580. The Irish Civil War: The Assassination of Sir Henry Wilson (Part 1)

Many as are the great public servants of this nation who have been buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, illustrious as are the soldiers whose remains lie there. Today's funeral of Sir Henry Wilson will evoke emotions far stronger and more burning than those which are customary at the graveside even of the most eminent and venerated. The thought uppermost in men's minds will be not the distinction of his military services, But the foul crime, the revolting mischance which has cut off so noble a character and so fine an intelligence while they were still at the height of their powers.

The assassination has horrified the whole civilized world. Whatever measures the government may see fit to take, the responsibility for those measures must rest solely. with the Irish nation. For months past that unhappy island has lain under the curse of Cain. Morally, she is an outlaw, and there can be no hope for her regeneration, unless she can brace herself

to cast off the infection which at present threatens to drag her down into complete social anarchy. No amount of good will, good faith, and good intentions on the part of Great Britain can be of any avail to her as long as murder is her ultimate political argument. So Dominic, that was The Times on the 26th of June 1922 with a very punchy editorial on the day of the funeral of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson. And I guess you would describe that as perhaps pungent, but the circumstances are extraordinary. So

We already have this episode, so unlocking it is cheap and permanent: the full transcript (46 minutes, 8,714 words), segment and word-level timestamps, and .txt, .srt, .vtt and word-level JSON downloads, as many times as you like, forever.

No account needed, we create one from your checkout email. With credits it is 1 credit; packs start at 10 episodes for $5, and monthly plans are cheaper still.