hearers grow indignant at Sunday’s using them for his purposes and allowing them to go through such trials, the paradoxical Problem of Evil seems somehow resolved. The last question asked of the strange man as he recedes into space is ‘Have you ever suffered?’– and the answer the Christian knows is whispered from the distance. The last scene sees Gabriel Syme waking from his reverie, and chatting philosophy with the other Poet of Saffron Park, Gregory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Chesterton offers up one highly colored enigma after another in The Man That Was Thursday. He truly knows how to create an atmosphere of hallucinatory suspense, to use the fantastic and paradoxical and fugitive to glimpse the other side of God. In an article published the day before his death, he called this literary masterpiece of his, â€Å"a very melodramatic sort of moonshine.† I guess that’s how we would describe a novel set in a phantasmagoric London where policemen are poets and anarchists camouflage themselves as, well, anarchists. By turns hilarious and terrifying, Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday is a lyrical search for truth in a world where nothing is what it seems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is not a book. This is a glorious experience. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Modern Horror Writers (Writers of English). New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1994. Chesterton, G.K. The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1936. Chesterton, G.K. The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1908. Coren, Michael. Gilbert, The Man Who Was G.K. Chesterton. New York: Paragon House, 1990. Dale, Alzina Stone. The Outline of Sanity: A Biography of G.K. Chesterton. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1982. Dale, Alzina Stone. The Art of G.K. Chesterton. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1985. Ffinch, Michael. G.K. Chesterton. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986. â€Å"More letters asking ‘What’s the Difference?’.† Gilbert Magazine Outlining Sanity. 30 November 2007 Titterton, W.R. G.K. Chesterton: A Portrait. Folcroft, Pennsylvania: Folcroft Library