As the din of political combat intensifies all round us, and comity and goodwill vanish in the smoke and fires of battle, I thought it might be good to remind ourselves of what real statesmanship and patriotism look like, and to remember that even in the darkest times it is possible to rise, however briefly, above the fray to remember our common humanity, and to reflect on the brevity of our lives and the transience of our worldly aims.
Take a breath, then, and read Winston Churchill’s eulogy for Neville Chamberlain, who had died just as Hitler was laying waste to London in the early days of the War. Try, if you can, to read it slowly, and to hear it in the great man’s voice.