Serbia in Light and Darkness: With Preface by the Archbishop of Canterbury, (1916)Velimirović, Nikolaj
History
Serbia in Light and Darkness: With Preface by the Archbishop of Canterbury, (1916)
Velimirović, Nikolaj
Proverbs, Serbian; Serbia; Serbian poetry -- Translations into English
I thank you that you gave us Shakespeare, who is the second Bible for
the world; and Milton the divine, and Newton and Herschel, the friends
of the stars; and Wellington and Nelson, the fearless conquerors of the
ambitious tyrant of the world; and Stephenson, the great inventor of the
railway and the great annihilator of distance between man and man; and
Carlyle, the enthusiastic apostle of work and hope; and Dickens, the
advocate of the humble and poor; and Darwin, the ingenious revealer of
brotherly unity of man and nature; and Ruskin, the splendid interpreter
of beauty and truth; and Gladstone, the most accomplished type of a
humane statesman; and Bishop Westcott and Cardinal Newman, the
illuminated brains and warm hearts. No, I never will finish if I
undertake to enumerate all the illustrious names which are known in
Serbia as well as in England, and which would be preserved in their
integrity in Serbia even if this island should sink under the waters.
I have to thank you for many sacrifices that the people of this country
have made for Serbia during the present world-struggle. Many of the
English nurses and doctors died in Serbia in trying courageously to save
Serbian lives in the time of typhus-devastation. They lost their own
lives saving ours, and I hope in losing their lives for their suffering
neighbours they have found better ones. Their work will never be
forgotten and their tombs will be respected as relics among us Serbs.
Besides, Great Britain also sent military help for Serbia. It was
dictated to Great Britain by the highest strategic reasons to send
troops to Serbia, to the Danube, in order to stop the Germans there, to
hinder their junction with the Bulgars, to annihilate all their plans
and dreams regarding the East, to defend Serbia not only as Serbia, but
as the gate of Egypt and India, and so to protect in the proper place
and in the most efficacious manner her oriental Dominions. But seemingly
England sent her troops to Serbia more to protect her honour than her
Dominions, more to help Serbia than to defend Egypt and India. The
number of these troops and the time when they arrived in Serbia
indicate that. Hundreds of miles the Serbs had been driven back by the
enemy before the British forces reached the Serbo-Greek frontier. But
still they reached the Serbian land, they fought on Serbian soil and
shed their noble blood defending that soil. Serbia will rather forget
herself than the English lives sacrificed for her in such a catastrophic
moment of her history.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account