Edmond Cahn
There was an incident in 1781 that symbolized the beginning of a new age for government and law. The Revolutionary War had been going on since 1775, and the final battle was fought at Yorktown on the coast of Virginia during the month of October 1781. The British army, sent to subdue the colonists, found itself hopelessly wedged between a formidable French fleet on one side and the American forces under General Washington on the other. The British commander decided that capitulation was inevitable, and General Washington granted him generous and honorable terms. The last great body of imperial troops paraded on the Yorktown plain in surrender to a threadbare and despised collection of amateur soldiers, who had resolved to pursue their national destiny under a free, republican government. As the brilliant ranks of redcoated soldiers filed across the plateau, the British bandmaster signaled to his band and they began playing a popular English tune of the time. It was to this tune that the defeated army marched stiffly away from the scene of battle. Though no one knows even now whether the bandmaster selected the tune purposely or by chance, the name of the tune furnished an inspired commentary. It was "The World Turned Upside Down."
The Consumer Perspective
Ever since that time philosophers have been attempting either to ignore or to build upon the historic fact which the British band acknowl
-574-
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: The World of Law:A Treasury of Great Writing about and in the Law, Short Stories, Plays, Essays, Accounts, Letters, Opinions, Pleas, Transcripts of Testimony; from Biblical Times to the Present.
Volume: 2.
Contributors: Ephraim London - Editor.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster.
Place of publication: New York.
Publication year: 1960.
Page number: 574.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
One moment ...
- Georgia
- Arial
- Times New Roman
- Verdana
- Courier/monospaced
Reset