Introduction
The
Maccabeus in the early and middle 1700’s was a centre for war and inconceivable
lack of integrity from the leaders and the civil public that greatly monitored every
movement of their leaders. During the era of Handel, there was war and a lot of
unnecessary spending from the nation’s leaders. This greatly incensed the
people who would write many things from letters to leaders to articles to
friends showing their lack of contentment with the status quo. This paper looks
at the problems that Handel faced politically and economically due to the situation
he was in then and the composition he had in terms of assistants and their
contribution to his woes.
Advertisement
In
his advertisement in the dailies in the month of January 1741, Handel expresses
the need to increase the revenue of Maccabeus. He starts by imputing that he
highly regards the noble rulers of that country. This shows respect and
admiration to the political environment of the nation. He showers great praise
to the English language which he says is the best spoken language and that greatly
expresses the deep sentiments of any music. This is depictive of the manner of
information and request that he is about to show. It was also a depiction of
the respect bestowed upon the leaders of the nation by the people. Handel also
considers himself ignorant before laying his needs to the leadership of the
nation. This is a reflection of the kind of revere that was shown to the human
leadership of the nation. In the advertisement it is visibly clear that there
is an economic situation in the nation when handles says his labors and hard
work are ineffectual if they do not benefit him. This shows that there was an
underpayment of labor in the country with people struggling and left with
little disposable income to enjoy life as it was expected.
Therefore
Handel was just a representation of the majority of people who shared similar
sentiments. There was also the subscription to the nation’s wealth sources that
was. In as much as he was thanking them for their continued subscription it was
evident that it was becoming too costly to have all those people subscribed.
Hence there was the need to trim the number to reduce the financial impact it
was having on the nation. There is also the issue of entertainment that Handel
found a bit intriguing and complex. This was having a detrimental impact on the
nation’s wealth. There in this advertisement he clearly suggests that with the
permission of his noble men he be allowed to trim that money that was been
directed to that entertainment to enhance the financial situation in the
nation. He laments the loss of public favor that was in him, but continues to
say that for the benefit of the nation he be allowed to continue with the plan
to have that cut the expenses that were bedeviling the nation. Though this was
going to have a direct impact to the leaders alike he says it was best for the
nation in that advertisement. It is also evident that the tone of the whole
advertisement was remorseful and full of a long cry of a nation that was in
turmoil economic wise but whose leaders from the political arena were highly
respected to a point where one would confuse that for fear. This respect that
was bordering on fear was meant to curtail any opposition to the leadership of
the nation so as to make the status quo to remain (Krauss, 2010).
Letters
The
archbishop of York wrote a number of letters to the noble men of the nation
explaining his disappointment at the matters at hand and the state of the
nation. In the first letter on October 16, the archbishop goes political and
talks of the state of affairs at Berwick and Newcastle. His is a sentiment that
there is no greater way to be happy the assurance that those two places are
safe and happy. He further talks of the advice given them and chances upon the nature
of division of army required and the manner in which this should be done saying
three or four groups will be adequate. In this particular letter there is
little discussion on matters economy noting that there was need to have
resilience until the arrival of relief that was the worst of expectations and
the need to give the king more time hence the secession of harvest time which
was anticipated to bring more need for relief (Krauss, 2010).
Another
letter was posted three days later and was full of complaints of the
disappearance of the gentlemen that were going for war but never returned. Also
there was completion in preparation in terms of training of a number of army
men and they hadn’t been dispatched and were one of the areas that the
archbishop was trying to address. This shows that there was great need of
finance to enable that nation to have equipments meant for the use by the men. There
was also great sentiment that was been directed to the assistants of the
lordship in his service provision.
The
archbishop even wanted to know whether the ministers were asleep. This shows
there were cracks in the political set up that wanted to be filled and but the
lordship was not seeing that due to been surrounded by sycophants whose main
need was material gain at the greater expense of the nation and the people. The
enemies of the nation such as Scotland were another item that was addressed by
the letter. The bishop noted there was great anxiety from the people with rumors
that army of Scotland was moving towards the south. This he notes was disgrace
to the nation and the king. Therefore in mock version he tried to bring about
the attention of the lordship by saying that the army was not supposed to train
with broom sticks.
These
two shows just how dire the situation was in economically and in the political
arena. There was no money to buy them equipments of war and the army was using
disgraceful tools for training in preparation for war that was bound to be
massive and the army was requiring more. This increased the anxiety of the
public who felt humiliated by the state of events. In the subsequent letters to
the lordship that were sent the next month, there was great stressing on the
part of clamor for war that was greatly eminent and that was threatening the
livelihood of people in the nation. There was great propaganda as to where the
enemy was most likely going to attack and the army was not in any way able to
cover all the areas due to their relatively small number.
On
24th of October, 1745 the earl of Shaftesbury wrote a letter to his
cousin James Harris. Though it was a short letter it laid the matter that was
the bone of contention on the ground as it highlighted the problems that Handel
was dealing with. All these at the time were bordering on political and economy
of the nation. Another letter that was written by Powney also focuses on Handel
and the problems he was contending with at the time in 1745. It is figurative
in its nature and highly gives us an insight of what was the major theme. A scepter
was meant to show that there was ghostly emerging thing that wanted to consume
the nation: war. The letter seems to have protestation as regards the helpers
of the king and this is depicted as there is an applause that is been described
to show laughter and happiness while there was many people not knowing what
will happen next (Schäfer, 2003).
Charles
Jennens wrote a very deeply controversial letter to a friend showing the level
of disappointment that he had at the lordship. He says their leadership style
was impertinent and full of nonsense and that money is been misused. He points
out that the duke needs to be fast in taking action lest there is a financial
crisis. He continues to say in a figurative manner that there is inconceivable
level of confusion and corruption from the officials whose mandate was to the
people of the nation. This depicts just how vigilant the people were on matters
political and the way in which resources were been used. Handel was not spared
as he was the leader until his death later in 1747. The letter even claimed
that there was a notable stupidity emanating from the leadership and that much
was meant to be done to salvage the people from that ignorance from its
leaders.
After
the death of Handel, the duke of Cumberland returned from Scotland victorious
from a war that was deemed to ravage the nation. A letter written by Thomas
Morrell to the duke was a congratulatory note for the job well done in winning
the war. He claims that he was afraid of
the lack for victory due to relatively small number of army that they had sent
but was pleased at the result they brought. In another letter written by William Shenstone,
the issue of entertainment is brought about again. This was a painful and
highly debatable issue then. Entertainment was seen as a way of eating away at public
coffers. However the letter had an angling towards showering praises at the duke
for victory from Scotland (Schäfer, 2003).
Conclusion
There
were many problems that bedeviled the Maccabeus. There was eminence of war at
every juncture in the leadership and the dukes and the leaders were highly
disjointed. The economy of the nation was in great turmoil and there was an air
of great disregard from the leaders. The war with Scotland in particular was
greatly propagandized before it even happened. The problem of less army numbers
and comparative advantage in favor of Scotland is one such example (Schäfer,
2003).
References
Schäfer, P. (2003). The
History of the Jews in the Greco-Roman World. New York: Routledge
Krauss,
S. (2010). Judas Maccabeus. Retrieved on August 26, 2010, from, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=672&letter=J
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